A voice for change - the 60s, the civil rights movement and today
by Tim Loc, alhambrasource.org
Activist Carlos Montes, a familiar face in the 1960s Chicano Movement, moved to
Alhambra 20 years ago because he saw it as a peaceful enclave that was close to
his homebase of East Los Angeles. He had a rude awakening on May 17 when the
FBI and deputies from the Los Angeles Sheriff’s department executed a search
warrant on his home. He was arrested after the search turned up a firearm.
Montes speaks to The Alhambra Source on his history with activism, and what he
alleges is the FBI’s agenda of targeting activists like him.
You were a co-founder of the Brown Berets. How did it begin?
It started as a civic youth group. It became the Young Chicanos for Community
Action, and then it got more involved in direct grassroots organizing. Then it
became the Brown Berets, and we dealt with the issues of education and police
brutality. It started small, but once it took on a broader view of the
political situation it grew really fast. It became part of the movement of the
60s. I grew up in East LA, so I saw the police mistreating the youth. We’d
cruise down Whittier Boulevard with the music on in the car and we would be
harassed by the sheriffs. And in the schools the students were mistreated and
the classes were overcrowded.
You were among the leaders of the school walkouts in 68. When you look at the
quality of education today, in particular for Hispanic and Latino students, do
you think anything has changed?
We’ve made some gains, but it looks like recently we’ve been losing ground. The
original demands of the walkouts was that we wanted ethnic studies and
bilingual education. We wanted teachers and administrators that reflected our
backgrounds. We’ve gotten a lot of that, but still have the issue that public
education is underfunded. It’s under attack by those who want to privatize it.
And there’s also the dropout rates, and the wide achievement gaps. The
Mexican-American youths, the Latino youths, and the Chicano youths – they’re
still behind in reading and math. And with college admissions…well, back then
it was even worse. I mean we weren’t even going to college. We were being
channeled into certain trades and into the military.
Activism must be so different these days. People have so much more access to
information.
It’s absolutely true. There’s more information. I can only remember one book
from back then that dealt with our history – Carey McWilliams’ “North From
Mexico.” Now we have hundreds of books, magazines and websites. And there’s
Facebook and Myspace. The youths and organizers using Facebook and email have
been able to get more people involved, and faster. Back then we didn’t have
cell-phones [laughs]. We organized by getting into a car and driving to each
community. But you know what, the best organizing is done face-to-face.
The Committee to Stop FBI Repression alleges that search warrants have been
executed for you and similar activists. What led to this?
The motive is political persecution. Twenty-plus activists, back in September,
had their homes raided by the FBI. They had their computers and documents
confiscated. It dealt with their involvement with Palestine and Columbia. And
of course they all refused and got lawyers and organized the committee. I was
listed in one of the search warrants that was presented at a raid at the
anti-war committee in Minneapolis. That’s how I got hooked into this thing.
How does Palestine and Columbia figure into this?
Activists were openly denouncing US policies, starting with Iraq and
Afghanistan. We also looked at the US support for Israel and its treatment of
the Palestinian people. One of the groups we formed – it was in Chicago – was
called the Palestine Solidarity Group. It organizes tours for people to go to
Palestine and come back to the US to speak about it in forums and newspapers. I
myself went to Columbia and did the same thing. I met with human rights
activists and labor activists. When I came back to LA I organized several
forums. We denounced the US policy of – specifically in Columbia – supporting
what they call Plan Columbia, where they give a billion dollars a year to the
Columbian government under the guise of fighting the drug war. In reality,
however, the money is going to the Columbian military, which is using it to
fight its own people. Human rights activists are being kidnapped and
assassinated.
The FBI is using the pretext of our solidarity work in Palestine or Columbia to
persecute us. They say we’re providing “material support” for terrorist
organizations.
Most residents probably see Alhambra as a peaceful community. Do you feel safe
in Alhambra after your incident?
No I don’t. I don’t feel safe in my home. They came at five in the morning and
busted down my door. Some of my neighbors—and they’re all really friendly—they
give me funny looks now [laughs]. They saw this whole thing and their
neighborhood was disrupted.
Montes' first court appearance will be at the Alhambra Courthouse today. A
protest of his arrest is expected to be held outside the courthouse.
Interview was edited and condensed.
Original Page:
http://www.alhambrasource.org/stories/voice-change-60s-civil-rights-movement-and-today
Shared from Read It Later
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Sixties-L" group.
To post to this group, send email to sixties-l@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
sixties-l+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/sixties-l?hl=en.
