40th Anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium Sat. August 28th East L.A.

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I remember that day well the first time I was gassed by Riot CS ( Tear gas).
I'll be marching again on Saturday!

Ruben Salazar, a Los Angeles Times journalist and Spanish TV news director,
was killed by a sheriff at the Silver Dollar. He was shot in the head with
a tear gas missile projectile normally used for barricaded situations.

40th Anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium Against the Vietnam War
A Long History of Struggle against War and Racism
Commentary by Carlos Montes |
August 18, 2010

August 29, 2010, marks the 40th anniversary of the historic Chicano Moratorium protest against the Vietnam War. On Aug. 29, 1970 over 30,000 Chicanos marched down Whittier Boulevard in the heart of East Los Angeles protesting the Vietnam War, the high casualty rate of Chicano soldiers and racist conditions in the barrios. The participants included youth and families of a mainly working class community with delegations from throughout the Southwest. The marchers chanted “¡Raza Si, Guerra No!” inspired by the call for Chicano self-determination and opposition to the imperialist U.S. war in Vietnam. Many Chicano youth had been drafted into the military after being pushed out of high school. The Chicano Movement was on the rise after several years of mass actions like the East Los Angeles high-school walkouts of 1968, land struggles in New Mexico, strikes by the United Farm Workers union, and the growth of new Chicano groups like the Brown Berets and MEChA (Movemiento Estudiantil Chicano de Atzlan, a Chicano Student Movement of the Southwest).

The mass rally held at Laguna Park by the Chicano Moratorium was brutally attacked by the combined forces of the Los Angeles city police and the Los Angeles county sheriffs. Whole families were beaten and tear gassed. Youth responded by defending the rally with their bare hands against the police. A rebellion followed for the entire day, where later Ruben Salazar, a Los Angeles Times journalist and Spanish TV news director, was killed by a sheriff at the Silver Dollar. He was shot in the head with a tear gas missile projectile normally used for barricaded situations.

It is important to commemorate the Chicano Moratorium because it is part of our history of resistance that is not always taught in history classes. This event is also part of the long struggle of Chicanos for self-determination and liberation. Today it is important to continue the fight against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and to protest the military recruitment targeting Chicanos and especially immigrant youth.

Jose Gutierrez was the first U.S. Marine killed in Iraq. He came from Guatemala to Los Angeles and then joined the Marines at age 17 even though he had no papers. Gutierrez is an example of how U.S. intervention and support for Central American militaries trained at the School of the Americas that massacred over 200,000 Guatemalans has driven people to the United States. U.S.-sponsored counter-insurgency and counter-revolutions in El Salvador and Nicaragua are other examples. The U.S. supports U.S. business interests and brutal military regimes that attack popular movements and democratic or socialist governments. This causes war, poverty, displacement and mass migration to the United States.

NAFTA is an example of how U.S. policy has caused mass unemployment and poverty in Mexico, forcing millions to come to work in the U.S. and live in horrible conditions. Today these immigrants are facing growing numbers of deportations, expanded use of local police to track down the undocumented and racist laws such as Arizona’s SB1070. The mass migration of Mexicans and Central Americans to the U.S. has led to the strengthening of the Chicano/Mexican communities and to the growth of a strong mass movement for immigrant rights. Our fight for legalization and is part of our historical struggle for equality and self-determination and liberation of Chicanos/Mexicans.

This is why we continue our struggle today against U.S. wars and interventions like in Colombia, and Plan Merida in Mexico. Also we must support movements and governments that are independent and oppose U.S. power, like those in Bolivia and Venezuela.

We make a call for principled unity to the community and all the organizations organizing for the Chicano Moratorium, to continue the struggle for Chicano self-determination. In addition to the the 1970 slogan of “¡Raza si, guerra no!” we now add “¡Raza si, Migra no!” and “¡Aquí estamos, y no nos vamos!”

This year’s march and rally is organized by several groups and will take place on Saturday, Aug. 28. The march will start at 10:00 am at Belvedere Park (1st Street and Mednick) and go to Salazar Park (3864 Whittier Boulevard) for a rally. For more information call 213-712-0370.

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1. Photos from Aug 29th 1970

The official estimate was 30,000 protesters but you know how that goes. I remember hearing it was more like 50K!

More than 20 local protests were held in cities such as Houston, Albuquerque, Chicago, Denver, Fresno, San Francisco, San Diego, Oakland, Oxnard, San Fernando, San Pedro and Douglas, Arizona. Most had 1,000 or more participants. An estimated 20,000 to 30,000 from around the nation, Mexico and Puerto Rico marched through East Los Angeles on August 29, 1970. The rally however was broken up by local police who said that they had gotten reports that a nearby liquor store was being robbed. They chased the "suspects" into the park, and declared the gathering of thousands an illegal assembly. Monitors and activists resisted the attack, but eventually people were herded back to the march route, Whittier Boulevard. As protest organizer Rosalinda Montez Palacios recounts "I was sitting on the lawn directly in front of the stage resting after a long and peacful march when out of nowwhere appeared a helicopter overhead and started dropping canisters of tear gas on the marchers as we were enjoying the program. We began to run for safety and as we breathed in the teargas, were blinded by it. Some of us made it to nearby homes where people started flusing their faces with water from garden hoses. Our eyes were burning and tearing and we choked as we tried to breath. The peaceful marchers could not believe what was happening and once we controlled the burning from our eyes, many decided to fight back." Stores went up in smoke, scores were injured, more than 150 arrested and four were killed, including Gustav Montag, Lyn Ward, José Diaz, and award-winning journalist Rubén Salazar, news director of the local Spanish television station and columnist for the Los Angeles Times.<2> As the Chicano poet Alurista put it:

"The police called it a people's riot; the people called it a police riot."

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2. Mas Photos

This one shows where the police started there attack from the NW corner of Laguna Park(now called Salazar Park)

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3. One more kick got buried quickly!

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4. K & R

:thumbsup:

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5. Morning kick!

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6. A friend of the family has a copy of this

As the saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Similarly, in the Luce Foundation Center, our staff members have an array of "favorites." Bridget loves folk art, Ed enjoys our new Fairfield Porter (new to Luce, not the museum), and Georgina loves the Roman glass vessels and everything technology related. I am attracted to pieces that embody my passion for Spanish language and Latino culture. Frank Romero's Death of Rubén Salazar is just one example of our diverse collection of Latino art in the Luce Foundation Center.

Frank Romero emerged as an important Chicano artist in Los Angeles during the 1960s. The word Chicano generally refers to Americans of Mexican descent. It became a more general cultural term during the Chicano Movement in the 1960 and 70s, which addressed social inequality and negative stereotypes of Mexican Americans. During that time, Romero was part of an artistic circle called Los Four that created large murals that often expressed pride in their Aztlán, or Aztec, heritage. They also created murals in response to political events like the farm workers protests, the Vietnam War, and discrimination against minorities in Los Angeles.

Death of Rubén Salazar is an example of Romero's later work that portrays political and civil unrest. The painting's vivid imagery virtually overwhelms the viewer; the contrast of the bright colors and short brush strokes make it hard for viewers to rest their eyes. The painting's large scale and colors are deceiving. At first glance, one might think it portrays a happy scene. The painting, however, depicts the tragic death of Rubén Salazar, a civil rights activist and journalist for the Los Angeles Times. After covering a peaceful antiwar protest in 1970, Salazar was struck and killed by a tear gas canister fired by the police. Although the canvas was painted sixteen years later, it indicates Romero was still greatly affected by the event. You can hear Frank Romero talk about Death of Rubén Salazar in this video.

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7. Down the dounthole with this post!