Los Angeles Catholic Worker, "No Blood for Oil" action at LA Federal Building in 1991. |
Longtime peace and justice advocate and faithful friend of the Los Angeles Catholic Worker (LACW), Mary Byers Lopez passed away on May 8, 2011 from complications with Parkinson’s disease. In her younger days, Mary had been a Catholic nun and schoolteacher, but a strong call to social justice drew her to work for many years with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers Union. In 1980, she began to work as a nutrition counselor for South Central Family Health Center, and she also volunteered with the LACW.
Mary heroically participated in the LACW blood and oil protest of the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Numerous individuals received jail sentences ranging from one to three months. At four months, Mary’s sentence was by far the longest; but because of the harshness of the sentence, the story garnered front-page attention in the L.A. Times—the highest profile action of any Persian Gulf War protest.
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