August 29th, 1970

If you read the words Wounded Knee, Roseville, or Stonewall many folks will readily know the word refers to events that were particularly meaningful to different communities and that are a part of our shared Civil Rights history.  Some more deadly in consequence, some less so, but not less meaningful.

For many in the Chicano/Latino Community the date August 29th or the words Chicano Moratorium carry that same sort of import.  

It is a day that is pivotal in Chicano and Latino civil rights history.  

The quotes and links below will lead you to writings that discuss the Chicano Moratorium.  


Remembering
 the Chicano Moratorium
Posted By Luis J. Rodriguez on August 28, 2007

It will be thirty seven years August 29 after the Chicano Moratorium against the Viet Nam War was first held in East Los Angeles — at the time the largest anti-war demonstration in a community of color in the country. Some 30,000 people came from all over Los Angeles, the Southwest, and other parts of the country to proclaim, “Ya Basta”–that’s enough. It also became the scene of one of the worse police abuse cases in the country when LA County sheriff’s deputies attacked the mostly peaceful crowd at Laguna Park, enacting hundreds of arrests, causing hundreds of injuries, and resulting in at least three dead. One of those killed was Chicano reporter Ruben Salazar — the only national media voice Chicanos had at the time.

http://luisjrodriguez.com/blog/2007/08/chicano-moratorium-against-viet-nam-war.html

August 27, 2010|By Reed Johnson, Los Angeles Time

An estimated 30,000 people marched that day through East Los Angeles in what began as a peaceful, festive get-together, with songs in the air and young and old united in chanting political slogans.

"It was so beautiful, when you were there," recalled Salas, a guitar player. "They had music there and it was a family-oriented type of situation."

But the day ended in a flurry of beatings and flying objects when law enforcement officials clashed with marchers, and three people were killed. Among those slain was Los Angeles Times reporter Rubén Salazar, whose columns had championed Latino rights. He died after being struck by a tear gas canister fired by a sheriff's deputy into the Silver Dollar Bar.

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/aug/27/entertainment/la-et-chicano-moratorium-20100827

A part of the work that is done when addressing civil rights is learning about what has come before to help define what we as a greater community will be.  

Looking forward to this series on PBS.

 http://video.pbs.org/video/2365043221/