‘Crystal City 1969’ raises awareness about discrimination against #Chicanos

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'Crystal City 1969' raises awareness about discrimination against Chicanos    

Written by Vidwan Raghavan, The Shorthorn staff  

Wednesday, 08 December 2010 10:09 PM

 

In 1969, Chicano students in Crystal City, Texas broke out in protest over their school historically denying them an equal chance to participate in school activities.

 

Today marks the 41st anniversary of Chicano civil rights protests in Crystal City, which began when a Chicano student was barred from becoming the homecoming queen.

 

Playwright Raul Trevino and producer and director David Lozano co-wrote Crystal City 1969, to illustrate the events of the 1969 walkouts.  

 

The importance of the play lies in addressing issues that have been have downplayed by society, Lozano said. He said many people that lived through this era were seeing it dramatized for the first time.

 

Crystal City 1969

Irving Arts Center

Dupree Theater 3333 N. MacArthur Blvd., Irving, TX 75062

8 p.m. Today all tickets are $25

8 p.m. Dec. 10 – 11 Students and seniors $10 and general admission $15

 

Latino Cultural Center, Dallas

2600 Live Oak St. Dallas, TX 75204

8 p.m. Dec. 16 General admission $10

8 p.m. Dec. 17 - 18 Students and Seniors $10 General admission $15

"You will never find anything about Crystal City in any history books," Lozano said.

 

Lozano was pained to find out that Mexican American students weren't allowed to be homecoming queen or participate fully in sports.

 

Amongst other things, the school had a policy whereby only one Chicano girl could be a cheerleader, said associate history professor Roberto Trevino.

 

"In 1969, one student protested this but she was denied permission to be a cheerleader and that triggered a student boycott," Trevino said.

 

The student, who was denied, was expelled which led to students protesting the policy.

 

Twenty-three at the time, Political science professor Jose Gutierrez arranged for a lawyer and got the student reinstated, which raised other students hopes that their protest for equal rights would bear fruit.

 

Supporting the protest was the Mexican American Youth Organization headed by Gutierrez.

 

The organization consisted of young adults, who were mostly college graduates and working professionals.

 

"I graduated from Crystal City," he said. "I have first-hand experience of the discrimination faced by Chicanos," Gutierrez said.

 

On Dec. 9, 1969 the students began their walkouts, which was marked with hundreds of students walking out of class, eventually leading to a shut down of the school.

 

  "There are these wounds, these wounds from being slapped for speaking Spanish, being kicked for being Mexican, being put in shop class in a remedial school just for being Hispanic. When people see the play, this is the first time many of them are dealing with those wounds."

 

David Lozano,

Producer and director

In January the school board members capitulated and agreed on a compromise, but with clauses allowing them to renege, Gutierrez said.

 

On Jan. 10, following the compromise, Gutierrez and members of his youth organization started the Raza Unida party.

 

Raza Unida party members were elected to the Crystal City school board and this ensured the loopholes in the compromise were never used, Gutierrez said.

 

"There are these wounds, these wounds from being slapped for speaking Spanish, being kicked for being Mexican, being put in shop class in a remedial school just for being Hispanic," Lozano said

 

The story is about any person who has felt discriminated against and not solely Hispanics, said actor Priscilla Rice who plays the role of Severita Lara in the play.

 

"I do this out of a love and respect for the activists and the sacrifices they made," Rice said.

 

Gutierrez says he went to see the play last year and felt it did justice to the movement.

 

"It is historically accurate, but dramatizes certain events, which is fine because its primary purpose is to entertain, " Gutierrez said.

c/s

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Comment: Much remains to be remembered, documented and sincerely share by those who were around during these times, while not getting too nostalgic about it all. We are in the here now, should have a good clear understanding of our history and have basic plans of actions to help carry on the Chicano Movement in alliances with many others causes and issues. We cannot isolate ourselves into any form of cultural nationalism. We must seek a new internationalism, even more new because nations ~independent nations~ cannot really exist under the boot of the Amerikan Empire. We need to think global, work local and never give up on ourselves. Future generations are counting on us. What we do or do not do will have a decisive impact on generations to come.

Venceremos! We Will Win!
Peta_de_Aztlan
Sacramento, California
Email: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
http://twitter.com/Peta_de_Aztlan
http://www.facebook.com/Peta51
http://help-matrix.ning.com/
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F.Kennedy ~ c/s

CSULA To Archive East L.A.’s Chicano History

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CSULA To Archive East L.A.'s Chicano History
By EGP News Report

 

An archival program to document and preserve the rich history of Chicanos has been started in the heart of where it all took place, East Los Angeles, according to an announcement made Nov. 18.

California State University, Los Angeles has established the East Los Angeles Archive at the college's University Library, according to Librarian Alice Kawakami.

"The goal of the East Los Angeles Archive is to advance scholarship in Chicano/Latino studies and Los Angeles history through its varied collection of primary research materials," said Kawakami.

The collection includes documents and artifacts that show the social, political, and cultural history of the Chicano/Latino community in East L.A. and the United States.

Kawakami says the new archive will focus on materials documenting the Chicano/a Civil Rights Movement in the East Los Angeles region during the 1960s and 1970s. "Cal State L.A.'s proximity to and involvement with this community during this era makes it an ideal location to house this collection," said Kawakami in a written statement.

Dionne Espinoza, Ph.D. associate professor Chicano Studies and Liberal Studies at CSULA said the East LA Archive will provide an opportunity for students to learn about the rich history of East Los Angeles and about a social movement that galvanized the Latino presence in higher education.

"The ELA Archive makes it possible for our students to engage in a deep appreciation and understanding of Chicano history in East Los Angeles. They will also learn about archives, their preservation, and the importance of these documents in establishing a Chicana/o and Latina/o presence in higher education," said Espinoza, who is also the coordinator and advisor of the university's Programs in Women's and Gender Studies.

Long time community activist Gloria Arellanes made the first donation to the new archive an was recognized for contribution during a Nov. 18 reception. The former minister of finance and correspondence for the East Los Angeles chapter of the Brown Berets during the early 1960s, donated political flyers and broadsides, newspapers, books, buttons, posters and photographs dating from 1967 to the late 1970s.

Cal State L.A. Activist Gloria Arellanes, who served as minister of finance and correspondence of the East Los Angeles chapter of the Chicano Brown Berets in the early 1960s, was honored at the Nov. 18 reception. Arellanes is the first donor to the collection, she also served as administrator of El Barrio Free Clinic, a member of the National Chicano Moratorium Committee, and she organized the women's group, Las Adelitas de Aztlan, among other activities. Pictured: CSULA's University Librarian Alice Kawakami with Gloria Arellanes, the first donor to the East Los Angeles Archive collection at Cal State L.A.

"It was never in my plan to donate my collection to Cal State L.A.," Gloria Arellanes said, noting that she had originally thought she would donate it to another university. However, one night while she was speaking at CSULA's Chicano Studies Professor Dionne Espinoza's class, she suddenly decided, "I'm going to give my collection to Cal State L.A."

"In my mind, (the collection) is in the community. It has to be here. This stuff sat in my house for over 40 years. I think it found a good home," said Arellanes, who also served as administrator of El Barrio Free Clinic, a member of the National Chicano Moratorium Committee, and organized the women's group, Las Adelitas de Aztlan, among other civil rights' efforts. "I consider this a collection of reflections. It reflects my dedication to the "movimiento" and reflects the hundreds of thousands of people who wrote articles, made buttons, and took pictures."

Additional materials are being sought to be included in the archive, according to Kawakami.

Cal State L.A. A flyer from 1970, donated by Gloria Arrellanes to the East Los Angeles Archive.

For more information about how to donate items or funds to the East Los Angeles Archive, contact Librarian Romelia Salinas at (323) 343-2019, rsalina@calstatela.edu) or Renee James, special collections (323) 343-4435, rjames@calstatela.edu).

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Venceremos! We Will Win!
Peta_de_Aztlan
Sacramento, California
Email: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
http://twitter.com/Peta_de_Aztlan
http://www.facebook.com/Peta51
http://help-matrix.ning.com/
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F.Kennedy ~ c/s

Cuban president says economic changes will help sustain socialism

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Cuban president says economic changes will help sustain socialism

From Shasta Darlington, CNN

December 19, 2010 -- Updated 0416 GMT (1216 HKT)
STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The president says the aim is to make socialism "irreversible"
• "There will be no going back," Castro says
• Cuban officials expect its economy to grow 3.1 percent in 2011

Havana, Cuba (CNN) -- Cuban President Raul Castro told legislators Saturday that the country's economy would undergo significant change in the coming year, but added that the measures aimed to bolster socialism -- not make Cuba a capitalist nation.

Castro has begun a radical shakeup of the Soviet-style economic model, previously announcing the elimination of one million state jobs and the expansion of private businesses. Cuba's National Assembly tapped him as the Caribbean nation's president in 2008, ending nearly five decades of rule by his older brother Fidel Castro.

As part of the plan, Cubans are being allowed and even encouraged to go into business for themselves, working as barbers, plumbers and even birthday clowns as the government tries to boost productivity.

"The measures we are applying, and all of the changes that are necessary for the modernization of the economic model, are aimed at preserving socialism, strengthening it and making it truly irreversible," said Castro, according to a copy of his speech published by the state-run website Cubadebate.

Castro has called for debates across the country before April, when the Communist Party holds its first congress in almost 14 years at which they could approve his plan.

In the speech, he insisted there should no longer be a stigma attached to working in the private sector.

"Many Cubans confuse socialism with handouts and subsidies, equality with egalitarianism," said the president, who spoke at the close of the country's National Assembly in Havana, according to Cubadebate.

The government expects the Cuban economy to grow 3.1 percent next year, up from a projected 2.1 percent growth in 2010.

"We can assure you that, this time, there will be no going back." said Castro.
Related Link: http://www.cubadebate.cu/

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Comment: Debate between moral incentives vs. material incentives to increase material production has been a central debate in Cuba since the days when Che Guevara was Minister of Finance. In fact, it resulted in Che Guevara being looked at as a liability by Cuba's Regime because at the time Cuba was dependent upon the Soviet Union. He wrote a controversial article on incentives. Eventually we know that Che Guevara ended up leaving Cuba to embark on his new odyssey, but these kind of central economic questions were all a part of his leaving.

Sometimes it takes decades for certain truths to come into a more clearer light.

Venceremos! We Will Win!
Peta_de_Aztlan
Sacramento, California
Email: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
http://twitter.com/Peta_de_Aztlan
http://www.facebook.com/Peta51
http://help-matrix.ning.com/
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F.Kennedy ~ c/s

Dream Act fails to advance in Senate

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Dream Act fails to advance in Senate
President Obama says 'common sense did not prevail' after the 55-41 vote on the contentious immigration measure. Three Republicans voted for cloture while five Democrats voted no.

UCLA student Jose Ortiz, 20, reacts as the Dream Act fails to move forward in the Senate during televised coverage of proceedings at the UCLA Downtown Labor Center. (Associated Press / December 18, 2010)

By Lisa Mascaro and Michael Muskal

December 18, 2010, 10:53 a.m.

Reporting from Washington and Los Angeles —

The Senate rejected a path to citizenship for some illegal immigrants on Saturday, a defeat that pushes any effort to reform immigration into the next Congress where conservatives will have even more influence.

In a 55-41 vote, senators failed to advance the Dream Act, which would have provided a way to legalize those immigrants who arrived in the United States illegally as children and who attend college or serve in the military. Three Republican senators voted for cloture, but 60 votes were need to advance the measure. Five Democrats voted no.

"It is disappointing that common sense did not prevail today," President Obama said in a prepared statement released after the vote. "But my administration will not give up on the Dream Act, or on the important business of fixing our broken immigration system. The American people deserve a serious debate on immigration, and it's time to take the polarizing rhetoric off our national stage."

Proponents of the Dream Act, formally known as the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, argued the measure was important because it would legalize people who have been educated in the United States where they have lived most of their lives. It was also a way of recognizing those who have served in the military.

"I've supported Dream since it was first introduced and each year the support has grown," Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said during the debate. "They are hard-working young people or serving in the military. They have stayed out of trouble."

Feinstein argued that without the Dream Act, the illegal immigrants who have spent their lives in the United States are unable to use their talents. "They are relegated to the shadows by their status," she said, urging her colleagues to back the measure which she said "provides an opportunity and incentive for them to prove themselves."

But opponents saw the measure as the first step in the battle over broader immigration reform, a politically contentious issue and one that conservatives have fiercely opposed.

In his comments on the floor, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) denounced what he called an amnesty bill for those who entered the country illegally.

"The bill at its core is a reward for illegal activities," said Sessions, the ranking Republican on the Judiciary Committee. He also said the current bill is the fifth version of the measure and that none had gone through the committee hearing process.

"For two years Democrat leaders have ignored the public and rammed through unpopular legislation," Sessions said. "And now they are at it again, trying to force through another unacceptable bill in the last days of a lame-duck congress."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who was reelected in Nevada with strong backing from the Latino community, also spoke forcefully for the bill. One of his campaign promises was to push the measure in this session.

"I am deeply disappointed that once again Republicans have blocked a bill that would strengthen our national security. In addition, the Dream Act would have grown our economy and given children brought to this country at no fault of their own by their parents an opportunity to defend our nation. Many of my Republican colleagues supported this measure in the past, but today their absence dashed the dreams of hundreds of thousands," Democrat Reid said in a prepared statement.

"Only three principled Republicans stood up to pressure from their leadership. The courage of Senators Robert Bennett, Richard Lugar and Lisa Murkowski is exemplary, and I wish more of their fellow members would have followed them," Reid said.

"Today we mourn, but tomorrow we shift back into gear to fight for justice and inclusion in America," said Rep. Luis V. Gutierrez (D-Ill.), chairman of the Task Force on Immigration of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. "We must not only fight to protect our Dream Act brothers and sisters, but also their mothers and fathers from the mass deportation policies that are staining and tearing our moral fabric."

The Dream Act passed the House earlier this month 216 to 198.

Michael.Muskal@latimes.com

Lisa.Mascaro@latimes.com

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Venceremos! We Will Win!
Peta_de_Aztlan
Sacramento, California
Email: peter.lopez51@yahoo.com
http://twitter.com/Peta_de_Aztlan
http://www.facebook.com/Peta51
http://help-matrix.ning.com/
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible, make violent revolution inevitable." ~ President John F.Kennedy ~ c/s