[ Here's another great opinion piece from Column of the Americas, which of course is written by Roberto Rodriguez and Patrisia Gonzales. In his editorial titled Mexican and Indian Always, Roberto puts Antonio Villaraigoza's being choosen as the new mayor of L.A. in historical context, and argues that while that victory is of historical significance.... we still have a long way to go ]

As has been universally acknowledged, Antonio Villaraigoza’s victory as mayor of L.A. this past week is of historic proportions. Coupled with two other major developments, his election takes on an even greater national and historic significance. Last weekend, some 40 anti-Mexican bigots were chased out of nearby Baldwin Park as they went from protesting immigration to protesting the Mexican-Indian heritage of the region and continent. What drew their ire are several inscriptions on a monument. One reads: “This land was Mexican once, was Indian always and is, and will be again.” Another one reads: “It was better before they came.” Artist Judy Baca says that the latter quote refers to a statement by a white civic leader who was lamenting the influx of Mexican immigrants into the area - not an anti-white statement as the detractors were claiming.

The protest reveals that the anti-immigrant movement is indeed anti-Mexican and anti-Central American, and that these communities are not docile and dormant. In response to the protest, some 500 counter-protestors sent the small group of extremists scurrying home, reminding the world that accepting insults belongs to another era. These hate-mongers had been emboldened by the armed Minuteman militia project (encouraged by Gov. Schwarzenegger and egged on by Lou Dobbs at CNN) that patrolled the Arizona border last month. Another equally important development is this week’s inauguration of the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies at UCLA. It’s been a long 36-year wait, and the symbolism is stark. Villaraigoza attended UCLA during the early years of Chicano Studies (early 70s) when students of color were scarce and not welcome and Chicano Studies was viewed as an illegitimate discipline. This was also the early years of MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan), a student activist organization that was also viewed in a similar light. (Some high schools and universities across the nation continue to view MEChA in a negative light).

Despite the efforts of the extreme right wing to demonize MEChA (along with Chicana/Chicano and Ethnic Studies) Villaraigoza’s victory is not so much a vindication of the era’s politics of decolonization as it is an affirmation of the larger and current global struggle for equality, human rights and human dignity. Villaraigoza’s victory comes at a time when the anti-immigrant movement has been invigorated by the passage of the REAL ID Act - an apartheid-type law that restricts undocumented immigrants from entering federal buildings, boarding planes and getting a driver’s license. (Aren’t we all comforted by the knowledge that the next terrorist that ploughs a truck bomb into a federal building, airport, hotel or shopping center will be fully licensed?)

The reality is that it is a fear-driven anti-Mexican measure, not unlike many other Department of Homeland Security initiatives. (While DHS anti-terrorism operations at airports and other facilities have snagged some 1,100 undocumented workers the past two years, they have netted zero terrorists. This is why Villaraigoza’s victory is historic; because it affirms the politics he has been a part of since the 1960s. Normally, this would be irrelevant, but it is so because those are the politics that the extreme right has been vilifying for years. It is these same extremists that have been haranguing Villaraigoza and other elected officials over their involvement in the human rights struggles of that earlier era. This is also why the inauguration of the Chicana and Chicano Studies department is of equal importance and linked to his victory and also linked to the situation in Baldwin Park. Ethnic Studies is about memory - and precisely why it is in the crosshairs nationwide of those same forces. Without that memory, the extremists get to invent their own history and challenge not just the humanity and indigeneity of the people, but of the land itself.

The anti-immigrants are deluded by their own biases, convincing themselves that they are not anti-Mexican nor anti-immigrant - just anti-illegal alien. Here’s a news flash by way of every major religion and great world philosophy: Ningun ser humano es illegal - no human being is illegal. Humanity’s challenge is not to create more illegal categories or larger hunted populations, but to chart a course for the day when there will no longer be any more legal or illegal citizenship or human categories. That may take 100 years, but that course can be charted now. Villaraigoza has to run the city of the future, but if he so chooses, he can also join in that other leadership role. Either way, he deserves a historic congratulations.

[ Illustration: "Ningun Ser Humano Es Illegal - No Human Being Is Illegal" by Mark Vallen ©. Column of the Americas 2005 © The writers can be reached at: XColumn@aol.com ]

Chanting “Education is a Right” and “Student Power”, hundreds of students in Oakland, California walked out of their schools on May 17th, 2005, and marched on Oakland City Hall to demand changes in the public education system. Pulled together by Organize Da B.A.Y. (Bay Area Youth), a coalition of high school and middle school students, the protest was timed to coincide with the historic Brown vs. Board of Education verdict of May 17th, 1954, which abolished racial segregation in public schools. Raza, Asian, African American, and Anglo youth hit the streets together to protest inadequate education funding and the No Child Left Behind Act. The Oakland City Council passed a resolution in support of the student action, proclaiming May 17th as Take Back Our Schools Day. The official website for Organize Da B.A.Y. explains the struggle in the student’s voice: “The United States educational system is in an enormous crisis as our government continues to make educational budget cuts. The United States has money for war and prisons but not for our schools. It is a shame that this country is the wealthiest nation in the world, yet it cannot provide all of our students with a quality education. Furthermore, it is a disgrace that California is now rated as 48th of the 50 states in the amount spent per pupil on education. Our right to an education is under attack!” If you still think today’s youth are apathetic, you need to visit: www.organizedabay.org

[ Author Luis J. Rodriguez comments on the election victory of Antonio Villaragoisa ]

“I hope to work with Antonio on major key issues – most notably in the arts (LA can lead the nation as a pristine example of what an arts agenda can do to transform blight to beauty and deep divisions to unifying creative endeavors), but also around gangs and violence. There are amazing peace and healing efforts throughout the city that have been minimized, without proper funding, and often pushed aside. Most of the money around gangs and violence is in law enforcement and prisons. While there’s a place for police in any workable package for community peace, much more has to be done on the front end of the problem – with schools, healthcare, decent recreation, creative options, and meaningful work. One man can’t do this alone. One man’s leadership, however, can galvanize the energy, vision, and social forces already in place to transform and transcend the deep and ongoing problems plaguing the country’s second largest city.”

[ read LJR's entire commentary on Villaragoisa's historic election, at www.luisjrodriguez.com/blog ]

The City of Los Angeles was founded in 1781 by the Mexican provincial governor, Filipe de Neve. In September of that year, El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Angeles (The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels) came into being, and the pueblo became the capital of the Mexican province, Alta California. It was the last place to surrender to the invading United States army in 1847. Since those days LA has had many majors, with Antonio Villaraigosa being the latest. He will become the city’s 41st mayor come July. His knockout win on election day made him the first mayor of Mexican decent to hold that office in over a century. The last was Cristobal Aguilar, a two term mayor first elected in 1866 when the population of LA was less than 6,000. Aguilar’s most notable act in office was the defense of the city’s water rights. The city council had proposed to sell those rights to the highest bidder in order to raise revenues, but Aguilar vetoed the proposal. Villaraigosa’s big win is the buzz all across the nation, and many see it as an omen for the future. The National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national advocacy organization for Latinos in the U.S., hailed the victory of Villaraigosa, saying that “Villaraigosa’s election marks an historic moment for Latinos throughout the nation, who join with the entire Los Angeles community in celebrating the long-awaited return of a Latino mayor to the city with the largest Latino population in the country.”

In one of many post-victory speeches, Villaraigosa said that he was proud to be of Mexican American heritage, but that he would be the mayor for all of LA’s people. With the deep divisions and problems facing LA, that will be no small accomplishment. The victory party’s will soon be over, and the new mayor will have to deliver the goods. We congratulate Villaraigosa for his triumph at the polls, and we sincerely hope that he will govern the city in the interests of its people - and that’s the crucial point. His predecessor, Cristobal Aguilar, fought those with deep pockets who coveted LA’s water, and we hope that Villaraigosa will follow in Aguilar’s footsteps when it comes to protecting the people’s rights and well-being. All politicians must be held accountable to the people - and our trust, allegiance and faith is ultimately with the masses. (posted by M.J. Valenzuela.)

[ On May 14th, 2005, the xenophobic "Save Our State" (SOS) organization kept their word to hold a protest in Baldwin Park California demanding the destruction of a public monument they find “seditious”. No more than 50 of the reactionaries gathered near the sculpture designed by Chicana artist Judy Baca, and they were confronted by around 500 to 800 angry counter-protestors. Those opposed to SOS made it clear that they would not tolerate racist attacks against the Chicano/Latino/Immigrant community, and that they would defend the monument created by artist Judy Baca. Dozens of riot police kept the two sides apart, and eventually the police asked SOS to stop their protest and leave the area (they were escorted to their cars by armed officers). The hundreds of counter-protestors took this as a defeat for the racist SOS group and a victory for those defending human rights and artistic expression. In the following article, Xispas staff writer Gina Ruiz shares with us some of her thoughts on the continuing controversy]

SOS (Save Our State) a racist group who support the Minutemen vigilantes in Arizona are calling for the destruction and removal of Judy Baca’s simply beautiful artwork, Danzas Indigenas. A counter-protest took place on Saturday, May 14, 2005. I was not able to attend due to a family funeral but I was there in sprit. The thing that bothered me the most when I went to the SOS site to see for myself what they were trying to do was the fact that one of their members called Gloria Anzaldua “a dead lesbian”. That statement kept me up well into the early morning hours just pacing and fuming with rage. How dare they? Just the fact that this group can say that is a clear indication of their profound racism. They aren’t just targeting Mexicans, or the “browning” of the state. That comment says to me that they are racists and bigots plain and simple. They are against women, they are against people of color, they are against anything foreign or “strange”, they are against anyone who isn’t a white American male. They even comment that we, the Xicanos, shouldn’t call ourselves Indians because we come from a “mongoloid” race.

Gloria Evangelina Anzaldua was a woman, a scholar, a poet, an activist, a Xicana, a role model, a teacher and yes she was what she called herself, “chicana dyke-feminist, tejana patlache poet, writer, and cultural theorist”. She was much more than that to so many women, children and men. She inspired and continues to inspire through her writing. She held numerous awards for her groundbreaking literature, Literary Journal named Borderlands one of the 38 Best Books of 1987. She taught first in bi-lingual elementary classroom then on to work with the handicapped and finally to teach in universities where she taught Feminism, Chicano Studies and Creative Writing. She opened doors not just for women of color, but also for women. She transcended color lines and to have her be defined by the very thing that she spent her life fighting; racism and bigotry - infuriates me.

The statement also leaves one thing very, very clear to me and that is that this organization, Save Our State, isn’t interested in “saving” anything. They are the new breed of KKK hiding under the guise of a protective organization. Think the wolf in sheep’s clothing. They are simply promoting a racist agenda and this is something we simply cannot tolerate. They state that if the City of Baldwin Park doesn’t destroy a piece of artwork with poetry by Gloria Anzaldua, they will take steps to destroy it themselves. How? How will they destroy it? This is the kind of mentality that promotes terrorism and fear. How can any person, after the events of September 11th, have these kinds of thoughts? What is wrong with them? Destruction of ART? Destruction of POETRY? Calling the exercise of FREE SPEECH seditious? Will they burn books next? Will they march through the streets in full Nazi gear? Do they want us, the Xicanos, to be rounded up into death camps? Hermanos y Hermanas… mobilize - vocalize - get out there and educate against this kind of terrorism, this racist mentality that has to stop. All those who wish to co-exist in harmony and peace are threatened by this horrific and dangerous ideology. I leave you with this quote from the great lady herself who is very much missed by the world she touched so amazingly with her writing and shy smile.

“And if going home is denied me, then I will have to stand and claim my space, making a new culture… una cultura mestiza…. with my own lumber, my own bricks and mortar and my own feminist architecture.” - Gloria Anzaldua, Borderlands/La Frontera

The anti-immigrant group Save Our State (SOS) is calling for the destruction of Danza Indigenas, a public artwork the conservative group opposes because… in their words, it promotes the return of “the Southwestern US to Mexico.” SOS, which supports the Minutemen vigilante group in Arizona, have posted on their website that “Californians are tired of watching their communities turn into Third World cesspools as a result of a massive invasion of illegal aliens.” The ultra-nationalistic organization has been attacking Danza Indigenas (which was commissioned by the MTA and designed by Chicana artist, Judy Baca), because the public artwork has sandblasted upon its surface the statements “It was better before they came”, and “This land was Mexican once, was Indian always and is, and will be again” - a quote from Chicana author and feminist, Gloria Anzaldúa. SOS sees the quotes as evidence of a nefarious brown plot to take over Califas and turn it over to the Mexican government… so they are demanding of the Baldwin city government that the “offensive and seditious” words be removed from Baca’s artwork before the American Independence weekend… or they’ll “take further steps” to insure removal. SOS has called for a protest at the monument on Saturday May 14th, 2005, at which they will further press their demands for the artworks destruction, as well as the purging of Califas of all “illegals.” A counter protest has been called by those wanting to defend indigenous culture, immigrant workers rights, and an artist’s right to free expression. Counter protestors are also condemning the racism and xenophobia of SOS and its followers. The defenders of Danza Indigenas include the organizations, MECHA, Southern California Human Rights Network, and the International Action Center. Artist Judy Baca will also attend the counter-protest to defend her artwork. The protest in support of Danza Indigenas will take place at the monument on Saturday May 14th, from noon until 2 pm, at the Metrolink Station, 3875 Downing Ave., Baldwin Park, California 91706. (Map)

On April 29th, 2005, performance artist and writer, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, staged an interactive live performance/installation work at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Titled Panetnica: A pavilion of X-treme Identities, the work was a collaboration between Gómez-Peña and La Pocha Nostra - Colombian dancer, Michelle Cebal, and Mexico City performance artist, Violeta Luna. In a press release, Gómez-Peña said the trio would create “living dioramas depicting California’s current obsessions about race. The performance artists will occupy a gallery space throughout the piece, interacting with audience members, and constructing tableaux vivants of ‘interracial couples’ with audience members.” Gómez-Peña and La Pocha Nostra apparently delivered what they promised, delighting or repulsing hundreds of people who wandered into LACMA’s Anderson Building, where the performance took place from 6 to 10:00 pm.

I was not able to be present at the performance, but my associate, Chicana photographer and new media artist, Sandra de la Loza, attended and described it as a “happening” where audience members were encouraged to become part of the performance. Loza, who took the photos that accompany this article, made clear to me that the evening was an extraordinary night of high energy political/cultural performance, where the lines between artists and audience were completely blurred. Issues of national and racial identity, imperialism and sexuality became focal points in the performance, and LACMA was transformed into a world stage where Zapatistas, Aztec warriors, and barrio gang bangers mixed it up with shamanic draq queens, apocalyptic home girls, and a demented heroin shooting Frida Kahlo. After exposure to the mind-bending and stupefying mutations offered by Gómez-Peña and company, I’m sure those leaving the happening became confused when they suddenly realized the streets of Los Angeles and its denizens were just an extension of the performance. But then, that’s the purpose of art… to lift the veil that blinds us. (posted by Mark Vallen.)

[ This article orignally appeared on Mark Vallen's web log: www.art-for-a-change.com/blog ]

Miguel Contreras, head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, died of a heart attack on Friday, May 6th, 2005 - he was 52. A farm worker’s son who started working in the fields at age 5, Contreras began his involvement in politics at age 17 by joining the United Farm Worker’s Boycott Grapes campaign. He handed out leaflets in support of the boycott at grocery stores, and eventually was appointed a strike captain. Cesar Chavez sent him to Toronto Canada to act as a representative of the UFW. In recalling his work with Chavez, Contreras said ”Mexican farm workers were seen as nothing more than agricultural implements, to be used and discarded like you would discard an old shovel or an old hoe. He gave us a feeling of real self-worth and a feeling of breaking away those imaginary shackles you had to the grower and standing up for yourself.” Contreras was working with labor unions in Salinas and San Francisco when the international Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union recruited him as a national organizer, bringing him to LA in the late 1980s. In 1996 he became the head of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, an association made up of 345 local unions with a membership of 800,000 workers. Contreras is widely credited with helping to make LA a union city, he not only energized the labor movement, he opened its ranks to more Latino and immigrant workers. In 2000 he became a leader in the Great Janitor’s Strike of LA, where tens of thousands of poor and immigrant janitorial workers went on strike against super wealthy building owners. The work stoppage not only had mass support in LA, it also became the model for labor organizations in the US and eventually ended in victory for the janitor’s union.

Contreras was highly regarded across the political spectrum, and messages of condolence have poured in from all quarters. The LA branch of the Committee In Solidarity With The People of El Salvador (CISPES), made the following comment on the day of Contreras’ passing: “The progressive movement, the labor movement and working people everywhere are in a state of shock over the passing of Miguel Contreras, leader of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. Miguel died today of a heart attack. We express to his family and to all of the many friends and co-workers of Miguel our deepest sympathy. Labor and working families - and all of us - have lost a real companero and a fighter for social and economic justice… Miguel Contreras, Presente!” Contreras is survived by his wife, Maria Elena Durazo, leader of Unite Here - Local 11, the large hotel and restaurant union, and their two sons, Michael and Mario.

For Angelinos the world famous Olvera Street is always the place to be on festival days. This year El Pueblo de Los Angeles Historical Monument sponsors an ongoing Cinco de Mayo celebration that runs every day from May 6 to the 8th. The festivities include cultural presentations, danza, plenty of delicious foods, live entertainment that includes traditional folklorico and mariachi, piñata breaking, workshops and so much more. The fun starts at 10 am and goes on until 10 pm. Weekends are especially crowded and flamboyant… a photographer’s paradise. If you need more event information, call 213-625-5045, otherwise… just show up with a Mexican flag and enjoy yourself.

Things actually get started on May 5th at Conchita Souza’s historic Casa de Souza on Olvera Street with a reading of Aztec poetry. Nezahualcoyotl was one of the Aztec empire’s greatest leaders. Widely renown as a poet, philosopher, and a patron of the arts, he designed a code of law based on the division of powers. Called the council of music, he created departments of culture, justice, finance, and war. This enlightened Aztec poet king is remembered in a poetry reading called A Night In The Shadow of Nezahualcoyotl. Enrique Castillo (star of American Family), will read excerpts from The Masks of Quetzalcoatl by William Douglas Lansford. The book is a bilingual collection of “flor y canto” poetry, mixing English with a slightly modified Nahua (Aztec tradition) style to make the poems more akin to the modern eye and ear. Mr. Lansford says, “I wrote these poems because I love the Nahuatl language and its artistry. These verses are my attempt to marry the Nahua love of metaphor and contradiction with the complexities that define our own society.” Admission to the event is free, but there is a two-beverage minimum. Seating is limited so please call 310-464-5290 for further information. It all takes place on Cinco de Mayo/May 5th at 7:30 pm. Casa de Souza is located at 634 N. Main St. Los Angeles, CA 90012-1822.

And while you’re at Olvera Street, don’t forget to visit the Día De Los Muertos Altar dedicated to all the casualties of war in Iraq. Originally constructed for 2004’s Day of the Dead festivities, the alter has since added 512 more names of slain US troops. The alter also represents the estimated 100,000 Iraqis who have been killed since the war started. Respect and honor the memories of all those who have died. Bring flowers and your prayers of peace.

In 1862 Mexicans defeated the mighty French occupation army of Napoleon at the Battle of Puebla on the fifth of May - now popularly known as Cinco de Mayo. A year earlier President Benito Juárez had stopped payments on Mexico’s foreign debt, and Napoleon responded by invading Mexico. He sent his formidable army not only to guarantee continued debt payments, but also to crush Mexico and make it part of the French imperial empire. Juárez sent the army to confront the French at Puebla, and commanding the badly equipped Mexican soldiers was General Ignacio Zaragosa. The rag tag and ill-equipped army of 5,000 Mestizo and Zapotec Indians then proceeded to defeat the better equipped and highly trained French force of 8,000. The mightiest army in the world was trounced by Mexican peasants - a lesson that should not be lost in today’s present circumstances. General Ignacio Zaragosa was born in Texas when it was still part of Mexico, and so quite a number of people today regard him as the first Xicano hero.

The Battle of Puebla was not the final decisive clash that would eventually expel the invaders, in fact the Mexican army was eventually defeated. One year after Puebla, the French army remobilized and counterattacked, seizing Mexico city and installing Emperor Maximilian of Hapsburg, who would rule Mexico for the next four years. Ultimately, troops loyal to President Juárez regained power and the French puppet Maximilian was executed. However, the “Batalla de Puebla” marked the beginning of the end for French colonialism in Mexico and the rise of Mexican national unity and patriotism. As Xicanos and Mexicanos celebrate this significant day with folkloric dance, mariachi music, parades, and other festivities… let us remember that at its core Cinco de Mayo represents the victory of the people over colonialism and imperialism. ¡Viva México! ¡Viva Juárez! ¡Viva el 5 de mayo!