Díaz: Terri Cruz was a Chicana trailblazer worth remembering

Elvia Diaz: The co-founder of Chicanos Por La Causa has a legacy that's even more important to remember as we face today's racial tensions.

Elvia Díaz
The Republic | azcentral.com
Terri Cruz, considered the "mother of Chicanos por la Causa," helped establish the Latino social-services agency in 1969.

I never socialized with Terri Cruz or spent much time with her. But somehow, I’ve felt her presence over the decades.

It’s the sort of a connection you sense through the work of others whose fate sprang from the seeds she helped sow.

Terri was the type of person you can’t dismiss or forget. Her presence was a stark reminder of a time gone by – a rough, polarized period in the nation’s history that somehow we’re now forced to relive.

Terri Cruz, the trailblazer who helped establish Chicanos Por La Causa, died Thursday at 89.

Cruz wasn't afraid to cry 'ya basta'

“She poured herself out, fought the good fight, finished the race,” David Adame, the organization's president and CEO, said in a statement.

And pour herself she did.

Chicanos por la Causa is one of the largest Arizona nonprofit organizations, which provides everything from housing and education to employment and economy development services.

The group grew out of the need to face the racial tensions of the 1960s. It was a turbulent period where activists of Mexican descent, calling themselves Chicanos, took the nation by a storm with their cry ‘ya basta’ – enough.

Theirs was a cry for justice. A cry for equality. A cry for fairness. These people, the likes of Terri Cruz, couldn’t wait any longer for others to rescue them.

They set out to work. They were inspired by the legendary farm worker leader Cesar Chavez. They worked with him organizing peaceful grape boycotts, strikes and marches.

Her legacy is even more relevant today

Terri Cruz was of those Chicanas who said ‘ya basta.’ What’s her legacy? CPLC, the group she helped establish has been home to some of Arizona’s Hispanic movers and shakers.

Trailblazers like the head of La Raza Development Fund Tommy Espinoza, former state lawmaker Alfredo Gutierrez and Joe Eddie Lopez are intricately connected to CPLC.

Her tenacity will be missed. But her role in the Chicano Movement will endure. 

Everyone should take a moment to find out more about this woman, because we need to be as tenacious as she was to face the racial tensions of our time.

Elvia Díaz is an editorial columnist for The Republic and azcentral. Reach her at 602-444-8606 or elvia.diaz@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter, @elviadiaz1.

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