Readings

Several years ago I attended a meeting of California Indians at the University of California at Irvine. They had come together to discuss tribal sovereignty, but the campus parking regulations quickly shanghaied the conversation. We had been issued parking permits with totally incomprehensible rules, regulations, and instructions. Only one element of clarity stood out: “Improperly parked vehicles will be impounded.” For a half hour some of the best minds in Indian country were tied up trying to figure out where to park, until L.

By the time of the Poor People’s March on Washington in 1968, the Chicano community had already established a political bloc that had been called into action to support many local campaigns throughout the Southwest, as well as Robert F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign. From the political rallies, protests, and marches in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s emerged the powerful political voices of Reies López Tijerina, Rodolfo “Corky” González, Dolores Huerta, and of course César Chavez.