Full Biography

Carlos Montes was born December 28, 1947 in El Paso, Texas while his family lived in Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.  He lived his early childhood in the border town of Juarez, in 1956 his family moved to South Los Angeles, the Florencia area, and later to Boyle Heights and East LA. His father worked in a factory assembly line manufacturing coffee tables as a member of the Carpenters union industrial section and Union Steward.

His grandfather Alejandro Alvarado was a member of Pancho Villa’s revolutionary army, and his family was raised with stories told by his mother of the Mexican revolution.

Carlos experienced the racist teachers, and police abuse growing up in the overcrowded schools of South LA and ELA. He graduated from Miramonte Elementary School, Hollenbeck Junior High School and Garfield High School. At GHS he was a member of the marching band and several student clubs. He was a member of the cross-country team. The love of music and marching band kept him in school and barely graduated.

At ELA College Carlos joined MASA Mexican American Student Association in 1967, after participating in student government. Founded the La Vida Nueva Chicano student group at ELAC who organized and fought to get one of the first Chicano studies Departments at ELAC now one of the largest in Southern California. Part of founding MECHA, Movimiento Estudiantil de Aztlán, Chicano student organization still active today.

During college worked as a Teen Post Director in Lincoln Heights on Broadway where he met Father John Luce of the Church of the Epiphany and Eliazar Risco, Editor of La Raza newspaper. There he got introduced to the Young Chicanos for Community Action and La Pyrana Coffee House in ELA where the Brown Berets were started. He was a leader and one of the founders of the original Brown Berets and became the Minister of Information, the spokesperson for the group.

As a leader in the Brown Berets organized the first protest at the ELA Sheriff's police station against police brutality in the winter of 1967. Started organizing car clubs and gangs in ELA against LA Sheriffs police abuse.

Helped to lead the Brown Berets, a Chicano revolutionary group fighting for self determination, into a national organization with chapters in the Southwest.

Was a leader and organizer in the historic ELA Walkouts in March of 1968 which led to major reforms and changes in the LAUSD and similar actions in the Southwest. Was indicted by a secret LA County Grand Jury and arrested for conspiracy to disrupt the school system with many other charges in what became known as the ELA 13 case; charges later dropped. HBO released the movie Walk Out in March 2006.

Participated in the Poor People's Campaign in the summer of 1968 with the original Rainbow Coalition at the invitation of Martin Luther King and the SCLC, where he met other Chicano groups like the Crusade for Justice and Alianza, and established relationships with Corky Gonzales and Reies Lopez Tijerina and others. Was arrested at the White House leading a youth protest demanding jobs and education. He also met and was impressed by the Black leadership of SCLC; met Jesse Jackson, and the reverend Ralph Abernathy and Jose Williams.

Participated in the first National Chicano Youth Liberation Conference in 1968 in Denver Colorado where the Plan Espiritual de Aztlan was formulated; and the demand for self determination for the Chicano Nation was popularized.

Visited the mountains of New Mexico with Reies Lopez Tijerina to see firsthand self government with the Alianza Federal de Mercedes. Met with Chicano farmers who had led the armed raid on Tierra Amarilla on June 7, 1967.

Worked to forge alliances with the Black Panther Party and supported the Free Huey Newton political prisoner’s campaign.  Worked with Bunchy Carter and John Huggins of the Black Panther Party LA Chapter and established Black and Brown relations.

Participated in organizing the first Chicano Moratorium on December 20, 1969 against the war in Vietnam. To protest the high casualty rate of Chicano men in Vietnam. He burned his draft card. This then led to the historic August 29, 1970 National Chicano Moratorium when over 20,000 Chicanos protested the high casualty of Chicanos in the Vietnam War, and Ruben Salazar was killed by the LA County Sheriffs.

 The Brown Berets and Carlos faced the repression of the LAPD and the LA Sheriffs. He was arrested over 12 times on false charges beaten and threats made against his life by the LAPD PDID Sgt. Lee Ceballos police. He was indicted with 10 others for conspiracy to commit arson at a protest against then Governor Reagan in 1969 at the famous Biltmore Hotel in LA; during a conference on education. A police provocateur Fernando Sumaya hired by the LAPD infiltrated the Brown Berets and advocated violence and started a fire in a men’s restroom at the hotel which led to the Grand Jury indictment for arson against the Chicano activists. All had the charges dropped or were found not guilty. Carlos went underground in Mexico. Carlos went to trial in November 1979 and was found not guilty in a jury trial.

Carlos was married to Olivia Velasquez, from Boyle Heights, in January 1970. Due to the heavy repression and threats Carlos and Olivia went underground and lived in Mexico in 1970. Later they settled in the Juarez El Paso area and did labor and community organizing. They participated in the famous Farah strike of 1972 with 5,000 mostly Chicanas for union recognition; and the Partido de La Raza Unida campaign for governor of Ramsey Muniz. Carlos worked in El Paso as a carpenter with the International Brotherhood of Carpenters building public housing. He was elected a Trustee to the Carpenters union. Also, as a maintenance mechanic at Farah textile plant, as a steel worker at Phelps Dodge copper refinery, and Thomson General Hospital as a maintenance mechanic. Always advocating for worker and labor rights.

Carlos and wife Olivia raised a family, a son Reies and daughter Felicia, in El Paso and lived there until his re-arrest on May 29, 1977 after arriving in LA.

A Free Carlos Montes Committee led a two-year battle to free Carlos. In 1979 after a two-month trial he was found not guilty of all changes in the old Biltmore conspiracy to commit arson case. The committee linked his case to the movement to free all political prisoners such as Geronimo Pratt, a former Black Panther and the case of two AIM members Sky Horse and Mohawk.

Carlos and his former wife Olivia raised two children Felicia who is a cultural activist, with Mujeres de Maíz, In Lak Ech, a teacher and union organizer; their son Reies is a local firefighter and active in his union.

Carlos was active in both campaigns of Latinos for Jackson 84 88. He ran as a delegate for Jackson and attended the 1984 Democratic convention in San Francisco.

Carlos joined the Community Service Organization and became a Board member of the LA Chapter of CSO and also on the Board of the CSO Credit Union. In CSO in the early 1990’s Carlos was part of several campaigns against police killings by the LA County Sheriffs; the cases of Smoky Jimenez and David Angel Ortiz killed by the LA County Sheriffs. Also, part of the reform campaign of the LA Sheriff’s Department during the Koltz Commission.

He was a leader in the reorganizing and the 20th commemoration of the National Chicano Moratorium in 1990 where over 5,000 people marched and rallied the historic route to Salazar Park and opposed the first war on Iraq

In the late 1990’s the old Community Service Organization, CSO was reorganized into the Centro CSO with a re commitment to grassroots organizing. Under the leadership of Carlos, the Centro CSO with local parents from Boyle Heights, led a Clean Schools Campaign which won several victories for Bridge Street and other local schools. He helped to initiate the Schools Not War campaign demanding a new high school in Boyle Heights to relieve the overcrowding at Roosevelt HS, and an end to military recruitment on the campus. Winning a new school, Mendez Learning Complex, now built at the corner of First and Mission Street in Boyle Heights. Later Torres HS in ELA.

Helped found the Latinos Against War group in 2003, which led marches and teach-ins in ELA and supported the city-wide opposition to the war in Iraq and fought against the racist military recruitment in the high’s schools of young Latinos.

In May 2004 he joined SEIU 660 as a Field Representative organizer was assigned to the LA County Health Department where he fought for worker rights and helped found the SEIU International Latino Caucus.  He was later assigned to the LACUSC Medical Center where he organized Black, Latino and Asian members to unite and work together to improve working conditions. In 2004 he helped organize and initiate a large march and rally demanding Legalization and end to the ICE raids at the 10-year anniversary of the mass protest against the racist 187 State initiative. Carlos participated in the La Placita Working Group and then attended the Riverside Immigration conference that called for a mass march against the Sensenbrenner bill. He pushed SEIU 660 and other locals to support the March 25 and May 1 mega marches for immigrant rights and against the Sensenbrenner bill that attacked immigrants. These marchers were massive and historic in 2006. In February 2007 Carlos was fired with 14 other SEIU staff, during the SEIU merger takeover and moved to a top down management, staff run, and management labor cooperation union initiated by Andy Sterns, International President.

Carlos joined the March 25 Coalition in early 2007 and became a full-time independent organizer to help organize the May 1 actions for immigrants’ rights.  In 2007 he helped organize several marches, rallies and was arrested for civil disobedience protesting the ICE raids and supporting Elvira Arellano, an immigrant rights leader, who was deported August 18, 2007

Active with Latinos Against War, and Fight Back News. He worked 2008 on the campaign to defeat McCain and the fight for immigration reform and end the racist ICE raids. Participated in the major protest march against the RNC on September 1, 2008. The FBI began to infiltrate the March on the RNC Committee and the local Anti-War Committee which Carlos endorsed and helped mobilize.

He was part of the steering committee of the Southern California Immigration Coalition demanding full legalization and an end to ICE repression working toward the May 1, March and rally. Also, a lead organizer on the Justice for Manuel Jaminez Xum killing by LAPD officer Hernandez on September 5, 2010. Manuel a Mayan worker from Guatemalan was shot twice in the head without justification. SCIC demanded a transparent independent investigation and the firing and prosecution of LAPD police Hernandez.  www.immigrationcoalition.org

He also worked in early 2009 with Maya Entertainment promoting the new science fiction film” Sleep Dealer” dealing with the impact of imperialism on immigration and repression on Mexico.

Currently he is on the Steering Committee member/organizer with Centro (CSO) Community Service Organization organizing parents to promote public education and to resist the privatization attack by charter schools in ELA.  

Centro CSO have organized and supported families whose sons have been killed by LAPD Hollenbeck station and the ELA Sheriff station. Some well-known cases Jose Mendez killed by LAPD Hollenbeck February 6 2016,Edwin Rodriguez killed by ELA Sheriff's February 14, 2016,Jesse Romero 14-year-old student killed by LAPD August 9, 2016 and Anthony Vargas killed by ELA Sheriff's August 12th 2018.

Currently working with Centro CSO in Boyle Heights organizing with families who have lost sons to LAPD Hollenbeck killings (5) in 2016 and (2) in 2017 (1) in 2018, with one survivor. Also work with parents and teachers to fight against the privatization of LAUSD public schools.  And continue the fight for immigration reform. Founder of the annual May Day in Boyle Heights march and rally.

In October 2012 he was elected to the Boyle Heights Neighborhood Council and chaired the Transportation Environment Committee. This committee has initiated several pro immigrants’ rights resolutions in support of driver’s licenses for the undocumented and end to the police car impounds of unlicensed drivers. He was elected President of the BHNC were he led progressive active agenda calling for CA drivers licenses for the undocumented and the closing of Exide a battery recycling plant that polluted the East Area with lead.

Carlos has led Centro CSO to join forces with BLM-LA in a campaign to expose the high number of police killings of Black and Chicanos in the LA area. Carlos helped organize Chicano families who have been victims of police killings in the Boyle Heights and ELA area. Carlos and Centro CSO were part of the years long campaign to oust DA Jackie Lacey for her failure to prosecute police in the high number of killings of Blacks and Latinos.

Carlos is also currently an organizer and writer for Fight Back News a pro peace, pro labor, & pro civil rights paper: www.fightbacknews.org in addition to his leading role in Centro CSO.