Arturo Jennings Griffiths Jr

Arturo Griffiths Jr. long-time community organizer, political activist, and mentor, passed away in Washington, D.C. on June 18, 2025 at the age of 76 due to complications from heart failure and diabetes. Among his many accomplishments over a lifetime of service to the Latino community, Arturo (elected Festival President 1988-1990) organized the first Latino event, Fiesta DC, to be held on the National Mall in 1989. This Festival brought together hundreds of thousands of people to celebrate their heritage with a parade of nations, hundreds of food booths, and musical performances from throughout Latin America.

In 1964, together with his mother Fulvia Garcia and brothers and sisters, Arturo immigrated from Panama to Washington, D.C. His father, Arturo Griffiths Sr., had immigrated earlier and was active in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. He was a Mayoral candidate in the first D.C. Home Rule election (1974).

As a teenager, Arturo Jr. co-founded the Latin American Youth Center (1968), an innovative program recognized nationally for helping Latino youth achieve the skills and self-confidence to make a successful transition to adulthood. For many years, Arturo also worked as a field organizer, fighting for workers' rights, for the SEIU International, Local 500, and the local hotel and restaurant workers union, where Latinos were a large percentage of the workforce. As an Afro-Latino, Arturo believed strongly in building bridges among different ethnic and racial groups. His goal was always to create dialogue among these groups. Together with his sister Yasmin Garabito, Arturo created the Afro-Latino Institute (1980s). In 1992, after the Mount Pleasant riots that rocked the Capitol, Arturo organized a city-wide Multicultural Leadership Summit, a coalition of groups to address community concerns like housing, health care, and economic development.

He was a long-time advocate of the rights of low-income tenants and day laborers. For decades, Arturo played a prominent role in fighting to open space in the DC metropolitan area for Latino immigrants. He coordinated and led the Save Our Cities, Save Our Children! March (1992) and the mobilization of "Jobs for Youth" campaigns. Recognized as a forceful leader, he organized hundreds of immigrant workers to march for the Change to Win minimum wage campaigns of the 2010s. In 2014, together with a group of day laborers, he founded Trabajadores Unidos de Washington DC (TUWDC) to advocate for the growing number of day laborers (many of them immigrants from Central and South America). He ran twice as a candidate for the D.C. City Council (1994 and 2000) and was elected to serve once on the Mt. Pleasant ANC (2014). Often referred to as the Mayor of Mt. Pleasant, Griffiths led the Amigos Park Coalition for 14 years. His goal was to restore the open fenced-in space at the corner of Kenyon and Mt. Pleasant Streets, NW, and create a community-managed public place that would be a point of pride in Mt. Pleasant.

Arturo was a visionary leader who campaigned relentlessly on behalf of community empowerment. He was fearless in his commitment, advocacy for systemic change, and personal integrity. Beginning in the 1960s, Arturo inspired a new DC immigrant generation to assert their Latino presence in the nation's capital. His dream was always to create a national Latino/Caribbean Festival led by a parade of nations with carrozas, music, and food along Constitution Ave and the Washington Mall. He was dearly beloved by the many people whose lives he touched. Young people often said about Arturo that "he made me see the world differently." His legacy lives on through all the people he so generously mentored throughout his life.

Arturo is survived by his long-time partner and collaborator, Lois Athey, son Javier Griffiths, daughter-in-law Becca Sharp, and granddaughter Isabel Griffiths. His family includes his sister Delia Navarro of Orlando, Florida, and brother Enrique Griffiths of Panama. He is also survived by nieces, nephews, and many cousins.

Funeral services are pending.

Those wishing to donate in Arturo's honor can contribute to the following DC non-profit organizations:

Donations to Amigos Park or Amigos Park Coalition can be made online at greenspacesfordc.org/projects/amigos-park or by a check written to Green Spaces for DC sent to DC Green Spaces Alliance, 1102 Monroe St. NW, Washington, DC 20010

Donations to the Latin American Youth Center can be made online at layc-dc.org/donate or by sending a check to 1419 Columbia Rd. NW, Washington, DC 20009

Donations to Trabajadores Unidos de Washington DC (TUWDC) can be made online at www.tuwdc.org/donate or by sending a check to 1419 V St. NW, #305, Washington, DC 20009