GROUP MESSAGES & WEB SITES Speech by Nativo Vigil Lopez, MAY DAY Ð Los Angeles 2010 (This is the speech that the ÒMay Day Unity CoalitionÓ in Los Angeles did not allow Nativo Vigil Lopez pronounce at the May Day march. They say that he is too much of a red rooster and makes the politicians feel uncomfortable) . We are free men and women or we are slaves. We are the ones who must choose who we are and who we want to be. No matter all that they do to try and humiliate us, they cannot humiliate him who has built his own dignity by himself and with close friends and family; knows who he is, knows from whence he came, and knows where he is headed. Our people are a working class people and we have built the economy of this country and that of our own country of origin. In reality, we are the real heroes of the nations. We support two countries at the same time even though we are a people that is persecuted, attacked, detained, jailed, isolated by this society, poorly paid, denied services and ignored by the political leaders Ð the so-called governing class. We are loyal workers. We are loyal voters. We are persons of faith. We are family men and women, responsible and dedicated to progress. We deserve a fair and just treatment, and an immigration reform for which we have been searching and struggling for years to crown as a golden prize. The struggle has not been easy, but it has not been impossible to build a new life in this country. They say that God squeezes but does not strangle. The new anti-immigrant, anti-Mexican, and anti-Latino law in Arizona is an infamy that comes fifteen years after a similar experience in California with Proposition 187. And, as we defeated it in California there is no doubt that we will also defeat it in Arizona. If we must shut down the state of Arizona to defeat SB1070 with boycotts, strikes, economic shut-downs, student strikes, judicial litigation, boycotts of sports teams and events, and most important, that the people of Arizona refuses to cooperate with the authorities Ð this is what we are called upon to do. Without the cooperation of working people with the governing political regimen in Arizona, there can be no public order or social peace. This is the power that we have and we must apply it. We must know who we are, have no fear to defend ourselves peacefully and with intelligence, and force the authorities to obey GodÕs law. Legalization or NO re-election is a slogan that begins to be heard throughout the nation since an immigration reform does not appear on the horizon according to the most recent comments by President Obama and the leaders of his party. We say that there must be consequences for promising much and delivering so little. This is the first basic lesson in politics and no one knows this better than the very politicians. Not only have they not delivered, but worst, they have unleashed a wave of repression and persecution against our families not seen in two generations. Much criticism has arisen towards Arizona by politicians of the opposing party to the Republican Party, and well deserved, however, a good judge must begin with his own house, according to an old Mexican adage. We make a call to all municipal and state elected officials to declare an immediate halt to all seizures and robbery of the vehicles of our people, a halt to all detentions and deportations, a halt to unjust firings due to the lack of documents or a legitimate social security number, a halt to foreclosures on homes caused by the vil fraud committed by the banks. These are the demands of our people and we will do all that is possible to be true to them. This is our mission. This is our destiny, and our commitment to you. DOWN WITH ARIZONA! DOWN WITH THE ROBBERY OF OUR CARS! LEGALIZATION OR NO RE-ELECTION! LONG LIVE THE FREE AND SOVEREIGN MEN AND WOMEN!
I didn't know I was poor, until someone told me I was I didn't know I had a heavy Mexican accent, until my mouth was washed out with soap for not enunciating English in a monotone cadence I didn't know my ancestors' works in science, art and culture were irrelevant to that of World History that only considers the development of the Old World as a valid culture I didn't know that my ancestors invented the concept of Zero and Negative Space (anti-matter) 8000 yrs ago, until I read books that Western Society banned from the public I didn't know that the Aztec are 99.99% related to the Cherokee, until I read the MIT DNA studies published in 1996 I didn't know that the language of the Aztec is Ute-Aztec and spoken mostly in Aztlan (3/4 of what is now the USA) and also Tanoan-Nahua (spoken by the First Nations all the way up into Canada and down to Tenochtitlan) I didn't know that I was not Human, according to the cultural definition of evolution of Europeans, until I was told that my ancestors were savages and, hence, so was I didn't know that I would have to lie about my ancestry to be accepted by the invading Barbarians, until I feared death at their hands for claiming my true identity - calling me Hispanic is like calling Sitting Bull an Anglo I didn't know that I had power, until I looked deep inside of me and released the wisdom of generations that were always in me I didn't know that I am the universe and that the universe is in me, until I allowed my basic instinct to think take over I was born a Pachuco and denied my birthright, until now Cesar Chavez, Corky Gonzalez, Bert Corona, Dolores Huerta, Gloria Sanchez, Jose Angel Gutierrez, all of the Brown Berets, the Teatroistas, the Huelguistas, every Chicanos are Pachucos We will stand tall and, in our fashion, lean like cholos, until you mess with us - then, like my Jefito said to the powers that be, "Si se meten conmigo es una cosa, pero cuando se meten con mis hijos, le van a pagar al diablo!" (Mess with me and it's only a small matter, but mess with my children and I'll send you to hell!) I'm back and ready to make things happen. C/S Pachuco aka Ernest M. Saenz
10 reasons to Commemorate the Chicano Moratoriums 1969-1971 1. Because they opposed an unjust war. 2. Because they were grass roots based 3. Because they supported the non violent struggle for social justice 4. Because they were the largest, broadest and most united events of the Mexican American struggles for justice 5. Because they were youth led 6. Because they were brutally attacked and undermined by government forces and the media 7. Because the people defended themselves and continued their organized struggles despite government repression. 8. Because the peopleÕs journalist Ruben Salazar was assassinated and others killed during the police riot of August 29, 1970. 9. Because the unity and repression and the peoples collective memory of them have fostered a greater resolve to struggle for peace and social justice. 10. Because the history and legacy of the moratorium are ignored, covered up, and distorted by the corporate media and academia. |