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History Brown Berets
A brief history in the movement Although scholars do not have a specific event to point out to the beginning of the Chicano/a movement, they have divided it into two phases. Cesar Chavez and the farm workers movement in California, as well as the Land grant restitution movement led by Reies Tijerina in New Mexico at the beginning of the 1960’s characterize the first phase. The emerging of political and students’ organizations in Chicano/a urban communities have characterized the second phase. “The walk outs” or “blowouts” in East L.A. began this phase in the Chicano/a movement.
The Brown Berets in the 60’s Chicanos/as have shared a dual history of invasion. First, the Spaniards invaded them in 1521 and later in 1848 by the United States with the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. The American reality for Chicanos/as has been oppression and segregation. In the 1960’s, Blacks and Latinos felt that it was time for a change. In big cities like Los Angeles, Denver, Houston, and San Jose, the demands were the same: equality and justice for people of color. Students of color were tired of being ignored by the system and its incompetence to provide solutions to the problems faced everyday in the barrios and in the ghettos. In 1966, as part of the Annual Chicano Student Conference in Los Angeles County, a group of High School Students, among them Vickie Castro, Jorge Licón, John Ortiz, David Sanchez, Rachel Ochoa, and Moctezuma Esparza participated discussing different issues affecting negatively Chicano-Mexicanos in their barrios and schools. They formed the Young Citizens for Community Action the same year, and worked together to support Dr. Julian Nava’s campaign as a Los Angeles school board member candidate in 1967. Father John B. Luce’s Social Action Training center at the Church of the Epiphany (Episcopal) in Lincoln Heights and its association to the Community Service Organization, helped members of the YCCA like Sanchez and Esparza to develop their political skills. Meanwhile the rest of the YCCA members also became more politicized after meeting other Chicano leaders like Cesar Chavez and Reies Tijerina. As a result, they decided to change the organization’s name to Young Chicanos For Community Action. Eleazar Risco, a Cuban national, helped publish La Raza and as part of the Barrio Communications Project and it was this same community activism around the Church of Epiphany that brought other activists and later on Brown Berets’ members like Carlos Montes to join them.
In September of 1967, Sal Castro, a Korean War veteran, talked to students at the Piranya Coffee House (established by the YCCA the same year) about their right to demand a better education. The police regularly harassed Berets at their meeting location and eventually the YCCA got tired of being used as political puppets by the Los Angeles government officials, so the group evolved into the Brown Berets. The group decided to wear brown berets as a symbol of unity and resistance against oppression. On March 1, 1968, the Brown Berets planned and participated in the East L.A. “walk outs” or “blow outs”, the largest and lengthiest in the history of California, in which thousands of students left their classrooms to join the protest for quality education. The Brown Berets were able to unite college and high school students and begin a new stage in the Chicano/a movement. Shortly, after this event, other Chicano students led “walk outs” all over the Southwest.
Although Brown Berets had an important role in organizing the “walk outs” in East L.A., they always felt a strong commitment with the basic needs of the barrio. Community issues like unemployment, housing, food, and education became important elements in their agenda. The publication of La Causa by Eleazar Risco and the Brown Berets helped to bring awareness of the problems faced every day in the barrios of East L.A. In 1969, Brown Berets like Gloria Arellanes and Andrea Sánchez became directly involved in the production and distribution of La Causa. They also started the first free medical clinics and free breakfast programs in which other Chicana members of the Brown Berets collaborated as well. This initiative motivated other Brown Beret Chapters to adopt the same programs and demonstrated the importance of the leadership role that Chicanas had in the movement and in this organization.
During the Chicano/a movement, the Brown Berets appeared as one of the most militant organizations. The Brown Berets were influenced by the revolutionary movements in Latin America, the organizing efforts of the Black Panthers, Puerto Rican Young Lords, and the American Indian Movement to fight police harassment, inadequate public schools and education, the lack of political representation and the Vietnam War. The Brown Berets came to be known in the barrio for their “direct action” on police brutality. They protested the killings and abuses perpetuated by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s station in the barrio. They supported the United Farm Workers movement and the Land Grant Movement in New Mexico. In the summer of 1968, they participated in the first Rainbow Coalition in the Poor Peoples Campaign. In 1969, they were invited to be part of the first Chicano Youth Liberation Movement organized by Corky Gonzalez in Denver Colorado. The Brown Berets organized the first Chicano Moratorium against the Vietnam War in 1970, and a few months later the National Chicano Moratorium in which close to 20,000 Chicanos marched and protested the high causality rate of Chicanos in Vietnam and the draft. This peaceful protest became chaotic when the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department decided to end the event by attacking attendees. Three Chicano activists were killed (two of them Brown Berets), including journalist Ruben Salazar. Finally, in 1972, twenty-six Brown Berets occupied the Santa Catalina Island, but by this time, the organization had been weakened by internal conflicts and police infiltration. There were approximately thirty chapters throughout the Southwest when the organization was disbanded (although disbandment is disputed) although not all the members abandoned the organization. In San Diego, David Rico kept the organization alive renaming it “The Brown Berets of Aztlan” and were determinant in the establishment of Chicano Park. The Brown Berets influenced other organizations like the Black Berets who followed their principles of carnalismo (brotherhood). Founded in Mountain View, California in the late sixties, the Black Berets organized to defend the barrios against police harassment and connect youth to native ceremony. Both Brown Berets and Black Berets had the chance to participate in action-oriented activities in different cities all over the Southwest.
The Brown Berets became a symbol of activism within the Chicana and Chicano community and began to flourish throughout the barrios of Aztlan. They were instrumental at bringing the struggle of Chicano liberation to the ears and eyes of the American public. Due to fear and hysteria, the government attacked the Berets utilizing programs such as COINTELPRO, which led to the incarceration and suppression of its leadership and members. The Police and the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department harassed, intimidated, and persecuted the Brown Berets. The Police used espionage strategies and infiltrators to foment internal conflict as well as subtly set up and framed Brown Berets members. Such was the case of the LA thirteen when Brown Berets members like Carlos Montes, David Sanchez, Ralph Ramirez, Fred Lopez and other activists were arrested accused of criminally conspiring to create riots, disrupt the functioning of public schools, and disturb the peace after an infiltrator started a fire in the Biltmore Hotel during California’s governor Ronald Reagan speech. Consequently, many people until today have been misled about the real aims of the organization and the reasons why young people have found in it the answer to liberate their minds and fight against oppression.
The Emergence of the Watsonville Brown Berets A group of students from Watsonville inspired by the legacy of activism decided to resurrect the Brown Berets April 6, 1994. This was due to similar conditions that existed in 1967 and the murders of two young people, Jessica Cortez (age 9) and her brother George (age 16). “We were a group of young people who were tired of injustices in our community and the lack of political representation. We decided to educate and take power for ourselves,” said Luis Alejo one of the group’s founding members.
In order to address the increasing gang violence, the Watsonville Brown Berets organized an annual march that passed through all the different barrios in order to bring the message of Peace and Unity. They believed that through cultura and activism young people involved in gangs could redirect that energy into more constructive avenues. In addition, the group established a meeting location in which young people could learn to organize and learn about their history (the version that is usually excluded from textbooks). It is in this small “classroom” that strategies and ideas are exchanged to effectively create local change.
A few of their (numerous) actions and battles include the Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta school naming campaign, address police harassment, affordable housing, counter-military recruitment, college-bound mentoring and academic support, and local political elections. The group has established firm relations with other progressive community organizations such as Students Against War (UCSC), Barrios Unidos and the Resource Center for Non Violence of Santa Cruz. In 2004, the Watsonville Brown Berets activated Liberation School, which provides tutoring, and career guidance as well as an extensive revolutionary library.
Watsonville city counsel member Oscar Rios said, “ The Watsonville Brown Berets have been one of the strongest youth organizations in this community and have led by example by providing our young people with constructive alternatives and the tools to make progressive change.” On May 27, 2005, the Watsonville Brown Berets organized their fourth annual Youth and Power event, which took place at the Vets Hall in Watsonville. Over 400 young people were in attendance. The event featured counter-military recruitment activist Fernando Suarez del Solar. Over 20 organizations hosted information tables providing literature about college opportunities as well as political, community and environmental activism. There were musical performances by La Plebe, Here Kitty Kitty, Universal Language and Watsonville’s own punk rock band Los Dryheavers. “It is events like this that empower our young people and remind them that their voice is a powerful weapon,” said Brown Beret member Jennifer Laskin.
Today, the Brown Berets continue to provide a voice to the voiceless in Watsonville and continue to address a wide range of issues of social, political and economic inequality. They also continue to organize and train young people to be the leaders of today in their community and work to create positive social change. Mexikah Tiahui
Jonathan Alcantar June 1, 2005 www.brownberets.info