The Underground Railroad to Mexico. Across Texas and parts of Louisiana, scholars are working to piece together a puzzle of a largely forgotten piece of American history: a network that helped thousands of Black slaves escape to south of the border. https://apnews.com/d26243702f11e27b59b591332bb6775e

This was a deeply personal story to research and write. During my reporting, I found out that my great grandfather’s mother was born in Monclova, Mexico. That was a stop on the Underground Railroad to Mexico. Her name was Francisca Martinez

My great grandfather Florencio Contreras come to the US from Mexico in the early 1900s. Here's US Census form from 1910 where he is listed as a boarder. The Census taker classified him as a "mulatto" under race

When my great grandfather Florencio Contreras finally came to Houston, he settled first in Acres Homes, then the largest unincorporated Black community in the U.S. South, instead of moving to a largely Mexican American neighborhood. He then started a blacksmith business

Florencio endured racist epithets his whole life as people made fun of his "dark" skin and asked him repeatedly if he was really Black. Census records would later list him as "white." He died in 1960.