Today in Labor History March 5 1968: The first Chicano student walkout in East Lost Angeles occurred on this date. The Walkouts, or Chicano Blowouts, occurred throughout 1968 in protest of unequal conditions in Los Angeles Unified School District high schools. Chicanos were often in classes of 40 students. Teachers often treated them with contempt. Drop-out rates were high. At Garfield High School, 58% of Chicano students dropped out each year. Thousands of students participated in the Blowouts. On March 4, 1968, J. Edgar Hoover sent out a memo to law enforcement, nationwide, warning them to be extra vigilant against “nationalist” movements in “minority” communities. Harry Gamboa Jr., one of the organizers of the first walkout, was placed on the list of 100 Most Dangerous & Violent Subversives, by the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary, along with Angela Davis & Eldridge Cleaver.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #laraza #blowouts #chicano #angeladavis #racism #dropout #students #la #losangeles #police #policebrutality #blackpanthers #protest #fbi #jedgarhoover #launified #highschool

1:00pm Viva Tirado by Chicano from Viva El Chicano! (Their Very Best)
#Chicano #VivaTirado #LaRazaRocks #KUVO

Is the State of Texas Trying to Kill This Chicano Activist?

After 23 years in solitary confinement, Alvaro “Xinachtli” Hernandez’s health is failing him. So is the system.

https://newrepublic.com/article/206210/texas-prison-chicano-activist-xinachtli

#FreeXinachtli #Prison #PoliticalPrisoner #Texas #Chicano

Today in Labor History February 2, 1938: Emma Tenayuca led a strike at the Southern Pecan-Shelling Company in San Antonio, Texas. The workers were fighting against low wages and inhumane working conditions. Tenayuca first became interested in activism before graduating from High School and was first arrested at age 16, in 1933, when she joined a picket line against the Finck Cigar Company. She later founded two international ladies' garment workers unions, and was involved in the Woman's League for Peace and Freedom. She also organized a protest in response to the beating of Mexican migrants by US Border Patrol. She was arrested several times for her participation in strikes and other activism. 12,000 women, mostly Mexicana and Chicana, participated in the Pecan-Shelling strike. Police clubbed, gassed, arrested and jailed the women. The strike ended in October, with an arbitrated raise to 25 cents per hour.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #chicano #union #strike #EmmaTenayuca #mexico #wages #women #feminist #prison #police #policebrutality

Today in Labor History February 2, 1931: U.S. citizens of Mexican heritage were “repatriated” to Mexico. During the decade’s first four years, the federal government deported anywhere from several hundred thousand to 1.8 million Mexicans. 40-60% of those deported were U.S. citizens and overwhelmingly children. President Hoover blamed Mexicans for the Great Depression and deported them in huge numbers to win support from his right-wing base. Sound familiar?

#workingclass #LaborHistory #mexico #chicano #racism #potus #hoover #xenophobia #deportation #immigration

People waving goodbye to a train carrying 1,500 Mexicans from Los Angeles on August 20, 1931.

Today in Labor History January 31, 1971: For the second time in six months, rioting broke out during an anti-war protest in East Los Angeles. Police fired into the crowd, killing one protester. The anti-war demonstrations were organized by the Chicano Moratorium. Chicanos were dying at a higher rate during the Vietnam War than white Americans. During the August 29, 1970 protests, police killed three people, including Journalist and Civil Rights activist Ruben Salazar. Oscar Zeta Acosta portrayed Salazar in his 1973 novel, “The Revolt of the Cockroach People.” Hunter S. Thompson portrayed Acosta as his “Samoan attorney” in “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” Salazar was the first Mexican journalist for a mainstream newspaper (L.A. Times) to write about the Chicano community. He also worked as the Times’ bureau chief in Mexico City and covered both the Tlatelolco Massacre and the U.S. occupation of the Dominican Republic, both in 1965. Because of his outspoken support for the Chicano movement, and his criticism of racism and police abuse against the Chicano community, he was a target of FBI surveillance. Many believe his death was an assassination.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #RubenSalazar #chicano #moratorium #antiwar #riot #policebrutality #police #huntersthompson #journalism #vietnam #eastla #losangeles #racism #freepress #oscarzetaocosta #books #fiction #novel #writer #author @bookstadon

We didn't cross the border. The border crossed us. Local Elections matter - be vocal local - demand representation. #chicano www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKBR...

The Chicano Movement In Texas ...