Like a bucket of cold water came the news: Nativo López had just died. I thought about the fragility of life but above all in the emptiness that this person left us.
With the example of his mentors Bert Corona and Cesar Chávez, from a very young age, Nativo rebelled against discrimination in the educational system of California, advocating for bilingual education.
In the eighties he fought successfully – for an amnesty for the undocumented. Faced with the injustice of criminalizing undocumented immigrants for not carrying a driver’s license, along with Senator Gil Cedillo, they pushed for the SB60 law that granted that license to California motorists regardless of their immigration status.
Nativo left his mark as leader of MAPA-(Mexican American Political Association), of Hermandad Mexicana, participated in the organization of the marches of 2006 that united millions in demanding a just immigration reform and in the last months he joined in the effort to transform Mexico.
Nativo López was an educated man – not only at UCLA, but in Mexico. He was an excellent speaker who was not intimidated by anyone. But his greatest virtue was his passion to achieve goals for the benefit of the people.
Battling terminal cancer, some of his last words were: “Today in the richest country in the world there are tens of millions of human beings without medical coverage, abandoned to die without resources. We must unite against the pharmaceutical industry and demand universal medical care … “.
“Remember me as a fighter in the battle for the liberation of our people and all the workers” Nativo López.
Nativo López, PRESENTE
