La Raza Unida Party
50th Anniversary Reunion
¡Pasando la antorcha!
The Conference
Chicano Movement leaders and activists are convening at the University of Texas—San Antonio on September 15-17, 2022, to commemorate and celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the national Raza Unida Party. The conference will also analyze the current socio-economic conditions of our people and other pertinent issues, together with a focus on a strategic vision to further advance the cause for social justice for Mexican origin people in the United States.
Welcome to our Reunion!
50th Reunion Plan
In celebrating our 50th anniversary, we acknowledge the wisdom of the elders who inspired RUP, the spirit and labor of the youth who led it, and the strength of those who have kept RUP values alive and flourishing, never giving up on democracy, and leading to a brighter progressive future in Texas, the rest of the southwest, and in the nation.
When we examine history, we see that women and men who have been marginalized and pushed to the side have always had to struggle for equality and justice. We have seen this in the abolitionist movement, with the Jewish community; in the struggle of the people of India with Gandhi. And we have seen this among our ancestors in Mexico and the rest of the Americas who vanquished colonialism and slavery. FREEDOM is never FREELY GIVEN. People who bear the brunt of oppression and injustice have had to be constantly vigilant, since there is always someone ready to take away what we value in our lives.
As we approach our reunion, many of us participating in the Raza Unida Party during the 1970’s, are now in our 70s and 80s. The torch of equity and justice has never been extinguished, having passed through the decades to amazing policy and political leaders, and now once again it is being passed to those willing and able to continue the struggle, and it must be said that the willing hands today are a dynamic force that will succeed.
When many of us got into the Movimiento we were young. Some of us were teenagers. And while we might not have been able to articulate what were some of the problems we faced back then, we saw the consequences of our difficult
times. We are confident that our grandchildren today can and will keep the spirit alive.
The RUP Reunion Committee planning the 50th Anniversary is currently finalizing plans for the conference on September 15-17, 2022, at the University of Texas at San Antonio - Downtown Campus (UTSA), 501 W. Cesar E. Chavez, San Antonio, Texas.
Luz Bazan Gutierrez and Irma Mireles are Co-chairs of the Committee.
Contact: razareunion50@gmail.com
When & Where?
September 15, 16 & 17, 2022 All Day
University of Texas at San Antonio-downtown campus (UTSA), 501 W. Cesar E. Chavez, San Antonio, Texas
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Lodging (Reserve before Aug. 28, 2022 - Limited space available at discounted rate)
Conference Hotel:
Doubletree by Hilton
502 W. Cesar E. Chavez, San Antonio, Texas, 78207, USA
Make your reservation HERE
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Registration
Register to attend HERE
Or copy/paste link to register here:
https://razaunidaparty50thanniversary.eventbrite.com
Questions can be sent to razareunion50@gmail.com for more details.
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Program
9/15/22 Thursday-History and Legacy
9/16/22 Friday-Where We are Now
9/17/22-Saturday-Visioning Toward 2060
Our Sponsors
College of Education and Human Development and its Department of Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Sexuality Studies
Art Exhibit at the Doubletree by Hilton
On September 16th, 2022 we will have an Art Exhibit and Auction by Amado Peña and other artists.
REUNION COMMITTEE
Jose Angel Gutierrez, PhD, JD
Founder and National Chair, La Raza Unida Party, 1972
Chair, September 17th Program, 2022
Martha Cotera
-Raza Unida founding member, 1970
-RUP State Board of Education candidate 1972
-Mujeres Por Raza Unida, Co-founder
-Founder, Center for Mexican American Studies (CMAS-UT Austin),
-Founder, MALS (Mexican American Studies Department, UT Austin)
-Founder, Mexican American Cultural Center, Austin (ESBMACC)
-Founder, Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
-Recipient -2019 OHTLI Award-highest honor from the Mexican Government for Service to the immigrant community
Lali Saenz Moheno
Co-Founder, MAYO, Edcouch-Elsa, La Villa. Member/Organizer, La Raza Unida Party, Hidalgo County. Co-Founder, Colegio Jacinto Treviño, Mercedes. VISTA MMP, Efrain Fernandez, Hidalgo County, Migrant Stream, Michigan. Colorado Migrant Council, Lalo Delgado, Migrant Stream, Michigan, Ohio. Colonias del Valle, Raul Izaguirre, San Juan. United Farmworkers, Cesar Chavez/Antonio Orendain, Hidalgo County. Grape Boycott, East Coast (New York). United Farmworkers, Cesar Chavez, Delano/Central California.
Manuel Garza
RUP founding member
RUP Candidate for Hays County Commissioner Pct. 2
RUP Bexar County Chair
Advocate (from childhood) potable water in Westside San Antonio
Participant, 1968 Edgewood High School Student Walkout
Advocate, San Antonio Single Member District
Chair, Alamo Colleges District Westside Education and Training Center (WETC)
Trustee (former) Edgewood ISD
Senior Advisor, Southwest Voter Registration Education Project
Graduate, Development Training Institute National Internship in Community Economic Development
Luz Gutierrez
50th RUP Committee Co-Chair
1970 -Co-Founder & Elected Chair of Zavala County for Raza Unida Party
-1972-1979 First Executive Director of Salud de La Familia Community Health Center, Crystal City, TX. Constructed new clinic in poorest neighborhood in Crytal City, which included sewer and water for the neighborhood.
-1981 - Leg Asst in Oregon legislature, utilized position to recognize the Commission of Hispanic Affairs & obtain funding.
-1982-87 Executive Director of community Health Center in Woodburn, OR
-1984- Founder & Co-Chair of the Mujeres de Oregon (network for voter registration & equal opportunity for Latinas)
-1989-91-Regional Administrator for DSHS (welfare offices) for 8 counties.
-1992-Present-Obtained Real Estate license in Yakima WA; assisting first time home buyers, primarily immigrants from Mexico.
-1992- Founded & financed! the WA Assn. of Minority Entrepreneurs (WAME), now called RCDR to help immigrant and limited English speakers obtain entrepreneur loans.
-2005- Established a Mini Mart (La Milpa Market, Inc. in Yakima, WA.)
Emilio Zamora
RUP Travis County Chair from 1977-1978 and Party activist between 1970 and 1979, including work as a professor with Juárez-Lincoln University in Austin and faculty/administrative appointments in association with Mexican American/Chicano Studies/Bilingual Studies at UC Berkeley, UCLA, UTSA, Texas A&I, the University of Houston and the University of Texas at Austin. He is the Clyde Rabb Littlefield Chair in Texas history specializing in Mexican American history, Texas, oral, and transnational (U.S. – Mexico) working class history at the University of Texas. Zamora has an extensive publication and community engagement record.
Resigned August 3, 2022
Maria Elena Martinez
State Chair, RUP, 1976-1978
Co-founder, Mujeres Pro-Raza Unida
Co-founder, Indigenous Women’s Network (Central Texas)
Director, Alma de Mujer Retreat Center
Board Member, La Peña Arts, Inc., Austin, Texas
Co-founder, Mexican American Business and Professional Women of Austin (MABPWA)
Irma Mireles Berry
50th RUP Committee Chair
-Founder, RUP
-RUP Chair, Bexar County
-Elected Board Member, San Antonio River Authority
1977-1983 to Elected to San Antonio River Authority (SARA).
Add: 1996-1998 – Member Alaska Advisory Committee to U.S. Commission on Civil Rights
Linda del Toro
RUP Travis County chair, 1976-1981; RUP State Executive Committee, 1976-1978, Armando Gutierrez Campaign Manager, Luis Daiz De Leon, Campaign Manager
Dr. Paul Ruiz
-Principal Partner Emeritus, The Education Trust, Inc;
-Founding member/Board Member of National Institute of Mexican American History of Civil Rights (MACRI), San Antonio, Texas
-Pew funded Hispanic Student Success Program (Hispanic Assn. of Colleges and Universities)
-Hispanic Educator of the Year, Michigan Department of Education, 1982.
Aurelio Montemayor
Organized the first San Felipe - Del Rio MAYO group and co-founded Colegio Jacinto Trevino. All projects that were part of the Chicano Movement and eventually supported the Raza Unida Party.
Lorenzo Cano
Founding member, Raza Unida Party -Member, Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO)
Member, Mexican American Student Organization (Del Mar College) -Volunteer, United Farmworkers
Founder, Raza Unida Club, University of Houston
Former Associate Director at the University of Houston’s Center for Mexican American Studies
Writer, forthcoming novel Peril and Intrigue Under el Sexto Sol
Mario Compean
Cofounder, Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO), 1967
Cofounder, Mexican American Unity Council, San Antonio, 1968
Cofounder, Committee for Barrio Betterment, San Antonio 1969
Candidate, San Antonio City Council, 1969 and 1971
Cofounder, Centro Cultural Aztlan, San Antonio, 1977
Raza Unida Party Candidate for Governor, Texas, 1978
University of Wisconsin Chicano Studies Director 1982-1990
-1993 to 2003, St. Paul, MN as a Policy Analyst for the State of Minnesota’s Spanish Speaking Affairs Council and Adjunct Faculty at Metropolitan State University; Chicano Studies Faculty at Yakima Valley Community College in Yakima Washington, and History Researcher and Lecturer at Washington State University
Executive Director of Academia América, an immigrant-serving nonprofit he cofounded in 2008.
Alfredo Santos
Editor and Publisher, La Voz Newspapers
Alberto Luera
M.A.Y.O. chairman from 1970 to 1971. In 1971, as a founding member of the Texas Raza Unida Party Organizing Committee, he was elected Party Secretary and was charged with getting the Texas RUP on the 1972 ballot. Upon the Secretary of State declaring the Texas RUP on the ballot, he returned to Laredo TX to organize the Webb County RUP. He continues to be active in the Chicano movement.
[Pending photos and captions of more committee members]
We need your help!
The reunion will be funded by members and sponsors like yourself, we kindly appreciate your support. To make a tax-exempt donation to La Raza Unida Party 50th year Reunion make a check or money order payable to Greater Dallas Legal and Community Development Foundation, Inc. and mail it to PO Box 19457, Austin, Texas 78760. For questions, please contact Linda del Toro at (512) 415-3278; Deltororealty@gmail.com
Register today!
