Los Angeles, CA – On May 5, students and community members protested the visit of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Clinton spoke to supporters on the East Los Angeles College (ELAC) campus Thursday afternoon. 500 protesters demanding she leave the campus marched on the gymnasium where she spoke.

Protesters gathered in nearby Belvedere Park and marched to the campus chanting “Deport Hillary!” “Hillary fuera! Fuera de East LA!” and “Chicano power!” Once on campus they were met by East LA sheriffs. Many of the sheriffs were on horseback. Many police helicopters hovered overhead. As the protesters kept chanting they gathered on campus for a round of speeches. After the speeches, they marched on the gymnasium and were met by barricades and more police.

Irving Grey Angeles, one of the organizers with MEXA de ELAC said, “The message is clear. She represents the 1%. She gives closed door speeches to Wall Street for hundreds of thousands of dollars and won't release the transcripts. She has called for the deportation of undocumented people, even children. As a working-class and immigrant community, clearly, she does not have our best interests at heart. In a classic display of pandering, she decides to visit us on 5 de Mayo. We're not having that. The protest brought out hundreds of students and community members who are tired of being lied to and misled by opportunist politicians. All power to the people!”

A few protesters went into the event and chanted during her speech. Clinton's speech was cut short by ten minutes and she was forced to leave early. As Clinton supporters filed out of the event, the protesters kept chanting: “Hey hey ho ho! Hillary Clinton's got to go!” “Vendidos!” and “Sell-outs!”

Long time Chicano activist Carlos Montes said, “We're not going to get Chicano political power through Hillary Clinton or the elections. We need to keep organizing and fight for equality and self-determination!”

#LosAngelesCA #ImmigrantRights #PoorPeoplesMovements #StudentMovement #OppressedNationalities #Elections #US #PeoplesStruggles #ChicanoLatino #Latinos #Antiracism #California #HillaryClinton

Los Angeles, CA – On the afternoon of May 1, a powerful May Day march, organized by the Southern California Immigration Coalition (SCIC), took place in the heart of downtown as many garment workers were leaving work. The highly spirited 1000-plus crowd was made up mainly of working class Latinos, union members from Roofers Union Local 36 and United Teachers L.A., street vendors, daily laborers, families and high school students. Also joining the march and helping to carry the lead banner were the women and men of the homeless shelter Projecto Pastoral in Boyle Heights.

The SCIC is composed of dozens of groups including the International Action Center, Community Service Organization, Union del Barrio and Bayan USA. SCIC is an independent grassroots coalition that receives no government or foundation funding.

The many speakers called for Obama to stop the deportations and demanded legalization for all. Many denounced the police/ICE abuses such as detentions, deportations and deaths at the border.

Bayan USA denounced U.S. imperialism and its intervention in the Philippines and other countries. Ramon Mendez, a member of Roofers Union Local 36, spoke about being harassed and exploited at work, and when he filed a grievance the boss called the ICE on him. Mendez had to live away from his family until others came to his aid, pressuring ICE to respect a labor neutrality agreement with the Labor Department that protects workers who are in disputes with employers. He is now out on bail, fighting his deportation. The MECHA students talked about the need for legalization and better schools.

Carlos Montes, a veteran Chicano revolutionary, stated that the fight for legalization is part of the struggle of self-determination for the Chicano/Mexican people and equality for Latinos. He noted that May 1 had been revived in the U.S. by the massive 2006 immigrant rights marches led by Latinos.

The spirited march included flags from Latin American countries, including the Chicano nation of Aztlan.

Two other May Day marches took place in Los Angeles on May 1.

#LosAngelesCA #ImmigrantRights #MayDay #Chican #SouthernCaliforniaImmigrationCoalition #CarlosMontes #MovimientoEstudiantilChicanoDeAztlánMEChA #Latinos #immigrationRights #legalizationForAll #NoMasDeportaciones #RoofersUnionLocal36