Walkout

Original Post Date: October 22, 2006 via MySpace

Current mood:contemplative

Do you guys remember Halle Barry's speech when she won her Oscar for Best Actress? She thanked so many people for paving the way for her. She also said that winning that Oscar would open many doors for African Americans. I loved her speech, but I found it so hard to relate to.

I'm going to be completely honest with you guys. I absolutely know that I am a lucky person. I've never felt like I have been discriminated against because of my ethnic background or because of my looks. I've never felt like a door was closed to me because of this either. I would hear people discuss the Chicano Movement of the 1960's, but like most young adults, I would never pay much attention. It happened way before my time so why did I care? I've never thought highly of people who will do extreme things to get attention. I also never blamed society for my problems. In error I saw the Chicano Movement as the latinos blaming society for their misfortunes rather than working hard like the rest of us for a better life. Today I realized two things. One, just how EASY all of us have it. Two, just how wrong I was about the Chicano Movement AND how much I owe to the Movement for the "easy" life I now live.

I saw an HBO film called Walkout. The movie was produced by Edward James Olmos and HBO Films. It's a great movie and I feel that every latino should watch it. It's based on the true story of the East L.A. Walkouts in 1968. These students faced so much humiliation for just being latino. It would get worse if they were caught speaking spanish. This movie was like a splash of cold water in my face. If it weren't for those brave and proud latino students who knows how my public school years would have been. The walkouts took place not even ten years before I was born. My older sister's were born just 5 years later. I realized that these events weren't that long ago, yet we have come so far. Us Los Angeles latinos owe it all to those highschool students from Lincoln High, Roosevelt High, Garfield High, and Belmont High. You guys made such a huge impact that is still felt to this day.

I was so moved by the movie that I couldn't stop thinking about it. Halle Barry's speech came to mind. I finally knew what she was talking about when she thanked certain people for "paving her way". I'm not naive enough to think that the Movement is over. We have a long way to go, but thanks to those brave people of the 60's, we have a great start.