How did the life and legacy of Philadelphia civil rights pioneer Gloria Casarez inspire a generation of organizers and activists?

As a leader, Chicana, Lesbiana, and Philadelphia native, Gloria Casarez led efforts around public safety, education, economic development, health, homelessness, and city services. Organizing for Political and Social Action documents Casarez’s lifetime of community organizing, which left indelible imprints on the LGBTQ+ and Black and Brown communities of Philadelphia. As well as leader of the Latinx social justice organization GALAEI, Casarez was the first Director of LGBT affairs in the city where she instituted the broadest LGBTQ protections in the country.

Hoping to capture the collective vision Gloria’s leadership evoked, a world which centred justice, author Nic Rodriguez Villafañe explores her enduring legacy after her untimely death in 2014, demonstrating the ways in which she inspired a generation of leaders, organizers and activists across diverse identities and experiences.

Part community biography, part vision for social justice, this book is ideal reading for students of Chicanx and Latinx Studies, Queer and LGBT+ Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, History, and American Studies, as well as leaders, activists, and community organizers.

Nic Rodriguez Villafañe is a PhD Candidate at University of California, San Diego. They are co-editor for Common Notions Press anthology Sana, Sana: Latinx Pain and Radical Visions for Healing & Justice and a former Leeway Foundation Arts & Change grant recipient.