Читать книгу The Gang of Four - Bob Santos - Страница 10

I connected with the members of the Gang of Four shortly after my return to Seattle. I got to know Bob Santos, who had just became director of the International District Improvement Association (Inter*Im) at the time, and after attending some board meetings, I became a member of the board of that agency.

I met Roberto Maestas and Larry Gossett through the Third World Coalition. The Coalition became involved in a number of issues around Puget Sound, including Indian Fishing Rights, the domed stadium and the preservation of the International District, the grape boycott and the struggle of the United Farm Workers, Chicano Studies, jobs for minority youth, construction jobs for minorities, the acquisition of El Centro, city funding for minority programs, and a lot of other causes affecting communities of color.

Bob, Roberto and Larry and others all joined Tyree Scott and the United Construction Workers in closing down a number of public construction sites in the area because of the lack of minority workers on those jobs. I did not meet Bernie Whitebear until some time later, but knew of his fight to secure land for urban Native Americans at what was Fort Lawton and now called Discovery Park, and to secure the old Sick’s Seattle Stadium.

Roberto, Bob, Larry and Bernie...each of them developed effective agencies that not only provides a comprehensive range of needed services and programs, but also organizations that became powerful voices for their respective communities. At the same time, each of them maintained their relentless fight for social and economic justice. When they began supporting each other and collaborating, they became the “Gang of Four’ or the “Four Amigos,” a dynamic Third World force. Together, the unity of communities of color coming together to determine their own destiny.

Each of them have left an indelible mark on Seattle and beyond as this book so compellingly describes. Each will go down in history among Seattle’s prominent civil rights leaders, joining the likes of Chief Sealth, Horace Cayton, Gordon Hirabayashi, Wing Luke, and Tyree Scott. Already there have been streets, buildings, and housing projects named after each of them.

We have indeed been blessed to have these legends who fought for racial and economic justice for all.

Doug Chin

Activist, Historian, Writer

Seattle, Washington

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