Who are the “Mothers of East Los Angeles?
Juana Beatriz Gutierrez and several of her friends founded the group in 1986 to prevent the state of California from building a prison in their neighborhood. Distributing information and holding candlelight vigils each week, they also lobbied in Sacramento. Their actions earned considerable press coverage and, in 1992 the state decided not to build the prison. This success, plus the fact that they were also instrumental in combating an incinerator project, has brought them attention by students of environmental racism and community activism. Now an institution, “Mothers of East Los Angeles” has been involved in conservation programs, health educational campaigns, and raising money for college scholarships for local students. Website Links: • Mothers of East Los Angeles Santa Isabel Print Sources: • Pulido, Laura. Environmentalism and Economic Justice: Two Chicano Struggles in the Southwest. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1996.
