Alfredo Gutierrez, an Arizona Civil Rights leader and myself in 2002. Alfredo ran unsuccessful for Governor in 2002.
“We shall arm ourselves, and in America, the only weapon that counts is the vote. Be prepared to defeat those who humiliate us and defend those who stand with us.” – Alfredo Gutierrez
When I started college in March of 2001, I never intended ever to become politically active. In high school I had been involved in M.E.Ch.A (Movimento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán) organization, a Hispanic student group dedicated to promoting high education among Hispanics. The group offers opportunities to young Hispanics for leadership development, community service, political activism, cultural awareness and educational enrichment. I also realized that MEChA was also in college, so wanting to make a few friends I started hanging out with the group.
In September of 2001, something happened that changed my life. To me, it was something more sentimental then the 9-11 New York tragedy.
I became devastated by the murder of 21 month-old Liana Sandoval. Liana was the daughter of my cousin, Tony. Liana’s mother confessed to police the toddler had been beaten to death, and she and her boyfriend had weighted the girl’s body with a rock and dumped it into a canal.
The pair was arrested on multiple charges which included first degree murder, child abuse, and the mother also was charged with failure to protect her child.
As I wrote a commentary for the The Voice, The Glendale Community College campus newspaper, “Before this news and event unfolded, there were warning signs. Months before, Liana’s father Anthony Sandoval and his family were noticing signs of abuse on his two daughters Isabella and Liana. Neighbors also claimed that Liana and her older sister, Isabella, were often left alone. This information was reported to Child Protective Services; yet, CPS was unable to come up with any hard substantial evidence of neglect or abuse.”
There was something wrong with the system and I began to question Child Protection Services agency and the people supposed to protect this young child.
In October of 2001, Alfredo Gutierrez, or just simply Alfredo as everyone knows him by, decided to visit MEChA organizations throughout Phoenix announcing he would run for Governor and was looking for individuals and volunteers wanting to get involved in the political system. I had known about Alfredo from reading about the history of MEChA in Arizona.
Alfredo was from a small mining community called Miami. As a teenager he often attended union meetings and learned how to union organize which made it effective when he was started organizing students in college. In 1968, Alfredo organized MASO (Mexican American Student Organization) at Arizona State University. MASO would then later unite under the MEChA banner.
In November of 1968, Alfredo Gutierrez organized a march on the President of ASU to protest what they felt was an unethical alliance with a company who was hiring Mexican workers at below minimum wage and without benefits. His organization collected over 5,000 signatures in support of their cause, then led 300 students in a march to the administration building to meet with President Durham. That march turned in to a two day sit in. Alfredo was such an effective leader of student protest that the administration created a ‘bizarre student code of conduct/rules’ to mainly target him and get him kicked out, which did happen. Many years later, they would end up awarding him with a DOCTORATE. In 1972, Alfredo ran to become a State Senator and won. In 1974, he became the nation’s youngest state legislative majority leader. He went on to serve in the State Senate till 1986 as both the Minority and Majority leader.
I decided that this was my shot at getting involved in politics. I kept in touch with Alfredo as he gave me his cell number and many times answering when I called. In March of 2002, a friend and I set up a gubernatorial debate on my campus in which we invited the candidates for Governor to have a forum in which to reach out to the students and also hopefully get them involved as well. It was here when I decided I was going to fully help Alfredo in his campaign for Governor as a fulltime student volunteer. All spring, I visited other campuses across the state of Arizona telling other students about Alfredo. Then in the summer, I would spend a majority of my day at the Alfredo for Governor Campaign office in Phoenix doing various errands. It was during this time Alfredo taught me how to network. He opened many doors for me introducing me to various community, business and organization leaders. Then one day he invited me to meet Bill Clinton, who would stop by Phoenix to assist and help raise funds for the Democratic Party. At the end of the summer, Alfredo didn’t end up winning the primary but I did end up learning a lot on how the political participation works, how it affects those who are involved and those who don’t raise a voice to their own concerns. The most important, I ended up learning a lot about myself and what was really important to me.
The Aftermath:
To this day, Alfredo still often comes over and greets me with a big smile and an “abrazo” as I still continue to cross paths these days at rallies, marches or community events. He still fights for the poor and disposed, mainly the immigrant community.
On October 15, 2011, he was arrested along with 45 other individuals at the “Occupy Phoenix” rally.
He was acting as a liaison between the members of the movement and the city. In an interview with Ed Montini of the Arizona Republic he said “I thought the city and the city manager acted in bad faith,” he said. “I decided that the protesters had been duped, and I felt like in trying to serve as a bridge between them and the city, I had played a part. So I went to jail with them. What you had out there, for the most part, were a lot of idealistic kids who weren’t threatening violence or doing anything of the sort.”
Alfredo maintains a web site known as “La Frontera Times”
You can reach the web site by going too: http://www.lafronteratimes.com/
To reach Alfredo Gutierrez through twitter: http://www.twitter.com/LaFronteraTimes
To read Alfredo Gutierrez’s Blog please visit: http://alfredosblog.lafronteratimes.com/
