Reflection #2: Alma Canales' Oral History & Brown Berets Free Clinic Article

I chose Alma Canales’ oral history for my reflection. As a young student and woman during the Chicano Movement, she identified with multiple communities during the 1970’s and played an influential role in La Raza Unida Party of Southwest Texas. Canales effectively engaged with her community, inspired women around her to play a more vocal role and dedicated long, hard hours to various campaigns and elections of Hidalgo County.

A critical part of Canales’ oral history is the relationship between male and female members of La Raza Unida as the organization grew in strength and began to play a more central role in the Chicano movement. She explained how her brothers in the movement had “no women who could run for office.” Canales shattered this perception by eventually running for lieutenant governor of Texas when she was twenty-four years old— six years under the minimum age required for candidacy. However, this history draws on a few crucial points we’ve touched on in class. For example, Canales explains the initial challenges La Raza Unida faced in 1970 as it struggled to establish it’s own political party in the state of Texas. Not only was political involvement and candidacy largely inaccessible to Chicanos during this time, but the system in place was entirely stacked against them as a community. This drove Chicano leaders to challenge certain rules already in place and fight to establish La Raza Unida Party. Additionally, since the political rules at the time required candidates for lieutenant governor of Texas to be of at least thirty years of age, Canales explains how Chicanos were largely at a disadvantage. This illuminates the barriers La Raza Unida Party needed to overcome since so many of their strongest, most involved activists were young students.

The tension between male and female activists involved in La Raza Unida during the 1970’s also raises a significant point concerning genders role in political activism. Canales explains how though women made up 50% of the party and were extremely involved in all aspects of its reach, they remained largely in the shadows as the men took center stage. This highlights what we’ve discussed throughout the semester — that the political engagement and success of countless female activists remained underappreciated and too seldom recognized. Canales for example, recollects on how she was extremely disappointed with the final product of Ignacio Garcia’s book United We Win. After thoroughly completing the questionnaire Garcia mailed her, to her disappointment much of it was not included in the final book. Instead Garcia focuses on Ramsey Muniz’s gubernatorial campaign of 1972 and 1974. Unfortunately Canales doesn’t elaborate on the differences she and her running mate shared or the tensions that arose following La Raza Unida Party’s decision to run Garcia for governor of Texas.

 This connects to the film Chicano! and the greater discussion we had in class about gender’s role in the Chicano movement. In Taking Back the Schools, it’s clear the Brown Berets plays a significant role in the Chicano community’s push for a better, more substantive education. However the Brown Berets were often depicted solely as a militant “mens” group, dressed in military fashion, adhering to a strict agenda. Though women played an essential role in the Brown Berets as well, whether through organizing the community or establishing health clinics for free aid, they were frequently removed from this history.

Canales further elaborates on the changing role activism and community involvement played throughout her lifetime. Women’s issues and education motivated Canales to represent her female constituency while running for lieutenant governor of Texas. She understood it was the women’s voice she was representing and striving to empower during her early career. However as she grew up and entered a new phase of her life, Canales explains how her focus has shifted to issues concerning health, well-being and aging — all of which are extremely important to her now. She notes that as she became more involved with her children’s education she faced intense judgment from those who believed she could be doing more politically for the Chicano community. Drawing from Chicano! Part II: The Struggle in the Fields, it’s clear the balance between political activism and family stability is a difficult one to maneuver. When exploring the work the National Farm Workers Association engaged in during the boycotts and labor strikes, it’s clear women were often placed in extremely demanding situations — needing to feed their families, as well as continue supporting the labor strikes at the same time. Here the intersection of gender and race is both challenging for many female activists, but also immensely empowering.

The oral history Canales shares is a journey — bringing the viewer into her life and illuminating all that she has accomplished and continues to accomplish as a community activist. She describes her own work with La Raza Unida Party as “a dream.” The injustice faced and challenges overcome were symbolic of a bunch of little Davids fighting against one, large Goliath she explains. Through her story we are better able to understand the complex dynamic between male and female activists involved in the Chicano Movement and the ways they are today portrayed (or not portrayed) in this complicated history.

Canales’ recollection of her past experience with La Raza Unida is powerful, however at times the poor sound clarity and background noise take away from her account. Near the end of the history her fidgeting is picked up by the microphone, hindering the sound quality and overall clarity of her voice. Aside from this, the lighting and camera angles used were both effective. The majority of the frame consisted of Canales face, which illustrated her deeps emotions and passions as she recollects on past experiences. By including a shot of Martha Cotera in the closing, the producers adopt the grassroots, community feeling of the Chicano movement — setting an informal tone and creating a space for honest, open discussion.

Image of the Brown Beret Free Clinic article by Barrio Editor, Manuel de Jesus Hernandez. Taken from CPMR online archive.

Moving now to the archival image I chose for my reflection — a newspaper article about East Los Angeles’ Brown Beret Free Clinic. I chose this piece because I will be interviewing Maria Guadiana late November, an educator and counselor who played an active role in the Brown Berets. This article hones in on the goals of the free clinic, which are mainly to challenge traditional social care and serve the greater Chicano community. Though faced with initial problems including finding available space and forming a trusting relationship with the facility’s owners, the clinic (at the time of the article’s publication) was serving 300 people a day — all free of cost. From sex education to medical and psychological services, the clinic played an invaluable role in the Chicano community. Interestingly, the editor failed to focus on the role of female Brown Beret members, instead choosing to gloss over gender and how it pertains to the Chicano movement at large. Hernandez does touch on the community outreach and activism that the clinic fostered however. He explains how the scope of the free clinic moved beyond healthcare and service to actually empower activists by sending them to county meetings where they fought for more adequate healthcare — including bilingual staff at local hospitals.

This article struck me for a couple reasons. As a writer at The Michigan Daily I was immediately drawn to the image of a newspaper clip, but I also found the closing section of the article thought-provoking. Barrio Editor, Manuel de Jesus Hernandez, includes the hours the free clinic is open Monday through Saturday and the Brown Berets plan to eventually offer dental care, in addition to psychological and medical services. By stressing the hours of operation at the end of his article I think Hernandez is increasing accessibility and awareness for Chicanos across Los Angeles, in addition to shedding light on the critical issues the community is facing and what they are doing to actively combat these challenges.