JOSE de la ISLA: Roybal brought new focus to grassroots reforms

“For the past year, I have been editing a forthcoming book by Los Angeles educator Frank Garcia Berumen about former California Congressman Edward R. Roybal. Our discussions about that book often sought to balance the personal with the public side of Roybal’s life. The whole time, Frank and I knew we were racing against the clock. That clock ran out Oct. 24 when Roybal died at age 89.

In the coming years, the need for a monumental history may overtake our project about Roybal’s life and legacy. George Clooney’s movie “Good Night and Good Luck” will draw sympathetic attention to how he was vilified as a “commie” at Los Angeles City Hall in the 1940s. It’s the way some people are termed “liberals” in parts of the country now for standing for social justice and suggesting that government should act in the public interest.”

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