Austin, TX – Over 70 people attended a speakers panel and social to commemorate the 56th Chicano Moratorium on August 29. La Frontera Unida (LFU) hosted the event featuring local Chicana musicians and vendors. This marks the first time Austin observed the Chicano Moratorium and was met with enthusiasm by the community.

LFU member Jessie Valdelamar highlighted the importance of the commemorating the Chicano Moratorium this year, amidst the wave of racist attacks against immigrants by Trump, saying, “We need to build up to and go beyond what the generation before us achieved in the 1970s. La Raza is strengthened by immigration, and deportations that rip our families apart and attack our cousins from El Salvador, weaken our people.”

When asked about the goals of the Chicano movement, Sofie Gomez of the FRSO said, “We must unite all who can be united. We aren’t alone in this fight; we need to merge our fight with the liberation of the Black nation and the labor movement. Our problem is capitalism, and only a revolution that brings together these forces can bring us to the next step.”

The speaker panel was followed by a social, with many participants mingling while sipping their “La Causa Cooler” and dancing to the flurry of norteño, cumbia, salsa and country music played by local musicians.

LFU member Jake Holtzman said, “The event was a great success due our frequent barrio walks in the past few months. Our outreach efforts attracted community members to the event. We were offered a free venue and help with fundraising and developed contacts with local artists and musicians.”

The panel featured speakers from LFU, Austin Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO).

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