RIVERSIDE – (INT) – Chicano activist, author and scholar Armando Navarro has died.

Navarro was a retired ethnic studies professor at UC Riverside where he attained a Ph.D. in political science.
Through his career, he proclaimed that immigration remained one of the most pressing and polarizing issues in the United States.

A registered Democrat, Navarro had been an activist espousing issues pertinent to the Mexican-American community since his days as a college student. He was frequently interviewed about the activities of on the La Raza Unida party in the Inland Empire.

In 1981, Navarro served as the state director of Californios for Fair Representation (CFR), a coalition of over fifty Chicano community organizations in California mobilizing public opinion against gerrymandering the Chicano electorate of California during reapportionment.

Navarro lectured at various colleges and universities in California and published scholarly articles and political manifestos calling for social change and political action. He argued that the immigration crisis is inextricably linked to the globalization of capital and the American economy's dependence on cheap labor.

Navarro was born on October 31st, 1941 in Artesia, California. He attended public schools in Cucamonga and graduated from Upland High School in 1960.

He was stricken by a heart attack and died on March 25th at age 80.

Story Date: April 21, 2022