Latino Civil Rights Leader Benny Martinez Dies at 85

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Screenshot from: KZTV Action 10 News Official YouTube Channel

Benny Martinez, a Texas-born civil rights leader who helped organize the historic Latino meeting with President John F. Kennedy and was instrumental in establishing the Tejano Monument on the state Capitol grounds, died Sunday. He was 85.

According to an article published in NBC, the news of his passing came from Martinez's daughter, Loretta Martinez Williams, who said he died peacefully of natural causes in Olmito, Texas, after a long battle with several illnesses.

Born in 1934 at Goliad, Texas, Martinez attended segregated schools before his father moved the family to Houston so his sons "wouldn't have to pick cotton for a living."

His notable contributions to the country include serving as a medic in the U.S. Army for 18 months during the Korean War, being a registered nurse, and later on returning to Houston and organizing boycotts against businesses that refused to hire Mexican Americans.

Martinez also joined the League of United Latin American Citizens, the nation's largest civil rights organization for Latinos, and raised money for Mexican Americans to pay their Texas "poll taxes" so they could vote.

"We served in World War II and in Korea and deserved to be treated with respect," Martinez told The Associated Press in 2013. "The time for silence was over."

In 1963, Martinez joined civil rights attorney John J. Herrera to organize a special LULAC gala for Kennedy during his trip to Texas. The said gala took place the night before Kennedy's assassination in Dallas. According to historians, the meeting was the first time a sitting president met with a Latino civil rights group.

"I didn't get to shake his hand, but I was able to reach out and touch his shoulder," Martinez said in an interview. "The next day, I was in tears."

Along with three others from Goliad, William and Estela Zermeno and Emilio Vargas, Martinez was instrumental in establishing the Tejano monument which was unveiled in March 2012.

In 2003, at 70 years old, Martinez started to raise funds and awareness for the bronze monument in a trip on horseback to the state Capitol along U.S. 183.

In 2017, during the League of United Latin American Citizens convention in San Antonio. Martinez was awarded Elderly Person of the Year.

Martinez spent the last years of his life raising money for scholarships for Hispanic students.

Chris Rivera, who served three terms as a Victoria County commissioner, knew Martinez well and called him a "very respected man" who worked for civil rights issues throughout his life.

Rivera said he hopes people will remember Martinez as someone who opened doors for Hispanic people.

Hernan Jaso, a former mayor of Goliad who said he knew the civil rights leader for more than 50 years, called Martinez "one of a kind." Jaso used to ask Martinez for advice throughout his life and will miss his friend.

"He had a heart for people that was unimaginable," he said Monday. "The man stood next to presidents that ended up calling him for advice, and he fought a long life against discrimination and fought for love and truth."