Luera, Alberto, 1946-

Mexican American civil rights advocate Alberto Luera was born in 1946 in Laredo, Texas and graduated from Laredo's Martin High School. He attended Laredo Junior College and received a teaching degree from Texas A&I-Kingsville (Texas A&M-Kingsville). On the Kingsville campus, he was active in the Political Association of Spanish-speaking Organizations (PASSO) and the Laredo Club. He began organizing the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO) in Corpus Christi in 1969 where he worked for SER-Jobs for Progress, Inc., under Willie (William D.) Bonilla, but was fired from that job because of his political activities. He attended the first MAYO conference held at the La Lomita Mission, Texas in 1969 and moved to San Antonio to serve with MAYO chairman Mario Compeán as MAYO secretary. He was elected MAYO state chairman in 1971 and returned to his hometown of Laredo in 1972 to found Centro Aztlán (a.k.a. Centro Asociación Pro Servicios Sociales Aztlán, Inc., or APSS, Inc.) to provide paralegal assistance. He has since retired as director for Centro Aztlán.

From the description of Oral history interview with Alberto Luera, 1996 [videorecording]. (University of Texas at Arlington). WorldCat record id: 466403353