Walkout

This was a moving film and which I familiarized,through Latinos in the Pacific Northwest, and purposely finish acquiring a copy. Quite hidden wisdom about Hispanic-Latinos & Chicanos that their new generations should know. Strongly recommended it for all the Hispanic-Latinos and Chicanos.I once had the opportunity to greet Edward James Olmos at Portland State University and gave me a very good impression. Since the mid-eighties that I follow Mr.Olmos and always amazes his great work as an actor and writer who has mostly been to educate new generations of Hispanic-Latinos. I also wish to thank Michael Peña for his great performance and who did not get a chance to meet but we were at a dinner in December,2015.

I was totally unaware of all that had happened with the Chicano movement. I was shocked to find out that Universities kept Chicanos out. Sometimes you take things for granted and think that is the way it has always been. As a Chicana, it made me realize all the sacrifices that have been made on my behalf. For this reason, I think as Chicanos we should strive to be successful and go to college. We should also instill in our children a sense of pride in being Chicano. I think that even today there are Hispanics that are ashamed of their culture and raise their kids not knowing how to speak Spanish when their last name is Martinez. The Hispanic population in the U.S. has grown dramatically and for this reason more than ever we need to have a sense of identity about who we are and be proud of it. I really liked this movie and encourage Latino families to sit down and watch it with their kids.

I was amazed that I never knew about this movement, I was in high school/ jr high in the late 80's - early 90's and this should have been a topic with in our US History text. We covered a small portion of the civil rights movement, a large amount with in the 1800's and nothing from the LA walkouts? My children and all children need to know about the strength people have had to make change, it's inspiring. Often people assume that only people hundreds of years ago made the sacrifices and changes, this was not that long ago and shows that people are able to accomplish anything together. I hope our children are as conscientious, caring and strong to stand up for what they believe is making a difference in the quality of the life in the world we share.

I am 41 years old. I went to Griffith Jr. high and graduated from Montebello HS in 1982. (I barely graduated, got pregnant and married by age 19, typical story of a non-informed, non-motivated Mexican/American youth). My best friend went to Roosevelt HS and my boyfriend (at the time) went to Garfield HS. I am amazed and outraged that I had never heard of this "walk out" until just last night (3/22/06). I just happened to be scrolling through the movies to watch on HBO. I read the description of the movie and was intrigued. Why was this not in the history books? or even spoken to us as students in the community from our teachers, counselors, mentors, etc? It's just another kick in the #@%! This movie should be shown to all students in Jr. High and High school, especially in heavy Chicano communities. As a matter of fact, I am going to sit through it again with my two nieces (8 & 11 years old) and my 21 year old daughter (she graduated "magna cum laude" from La Salle HS, is now graduating next June from Cal Poly Pomona and will be entering Pepperdine University to accomplish her Masters Degree…how proud is this (divorced) mother! ..a "former" non-informed, non-motivated Mexican/American youth).

Yes, the movie itself wasn't the best, the acting was okay, the SUV in the background (…1968)…..But lets look at the bigger picture. The story. The true story and it's meaning. It is such an important part of our history, so profound and full of inspiration.

First of all, this is the first movie ever about the Chicano civil rights movement. And as many Latinos know, the Chicano civil rights movement created some better opportunity for our people.

The cast is almost entirely Chicano, which is amazing within itself, seeing that Latinos only make up 2% of Hollywood. It gives us a chance to play Characters, and not only the "Brown person".

A piece of history is being told, which has been totally written out of History by the mainstream media & educational institutions. All of the police beating scenes in this movie were re-creations of archived material from TV Stations, which were not allowed to broadcast in 1968.

The protagonist is a young woman who is half Filipina & Mexicana. This is great because revolutionary leaders are usually only seen as tough men. This also shows that oppression crosses all color lines, the issues come down to a class struggle, and this can be a catapult for different ethnicities working together on common issues.

I feel that we should embrace this movie, and create others also, with stories of our peoples struggle. There are several movies about the Jewish struggle, the African American movement for equal rights, women's rights, but this is so far, the only one speaking of the Chicano civil rights struggle.