June 6, 1990 - El Paso Herald-Post
Hispanic cultural awareness fading with time
The temperature in the portable classroom was unbearable, almost as ghastly as the silence of young students asked to identify the name Ruben Salazar.
Some of the students hailed from a housing project named after Salazar, but even they could not explain just who Ruben Salazar was.
"Is he the owner of the projects?" one student asked. Other students laughed, but they also could not say much about Salazar.
Asked about events, programs, clinics, art works, books and many other pertinent things having to do with the Chicano world in El Paso - or in other parts of the country, for that matter - the students became even more reticent.
It is true that all those students were born a few years after the brutal murder of Ruben Salazar by an errant tear gas projectile fired by an angry policeman during the Chicano Moratorium Against the Vietnam War, August 29, 1970, in Los Angeles.
It is equally true that the Centro de Salud Familiar La Fe - nee Father Rahm Clinic - was created by youth, community organizers, professionals and barrio residents before those students were born.
Equally true is that the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MECHA) also came into being then, as did MAYA (Mexican American Youth Association), the Alley Cats and numerous other groups of concerned Chicanos wanting better venues for their communities and their families.
Sadly, one must cry out, the sacrifices and the daring philosophy of rightful empowerment have seemingly been lost on much of the now budding Chicano world.
There is at best ignorance of that rich moment when Chicanos burst out of the barrios with a heartfelt "Ya basta!" that shook the rafters of a racist society, and a few things changed. It was a time when people of all ages spoke of community empowerment, and people dared to confront all institutions in order to right a history of wrongful and painful devastation. There was a seething pride in being oneself, in naming one's world. It was a time of celebration, and artists, poets, writers and educators frequented one another, seeking answers to the still throbbing problems of poverty, fragmented educations, discrimination, police brutality, drugs and gangs.
Gangs lost their popularity as young people joined movement organizations which struggled to correct societal injustices. In fact, Chicano Studies and MECHA at UT El Paso were aligned with community groups and individuals in mutual support.
El Paso then had a viable network of individuals and groups which met frequently with one another - not to pretend to discuss issues, but to actually work out strategies and galvanize resources to confront and resolve problems.
The site was an ongoing weekday breakfast early at the Del Camino, and programs arose from those tables where professionals, activists, youths, barrio parents and artist/poets shared resources and commitment.
Ruben Salazar - newspaper and broadcast journalist - was then known and spoken about, as were such stalwarts as Sal Ramirez, Dr. R. A. Gardea, Nino Aguilerd, Nina Cordero, Lalo Delgado, and the many other volunteers and dreamers who helped create a clinic in a small and decrepit building so that Dr. Gardea and others could give of their time and knowledge to help a barrio cure itself.
It was a time of dreams emanating from action, of deeds leading to empowerment and realization ... a time which somehow became distorted ... passion still cries out for the fulfillment of those dreams, as there still remains much to be done.