Today in Labor History March 14, 1954: Salt of the Earth premiered. The film depicted the 1951 strike of Mexican-American workers at the Empire Zinc mine, in New Mexico. The film was one of the first to portray a feminist political point of view, particularly through Actress Rosaura Revueltas’s role as Esperanza Quintero. When the Company uses the new Taft-Hartley Act (which also bans General Strikes) to impose an injunction preventing the men from picketing, their wives go walk the picket line in their places. LGBTQ and labor activist Will Geer (Pa Walton) also played in the film. Writer Michael Wilson, director Herbert Biberman and producer Paul Jarrico had all been blacklisted for their alleged communist ties. Only 13 of the 13,000 theaters in the U.S. showed the film.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #SaltOfTheEarth #strike #union #generalstrike #lgbtq #TaftHartley #communism #feminism #MexicanAmerican #chicano #film #blacklist

Today in Labor History March 5 1968: The first Chicano student walkout in East Lost Angeles occurred on this date. The Walkouts, or Chicano Blowouts, occurred throughout 1968 in protest of unequal conditions in Los Angeles Unified School District high schools. Chicanos were often in classes of 40 students. Teachers often treated them with contempt. Drop-out rates were high. At Garfield High School, 58% of Chicano students dropped out each year. Thousands of students participated in the Blowouts. On March 4, 1968, J. Edgar Hoover sent out a memo to law enforcement, nationwide, warning them to be extra vigilant against “nationalist” movements in “minority” communities. Harry Gamboa Jr., one of the organizers of the first walkout, was placed on the list of 100 Most Dangerous & Violent Subversives, by the US Senate Committee on the Judiciary, along with Angela Davis & Eldridge Cleaver.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #laraza #blowouts #chicano #angeladavis #racism #dropout #students #la #losangeles #police #policebrutality #blackpanthers #protest #fbi #jedgarhoover #launified #highschool

Is the State of Texas Trying to Kill This Chicano Activist?

After 23 years in solitary confinement, Alvaro “Xinachtli” Hernandez’s health is failing him. So is the system.

https://newrepublic.com/article/206210/texas-prison-chicano-activist-xinachtli

#FreeXinachtli #Prison #PoliticalPrisoner #Texas #Chicano

Trump drew the line.  He underestimated us.  He underestimated our culture, heritage, history.  We must make a vicious stand.  They are cowards and even attack our protesting children.  They need to fear us.  www.mexicansarentgoinganywhere.co

#mexican #antifa #aztec #chicano #brownpride #fktrump #fkhsa

Today in Labor History February 2, 1938: Emma Tenayuca led a strike at the Southern Pecan-Shelling Company in San Antonio, Texas. The workers were fighting against low wages and inhumane working conditions. Tenayuca first became interested in activism before graduating from High School and was first arrested at age 16, in 1933, when she joined a picket line against the Finck Cigar Company. She later founded two international ladies' garment workers unions, and was involved in the Woman's League for Peace and Freedom. She also organized a protest in response to the beating of Mexican migrants by US Border Patrol. She was arrested several times for her participation in strikes and other activism. 12,000 women, mostly Mexicana and Chicana, participated in the Pecan-Shelling strike. Police clubbed, gassed, arrested and jailed the women. The strike ended in October, with an arbitrated raise to 25 cents per hour.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #chicano #union #strike #EmmaTenayuca #mexico #wages #women #feminist #prison #police #policebrutality