Comité de Mujeres Patricia Marín:

In January of 1996 the Women’s Commission of Unión del Barrio changed its name to the Comité de Mujeres Patricia Marín. Unión del Barrio made this decision to honor and respect the work and dedication that camarada Patricia Marín had for the Revolutionary struggle of all our Raza. She dedicated her life to the struggle for the National Liberation and reunification of our nation (México/México Ocupado).

From her days as a MEChista, the years in the National Chicano Moratorium Committee (Orange County region, then San Diego region), the many times she spoke at forums, rallies, conferences and marches; to her membership with Unión del Barrio- Patricia Marín geared all parts of her life in one direction and that was the liberation of all Raza through organization.

The Comité understands that Women’s oppression can only be eliminated through national liberation, and that national liberation can only be successful to the extent that women participate and take part in that struggle. Therefore, we work under a 10 point political platform which reflects the principals that we must follow as revolutionary mujeres, hombres, organizations, communities and movements as a way of ensuring the liberation of all Raza.

The Comité is in the process in collecting data on the health needs of the mexicano community which will be done through a survey. This will allow us to organize forums on preventive health care (i.e. prenatal care, high/low blood presure, diet/nutrition etc.).

Currently Raza are faced with anti-Raza legislation and economic hardships that create greater barriers for our gente to receive basic health care. Both current and future legislation are created to deny basic health care and now emergency care pushing our communities into greater desperation and threatening the future generations of Raza.

Analyzing the political economy of legislation, (Immigration Reform which deny our people their social security, Medicare, as well as the Welfare Reform etc.) we clearly see that this is another way the capitalist- colonialist system (U.S. capitalism) uses its power to control the growing population of our gente (for more on Immigration see this issue of ¡LA VERDAD! for more on Welfare Reform see the Jan.-May 1997 issue of ¡LA VERDAD!).

With so much anti-Mexican legislation coming down on our gente, legislation that attacks the future of our children all the way through to the elderly, as a way of finding solutions to the daily oppression and colonial conditions we as a people face, the Comité is on the planning stages of a mujer conference that will take place in January of 1998. We will be inviting several organizations to co-organize this event under the 10 points of unity of the Comité.

There will be four general topics for workshops which will focus each issue. The workshops will consist of: 1) La Familia, 2) Judicial/Prison System, 3) Legislation/Key issues facing Raza and 4) The National Liberation Movimiento. (for more information about the 1998 Mujer Conference please contact the Comité at (619) 696-9804 or CMPM P.O. Box 620095 San Diego, Califas 92162)

Unión del Barrio recognizes that the formation of the Comité was an integral part of our movimiento that upholds the role of mujeres in political struggle, which is central to the overall liberation of Mexicans as an entire people. However, like all political struggle, we have had setbacks in the past that have hindered our ability to be effective as a project. Hindrances such as a loose structure, lack of membership and resources, lack of follow-up and an uneven delegation of tasks. As a resolution to these contradictions faced by the Comité we have restructured our meetings, incorporated political education sessions and increased communication for more effective follow-up. As a means to resolve the lack of membership we will initiate an outreach campaign as well as hold regular fundraisers. Our commitment to activism and revolution has allowed us to raise contradictions, correct mistakes made, and move forward in our work.

¡Hasta La Victoria!
¡Que Viva Patricia Marín!