Belen Robles with G.W. Bush

Belen Robles meets G. W. Bush in the 1990s. Belen Robles was the fifth child of a family of 10 children born to immigrants who had come to the United States from Mexico in the early 20th century, her father from the state of Chihuahua, her mother from Zacatecas. Attending parochial school at St. Mary’s, she began high school at St. Joseph’s but graduated from Bowie High School in 1955. Three months her graduation, she married Ramiro Robles. While trying to find a job to support the young family, she realized that women were second class citizens, but so were Latinos. In 1957, Robles joined the League of United Latin American Citizens or LULAC, the oldest and largest Latino civil rights organization in the United States. With LULAC, Robles in particular fought for desegregation and education for immigrants and made history when she was elected as the first woman national president of the League. She still is an active member of the LULAC National Board. Also, Robles continues to serve on numerous local and national positions and plays an active role in the corridors of power to ensure that the culture, history and economic conditions of El Paso are not overlooked. She also is President and CEO of Belen Robles & Associates, a public/private consulting firm that offers services on Hispanic issues, public relations, image-enhancement, marketing & diversity training. She received numerous awards and was inducted to the El Paso Women Hall of Fame. Sources: http://epcc.libguides.com/content.php?pid=309255&sid=2891598 http://www.epcc.edu/BoardofTrustees/Pages/BelenRobles.aspx

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