Sandra Castro and Sheriff Joe

Sandra Castro poses for a photo in her home in Tempe Arizona. Photo by Branden Eastwood

It was late February 2009, and the crowd was itching to get a move on. They were headed down Central Avenue to Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s Wells Fargo office. The people in attendance were ready to get hopped up on their own adrenaline, listen to speeches and scream obscenities at a man in a large building.

Many in the crowd at Indian Steele Park had spent the first part of the day watching the various attractions that go on at gatherings like this, such as a person in a bobble-headed Arpaio costume pretend to get flogged with a Wiffle bat by cackling youngster. Others, like Sandra Castro, had been making sure the protest was going to happen smoothly.

Castro is a 21-year-old history and justice major at ASU. And until last semester, she was a regional co-chairman for Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán, or MEChA. The group is devoted to fighting Chicano social issues through education, organization and solidarity. But they have also been called radicals by some of their opponents.

On that day, Castro helped to lead the protesters to Arpaio’s office. She held a large megaphone and goaded the crowd into a chorus of chants. “No justice, no peace. No racist police,” She yelled into the megaphone; protesters followed.

There was no violence during the march. In that sense Castro, and others planning the protest, had been successful.

Castro became involved in social issues, especially immigration reform, because her mother immigrated to the United States. Now she sees herself pursuing a career in civil rights law and voicing social injustice.

“She is really energetic and committed to what we are doing,” says Salvador Reza, a local activist who has worked with Castro. “She does a lot of organizing on her own.”

Castro moved to Phoenix from Los Angeles three years ago. Her mom wanted to own a house and Castro wanted a fresh start. When Castro came to Phoenix she says she couldn’t believe some of the things that were happening in the Valley.

“It’s like I was walking into either the wild wild west or a segregated society,” Castro says. “And then I found out about Joe Arpaio … I was kinda like, why isn’t anyone fighting back? If this happened in L.A. there would be a riot.”

Castro has made it her personal mission to see that everywhere “America’s Toughest Sheriff” wears his badge and walks on two legs there is a herd of protesters. For the past year, nearly every day for an hour, she has protested with others outside of Arpaio’s Wells Fargo office. And, just recently, Arpaio learned that he and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office might be looking for a new home.

“It’s taken us a year to get him out of the Wells Fargo,” Castro says. “It’s going to take a while to get him out of Maricopa.”

And it seems Castro will not be content until she has heckled the Sheriff right into retirement.

Apart from filling the Wells Fargo square with a steady flow of chants and insults, Castro has helped organize some of the biggest Arpaio protests in the Valley. Most recently, she help put together last January’s march, which involved several people being maced by police officers; ASU students were also arrested.

When Arpaio was drowned out by a spin off of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” at the Cronkite School on the Downtown campus, Castro and her people were there. They stood silently inside during Arpaio’s interview, holding banners from the second floor that read, “No police state” and “Education not intimidation,” as well as one artists rendering of Sheriff Joe in Nazi garb.

Castro will even be taking the battle outside of Arizona. Zack del la Rocha, lead singer for Rage Against the Machine, is helping to fund a traveling protest that will make several stops along the way to Washington DC. For two weeks in mid-March, Castro and other MECha members will take to the highway in order spread the word about Arizona’s immigration problems. Then, in DC, they will try to raise awareness with all of the suited hustlers and elected officials in the Capitol.

“Education is crucial for people to inform themselves and change what they thought they believed,” Castro says.

Castro has watched her friends get handcuffed and shuttled off to jail. She has devoted hours and hours to her cause, but she says she draws inspiration and support from her mother. And along with her mother, she gets support from Reza, one of her idols.

Reza has protested and marched with Castro. He has been involved with MeChA since the 1970s when he was a student. Fighting the abuse of humans will last a lifetime, Reza says. He hopes that Castro will continue to fight for the rest of her life.

“She is on the right path,” Reza says. “I would like her to continue to study as much as she can and continue to be apart of the community. One demonstration will not change the whole world. It’s a constant struggle. I am proud of her.”

Contact the reporter at wphippen@asu.edu