* At the 1984 Democratic National Convention, Obledo urged Latino delegates to boycott voting on the first ballot as a way of registering dissatisfaction with the presumed presidential nominee, Walter Mondale, for allegedly ignoring issues important to them. When reporters subsequently asked Obledo whether sending that message to Mondale was more important than defeating the incumbent Republican President Ronald Reagan, Obledo replied: “I’m a Democrat and I love my party. But I love my community more.”

* In 1998 President Bill Clinton awarded Obledo the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor. When presenting the award, Clinton said that Obledo had “created a powerful chorus for justice and equality.”

* Janet Murguia, president of the National Council of La Raza, once calledObledo “a man of great principle” and “a visionary who early on in his career worked to bring communities of color together.”

* Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, described Obledo as “a truly inspiring individual and fierce advocate for Latinos in the United States and in Mexico.”