ucla symposium 2006

8/14/2019 UCLA Symposium 2006

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The Development of Chicano Leadership Since 1963

Sal Castro and the Chicano Youth Leadership Conference:

A Symposium Organized by the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center

at UCLA, Friday, May 26, 2006, 9:00 am8:00 pm


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Sal Castro and the

Chicano Youth Leadership Conference:

Since 1963

The Development ofChicana/o Leadership

A symposium organized by

the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center

and held at the UCLA Faculty Center

Friday, May 26, 2006

9:00 am to 8:00 pm


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Contents

Contents

About th Symposium 5

Symposium Program6-7

Commnts on th Significanc of th CYLC and Sal Castro 8

Panlist and Modrator Biographis 15

Sponsorship 20

About th CSRC 20

Research Note: Blowout: The Sal Castro Storyby Mario T. Garca 21


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AbouttheSymposium

Th CSRC is proud to host this on-day symposium on th Chicano Youth LadrshipConfrncs (CYLC), Sal Castro, and thir impact on Chicanos and Chicano ducationin California. This symposium brings togthr CYLC participants, CYLC oluntrs,

and scholars to discuss th historical and ducational impact of th sris of high

school ladrship confrncs.

Th symposium has bn dsignd to inform studnts and th gnral public about

th rol of th CYLC sinc 1963 in prparing a nw gnration of Chicana/o ladrs;

th rol of Sal Castro and CYLC alumni and oluntrs sinc th walkouts of 1968 in thmomnt for ducational rform on bhalf of Chicana/o studnts;

th rsarch rlatd to CYLC and Sal Castro that adancs th fild of Chicana/o Studis;th honor du to Sal Castro and th many CYLC oluntrs and studnts in th high school

ladrship confrncs.

Historically, th sris of CYLC ar th most rcognid high school ladrship confrncs in

California. Or th past forty-thr yars CYLC has prpard sral gnrations of Chicana/oladrs and has contributd to th community in a mannr that has no qual. Th alumni of th

confrnc sris includ a mayor of Los Angls, a stat suprm court justic, sral LAUSDsuprintndnts, many LAUSD principals and tachrs, mmbrs of th Unitd Stats Congrss,county suprisors, and a growing numbr of unirsity profssors. Alumni also includ mmbrsof th print and lctronic mdia, filmmakrs and producrs, artists, and mmbrs of ry profs-sion. At th cntr of th CYLC is Sal Castro, a lif-long Los Angls school tachr with a nationalrputation as a school rformr.

CYLC was foundd in 1963 in rspons to th harsh rality that Chicano studnts fard poorly

in th U.S. ducational systmdropout rats xcdd any othr thnicity and th liklihood ofChicanos attnding a collg or unirsity was ry low. CYLC, also calld Camp Hss Kramr,brought togthr groups of high school studnts to ncourag thm to graduat from high

school, ntr collg, graduat, and sk adancd dgrs in ordr to bcom rsponsibl

ladrs. Th confrncs ha bn hld for or four dcads and ar as important today as

thy wr in 1963.

Sinc 2006 is th forty-third annirsary of th CYLC, th CSRC wants to bring attntion to Sal

Castros work and his guidanc of th CYLC in th continuing qust for ducational rform and

rspct for Chicana/o studnts.


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SymposiumProgram

Sal Castro and CYLC

Conference Program

9:00 am 6:00 pm

Exhibit and Video

UCLA Faculty Cntr, Hacinda RoomAn art xhibit by Ignacio Gom, a contributor and oluntr with th CYLC, is on display

all day in th Hacinda Room. A idotap intriw of Sal Castro will also b runthroughout th symposium.

9:00 am

Registration

UCLA Faculty Cntr, California Room

9:15 am

Welcome and IntroductionsUCLA Faculty Cntr, California RoomCARLOS MANUeL HARO, UCLA Chicano Studis Rsarch CntrCHON A. NORIeGA, UCLA Chicano Studis Rsarch CntrSAL CASTRO, Coordinator of th CYLC

9:30 am 10:45 am

Session 1: The Historical Significance of CYLC and Sal Castro

Scholars spak who ha don rsarch rlatd to Los Angls history, CYLC, Sal Castro, andth Chicana/o studnt momnt.

RUDY ACUA, Profssor, Dpartmnt of Chicano Studis, California Stat Unirsity,Northridg

JUAN GOMez QUINONeS, Profssor, UCLA Dpartmnt of HistoryDOLOReS DeLGADO BeRNAL, Associat Profssor, education, Cultur and Socity,

Unirsity of Utah

10:45 am 11:00 am

Break

11:00 am -

Session 2: Sal Castro: A Biography in Progress

From th 1960s through th arly twnty-first cntury, Sal Castro took action to changducation to mt th nds of Chicana/os.

MARIO GARCIA, Profssor, UCSB Dpartmnt of HistoryROBIN AveLAR LA SALLe, Ph.D., Co-foundr and Chif Program Officr, Principals

exchang

12:00 pm 1:30 pm

Lunch Break


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SymposiumProgram

1:30 pm 2:45 pm

Session 3: Panel of CYLC Volunteers

CYLC oluntrs who hlpd organi and implmnt CYLC and who ha ladrship andprofssional carrs (including taching and acadmic carrs) spak.

LeONARD vALveRDe, Profssor of education, excuti Dirctor of th Hispanic BordrLadrship Institut, Ariona Stat Unirsity

MYRNA GONzALez BRUTTI, Assistant Principal, Stphn M. Whit Middl SchoolROBeRT BAUTISTA, Tachr and Coach, Blmont High SchoolFATIMA CASTANeDA, ed.D., Assistant Adjunct Profssor, Dpartmnt of education,

Occidntal CollgARACeLI LOPez, USC M.S.W. Graduat Studnt, Family Support Srics Managr,

Pathways Nonprofit Agncy

2:45 pm 3:00 pm

Break

3:00 pm 4:15 pm

Session 5: CYLC Participants and Students of Sal Castro

CYLC participants and studnts of Sal Castro ha mod into ladrship positions in ariousprofssions and continu to support CYLC.

ARMANDO DURON, CYLC participant, Lawyr, Prsidnt of th Board, Slf Hlp Graphicsin east Los Angls

RITA LeDeSMA, Upward Bound with Sal Castro, Associat Profssor, School of SocialWork, California Stat Unirsity, Los Angls

JUSTICe CARLOS MOReNO, CYLC participant, California Suprm Court JudgSUSAN RACHO, CYLC Participant, Producr & Film Makr

Film Scrning of part ofTaking Back the Schools

4:15 pm 4:30 pmBreak

4:30 pm 5:30 pm

Session 6: No Se Dejen! Go to Collegeand Graduate!

SAL CASTRO, Coordinator of th CYLC

5:30 pm 7:30 pm

Reception and Screening of Walkout

Fowler Museum, Lenart Auditorium, Room A103B

MOCTeSUMA eSPARzA, CYLC participant, Film Producr, Walkout HBO 2006CYLC alumni and 1968 walkout studnt ladrs

7:45 pm 8:00 pm

The Final Word

SAL CASTRO, Coordinator of th CYLC


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Comments

on the Significance of

the CYLC and Sal Castro

Robin Avelar La Salle

1978 Belmont High School Student of Sal Castro; Volunteer with CYLC;

Co-founder and Chief Program Officer for Principals Exchange

en as his studnt at Blmont High School in 1978, w all knwMr. Castro (as I will always call him) was diffrnt. W would walkinto his classroom to th music of Santana playing on th stroon his dsk. H would call roll with a commanding oic,

pronouncing our nams, loudly and proudly, as wnr hard thm pronouncd whil at school. Robina --LARR, h would call out, corrcting m if Islippd and pronouncd my nam A-u-lar, th

way I had hard my family nam pronouncd forln school yars. At last for th tim w wrin his class, w all rturnd to our hom idnti-tis; Chris bcam Cristbal (not crystal ball, as

othr tachrs had pronouncd it), Smoky wasJss, imagin that; n Milly zapata bcamemiliana Chancla! No on was spard.

Th history w larnd was that larnd by othr classs, xcpt that Mr. Castro mad it clarthat w, Mxicans, Chicanos, mal and fmal, wr cntral to th dlopmnt of this statand nation. W usd outsid sourcs lik Rudy Acuas Occupied America and Raul Morins

Among the Valiant. W conductd rsarch to undrstand th walkouts that occurrd tn yarsbfor, larnd of our dirct connction to th strt nams w trald and mispronouncddaily lik Figuroa, Spulda, and Pico, and gradually dlopd an innr strngth andcommitmnt to th ducation of our community that has lastd our ntir lis. I, lik countlssothr studnts of Mr. Castros, ha dotd my ntir carr to changing th ducationalsystm that maks initabl th prptuation of th historical undrachimnt of Chicano/astudnts, and thn shamlssly blams our parnts, familis and cultur.

Mr. Castros prsonal contributions to th caus of ducational quity ar obious, fightingfor th adancmnt of our community for forty yars. Lss obious may b th influnc SalCastro has had on thousands of studnts, parnts, collagus, and community mmbrs,who, inspird by him, ar now ladrs in ry conciabl fild and ar actily contributing

to th ducational and profssional adancmnt of a community that has bn undraludfor far too long. Bcaus of Sal Castros xampl, w now ha Chicana/o ladrs who ar notafraid to ngag in public discours about inquitis in ducation or to challng long-standingpractics and prcptions that sr to subjugat our community.

In 1978, Mr. Castro lit a fir undr Robin A--LARR. Sinc 1964, Sal Castro has bn ignitingth spirit of an ntir community by lading th fight for ducational quity and opportunity.


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Comments

Carlos R. Moreno

Attended CYLC in 1965; Associate Justice, Supreme Court of California

I am rmindd of my own participation in th Camp Hss Kramr rtrat in 1965, whn I wasa snior at Lincoln High School in Los Angls. In many ways, that rtrat was a sminalturning point in my ducation, with latr rippl ffcts that continud into my profssionalcarr. Although I lik to think that I was a good studnt bfor th confrnc, I rcall that thconfrnc proidd m and th othr studnts with a mor dfind purpos, or mission, to

our ducation, with ladrship at its cor.

Lincoln High School, at that tim, although nurturing and comforting in many ways, did notnision its studnts going on to prstigious unirsitis or sking an ducation that would

lad to a carr in on of th profssions such as law, mdicin, or nginring. Most duca-tors at Blmont would agr that a ocation in on of th trads was most appropriat for ourhigh school graduats.

Th Chicano Youth Ladrship Confrnc ga m a trmndous sns of mpowrmntasns that I could go anywhr or bcom anyon I intndd to bwithout any notion ofthr bing limits to my ambitions. This sns, I bli, ga m th confidnc to apply to

and ntr Yal Unirsity, and latr, Stanford Law School.

Now, from th prspcti of somon who has bn in th lgal profssion for twnty-snyars, and who has bn appointd to th bnch by thr gornors and on prsidnt, itis crtainly gratifying to know that our youth ar still bing offrd training in ladrship skills

and tchniqus through th Chicano Youth Ladrship Confrnc. I ha larnd that thsskills and tchniqus can in fact, b taught, and I congratulat Sal Castro for proiding thssrics for so many yars so that othrs may also bnfit.

Or th yars, I ha isitd our old high school and spokn to studnts thr about th manyopportunitis that xist in our country for thos who dar to dram. I ha n isitd Solano

Anu elmntary School, whr Sal Castro was our playground dirctor and Littl Lagu

coach for th Solano Dodgrs, wll bfor th stadium was built in Cha Rain. It is alwaysa plasur and a wondr to go back to th old nighborhood, and Sal Castro is an importantpart of th history of that nighborhood and th dlopmnt of ladrs from thos schools.

Fatima Castaneda

CYLC Volunteer; Assistant Adjunct Professor, Department of Education, Occidental College

Th CYLC is important for on simpl rason . . . it inspirs us. During th thr days ofth confrnc, high school studnts ar inspird by thir collg studnt facilitators, by th

spakrs, and by ach othr. Th collg studnts and n th initd spakrs walk away

from th wknd fling rnwd in thir ddication to thir work and thir community. It is

a tim to motiat ach othr and to clbrat accomplishmnts. Th confrnc symbolishop for many of us who participat in it. It crats a spac for us to xplor thir common

concrns rgarding ducation for Chicanos. W discuss th prtinnt issus and how thyplay out in our lis. W sk solutions and whil w may not rach any conclusions, w do

com to a bttr undrstanding.


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10 Comments

Likwis, th lif and work of Sal Castro show what is possibl for Chicanos. Throughducation, w can crat lasting chang. On of th bst parts of th confrnc is whn wplac oursls in a historical contxt ia th east L.A. walkouts and through Sals xprinc.Whn h spaks thr, w truly ar in th prsnc of an ducational gratnss. eryon isgratful for his sacrific and, again, is inspird by th work in which h continus to do.

Leonard A. ValverdeSupporter of CYLC; Professor of Education, Executive Director of the Hispanic Border Leadership

Institute, Arizona State University

Sal Castro and th Chicano Youth Ladrship Confrnc. No, I rpat myslf. CYLC and SalCastro ar on and th sam. For any of us who know Sal Castro and CYLC, this is obiousand a good thing, sinc it is much ndd. I suspct that whn our frind Sal cratd CYLC,h did not say to himslf, I want to crat a hicl that will clon m. As grat an ida as

w might think that would b, Sal dos not think this way. H is much too humbl. Only thosof us who bli in Sal and what h has contributd, at grat prsonal xpns (and I dontman mony), can apprciat this cloning ida.

This country and nuestra gente nd ladrs of th high calibr and th strngth possssdby Sal. H is mor than a school rformr, as h pronouncd whn intriwd during thChicano studnt walkouts. H is a risk takr and chang agnt. Bcaus h is a piatabustr, many Latino ducators ha bnfitd in gtting administrati positions. As w knowth kid who braks th piata is not in position to gt th spoils of his work, so was th caswith Sal. Howr, in addition h was dnid and punishd for busting opn th Los AnglsCity Unifid School District.

Instad of cloning himslf, Sal st out to instill charactr in our youth, and not just in Chicanos.H pushd for qualitis our communitis ha always honord: ladrship, sric to othrs, andfighting for th justic and Amrican idals promisd to all U.S. citinsquality of opportunity

and frdom from discrimination. But bcaus of Sals xprinc and that of our black, NatiAmrican, and som of our Asian brothrs and sistrs, h ralid that thr had to b a programput into plac that would rmo th dficint modl of thinking imposd on our youth in schooland rplac it with an asst modl. On whr our kids rcaptur a sns of positi slf stmand an apprciation of who thy ar as dscndnts of Atcs and Mayas. Ths kids armmbrs by birth of Mxican Amricans, th sam group who arnd mor CongrssionalMdals of Honor in World War II than any othr thnic/racial minority group (Morin, 1966).

Sal intrnalid ry arly on what many ducators only ha com to rbali but not prac-tic, that our youth ar th futur. Also, that our youth ar not std in agncis (bcaus

of thir status as studnts, not mploys) that discriminat against crtain popl and that ifthy can fl mpowrd arly in lif to act for good and fight against injustic, thn our futur

can b shapd for th bttr.

How can w rinforc studnts natural philosophy to do right by othrs and countract th

ngati, strotypic thinking thy rcid in schools? Th answr is through informationsharing and rol modls. W know that Sal is a historian by training. H continus to this day


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Comments 11

to find littl-known facts about Mxicans and thir contribution to th Amrican xprinc.

H dos this for two rasons, among many. On is to lt our youth know th full and accu-

rat story of thir popl, and two is so that thy can dlop a solid, positi slf-imag as

Mxican Amricans. This way, tru prid can mrg.

In ths two simpl ways, CYLC coms to lif. As a rsult, ladrs ar formd. Ladrs whowant to larn mor about thir popl, who want to gi back to thir communitis, who want

to corrct injustics, who want to crat a bttr nation and a kindr socity.

Susan Racho

Attended CYLC in 1965; Filmmaker

Sal Castro has slflssly ddicatd his lif and carr to Chicano youth. To this day h continusto inspir, cajol and motiat high school studnts to bcom ladrs in whatr ndaorintrsts thm. Sal maks young popl fl good about thmsls and has a gift for teachingin th tru sns of th wordthis I know and rmmbr haing bn a tnag participant ata Chicano Youth Ladrship Confrnc or forty yars ago.

Armando DurnAttended CYLC in 1971; CYLC Volunteer; Lawyer; President of the Board, Self Help Graphics in East

Los Angeles

Th Chicano Youth Ladrship Confrnc that I attndd in th fall of 1971 was th firsttim that I was a witnss to th powr of Chicanos organiing to tak control or our own

futur. That wknd taught m that thr was much to do and that my commitmnt to th

Chicano Momnt had to b for a liftim. I ralid that I was not going to b an architct

but a lawyr. I mt popl thr who ar still in th momnt todaythirty-fi yars latr. ThChicano gnration has struggld r sinc to mak all thos words of that wknd comtru, and although much has bn accomplishd, th struggl continus. Now our job is to

pass our knowldg on to th gnrations that follow us so that thy too will com to knowthat lif is about giing to family and community so that all may njoy happinss togthr.

Araceli Lopez

Attended CYLC in 1992; CYLC Volunteer; Family Support Services Manager, Pathways- Non-Profit

Agency; USC M.S.W. Graduate Student

For or forty yars, th CYLC has bn witnss to th thousands of miracls that tak placin Malibu. ery studnt, oluntr, or prsntr xprincs a miracl within thm ry timthy attnd a CYLC in Malibu. CYLC inspirs, motiats, ncourags, supports, and rinforcsChicanos to sk a highr ducation and rturn to thir communitis to mak a diffrnc.

CYLC proids studnts with th tools ncssary to orcom challngs whil in collg aswll as a spac whr thy can larn and spak mor about thir hritag. CYLC is a plac ofrbirth for thos who participat. Sal Castro is th padrino or godfathr to thos of us whoha discord th tru maning of Chicanismo through hispalabras or words.


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12 Comments

Mario T. Garcia

CYLC Volunteer; Professor of History & Chicano Studies; University of California, Santa Barbara

Whn h so graciously coms to talk to my studnts, I tll thm Sal Castro is liing history. His somon who has mad a diffrnc in popls lis. vry fw of us ha that opportunity tomak history; Sal has. Thr is no qustion in my mind that th blowouts in th east Los Anglsschools in 1968 would not ha happnd without Sal. It took his ladrship to ncourag thstudnts to tak th bold and principld action that thy did. Rrbrations of that action wstill s today as contmporary studnts ar inspird by that historical momnt.

But Sal Castro is mor than th blowouts. Yars bfor, in th pr-Chicano Momnt yars, basdon his own xprincs with discrimination in his ducation, Sal was alrady pursuing th dirct

action politics and training of nw ladrship that would com to charactri momnt politics.In th arly 1960s, h bcam a major organir of what cam to b known as th Chicano YouthLadrship Confrncs hld at Camp Hss Kramr. Sals own dloping Chicano conscious-

nss inspird him to inculcat in youth th sam spirit of thnic prid and th rjction of racismthat h, himslf, displayd. At Blmont High School in th mid-1960s, Sal alrady was organiingChicano studnts to stand up for thmsls and to xrcis ladrship. Aftr th blowouts, Sal

workd with and inspird additional gnrations of studnts. H is still doing this today. Through allof this, what I find imprssi is his constant commitmnt and ddication to th ducation of Latinostudnts and to hlping thm to dlop thir ladrship skills and to work for social justic.

As a historian, I ha bn a studnt of ladrship in Chicano history and Sal Castro is withoutqustion on of th major Chicano ladrs in that history.

Myrna N Brutti

CYLC Volunteer; Assistant Principal, Stephen M. White Middle School

My mothr bcam xtrmly worrid whn I informd hr that I was going to attnd a unirsityfar away from hom. But I also informd my mothr that Mr. Sal Castro had said that h flt so

strongly about m attnding unirsity that h would hlp m achi this goal. With an anxiouslook, sh informd m that sh ndd to mt Mr. Castro to discuss th situation with him. Mymothr thn took th tim away from hr job and, during th mting, sh askd Mr. Castro ifh was awar that w didnt ha papeles (lgal documntations to stay in th country) or thmans to snd m to collg. Sh askd how h xpctd m to go to collg. Mr. Castros

words to my mothr wr simpl. Filld with hop and coniction, h told hr, Dont worrySnora, your daughtr has th potntial to do grat things and things will work out. My mothrwas ry apprhnsi and had no ida how h was going mak this happn but sh placd

hr trust in him and from that day forward sh was conincd that I would go away to collg.In th mantim, Mr. Castro ga m all th information and guidanc I ndd to apply to thschool I was intrstd in attnding. Looking back, I rali that my mothr bcam a blir

whn Sal Castro told hr to bli, and in ssnc, that is xactly what Mr. Castro has don forthousands of studnts. H blid in us and w larnd to bli in oursls.


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Comments 13

Rita Ledesma

UCLA Upward Bound and High Potential Program in 1968; Associate Professor. School of Social

Work, California State University Los Angeles

I was a studnt at Rooslt High School in 1967-68, and I first bcam awar of Sal Castroduring th blowouts and at Camp Hss Kramr. I was prsnt during th mtings, rallis, andmarchs that followd th walkouts and th arrsts of Sal and othrs. Howr, my rlation-

ship with Sal bgan during th summr of 1968, whn I attndd th UCLA Upward Bound

Program at UCLA. Sal was on of my tachrs, and h was a tachr unlik any I had ncoun-trd during my ln yars of schooling.

Whn th blowouts occurrd, I was alrady disngagd from any ducational procss at Roos-lt. I had transfrrd to Rooslt in fall 1967 aftr tn yars of Catholic school. Although I was agood studnt for tn yars, all I larnd at Rooslt was how to ditch school and cut class. Noon in th school smd to notic or car. Although I had som agu ida of going to collg,I had no prparation and no ision about how to translat that unformd notion into any kind of

maningful rality. By th tim of th walkouts, I knw that I would b dropping out of Rooslt.Thn, I mt Sal. Whn h spok in mtings and at rallis about his blifs and conictions, I

flt lik thr might b a diffrnt path for m. I know now that th word for that xprinc isinspird; I was inspird by Sal, bcaus h card. During that summr at Upward Bound, htaught Chicano history. For th first tim, I was xposd to diffrnt idas and to th notion that w(studnts) could succd and that w had somthing to offr. Studnts at UCLA wr organiinga nw program for studnts who had th potntial for acadmic succss, dspit problmaticacadmic rcords, and Sal talkd to m about this program and ncouragd m to apply. H andLuis Orti wr dirctly rsponsibl for my ntry into that program. His blif in m transformd mylif at a ry critical tim in my dlopmnt. All summr, Sal proidd us with ducation about ourhistory and th opportunity to think and ngag in dialog about our community, our idntity, and

our futur. H instilld prid in our hritag by taching us music, art, and danc. H corcd usinto prforming a program of danc, music, and potry for th Upward Bound community at th

nd of th summr. H hlpd us mak costums, and h got us on stag. On of my fondstmmoris is dancing el jarab tapatio at UCLA on a glorious summr day and rmmbring Salsbaming smil as h stood on th sidlins. It was a good day to b a Chicana and Sal ga it tom. Thank you, Sal, you influncd m mor than you know, and Im gratful byond words.

Moctesuma Esparza

Attended CYLC in 1965; Filmmaker and Producer

Camp Hss Kramr: Whr th birth of th urban Chicano Momnt occurrd, whr SalCastro and othr tachrs brought togthr for th ry first tim young boys and girls from

dirs high schools who found that thy had common xprincs and griancs about thir

ducation and who dcidd to com togthr and organi.


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1 Comments

Panelist and Moderator

Biographies

Robin Avelar La SalleLa Sall holds a Ph.D. in ducation from Stanford Unirsity with an mphasis on languag,litracy, and cultur. Sh has taught lmntary, middl school, high school, and unirsitystudnts. La Sall spnt six yars as th administrator for curriculum, staff dlopmnt,and assssmnt at th school district ll outsid of Los Angls. Sh has hld numrous

positions in rsarch and consulting in both Northrn and Southrn California focusd onadancing acadmic succss for historically undrprforming studnts. Currntly, La Sallis co-foundr and chif program officr for Principals exchang, a California stat-approd

xtrnal aluation group ddicatd to improing schools and districts sring high-porty,

high-minority communitis.

Rodolfo AcuaAcua is profssor of Chicano studis at California Stat Unirsity, Northridg and th foundingchair of what is now th largst thnic studis dpartmnt in th nation. His book Occupied

America: The Chicanos Struggle Toward Liberation is th most widly assignd txt in Chicanaand Chicano studis programs across th Unitd Stats.

Acua has sral othr publications, including The Sonoran Strongman,A Community UnderSiege, Anything But Mexican, and Sometimes There Is No Other Side. Combining thory and

practic, Acua is an actiist who has championd th Chicano/Mxican community, includingsupport of th 1993 UCLA studnt hungr strik for a Chicana/o studis dpartmnt at UCLA.

Always confronting racism, hs rallid against th anti-immigration Proposition 187, th

english-only initiati, and th dhumaniing ffct of labling all Latino immigrantswhthrU.S. born, lgal, or undocumntdas illgal alins. H continus to struggl for th rights ofthos in th barrio to gt a highr ducation and h participats annually in th Chicano YouthLadrship Confrnc as a gust spakr. InAnything But Mexican, Acua writs, An thnicgroup unabl to dfin its past is unabl to tak prid in its accomplishmnts History is morthan just an sotric sarch for facts; it inols a liing community and its common mmory.

Myrna N. BruttiBrutti was born in Sonora, Mxico, migrating to th Unitd Stats at th ag of sn. Myrnais th fifth child of six, all of whom rsid in th Unitd Stats. Myrna attndd Union AnuSchool, Brndo Junior High, and Blmont High School. Sh arnd hr Bachlors of Arts

from Sonoma Stat Unirsity and hr Mastrs of Scinc from th Unirsity of La vrn. Shbgan working in th Los Angls Unifid School District in 1999 and is currntly th AssistantPrincipal of Scondary Studnt Srics at Stphn M. Whit Middl School. Brutti is gratfulfor all of th opportunitis that wr gin to hr as a young immigrant studnt. On of th manyways sh shows hr commitmnt and apprciation is by bing a board mmbr of th Chicano


15/28

Biographies 1

Youth Ladrship Confrnc and by oluntring hr tim twic a yar at th confrnc. Inaddition to oluntring, sh spnds countlss hours counsling and informing studnts ofthir options, th importanc of obtaining a collg ducation, and thir ciil rsponsibility to

thmsls and othrs in a arity of nus.

Fatima Castaneda

Castanda was born in Guadalajara, Jalisco. Sh graduatd from California Stat Unirsity,Long Bach (CSULB) with a dgr in spch communication and also rcid hr tachingcrdntial from thr. At CSULB, sh was a studnt ladr, chair of th La Raa Studnt

Association, and an acti participant in th fight against Proposition 187. Sh workd as a

kindrgartn tachr for th Los Angls Unifid School District. Sh was also a litracy coachand bilingual coordinator for th district. Sh is currntly a profssor at Occidntal Collg in

th Dpartmnt of Tachr education. Sh has workd on th CYLC for or ight yars. Shis an author and motiational spakr who wants to mak isibl what, without hr, mightprhaps nr ha bn sn.

Dolores Delgado-BernalDlgado-Brnal has rsarchd and taught issus rlating to Chicana/o ducation and

schooling; critical rac thory and Latina/o critical thory in ducation; and th xaminationof rac, class, and gndr in th sociology of ducation. Dlgado-Brnal wrot th famousssay Using a Chicana Fminist epistmology in educational Rsarch. Sh is currntlyan associat profssor and a cntral committ mmbr in th Dpartmnt of education,Cultur, & Socity and th ethnic Studis Program at th Unirsity of Utah. Sh is th authorof Grassroots Ladrship Rconcptualid: Chicana Oral Historis and th 1968 east Los

Angls School Blowouts(1998) in Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies and examiningTransformational Rsistanc through a Critical Rac and LatCrit Thory Framwork: Chicana

and Chicano Studnts in an Urban Contxt in th journal Urban Education.

Armando DurnDurn was born in eL Paso, Txas. H cam to Los Angls at th ag of ight and lid in

th old Marailla projcts of east Los Angls for th nxt six yars. Armando attndd DuartHigh school, Loyola Marymount Unirsity, and UCLA Law School. Aftr law school, Armandoworkd for th Lgal Aid Foundation of Los Angls, followd by a stint with th thn largstChicano law firm in th stat, prior to opning his own law offic. In high school, Armandohlpd organi UMAS; in collg, h was prsidnt of MeChA; in law school h was chair

of th Chicano Law Studnts Association; and aftr, h srd as prsidnt of th Mxican-

Amrican Bar Association in 1986. Durn currntly practics family law in Montbllo, CA.Asid from his family and th practic of law, Armando has ddicatd much of his tim to a

arity of community actiitis in th last twnty fi yars, including bing a founding mmbrof th National Hispanic Mdia Coalition, a mmbr of a arity of boards, most rcntly

sring as th prsidnt of th board of Slf Hlp Graphics in east Los Angls. Armandoalso has spnt countlss hours sring as pro-bono attorny for numrous organiations andindiiduals in th community.


16/28

1 Biographies

Ignacio GomezArtist, muralist, dsignr, and sculptor, Gom is most widly rcognid for his painting of

El Pachuco, th charactr from th play Zoot Suit, prformd by edward Jams Olmos and

writtn by Luis vald. Gom also workd on arious motion pictur postrs, adrtisingcampaigns, and a mural dpicting Hispanic moi stars in Hollywood. Goms works ha

bn shown in Nw York, europ, Japan and Mxico. Many of his original paintings ha

bcom parts of prmannt corporat art collctions, such as escap from Sobibor, whichis now hanging in th Chryslr Corporat Hadquartrs. Gomcompltd his largst publicwork projct in Octobr 2004 in th city of San Frnando. It was a 23,000 squar foot mmo-rial to Csar e. Ch, th largst in th Unitd Stats, including a lif-si statu of Cha,a fountain in th shap of th Unitd Farmworkr agl, tn figurs rprsnting th March

to Sacramnto, and a 100-foot long mural of Chs lif. In 2004, h also dsignd thhadston for th Csar e. Cha burial sit in La Pa, Kn, California. Gom is alsoproud of th forty portraits h paintd for famous Latino actors and ntrtainrs for a sris ofcalndars in thr yars.

Juan Gmez-QuionesGm-Quions is profssor of history at UCLA, spcialiing in th filds of political, labor,

intllctual, and cultural history. From 1969 to th prsnt, h has taught unirsity classs

ach yar and has dlird paprs bfor profssional historical socitis in th UnitdStats and Mxico. During his scholarly carr h has compltd sral rsarch projcts

rlating to political/labor history and public policy. Among his or thirty publishd pics ar:Mexican American Labor 1790-1990, The Roots of Chicano Politics, 1600-1940, Chicano Poli-tics 1940-1990, Porfirio DiazLos Intellectuales, Sembradores, Ricardo Flores Magon and thePLM,Mexican Students for La Raza, On Cultur, Antonio Caso and th Ida of Progrss,Toward a Prspcti on Chicano History, Chicano Labor Conflict and Organiing, 1900-

1920, Mxican Immigration to th Unitd Stats, Critiqu on th National Qustion, ThRlations Btwn th Mxican Community in th U. S. and Mxico, and Qustions WithinWomns Historiography. H is complting Mexican Nationalist Formation: Discourse, Policy.

and Dissidence. Currnt projcts ar studis on art and cultur, on th mobiliations of th

1960s and 1970s, Mxican-African rlations, an autobiography, and Gratr Mxican east

Los Angls.

Carlos Manuel HaroHaro rcid his PhD from UCLA. H is th coordinator and modrator of th symposium

on th CYLC.As assistant dirctor of th UCLA Chicano Studis Rsarch Cntr, Dr. Haroorss CSRC rsarch actiitis, including a rsarch grants program, a postdoctoraland graduat fllowship program, and faculty dlopmnt and isiting scholar program.

In addition, h undrtaks and dircts spcific ducation rsarch projcts and scholarlyconfrncs at th CSRC, including th Latina/o Education Summit (2006); The Sleepy LagoonCase, Constitutional Rights, and the Struggle for Democracy (2005); and Mendez v. West-minster School District: Paving the Path for School Desegregation and the Brown Decision(2004). Haro has publishd on highr ducation school admissions, th Bakk Dcision, andschool dsgrgation.


17/28

Biographies 1

Rita LedesmaLdsma, Ph.D., LCSW is an associat profssor of social work at California Stat Unirsity,Los Angls. Sh rcid an undrgraduat dgr in history (1979), an MSW (1981), and aPh.D. in social wlfar from UCLA (1997). Sh has xtnsi dirct practic and consultationxprinc working within th Latino and Amrican Indian communitis of Los Angls. Sh

also rgularly proids training and offrs consultation srics to community basd organia-

tions. Hr rsarch intrsts includ issus associatd with Amrican Indian/Alaska Nati andLatino childrn and familis, loss/bramnt, halth car and halth policy, child wlfar,and bicultural and cross-cultural social work practic. Sh has bn an acti mmbr of thunirsity community and has mad significant contributions to th dlopmnt, implmnta-tion, and accrditation of th CSULA MSW program. Sh has ld sral halth and ducationinitiatis for th edmund G. Pat Brown Institut of Public Affairs, including crating andstablishing th Halth Policy Outrach Cntr. Sh currntly srs as dirctor for th unir-sity basd PALS (Partnrship for Acadmic Larning and Succss), a pr mntoring program.Sh is th rcipint of on of th CSULA Distinguishd Womn of 2006.

Araceli LopezLop was born in Mxico City, Mxico. Hr family immigratd to th Unitd Stats whn sh wasthr yars old. Sinc thn, Aracli and hr family ha workd hard to build a hom away fromhom in Los Angls. Raisd in Watts, Aracli attndd Blmont High School whr sh mt SalCastro. Sh attndd CYLC in 1992 as a studnt participant. Bcaus of Mr. Castros tachings,sh ralid that attnding collg far from hom was th bst thing to do. Sh arnd a dgrin social work with a minor in Chicano studis from San Jos Stat Unirsity. Whil thr, shchaird MeChA twic and was ry acti in th political momnts of th city of San Jos. Shcurrntly works for a nonprofit agncy that proids subsidid childcar srics to low incomfamilis and is a graduat studnt at th USC School of Social Work. Sh has workd on th

CYLC sinc 1999 in arious positions including confrnc facilitator, coordinator, and chair. Shis currntly th CYLC board prsidnt. Hr goal is to continu to work hard in making sur thatry child rcis th bst ducation possibl in a saf and loing nironmnt.

Carlos R. MorenoMorno was sworn in as an associat justic of th Suprm Court of California on Octobr18, 2001, following his nomination by Gornor Gray Dais. H bgan his carr as a dputy

city attorny with th Los Angls City Attornys offic. In th fall of 1986, Gornor GorgDukmjian appointd Morno to th Municipal Court, Compton Judicial District, whr Mornoadjudicatd criminal mattrs inoling srious flony offnss and suprisd th courts ciildpartmnt. In Octobr 1993, Gornor Pt Wilson latd Morno to th Los Angls CountySuprior Court. H was thn nominatd to th fdral bnch by Prsidnt Bill Clinton. In Fbruary

1998, h was unanimously confirmd to th Unitd Stats District Court for th Cntral Districtof California by th Unitd Stats Snat. H has srd as a fdral district court judg foror thr yars, prsiding or a broad rang of complx ciil and criminal mattrs. Mornohas srd as prsidnt of th Mxican Amrican Bar Association and has bn a mmbr of

th California Judgs Association, th Prsiding Judgs Association, and th Municipal CourtJudgs Association of Los Angls County. H has srd on th Board of visitors of Stanford


18/28

1 Biographies

Law School and th Board of Gornors of th Association of Yal Alumni. H is a dirctor of thArroyo vista Family Halth Cntr and a formr prsidnt of th Yal Club of Southrn California.In 1997, Morno rcid th Criminal Justic Suprior Court Judg of th Yar Award fromth Los Angls County Bar Association, and in 2001 h was prsntd with th For God, For

Country and For Yale Award, gin to distinguishd alumni of Yal Unirsity.

Susan RachoRacho is an award-winning Los Angls-basd Producr/Writr. A tran of film and tlision,

hr work dmonstrats a wid rang of tlision production and programming intrsts. Ms.Racho producd/wrot/dirctd The Bronze Screen: 100 Years of the Latino Image in Hollywood

Cinema for HBO cablcast, and th award-winning Taking Back The Schools from th acclaimdsris Chicano! History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement. Hr dirsifid productioncrdits includ: Carlos Funts The Buried MirrorSris, Carl Sagans Cosmos Sris, th Vista

L.A. Sris, The Astronomers Sris,Jazz in America Sris, th Sound FestivalSris, Michal

Jacksons Moonwalker, th Olympics for ABC sports, th La Raza Series for McGraw-Hill Broad-

casting, Reflecciones for KABC, Realidades for WNeT, Trumbo Rememberedfor PBS, as wll as

ducational and documntary programming for th BBC. Sh is th rcipint of numrous awards

including an emmy as producr of th Bst Spcial ents Corag, th Imagn Award asProducr of Most Outstanding Documntary, th Prmio Msquit Award for Bst Documntary,and th Nosotros Goldn eagl Award as Producr of Bst Informational Programming. Hr workhas bn faturd at th Rio d Janiro, Haana, and San Sbastian Film Fstials and scrndat th Whit Hous. Racho is co-author of Yo Soy Chicano: Th Turbulnt and Hroic Lif ofChicanas/os in Cinma and Tlision in Chicano Renaissance: Contemporary Cultural Trends.

Leonard A. Valverdevalrd rcid his Ph.D. from Clarmont Graduat Unirsity and is prsntly th xcu-

ti dirctor of th Hispanic Bordr Ladrship Institut and profssor of highr ducation at

Ariona Stat Unirsity (ASU). H is clbrating thirty-six yars as an ducator, along with his

wif, a formr tachr and now community collg studnt support prson. Thir son is anattorny at law and thir daughtr is a nurs, both in th Phonix ara. valrd has xpri-

nc at all lls, from prschool, lmntary, scondary, and community collg, to unirsityat th undrgraduat and graduat lls. His yars of administrati and suprisory xpri-nc ar also arid, haing bn a ic prsidnt for Acadmic Affairs, associat proost andgraduat dan at Unirsity of Txas, San Antonio, dan of a collg of ducation at ASU, a

chair of th educational Administration Dpartmnt at th Unirsity of Txas. Austin, dirctorof th Offic of Adancd Rsarch in Hispanic education at UT, a dirctor of a Bilingual Mathand english program of 300 studnts at a Los Angls Junior High School, and a cntraloffic suprisor of math tachrs in th Los Angls Unifid School District. As a profssor,

h has bn succssful in acquiring or $4.5 million for rsarch and training. As a dan, h

has hlpd rais or $12 million. H is citd in International Whos Who in Education, WhosWho in the South and Southwest, Hispanic Whos Who in America, and Hispanic Notables in theUnited States of North America. In 1984 h was slctd as a W.K. Kllogg National Fllow. In2002 h rcid th Lagu of Unitd Latin Amricans Citins National Prsidnts Award

for excllnc. H was a scholar at th Tomas Rira Cntr and most rcntly appointd a

isiting snior scholar at th Graduat School of education at Harard Unirsity.


19/28

Sponsorship/AbouttheCenter 1

Sponsorship

Th ducational rsarch projct and this symposium wr supportd by th CSRC Latino

Rsarch Program, which rcis funding from th Unirsity of California Committ on LatinoRsarch.

About the Center

Th UCLA Chicano Studis Rsarch Cntr (CSRC) was foundd in 1969 with a commitmnt

to fostr multidisciplinary rsarch fforts as part of th land grant mission of th Unirsity of

California. That mission stats that Unirsity of California rsarch nds to b in th sric of

th stat and that it must maintain a prsnc in th local community. Th CSRC srs th ntircampus and supports faculty and studnts in th social scincs, lif scincs, humanitis, and

th profssional schools. Sinc its stablishmnt, th CSRC has achid intrnational rcognition

for its ladrship rol in scholarly rsarch on th growing Chicano and Latino population, whichnow constituts narly on-third of th population of California and on-half that of Los Angls,but continus to ha disproportionatly low accss to highr ducation. Gin its campus and

community-wid mandat, th CSRC rports dirctly to th Offic of th Chancllor at UCLA. ThCSRC also forms part of th Intr-Unirsity Program for Latino Rsarch (IUPLR), a consortium ofLatino rsarch cntrs locatd at ightn institutions in th Unitd Stats.

Th CSRC houss a library and spcial collctions archi, an acadmic prss, rsarch projcts,community-basd partnrships, comptiti grant and fllowship programs, and th Los Tigrs

dl Nort Fund. Currnt rsarch aras includ dmographics, labor, ducation, public halth, and

arts and cultur. In addition to th Latina/o education Summit, th CSRC has publishd sralpolicy brifs on ducational issus. Ths can b downloadd at http://www.chicano.ucla.du/

prss/brifs/archi.html.

Dirctor Chon A. Noriga is profssor in th UCLA Dpartmnt of Film, Tlision, and Digital

Mdia. H is author ofShot in America: Television, the State, and the Rise of Chicano Cinema

(Minnsota, 2000) and ditor of nin books daling with Latino mdia, prformanc, and isual art.Sinc 1996, h has bn ditor ofAztln: A Journal of Chicano Studies, th flagship journal for thfild sinc its founding in 1970. H bcam th CSRC dirctor in July 2002.

For furthr information on th UCLA Chicano Studis Rsarch Cntr, go to www.chicano.ucla.du/.


20/28

20 ResearchNote

Research Note

Blowout: The Sal Castro Story

Mario T. Garca

Profssor of History and Chicano StudisUnirsity of California, Santa Barbara

In th 1990s, I organid a nw class on th

history of th Chicano Momnt at UC Santa

Barbara (UCSB). Som of my rsarch at

th tim dalt with th momnt and so a

complmntary class smd appropriat. Of

cours, an important part of th class includd

a discussion of th famous 1968 blowouts

whn thousands of Chicano high school and junior high school studnts walkd out of thir

schools in protst of yars of infrior duca-

tion. Thr is no qustion in my mind that th

blowouts would not ha occurrd without th

galaniing and inspiring figur of Sal Castro,

on of th fw Mxican Amrican tachrs in th

astsid schools and in th Los Angls schooldistrict at th tim. It was Sal (as h is popularly

rfrrd to) who cam up with th ida of th

walkouts and through his ladrship and thatof th studnts pulld it off. Th blowouts wra dfining momnt for him and for th studnts

who participatd. As Carlos Muno corrctly

nots, th walkouts inauguratd th urban

Chicano ciil and cultural rights momnt.1

As a rsult of my class on th momnt, I bgan

to init Sal to isit my classs and to discuss

th protst and its rlanc to th prsnt. Aftrth 1995 PBS sris on th momnt, Chicano:

The Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement,

which includd as on of its four sgmnts th

blowouts, I was abl to show th film to my class

and thn ha Sal com to th nxt mting

and talk to th studnts. It was Sals isits that

conincd m that his full story ndd to b

told. I had just compltd my oral history of BrtCorona, a lgndary Chicano labor and commu-nity actiist and so I approachd Sal about doinga similar projct or tstimonio that would lad toth publication of his lif story including his rol

in th blowouts.2 As gracious as Brt was (may

h rst in pac), Sal mbracd th ida and wbgan to tap his story. I ha now compltd

som 30 hours or mor of tapd intriws withSal and will soon writ th narrati. It is a truly

inspiring story and will furthr add to an appr-

ciation of Sals ladrship and plac in Chicano

and U.S. history.

***

Thr is insufficint spac in this rsarch

not to discuss all of th diffrnt aspcts of

Sals story. Consquntly, and in kping with

th confrncs thm, I will only focus hr

on how it was that Sal cam to b inold

in th Chicano Youth Ladrship Confr-

ncs in th 1960s, som of Sals mmoris

of thos confrncs, and his prspcti on

thir significanc.

***

On nds to undrstand Sals lif xpri-

ncs prior to th youth confrncs in ordrto bttr apprciat his rol in thos gathringsof Mxican Amrican studnts. Sal did not

just appar at thos mtings rady to moti-

at th studnts to participat in a dramatic


21/28

ResearchNote 21

action such as th blowouts. Lik all of us, Sal

wnt through a procss of bcoming who h

was by th 1960s. Th procss, of cours,

continud as it continus n today. Non ofus, including Sal, r stop bcoming. This is

how w constantly chang.

What Sal brought to thos arly confrncs

was his own xprinc of th discrimina-

tion against Mxicans in Los Angls. This

profoundly affctd his idntity and political

consciousnss.

Sal was born in Los Angls on Octobr

25, 1933, a child of immigrant parnts from

Mxico who sttld in th Boyl Hights barrio

of east Los Angls. Sal was too young to

fully comprhnd at th tim th maning ofth mass dportation of Mxicans from Los

Angls during th Grat Dprssion, but h

knw that it affctd him prsonally whn his

fathr bcam on of th dports, du to his

tmporary isa xpiring and thus bcoming anundocumntd immigrant. His fathr rturnd

to his nati Maatln. Sals mothr had a alid

isa, but had to rturn to Mxico ry six

months to rnw it. Sal rcalls th train trips as

a child that h took with his mothr to isit hisfathr in Maatln and for his mothr to rnwhr isa. Th strss on Sals parnts ntuallyld to a diorc.3

Bcaus h spok only Spanish at hom

(although his mothr was bilingual) and bcaush startd his ducation in Mxico (du to his

mothrs isits to Maatln), Sal knw ry littl

english whn h commncd his U.S. duca-

tion at th Bldr elmntary School. As

a rsult, h ncountrd discrimination at thhands of his tachr:

My english wasnt so hot. I knw much mor

Spanish. I rmmbr distinctly how th tachr

would put m down bcaus of my lack of

english. Sit in th cornr until you larn english,

sh scoldd m.

Sal rmmbrs still othr acts of discrimination

against him and othr Mxican Amricans. But

h also rmmbrs how his mothr stood up

to som of this prjudic. For xampl, whn

Sals mothr rqustd that hr son b allowd

to la school arly in ordr to study for his

first communion at thir Catholic church, Sals

tachr rfusd and thratnd to suspnd Sal

if h did. Sals mothr was outragd and saw

it as discrimination against Mxican Amrican

Catholics. Sals my son, sh told th tachr,

and hs going to his first communion class.

And if you dont accpt him back, Im going to

spak to your boss! Th tachr rlntd and

Sal, no doubt with admiration, witnssd his

mothrs courag and ladrship.

Whn Sal was tn yars old, shining shos to

arn som mony on th cornr of Snth and

Broadway in downtown Los Angls in 1943,

h xprincd th zoot-Suit Riots, whn U.S.

Nay prsonnl randomly attackd Chicanos

waring th famous zoot-suit popular at th

tim. Thy also assaultd, according to Sal,

othr Chicanos not waring drapsthirbhaior ironically symptomatic of wartim racial

tnsions during a war against fascist racism. Sal

rmmbrs all hll braking loos and sing

polic just standing by whil th sailors bat th

Chicanos. H also rcalls th curfw that local

authoritis imposd du to th riots and a tragic

consqunc that affctd him prsonally:

On kid that I knw from Bldr elmntary

wnt to gt a loaf of brad and wnt through th

ally, thinking h could aoid th curfw. Th copsshot him in th back and killd him. H was twl

yars old.

As a young boy, along with othr Mxican

Amricans, Sal had to suffr th indignity of


22/28

22 ResearchNote

not bing allowd to attnd public swimming

pools, such as th on on vrmont, xcpt on

Wdnsdays, th day rsrd for Mxicans,

blacks, and Asians, and th day bfor thy

cland th pool.

Although Sal continud his ducation in Cath-olic rathr than public schools, this did not

man that h was sad from discrimination.

At th all boys Cathdral High School run by

th Christian Brothrs, most Mxican Amr-

ican studnts wr trackd into th Spanish

track as opposd to th Latin track, which

consistd of Anglos mostly. Th Spanish track

not only signifid that ths studnts studid

Spanish and not Latin, but that this curriculum

was lss collg orintd. As a rsult, Sal

obsrd that Mxican Amricans took lss

adancd basic classs and industrial arts

courss, such as auto shop.

Aftr h was draftd into th army in 1953,

a yar aftr high school graduation, Sal

witnssd n mor discrimination against

blacks, Latinos, and Mxican Amricans such

as himslf. Stationd in th South, h ncoun-

trd th aparthid systm of that rgion.

I was in a stat of shock whn I got off th plan inAtlanta. Both at th airport and at th bus station,

thy had four sparat bathrooms: colord mn,

colord womn, whit mn, whit womn. And

thy had two drinking fountains. This was all

brand nw to m.

H also obsrd similar discrimination against

som of his black Purto Rican buddis in

th army who wr not srd in rstaurants,

but had to go to th back to gt food. So I

witnssd Jim Crow first hand, Sal says, andI thought it was chickn shit. Sal himslf,

although light-skinnd, was not spard such

racism, spcially in Txas. On a flight from

Los Angls to Jackson, Mississippi, h had a

layor in Dallas whr h wnt into an airportrstaurant to at.

I had my uniform on. Whn you com out of

basic training, you look lik a gnral. I go or to

th airport rstaurant and thos sons of bitchs

wouldnt sr m. Thy still rmmbr th Alamo.

This was in 1954. I was in th U.S. Army uniformnot th Mxican Army, th U.S. Army!

Dspit ths ncountrs with discrimination

and dspit his own rbllious natur, Sal had

not by thn dlopd political awarnss of

th rasons for this discrimination. But his

xprincs wr lading him to qustions

about this problm, qustions that would lad

to his latr and gratr undrstanding. First hhad to struggl against what h and W.e.B.

DuBois calld a doubl consciousnss. Ofthis Sal nots:

I knw thr was discrimination and racism. I had

prid in who I was, but at th sam tim I was

slf-blaming. Th rason why all this is happning

to us is our fault. Sort of a wird mindst in

thos days.

Sal, howr, bgan to orcom this duality

in th lat 1950s whn h workd at public

playgrounds and larnd from th Mxican

Amrican kids about th problms that thy

wr xprincing in th schools. At th

sam tim, aftr nrolling at California Stat

Unirsity, Los Angls, Sal dcidd to study

to bcom a tachr. Aftr rciing his B.A.

in History/education in 1961, h ntrd th

M.A. program in education, whr h wrot a

thsis comparing Mxican Amrican studnt

prformancs with that of Mxican immigrant

studnts. H discord that th immigrant

studnts prformd bttr than th MxicanAmricans, dspit th fact that english was

not thir nati languag. Sal concludd that

th rason for this was bcaus many of th

immigrant studnts had bn xposd to bttr


23/28

ResearchNote 23

arlir ducation in Mxico and bcaus thy

as Mxicanos possssd a crtain confidnc

in who thy wr as opposd to th Mxican

Amricans who, lik himslf, wr mor ambi-

alnt and lss scur in thir idntity. Through

his collg classs, Sal bgan to ask qustions

in th tradition of Paulo Frir, lading him toa mor libratd consciousnss. H bgan

to ha a bttr undrstanding of th struc-

tural basis for th discrimination that Mxican

Amricans xprincd and that prntd

thir gratr mobility.4

This growing awarnss and political con-

sciousnss, in addition to his mor outspokn

prsonality, ld Sal to confront his own du-

cation profssors who had ngati and

strotypic iws about Mxican Amrican

studnts, spcially whn addrssing th

problms of thos studnts. Sal challngd

ths iws and corrctd thm basd on his

own xprincs, his working with kids in th

playgrounds, and his own rsarch.

By thn I startd fling that som of th things

thy [his profssors] wr tlling us about [Mxican

Amrican] kids wr not ncssarily tru. Thy

strotypd th kids too much and thy wr not

rally gtting into how to motiat thm. Thy saw

all kids as whit kids and that wasnt rally th

facts. I rmmbr on profssor saying that what

you saw in Westside Story [th moi] was th

way [Latino] gang kids wr. I said thats bullshit.

First of all, Westside Story is th figmnt of th

imagination of a whit guy. Scond, if thr rally

was a Westside Story, th Purto Ricans would

nr danc to th kind of music thy playd in

th damn moi anyway. Thats a myth.

***It was ths xprincs and othrs that Sal

Castro brought with him as h mbarkd on a

taching carr in 1963 in th Pasadna public

schools, thn at Blmont High School, and

finally at Lincoln High School whr h would

organi th 1968 blowouts. Sals ncountr

with discrimination and racism at a prsonal

ll and his oling political consciousnss or

conscientizacin , to us Frirs trm, ld him

to undrstand that Mxican Amricans had to

shd what Sal calls slf-hatrd, and bgin toundrstand that it was th systm that had to

b attackd as th sourc of th ducational

and social problms facd by Mxican Amri-

cans and othr minoritis in th Unitd Stats.

This is what Sal would bring to th tabl in his

ncountrs with Mxican Amrican studnts

at th Chicano Youth Ladrship Confrncs

during th politically tumultuous dcad of th

1960s. But, to furthr th Frir connction,

this ncountr was not b a monologu on

Sals partit was a dialogu with th studnts

who also brought thir xprincs and

oling idntitis to th confrncs. Out of

this dialogua moabl dialogu inoling

nw studnts ach yarwould com a mor

critical consciousnss on th part of both

Sal and th studnts. Ths dialogus would

inol praxis, again borrowing from Frir,

that includd not only rflction but action.

That action would culminat in th blowouts.

In this sction of my rsarch not I want to

not som of Sals mmorisa collcti

mmoryof th initial confrncs that ld up

to th blowouts. Littl rsarch has bn don

on th Chicano Youth Ladrship Confrncs

and my oral history with Sal is a way of bringing

light and attntion to thir importanc.

Th initial confrnc took plac in spring

1963 or th Palm Sunday wknd. At thattim, th confrnc was calld th Mxican

Amrican Youth Ladrship Confrnc, a titl

it would carry into th arly 1970s whn it was

changd to th Chicano Youth Ladrship


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2 ResearchNote

Confrnc (CYLC). Th chang in titls clarly

undrscors th oling thnic and political

idntitis of th participants. Th confrnc

was organid by th Los Angls County

Human Rlations Commission, du to growingconcrns by som public officials, som duca-

tors, and som Mxican Amrican ladrsabout th myriad problms that Mxican

Amrican studnts smd to b facing in thpublic schools, including larg dropout rats

and low collg matriculation. Th confrnc

was an ffort to ncourag studnts to stay

in school, to do wll, and to continu on to

collg. Tobias Katn, who ownd a trousr

factory in Los Angls with mostly Mxican

Amrican mploys and who srd on th

Human Rlations Commission, proidd thinitial funding for th confrnc. Arrangmntswr mad to hold th confrnc at a nwly

stablishd Jwish rcrational camp calld

Camp Hss Kramr in th Malibu Mountains

off th Pacific Coast Highway. Th dat aail-

abl for th first confrnc and subsqunt

ons was th Palm Sunday wknd.

Sal bcam awar of th confrnc whn

h rad an announcmnt asking for adults

with xprinc working with youth to apply

to b counslors at th camp. With his back-

ground alrady as a playground suprisor and

his initial taching at Washington Junior High

in Pasadna, Sal applid and was accptd.

Th staff slctd was small and includd a

fw tachrs such as Sal along with social

workrs, polic and shriff prsonnl, and

thos alrady working for th county. Th

studnts thmsls wr slctd by thir

schools or by mmbrs of th Human Rla-tions Commission. Studnts, for th most part

working-class in origins, cam not only from

th prdominantly Mxican Amrican schools

of east Los Angls, but from othr county

schools as wll. About 100 studnts, all high

school juniors, attndd th first confrnc.

Sal rcalls that most of th othr staff mmbrs

did not ha much of a critical prspcti on

ducation or th schools. Som, according to

him, wr slf-hatrs, who blamd Mxican

Amricans for thir problms. Thy wr not

chang agnts or risk takrs. From th ry

bginning, Sal found himslf haing to countr

ths iws and offr a diffrnt intrprtation

to th studnts.

Sal discord that som of th studnts

also had low opinions of thmsls and of

thir community. Howr, a good numbr

xprssd criticisms of th schools and

wr alrady articulating what th ChicanoMomnt would call cultural nationalism.

Thy criticid thir tachrs, th failur to

ncourag thm to go to collg, th lack

of high prformanc xpctations, and th

tracking of Mxican Amrican studnts into

ocational classs. This was amaing to m,

Sal nots, that thy could b so obsrant.

Studnts xprssd ths concrns spciallyin th small group sssions at th confrncs.

As a rsult of ths discussions, Sal noticdthat n som of th slf-hatrs bgan to

chang as thy prpard to la on Sunday.

Dspit th common iw that Sal Castro was

th ky dirctor of th confrncs from th

ry bginning, in fact, as h xplains, h was

always bhind th scns in working with th

kids in th 1960s. H did his work with thm

and dialogud with thm in th small group

sssions and in tabl-hopping at maltims,

whr h could rach othr studnts. In thsmall group ncountrs, Sal did not do all of

th talking. That wnt against his pdagogy.

H didnt nd to talk bcaus many of th

studnts took th lad in discussing and


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ResearchNote 2

sharing school problms. I would throw out

somthing and lt it spin, h says. Whn th

studnts askd his iws or if thy digrssd

from th main point, only thn would Sal

rinforc th dialogu and try to put it in an

n mor critical prspcti. Guiding Sals

pdagogy was his orall philosophy about thconfrncs.

What I wantd out of ths confrncs was a

positi slf-imag and slf-confidnc for th

studnts, so thy would go on ahad and know

who th ral nmy was and go on to achi

and go on to collg, dspit th lack of ncour-

agmnt by th schools.

H also hopd and xpctd that th Camp

Hss Kramr graduats would latr in lif

proid ladrship for th Mxican Amrican

community as a way of giing back to it, but not

as apologists for but as critics of th systm.

In a way, without knowing it, Sal was adopting

a Saul Alinsky philosophy of not working with

th systm but within it.

As th youth ladrship confrncs continud

into th 1960s, th critiqus of th schools

mountd, with ry nw cohort of partici-

pants oicing Sals own growing frustrationat th lack of progrss in th schools. H

also xprssd disappointmnt at th failur

of Mxican Amrican political and community

ladrs in challnging th school systm or

n addrssing th issus. H blid that

Mxican Amricans wr falling furthr and

furthr bhind th black ciil rights momnt.

Somthing had to b don.

Sal rcalls that prhaps as arly as th 1966

confrnc h might ha startd to discusssom mor dramatic action to bring attntion

to th ducational problms. On yar latr,

h dfinitly had a plan. I had th plan in

my had, thats whr it was formulatd, h

stats. Bginning with th 1967 confrnc

and into th rst of th yar, Sal bgan to talk

about a possibl school walkout or strik that

would shak th systm. Bsids talking about

this at th 1967 confrnc, Sal also usd th

gathring to collct a phon bank of studnt

tlphon numbrs that would bcom a

critical information ntwork in organiing th

blowouts. This was bfor cll phons, h

obsrs with amusmnt. Many of th 1967

studnt cohort would go on to bcom ladrs

in thir rspcti schools on yar latr. Th

1967 confrnc was significant bcaus th

1968 on would tak plac aftr th blowouts.

Moror, som of th collg-ag counslors

at th 1967 confrnc (many, if not all of

thm, alumni of prious confrncs) would

also hlp plan th walkouts and assist th high

school and junior high school studnts in th

historic protsts of 1968.

***

Lt m conclud this rsarch not by saying

that from what I ha larnd about th

Chicano Youth Ladrship Confrncs from

my intriws with Sal Castro rinforcs my

undrstanding, and that of othrs, that thconfrncs srd to politici a nw gnra-

tion of Chicano studnts who participatd not

only in th blowouts, but in th Chicano Mo-

mnt as a whol. My oral history substantiats

th importanc of Sal Castros rol in th confr-

ncs through his work and discussions with

th studnts, including sharing his own xpri-

ncs with discrimination and his iws that

th ducational systm had to b confrontd

through noniolnt dirct action such as thblowouts. But I also larnd through my oral

history that it wasnt just Sal and th confr-

ncs thmsls that ld to this politiciation

and critical consciousnss on th part of th


26/28

2 ResearchNote

studnts. Th studnts thmsls, through

ngaging in a form of Fririan dialogu, srdas historical subjcts in th dlopmnt of a

progrssi and oppositional praxis. It is this

dialogical procss and praxis that I will dlopfurthr in my prsntation at this confrnc on

Sal Castro and th Chicano Youth LadrshipConfrncs. Finally, I hop this rsarch not

proids an introduction to my largr projct

that inols th writing of th lif narrati of a

rmarkabl indiidual, tachr, counslor, and

ladr: Sal Castro.

Notes

1. Carlos Muno, Jr., Youth, Identity, Power: TheChicano Movement (Nw York: vrso Prss, 1989).

2. Mario T. Garca, Memories of Chicano History:The Life and Narrative of Bert Corona (Brkly and LosAngls: Unirsity of California Prss, 1994).

3. All information about Sal Castros lif and dirct

quots by him ar from intriws by th author with SalCastro on May 15, 2001; July 24, 2001; July 25, 2001;and April 20, 2006.

4. Also s, Paulo Frir, Pedagogy of the Oppressed(Nw York: Contiuum, 2005; originally publishd in englishin 1970).


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The alumni of the Chicano Youth Leadership Conferences include a mayorof Los Angeles, a state supreme court justice, several LAUSD superin-

tendents, many LAUSD principals and teachers, members of the United

States Congress, county supervisors, and a growing number of university

professors. Alumni also include members of the print and electronic media,

filmmakers and producers, artists, and members of every profession. At the

center of the CYLC is Sal Castro, a life-long Los Angeles school teacherwith a national reputation as a school reformer.

Mr. Castro has inspired thousands of students, parents,colleagues, and community members to contribute to the

educational and professional advancement of the community.Robin Avelar La Salle

Co-founder and Chief Program Officer for Principals Exchange

CYLC defines our educational mission and unlimitedleadership potential.Carlos R. Moreno

Associate Justice, Supreme Court of California

CYLC motivates and inspires.Fatima Castaneda

Assistant Adjunct Professor, Department of

Education, Occidental College

Sal Castrois CYLC.Leonard A. Valverde

Professor of Education, Executive Director of the

Hispanic Border Leadership Institute, Arizona State

University

Sal Castro has a gift for teaching.Susan Racho

Filmmaker

CYLC provides power to Chicanos to control theirfuture.

Armando Durn

President of the Board, Self Help Graphics in EastLos Angeles

Miracles happen in Malibu.Araceli Lopez

Family Support Services Manager, Pathways

nonprofit agency

Sal Castro is living history.Mario T. Garcia

Professor of History and Chicano Studies; University

of California, Santa Barbara

He believed in us and we learned to believe inourselves.Myrna N Brutti

Assistant Principal, Stephen M. White Middle Schoo

Sal was a teacher unlike any I had encounteredduring my years of schooling.Rita Ledesma

Associate Professor, School of Social Work,

California State University, Los Angeles

Camp Hess Kramer: Where the birth of the urbanChicano Movement occurred.Moctesuma EsparzaFilmmaker and Producer

ucla symposium 2006

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