3-Day Conference to be held November 21-22, 2019 at UTSA, OLLU, Guadalupe Theater Offers History, Music, Food and Remembrance

By Mario Compean

Chicano students will look back on the high school walkouts of the 1960s that led to a historical Supreme Court case, Rodriguez v. San Antonio Independent School District, 1971 that helped spark a continuing education equity debate, at a three-day conference beginning Wednesday, November 20th at the Downtown University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) campus, Our Lady of the Lake University Thursday, November 21st and the Guadalupe Theater.

Opening reception on Wednesday, November 20th includes acknowledgement of the November 20th Anniversary of the Mexican Revolution; a keynote by Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkley, David Montejano, Ph.D. (The Rise of a Movement: Chicanx Goals and Strategies of Resistance); mariachi music by Mariachi Las Coronelas; Música de la Revolución Mexicana: Azul Barrientos; Música Indígena by GerYom, poetry by San Juan Guillermo; and spoken word music by Eduardo Garza and Jazz Poets at the Downtown UTSA Campus. Eduardo Garza will officiate as Master of Ceremonies.

Second day events Thursday, November 21st includes a Thematic Address by Texas Poet Laureate of 2015, Carmen Tafolla, Ph.D.; a Lunch Plenary “A Walkout That Impacted Education in Texas and One Man’s Life” lead by Juan Andrade, Jr., Ed.D, President of United States Hispanic Leadership Institute, Inc.; a panel discussion “Testimonios from the Walkouts”; and a viewing of “The Schools of Crystal City” documentary. Music and entertainment will resume at the Guadalupe Theater from 6:30-10:00 pm by Carmen Tafolla’s Children’s’ Theatre Group, and Los Nahuatlatos and Conjunto Los Secretos.

Third and final day of the conference, Friday, November 22nd will spotlight Demographics: 1969 Chicanas/os, 2019 presentation by Professor of Demography, Rogelio Saenz, Ph.D., Lunch Plenary: ”The Politics of a Movement: Youth Organization for Political Rights;” Arte y Cultura Durante El Movimiento with panelists Norma Elia Cantu, PhD and Alex Rubio; and discussions on “The Politics of Education: 50 Years Later -MAS K-12 Initiatives in Texas.” Entertainment and music resume at the Guadalupe Theatre and include Juan Tejeda and Conjunto Aztlan, Keli Rosa Cabunoc y El Tallercito de Son, and Dharma Paax to close conference events.

The event is free and open to the public. Registration is requested and box lunches may be purchased for each day attended at https://chicanohistorytx.org/registration/.

The Chicano Movement was more than just a civil rights movement. It was a movement for social change, equality and social justice that sought to eradicate racial discrimination and subordination of Mexican Americans on multiple fronts: cultural, economic, education and political in the five southwestern states of Arizona, California, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas and beyond. In San Antonio the Chicano Movement inspired the formation of several community organizations that waged sustained struggle against the

Establishment on these fronts for more than a decade. Their struggle transformed race and power relations in local institutions and politics that had persisted since the separation of Texas from Mexico.