– The Chicano Mexicano Prison Project (CMPP) is a Project of Uníon del Barrio –
— CMPP Homepage — CMPP News & Statements —
— CMPP 10 Point Program — Las Calles y la Torcida —
During the “Chicano Power” period (1965-75), our movement was able to mobilize and win all sectors of our community to the struggle for Raza self-determination. We saw, for example, the students (M.E.Ch.A.), the vato locos/as (Brown Berets and Crusade For Justice), the intellectuals (Chicana/o Studies), political activists (Raza Unida Party), the workers (United Farmworkers), community-barrio media (Chicano Press Association), and Raza in the joints or recently released (who formed “Pinto Unions”), all working and struggling for Raza self-determination. The activists during this period understood the necessity of uniting all sectors of the community into one powerful weapon against colonialism and imperialism.
Unión del Barrio has repeatedly stated that not only do we claim the “legacy” of this period of time, but that we are also determined to advance its objectives of Raza self-determination and liberation. Along these lines, the Unión has created the Chicano Mexicano Prison Project (CMPP) with the objective of winning Raza prisoners (the majority who are victims of the capitalist/colonialist system of exploitation) to La Causa: the liberation of all Mexicans/Raza and the reconquest of our lands.
We understand that the great majority of Raza who are presently locked up in U.S. prisons are men and women who are victims of the colonial oppression of Mexicano people by U.S. imperialism. We also understand that a large percentage (20% to 30%), and in some barrios the great majority of our people, are directly connected to prisons, jails, juvenile halls, or the probation department. This “connection” is either in the form of being actually incarcerated, on parole, or having a relative under the control of the so-called “legal system.” A true national liberation movement must include the great majority of the people, therefore, we must include the prison population within our struggle.
Email the CMPP at <cmpp@uniondelbarrio.org>.
Follow us on social media at <@ChicanoMexicanoPrisonProject>.