Juanita, widely known as La Mujer, the woman, was an ardent Chicana feminist. Her activism spanned equal rights for women, enfranchisement for people of color, racial equality, gender equality, and the rights and entitlements for those marginalized. She was also a staunch proponent of Mexican cultural preservation and the Spanish language, which she was prohibited from speaking as a child. Her foray into activism began with her brother’s successful campaign for the 51st Assembly District in 1962. As an officer of a Latina women’s organization, Comisión Femenil Mexicana Nacional, she attended the 1977 National Hispanic Heritage Week conference in the White House. There, she was photographed shaking hands with President Jimmy Carter. A year later, she marched for women’s equal rights in Washington D.C. during the ERA movement. While serving as national president of CFMN in 1980, Juanita attended the International Festival of Women Artists in Copenhagen, Denmark. Another one of her crowning achievements was in 1985, when she co-founded and directed Casa Victoria, a residential treatment program for adolescent girls who had been involved in the juvenile justice system. She was especially passionate about teenage girls and, over the years, facilitated many conferences and writing seminars for aspiring teens. During the mid-2000s, she wrote a politically relevant memoir of her mother’s life as a Mexican immigrant during the mid-1920s. The book’s title is Scarred by Scandal, Redeemed by Love: The Triumph of an Unwed Mother. Juanita was also my wife for more than four decades.