[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 161 (2015), Part 3]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 4044]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




     CELEBRATING THE LIFE AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF MS. SOFIA MENDOZA

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ZOE LOFGREN

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, March 23, 2015

  Ms. LOFGREN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today with a heavy heart to 
celebrate the life of Sofia Mendoza, known to me and her other friends 
as Sophie, and to memorialize her as a passionate community leader 
whose advocacy will long be remembered in my hometown of San Jose. 
Throughout her life, Sophie was unwavering in her commitment to end the 
prejudicial treatment of underrepresented communities, and particularly 
of the Mexican-American community in East San Jose. Her leadership 
affected landmark changes across a diversity of city interests, from 
reform of education and criminal justice, to the manner in which city 
council members are elected today.
  Sophie Mendoza was born in the small agricultural town of Fillmore, 
California. Her father Tiburcio was a labor organizer, and was a 
lifelong inspiration to her. Tiburcio had temporarily moved the family 
to Fillmore where he was organizing citrus and avocado pickers to 
strike against unjust working conditions. Fillmore would be one of many 
destinations as Sophie's father moved from one labor battle to the 
next.
  Sophie's mother Margarita was also an active organizer alongside her 
husband. But Tiburcio initially looked to Sophie's younger brothers to 
carry the family torch of community activism. He would soon discover 
that it was his daughter, Sophie, who held the spark inside her. It was 
in high school that Sophie attempted her first organizing effort. By 
this time, her family had settled in Campbell. Her school had many 
clubs, but freshman Sophie was upset to discover it did not have a 
Spanish club. Her father taught her how to create support through the 
circulation of petitions and how to build coalitions of teachers and 
students. Her efforts were rewarded with a new club.
  When Sophie married and moved to East San Jose with her husband 
Gilbert, her new surroundings provided her opportunity to take on one 
entrenched injustice after another. And these changes have left a 
lasting imprint on San Jose to this day. It was because of her 
organizing efforts that the first student walkout in California 
occurred at Roosevelt Junior High School to protest unequal education 
funding and discrimination by administrators. It was because of her 
that 2,000 activists marched to City Hall to speak out against the 
excessive use of force by the San Jose Police Department, and that 
1,000 residents formed the Community Alert Patrol to monitor police 
activity.
  And it was because of her that the first major health clinic was 
established in East San Jose. I remember so well the forceful advocacy 
that made the East Valley Clinic a reality. It stands today as a 
tribute to Sophie's values.
  And an important part of her legacy was working for reform of the 
system by which the city of San Jose elected city council members. She 
demanded the city dismantle its at-large election system, which 
underrepresented minority communities, and replace it with district 
representation. The newly drawn districts ensured a council seat to 
East San Jose, and provide a voice today to Vietnamese-American and 
Latino communities across San Jose.
  Throughout her activism, Sophia Mendoza was a strong and proud 
mother. She pushed strollers as she marched to city hall. She brought 
crayons to city council meetings. In fact, her passion for justice was 
largely driven by her role as a mother. It was to protect her 
children's right to education that she first organized. In her words, 
``community organizing starts at home.'' Her two daughters, Linda 
Ramirez and Saundra Panlasigui, and her son William Mendoza, currently 
reside in San Jose, in the community their mother fought to make a just 
home for them.
  Her passing was a sudden and immense loss for the San Jose community. 
She fought for issues that we continue to fight for across our nation: 
access to education and health care, equal treatment by the police, and 
workers rights. On behalf of my constituents, I thank her for her 
unwavering efforts to make San Jose a fair and just home for us all. I 
have lost a dear friend who made a tremendous difference.

                          ____________________