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 fro ...

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

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

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 on ...

. 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 gang ...

and one of the founders of

El Centro de la Raza El Centro de la Raza in Seattle, Washington, United States, is an educational, cultural, and social service agency, centered in the Latino/Chicano community and headquartered in the former Beacon Hill Elementary School on Seattle's Beacon Hill. It ...

.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 Human migration, 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 worker ...

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 Seattle a ...

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

ESL English as a second or foreign language is the use of English by speakers with different native languages. Language education for people learning English may be known as English as a second language (ESL), English as a foreign language (EFL ...

program at

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

. 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 neighborhood which eventually became

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-lar ...

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