Forty years ago, exploited agricultural workers toiling in California’s fields decided to go on strike for union representation and better working conditions. Life was extremely harsh for those workers, who were not even provided such basic necessities such as clean drinking water and portable toilets. They labored for about 90 cents per hour under back breaking conditions. Eventually the largely Mexican and Filipino migrant workers rallied behind a newly formed labor organization, the United Farm Workers (UFW), founded by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. In 1967 the UFW launched the historic Delano Grape Strike, a nationwide boycott of table grapes that would change the face of labor relations in Califas. But it did more than that, it was the spark that would cause the Chicano/Mexicano people to shake off decades of apathy and submission.

On February 14th, 1968, Chavez began the first of many fasts to protest the brutal treatment of the farm workers, and in so doing he received the support and allegiance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The UFW’s struggle brought about intense feelings of pride to a people long downtrodden. Slogans arose expressing militant optimism, ¡SÍ SE PUEDE! (Yes We Can!), ¡Viva la Causa, Viva la Huelga! (Long live the cause, Long live the Strike!)… slogans that are still with us today. The exemplary leadership of Chavez, whose commitment to justice for the workers was matched by his principled belief in non-violence, made him a hero to millions. But Chavez’s vision of a better world was not restricted to the conflicts in California’s agricultural fields. He also took a stand against the Vietnam war, linking the exploitation of America’s lowest paid workers with the brutality and insanity of America’s imperial campaign in Southeast Asia.

The UFW succeeded in winning important benefits for agricultural workers like rest periods, comprehensive health benefits for workers and their families, parental leave, sanitary facilities, and even profit sharing… but the struggle for worker’s rights continues. March 31st marks Cesar Chavez Day, and there will be actions and tributes to the great labor leader in hundreds of cities across the US. Here in Los Angeles we’ll pay homage to the 40th anniversary of the historic Delano Grape Strike -lend solidarity to the UFW and all workers who organize for a better future -and salute the people’s hero, Cesar Chavez, by attending the 7th Annual Cesar Chavez Walk at East Los Angeles College. The Cesar Chavez Walk is the largest celebration in Southern California honoring the heroic Chicano labor leader and the mass movement he led. The event takes place on Saturday, April 2nd, 2005, 8am, at East Los Angeles College, located at 1301 Avenida Cesar Chavez, in Monterey Park. Come walk alongside the Chavez Family, UFW members, students, unionists, community and antiwar activists, clergy and others to celebrate and honor all workers and raza who struggle for a better world. Si Se Puede! For more information, call (323) 722-0118. You can register or donate to the walk at the UFW website, www.ufw.org/la.htm

The staff cartoonist for Xispas, Sergio Hernandez is featured in the Visions From A Different Perspective exhibit in Palmdale California running from late March to May 10th. Hernandez has created artworks for over thirty years that reflect on social and political events, but his works also include looks at the current state of life and culture in the barrios of the Southwest. Hernandez is a self taught artist who draws from his life experiences as a Chicano born and raised in Los Angeles, California. From 1968 to 1970 he worked as an illustrator and cartoonist for the seminal Chicano publication, Con Safos Magazine. He also helped paint what is acknowledged as the very first Chicano mural created anywhere in the US, a 1970 wall painting titled, Chicano History, that is located on the campus of UCLA. In his March showing at the Palmdale Playhouse, Hernandez will be showing new paintings, including the example shown here, The Assassination of Gabino Barerra. The exhibit opens March 30th, and runs until May 10th. The Artist’s Reception takes place on March 30th at 7 pm., at the Palmdale Playhouse (map), 38334 10th Street East, in Palmdale California 93550. For more information, call 661-267-5684. Art gallery hours are: Tuesday: 12 - 4 pm, Thursday: 11am - 3 pm. The gallery is also open during all playhouse events.

Olvera Street is known as the birthplace of Los Angeles. It is the oldest avenue in the city, and the original pueblo was built by 44 Mexican settlers in 1781. Today Olvera Street is not only a well known international tourist attraction, but a place where Mexican tradition is honored and Xicano culture thrives. Ever since 1930, the centuries old ritual called The Blessing of the Animals has taken place on Olvera Street. Everyone is invited to attend and bring their animals to this wonderful event. At 2 o’clock in the afternoon, the animals and their owners, along with the merchants of Olvera Street, will walk in a procession to the old plaza. Once there the animals will be blessed by Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony. Along with the colorful pageant of costumed animals and their owners, there will be musical entertainment, craft displays, exhibits, and of course plenty of great Mexican food! Saturday, March 26th. 2 - 5 pm. Free and open to the public. El Pueblo Historic Monument, Olvera Street, 845 N. Alameda St. Downtown Los Angeles. For information on The Blessing of the Animals, or to learn about the history of Olvera Street, visit the historic monument’s official website.

The Chica Luna Mission statement makes their stance clear: “Popular media possesses tremendous yet underestimated influence on public opinion and social policy, therefore, Chica Luna Productions exists to develop and support women of color in entertainment media who strive to use popular media to promote social justice in their communities. Through this Mission, Chica Luna Productions enables collective members, program participants and community audiences to harness the power of popular media as a tool for social change through challenging stereotypical images and creating new, diverse and powerful ones.” In an effort to develop and support women of color who use popular media to engage social justice themes, Chica Luna is staging the first-ever Chica Luna Short Film Showcase on the campus of New York’s Columbia University. The showcase features nine short films. The Showcase features work from a current wave of emerging Latina and Chicana filmmakers from the west coast to the east. The screenings begin on Monday, March 21, 2005 starting at 7 pm, at Columbia University’s Lerner Hall Roone Arledge Cinema (114th Street and Broadway). Tickets are five dollars. And if you are not in New York you can still check out the inspiring Chica Luna website where you can find out more about their worthwhile endeavors, and how Latinas are changing the face of cinema. www.chicaluna.com

(The staff of the Xispas website know that without art and culture a people have nothing. Our arts section features everything from an art gallery to articles on music, poetry, dance, theater, and more. The Xispas website also features a lively poetry section, where professional and experienced Chicano poets as well as nonprofessional community poets present their visions. Here we offer a new poem by Jose Marcial Guerrero)

Priorities -by Jose Marcial Guerrero

On the April side of the year
We returned to the north
Embracing the fifth series
Of dislocated souls

We belong to the corporation
And one more year shall
Bring legal sponsorship
So HE tells us…

But my brother and I
Only dream of our little village
And the faces in Oaxaca
Shining with contented sweat
And their hands full of seed

We pray that walmart
And the government won’t
Rob anymore land from us
Our people and our ancestors
Cry with cold hunger
And the land begs like a little
Bird still in the nest

M.E.Ch.A (El Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlán) in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley, is calling for a protest against “the militarization of our schools.” The Chicano student group proclaims, “The public school system is being militarized with a growing presence of the armed forces. Including the expansion of programs like ROTC, which teach military values and hierarchy.” Under the banner of “Education Not War” the Mechistas invite all people to protest on March 26th, 2005, at 3:30 pm in the San Fernando Valley on the corner of San Fernando Mission Blvd. & Truman Street. The demonstration is endorsed by La Raza Unida Party, Tia Chucha’s Café, Guerrero-Azteca Project, Mujeres Against, Militarism, ACLU, Centro CSO, TroopsoutNow.org, Project Y.A.N.O, and the Committee Opposed to Militarism & the Draft.

(Luis Rodriguez, editor of Xispas Magazine and cofounder of Tia Chucha’s Cafe Cultural, wrote the following eulogy)

When Lalo Guerrero–the octogenarian musician, singer, songwriter, poet, and all-around great guy–came to Tia Chucha’s Cafe Cultural in the Northeast San Fernando Valley section of LA a couple of years ago, the place lit up. He brought so much joy, humor, beauty, skill, and story into our lives. He had done this for 60 years and more. For our little corner of the earth–where so many Mexicanos and Central Americanos have landed–he was truly a blessing. Such heart! Such talent! And grand spirit!

Unfortunately, today, March 17, we received the news that our dear friend passed on in Palm Springs. Lalo was 88.

Lalo Guerrero was the greatest living Chicano musician, founder of the Pachuco boogie sound but also encompassing many styles, including corridos, rancheras, and humorous ditties. Lalo continued to do his music to the very end–concerts in large halls as well as with a few friends. Everyone here at Xispas Magazine and Tia Chucha’s Cafe Cultural are truly saddened by his passing–although now the angels will have him for eternity, lucky angels they be. Gracias, Lalo, y que descanses en paz, hermano.

On March 16th, 2005, the US Senate voted 51 to 49 to open The Alaskan National Wildlife Reserve to oil drilling. Three Democratic Senators joined with Republicans to allow the ravaging of America’s most pristine wilderness. The drill bits have won -again. In 1961 US President Dwight Eisenhower put aside the 19 million acre refuge. It is home to 45 types of land and marine mammals, including moose, grizzly and polar bears, caribou, wolves, musk oxen, as well as habitat to some 180 species of birds. Irreversible environmental destruction and the endangerment of wildlife is the price America will pay for its oil addiction. A rational program of conservation combined with restricting the auto industry’s propensity to build gas guzzling cars was the way forward to a sustainable economy and the preservation of the environment. Instead, big oil will be permitted to plunder America’s natural treasures for the sake of a few drops of black gold. It is a shameful day… one we will long regret.

In its March 14th online edition, the Houston Chronicle of Texas wrote an article titled, “In Aztecan or Urdu, we are talking.” The report was an examination of the numbers of languages now being spoken in Houston and other big cities. Quoting from the article: “Does your neighbor speak Aztecan? Or maybe Urdu? Probably not, but either is more likely to be the case in Houston than in most other metro areas. We have 340 Aztecan-speakers, second only to Los Angeles. Dallas has 225.” While I can’t vouch for Houston, I know there are no “Aztecan” speakers here in Los Angeles. Náhuatl (Naah-wa-tuhl) was the language spoken by the Aztec nation, and today over 1.5 million of their descendents continue to speak in that dialect. While language specialists recognize the “Uto-Aztecan language family” as a common but varied root linguistic stock shared throughout the Southwestern US (Aztlán) and Mexico, a tongue used by indigenous nations as diverse as the Hopi, Shoshone, Huichol, and Yaqui… it’s doubtful that is what the Houston Chronicle had in mind. While some in the Lone Star State may imagine “Texan” as the root linguistic stock of American English, and so with no trouble can envision “Aztecan” as an actual distinct language -others are not so confused.

But another take on the Houston Chronicle article has to do with the mentality of colonialism. Urdu is the national language of Pakistan, and more importantly in this context, it is spoken in US occupied Afghanistan. The Houston Chronicle presumes enough Americans will recognize Urdu as a language simply because the US has thousands of troops stationed in Afghanistan. That the Chronicle can make such an assumption concerning a country halfway around the world, while remaining ignorant of the languages spoken in its own backyard, is indicative of a mindset that could do with some challenging.

(Chicano artist, Roberto Gutiérrez, has been painting life in LA’s barrios since the early 1970’s. With his colorful and naïve style, the street scenes, landmarks, and individuals of la comunidad have come to life on his canvases. We’ve just received word that Gutiérrez will be appearing at Avenue 50 Studio in Highland Park for a slide show and discussion of his work later this month. We’ve already reserved our tickets, and we encourage you to do the same! The following press release came to us from Avenue 50 Studio)

Avenue 50 Studio, a non-profit, alternative art gallery, is hosting a conversation, brief slide show and reception about the article, “Roberto Gutiérrez and the Art of Mapping Latino Los Angeles” from Aztlan: A Journal of Chicano Studies. Both artist Roberto Gutiérrez, and Whittier College professor and author, José Orozco, will be present for the discussion on Saturday, March 26, 2005 from 2 to 4 pm. The article honestly an sometimes painfully explores the artist’s life and the importance of his work in telling stories about “Latino life and aesthetics in Los Angeles.” The author asserts that despite being “one of the most important artists to come out of the East Los Angeles artistic boom of the early 1970s,” Roberto Gutiérrez “has been largely ignored.” The coordinators of this event hope to counter this failing and are proud to formally introduce Roberto Gutiérrez, the man, teacher and artist, to the community that he has served for decades. The discussion and slide show takes place on Saturday, March 26, 2005 from 2:00 to 4:00 pm. Signed posters and paintings will be available for purchase at the event. To RSVP and to request a copy of the article, please call: (310) 562-0113 or e-mail scmills100@yahoo.com For more info or directions to this event, please contact: Avenue 50 Studio 131 N. Avenue 50, Highland Park, CA 90042. Phone: (323) 258-1435.