Joe Eddie Lopez is a former member of the Arizona State Senate and the Arizona House of Representatives. He is known for his political work and activism efforts during the Chicano Movement in the 1960s in Arizona. He is also one of the founding members of the CDC, Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC), helping organize and serving as a spokesperson during the 1970 Phoenix High School student walkout. He also began his time working with CPLC to assist with construction work from his experience as a journeyman.

Rosie Lopez is a first-generation Mexican American and avid civil rights activist who grew up in Phoenix, Arizona. She, along with Joe Eddie, was crucial to the development of CPLC and oversaw the various projects that went into housing and economic development in Phoenix.

Interview (2022) Summary

In these interviews, Joe Eddie and Rosie Lopez discuss their early lives and what it was like growing up in Arizona and their families who were part of the migrant farm workers in the American Southwest during the 1950s. They discuss the differences in education they received during their time in school and the resources schools provided or didn’t to see that the students would succeed in their studies. They share experiences with discrimination in schools and as they grew older how to challenge the discrimination faced in Arizona schools towards Latinos. Joe Eddie and Rosie talk about how their time at ASU led them to become aware of organizing to help combat societal issues and problems.

After Joe Eddie and Rosie worked on organizing and advocacy from their days at Arizona State University, they continued advocating for voting rights and used a political approach to bringing in resources to the Mexican-American community in Phoenix. This led to the development of Chicanos Por La Causa, where they were part of the Board of Directors, overseeing the blend and change of CPLC from an advocacy-based organization to one more focused on economic development with a business model. Rosie shares her experience being the wife of a Chairman in CPLC and how her being a woman included her being left out of meetings or crucial decision-making processes despite her help in founding the organization. Joe Eddie and Rosie also talk about the importance of religion, specifically Catholicism with CPLC, and how that has influenced the advocacy of CPLC.

Key Terms

Terms: Chicanos, ASU, advocacy, organization, housing, community, board, Phoenix, Southwest Council of La Raza, students, Chicanos Por La Causa, women, council, civil rights

Date: July 11, 2022

Interviewers: Research assistant Christopher Hohman