Roberto Maestas

Here is a memorial to the founder of El Centro de la Raza, what was originally Beacon Hill School in Seattle. In 1972, after the school board had closed the school, Roberto Maestas led a band of Chicano activists in occupying the abandoned building. Attitudes of the day tolerated this, and after a few months the city legally leased the school and grounds to the activist group.

It's now mostly a community center and houses social services from a variety of local and state agencies. The annual budget is around $5M, with 83% of that coming from state, local, and federal government sources.