East Los Angeles commemorates the Chicano Moratorium

On Saturday, under the summer heat, the East Los Angeles community gathered at Ruben Salazar Park to commemorate the 54th anniversary of the historic anti-war demonstrations organized by the Chicano Moratorium Committee, formally known as the "National Chicano Moratorium Committee Against the Vietnam War." Attendees gathered at the park to hear a program of speakers and performers. They could walk around two parts of the park, one side filled with street vendors selling coffee, T-shirts, and an array of homemade cultural jewelry, which they could purchase for themselves or a loved one, and the other side where the stage was located to listen to speakers and the performers.

“I bring my family yearly to honor those who fought before us,” said South Central resident Rey Ramirez. “And it is also an opportunity to show my kids the importance of community.”

This year’s message highlighted the movement’s origins as an anti-war movement and its connections to today’s activists protesting against the war in Gaza where according to Palestinian authorities, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel's army. In addition, speakers mentioned the continued fight to stop police killings of Black and brown people. This year, as of this writing, there have been 710 people killed by police across the country, 109 being Latino/a and 154 being Black. In comparison, 1,163 people were killed by police nationwide in 2023, with 133 of them being Latino/a and 229 being Black.

Organizers and speakers reflected on why activists gathered in East Los Angeles fifty-four years ago and how today’s political climate exposes the systemic issues people face. “It’s important that we Chicanos stand in solidarity with Palestine because we have a common enemy of U.S. imperialism,” said Diana Terreros, a member of the Los Angeles branch of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO), a political party in the United States. “Our police department (LAPD) here trains with the Israeli military, so the tactics they use to kill Palestinians, they also use it here to kill Chicanos,” she added, referencing how the LAPD has deployed their officers to train with the Israeli military. 

A pillar of the sixties and seventies movement was the fight for justice. “Fifty-four years later, we are still fighting for equality and self-determination in the belly of the beast,” said Carlos Montes, a co-founder of the Brown Berets who was a key organizer in the leadup to the historic march on August 29th, 1970. In Los Angeles County, where Latinos make up 48.2% of the county's population, 181,485 (18.5%) families live in poverty in the county.    

Another recurring message throughout the day focused on how educators are being targeted for teaching Ethnic Studies and how that hurts students and the community by denying them the opportunity to learn about their history. “Teachers are being fired and attacked for their anti-colonial curriculum and teaching the history of Palestine,” said Guadalupe Carrasco Cardona, who has been teaching for twenty-four years in Los Angeles and is one of the educators being sued for their Ethnic Studies curriculum.

The performance of the Chicano hip-hop group Kozmik Force, with members Native Threat and Jaguar, closed the event. The crowd couldn’t help but stand once they took the stage. For the last nine months, people have followed the case of “The Justice 8," in which activists' homes were raided and arrested by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department in what they call “Operation Accountability.” One of the eight is Kozmik Force member Gullit “Jaguar” Acevedo, who was welcomed with cheers from the crowd once they took the stage. 

Their songs and message followed the theme of the day which was to continue to fight for equality and justice and support activists protesting the war in Gaza.