Obledo was born in
San Antonio, Texas. His parents were Mexican immigrants and he was one of 12 children. He earned a
pharmacy degree from the
University of Texas at Austin in 1957 and a law degree from
St. Mary's University in San Antonio in 1960. For three years he was a Texas assistant attorney general. In 1967, Obledo was a co-founder of the
Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), and was the organization's first general counsel. In 1970, facing pressure from the
Ford Foundation, MALDEF's most important funding source, due to the organization's perceived "militant" positions, MALDEF moved its headquarters from San Antonio to
San Francisco, California, and Obledo replaced Pete Tijerina as executive director. Obledo served in that position until 1973, pursuing a strategy of involving MALDEF in employment and language rights litigation and conceiving the organization's role as a "law firm for the Latino community." After MALDEF, Obledo taught at
Harvard Law School, where he was working in 1974 when California's newly elected governor
Jerry Brown asked him for assistance in recruiting potential cabinet officers. Brown then offered Obledo the position of health and welfare secretary, making him at that time California's highest ranking
Mexican American official. Obledo served in that position from 1975 until 1982, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful run for the Democratic nomination for governor. After an extended period outside the public spotlight, Obledo re-emerged as a public activist in the late 1990s, and was noted, among other activities, for protesting against anti-immigrant advertising, and promoting a boycott of the
Taco Bell chihuahua for its stereotypical Mexican accent. President
Bill Clinton presented Obledo with the
Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1998, describing him as having "created a powerful chorus for justice and equality." Obledo died on August 18, 2010, in
Sacramento, California, following a heart attack, at the age of 78. ==References==