Mexican American Political Association

Mexican American Political Association

Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) is an organization that promotes the interests of Mexican-Americans, Mexicans, Latinos, Chicanos, Hispanics and Latino economic refugees in the United States.

The Mexican American Political Association (MAPA) was organized by 150 volunteer delegates at Fresno in April 1960 as a means to elect Mexican American candidates to public office. Edward R. Roybal, later elected to the United States House of Representatives, served as its first chair/president. Throughout the 1960s, MAPA was active in the Civil Rights Movement and the Chicano political movement. MAPA members also aided Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers in political and labor negotiations. They also realized their first electoral victories that year. During the 1970s, MAPA saw more successful campaigns by Mexican American candidates, but also won important appointments in the administration of California Governor Jerry Brown. The 1980s were characterized by continued efforts to elect Mexican American candidates, and in the 1990s MAPA was a co-filer of the suit against Proposition 187.

MAPA is a grass roots-based coalition with an organizational structure that functions as a collective of communal circles working together, at different levels, towards political empowerment, self-determination and sustainability of the Latino community’s future.

MAPA is officially a non-partisan organization and welcomes members of any political affiliation. Currently, members partake in various parties including Democrat, Republican, Green, Peace and Freedom as well as others. The association is composed of members of Mexican, Chicano, Latino and Meso-Native American heritage. Although the majority of members are Democrats as it is the case with most Latinos in the United States, all members understand the common issues that must be tackled to ensure a healthy and strong future for all Latinos in the United States.

...
Wikipedia