In 1967, lay preacher and land grant activist Reies López Tijerina founded the Alliance of Free Pueblos in the state of New Mexico. His goal was to return ownership of contested land grants to the … [Read more...]
Robert Francis Kennedy was shot in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel shortly after midnight on June 5, 1968. The brother of President John F. Kennedy, Robert had just been nominated by the … [Read more...]
Latino identity has always been a vexing question. Should we call ourselves Mexican Americans, Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, Boricuas, Latinos, Hispanics? A historic moment of self-definition took place in … [Read more...]
On April 20, 2012, acclaimed Chicano author Rudolfo Anaya was awarded the Robert Kirsch Lifetime Achievement Award by the Los Angeles Times. This award recognizes a lifetime of achievement by a living … [Read more...]
United Farm Worker's President and American civil rights icon César Estrada Chávez died on April 23, 1993 at the age of 66 years. A week prior to his death, he was on a national tour to call attention … [Read more...]
In 1968, the United Farm Workers were in the third year of a struggle to get California grape growers to sign just contracts with the union. But the strike was becoming ever more violent. Beaten by … [Read more...]
The effort to organize farm workers under a union contract has been a long and difficult struggle. In 1965, César Chávez and Dolores Huerta created what would become the United Farm Workers Union. … [Read more...]
“It is not enough to know why we are oppressed and by whom. We must join the struggle for what is right and just.” “Preservation of one’s own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for … [Read more...]
Soñia Escot is a journalism major completing her senior year at the University of Texas at Austin. She participated in the 2012 VOCES Oral History Editing Contest sponsored by the Journalism … [Read more...]
In 1970, at the height of the Vietnam War, Mexican Americans and other Latinos were dying at a rate disproportionate to their numbers in the general population. Organizers in Los Angeles called for a … [Read more...]
Octavio I. Romano V (1923-2005) was the pioneering founder of Tonatiuh-Quinto Sol Publications, one of the earliest editorials to publish Chicano authors in the United States. He created the Premio … [Read more...]
During the 1930s, in the shadow of the Great depression, massive numbers of Mexicans who had lived in the United States for years were deported to Mexico. Their children, who were born in the United … [Read more...]
After leaving the Border Bookstore in Mesilla, New Mexico, the caravan carrying banned books to the children of Tucson heads north to Albuquerque for a meeting with renowned author Rudolfo Anaya. On … [Read more...]
This Moment in Time is quite extraordinary. It is a photo of President John F. Kennedy visiting a reunion of the Houston League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) in Houston, Texas on October … [Read more...]
MOMENT IN TIME RICARDO FALCON PRESS CONFERENCE In September of 1972, the La Raza Unida political party, made up primarily of Mexican Americans and other Latinos, convened its national convention … [Read more...]
CONTEXT: The on-going efforts in Congress to pass a definitive immigration bill may continue for some time. Latinopia thought it would be important to remind ourselves of the vision for such … [Read more...]
On August 29, 2010 hundreds of Mexican Americans gathered in East Los Angeles to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium March against the War in Vietnam which originally took place … [Read more...]
AUGUST 29, 1970 CHICANO MORATORIUM MARCH Historically, Mexican Americans have defended their country and have distinguished themselves in the wars of the United States. Mexican Americans fought in … [Read more...]
In 1930, the all-white school board of Lemon Grove, California voted to build a separate schoolhouse for children of Mexican descent. This provoked a community response, a boycott of the "Mexican … [Read more...]
Following the conclusion of the Spanish American War in 1898, the island of Puerto Rico became a colony of the United States. Since that time, Puerto Ricans have debated the best course for the … [Read more...]
In March, 1968, Mexican American students from four high schools in East Los Angeles walked out in protest of the inferior education they were receiving. Parents, community activists and clergy met on … [Read more...]