Chicanx experiences represent a truth worth knowing and living. It offers us a model for human liberation. Please choose one example from...

The Chicanx movement is a movement for civil rights for Mexican American people. It uses the gender-neutral "Chicanx" to embrace chicanos, chicanas, and people who identity with other genders. There are many examples of the ways in which the Chicanx movement has furthered justice and democracy.

For example, the movement started with the activism of Reies Lopez Tijerina, a Texas-born activist who was referred to as the "Malcolm X of the Chicano Movement." From the...

The Chicanx movement is a movement for civil rights for Mexican American people. It uses the gender-neutral "Chicanx" to embrace chicanos, chicanas, and people who identity with other genders. There are many examples of the ways in which the Chicanx movement has furthered justice and democracy.

For example, the movement started with the activism of Reies Lopez Tijerina, a Texas-born activist who was referred to as the "Malcolm X of the Chicano Movement." From the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s, he led a grassroots movement to reform land grants in New Mexico that dated back to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican War. He led Chicanos to seek land that had been marked for Anglos by surveyors and that contravened the terms of the treaty. In addition, he fought for the recognition of Chicano/a culture and for economic opportunities for Chicanos/as. He also joined with the 1968 Poor People's Campaign led by Martin Luther King and served as its Chicano leader.

The movement continues today in organizations such as the Southwest Voter Registration Project (see the link below), whose slogan is, "su voto es su voz," or "your voice is your vote." This organization seeks to increase the participation of Latinos/as and other minorities in the democratic process. They host voter registration drives around the nation and, through the Latino Academy, train people for community leadership positions through courses in public speaking, political activism, and other areas. This organization promotes democratic values by seeking to involve all Americans, even those who have historically been disenfranchised, in the process of voting and carrying out community organization projects. There might be other similar organizations or efforts within the movement that have inspired you.