In the Frontlines of the 1960’s

1. Social Resistance & the Emergence of A New Chicana/o Ethos In the Frontlines of the 1960’s

2. The Movement • Brought about a new ethos and institutions to challenge racism and discrimination. • Did not adequately address sexism or homophobia. • 1960 • 3,400,000 Spanish-surnamed people in the Southwest. • Raza per capita income $968 • National average per capita income $2,047

3. The Chicano Movement: Not a Utopia, but a New Ethos Labor • Chávez and Huerta and the United Farm Workers • ‘65 Grape Strike and Boycotts Students and Education • Blow Outs • El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán • El Plan de Santa Barbara Anti-Imperialism • Chicano Moratorium on Vietnam

4. Internal Colonialism • A set of political-economic-cultural principles put in place to govern the social interactions between minority groups and the dominant nation-State. • These systems, ideologies, and dominant beliefs are passed along inter-generationally. Unless a significant counter-force confronts and critiques, nothing changes.

5. Systems and Individuals System As we grow up, we participate in these social systems. We are socialized to believe in dominant constructions of normalcy. Thus, we often time replicate social inequalities and perpetuate institutional discrimination through socialization and following paths of least resistance. Individuals make social system happen. Social systems are constructed by powerful political-economic-cultural forces influenced by the past—previous ideas, institutions, laws, treaties, etc. Individuals

6. Labor Struggles (1960s-1990s) • Did the 1960s Chicano Movement resolve agricultural-labor and land exploitation? • Agricultural sector • Migrant, field, farm workers

7. UFW: The Fight in the Fields Founded by Chávez and Dolores Huerta • 1962, the National Farm Worker’s Association • 1965, Filipino/a workers of Agricultural Worker’s Organizing Committee strike (Larry Itliong) • The right to negotiate contracts • By 1970 12% of the U.S. joins the boycott

8. Farm Labor Organizing Committee • Founded 1967 by Baldemar Velázquez • Child of farm workers • Influenced by 1960s Civil Rights Leaders • “When you impede the rich mans ability to make money, anything is possible.” – Dr. MLK • Cornerstone of FLOC organizing and mobilizing

9. FLOC in action • 1978 Strike • Campbell Soup Strike • 1983 • 550 mile march to Campbell Soup headquarters • 1986 • Victory through a new kind of contract

10. FLOC – A new kind of contract • Contractual agreement involved 3 parties: • Farmworkers • Growers • Food processing corporations • Established the “Dunlop Commission” • a private labor relations board made up of representatives of each of the 3 major parties • Set up grievance procedure for processing and investigating work-related complaints • International Organizing • 1991 – Over 7,000 farmworkers had FLOC contracts • 1993 – International Farm workers rights

11. Teatro Campesino • Luis Valdez • Joined the UFWOC in 1965 • Teatro in the Fields • Teatro as consciousness raising • 1967, to the Larger Movement • Los Vendidos

12. Land Struggle continues • 1963, Reies López Tijerina • Founder of La Alianza Federal de Mercedes (The Federal Alliance of Land Grants) • Significance of Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in the 1960’s • Prison sentence • Political symbolism

13. Educational Struggles (1960s-Present) • Did the 1960s Chicano Movement resolve inequities in educational access and opportunity? • Higher Education • Relevant curriculum • Resources

14. Brown Berets • Mentored by Fr. John Luce, Young Citizens for Community Action • 1968 Support of Los Angeles Student Strike • Leaders arrested with maestro Sal Castro • 9,000 High School Students “Blowout” • Movement spreads throughout Southwest: some demands are met. • Literacy and cultural programs, security, marches.

15. Crusade for Justice (1966) • Founded by Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales • Former Featherweight who went on to work for the Democratic Party (1957) and the War on Poverty (1965) • Cultural Center • Liberation classes, nursery, gym, ballroom, art gallery, library, Police Review Board, social workers, athletic teams, newspaper, bail bond service, theater, dining room and kitchen • Sponsor of the National Chicano Youth Liberation Conferences

16. National Chicano Youth Liberation Conference • Called by Corky Gonzalez and the Crusade for Justice • Drafted El Plan Espiritual de Aztlan • 1) UNITY - all committed to the liberation of La Raza • 2) ECONOMIC SELF DETERMINATION – Driving the exploiter out of our communities • 3) EDUCATION – must be relevant to our people. • 4) INSTITUTIONS – which do not serve the people have no place in the community • 5) SELF-DEFENSE – of the community must rely on the combined strength of the people. • 6) CULTURAL – Our culture unites and educates… [us] towards liberation with one heart and one mind… • 7) POLITCAL LIBERATION – can only come through independent action on our part since the two-party system is the same animal…Where we are a majority, we will control; where we are a minority, we will represent a pressure group….

17. El Plan Espiritual de Santa Barbara • Mexican Americans Youth Organization (MAYO) and Mexican American Student Association (MASA) become MEChA-- El Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán • Socially and Politicize Chicano students to the Ideals of the Movement • Educate Chicanos about Chicano History, Politics, Culture • Education of and for the People • Reality check for Professors and Administrators • Resources to the Barrio

18. Chicano Moratorium on Vietnam • Moratoriums on the war called by Brown Berets throughout 1969 • Chicanos were 10-12% of the U.S. Population, but 19.4% of the casualties in the war • August 29, 1970- Moratorium • 30,000 People attend • Three Chicanos Killed

19. Ruben Salazar & Consequences to Chicano Moratorium • Abruptly ended initial talks of forming a Chican@ Political Party • Ruben Salazar (1928 – 1970) killed by Police • Police fired tear gas canister into the Silver Dollar Lounge • Salazar was a strong ally of Mexican and Chicano communities, reporting on police brutality • Three Chicanos killed • Ruben Salazar killed by Police • Police fired tear gas canister into the Silver Dollar lounge • “What Progress in Thirty Years of Police Community Relations?”

20. A Chicana & Chicano Ethos • …a political ethos is the manner in which a community rationalizes and justifies its political participation in society. The development of that ethos requires that politicians, activists, and other influential individuals within a community assess their historical importance, recognize or decide their class status or statuses, promote their cultural roots, and organize a political agenda (García 8).

21. Identity & Identity Politics Matter • Que Es Chicana/o? • How is Chicana/o DIFFERENT from Latino? Hispanic?

22. C-H-I-C-A-N-O! Not Latino and Not A Hispanic • Chicano was first adopted in 1969 in El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán • The term ‘Chicano’ was initially meant for students of Mexican-American ancestry, pero… To identify as Chicana/o means to be on the side of justice for marginalized working class communities of color. Chicana/o is a political identity rooted in resistance and struggle against the Anglo-American Colonial Project (racism, colonialism, sexism, homophobia, capitalism, imperialism).

23. C-H-I-C-A-N-O in the words of…. • “A Chicano is a Mexican-American with a non-Anglo image of himself.” – Rubén Salazar • “The Anglo press [degrades] the word ‘Chicano’. They use it to divide us. We use it to unify ourselves with our people and with Latin America.” – Reies Tijerina • “The term Chicano became an irritant to some—a reminder that they owe a debt to the past.” – Rodolfo Acuña

24. The Chicana/o Ethos in the Palouse • HEP • MEChA de WSU • Margarita Mendoza de Sugiyama • Setting up Chicano Studies Department at WSU • Grape Boycott • CASHE (1997-present) • AZ Raza Studies Solidarity (2012 – present?)

25. High School Equivalency Program (HEP) • Est. in 1967 with 5/9 students graduating from college • HEP was started up to increase the low numbers of enrolled Chicanas/os in Research-1 universities. • HEP resources provided young Chicana/o farm-migrant students to: • Graduate high school • Enroll in college • And graduate with a college degree. • In 42 years of operation, HEP helped over 3,500 hundred students. • In 2009, HEP lost federal funding and was cut from WSU.

26. MEChA de WSU • HEP Students were integral to student life at WSU and helped to found MEChA. • Margarita Mendoza de Sugiyama and Rudy Cruz were the first two MEChA Co-Chairs. • Movimiento Estudiantíl Chicano/a de Aztlán (MEChA) was created to not only support Chican@ students, but to also work in connection to Chicano Studies programs. • MEChA took El Plan Espiritual to heart and worked to make connections between the community and the University. • MEChA was key to forcing the university to fund a Chicana/o Studies Program.

27. M.E.Ch.A. Spearheaded the Grape Boycott at WSU • Made connections with the Mexican communities in the Yakima Valley. • With the help of Black Student Union, Native American student groups, and progressive white students, MEChA brought the UFW’s Grape Boycott Campaign to Pullman. • Forced Safeway and WSU Dining Services to stop selling non-union grapes.

28. Into the 21st Century • 1997 in order to bring more Chican@ students to the university, MEChA holds the first CASHE conference at WSU. • The organizers hold workshops to introduce high school students to the application process and “nuts and bolts” of university life. • Equally important, they offer workshops stressing community pride, history and knowledges, helping the students to imagine a space where Chican@ students are not only welcome, but can shape the world and university around them • In 2012, MEChA along with other WSU student activists marched against Arizona’s HB 2281 (anti-ethnic studies bill) claiming “No History is Illegal History”

29. Quées Chicana/o in 2014 at WSU?