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.
1/16 A boy holds a sign during la Marcha por los Tres | Patricia Borjon Lopez, La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
2/16 LAPD officers at Lincoln High School | Raul Ruiz, La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
3/16 Man speaks at the LAUSD Board of Education meeting on the transfer of Sal Castro | La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
4/16 CSRC_LaRaza_B1F11C1_Staff_006 Woman speaks at the LAUSD Board of Education meeting on the transfer of Sal Castro | La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
5/16 Luis Pingarron, a writer for Leauge of United Citizens to Help Addicts (LUCHA), attends an LAUSD Board of Education meeting on Carlos Martinez | La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
6/16 People at an LAUSD Board of Education meeting on Carlos Martinez | La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
7/16 Manuel Mancela and members of the Brown Berets attend sit-in at a LAUSD Board of Education meeting | Devra Weber, La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
8/16 A young boy at a sit-in at the LAUSD Board of Education meeting | La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
9/16 CSRC_LaRaza_B1F6C2_LG_022 Protesters and Luis Pingarron, writer for LUCHA, demand reinstatement of Sal Castro | Luis Garza, La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
10/16 CSRC_LaRaza_B1F6C2_LG_021 Protesters and Pedro Arias, La Raza staff photographer, demand reinstatement of Sal Castro | Luis Garza, La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
11/16 Protesters demand reinstatement of Sal Castro | Luis Garza, La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
12/16 Protesters during Roosevelt High School walkout | La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
13/16 Students at Roosevelt High School walkout | La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
14/16 Protesters during Roosevelt High School walkout | Devra Weber, La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
15/16 Man holds a sign in his car during the Roosevelt High School walkouts | Devra Weber, La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
16/16 Protesters during Roosevelt High School walkout | La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
Narrated Photo Essay: Affirming the Constitutional Rights of the Chicano
Raul Ruiz
We sat in at the Board of [Education] for about ten days, I think it was. At the end of that, they came in and arrested all of us. That was at the arrest at the Board of Education of 35 people in the community. We were protesting the arbitrary, racist manner in which the school board was handling this matter of the protest of the children and also the removal of Sal Castro. The East L.A. 13 trial proved that our community was convinced that the only way we were going to bring about change was to commit ourselves to legitimate protest, a non-violent protest. When it became violent was when the police and sheriff's department and school administrators violated our rights. After several months, the whole issue of the East L.A. 13 was dropped. No one went to trial. Once again, it was a violation of the law on the part of the police department and the school that wanted to deprive our community of the right to legitimately protest, which is a constitutional right.
Top Image: Protesters and Luis Pingarron, writer for LUCHA, demand reinstatement of Sal Castro | Luis Garza, La Raza photograph collection. Courtesy of UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center
