Sign in or register
for additional privileges

Latino/a Mobility in California History

Genevieve Carpio, Javier Cienfuegos, Ivonne Gonzalez, Karen Lazcano, Katherine Lee Berry, Joshua Mandell, Christofer Rodelo, Alfonso Toro, Authors

You appear to be using an older verion of Internet Explorer. For the best experience please upgrade your IE version or switch to a another web browser.

Mapping Mobility


This Google Map illustrates significant places and events of the East L.A. Walkouts. A legend can be viewed by clicking the list icon in the top left, but I will provide a basic overview. The five major participating high schools (Belmont, Garfield, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Wilson) are represented by colored stars. Other nearby schools that saw walkouts occur are represented by pins. More icons displayed on the map explain how a different community organizations, student groups, and political figures influenced the protest movement. Additional information can be viewed by clicking on any of the icons. 

One unique aspect of this map is its representation of the actions taken by United Mexican American Students (UMAS) groups to support the students' mobility during the blowouts. UMAS chapters from many Los Angeles area colleges and universities traveled to assigned high schools to provide physical protection from violent police (Castro 2011, 143).

 High school students faced some serious restrictions to mobility that are outside the scope of this map. Sal Castro, a teacher who helped organize the blowouts, feared that marching students would be endangered by crossing through gang territory. Along with UMAS, he enlisted the help of the Brown Berets, a Chicano paramilitary organization, to protect students from gangs, and the police. One of the leaders of the organization helped students move quickly in groups by having them imitate the army-style marching of the Berets, and assisted them in what he saw as a "… Mexican showdown between the students and the sheriff" (Espino 2006). However, Castro told Sanchez for the Berets to not wear their uniforms to the protest. Instead, they wore collared shirts and khakis for a "college boy" look (Castro 2011, 153).

My mapping of the blowouts shows that outside organizations and sympathetic members of older generations played a major role in facilitating the students'  subversive mobility. It is unlikely that the protests would have achieved the same levels of organization and visibility without their contributions. 
Comment on this page
 

Discussion of "Mapping Mobility"

Add your voice to this discussion.

Checking your signed in status ...

Previous page on path Subversive Mobility in the East L.A. Walkouts: A Final Assessment by Joshua Mandell, page 4 of 9 Next page on path