The 2001 Pacific Northwest Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA) Regional Conference at the UW during the weekend brought together members of MEChA from throughout Washington State.
Participants were treated to workshops, speeches, entertainment and the opportunity to forge bonds and develop skills as activists in pursuit of social change.
The conference, titled "From Consciousness to Action," was designed around the theme of student organizing. The first day represented the "consciousness" part of the theme, as workshops and the keynote speech focused on raising awareness among students about political and social issues.
Friday evening's presentation in Kane 130 began with performances by Bailadores de Bronce, a folk dance group including former UW MEChA members, and TURF, a choreographed hip-hop performance group featuring several local young dancers and poets.
Keynote speaker Angela Davis kicked off the conference with a presentation Friday night (see sidebar).
Just as the first day of the conference represented the "consciousness" part of the title, the second day represented the concept of "action."
Saturday's events began with a keynote speech by Armando Navarro in the HUB Auditorium. Navarro, currently chair of the Department of Ethnic Studies at UC-Riverside, is known for his work campaigning for immigration rights.
Navarro presented a brief history of the Chicano movement, from its beginning in the late-1960s in tandem with the civil-rights and anti-war movements, to its loss of focus in the mid-1970s. He said the movement was revived in the wake of North American Free Trade Agreement in the 1990s and attacks upon affirmative action and immigration rights.
Navarro also told of his own entry into a life of activism. Like many of his peers, he said, Navarro joined the military upon graduating from high school, and at first paid no attention to political issues. He gradually became aware of social struggles being fought by people of Mexican heritage living in the United States, and his ideology soon changed.
"It was in 1968 that I made the transition from military officer to activist," Navarro said.
After discussing the historical role of students in the rise of the Chicano movement, Navarro lamented the current lack of leadership and political ambition among young Chicanos.
"Today, there is a false sense of prosperity, yet we don't have any political power," Navarro said. "We are losing the old leadership of the Chicano movement ... our intellectuals are too busy promoting themselves."
On Sunday, the last day of the conference, MEChA organizers decided upon an issue to focus on. This year's action plan will involve an upcoming campaign by the Washington state United Farm Workers (UFW) to demand justice for apple workers in Washington State.
The UFW intends to pressure the apple industry in Washington state into granting collective bargaining rights to its workers, and UW's chapter of MEChA has decided to help.
The campaign, currently in the planning stages, could possibly involve a statewide apple boycott.
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