Roberto Maestas (July 9, 1938 - September 22, 2010) was an American

social 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 fr ...

who was prominent between the 1960s and the 1990s in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

. Maestas was a member of the

Gang of Four The Gang of Four () was a Maoist political faction composed of four Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials. They came to prominence during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976) and were later charged with a series of treasonous crimes. The ...

and one of the founders of El Centro de la Raza.Prominent civil rights leader Roberto Maestas dies
KOMO news, September 22, 2010. Retrieved February 23, 2018.Jerry Large
Roberto Maestas, leading advocate for social justice, dies at 72
''Seattle Times'', September 22, 2010. Retrieved February 23, 2018.

Biography

Maestas was born in rural New Mexico and raised by his grandparents and after working throughout the Western United States as a

migrant worker A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers who work outsi ...

eventually settled in Seattle in the 1950s. Maestas was a high school teacher at Franklin High School and then enrolled in a graduate degree program at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...

in 1968. In the early 1970s he helped begin an ESL program at

South Seattle College South Seattle College (SSC, formerly South Seattle Community College) is a public community college in West Seattle, Seattle, West Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. Founded in 1970, it is one of three colleges which make up the Seattle Coll ...

. In 1972, funding to the program was abruptly cut off which led to Maestas and a number of other activists to occupy an abandoned school building in Seattle's

Beacon Hill Beacon Hill may refer to: Places Canada * Beacon Hill, Ottawa, Ontario, a neighbourhood * Beacon Hill Park, a park in Victoria, British Columbia * Beacon Hill, Saskatchewan * Beacon Hill, Montreal, a neighbourhood in Beaconsfield, Quebec United ...

neighborhood which eventually became El Centro de la Raza.

Legacy

On April 25, 2011, the

Seattle City Council The Seattle City Council is the legislative body of the city of Seattle, Washington. The Council consists of nine members serving four-year terms, seven of which are elected by electoral districts and two of which are elected in citywide at-l ...

voted unanimously to rename the segment of South Lander Street between 16th Avenue South and 17th Avenue South (immediately south of El Centro de la Raza) as South Roberto Maestas Festival Street.

References

1938 births Activists for Hispanic and Latino American civil rights Activists from Seattle 2010 deaths Deaths from lung cancer {{US-activist-stub