El Movemiento 1
My foray into the quagmire that we would later refer to as the Chicano Movement or el Movimiento, was more by chance than
by choice. From the time I left the service in 1964 until 1968 I was too busy earning a living to be concerned with politics.
I was in a comfort zone, oblivious to the world.
I knew that there were demonstrations against our involvement in the Vietnam conflict, but since it didn't involve
me, I stayed out of it. My world revolved around Work at GM and my studies at Flint Community Jr. College. The civil rights
struggle was, as far as I was concerned, a Black thing, and again, since it wasn't my fight, I stayed out of it. I was perfectly
happy to be a viewer rather than a participant.
It began kind of innocently with a phone call. The phone rang and I picked it up, at the other end was my older brother,
Santos, known in Port Isabel as Tarzan. He said, " Are you watching tv? I said, " No". "Well turn it on to CBS news, there
is something you need to see." And he hung up. Dan Rather was on and to my shock , I saw my 60 year old mother being arrested
on the steps of the Federal Court House in Brownsville. It was a scene that remains with me to this day.
I called my brother back and he filled me in. This fragile pacifist woman, whom I called Mom, had joined the anti- war
movement and also was active in her neighborhood organization to deal with the lack of sewers, roads and other amenities in
the west side of Brownsville.
I felt embarrased and also ashamed, not because of what had transpired, but because here
I was with a fairly good education and much younger, but doing nothing. I was determined to do something, but I didn't know
where to start. I was also worried about the reaction from GM. I knew that I was on track for management and I didn't want
to jeopardize that opportunity.
Tom, I have to go, duty calls. will continue tomorrow
J.C.
***
El Movimiento 2
Whether by fate or coincidence, about two weeks after this incident, I saw a newpaper article posted in the Community College
bulletin board. Along with the article was an invitation to attend a lecture on Mexican-American history by a newspaper reporter
from the Los Angeles Times. The lecture was followed by a reception at the International Institute. It was at this gathering
that I met three people that would for the next 8 years become part of my daily life.
All of them were from Texas,
Chicanos like myself, who had gone to Michigan for a better life and a better future for their children. Ben from Laredo,
Margie from Alice and Joe B. from Weslaco.
What the speaker told us that night made a great impact on all of us. We could have left it there and gone about our
business. We all had good jobs. Margie was a legal secretary. Joe B. was a manager of a large salvage yard and Ben and I worked
at A C Spark Plug. Ben as a supervisor and me as an apprentice electrician.
What really irked all of us was the fact
that the organization that invited the Hispanic community to this lecture had an ulterior motive for doing so. The organization
was the International Institute, a non-profit agency that provides immigration and naturalization services to foreigners coming
to Flint, Michigan. What they were trying to do was get the Hispanic Community to support their application for federal funds
to operate a social center under the direction of their board of directors, which was composed of prominent people in Flint.
None of these people had any connection to the Hispanic community. Their offer to the members of the community present was
to hire a secretary/social worker to provide services to our community
It was an offer that we flatly refused. By we
I meant Ben, Margie, Joe B. and me. The only ones supporting this generous offer were the people from Mexico and Latin America.,
but even they eventually came to our side. We made a decision that night to meet at my house and we invited only those people
we felt had been insulted by this benevolent offer. All of the people we invited came and to our surprise the Cuban Catholic
priest, Father Alonso came too. We made a decision to form an organization and for the sake of simplicity named it the Spanish
Speaking Information Center.
We were very careful to include all elements of the community including one person from Spain. At the urging of Joe B.
we contacted attorney Michael Pelavin and with his help drafted articles of incororation and filed for tax exempt status.
This was the easy part. What came later was nothing but hard work and conflict.
Tom, farewell for now,
Love,
Jose
***
El Movimiento 3
My favorite cartoon strip from the 60's era was "Pogo," and a quote from one of Walt
Kelly's "pogo" strips is appropriate here. " We have met the enemy and he is us." . I say appropriate because we in el movimiento
spent more time fighting each other, sometimes over meaningless things, than we did fighting the establishment.
A lot
of energy and time was wasted on issues of identity. What do we call ourselves,"Chicanos" , "Mexicanos", "Hispanics", Mexican-Americans?
No one could agree then nor do they aggree now. In the end, the label doesn't matter. What did matter to us was the deplorable
condition of the Hispanic community in Michigan.
We were politically and economically twenty(20) years behind the Black
Community and light years behind the Anglo Community. Our goal was to narrow the gap. We knew that the way to narrow that
gap was through education. We spent the first year of our existence acquiring information and disseminating it to the Community.
In this effort we were assisted by the Mott Foundation, the Flint Schools and the State of Michigan, Department of Social
Services.
Margie left her employment with the law firm and was hired by Social Services. The Mott Foundation provided
an Hispanic Intern to assist us in the areas of adult education and also drafting proposals for funding.
The funding
eventually came courtesy of the Model Cities Program. The measley $80,000 grant to operate a service center which we received
after much pressure on the Black-controlled Model Cities Board was to say the least insufficient. How do you address 100 years
of semi-slavery? Even researchers studying the mating of flies were getting more than that. We estimated the Hispanic population
in the Flint area alone to be about 10,000 souls, or about $8.00 per person. Despite this disparity, we were able to rent
a building, hire a director and 2 staff persons. The rest was done with volunteers. None of the board members were paid.
The
truth be known, all of us paid in more ways than one. A few of us lost their families through divorce. Others lost their jobs
and opportunities for promotions and all of us were spied on by our Government. It was years later that I discovered the latter.
So much for freedom of speech and association. It looks good on paper, but it stinks in practice.
to be continued....
Tu
amigo,
Jose
+++
Despite our best efforts to limit the activities of the Center to Education, employment and housing issues, the issue of
Vietnam could not be avoided. Many of our young men from the Hispanic community were being drafted and sent to Vietnam with
little or no training. Within months of leaving, the bodybags came back and the funerals started. Because I was a veteran
I was torn between support of our troops and the call for ending the conflict. Support of our troops eventually won out and
I refused to participate in the Anti-war movement. This issue finally led to my resigning from the board of directors, because
the staff was heavily involved with it and other issues that were not in the best interests of the Hispanic community.
When
the Model Cities Program ended, the Center became part of the United Way Agencies. The efforts of a few individuals had opened
many doors for the Hispanic families and especially the youth. Many of the young people encouraged by us are now lawyers,
doctors, educators and engineers. Two of our board members including myself, became lawyers and both of us continued to work
with the Hispanic community after graduating from law school.
Although we covered the full range of the political spectrum,
we did agree on one thing and that was; in order for the Hispanic community to advance economically, they must be involved
in the political arena. We learned this lesson from the Black community. Economic power translates to political power and
vise versa. As attorneys we were always confronted with the politics of class and race.
to be continued....
Tu
amigo,
Jose, con todo carino
+++
