Greetings a todos,

El buen amigo Fred Garza fell recently and broke his hip. At first the doctors thought it might just be a fracture, but it turned out to be worse. He had to have a hip replacement. Fred is going to be out of commission for a while as he goes through rehab. With his reluctant permission I told him that I wanted to help and would set up a Go Fund Me page on his behalf.

Fred is a very proud man and like many people, asking for help is just not his style. It’s not mine either but sometimes we have to leave our comfort zone. For those of you who don’t know Fred Garza, he is a long time Chicano activist. As a young man in the 1970s, he ran under the Raza Unida Party for Texas Railroad Commission. In fact, Fred ran three times for this position, 1972, 1974 and 1976. In a VW bettle, he went all over the slate campaigning for that position. Like many of us back then, we were (and still are) believers that if you are serious about political and social change, you have to work for it and yes, sometimes that includes sacrifices. Fred did not win, but his willingness to run helped propel the Chicano Movement forward.

After attending Juarez-Lincoln University in Austin Fred moved to the Houston area in the late 1970s. He became involved the Chicano theater movement and was a part of a company called Teatro Bayuco, He also worked for SER-Jobs for Progress and was long time volunteer for the annual Festival Chicano up until a few years ago. He was the stage manager for the event.

I can’t say enough good things about Fred except that tiene un corazón muy grande. If you can find it in yourself to help Fred with the costs of regaining his mobility, we would all appreciate it very much. At his age, the road to recovery va hacer un camino muy largo.

Gracias, Alfredo Santos c/s

Camarada de Fred Garza