Civil rights leader had impact in Latino community

Alfredo Velasco, a local civil rights leader who helped improve the lives of thousands in San Diego County?s Latino community, died of prostrate cancer at a Carlsbad nursing home Dec. 16. He was 66.

Dr. Velasco, whose posts included board chairman of the Chicano Federation and executive director of the Sherman Heights Community Center, taught Chicano studies at San Diego State University and authored a groundbreaking 1976 study for San Diego County that showed taxes undocumented immigrants were paying far exceeded the cost of services they were receiving.

?It was a significant finding,? said longtime friend Mateo Camarillo, who also has spent decades working on behalf of the local Latino community. ?It showed that even though they had less education and were earning lower wages, immigrants were net contributors.?

Dr. Velasco continued to work as a consultant until shortly before his death, and he was a principal researcher on a federally-funded study looking at the correlation between drug use in the Latino community and the spread of AIDS.

?He spent his life trying to make life better for a whole lot of people,? said his first wife, Victoria Velasco, who lives in El Cajon.

Friends say Dr. Velasco became a committed leader upon his return from a three-year Peace Corps stint in Guatemala during the 1960s. Dr. Velasco was instrumental in bringing electricity and creating a water delivery system in the squatter settlements of Esquinta.

?He saw how much one person could accomplish,? Victoria Velasco said. ?His Peace Corps work changed his life and helped give him the impetus to change the lives of those in the Latino community here.?

Alfredo Frank Velasco Arce was born Dec. 29, 1944 in Calexico. He moved to Chula Vista to live with an aunt and attend Southwestern College upon graduating from Calexico Union High School. He then left for the Peace Corps in 1967.

?It was a powerful experience,? said Dr. Velasco?s lifelong best friend, Harry Polkinhorn. ?He wasn?t bringing electricity and water to places when he returned, but he was doing organizing and working on behalf of the Latino community here.?

Dr. Velasco earned his undergraduate degree from San Diego State University and a doctorate in human behavior from United States International University. His academic background enabled him to work on research projects that benefited the Latino community.

?He was dedicated to research and using that research to helping the invisible people, making sure they had a voice in the community,? said Irma Castro, a program director at Casa Familiar in San Ysidro who worked with Dr. Velasco at the Chicano Federation.

?He was a leading Latino scholar actively involved in community development and social science research,? said Polkinhorn.

Those who knew him said that despite his advanced education, Dr. Velasco had a gift that enabled him to connect with anyone.

?He had an earthiness and wit and comfort with people, all kinds of people,? said ex-wife Sharon Morrison, who was married to him for 15 years and remained a business partner and close friend after their divorce. ?He could talk to anybody about anything. I would watch him with awe talking with people about something I might consider to be so meaningless, and he would have this great conversation.?

Source: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/dec/23/valasco-xx-xxxxx-xxxxxx-xxxx-xxxxx-xxx-xxxxx/

chanukah david archuleta david archuleta debra messing hobbit trailer greenhill nj plane crash