A Wedding, a March and Chicano Rights

The happiest, and probably the saddest, day of their lives was captured forever for everyone to see. There, in the midst of a contingent of Brown Berets, posters of Che Guevara and anti-war protesters, Miguel and Silvia de la Pena marched for what they thought was right.

As Chicano student activists, they wanted full political and education rights in this country. They also opposed the war in Vietnam.

The thing was, Miguel de la Pena and Silvia Yescas had just gotten married. Yet, there they were marching--she in a flowing white wedding gown and he in a three-piece suit.

It was Aug. 29, 1970, a fateful day that produced memorable images preserved in photographs: the march, the rioting that ensued and the death of Times columnist and KMEX-TV news director Ruben Salazar. Cal State Northridge professor Raul Ruiz didn’t think much of the photo he took that day of the newlyweds, saying only, “It was nice that they marched with us.”

But the photo is one of the enduring scenes from that day, published in Communist manifestoes as well as mainstream U.S. newspapers. Many of the couple’s friends still don’t understand the significance of the day, but they’re left dumbfounded when Silvia explains. “When I tell them,” she said the other day, “they say, ‘Wow! You did that?’ Yeah, we did.”

*

Today, Miguel, 47, and Silvia, 46, are preparing to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. I chatted with them to see how they had changed over the years [Miguel has shaved off his Emiliano Zapata-style mustache and become a Republican] and whether their zeal for Chicano rights was still there [Silvia is a member of L.A. city schools’ Mexican American Education Commission].

They occasionally shook their heads in disbelief as they told of their lives since that chaotic day in 1970. For example, they were sought by authorities once it was discovered that they had been at the march.

“I guess they wanted to round up the ringleaders,” Miguel said sarcastically.

Eventually, the couple was left alone when it learned they were merely sympathizers, not the planners, of the protest march.

Despite the violence, they relish what they see as the most important day in the history of Latinos here. “I’m discovering that that day was the birth of the identity of Latinos in this country,” Miguel said. “Before, it was all Martin Luther King Jr. and blacks. But this was for Chicanos and Latinos.”

These days, he bemoans the lack of a similar movement to aid Latinos in the wake of the passage of Proposition 187 and the attacks on affirmative action.

“What the [UC Board of] Regents did the other day was bad, very bad,” said Silvia, referring to the vote to do away with affirmative action in the nine-campus system in two years.

Added Miguel, showing his Republicanism: “I think affirmative action as it’s being implemented is very weak, very ineffectual. For example, upper-middle-class Hispanics took away spots from other minority groups. What relationship do I have to those [wealthier] people who have no affinity for me? Because of abuses, affirmative action has not been adequately enforced in the last 10 years. If you’re not going to make it work, get rid of it.”

Their college activism [Silvia at Cal State Dominguez Hills and Miguel at USC] hasn’t rubbed off that much on their four kids, ages 12 to 20. “We would have supported them if they walked out of school over Proposition 187, but they didn’t,” Silvia said.

“They do what their friends do,” Miguel added. “In San Pedro, [son] Mario [age 16] didn’t walk out because his friends didn’t. If he had been in school in East L.A., he probably would have.”

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Silvia on the city of L.A.: “Life here is so depressing, but I don’t turn and run. I’d rather stay and fight.”

Miguel on guerrilla leader Che Guevara, whom most Chicano activists worshiped: “I admired him because he was an excellent revolutionary. But he was naive and got deceived by Fidel Castro.”

Silvia on the post-187 world for Latinos: “If you can become a [U.S.] citizen, do it. You can defend yourself by becoming a citizen and exercising the right to vote.”

Miguel on whether things have improved for Chicanos since 1970: “Are we still a disenfranchised people? Partially . . . we are getting more education, public works, services, but it’s only a step above second-class status.”

Silvia on whether she’d march again in East L.A.: “I couldn’t get into my wedding dress, but yeah, I would.”

Me on Miguel and Silvia: They’re not middle-aged in spirit. They’re just wiser, better Chicanos and Americans.