Unión del Barrio's Somos Raza, Creates Platform for Barrio Youth:

A Brief History Of Somos Raza

The question of Barrio youth and its relationship to Raza liberation in general has been very important to the work and organizational character of Unión del Barrio. Since its founding in the summer of 1981, Unión del Barrio has constantly recognized the importance of youth to making real the liberation of the Mexicano people - and subsequent to its founding, has been the organization in Aztlán/México Ocupado most responsible for raising and bringing clarity to the question of barrio youth and our role in the liberation struggle. As Mexicano youth we form a critical cornerstone of our struggle and we must understand that unless we unite around the fight for Mexican Power, liberation for our gente is impossible.

Upholding these truths, Unión del Barrio founded Somos Raza in 1987. Somos Raza is a Barrio Youth organization that produces Somos Raza Magazine. Somos Raza is the longest existing barrio youth revista dedicated to Mexican Power and is totally independent of non-Mexicano organizations. Somos is community based, completely independent of the system, and thus our message is completely different from other barrio youth groups. Most "Raza" groups are government funded and controlled - we see this control in what they push as the answer to barrio youth problems - for Raza to join the system, join the police, join the military; in other words they tell us to unite with the very same people and system that is oppressing us. Somos Raza does not receive or want government funds. Those working on the revista raise the funds necessary for production.

Those working on Somos Raza are committed young activists who abide by the following principles of unity:

To utilize Somos Raza as a tool by which to raise the social and cultural conciencia of barrio youth.
To strive at all times to promote Unity between Raza of all Barrios.
To always demonstrate respect for ourselves and all Raza.
To educate and advance our knowledge of society.
To promote the culture and history of the Chicano Mexicano people.
At all times support the struggle for Chicano Mexicano self-determination.

Throughout the history of Somos Raza, those who have come into contact with our magazine have been really impressed with it. Somos has influenced other publications (such as Todos Somos Uno, Somos Aztlán, etc.) and that partially due to our work, many young gente are again using terms such as Aztlán, Raza, Chicano/Mexicano Power, and so forth. Also, Somos Raza has been consistent and has been able to survive, and continues to be the only real voice for youth as far as liberation politics is concerned. Somos Raza has been able to reflect what really concerns us as Raza youth, our ondas and tripiazos, our particular lifestyle, and the daily problems we face.

The Role Of Raza Youth In Liberation Struggle

The Gringo System is the Enemy of Mexicanos and All Raza

As Mexicano youth we understand that the gringo system has nothing to offer us. Not only that, but we understand that this system has never done anything good for us, it has only attacked us and treated us like animals. All we have to do is look around us, and see how we are living, to see that this is the truth. The majority of us find ourselves on the streets; unemployed or working in dead end jobs; we receive the worst colonial education from racist teachers; we are harassed by the chota/migra; we are on drogas and locked into barrio violence; locked-up in la torcida; dysfunctional and confused; living with a lack of respect and self-worth; we suffer from a lack of identity and appreciation for our cultura; or there are even some of us who are brainwashed into wanting to join the system as petty-bourgeois hispanic vendidos who only care about the gringo dollar and their own egos. All of these things the system throws at us are terrible, and we know that most of us deal with one or more of these issues every day!

Somos Raza understands that these conditions under which we exist are not our fault. We know it is the gringo system that uses this "low intensity warfare" to keep us from joining the movimiento and depriving our movement of the ability to replenish its ranks. To those of us who can read between the lines of the gringo-colonial press (T.V., newspapers, movies, etc.) we understand that the purpose is for the pigs to get together and share notes on how to attack Mexican youth; to the pigs, all Raza are criminals. We also understand, that all the so-called laws (Prop 187, Clinton Crime Bill, Three Strikes, English Only Laws, Anti-Affirmation Action, and Social/Education Cutbacks) being sold to the white population by racist snake politicians are nothing but another excuse to harass, brutalize, psychologically destroy and lock-up Raza youth. History teaches us that this gringo-settler society has never implemented a law or policy with the objective of helping our community. We understand that the whole situation of Raza killing Raza and other colonized people is a product of the C.I.A./F.B.I./Police counter intelligence program designed as one of the ways to keep us from joining the struggle for liberation of all Mexicanos.

One of the many things we see happening in our communities is vendido neo-colonialism. Neo-colonialism is a situation that develops when the colonial power (the rich ruling class gringos) can not rule directly over us, so they appoint a few brown faces (hispanics, vendidos, liberals, and ratas) to positions of power as a method of confusing and controlling the great majority of our gente, who do not benefit from these handout positions.

Somos Raza struggles to bring these truths to our young gente so that we may no longer get caught up in any of the terrible situations we described. We believe that as Mexicanos, we have to fight for our own future; things are only going to get worse for us unless we get together to deal with these issues. In other words, we have to get the message to our youth that the "chingazos" should be directed at the real oppressors: the rich gringo colonialists who stole our land and keep us oppressed.

Strategic Role of Mexicano Youth in Liberation Struggle

Unión del Barrio has placed much of its resources and struggle around the organization and consciousness raising of barrio youth because we understand how important we are going to be to the revolution. Being young gives us several advantages - our psychology (of independence, daring, and open to new ideas), our physical characteristics (generally in excellent health), and our lack of economic constraints (not tied into economic dependence) - these make us the backbone of all revolutionary armies.

History has given us thousands examples of this:

Such as "Los Niños Heroes", teenage-cadets (most under the age of 15), who with only limited forces, fought to the death against the racist-imperialist U.S. Marines who were laying siege to Mexico City in 1847;
The socialist Emma Tenayuca, who started organizing Mexican workers in Texas while in her teens in the early 1930s;
The Pachucos who, during the 1940s, fought hand-to-hand battles against gangs of racist sailors, marines, and police throughout the Barrios of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego and other locations.
We saw the Brown Berets, who during the late 1960s and early 70s, had physical confrontations with racist white worker organizations and police throughout Aztlán and other parts of occupied America (Chicago, Kansas City, etc.) - and it was 15 year old Brown Beret Lynn Ward who was one of the three Chicanos killed by the pigs during the August 29th 1970 Chicano Moratorium march in East Los Angeles.
Most recently (1970-90), we witnessed how the great majority of the guerrilleros of the FSLN (in Nicaragua) and FMLN (in El Salvador) were teenagers, who not only kicked ass on the neo-colonial soldiers (vendido-puppets of the U.S.) but U.S. Green Berets and CIA mercenaries as well.

Furthermore, the nature of barrio youth - the fact that we are sons and daughters of workers and the poor (who form the great majority of our Raza) enables us to understand more clearly the oppression imposed upon our people by U.S. colonialism and thus respond more militantly. We understand that with all the negative aspects of barrio life and the many problems we face daily, we haven't sold out - Mexicano youth are more rebellious and are not scared of the system.

Raza youth, along with all other sectors of our community (workers, la mujer, pintos, progressive intellectuals, etc.) must be won over to the understanding that we are part of the movement to unite under a broad organization that takes into account the interests of all Raza and adheres to a strategy that calls for the total liberation of our gente and our lands. History and contemporary realities teach us that every liberation movement has its youth wing; and out of this sector comes its troops and future cadre. Only by coming to terms with these lessons, can Raza youth fulfill our obligation to the liberation and re-unification of the Mexican nation.

Somos Raza 10 Point Platform Towards Unión del Barrio Congress

Our years of struggle have allowed us to understand clearly that by keeping Raza youth on drugs and into vicious pleito against each other, the gringo-colonial government of the United States is able to maintain Raza in a semi-slave situation where we do all the low-paying jobs, while a large group of rich gabachos continue to live and profit off the land stolen from Mexicans. Those responsible for pushing drugs and creating disunity (CIA, FBI, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Wilson, etc.) know that young people form the backbone of all liberation struggles. It is with the intent of destroying our capacity for organization and self-defense that our enemies pump drugs and hatred into our communities. It is for these reasons that Somos Raza, as a project of Unión del Barrio, has developed the following ten point platform. These points are part of the reality for young Mexicanos and Mexicanas and it is under this platform that Somos Raza guides our work in the barrios of Aztlán.

1) We understand that barrio gangs are not the real problem in our community: our job is to get across the message to Raza in gangs that we should stop fighting each other and that the "chingazos" should be directed at the real oppressors - the rich gringo colonialists who stole our land and keep us oppressed.

2) We understand that it is the intent of the U.S. government to destroy our capacity for organization and self-defense by pumping drugs and hatred into our communities.

3) We understand that the education we receive is a false education, controlled by the system to deny us our real culture, our history, and our right to this land - Aztlán/México Ocupado.

4) We understand that the role of the police/migra in our barrios is to protect the gringo system, serving as its attack dogs against the Mexicano community.

5) We recognize that the system uses the media (t.v., newspapers, movies, etc.) to portray Mexicano youth as gang-bangers, criminals, junkies, and inferior to white people.

6) We understand that this system has never implemented a law or policy with the objective of helping our community - the system uses its laws to "legalize" its attacks on our Raza.

7) We recognize the true nature of the prison system is to maintain our juventud in a state of oppression and colonization. 8) We recognize hispanic vendidos as those people who unite with the government and tell us to assimilate with the system - the very same people and system that is oppressing us.

9) We understand that Aztlán (also known as the "Southwest United States") is occupied México - it is our land stolen by the U.S. government in 1848.

10) As Mexicano youth we form a critical cornerstone of our struggle and we must understand that unless we unite around the fight for Raza self-determination, liberation for our gente is impossible.

If you can unite with the previous ten points and with our principles of unity - then join Somos Raza! Meetings are held every other Friday 5PM at Centro Aztlán (619) 280-8361. For more information on Somos Raza write to: Somos Raza P.O. Box 620095 San Diego, CA 92162.