As I reflect on the 50th anniversary of the August 29th Chicana/o moratorium this year, I think of the history of struggle in this nation by people who dedicated themselves to fighting for justice and self-determination. I think about 25,000 Chicanas and Chicanos marching and protesting in Los Angeles in 1970 against the unjust war in Vietnam, which caused disproportionate numbers of Chicano soldiers to be casualties of imperialist aggression. They were also protesting police brutality, discrimination and the unequal and unjust treatment of our people. The gigantic march was intended to be peaceful, but was brutally attacked by 2,000 police and sheriffs, causing injury to many of the marchers and death to four people, including journalist, Ruben Salazar. This was a period of awakening for many people, and took place as social movements everywhere began to organize.

The 1960s and 1970s was a period of struggle, where civil rights, human rights and revolutionary movements for peace, equality, self-determination and justice were ignited. Following the footsteps of Malcolm X, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and others, many people throughout the U.S. organized marches and protests, sought political power through voting, and gathered inspiration from liberation struggles for self-determination of people of Africa, Asia and Latin America.

In addition to the traditional civil rights organizations, new formations sprung onto the scene. The Black Panther Party, adopting the political philosophy of Malcolm X, initiated a trend in political organizing against white supremacy, police violence, imperialist military aggression, systemic oppression and discrimination.

A new, “serve the people,” model of organizing became popularized by promoting self-sufficiency with the emergence of free breakfast programs, medical clinics, and other service programs. The call for self-determination was a call for oppressed nationality people to become self-sufficient, and determine their own political, economic and social destinies. It was a recognition that people were oppressed by U.S. capitalists and government and that people needed to develop strategic responses to end oppression and seek better solutions to make a better society. It was a period of revolutionary ideals, enthusiasm and hope.

While recognizing their own unique conditions and histories, people developed organizations that took on a similar character as the Black Panther Party. Organizations such as the Congress of Afrikan People, The Young Lords Organization in Chicago and Young Lords Party in New York among Puerto Ricans, The Crusade for Justice in Denver and Black and Brown Berets in Chicana and Chicano communities, the American Indian Movement, The organization to Free Los Siete de la Raza among Chicana/o and Central Americans and Puerto Ricans in San Francisco, I Wor Kuen among Chinese Americans coast to coast, J-Town Collective among Japanese Americans, and many others formed and waged campaigns for justice and self-determination.

While each group had a specific purpose based on the needs of their communities, they shared a common purpose and philosophy rooted in struggling for a better society free of oppression. These specific groups may no longer exist, but the ideals of this movement have survived.

Over the past few decades, due to broader recognition of police murders and mass incarceration of Black, Brown and Native American Indian people, massive round-ups of immigrants who are inhumanely locked up with families being separated and disappeared, anti-Muslim terrorism, we have seen an increased presence of a movement dedicated to eradicating injustice.

The 2016 election of Donald Trump quickly accelerated and enabled the rise of the alt-right, white nationalists and neo-fascists, including politicians, government officials, police agencies and the courts leading to street confrontations increased police violence, and white supremacist attacks on non-white people. This crisis, combined with a pandemic, which the U.S. administration and state officials have refused to confront, while replacing medical science with innuendo, rumors and misinformation, has made life dangerously unsafe especially for Black, Brown, Native American Indian and elderly people. Trump’s goal has been to protect the economy for wealthy corporations, while reducing and minimizing health, housing and income protections for working-class (especially oppressed nationality) people.

The people of the U.S. are confronted with a an important choice in November: to support Biden (a weak Democrat politician), who will maintain a semblance of democracy and possibly human services; and is endorsed by a broad multi-national coalition who can simultaneously support and criticize him; or, we’ll end up with Trump, a white nationalist, neo-fascist authoritarian, who pushes for policies that further oppress Black, Brown, Native, Asian, women, LGBTQ, immigrants, Muslims, the Earth and more, and is supported by a coalition of white nationalists, neo-fascists, religious zealots, and greedy corporations and individuals.

We have a tradition of struggle in this nation of fighting for economic, political, social and environmental justice to bring an end to the systematic and systemic oppression that sustains Black, Brown, Native and other people’s subjugation. Keeping this tradition alive and building unity, marching, rallying, protesting and voting will be the difference between democracy and authoritarianism in this nation.