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US Latinx Activism and Protests: From the Farm to the (Legislative) Table Art produced during the Chicanx Movement Abstract: In the midst of change, The Chicanx Movement was a monumental time for Mexican Americans in the United States during the late 1960s. The movement addressed the social, economic, and political inequalities experienced by Mexican Americans across the nation. Aimed to celebrate and acknowledge cultural pride and identity, the movement also sought to reclaim and celebrate Mexican and Mexican American history, art, and culture. The Chicanx Movement played a significant role in shaping the Latino identity and influencing subsequent social justice movements, and the artwork produced during this time allowed for many to voice their opinions on the political and social climate of the U.S during the time. LA Demonstrations During the Chicano Movement Abstract: The Chicano Movement was a movement that involved Mexican-Americans all over the United States and was a crucial component to establishing civil rights for Latinos. While Chicanos living in the United States were at the focal point of discrimination in society, they figured that it was best to come together and establish a sense of familiarity in order to combat these racial remarks and disadvantages. To spark attention to their cause and movement, many Chicanos participated in numerous demonstrations and while many were peaceful, many considered them as radical. By Steve, Lexi, and Ricardo Bracero Program In this project we will be analyzing a number of facets of the Bracero Program with a specific focus on the causes, on both sides of the border, which culminated in the agreement. Consequently, we will explore the historical context of the US and Mexico of the first half of the twentieth century, including the impact of the Mexican Revolution as well as the dire situation brought about by the second world war. By utilizing this basis we will then analyze the “migration aspect” entailed by the program, travel from Mexico to the US and various territories. Not only as an in depth look at the agreement, but also as a necessary foundation. One which will permit the Bracero Program to be positioned in history, while simultaneously deepening the exposition and understanding of a largely forgotten case of large-scale abuse and exploitation. We anticipate this will form the backbone of the examination of bracero experiences: first-hand accounts and testimonials.. By Fernando, Joy and Lizeth Guatemalan Genocide & Its Dark Truth This page will focus on the Guatemalan genocide, a period of brutal violence that brought tremendous adversity to those indigenous communities residing in the rural areas of Guatemala. It will provide details regarding the atrocities that the Mayan people experienced, the trauma that was left behind, and the hardships that they continue to face today. Furthermore, it will demonstrate how this heinous period of history fostered activism and social movements in Guatemala. By Paola Chavarria and & Aurora Nieves Chicano Farm Worker Movement In this project, we will be discussing about the Chicano Farm Worker Movement and how it brought change to not only farm workers but to society as a whole. We will be focused on the working conditions of farm workers prior and after the movement, notable or influential leaders, and the communities that were fueling the movement. By examining their struggles, successes, and legacy, we wanted to provide a better understanding of the process needed to advocate and bring forth social change for a marginalized group of people. Last, we wanted to remove stereotypes and other misconceptions about the movement in creating a more equitable society. Por: Justin Bui, Kristi Kang, Jenniffer Young Las "Brujas" Feministas: Magazines, Art, and Television This project intends to provide a comprehensive analysis of women's representation in different mediums such as art, television, and fanzines. In this way, the goal is to understand the gender stereotypes that women have had to overcome from a feminist perspective. Through this discussion, the hope is to amplify women's voices to promote inclusive and equitable representation in society. By Claudia Mejia, Janet Landa, Diana Andrade Walkouts and Protests in Los Angeles On our page, we will discuss the walkouts and protests that took place within schools and communities across Los Angeles. The school protests happened because Latino students wanted to see a change in the education system. Some of the changes Latino students wanted to see implemented were hiring more Chicano professors and administrators, having more Chicano Studies classes in higher education, and overall being treated better without discrimination or judgment. In the 1960s, high school students faced racism and discrimination, which included a lack of education and insufficient school buildings in comparison to those of white students in the area. Walkouts famously took place at Roosevelt High School in Los Angeles, where there was a large population of Latino students. In 1993, college students also faced a lack of Chicano education when budget cuts put the Chicano classes at UCLA at risk of being shut down. This led to a hunger strike, where UCLA students protested and ultimately helped to establish the UCLA César E. Chávez Department of Chicana/o Studies. In the years leading up to 1965, Latino and Black communities also protested because they wanted to see a change in the way they were treated. The Black community finally had enough in 1965 and the Watts Riots happened, which in the end led to positive changes in their community. By Sydney Schwinger, Vanessa Harris, Jazmin Chavez

The Bracero Program - Babe Wood

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Testimonials of Bracero Workers: The Bright and Dark Side of the Bracero Program The events of World War II catalyzed a chain of events in which of them was the Bracero Program. This pages consists of numerous testimonies covering the experience of various workers of the Bracero Program. These experiences that have been testified range in a spectrum of different types of experiences. Some have ended in happy endings and some have testified in order to reveal the injustices they have faced in the program. Each testimony shares a different perspective, different views and even different opinions of this program.
Introduction to the Bracero Program

In response to World War II, the United States faced many repurcussions, damages and shortages in numerous areas. One of them were land workers. The majority of men were sent to fight as soldiers to fight in the for their country, in return the agricultural systems and development suddenly reached a point where it could potentially lead to a halt. Until the United States created a treaty in 1942 under the Kennedy administration to recruit Mexican migrants to come to work in the United States legally. However, during the 1950's Before, illegal migration was an issue until the treaty of the Bracero program came into place. The treaty was a sign of hope for a lot of Mexican migrants, because it meant that they could come to the United States to work and start a new life. Life in Mexico was not pleasing, nor satisfactory for around 2-4 million people who chose to participate in the Bracero program. However, the testimonials that you will see today expose that the new life or American dream that they were expecting was far from the contrary.This page will introduce testimonials of Rafael Morales, Emilio Solis Palleres and others who will collectively share to agree that they chose the Bracero for a better life, share their experiences, but all in a different manner.

Happy Endings

The first set of testimonials is from former Bracero workers Rafael Morales and Benny Carranza. Carranza was in fact, a professional basketball player for Mexican basketball league who participated in the Bracero Program and was very optimistic about the program in his first years. However, he also used his biliteracy in Spanish and English to be a mediator of conflict within the workers and owners. He voiced how the treatment they received when the owners would at times check their teeth as if they were horses. Overall, Carranza received the title of "el patron" in the Mexican community and utlized his status to be an influential and aide for his fellow bracero workers. Rafael Morales also shares his story of being a Bracero worker than turned for the better in the end. Throughout the period of the Bracero Program, illegal entries did not subside and instead continued as soon as word of work and wages reached the borders of Mexico. Morales testified he crossed the border at least 25 to 30 times. A truck going up to Stockton changed his life by going uphill. Although he was inexperienced at first, his employer Harold McCLish hired him despite his inexperience in driving trucks and working prune drying machines. Eventually, he sent for his family to live in a house in Windsor where Morales became foreman of the ranch.

An employer of Bracero workers in the Sonoma County, Talmadge "Babe" Wood. Sonoma County is a county in Northern California known for their infamous winery. Before they were developed into what they are today, like most parts of the United States during World War II they experienced extreme shortages on farmers to work on their farmland. Out of the many ranchers in Sonoma County, it is said that Wood was most likely the first rancher to hire Bracero Workers in the county. The following videos share the perspective and story of an employer and employee of the Bracero program.

Emilio Solis Palleres shares a slightly different perspective of his experiences as a Bracero worker. Palleres shares one of his most consequential and significant experiences as a Bracero in his experiences in harvesting cotton. He reveals that he almost had his arm amputated while working with a cotton gin and continues to imply that if you left because you were unable to work you would be sent back to your home country. The video cuts to his saying: "I lived a comfortable life." This statement arguably sets him apart from the other testimonials I gathered for his page, because unlike Chris Luna, Rafael Morales, and Fausto Ríos, Palleres reveals that he was able to live "a comfortable life" due to his employer helping him and his family gain papers in order to reside in the United States.

Revealing Injustices
Other Bracero Workers such as Fausto Ríos share their perspective with as an approach to reveal the injustice and racism behind the program. Ríos shares in his testimonial that he was adamant and initially prevented himself from sharing his life as a Bracero. Although the initial focus of people who participated in the program did it to pursue a better life and believed they were taking advantage of an opportunity, after witnessing and experiencing the reality of the program, it haunts former participants such as Ríos. However, this haunting nightmare gave him the reason to break his silence and to share his story to the Los Angeles Times. The following photographs below further summarize the treatment the Bracero workers recieved starting from the health checks, living conditions, and deportation.
Chris Luna was also a former Bracero worker who was part of the program since the beginning. The following photograph illustrates the treatment that Luna describes. Luna confesses that he was referred to as a "dog" and was prevented from returning to Mexico when he realized the program was barbaric. Despite many Mexican migrants who came to the United States in search of a better life through the Bracero Program, workers such as Luna and their desire to return to their home country reveal the degree of the inhumane nature of the program was not worth suffering. The photograph illustrates that these workers were only expected to work. The maltreatment, how they were being clothed, or fed wasn't anyone's concern which aligns with Luna's confession of being referred to as a dog in which they were treated like one. Most of the program's priority was whether they were able to work or if they were clean most of the time.

Albert de Luera Escabar, another Bracero worker and participant of a podcast where he shared his testimony, disclosed the eating conditions of the program in which he summarized: "They didn't give you a chance to rest... imagine the camp of seven to ten thousand people, giving them food to eat on long tables like this. At two or three in the morning, you would have to get in line to eat, because if you work up late, you have to go off to work without eating." Workers had to work all day, hours on end with their backs hunched over with little rest and poor food. It was not only men that participated in this program, but even young children, Josie-Cario Johnson who is a daughter of a former Bracero worker, was sought out and helped her family in the fields to pick out tomatoes. Escabar implies that they were fed just enough to last and it wasn't anyone's responsibility whether or not you were fed.

Conclusions

Unlike how we apply for jobs today, where we send in resumes, have traditional interviews, and wait for an email that informs us that we either got the job or didn't, Mexican workers went through unspeakable turmoil which is constantly repeated throughout this book. The image below where the man is hanging onto the fence can be interpreted by the man clinging onto the hope that he can get to the other side of the fence to start a new life in the United States. This was the case for every person who spoke in their testimonials.

This page strived to reveal the various perspectives of the Bracero Program. Some had happy endings who were able start a new life for their family, some carried their traumas from the program and wished to reveal them through their testimonials. However, they collectively share the same message in which each strives to expose the history and strengthen the existence of the Bracero Program. Strengthening the existence of the Bracero Program also highlights those who were part of that history. Not only does the history of the Bracero Program function as representation for the Chicanx community, it serves as a movement to spread international awareness of its injustices. The Bracero Program which was supposed to end around the end of World War II, eventually ended in 1964 which allegedly stretched the continuation of illegal migration. All in all, the program highlights the injustice, the maltreatment, and encourages for radical change and to exercise human rights of the Chicanx community. The Bracero Program and the testimonials of the program contributes as another key part of history that sets a global precedent to prevent its injustices from being repeated.

Citations:

https://www.srcity.org/Blog.aspx?IID=70&ARC=43
https://museumsc.org/bracero-program/
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-07-18/former-bracero-farmworker-breaks-silence
https://www.npr.org/transcripts/5205763
https://borderzine.com/2015/05/utep-historians-chronicle-lives-dreams-of-mexican-braceros-in-u-s-labor-program/