We Won't Back Down: Severita Lara's Rise from Student Leader to Mayor (Hispanic Civil Rights)

Civil rights leader Jose Gutierrez chronicles the life of Severita Lara, a little-known female activist in the Hispanic Civil Rights Movement. Lara's ascent from a willful child to the mayor of Crystal City, Texas all began with the Crystal City High student walkout in 1969.

JOSÉ ANGEL GUTIÉRREZ is the author of a memoir for young adults The Making of a Civil Rights Leader: José Angel Gutiérrez (Piñata Books, 2005); two works of social commentary, A Chicano Manual on How to Handle Gringos (Arte Público Press, 2003) and A Gringo Manual on How to Handle Mexicans (Arte Público Press, 1998); and a memoir for adults, The Making of a Chicano Militant (University of Wisconsin Press, 1998). He is the editor and translator of Reies López Tijerina’s autobiography, They Called Me King Tiger (Arte Público Press, 2000). The founder and former director of the Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas at Arlington, he is a professor of Political Science at the University of Texas at Arlington. He also practices law in Dallas, Texas, where he lives with his family.