Although I didn’t personally know my grandfather Guadalupe “Lupe” Flores’ older half-brother Ramsey Muniz, I heard many stories good and bad about his influence in the Hispanic “Chicano”; in his day; community. Tio Ramsey was born in Corpus Christi Texas, where he went to Miller High School, his influences and advocacy toward Minorities as I was told, started here when he organized a protest by all athletes at Miller on behalf of the first African American seeking to be on the cheerleading team. After graduating High School he attended Baylor University on Scholarship where he was a standout on the football field while he obtained his BS degree. He then went on to obtain his Law Degree from the Baylor School of Law. At 29 years old he was the first Hispanic(Latino) Candidate to be on a gubernatorial ballot running as a third party candidate under La Raza Unida (the Race United) in 1972 as well as 1974. He received over 200,000 votes. Due to his popularity he was targeted and watched. He was associating with clients who spoke with him about Importing Marijuana, he felt that he was protected by attorney-client privilege, but he wasn’t. Instead of giving up his client, he took a plea bargain and pleaded guilty, to avoid a humiliating trial. He was charged in two different cities there given two consecutive 5 year sentences he served half in a prison reserved for gang members, and his Law License was revoked. Once he was released he became a paralegal assisting drug defendants to find good legal representation. In 1994 he was meeting with a client in Dallas Texas, unknowing that said client had cut a deal with the Houston DEA. While moving a rental car from one hotel to another for the client he was approached by the DEA and found with 820,000 worth of powder cocaine in the trunk and given life in prison. Three strikes and you’re out or in the case stay in.
Tio Ramsey, served 23 years as a political prisoner, half that being served in solitary confinement because he was too popular with the inmates, because he would talk to them of faith, learning and being proud of who they were. When asked during an interview in LaPrensa.com 3/22/2019 if he felt like his life was wasted in prison his answer is “I made sure I educated and organized the minds, the hearts and the souls of the youth that were in prison so they wouldn’t continue to make the same mistakes in life.” His only request to them was to Never forget and to always speak that they were “Nuestra Raza”(Our Race) be proud of being Mexican American (Chicano).
My parents would tell me stories about how he attended their wedding and loved to dance, hang out with his brothers and extended family. As of now he is currently home with his wife Irma. He got out of prison December 2018, not in good health. He is still sick. His story is one of a targeted politician who was getting to big in a time of racial profiling ( more so than now).
His story, his influence and his strengths resonates with me today. As a Latina, I strive to go as far as I can in order to help our community gain influencers and to show that we are more than just amazing moms and housewives, we are also intelligent and influential Latinx human beings who should be a part of our society to help better the entire community.
For more insight you can definitely go to Google and put his name in, but I urge you to go to
You can also learn about him if you take Mexican American studies classes at some universities.
