Carmelita Lonjina Gutierrez was a 20-year-old Chicana student at Evergreen College when she joined the LRS. Raised by a single mother who taught her to see the inequality in society, Carmelita grew up in San Jose, Calif. She became a respected MEChista leader at San Jose State University and was the Latino student representative in the Jesse Jackson presidential campaign. She was also active in the 1988-1989 Statewide Educational Rights campaign in California.
