Froben Lozada

Miguel Angel, friend and collegue
For 45 years
Froben Lozada was born in Brownsville, Texas on January 2, 1930 of Mexican descent.
He graduated from high school in Donna, Texas and after a few years of working, he served a two year service in the U.S. military in the early 50s. He became involved in South Texas politics as a young man, but he was drawn to the problems of the poor in the valley and he began to organize for union representation among farm workers and Mexican immigrant. This was at a time when racism was at one of its strongest periods. Often his life was threatened by white property owners and police that ran him out of town. He attended Pan American College in the late 50s and early 60s. Thereafter, he received a scholarship for a masters degree from New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, New Mexico. By this time he had come to the conclusion that people of color had similar problems due to racist practices that the ruling class was implementing.
It was in the mid 60s that Froben organized a group of chicanos from Highlands University to go to Mississippi to support the African American Freedom Rides. He and his five companeros were harassed, refused to be served in restaurants and hotels and threatened with death if they didnt leave. But, they stayed for a month during the Summer of 1963.
Now, with a Masters Degree, he went to Oakland, California where the movement to establish Ethnic studies and Chicano studies was gaining movement. He helped to organize the first student protests. He was thrown in jail on several occasions, but he and the Raza Community persisted until in 1968, when they succeeded in establishing the first Ethnic Studies Department in the United States in the Peralta Colleges in Oakland. The next year saw Ethnic Studies established in all of the major colleges in California and during the next four or five years, Ethnic studies went across the country. He was the first director of Chicano Studies in the United States.
During these years Froben, and other community and student groups sponsored countless conferences and rallies to address the persistent issue of racism, discrimination, and poverty.
He traveled to many other conferences throughout Mexico, Central America, and Cuba to learn about the economic and political problems that were contributing to violence and poverty against the working classes everywhere. It was during this time that he came to realize that the super rich were responsible for the economic and political deterioration of people of color on a global scale.
He became a leader in the opposition to the war in Vietnam, and he convinced many young people that if they joined the military they would just be used to make the Ruling Class richer. With three million Vietnamese killed by the United States, Froben rightfully predicted that permanent war would be part of the U.S. policy throughout the world. The U.S. sponsored wars in the Central America killed close to 500,000 people in order to support the dictators of those countries who opposed the economic policies of the United States.
He became very poMexicano Latino immigrant who were undocumented. Why can a U.S. corporation go anywhere or around the world to get cheap slave labor and a poor Mexican cant cross the border to save his family. He knew that the policies and practices of the banks and the transnational corporation where the cause of the misery of the poor everywhere.
Last year, Obama deported over 400,000 undocumented workers, mostly Mexicanos and encarcerated tens of thousands of children and their parents in detention camps in the U.S. often for months at a time.
Froben was a dedicated socialist. He believed in free universal health care. He belived in free universal education. He believed in democratic unions and he believed in community control of the economy. This is why he admired Cuba so much. He visited the island nation many times to learn about how the Cubans ran their country with the heavy pressure of an economic blockage by the U.S. for more than 50 years. He admired the unity of the Cubans and how the youth and the elders received the care and attention that they needed. And, he admired the progress that Cuba had made, even with the blockade and all the economic and political pressure that the U.S. and its allies placed on the country.
Froben ran for the office of Attorney General under the Socialist Workers Party in the 1970 election, but lost.
He continued to be antiwar because he believed that if all the money that is spent on making war was spent of creating economic development around the world, we would be living in a more peaceful and stable world.
Froben knew many well known personalities and had opportunities to discuss serious issues with them. Some of them were:
Mohammed Ali, a heavy weight boxing champion and antiVietnam war activist.
Clifton DeBerry , associate of Malcom X , a reknown leader of the civil rights movement.
Jose Revueltas, Mexican philosopher and writer.
Carlos Fuentes, Mexican author.
Bert Corona, Chicano union leader.
Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, leaders of the United Farm Workers Union.
Olga Rodriguez, socialist workers candidate for President, 1980.
Harry Reems, Publisher of Pathfinder Press.
Ricardo Alarcon, Cuba foreign minister.
Mary Alice Waters, author and member of the Socialist Worker Party.
Hue Newton, leader of the Black Panther Party.
And many others.
In his personal life apart from his political work, Froben helped many students and less fortunate individuals that were struggling with their lives. Often, he would take up a cause to feed a family or to help a student pay his tuition, or lend a student books for his classes, or give a homeless person his last 5 dollars. Consequently, he never saved any money for his old age. He would often recruit me to help out someone who was down and out.
He was not a religious man, but he was one of the most moral persons that I ever met. When someone asked him why he didnt relate to any religion, he responded by saying, you dont have to be religious to be moral. You prove your love for human kind by how you treat them on a daily basis, not like some religious hypocrits who pray on Sunday and exploit their fellowman on Monday.
His last words to me, Miguel Angel, old friend and college were: Viva la Raza. Viva Mexico. Viva Cuba.