Saturday, August 29, 2020

Mexican-Americans oppose Vietnam War

Tom Myrdahl; TheAssociationTV; Pfc. Sandoval, Crystal Quintero, A. Wells, Wisdom Quarterly


Mexican-American/Chicano Marines in Vietnam
Fifty years ago today, August 29th, the "Chicano Moratorium" against the U.S. War on Vietnam hit its height with a march through East L.A.

Loyola-Marymount film student Tom Myrdahl shot this documentary, capturing the events that unfolded as the FBI infiltrated and racist LAPD troopers attacked peaceful demonstrators in and around Laguna Park.

This film has not been seen in nearly 40 years. Myrdahl, who still works as a cameraman in L.A., put this historic footage on the Web as a tribute to the brave citizens, La Raza, of East L.A. who came together 50 years ago to demonstrate their dissent against U.S. imperialism and the War on Vietnam.

Rev. MLK Jr. and Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh
Seven years earlier, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington, DC during an Aug. 28, 1963 civil rights march. In 1967 MLK Jr. delivered a powerful speech that got him assassinated by the FBI, the "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence" speech at Riverside Church, supported by his friend, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk and fellow peace laureate nominee Thich Nhat Hanh.

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