Santa Ana, CA – On August 10, nearly 40 people packed into the Studio of El Centro Cultural de México to hear five panelists speak on a wide range of topics affecting Chicanos. This event, commemorating the 54th Chicano Moratorium, was organized by Community Service Organization Orange County (CSO OC).

Before the panel began, Diana Terreros, a founding member of CSO OC, led a chant to honor and remember the name of Abigail Lopez, who was tragically murdered at the hands of Anaheim Police Department in 2023.

A special video presentation from Frank Chapman, executive director of the National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (NAARPR), kicked off the panel, where he went over the history of the struggle for community control of the police and how to build a mass movement to fight for it. As part of that struggle, he stressed the importance of working with impacted families by saying “most families victimized by police crimes aren’t calling for abolition. They want justice right now. We fight with the families to achieve that justice. They are demanding that the police are held accountable.”

The panelists covered topics ranging Chicano self-determination, community control of the police, the struggle for Palestinian liberation, the working-class and immigration struggles.

When the panel was asked “Why do some of us use ‘Chicano’ and not ‘Latino’ or ‘Mexican American’?” Rain Mendoza, a member of CSO OC, spoke on her personal experiences growing up with Mexican parents, stating that she did not “connect with Mexican culture in that way, I didn’t grow up there” and she uses the term Chicano as “it’s more political, there is a history of struggle there, a people’s struggle.” When asked about the demand for Chicano self-determination she stated, “As a people we are so very oppressed and historically have been so, culturally, economically and politically – we need self-determination and the political power to live our lives the way we want to live them.”

On the question of working-class struggles through history, Michelle Sanchez, former chair of MEChA de UCI, traced the rights of workers to their current status. She explains that workers had to “fight for the right to be considered human.”

When asked why most U.S. politicians continue to unwaveringly support Israel, Sylvia Hernandez of Nuestras Manos, a domestic workers’ rights advocacy group, emphasized, “War is and always has been a business; our communities gain nothing from this transaction.” It is crystal clear to workers that while the U.S. supports a genocide, we are the ones stuck with the bill.

This event was CSO OC’s first local Chicano Moratorium event and was composed of panelists from Nuestras Manos, MEChA de UCI, Centro CSO, CSO OC and Chicanxs Unidxs. CSO OC is looking forward to hosting more forums of public discussion to aid in the fight for Chicano self-determination and community control of the police. If you are interested in joining in these fights join CSO OC. Follow them on Instagram at cso.oc, Facebook at Orange County CSO, or email at [email protected].

#SantaAnaCA #CA #OppressedNationalities #ChicanoLatino #ChicanoMoratorium #CentroCSO #CSOOC #NAARPR #feature