ozelotl May 23rd, 2007
The Brown Berets will do a workshop on “Mexicano + Chicano = Unity” at the:
2ND ANNUAL CESAR E. CHAVEZ YOUTH LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
May 26, 2007 From 11:00am-5:00pm
Gilroy High School
750 W. 10th Street
A free event open to the entire community, especially youth. Reynaldo Berrios, author of Mi Vida Loca Magazine and a new book titled “Cholo Style” documenting the lives and perspectives of many different homies around the country, will be speaking and doing a book signing. Don’t miss this event!
ozelotl May 22nd, 2007
By Ramiro
Human migration is a phenomenon as old as humanity. Throughout the ages humans have been known to migrate extensively all over the world. Indeed, it is migration which created human isolation and is therefore responsible for our current genetic differences and the makeup of the world today. One of the main theories in explaining the populating of Turtle Island is through migration of Asians along a temporary land bridge called the Bering Strait, although this theory is currently under much scrutiny.
Our gente are a historically migrating people. Every time we look at the official Mexican flag, or interchangeably the panquetzalli which is the flag the Aztecs used, we should be reminded of out migrating history, for that is what these symbols represent. The official story tells us the Aztecs (or Mexicah) followed their “god” Huizilopochtli’s orders to migrate south out of their current home, Aztlan, in search of an eagle devouring a serpent, perched on a cactus in the middle of a lake. Although the story is a metaphor, the migration did indeed happen. It took the Aztecs seven generations to reach their destination: Lake Texcoco, where they would build the beautiful Tenochtitlan, which would then become modern-day Mexico City. There should be no confusion as to our migrating nature as it is depicted in our most representative emblems and symbols.
United States Immigration History
The United States as a country was founded by European immigrants fleeing political or religious persecution, and done on the backs of a population which were victims of a different form of migration: forced migration. Africans were bought and sold as slaves for centuries after the colonization of Africa by initially the Portuguese, and afterwards by all other European imperialist nations. Migration has continued all throughout history until modern times, despite the strong objection to it by modern-day nation-states, or at least the objection to migration done without the relatively new notion of proper legal immigration proceedings.
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sandinista May 20th, 2007
On March 18, 2007, 2 members of the group DobaDoza performed in San Francisco at the International ANSWER march and demonstration to commemorate the 4th anniversary of the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Shannon and Patricia have done a lot of work with the Watsonville Autonomous Chapter of the Brown Berets. They were joined by a young member of the Berets, a middle school student who also DJ’s, raps and sings for fun in his free time. The file is a mp3 recording of their live performance from the main stage in the Civic Center in SF and lasts about 11 minutes.
Click Here to get the file from our friends over at SC Indybay.
ozelotl May 16th, 2007
via City on a Hill Press
By Matthew Sommer
Inspired by activists like Che Guevara and Malcolm X and modeled after the Black Panther Party, the Brown Berets are giving power back to the people.
The Watsonville chapter of the Brown Berets is now the lone faction of what was once a national organization and movement that rallied around issues of Chicano (Mexican-American) rights.
Today’s Brown Berets helped to found Migrawatch, a project that warns the Watsonville community about immigration raids, and are working on a bike repair clinic to provide volunteer services to anyone who wants a bike. Their objective is to promote the safety and advancement of the Chicano community. “The Brown Berets is an organization that brings together and promotes the community,” said Jay Palmer, a local activist who works with the Brown Berets.
The Brown Berets develop projects that are angled at empowering the Chicano community.
Evelyn Sanchez, a Brown Beret member, said that the Brown Berets is a grassroots organization. Sanchez described a grassroots organization as one that forms in order to solve the neglected issues of society.
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