The Brown Berets
I felt inspired to write this piece because of the many conflicts and polarization between black Americans and Mexican Americans. I cite ignorance in both communities, especially among the youth. There was a time when we knew better. As a black American, I will always remember and honor the Mexican-American Brown Berets as much as I remember and honor the Black Panther Party.
The Brown Berets was a group of Mexican-American
revolutionaries from the barrios of the Southwest that emerged during the
Chicano movement of the 1960s. The Chicano movement, or El Movimiento, was an
extension of the Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement of the 1940s. Like the
Black Panther Party, the Brown Berets were involved in community projects in
their struggle for self-determination and social justice.
Black Panthers and Brown Berets in a show of force.
In 1966, as part of the Annual Chicano Student Conference in Los Angeles County, a group of high school students discussed different issues affecting Mexican-American communities, and subsequently formed the Young Citizens for Community Action, and later named Young Chicanos for Community Action (YCCA). The YCCA decided to wear brown berets to symbolize a united struggle with the Black Panthers against police harassment, inadequate public schools, poor job opportunities, inadequate political representation, and the Vietnam war. Their newspaper was La Causa (the Cause).
Young Brown Berets in training
The
Brown Berets became a national organization having opened chapters in
California, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illiniois,
Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Oregon, and Indiana.
Like
the Black Panthers, they also organized free medical clinics and breakfast
programs. They also came to be known for their direct action against police
brutality, protesting murders and abuse by law enforcement agencies. They
supported César Chávez and the United Farm Workers movement, the Land Grant
Movement in New Mexico, and even participated in the first Rainbow Coalition
involving the Black Panther Party, Young Patriots (white anti-racist
organization), and the Young Lords (Puerto Rican allies of the Black Panther
Party), and were involved in the Poor
Peoples Campaign in Washington DC.
As the story goes with the Black Panthers, the Brown Berets, the Young Lords, and the Young Patriots were weakened, diffused, and eventually disbanded through police and FBI infiltration.
Thanks for posting this. Do you, by any chance, know something about the "Latino Seven"? I have a photograph (which I'm willing to share) of the cover of an issue of The Black Panther Intercommunal News Service which demands the release of the "Latino Seven." I know the Black Panther paper advocated for the civil rights of other ethnic groups besides African-Americans (most exhaustively the American Indian Movement) and I'm interested in thinking about how coordinated efforts like the Rainbow Coalition re-triangulate race relations, particularly in terms of dialogue between radical African-American, Native American, and Chicano/a political formations.
ReplyDeleteHi Micah,
ReplyDeleteI like your news source liberation page. I have heard of the Latino 7 but do not know much about them. I would very much appreciate a copy of their photo. Thank you so much.
Hope you don't mind- just linked to this in a recent blog post.
ReplyDeleteNot at all, Ay de Mil. Thanks for visiting.
DeleteI think you are talking about Los Siete:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Siete_de_la_Raza
Understand your viewpoint but history has been one-sided on the Mexican and Latin American experience and not readily recognized by the black community. While strides have been earned we are still a long way from understanding each other's perspective.
ReplyDeleteIt's a very positive piece of information that needs to be promoted. All people of color need to let go of any and all dissention that was purposefully instilled by means of infiltration to cause division and support White Supremacy via the divide and conquer tactics. Harboring ill feelings against those who should be our alliances is very strategically unwise and counter productive.
ReplyDelete