LaChicanada

By YSIDRO R MACIAS

Writing as a 26 year-old Chicano graduate student at Berkeley in 1971, Macias reviews the political history of the Chicano/Mexican community from 1948-1971. Discussed are the post World War II Mexican/Chicano organizations, the Red Scare, Early Stirrings, Delano & the Huelga, the Alianza, the birth of the Chicano Student Movement (1967-

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ysidro Ramon Macias
• Release date: Jan 2, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869004680

Book preview

Acknowledgment

Sometimes things are just meant to be, as the Great Spirit moves energies from seemingly unlikely places.  Such is the case with the publication of LaChicanada.  The unlikely energies began when a FB Chicana friend from New Mexico pestered me for a copy of LaChicanada, which she had seen on my author’s page on Amazon.  I informed her that I had no idea where Amazon had secured that information from, and doubted whether I still had my own copy of LaChicanada.  Over several years, she frequently inquired about a copy.

In 2023, LaChicanada suddenly appeared, in a box full of 1960-1970’s movimiento mementos.  But it was clunky, with handwriting everywhere, and written with a typewriter; not clean and digitized.  It was also a 25-year political analysis of the Chicano community written in 1971 by a 26-year-old graduate student.  For me, it wasn’t worth publishing.

But my FB nueva mexicana amiga, Margarita Sanchez, wouldn’t take no for an answer.  From the barrios of Belen, where she raises chivos, she declared a right to have her copy.  You know how these Chicanas can be.  A huevo, not only are you gonna get your copy, but this Acknowledgment is my way of saying gracias to Margarita for her perseverance in seeing LaChicanada humbly join our historical library.

2024 Foreword

1971 was a good year, when I wrote LaChicanada while living in the Mission District of San Francisco.  I had been in the Bay area since March of 1968; attending Berkeley as a transfer student from Santa Monica City College (SMCC).  Before SMCC, since my discharge from the Army in the summer of 1965, I had taken night classes at Los Angeles City College.

Having already served three years, gave me the freedom to act politically within the newly emerging Chicano Student Movement, without fear of being drafted for any political activity, and going off to the war in Vietnam.  This distinguished me from many Chicanos, who had to temper their involvement in an event, by considering the potential impact to their draft/financial aid status. I had no such restraints; to the contrary, being a vet brought with it new benefits, like monies from the GI Bill.

In 1971, I was 26 years old when I wrote LaChicanada.  This effort was done on an IBM ball typewriter, double-spaced; without re-writing any portion of the document.  It was submitted as essentially culminating my Master’s degree from Berkeley in June of 1971.  Of the five books I have published since, all of them have required major, and repetitive, re-writing and revisions. 

LaChicanada is thus a virgin, in that it has never been re-written; and I have purposely refrained from doing any revisions in this publication. The original document, as written back in 1971, remains the same.

Reading the document for the first time in over 50 years, I have to remind myself that I was very young when it was written.  I was also writing in the moment, describing the various events/aspects of the movimiento as they were evolving around me, rather than from a perspective of documenting any events towards a long-range or historical view.  Included in the perspective of being 26 years old, was a disdain for law enforcement.  My personal history in the movimiento prior to 1971, had involved several jail stints, and a witnessing/experiencing of abusive police actions.

I was a graduate student when I wrote LaChicanada.  A year later, as a professor at Santa Clara University, I would meet Andres Segura Granados, the Mexica capitan de la danza who would become my mentor in indigenismo, which is the subject of all five books I have written to date.  But this influence was yet to manifest in my life, so it does not appear in LaChicanada.

This 2024 Foreword thus allows me the opportunity to discuss personal events from 1965 through 1971, that led to the formation of my thoughts in writing this piece.  The events that I personally experienced between 1965 through 1971 totally defined my identity and commitment to the Chicano community and movimiento. Experiencing these events produced the subjective opinions that I expressed when writing this piece.

So, let’s begin in 1965.  I had no intention of going to college upon my discharge from the Army that year.  But my older brother kept insisting that I enroll, and not repeat his example, which was to get married right away and settle down.  To shut him up, I enrolled for three evening classes at Los Angeles Community College.  This was a major test of my self-confidence.  An imposter syndrome kicked in.  Could I compete with the gringo?

To understand why I would ask myself such a question, you would have to know something about my background prior to 1965.  Even though I had spent my final year of high school and graduated from Long Beach Poly High, and lowrided with my primos from Compton’s Tortilla Flats barrio during that final year; I self-identified as a country boy, a campesino.

I grew up in a farmworker family of Soledad (aka Chole) in the Salinas Valley.  My father was the oldest brother in a family of 14 siblings, and the only sibling who even went to high school was my youngest tia, who dropped out in her freshman year. With this family history, my main hopes were to be able to finish high school before resigning myself to grow old working the fields of the Valley.

Chicanos were prepared for this dreaded future by being funneled into general education courses at Gonzales High, one of two high schools in the Valley, since college prep courses were the domain of the gabachos.  Chicanos were expected to become the future farmworkers of the Valley; why waste college prep courses on them?

But at the start of my junior year, owing to registering late, the only mandatory class in English available to me was journalism.  I grudgingly signed up for the class.  In it, I learned two things:  one, how to socialize and compete with gabachos; and two, I had writing skills I was previously unawares of.

My self-confidence grew so much during that year, that I ran for student body vice-president.  Before the entire Gonzales High student body, assembled in the gym for election speeches; I won the day and election by promising to pursue Mexican food in the cafeteria.  The early politico in me basked in the standing ovation to my never-to-be-fulfilled promise.

That fall, moving to Long Beach and Poly High, being totally unknown amongst 3,000 students, my confidence balloon burst.  But three years in the Army had brought daily interaction with gabachos; and my confidence had slowly returned, as I measured myself against these gabachos, some of whom had gone to college.

The mention here of interaction with gabachos stems from the social segregation that existed, and was the norm growing up, until the 1970’s.  Before then, Mexicans kept to themselves; Blacks to themselves; and white people to themselves.  This social segregation was reflected in all the movies and television shows back then as well.  The only integration in rural California was going to the same schools, or working the fields with some Okies.

Thus, my doubts in 1965, as to whether I could compete with the gringo in college, and thereafter succeed?  I thought I could compete, but succeed in what, thereafter?  I had no idea of any career goals, even after enrolling at LACC.  Just an intuition to educate myself, keep moving forward, and see what happens; with a philosophy of lo que mande Dios.

I used the same journalism skills from high school to succeed at LACC.  I found that I had the ability to understand and analyze, and thereafter write, my thoughts on the material in my classes; so that the teachers gave me B’s. Academically, when I transferred to Berkeley, my A.A. came with a 3.2 GPA.

Culturally, I had always identified with being Chicano.  Growing up in Chole, you were either Chicano or Mexican.  Mexican American was unknown to me; as was any other identification other than plain Mexican, besides Chicano.  But this early definition of Chicano was totally cultural and was used to distinguish ourselves from our parents, who identified as Mexican.  For us, Chicano was a Mexican born or raised in this country; as opposed to the Mexico-born Mexicans.

I had gone back to Los Angeles after discharge from the Army to live with my mother, who was then living in Echo Park.  Relocating to West Los Angeles to share a house with an Army buddy and his primo six months later, my brother got me a job at Douglas Aircraft in Torrance.  There, I became an active member of the Machinists Union (IAM). 

This was now 1966, and my Chicano identity was evolving and growing, fueled by whatever information I could get on the campesino struggle of Cesar Chavez with the grape growers.  By early 1967, I became aware of La Raza, a Chicano magazine/newsletter being published out of a church basement in East L.A.  The publisher was Eliezer Risco, a cubano who had ties to Delano.

I started visiting Risco’s operation, devouring all the information on Raza that he had, and was publishing, on a regular basis.  In those early days, La Raza was the center of all things/news being generated by Chicano youth throughout the Southwest, not only California.  The newsletter was like the early hub/internet of information for Chicanos.

It was through La Raza that I became aware of a Chicano student gathering at Loyola University, near the LAX airport, on May 13, 1967.  This was the first regional gathering of Chicano college and high school students.  The meeting was to discuss student perspectives and proposed action by us as students, rather than funneling any efforts through established organizations like MAPA or the CSO.  This was truly the start of the initially-named Chicano Student Movement.

I find it strange that in 1971 I didn’t write about this conference at Loyola University.  Loyola was truly the first Chicano student regional conference held, and where Chicano students had the opportunity to discuss and debate issues important to them.  But then again, writing in 1971, I was not looking for, or concerned with, a start date for the movimiento.  I was still living in the ongoing movimiento. 

The gathering was southern California oriented, and resulted in the establishment of UMAS chapters throughout southern California.  The leadership at Loyola was dominated by UCLA Chicanos, with other southern California colleges having secondary roles.  The leadership also expressed conservative perspectives on proposed actions, including selecting the identity of Mexican-American for the student groups instead of Chicano.

In the fall of 1967, Risco invited me to be part of the Chicano contingent at the upcoming Alianza convention in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Being mulatto, Risco had contacts with the Watts community, then led by Ron Karenga, who headed the US organization.  Risco and Karenga jointly chartered a Greyhound bus to take us to Albuquerque. 

Blacks and Chicanos split the seats.  Karenga’s vatos all wore African dashikis, and the women, colorful African dresses. The Chicano delegation included early movimiento movers and shakers, barely 18 years old, like David Sanchez, who co-founded the Brown Berets later that year, and Moctezuma Esparza, who spearheaded UCLA UMAS activities, before becoming a high-octane Hollywood producer.

Attending the Alianza convention was an experience of first impression for me.  There were thousands of people present, of all ages and ethnicities.  It was held in a huge auditorium and warmly hosted by the manitos of New Mexico, who had progressive ideals and energy.  The energy buzzing throughout that auditorium was heavy: heavy on the early movimiento, cultural pride, idealism, carnalismo, diversity, and the need for unity.

Information, experiences, and thoughts were shared with a variety of Raza from New Mexico, Texas, and Colorado.  The goals and struggle of the Alianza became much clearer; and to hear Reies Tijerina speak, was to be mesmerized by his energy and passion.  Only Fidel’s oratory skills could match Reies amongst Raza speakers.

Stokely Carmichael and Ralph Featherstone attended and mixed, representing the most militant Black organization of the times, SNCC.  There was also representation from a broad spectrum of Blacks, including the Black Muslims, and CORE, representing the more traditional Martin Luther King, Jr., contingent within the Black community, as well as Native Americans, and persons from the West Indies.

The Chicanos from south Texas that we connected with were led by Jose Angel Gutierrez, who would thereafter found MAYO; and lead an electoral victory at Crystal City, Texas, under the banner of La Raza Unida in 1970.

It was at Albuquerque that I also became acquainted with Bert Corona, an older Chicano Marxist, who was an activist and union organizer who had graduated from USC in the 1930’s.  He encouraged me to attend Berkeley rather than my intended, UCLA; and put me in contact with Berkeley’s interim EOP administrator to provide me monies.

Flush with the energy and example of the Alianza, I organized both MAPA and CSO chapters in West Los Angeles by the end of 1967.  Then, on December 16-17, 1967, there was a statewide student conference at USC promoted/advertised by Risco’s La Raza newsletter. Focus at this USC conference were the issues of communication between students and the barrio communities, increasing access to higher education for Raza, and improving relations with Black students.

The statewide USC conference included a contingent from northern California; Chicanos who had organized under the banner of MASC.  A clash of tactics became evident between the conservative orientation of UMAS and the more radical nortenos of MASC.  The need for unity within our communities was the foundation stressed at this first statewide conference of Chicano students.  That need for unity had been stressed at the Alianza convention, and unity was impressed upon both UMAS and MASC to resolve their differences, so that the Movement could gain traction.

In order to absorb the newly forming barrio groups, like the Brown Berets, the initial Chicano Student Movement, now became known as the Chicano Movement.  This was part of the unity sought between students and the barrio communities.  Consciousness was manifesting itself, in this recognition that integrating the various parts of our communities was more important than any exclusivity of students alone.

NOTE:  History belongs to those who write it.  The early Chicano Movement activities include the East LA Blowouts, the birth of the Brown Berets, the Chicano Moratorium, and El Plan de Santa Barbara, amongst others.  This telling of Chicano history, mainly from southern California Chicanos, has resulted in a belief that the most important events for the Chicano Movement occurred in southern California.  This is incorrect.

I first experienced the movimiento as a student from LACC/SMCC, and thus was a Chicano from southern California from 1965-68.  Then I experienced the movimiento as a student at Berkeley from 1968-71.  All of the southern California events mentioned above happened with huge Chicano/Mexican barrios around them, lending critical community support to student efforts. This was especially true for the Blowouts and Moratorium, who enjoyed large community support and involvement.

The northern California events occurred with no community support, except for San Jose and Sacramento, who by themselves are small barrios compared to southern California populations.  The TWLF strikes at SF State and Berkeley lasted for months, and against much larger police forces than experienced in southern California.  There was no barrio in the east Bay supporting the Berkeley strike.  The TWLF strikes produced Ethnic Studies statewide, and eventually, nationwide.  El Plan de Santa Barbara borrowed heavily from the newly-won norteno Ethnic Studies concept, and was a joint effort by northern and southern California Chicanos.

Northern California was where the UFW’s grape boycott was supported and expanded.  It was also the beating heart of Chicano creativity in the arts, from music to poetry to murals to painters and writers.  Artists from throughout the southwest and Latin America came to the Bay area to soak up the energy and creativity that oozed from San Francisco’s Mission district.  What’s the bottom line?  Both parts of Califas contributed equally to the movimiento, each in their own way.

Transferring to Berkeley in March of 1968 from SMCC, I found no Chicano organizations on campus or in the east Bay.