Eugene Buford came to Las Vegas, Nevada from Birmingham, Alabama, when he was two years old with his mother and grandmother. He held a variety of jobs, including washing dishes at the Last Frontier and delivering ice to casinos like the Flamingo and the Stardust, and ultimately retired after thirty-six years with the Post Office. Buford's great grandmother, Mary Nettles, was instrumental in the formation and growth of the NAACP chapter in Las Vegas, and he recalls meetings in her house and his own role as president of the Junior League NAACP.

Mirna Preciado was born July 21, 1956 and raised in Tijuana, Mexico. When her family decided to immigrate in 1980, she decided to reach for her American dream. Preciado’s husband wanted her to be a stay-at-home mom, but the idea of working and buying her own bread intrigued her. She became a waitress at the new Margarita’s Restaurant in the Frontier Hotel. Though she liked her work, she was bothered by the other workers with requests to join the Culinary Union Local 226. Soon, those workers became her guardian angels.