Mario G. Obledo

Mario Guerra Obledo (April 9, 1932 – August 18, 2010) was an American civil rights leader. He was called the "Godfather of the Latino Movement" in the United States, credited with establishing numerous civic institutions and bringing Latino interests into the center of the U.S. political arena. He also served as California's Secretary of Health and Welfare from 1975 to 1982.

In 1967, Obledo was a co-founder of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), and was the organization's first general counsel. In 1970, facing pressure from the Ford Foundation, MALDEF's most important funding source, due to the organization's perceived "militant" positions, MALDEF moved its headquarters from San Antonio to San Francisco, California, and Obledo replaced Pete Tijerina as executive director. Obledo served in that position until 1973, pursuing a strategy of involving MALDEF in employment and language rights litigation and conceiving the organization's role as a "law firm for the Latino community."

After MALDEF, Obledo taught at Harvard Law School, where he was working in 1974 when California's newly elected governor Jerry Brown asked him for assistance in recruiting potential cabinet officers. Brown then offered Obledo the position of health and welfare secretary, making him at that time California's highest ranking Mexican American official. Obledo served in that position from 1975 until 1982, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful run for the Democratic nomination for governor.

After an extended period outside the public spotlight, Obledo re-emerged as a public activist in the late 1990s, and was noted, among other activities, for protesting against anti-immigrant advertising, and promoting a boycott of the Taco Bell chihuahua for its stereotypical Mexican accent.

President Bill Clinton presented Obledo with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998, describing him as having "created a powerful chorus for justice and equality." Obledo died on August 18, 2010, in Sacramento, California, following a heart attack, at the age of 78.