Early Life

Xochi Flores was born in Oxnard, California, a small town just 50 miles north of LA. Her parents were 20 and 21 when Xochi was born, and her family lived quite close to both her maternal and paternal grandparents. Xochi is the oldest in her family, with two younger brothers. She grew up surrounded by all her relatives on both sides of her family–her mother had 11 brothers and sisters, and her father had 14–as the two families were next door neighbors. Xochi's grandparents were agricultural workers, though her father's family had more access to resources and owned a restaurant called El Taquito. While her father's family had more financial stability, they had more instability as a family unit, especially with addiction. Xochi's father was addicted to heroin when Xochi was very young. It was her mother's family, primarily her grandparents, who kept Xochi and her siblings safe and were more nurturing in ways that were formative while growing up. 

When she was seven, Xochi's parents moved her and her siblings to LA. Her parents were very involved in the Chicano movement, other leftist movements, and Native American movement or AIM. The organizations they worked with, specifically the Marxist Organization, later to be named, League of Revolutionary Struggle, moved her family out to LA so that her parents could work there. Additionally, Xochi's parents were in the midst of separating. In retrospect, Xochi believes this move was necessary for her parents to have the autonomy to divorce and live separate lives without interference from their very Catholic families.

Xochi's early life was shaped by responsibility and curiosity. As the oldest of three and the only girl, she was tasked with the responsibility of taking a share of both her younger brothers and with taking care of her parents. She always had access to information and insight at a very early age because she worried about her whole family. She was very curious and would ask lots of question about everything going on in her house and family, motivated by the need to know what to expect so that she could look out for herself and her brothers. Xochi was an avid reader from a very early age. Taught by her mother, she started reading at age three and a half and was soon reading everything she could get her hands on. She was also very athletic and tried hard to excel. Because her parents were somewhere between absent and present, she worked hard to do well at everything so that she could make them proud and set an example for her brothers.