Soledad Alatorre

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Soledad Alatorre
Born1927
San Luis Potosi, Mexico
Died(2020-03-25)March 25, 2020
San Luis Potosi, Mexico
NationalityMexican
Other namesChole Alatorre
Known forLabor activist

Soledad "Chole" Alatorre (1927 – March 25, 2020) was a

civil rights among the Chicano community.[1][2]

Personal life

Alatorre was born in the state of

bathing suits,[3] for a factory which made pieces for Rosemary Reid.[4] She also worked as a supervisor in the same factory, and her husband worked in the garment industry as well.[4] She separated from her husband in the late 1950s, and never had any children: she spent most of her time with her work in labor organizing.[5] She lived with her sisters, who also worked with her.[5] The city of Pacoima was her home for over fifty years, until she moved back to San Luis Potosí two years before her death. She died in March 2020; the causes of her death were unknown.[2]

Labor organizing

Alatorre's father had raised her on stories of labor activism, and she was radicalized by the plight of migrant workers that she observed when traveling to the United States.

Teamsters, the United Auto Workers, the Maritime Union, and the United Farm Workers.[1] During this period, she also worked in a pharmaceutical plant.[4]

Through her work with labor organizations, she met fellow activist Bert Corona.[1] The two of them made connections to the Hermandad Mexicana Nacional (HMN), which was at the time one of the only organizations working for Mexican-Americans that was also run by Mexican-Americans.[6] The HMN was facing difficulties due to the activities of the House Un-American Activities Committee, so Corona and Alatorre took charge of the organization, and in 1968 moved it to Los Angeles, where its local chapters came to be known as Centro de Acción Social Autónomo, or CASA.[6] CASA began to work for the rights of immigrant workers, and also provided them social services, including legal help and education. It also advocated for policies in their favor.[1]

Both organizations working for the rights of

undocumented immigrants during a time when most mainstream Latino organizations were unwilling to do so.[2] HMN and CASA organized protests against raids targeting immigrant workers, and also offered social and legal support. Among their projects was persuading the media to use the term "undocumented immigrant" in place of "illegal alien".[2]

Other activism

In 1977, CASA worked with several other Latino organizations to advocate for amnesty to

civil rights.[1]

In 1968, Corona and Alatorre also became involved in Robert F. Kennedy's primary campaign for California's Senate seat.[8] A few years later Alatorre and Corona were responsible for leading a change in the way the US Democratic Party perceived issues of immigration, partly through their work with labor unions.[8] Alatorre also participated in renter's strikes, protested the Ku Klux Klan in San Diego, and advocated for more Latino representation on television.[2]

Legacy

An obituary for Alatorre in the

Maria Elena Durazo stated that she was inspired to enter politics by Alatorre because she "said regular, simple things that people believed in".[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Ruiz 2006, p. 36.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Arellano, Gustavo (March 30, 2020). "Soledad 'Chole' Alatorre, pioneering labor organizer and Latina activist, dies at 94". Los Angeles Times.
  3. ^ a b c d Ruiz 2006, p. 35.
  4. ^ a b c d García 1994, p. 298.
  5. ^ a b García 1994, p. 300.
  6. ^ a b Pycior 2014, p. 32.
  7. ^ a b Gutierrez 2013, pp. 146–148.
  8. ^ a b Pycior 2014, p. 94.

Sources

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