Santa Ana Conference Marks Chicano Moratorium, March

More than 60 activists and supporters met Saturday to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium and march in East Los Angeles in which 30,000 people took part.

The event Saturday focused on current problems such as racism, community empowerment and immigration.

Albert Martinez, one of the organizers, said the conference is held annually to strengthen the cultural identity of raza (Latino people) by showing them films of the 1970 Chicano Moratorium and the march against the Vietnam War and social injustice. Three people were killed in rioting that followed the demonstration.

Workshops on community empowerment provided the audience of mostly high school and college students information on how to improve their own communities.

“It has been 23 years since (the moratorium) and there are still tons of problems,” Martinez said. “Our numbers have increased, but so has resentment against us.”

Jaime Vega, director of One Stop Immigration, an immigration information center where the conference took place, said: “The Chicano community needs to be aware they have the power to change (the problems). We have to teach the young.”

Several of the students said they were interested in their heritage and attended to learn more about themselves.

“I didn’t know my own culture until a teacher told me,” said Veta Gashgai, 18, a student at Fullerton College. “It changed my life once I learned about my Chicano culture. I want to help now.”