About the Project
This reaserch is for SAC students.
I am documenting this history so that students may realize that they exist within an institution with a rich and troubled history.
Through these stories of activism and organizing, students have the opportunity to contextualize their institution and begin to question, in larger part, the context and histories of all the spaces they occupy.
This reaserch will change the idea that students may have, that SAC was stagnant, quiet, and uneventful during one of the most politically active decades in Chicano history.
In this work, students are introduced to a history of Chicano activism, both local and national, through what was occuring in the very spaces–buildings and clasrooms–in which they study.
The hallways in which they traverse may have at one time advertised the next MEChA student meeting, or brandished a poster informing students of the upcoming visit of Raza Unida Candidate, Jose Angel Gutierrez.
Walking across the courtyard, they may have been discreetly handed a mimeographed copy of the SAC underground newspaper, “El Pinche Buey,” where they would have found student writings on issues that affect the Chicano population both on campus and off.
On thier way to the parking lot they may have been stopped by George Velasquez or Chicano poet Cecilio Camarillo, brandishing a clipboard and asking if they have registered to vote.
Entering the art department, they may have run into Felipe Reyes or Professor Mel Casas, both members of the Chicano art collective, Con Safos, strategizing thier next provocative art exhibit.
Crossing San Pedro Rd. and entering San Pedro Park, they might have run into an anti-war rally, the chants for peace and an end to the Vietnam War echoing throughout the neighborhood.
Through these stories we rediscover the life and Lucha that existed here before us.
This research is also an homage to the many SAC students, faculty, staff, administrators and community members who fought for civil rights during and after the Movimiento and layed the ground work for the creation of a Mexican American Studies department at SAC.
We are relearning, preserving, retelling, and honoring your stories.
This research is done, in large part, through the accounts of activities reported on in the San Antonio College student newspaper—The Ranger. This information is enriched with first hand accounts from SAC Alumni and community organizers from this time who, to the best of their ability, have graciously shared with me the memories of thier activities and interactions at SAC. Some additional resources have been used such as the San Antonio Express and News newspaper digital archives, and digital copies of Chicano Newspapers from the Chicano Movement such as the Chicano Times and El Pueblo. These resources combined allow a picture to emerge of San Antonio College Chicano organizing during one of the most important and politically active decades in Chicano history