Sofia
Mendoza

BIO:

During her time in San José between the 1960s and 1970s, Sofia Mendoza became an activist calling attention to the inequalities and racism that existed between white people and Mexican Americans. Beginning with her advocacy and community-building as a student at Campbell High School, later in life Mendoza met with parents of children discriminated against at Roosevelt Junior High School and facilitated a walkout on April 29, 1968. As a parent, activist and social organizer, she was most active in San José, where she and her husband co-founded the United People Arriba organization, as well as the Community Alert Patrol (CAP). Her efforts focused on issues of education, police brutality, healthcare, and housing, particularly in the community of East San José.