Meet the 'Chief Revolutionary West of the Pecos'

Geraldine Amato's beat-up Chevrolet Malibu Classic sporting a slew of slogans, luggage carrier and New Mexico plate is a familiar sight around Ferndale.

The vehicle bears witness to the 72-year-old's political activism and bids for office during the 42 years Amato lived in Albuquerque before becoming a "longtime visitor" in Southfield where she lives with one of her daughters, she said.

"I felt isolated in New Mexico and I'm getting older," Amato said of retiring from advocacy and moving to the Midwest; her other daughter lives in Ohio.

The New Jersey native, whose business card identifies her as "Chief Revolutionary West of the Pecos," said she unsuccessfully ran for the offices of mayor, sheriff and district attorney – although she does not possess a legal degree – in Albuquerque.

The Albuquerque Journal reports Amato also was a fixture during the public comment periods of government meetings.

Amato said many of her political views are expressed in the book "The Constitution That Never Was: How the American People Have Been Conned by Lawyers" by Ralph Boryszewski. In short, she expressed the opinion that the federal government has usurped the rightful authority of local sheriffs and juries; criticism of the family court system; and a fondness for 18th-century political philosopher Patrick Henry.

"We are now federal subjects with civil rights, which they allow us to have and say they are going to protect and they don't," Amato said Tuesday as she waited with her gray-muzzled canine companion for her groceries to be loaded into her car outside the Natural Food Patch in Ferndale.

The slogans on Amato's vehicle urge unity and care for the land and animals, as well as more revolutionary sentiments, including a saying by Emiliano Zapata Salazar, leader of the Zapatista movement in Mexico: "Es mejor morir de pie que vivir de rodillas."

Amato said the loose translation from Spanish is: "It's better to die on your feet than to live crawling on your knees."