Roberto was an incredible mentor, and I took notes. I learned the sometimes byzantine union protocols crucial for solidarity and coalition building. I learned about labor martyrs, and unions as a great equalizer from his infectious love of labor history movies and books. I learned about loyalty from his deep trust of Cesar’s vision and wisdom. We made a great team – I wrote plans and speeches for him to hold sway in front of inside and outside crowds.

I count our anniversary in late 1991 when we moved to Chicago, where Roberto started his long journey with SEIU. He started with Local 73, which was a fun period of industrial organizing campaigns, where I got a real taste of old school organizing, complete with cartoons of the boss in Spanish, and watched him develop leaders in front of my eyes. When he joined the International, he started focusing on SEIU’s immigration reform agenda, along with many many different campaigns all over the country – some straight up organizing (lots of hospital organizing), and some incredible coalition work, like when he helped organize the 2012 re-enactment of the famous civil rights march from Selma-to-Montgomery, cultivating black and brown solidarity as a bulwark against the anti-immigrant H.B. 56 in Alabama. So many campaigns, so many lives impacted.

I wrote a lot of speeches with him and for him. I did a ton of expense reports (never enough!) for him. I wrote plans and evaluated contracts and analyzed strategy with him. I was essentially an unpaid staffer for 30 years, and happily. He reciprocated with invaluable advice throughout my own organizing projects and work situations, always appreciating the nuances and working toward positive outcomes. I have organized a lot of labor/community coalitions over the years, and every time, I still hear the refrain that he fully internalized from his great lifelong mentor Eliseo Medina – every coalition must include the “seis patitas” – the six feet (presumably a six-legged stool?) – labor, community based orgs, faith based orgs, academia/students, ethnic media & businesses, and sending countries.

Last Saturday the Latino and Latina Roundtable of the San Gabriel and Pomona Valley held their annual pilgrimage in honor of Cesar and Dolores Huerta, led by the great profe Jose Z. Calderon, who deeply understands the spiritual nature of organizing, and the value of recommitting to that core with an annual ritual. Bobby was one of the early mentors of LRT, and often spoke at the annual march. This year I had the honor of speaking on Bobby’s behalf, and helping to plant a tree in his memory – symbolizing all of the leaders we’ve lost this year as well as the hope of future generations. Bobby loved young people. And babies. And mentoring young organizers, more than anything.

I miss his wise counsel so very much. I miss the joy he exuded from organizing. I miss his laugh. I miss his judgement. I miss the stories he would share about organizing and his favorite training tricks (anybody ever seen him use a big “key” as a prop for organizing trainings???), I miss his easy style of organizing everyone in the restaurant, no matter where we went. He was a labor movement giant, and while I wish I could be there in person tonight to see him being honored, it brings me deep comfort to see his legacy celebrated. ¡Que Viva El Bobby!