EMMA LOZANO
Chicago, IL
Emma Lozano got her start in organizing in the 1970s with Chicago's independent Latino political movement. She founded Centro Sin Fronteras in 1987 to defend the rights of undocumented Mexican immigrants. At the same time, Pueblo Sin Fronteras (now part of Familia Latina Unida) began organizing neighborhood residents, using hunger strikes and demonstrations to win construction of the city's first community-based bilingual school. Ever since, Sin Fronteras has played a leading role on issues ranging from school reform to legalization of the undocumented to getting the U.S. Navy out of the Vieques, Puerto Rico.
"How we struggle is as important as what we achieve. We've adopted a model of grassroots democracy called the asamblea, which gives every community member, documented or not, an equal voice. We strive to be examples of a new humanity in the course of our day to day struggles."
