Aurora Castillo (1914 – April 30, 1998) known as "''la doña'' — a title of respect given to her by her largely Latino community — was an American

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

and

community activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. She co-founded the

Mothers of East Los Angeles Mothers of East Los Angeles (MELA), started in 1986, as a group of Latina mothers to fight the proposed construction of a state prison in East Los Angeles by Governor George Deukmejian. Rosa Diseno, Lucy Ramos, Mary Lou Trevis and Aurora Castill ...

(MELA) in 1984. The MELA organization successfully opposed a planned building of a toxic waste

incinerator Incineration is a waste treatment process that involves the combustion of substances contained in waste materials. Industrial plants for waste incineration are commonly referred to as waste-to-energy facilities. Incineration and other high ...

and state prison in Eastside Los Angeles. Castillo was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 1995.Goldman Environmental Prize
Aurora Castillo
(Retrieved on November 15, 2007)

Early life

Aurora Castillo was born on January 1, 1914, a fourth-generation

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

-American.

Personal life

Castillo says that family has always been important to her. "Three years ago, Arthur Castillo, her only brother, died of cancer at 74. Her twin sister, who has been married and childless for 40 years, lives in Canoga Park. Another sister, Henrietta, 78, lives with Castillo in their childhood home." Her father, a U.S. Navy regimental sergeant bugler during World War I, was her hero. Castillo was also the great-great-granddaughter of Augustine Pedro Olvera, one of the original settlers of Los Angeles. She died of leukemia in 1998.

Career

Aurora Castillo's career as an activist began in 1984 when she was 70 years old. The local priest of the East Los Angeles church asked the woman parishioners to protest the construction of a state prison in the neighborhood. The prison would have been the eighth in the area and the woman united to form MELA. The women were motivated to protect their children and did so by informing the community of the threat of having a prison in their neighborhood, executing protesting marches every Monday and uniting with other groups like the Coalition Against the Prison in East Los Angeles.Castillo, Aurora. (2008). In A. Becher, & J. Richey, ''American environmental leaders: from colonial times to the present'' (2nd ed.). Amenia, NY: Grey House Publishing. Retrieved from https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/ghael/castillo_aurora/0 The women of MELA also practiced othermothering as a means of uniting their community with the communal role of mothering each other's children (not just their own). Their view of mothering as a shared activity that would benefit all of their children was part of their collective identity and empowerment. MELA continued to grow in size and experience. In 1987, the organization commenced a successful fight against the Lancer Project (a municipal waste incinerator). In 1988 MELA fought against another toxic waste incinerator. In 1989 MELA united with high school students from Huntington to halt a chemical waste treatment plant. Currently, MELA takes part in the

water conservation Water conservation includes all the policies, strategies and activities to sustainably manage the natural resource of fresh water, to protect the hydrosphere, and to meet the current and future human demand (thus avoiding water scarcity). Populati ...

program, leads a

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

poison awareness program and sponsors higher education programs.

Awards

Aurora Castillo was awarded the Goldman Environmental prize in 1995. She was the first person from Los Angeles, the first Latina, and the oldest person to win the award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Castillo, Aurora 1914 births 1998 deaths American environmentalists American women environmentalists American people of Mexican descent Activists from California Goldman Environmental Prize awardees 20th-century American women 20th-century American people