User:Sggiraffe/Tupac Enrique Acosta

Lead
Tupac Enrique Acosta was an educator and activist who assisted in the creation of Tonatierra, a Indigenous Peoples organization in Phoenix, Arizona. Born in 1952 in San Antonio Texas, Acosta grew up with the Chicano Movement of the early 70s which shaped his activism and led him to his involvement in Tolleson, AZ farmworker strikes in the late 70s. He spent decades travelling to various Continental Indigenous Summits and was well-known among Indigenous activists for his work in the US and beyond.

Tupac Enrique Acosta, originally referred to as Enrique Acosta, switched names in representation of Incan leader, Túpac Amaru. Acosta was also known as Tupac Huehuecoyotl after Huehuecoyotl, a náhuatl word meaning ancient coyote.

Works
The Maricopa County Organization Project in the 1970s involved strikes of undocumented workers in the Phoenix area. The Maricopa County Organization Project changed its name to Tonatierra Community Development in 1993. Acosta assisted in carrying out and leading this project. In 1990 he went to Quito, Ecuador to participate in the First Continental Encounter of Indigenous Nations, Pueblos and Organizations. In 2004 Acosta and the organization Tonatierra helped organize and lead several events over the week to celebrate Indigenous People's Day on March 11.

In 2009, Acosta led a two day long ceremonial run with elders, and Raza participants from Tucson to Phoenix. This run was in opposition of Senate Bill 1069, that wished to ban Raza and ethnic studies for grade school students in Arizona. In 2010 Acosta participated in protests in Arizona against the anti-immigration Senate Bill 1070.

He was also a supporter of free, prior, and informed consent for communities and submitted a statement on behalf of Tonatierra discussing this in February of 2023 while the UNOHCHR was discussing the impact of new climate protection technologies. Free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) is a principle that is still being solidified in law internationally. The UN Workshop on Indigenous Peoples, Private Sector Natural Resource, Energy and Mining Companies and Human Rights held in 2001 recognized the lack of universal agreement about FPIC and the need to establish human rights standards.

Death and Memorial
Tupac Enrique Acosta passed away due to cancer at the age of 71 in November of 2023. A memorial was held by Acosta's family at the Huhugam Heritage Center with hundreds of people attending. Special permission had to be granted for this ceremony to be held here as typically this heritage center only permits access to tribe members. The Huhugam Heritage Center is usually only open to members of the Akimel O’otham and the Piipaash tribes but Shannon Rivers and other intermediaries for the Center stated that Acosta was "A warrior for our people. Not just for the O'odham people, but for all indigenous peoples," which is why they allowed an open service.

Feedback from instructor
Good start! Keep fleshing out the description of his work as you continue your background research. Also, be sure to fix some of the references, which are not fully formatted yet. Explain what the Huhugam Heritage Center is. Think about adding links to other Wikipedia articles as appropriate (for example, check if these have Wikipedia articles, Huehuecoyotl, náhuatl, Maricopa County Organization Project, Senate Bill 1069, Senate Bill 1070). Saguaro23 (talk) 02:59, 14 March 2024 (UTC)