The Evolution of Unión del Barrio

Unión del Barrio was formed in 1981 by a half-dozen activists as a San Diego barrio-based organization, and has over time transformed itself into a revolutionary nationalist formation with members in Los Angeles, Oxnard, Riverside, and San Jose California, El Paso Texas, Phoenix Arizona, New York City, as well as other locations.

UdB has matured greatly during its over 30 years of existence – from a small barrio-based group which held meetings at its members homes, to the establishment of its headquarters (Centro Aztlán in San Diego, and the Centro Cultural Francisco Villa in Los Angeles), and the publication of its political organ, ¡La Verdad!. This brief history provides an outline of the continuing political evolution of an organization that has based its practice and ideology on dialectical materialism, towards achieving the ultimate objective of Mexicana and Mexicano freedom fighters: the national liberation and revolutionary reunification of México and the unification of our peoples struggles across Nuestra América.

Recognition must be given to the literally thousands of activities that UdB has engaged in as part of our struggle to win the self-determination and liberation of la raza. Over three decades of intense and continuous struggle have helped build UdB as the most active anti-imperialist, revolutionary nationalist raza formation in the occupied territories – Aztlán. UdB has widely influenced the Chicano/Mexicano movement on this side of the political border, but also reinforced our unity with struggles in the southern part of Nuestra América, as well as other liberation struggles within the current borders of the United States.

Of course our struggle has not been without contradictions, setbacks and casualties. Yet we understand clearly that our victories and strengths far outweigh our contradictions and weaknesses. The objective of this historical outline is not an attempt to glorify Unión del Barrio, but rather to further advance our understanding of the movement in general, and our role within this historical process – thus advancing the inevitable triumph of the Mexican Revolution and the liberation of Nuestra América as a whole.

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