Los Angeles Music in Chincano Communities

Historian Daryl Joji Maeda called the The Asian American movement “a multiethnic alliance comprising of all ethnicities by drawing on the discourses and ideologies of the Black Power and anti-war movements in the United States as well as decolonization movements around the globe.” By the 1960s, a new generation, less attached to the ethnic differences that plagued Asian immigrant groups, began to grow and work together. The black and white binary race treatment in the US alienated Asian-Americans as an other, causing some to begin their own rally for Asian-American civil rights.

In the early sixties, when times were of segregation, racism and discrimination, Chicanos often suffered the most. It was a dark time for Mexican-Americans, who were negatively referred as ‘Chicanos’. Chicanos did not always have the empowered meaning it has today. In the early sixties, ‘Chicano’ was often used to refer to Mexican-Americans’ as lower class, ignorant and as a derogatory racial identification. Furthermore, racism, exploitation, inequality, conformity and assimilation were all main factors of the early sixties liberal agenda. Chicanos often faced numerous struggles as Mexican-Americans were often exploited profoundly in the workplace. Along with being exploited, Chicanos often face new threats like being fired, pay cuts, and ultimately deportation due racism. Anglo societies were advanced due to the inequalities Chicanos faced from education system and workplace. In addition, Chicanos who were proud to be ‘brown’ or embraced their culture, and practice their norms were often seen as outcast. The sixties main focus of the liberal agenda was to conform the Mexican-American. The liberal agenda attempt to make Chicanos deny their culture and assimilate to the Anglo culture. However, Chicanos often did not assimilate and conform. Chicanos often displayed their pride by dressing in their zoot zoot attires, speaking their language and embracing their culture. As a way to fight back, Chicanos embraced their culture in their music

“The 1960s were a conflictive decade in the American history, with conflicts that had issues from Civil Rights to the war in Vietnam. The Mexican American Civil Rights Movement, one of the least studied social movements of the 1960s, encompassed a broad cross section of issues from restoration of land grants, to the rights of farm workers, to improve education, to political and voting rights. “ (Rosales, 2).

At that time there were a Chicano Movement which also called the Chicano Civil Rights Movement and that’s for Mexican American educational, social, and political equality rights in the United States, which also students originations played an important role in that movement and if we focused more in education we will find that many Mexican-American have no option but to accept the unfair rules at schools like Terry the little girl.

In the mid-1960s thousands of Chicanos, people of Mexican descent, walked off the California grape fields in which they worked in protest of exploitation and poor working conditions. They wanted fair wages, better working conditions, and education for their children. They wanted all the opportunities that were extended to other Americans. Among the disgruntled employees was the soft-spoken César Chávez, who believed that his people’s plight could be resolved through the mechanism of non-violent protests. Chief among these mechanisms were his firm belief in fasting and non-violent strikes. These beliefs were the combined result of his childhood experiences, significant

The period of the mid 30’s and 40’s during the Roosevelt presidency presented an evolution for minorities, the foundation for the civil rights movement was set during this era. The urgent necessities for Latinos, Blacks, and Native Americans came into focus for a government that was largely ignoring them previously. With the downfall of the economy, minorities were economically hit the worst. Many programs put in during Roosevelt’s administration never provided the same success for minorities that their white counterparts achieved. Still, FDR’s administration laid out multiple plans for minorities to achieve future success and equality. As new incentives with housing, industry, and civil rights tries to improve the lives’ of Latinos, Blacks, and Native Americans.

What I have learned in these week is that if you are not satisfied with something you must change it. Like all those Latino, Chicanos and Mexican Americans did in the past. All the historical events that took place in the late 1960s and early 70s are a clear representation of discomfort. Chicanos and Mexican Americans fought to be treated equally as the Anglo people and for the same opportunities they deserved, many of the strikes that took place demanded a fairly wage for farm workers and for the discomfort of how Mexican Americans were treated by police or by other institutions. Cesar Chavez was one of that people who see something he was not going to tolerate so he decided to start a change.

The commencement of the Chicano Movement can be dated back to 1947 when the Supreme Court abolished the practice utilized by Westminster School District of desegregating Mexican-American school children from the rest of society. Despite the incorporation of policies that abolished the practices of segregation, the oppression and exploitation expressed by the Anglo community towards the Mexican-American community persistently endured. As stated on the documentary Fighting for Political Power, the lack of adequate Mexican-American political representation within local and national communities which were generally populated by Mexican-Americans, such as the ones like Crystal City, Texas, were a fundamental cause for the unconstitutional actions taken against the Mexican-American communities. As the Anglo policy enforcers and its representatives governed with chauvinistic notion, the infuriated Mexican-American community initiated a coalition whose primary goal was to combat inequality and oppression by gaining political power. The party established by the Mexican-American community came to be known as La Raza

Being a part of something that'll create a better society for others will create a better future. Following World War II, many Mexican Americans renewed their efforts to achieve equality in all areas of life, political power, and greater workplace rights. In the following three decades, individuals and groups achieved levels of success in achieving some of their goals, while others were not. The Chican@ Movement was a time where Chican@s protested, worked for, and created programs/organizations for equality. Equality fro Chian@ meant to be ready to risk a lot, but always for a good reason, which was a better future for Chican@s.

The Latinos had had enough and at 10:00am the doors opened and the students rushed out, quickly drawing national attention by marching. I can only imagine the spectacle: over 1,000 students began their protest, thus causing race riots. However, the fearful police entered and attempted to control the crowed. After a week of protests, the demands were met: more Hispanic and Latino teachers, bilingual instructors, and equal learning opportunities. The Chicanos, as

How different would our lives be if we were living in the 1950s? Compared to present day, many of our lives would be drastically changed. Throughout my essay i’ll be covering the struggles and goals of many different, and similar social groups such as Native Americans, African American, Latinos and Asian Americans . Many of these social groups’ beliefs and religions were challenged to great extents during the civil rights era, causing bonds to be shared and achievements to become accomplished. Not only were some social groups helping others to achieve their goals but many groups were developing conjoined names and taking pride in their new identities. Although today our laws and rights may be much simpler, before the Civil Rights era, achieving

There were many moments in this event that showed the pride and determination of the Hispanic community. Even if so they were considered a minority, they still received what the demanded for. This protest proved to be significantly successful and was an

School segregation was perceived unconstitutional by 1954. The Westside of San Antonio had severe poverty, the houses were not even solidly formed; they were comprised of random pieces of material. Walk outs spread all over different countries hoping to gain some change within their society. Gutierrez’s dad was a doctor and when he was a kid he became accustomed to seeing wounded bodies being left in front of his house to be cared for by his dad; most of the wounds were caused by the police. Gutierrez performed another walk out in Crystal city school, indeed they attained what they desired, but they were not satisfied’ they desired to be able to run for candidate, become a sheriff or a teacher. La Raza Unida was created, and it became a political party. Thousands of people were demanding a termination of the Vietnam War; this occurred in the 1970s, approximately 20 percent of the injured soldiers were Mexicans. This riot was violently attempted to end by spreading tear gas all over making everyone spread out and run. People were hit, a woman was aggressively hit from the back and she dropped on the floor. This riot resulted in the life of three

La Causa, or “The Cause” of this movement, began as farm worker strikes in California and Southwest region. (Montejano, 10) Farmworkers demanded fair wages and suitable working conditions, but they also faced inequality outside of the workplace. Inspired by Cesar Chavez, young Chicanos in San Antonio began to form organizations that would challenge the injustice and inequality treatment they faced as citizens of the United States. The Civil Rights Movement of African- Americans also impacted and influenced the young generation of the Chicano Movement. They shared one common enemy: the white- elite. Their basic rights as a citizen were being withheld and they organized to fight to retrieve them.

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, popular music and culture became significant influences on the lives of many individuals within the city of Los Angeles. East Los Angeles (“East L.A.” or “the Eastside”), in particular, was a center of flourishing musical, cultural, and social scenes with strong connections to the changing Chicano/a identity. Under this environment in which the Chicano movement (moviemiento) continued to prevail, a large number of socially aware and politically active, Latin-fusion “Chicano” bands were developed. One of such was the Ozomatli band, who strived to express their activist viewpoints through popular music. The spatial context of the band’s emergence, their links to past musical movements, and their implementation of a wide array of musical styles and genres all define their impact on Chicano identity in Los Angeles. Through their music, the Ozomatli band has showed much about the importance of the changing Chicano culture and served as the framework for cultural and social dynamics of present-day Los Angeles.