Sonia Collazo, trailblazing activist for women and Latinos, has died at 76
She spent 26 years serving the Latino community as a staff member for the Community Relations Division of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations. “She helped you with no strings attached,” her son said.
Sonia Collazo, 76, of Philadelphia, longtime staff member for the Community Relations Division of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, trailblazing activist with Concilio social services and the Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha, teacher, and volunteer, died Tuesday, March 26, of complications from dementia at Silver Stream Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Spring House.
Inspired by her father’s civic involvement in Puerto Rico, determined to serve as an example to others on her native island, and energized by the inequities she found in Philadelphia, Ms. Collazo spent the 1980s, ’90s, and early 2000s as a popular mediator and effective problem-solver for the Latino community in North Philadelphia and elsewhere across the region.
“Her success gave them hope,” her son, Rafael, said, referring to Ms. Collazo’s family and friends, “and her bravery was inspiring.”
She worked for years in the commission’s field office on North Fifth Street and, although discrimination was her focus, residents sought advice about housing, health insurance, jobs, and city services. The practical experience and number of contacts she acquired over 26 years in the community was extensive, and she told The Inquirer in 1998: “I’m not expecting people to hug each other. We just want a sense of understanding about why a situation is taking place and for people to understand each other, or at least respect each other.”
She was a mother to three sons and one of 13 siblings, and she was especially concerned about children and families. So she organized the commission’s first Walk for Peace in 1996 that spotlighted violence against children.
She went on to involve cosponsors in the annual event, added inspirational speakers, and walked with others for years through the Fairhill section of North Philadelphia. “We want people to understand that we are losing our children to violence, and we need to start talking about ways we can get along together,” she told the Daily News before the 1999 Walk for Peace. “We need to listen to the children, hear them talk about their fears and their anger so they can get on with their lives.”
She served as an expert on family, education, and economic services for the Asociación Puertorriqueños en Marcha (the Association of Puerto Ricans on the Move) when it started in 1971, and earlier for Concilio. She retired from the Commission on Human Relations in the mid-2000s and became a networking and presentations coordinator for Congreso de Latinos Unidos.
She also supported other organizations and volunteers who expanded social services, and she championed a new website in 2002 that provided employment information specifically for the Latino community. “I feel so good about it,” she told The Inquirer. “It will open a new world to many people.”
She was honored in 2014 by City Council and in 2013 by the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in New York. “Her faith, caring heart, and a deep belief in the goodness of people led Sonia to serve her community in and out of work,” her family said in a tribute.
She was quoted and featured in The Inquirer, Daily News, aarp.org, and other publications. She taught kindergarten classes for three years at Potter-Thomas Elementary School in North Philadelphia, and future City Council member Maria Quiñones Sánchez was one of her young students.
Former colleagues called Ms. Collazo “a force of hope and possibility in our community” and praised “the amazing examples that she left as a woman and a mother.” Her son Michael said: ”She helped you with no strings attached.”
Sonia Iris Gonzalez was born Feb. 23, 1948, in Orocovis, Puerto Rico. Her father traveled to the mainland while in the military, and she spent time as a child in South Jersey.
She studied at the Universidad Interamericana de Puerto Rico (the Inter American University of Puerto Rico) in Barranquitas and left Puerto Rico in the mid-1960s when an aunt invited her to Philadelphia. She found factory work in the city at first and took classes at Temple University.
She married Ray Collazo, and they had sons Rafael, Michael, and Mario. They later divorced.
Ms. Collazo doted on her family, was close to her three daughters-in-law, and her younger sister, Leida Gonzalez, said she made sure “we always had what we needed. We saw how much she was loved in the community. She taught us kindness and how to be humble.”
She organized Puerto Rican Day parades and Miss Puerto Rico pageants for Concilio, was politically astute, and especially active in Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns. “She found joy in simple things and appreciated the little things,” said her son Rafael.
Her son Michael said: “My mom was also the best human being I have ever known.”
In addition to her sons and former husband, Ms. Collazo is survived by eight grandchildren, five sisters, four brothers, and other relatives. A brother and two sisters died earlier.
Services were held April 3 and 4.
Donations in her name may be made to Love Shouldn’t Hurt Inc., 156 Burmon Dr., Suite 4, Orchard Park, N.Y. 14127; and Taller Puertoriqueño, 2600 N. Fifth Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19133.