We Too Were Once Young: The Legacy of Struggle of La Raza Unida Party

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of first state convention of La Raza Unidad Party (RUP) in San Antonio, Texas we will host Ignacio Garcia, Ph.D., the Lemuel Hardison Redd. Jr., Professor of Western and Latino History, from Brigham Young University. He is the author of "United We Win: The Rise and Fall of La Raza Unida Party".

Welcome

Roger Enriquez, Associate Professor, College for Health, Community and Policy and Executive Director Westside Community Partnership

Introduction

Mario Compean, President and CEO Academia America, former Gubernatorial Candidate, State of Texas (RUP)

Mario C. Compéan currently works with immigrants in San Antonio as head of Academia America, a nonprofit he co-founded in 2008. He has worked for social justice all his adult life building mechanisms to empower oppressed marginalized communities. He co-founded MAYO (Mexican American Youth Organization), Texas Raza Unida Party, Committee for Barrio Betterment, Mexican American Unity Council and Centro Cultural Aztlan. Compéan ran path-breaking campaigns for San Antonio City Council in 1969 and 1971 which laid the foundation for single-member districts that dramatically increased Chicano representation on the City Council and transformed San Antonio Politics. He was Raza Unida Party’s candidate for Governor in 1978. Compéan holds a Master’s degree in Education Policy Studies from the University of Wisconsin where he played a lead role in building the Chicano Studies Program.

Keynote

Ignacio Garcia, Ph.D.

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of first state convention of La Raza Unida Party (RUP) in San Antonio, Texas we will host Ignacio Garcia, Ph.D., the Lemuel Hardison Redd. Jr., Professor of Western and Latino History, from Brigham Young University. He is the author of "United We Win: The Rise and Fall of La Raza Unida Party". The RUP was founded to combat and eliminate the historical pattern of electoral and political exclusion of Mexican Americans. Dr. Garcia chronicles the significant events, struggles and personalities of the Raza Unida Party but concludes that the demise mirrored the Chicano movement generally, where too many leaders and agendas cancelled themselves out.

Sponsors

UTSA Westside Community Partnerships and Academia America