Comité de Mujeres Patricia Marín:

The Comité de Mujeres Patricia Marín (CMPM) is named after deceased Unión del Barrio cadre Patricia Marín. Patricia began her activism in MEChA in Orange County. She was one of the MEChistas that took on the so-called League of Revolutionary Struggle, these were the MEChistas that took the stage at a MEChA Conference at Berkeley in 1986. She eventually helped start-up the Orange County Chicano Moratorium Committee in 1989. In 1990, at the 20th Commemoration of the National Chicano Moratorium of August 29, 1970 in East Los Angeles, she spoke on behalf of MEChA. After joining Unión del Barrio she moved to San Diego and became active in the Raza Rights Coalition, the San Diego region of The National Chicano Moratorium Committee. She was a leading member of Unión del Barrio's Women's Commission and at the time of her death she was the coordinator of the Chicano Mexicano Prison Project. Because of her activism and commitment to her Raza, Unión del Barrio and the Women's Commission, at a retreat held in January of 1996, decided to name the Women's Commission after this dedicated compañera. By taking on the name Comité de Mujeres Patricia Marín, we hoped to keep alive the legacy of this righteous mujer and help advance the cause for the total liberation of all Raza.

Summing-up Some Critical Aspects of the Question of Women and the Liberation Struggle

The CMPM understands that as colonized people, Raza suffer daily exploitation; we are forced to live in poverty, we are victims of police/migra terror, our children are mis-educated and forced to drop out of school, and the great majority find ourselves exploited in the work place or without a job. Raza women, generally speaking, are further oppressed. We face sexism in the form of double standards, domestic violence and rape, inequality in the work place, at home and in political struggle.

History provides us with lessons that has explained that women's oppression can only be eliminated through national and class liberation. In order to insure that we move forward this process, Mexicana women must play a leading role in liberation struggles. In places where a national liberation movement has taken place or is strong, is where we find the most liberated women (for example Cuba and among the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional in México). Unión del Barrio, through the CMPM, is taking the necessary steps to advance the struggle for the total liberation of Raza women.

1997 CMPM Retreat

The Comité de Mujeres Patricia Marín (CMPM) held its second annual retreat on March 18, 1997 at Centro Aztlán in San Diego, Califas. The retreat was well attended by members of Unión del Barrio - San Jose, Oxnard, San Bernardino /Riverside units, and San Diego chapter.

The objective of the retreat was to analyze the past years work and to clearly define what were some of the strengths and weaknesses of the Comité. We saw that the past year was used primarily to study the question of the role of mujeres and its relationship to National Liberation struggle. We analyzed and studied the role of Raza women from other National Liberation movements (i.e. Cuban revolution, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional etc.). We did this as a way of forming and defining our own committee, since we felt that any movement for self-determination must be tied to the overall struggle for Raza Liberation.

Since last years retreat - where we incorporated some of the basic revolutionary women's laws of the Zapatistas - we were able to consolidate our political understanding of what a revolutionary mujer is and this allowed the Comité to clearly define how Unión del Barrio - as a political organization - was going to address the question of the overall oppression of Raza women.

We came out of the retreat having understood as mothers and activists that we have an obligation to struggle on a day to day basis to counter the racism and overall colonial oppression that our people suffer as a whole, at the hands of United States and world imperialism.

As a result of the increasing social attacks on our people, it was decided that we take on a preventive health care campaign as a way of addressing the immediate attacks on Raza such as the recent passage of "Welfare Reform," and the executive order signed by Pete Wilson that will deny social services and health benefits to Mexicanos in California as well as the new "Immigration Reform Law," (see article on "Welfare Reform" in this issue of ¡LA VERDAD!).

We understand that at this particular time this is a question of utmost importance to Raza. Raza women are no longer going to be able to get prenatal care, and Raza children will no longer be able to be treated for minor illnesses, such as the flu. No longer will our youth be immunized from deadly diseases. Analyzing our current social conditions we already see a very sick and unhealthy community, the infant mortality rate for our babies is at an all time high.

The Preventive Health Care Campaign is currently a campaign that was started April 5 in Fallbrook, Califas by the comrades from Mexicano Unidos en Defensa del Pueblo (MUDP). An important aspect of this campaign is to build dual/contending power (Raza Power) so that the community will no longer have to rely on half-ass benefits from the government; a government which does nothing but degrade and humiliate us when we are forced to look for health care. We want to be able to create a contending social structure; an independent social structure that is built by our gente for our gente. These are the basic principles of Raza self-determination, an understanding that guides Unión del Barrio work.

As a community we must be able to analyze our past, change our present and guide our future, and in order to do this we must be organized to so that we can pull our own resources together to take care of ourselves. Secondly, we see preventive health in the form of prenatal maintenance, prevention of hypertension, diabetes, colds, etc. This is accomplished through a proper diet and exercise. The key is to prevent illnesses before it happens.

The second campaign we are taking on is the Child Care Campaign for the children of Unión del Barrio. This campaign will be looking at the child care needs of the members of Unión del Barrio. Child care will be seen as a logistical question at every event where child care is needed. Political education will be a major part of this process. The political development of our children is necessary if we are to have someone to carry on the struggle in the future. This is a response to the irrelevant education the colonial school system feeds our children's minds every day. We need to turn this socialization process around and teach them about our peoples long history of anti-colonial struggle so that the future sons and daughters of the Mexican nation will move forward our struggle for the liberation of the Mexicano people and our inevitable victory.

¡Que Viva La Mujer Mexicana!
¡Que Viva Unión del Barrio!