Dozens pay tribute to longtime SA civil rights activist

Jaime Martinez remembered as champion for immigration, workers' rights

SAN ANTONIO – Dozens of people lined the streets on the city's West Side Thursday to say goodbye to longtime civil rights activist Jaime Martinez.

People chanted, sang songs and held up a clenched power fist as a hearse slowly made its way along Laredo Street to South Navidad Street and down Jaime P. Martinez Place, which was named after the champion of immigration and workers' rights.

Related: Condolences pour in after death of civil rights activist Jaime Martinez

"We see. We feel. Jaimie is present," the crowd chanted in Spanish.

"When a person leaves their stamp behind, a stamp that is very positive, like his, with a beautiful history like Jamie's history, then, it's only proper that we do something significant, something symbolic, something we can talk about for a long time," LULAC Concilio Zapatista executive director Henry Rodriguez said.

Martinez was remembered for founding the Cesar E. Chavez Legacy and Educational Foundation, the annual Cesar E. Chavez March for Justice. He is also credited for getting Durango Street changed to Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard.

Following the procession, a private funeral service was held at Porter Loring Mortuaries.

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About the Authors

David Ibañez has been managing editor of KSAT.com since the website's launch in October 2000.

Garrett Brnger is a reporter with KSAT 12.

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