Video review of Chicano! History of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement.
NLCC Educational Media, 1996.Copyright 2000, 2001.Wed, 21, Jan. 2014
The video documentary “Chicano! History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement” is a four part documentary series that goes over the history of the Chicano (Mexican American) movement in particular; it is an indispensable resource for scholars and student. In this Documentary you learn about important leaders who took important roles in the movement such as Reies Lopez Tijerinain and land movement in New Mexico in 1966 and 1967. Also Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales in Denver who defines Chicano through his epic poem “I am Joaquin”, embraces Cesar Chavez and the farm workers, turns to the struggles of the urban youth, and encourages for Mexican- American to get active and grow in political awareness and participation with La Raza Unida.
I found this resource extremely helpful because it goes into depth with important leaders who were not afraid to take a stand for their rights. This article is biased in a way because the person narrating the story focuses on Chicanos and not undocumented Mexicans. This documentary also examines the initiation of the Chicano movement and also discusses the outcomes of the events in question or their significance.
For anyone teaching about civil rights movement, Mexican-American, Chicano, or Latino history is a must see. Student will greatly benefit from this remarkable documentary on Chicano movement. I would be able to use this as a resource to help young Hispanics with history and why it is important. My way of thinking has remained the same just with more knowledge and a poem to share to my fellow friends.
Soderstrum, T. Jason. "¡Sí Se Puede!...
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...cero program”. It just states a few statistics on how many immigrants were deported, but what about the legal Mexican-Americans who had every right not to get deported. This is reliable resource to demonstrate the injustice that the U.S has done in the past and to avoid such actions.
I found this article very interesting because it gave me valuable information on the racist operations name that was given. I guess after World War 2 they really needed the jobs back so they came up with this operation. Now I understand why this “wetback” is a derogatory term. This article is different from the others because this research explains why there is so much hate in using the derogatory term to Mexican-Americans who were born in the U.S. Unlike the other articles and film that explains the struggles and stand for wages and equal education, but also fighting against racism.
Viva La Causa is a documentary about how hundreds of farmworkers fought for their human rights because they were treated poorly. This took place in the early 1960’s because the workers were not receiving their benefits and civil rights. A farmer himself, Cesar Chavez, spoke on behalf of the rest of the farmers saying why should they put up with the low wages and no benefits. After watching this documentary it helps me understand the functions of the legislative and executive branches of the Texas State Government by providing interesting concepts of how the government was back then and how they took action.
Cinco de Mayo is usually confused with Mexican Independence day but that day is when Mexico fought French invaders. During 1910, Mexico revolted against its repressive rulers and adapted its new constitution. They came up with the term for those who were told in Mexico they weren’t Mexican and in America who weren’t American. They wanted to belong to both. While the Civil Rights movement is mostly known to give African-American rights but, Chicanos also fought for their rights. The term Chicano first became accepted during the Chicano Movement. Thus, Chicanos have many things to be proud of. Their Aztec ancestors were intelligent people who built a city on water and made all Chicanos royalty. Along with their Mexican ancestors won two revolutions and won against the huge French army. Trinidad Sanchez Jr., a poet, wrote about Chicano pride in his poem, “Why Am I so Brown?” Sanchez wrote the poem in order to call attention to that all should be proud of their skin color. His poem talks about Chicanos having honor in their skin color by using imagery, metaphors, and
This is critical for the readers to know the show the bias, injustice, and premeditated ignorance of the United States educational system. It also demonstrates that Chicano Studies is not important regardless of the Hispanic population in this supposed “free” country. It seems as if the Chicano Studies was made only to fail by keeping it under funded and understaffed. By doing so, it has an affect on keeping away good scholars to maintain the historical development of Hispanics in the United States as well as its own history.
This book was published in 1981 with an immense elaboration of media hype. This is a story of a young Mexican American who felt disgusted of being pointed out as a minority and was unhappy with affirmative action programs although he had gained advantages from them. He acknowledged the gap that was created between him and his parents as the penalty immigrants ought to pay to develop and grow into American culture. And he confessed that he got bewildered to see other Hispanic teachers and students determined to preserve their ethnicity and traditions by asking for such issues to be dealt with as departments of Chicano studies and minority literature classes. A lot of critics criticized him as a defector of his heritage, but there are a few who believed him to be a sober vote in opposition to the political intemperance of the 1960s and 1970s.
In Pocho, Rubio could not identify with any group because he didn’t want to be categorized. In fact, Rubio didn’t have a hard time fitting in with the Pachucos or queers. Although, Rubio seemed understanding about other peoples chooses he ultimately decided to identify as American. This was seen when Rubio joined the Army, as a means to escape his reality. Another theme presented was in regards to fighting social inequalities. This ultimately led to Chicano protest, which became essential to the Civil Rights Movements. The strong will of these Chicano/a activists were similar to Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzalez and his “Crusade for Justice”. The film “Quest for Homeland” acknowledged Gonzalez as an important figure for the Chicano Movement because he inspired people to demand for equality. Even though the Chicano Movement had a tragic ending with the death of Ruben Salazar, Chicanos made their voices heard. Similarly, the Chicano walkouts were the beginning of “consciousness”. For instance Castro mentions, “Chicano’s have long been sleeping giants” he continues by stating looks like we woke up”. This shows that students living in these areas were oblivious to their ability of obtaining a higher
The 1960s was a time of very unjust treatment for Mexican Americans, but it was also a time for change. Many were starting to lose hope but as Cesar Chavez once said, “si se puede”. The chicano rights movement was a movement that started after World War II when Mexican Americans decided it was time to take back their rights and fight for equality. With many successes there were also some failures, but that did not stop them from fighting back for what they deserved. Chican@s of all ages in the US faced many issues due to their race in which included, but weren’t limited to, unequal education, political power, and working conditions.
These events are of course, an accurate reflection of what similar groups were going through in other parts of the country such as Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico, which have been historically highly populated by Hispanics as well. One of the advantages of the video is that viewers are able to listen to first hand accounts of leaders and participants of this important social movement in Colorado. It is especially touching to see and hear Dr. Priscilla Falcon’s recollection of events when she was informed of her husband’s assassination. No doubt, the actions of leaders such as Ricardo Falcon, Corky Gonzales, Lalo Delgado, and Juanita Herrera greatly improved working conditions as well as education opportunities for Chicanos not only in Colorado, but throughout the United
Gonzalez, Juan. Harvest of Empire a History of Latinos in America. New York: Penguin Putnam Inc, 2000.
Rosales, F. Arturo, Testimonio: A Documentary History of the Mexican American Struggle for Civil Rights, (Houston: Arte Publico Press, 2000), 101.
Chicano!--the History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement. Dir. Moctesuma Esparza. PBS, 1996. Tv.
We are Chicanos who will continue to fight for our rights even if it means repeating ourselves through the walk of many cities. Yes, we aren’t perfect and have made huge mistakes that will always be remembered, but being treated better can motivate us to get our lives together and be greater overall. Now, we will stand up heavy with our pride and culture, and demand for those equal rights. We will be loud and share our story to million in order to have some act, amendment passed in our favor. We will have tear-stained cheeks and blistered feet, but we will go to hell and back just to get a taste of that “American
Torres, Hector Avalos. 2007. Conversations with Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Writers. U.S.: University of New Mexico press, 315-324.
As long as civilizations have been around, there has always been a group of oppressed people; today the crucial problem facing America happens to be the discrimination and oppression of Mexican immigrants. “Mexican Americans constitute the oldest Hispanic-origin population in the United States.”(57 Falcon) Today the population of Mexican’s in the United States is said to be about 10.9%, that’s about 34 million people according to the US Census Bureau in 2012. With this many people in the United States being of Mexican descent or origin, one would think that discrimination wouldn’t be a problem, however though the issue of Mexican immigrant oppression and discrimination has never been a more prevalent problem in the United States before now. As the need for resolve grows stronger with each movement and march, the examination of why these people are being discriminated against and oppressed becomes more crucial and important. Oppression and Anti-discrimination organizations such as the Freedom Socialist Organization believe that the problem of discrimination began when America conquered Mexican l...
Ramakrishnan, Karthick S. "Cesar Estrada Chavez." Civil Rights in the United States. 2 vols. Macmillan Reference USA, 2000. Reproduced in History Resource Center. San Antonio College Lib., San Antonio, TX. 7 July 2014
My first source comes from a journal entry from the American Ethnic History. I thought it would be a reliable source because the author is taking information he gathered from the book “Blowout!” to write his journal. This article was very help in describing the Chicano educational struggle and their fight for justice with it by talking about one major incident that helped them get justice but also with who lead them to get their justice. It really helped strengthen my knowledge about the struggles the Chicanos went through to get justice.