The Chicano Movement

The largest social movement by people of Mexican descent in the U.S. to date, the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and 70s linked civil rights activism with a new, assertive ethnic identity: Chicano Power! Beginning with the farmworkers' struggle led by César Chávez and Dolores Huerta, the Movement expanded to urban areas throughout the Southwest, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, as a generation of self-proclaimed Chicanos fought to empower their communities. Recently, a new generation of historians has produced an explosion of interesting work on the Movement.
The Chicano Movement: Perspectives from the Twenty-First Century collects the various strands of this research into one readable collection, exploring the contours of the Movement while disputing the idea of it being one monolithic group. Bringing the story up through the 1980s, The Chicano Movement introduces students to the impact of the Movement, and enables them to expand their understanding of what it means to be an activist, a Chicano, and an American.

Mario T. García is Professor of Chicano Studies and History at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Acknowledgements Foreword: The Chicano Movement: Does Anyone Care about What Happened 40 Years Ago? Jorge Mariscal Introduction: The Chicano Movement and Chicano Historiography Mario T. García Part One: Community Struggles 1. "All I Want is that He Be Punished": Border Patrol Violence, Women's Voices and Chicano Activism in Early 1970s San Diego Jimmy Patiño 2. Reinscribing the Voices of La Gente in the Narrative of the Chicano Movement Lorena V. Márquez 3. "Hoo-ray Gonzales!" Civil Rights Protest and Chicano Politics in Bakersfield, 1965-1974 Oliver Rosales 4. Alicia Escalante, The Chicana Welfare Rights Organization, and the Chicano Movement Rosie Bermúdez 5. Chicana/o Movement Grassroots Leftists and Radical Electoral Politics in Los Angeles, 1970-1980 José G. Moreno 6. ¡Ya Basta! The Struggle for Justice and Equality: The Chicano Power Movement in Oxnard, California Luis H. Moreno Part Two: The Student Movement 7. The Ideological Struggle for Chicana/o Unity and Power: A Short History of California M.E.Ch.A. Gustavo Licón 8. Understanding the Role of Conflict, Factionalism, and Schism in the Development of the Chicano Student Movement: The Mexican American Student Association and La Vida Nueva at East Los Angeles College Marisol Moreno Part Three: Geographic Diversity and the Chicano Movement 9. San Antonio Chicano Organizers (SACO): Labor Activists and El Movimiento Max Krochmal 10. "We Are a Distinct People": Defending Difference in Schools through the Chicano Movement in Michigan, 1966-1980 Nora Salas 11. Sin Fronteras: An Oral History of a Chicana Activist in Oregon during the Chicano Movement Norma Cárdenas Contributor Biographies Index