chicano movement

  • The Delano Grape Strike

    The Delano Grape Strike

    A farmworker movement led by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta and Filipino workers against exploitative low wages and poor conditions, uniting Mexican and Filipino laborers for the first time. Through nonviolent tactics like strikes, marches, and a successful national grape boycott, they pressured growers for better pay, benefits, and rights, by 1970 that secured improved conditions and set a precedent for farmworker unionization.
  • Rodolfo Gonzales

    Rodolfo Gonzales

    A leader, poet, and activist, famous for his epic poem "Yo Soy Joaquin", which fueled the Chicano Movement by exploring Mexican American identity and struggle. Starting as a professional boxer, he transitioned to politics and community organizing, founding the Crusade for Justice in Denver to fight for Chicano rights, establishing schools, and organizing student walkouts and protests against injustice. The organization provided social services, legal aid, and cultural education.
  • Reies Lopez Tijerina

    Reies Lopez Tijerina

    A Mexican American activist and preacher who led the fight for land rights of Hispanos in New Mexico, famously raiding a courthouse in Tierra Amarilla in 1967 to reclaim ancestral Spanish/Mexican land grants lost after the U.S.Mexican War, drawing national attention to land theft. In 1963, he founded an organization to reclaim vast lands promised to Spanish/Mexican settlers by treaties but was confiscated by the U.S. government.
  • Cesar Chavez

    Cesar Chavez

    American labor leader and civil rights activist who co founded the United Farm Workers championing rights for farmworkers through nonviolent tactics like strikes, boycotts, and fasts, achieving better pay and conditions, and becoming a lasting symbol of social justice. Born a migrant farmworker, he dedicated his life to organizing, leading major campaigns like the Delano grape strike and boycott, and inspiring millions for equality, earning the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously in 1994
  • East L.A Walkouts

    East L.A Walkouts

    A series of student led protests against systemic inequality, racism, and poor conditions in Los Angeles Unified School District schools, demanding relevant curriculum, bilingual education, and Latino teachers. Thousands of Chicano students walked out of high schools, confronting police, and highlighting the urgent need for educational reform and cultural inclusion.
  • The Mexican American and the Church

    The Mexican American and the Church

    A speech given by Cesar Chavez
  • Dolores Huerta

    Dolores Huerta

    A American labor leader and civil rights activist, famous for co founding the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez, organizing farmworkers, and leading successful boycotts (like the grape boycott) that secured better wages and conditions, and coining the rallying cry "Sí, se puede." A tireless advocate for the poor, women, immigrants, and minorities, she negotiated landmark contracts, championed women's rights and earning the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.
  • La Raza Unida Party

    La Raza Unida Party

    A Chicano political party in the 1970s, advocating for Mexican American political power, cultural pride, and self determination, focusing on community organizing, education, and challenging systemic inequality in the Southwest, linked to the broader Chicano Movement but aiming for independent political action for Latino unity and liberation.
  • National Chicano Moratorium

    National Chicano Moratorium

    A protest against the Vietnam War, a massive march in East Los Angeles, where 30,000 people protested the disproportionate Chicano casualties and domestic injustices, but the peaceful event turned violent when police attacked, leading to three deaths, including journalist Ruben Salazar, marking a pivotal moment in Chicano activism.
  • Jose Angel Gutierrez

    Jose Angel Gutierrez

    He focused on empowering Mexican Americans politically through grassroots organizing, co founding the La Raza Unida Party in Texas to challenge the status quo, sparking student walkouts for educational reform, and advocating for voting rights and self determination, shifting power to Chicano communities in South Texas through organizations like MAYO. He moved the movement beyond grasp by demanding cultural respect and control over local government, schools, and institutions.
  • Tierra Amarilla Courthouse Raid

    Tierra Amarilla Courthouse Raid

    A Courthouse Raid, led by Reies López Tijerina and the Alianza Federal de Mercedes, was an armed attempt to free imprisoned activists and make a citizen's arrest of a district attorney. The chaotic event involved gunfire, wounded officers, and hostages, sparking a massive manhunt, bringing national attention to land rights, and becoming a powerful symbol, even leading to arrests and jail time for Tijerina.
  • The House on Mango Street

    The House on Mango Street

    A fiction book written by Sandra Cisneros
  • Commonwealth Club Address

    Commonwealth Club Address

    Speech given by Cesar Chavez
  • Beneath the Super Moon

    Beneath the Super Moon

    A fiction book written by Irene Blea