In East Los Angeles during the late 1960s and 1970s, a group of young activists used creative tools like writing and photography as a means for community organizing, providing a platform for the Chicano Movement in the form of the bilingual newspaper.
In the 1960s and 70s, a group of young idealists-activists came together to work on a community newspaper called La Raza that became the voice for the Chicano Movement. With only the barest resources, but a generous amount of dedication, these young men and women changed their world and produced an archive of over 25,000 photographs. Hear their thoughts on the times and its relevance today, while perusing through some photographs not seen in public for decades in this series of narrated slideshows.
Click right or left to look through the images from the 1960s and 70s. Hit the play button on the bottom right corner to listen to the audio.
1/21 Students at Roosevelt High School walkout | La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
2/21 "Walkout" sprayed on the sidewalk during the Roosevelt High School walkout | La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
3/21 Staff_018 "Shorty" from Jardin 13 in Pico Rivera attends the Roosevelt High School walkout | La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
4/21 Rally to free the LA 13 at La Placita | La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
5/21 Richard Calderon attends rally to free the LA 13 at La Placita | La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
6/21 Protesters and Luis Pingarron, writer for LUCHA, demand the reinstatement of Sal Castro to Lincoln High School during a march to the LAUSD Board of Education | Luis Garza, La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
7/21 Students demand the removal of John Hogan, a teacher at Roosevelt High School who made racist remarks toward students, at an LAUSD Board of Education meeting | Devra Weber, La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA CSRC
8/21 Protesters cross the street at Lincoln High School strike | La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
9/21 Protesters at Roosevelt High School walkout | Raul Ruiz, La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
10/21 Protesters at Whittier Boulevard during the National Chicano Moratorium | La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
11/21 People at the Fresno Moratorium | Raul Ruiz, La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
12/21 Boy at the Fresno Moratorium | Patricia Borjon Lopez, La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
13/21 Protester at the Fresno Moratorium | Patricia Borjon Lopez, La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
14/21 Protester at the Fresno Moratorium | Patricia Borjon Lopez, La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
15/21 Woman at the Harbor City Moratorium | La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
16/21 Members of Teatro Popular march in support of Catolicos por La Raza at California State University, Los Angeles | Luis Garza, La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
17/21 Protester at immigration march against Dixon-Arnett Act | Pedro Arias, La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
18/21 Demonstration against the lack of Latinos in the movie industry and negative depictions in film | La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
19/21 Demonstration against the lack of Latinos in the movie industry and negative depictions in film | La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
20/21 Demonstration against the lack of Latinos in the movie industry and negative depictions in film | La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
21/21 People outside the state building during a Center for Autonomous Social Action demonstration | Pedro Arias, La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
Narrated Photo Essay: The Self-Determination of the Chicano
Joe Razo
I'm Joe Razo. In 1967, I was a graduate student at Cal State L.A. University. In the final analysis, I deem La Raza to be an organization of organizers. That was our primary goal: to organize our community. We used photojournalism as a technique of organizing in the community. Photojournalism was utilized in that manner because of the fact that we had no representation in the media and because there were stereotypic notions and racist notions about who we were as a people. In the movies, we were portrayed as gangsters, glue sniffers, bandits, Frito Bandito. Our women were sexy tamales that danced flamenco dances with castanets. Everything was a negative fashion so we focused on the issue of who we are. By making a determination that we would call ourselves Chicanos, we were taking a step of resistance, of saying, "You aren't going to tell us who we are." We were declaring ourselves to be a separate race. We were a brown race.
Top Image: Protesters march on Whittier Boulevard with the sign "Be Brown & Be Proud" | La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
