1 00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 1: From Futuro Media. It's Latino, USA. I'm Maria Ino Josa. 2 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 1: The year was nineteen sixty seven. The setting Abraham Lincoln 3 00:00:24,120 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: High School on the east side of Los Angeles. That's 4 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 1: where two students, Bobby and Joli, began to fall in love. 5 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:34,160 Speaker 2: I always liked Tioli. I always liked her a lot. 6 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:39,120 Speaker 2: Neither one of us had a boyfriend or a girlfriend 7 00:00:39,159 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 2: at that time, but we hung out together with the group, 8 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 2: you know, the rest of the kids. 9 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 3: He was always a joker. He was making everybody lab 10 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:51,839 Speaker 3: We were close. We had the same kind of circle 11 00:00:51,880 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 3: of friends. But I really liked his friend. His friend louis. 12 00:00:58,320 --> 00:00:59,120 Speaker 4: My best friend. 13 00:00:59,200 --> 00:01:01,840 Speaker 2: Actually, we would all go out together, the three of 14 00:01:01,920 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 2: us many times, you know, and I knew they liked 15 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:07,960 Speaker 2: each other, but I liked her too. 16 00:01:09,080 --> 00:01:13,640 Speaker 1: Bobby Verdugo and Jolie Rios, we're both seniors at Lincoln High. 17 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:16,920 Speaker 2: Well, it was at that one particular Christmas party in 18 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 2: sixty seven. We were celebrating, and you know, we shouldn't 19 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 2: be drinking, right, we're kids, but. 20 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 4: There was liquor there, you know, so we started drinking. 21 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:26,039 Speaker 4: Some movie that. 22 00:01:26,560 --> 00:01:30,400 Speaker 2: Loosened the anxiety a little bit. I think Louis had 23 00:01:30,400 --> 00:01:32,640 Speaker 2: a little bit too much to drink that night, so 24 00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:35,640 Speaker 2: I saw my chance. You know, she was standing there, 25 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:38,920 Speaker 2: and I asked. 26 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 4: To do dance. 27 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 3: Bobby actually sang to me, are you angry with me? Darling? 28 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:51,280 Speaker 3: You know? A midnight ER's song, and I said, oh 29 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 3: my god, this guy sings. 30 00:01:53,320 --> 00:01:55,640 Speaker 1: Are well with me? 31 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 2: Darling with me? Darling with me. 32 00:02:01,120 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 3: We were slow dancing, you know, I said, oh man, 33 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:06,360 Speaker 3: this guy is very romantic. I love it, you know, 34 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:14,520 Speaker 3: love level, lovel love. 35 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 1: As the two slow danced into the crisp December night, 36 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:26,560 Speaker 1: a fifty year love story began, and soon something else 37 00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:34,240 Speaker 1: began to go, a movement that was going to set 38 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:41,440 Speaker 1: the course for the rest of their lives together. From 39 00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 1: NPR and Fudro Media, It's lat you know Usa, I'm 40 00:02:44,760 --> 00:02:48,960 Speaker 1: Marietosa today an episode from Our Fault. It's a love 41 00:02:49,000 --> 00:03:01,079 Speaker 1: story but also a story of student activism. We were 42 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:04,519 Speaker 1: taking you back to the late nineteen sixties when thousands 43 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:08,240 Speaker 1: of Los Angeles students participated in protests that were part 44 00:03:08,280 --> 00:03:11,680 Speaker 1: of the growing Chicano movement. They're known as the East 45 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:16,880 Speaker 1: La walkouts or blowouts. The majority of the students were 46 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:19,960 Speaker 1: of Mexican descent, and for most of them, this was 47 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 1: their first experience with activism. They walked out of their 48 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:27,920 Speaker 1: classrooms to protest discrimination in their schools and to demand change. 49 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: It was one of the first mass movements of Chicano 50 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: youth in a major American city Throughout the country. Nineteen 51 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:40,880 Speaker 1: sixty eight was a year of tragedy, fury, and hope 52 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:43,920 Speaker 1: in the civil rights movement, but for young people who 53 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: lived it, the unrest was happening alongside their everyday lives. 54 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:51,520 Speaker 1: They were starting families, or going to college, or like 55 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:55,040 Speaker 1: Bobby Lugo and Joli Rios, they were falling in love. 56 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:58,680 Speaker 1: Producer Jennie Yamoca picks up the story from here. 57 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 5: Baby Anyoli grew up on the East side of Los 58 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:05,240 Speaker 5: Angeles and one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, Lincoln Heights. 59 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:13,360 Speaker 5: It was the nineteen fifties and the community was majority 60 00:04:13,360 --> 00:04:14,839 Speaker 5: of Mexican and tight knit. 61 00:04:15,320 --> 00:04:16,120 Speaker 6: Here's Jolie. 62 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:19,200 Speaker 3: Our circles are very small. When you grew up in 63 00:04:19,240 --> 00:04:22,240 Speaker 3: the city in the vadios, you know, we don't get 64 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 3: out much. 65 00:04:23,279 --> 00:04:26,240 Speaker 5: Bobby and Joli lived about eight blocks apart. They didn't 66 00:04:26,279 --> 00:04:29,640 Speaker 5: know each other as kids, but they lived almost parallel lives, 67 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 5: both from working class families, and both the oldest of 68 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:36,640 Speaker 5: their siblings, Bobby weremembers his early years when the neighborhood 69 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:37,920 Speaker 5: was one big family. 70 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 4: In those days. 71 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:42,520 Speaker 2: I mean, I remember many of the mothers who were 72 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:45,159 Speaker 2: not mine, you know, pulling me by the year and 73 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 2: taking me home if they saw me doing or getting 74 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:49,960 Speaker 2: involved in some things that I shouldn't have been doing 75 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:52,920 Speaker 2: as a little boy. But I had a real good childhood, 76 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 2: and I didn't feel some of the things that I 77 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:03,200 Speaker 2: would realize later about being oppressed and being treated as 78 00:05:03,240 --> 00:05:05,960 Speaker 2: a second class citizen, you know, those kind of things 79 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:07,720 Speaker 2: I didn't realize until much later. 80 00:05:10,880 --> 00:05:14,040 Speaker 5: In nineteen sixty five, Bobby and Joli met at Lincoln 81 00:05:14,120 --> 00:05:16,440 Speaker 5: High School. At first they were just friends. 82 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:18,560 Speaker 4: But was beautiful. 83 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:22,840 Speaker 2: God, I tell you, I immediately was drawn to her. 84 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:26,680 Speaker 5: Julie had dark, shiny hair that just brushed your shoulders, 85 00:05:27,040 --> 00:05:30,599 Speaker 5: and her presence was warm and nurturing. Friends at school 86 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 5: would call her Mamma Yoli. Bobby was a football player, 87 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:37,600 Speaker 5: and he looked like one. He had broad shoulders. 88 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 3: I thought he was handsome. He had a lot of 89 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:43,719 Speaker 3: facial hair. I said, oh, man, that's a man as 90 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:44,440 Speaker 3: a real man. 91 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:48,839 Speaker 5: Before Yoli officially started at Lincoln High School. Her uncle 92 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:50,680 Speaker 5: gave her one piece of advice. 93 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:53,120 Speaker 3: When you go to high school, you were going to 94 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 3: demand to be a math major. When you go see 95 00:05:57,400 --> 00:05:58,040 Speaker 3: that concert. 96 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:01,719 Speaker 5: He was referring to the public schools tracking systems. You 97 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:04,680 Speaker 5: could take college prep classes or be placed on a 98 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:08,359 Speaker 5: vocational track, and Mexican American students were generally put in 99 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:11,599 Speaker 5: the vocational courses to prepare them for things like factory 100 00:06:11,680 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 5: or secretary work, but you only had the grades for college. 101 00:06:15,600 --> 00:06:18,040 Speaker 5: So Yoli demanded to be placed in math classes. 102 00:06:18,320 --> 00:06:21,039 Speaker 3: And I could tell it was different because my friends 103 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:25,279 Speaker 3: who didn't insist, we're taking typing and a little bit 104 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:28,960 Speaker 3: of bookkeeping, and we're all in the home economics, you know, 105 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:30,840 Speaker 3: And I was I would never see them, I'd never 106 00:06:30,839 --> 00:06:31,800 Speaker 3: see my girlfriends. 107 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:35,599 Speaker 5: In the fall of nineteen sixty seven, Bobby and Yoli 108 00:06:35,680 --> 00:06:38,719 Speaker 5: began their last year at Lincoln High and that's when 109 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 5: they slow danced on that December night. 110 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:44,159 Speaker 2: That night, you know, we hung out to the rest 111 00:06:44,200 --> 00:06:47,599 Speaker 2: of the evening, and then weeks after that we started 112 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:51,159 Speaker 2: getting closer and closer and kind of like unsaid words, 113 00:06:51,200 --> 00:06:55,440 Speaker 2: but it was kind of exclusively seeing and talking to 114 00:06:55,480 --> 00:06:55,880 Speaker 2: each other. 115 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:58,920 Speaker 5: They started talking more and more over the phone. They 116 00:06:58,920 --> 00:07:01,559 Speaker 5: had a few classes together, and Yoli would call Bobby 117 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:03,640 Speaker 5: at seven in the morning to wake them up for school. 118 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 3: Bobby, you know, he was in my class, and I 119 00:07:07,320 --> 00:07:09,240 Speaker 3: don't think there was a day in a class where 120 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:11,480 Speaker 3: he didn't crack a joke. And they would march him 121 00:07:11,560 --> 00:07:14,480 Speaker 3: up to the front of the room and just bend over, 122 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 3: grab your knees and boom, get paddled. 123 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 6: Bobby Jesus front and center. 124 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:22,239 Speaker 5: What you're hearing is a scene from the two thousand 125 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 5: and six HBO film walk Out What I Do. 126 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 6: He spoke Spanish, you know the Rules. 127 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:29,480 Speaker 5: Which is based on the events and the East Side 128 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:33,520 Speaker 5: schools in nineteen sixty eight. Bobby's character gets into trouble 129 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:37,640 Speaker 5: with the teacher. You first, and just like Jolie said, 130 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:43,440 Speaker 5: he swatted in front of the class with Jolie's character watching. 131 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 2: As the young Chicano want to be tough, so you 132 00:07:46,720 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 2: don't want to complain too much, thinking, well, you know what, 133 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 2: I it's right and I could take this, you know, 134 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:54,440 Speaker 2: go ahead and hit me if you're gonna break me 135 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:57,720 Speaker 2: or anything, but it hurts the spirit, you know. 136 00:07:57,840 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 4: Little by little they were breaking me. 137 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:08,320 Speaker 3: It was humiliating, it angered you. I felt really powerless. 138 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:16,080 Speaker 5: Corporal punishment was common at Lincoln High, but there were 139 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:19,400 Speaker 5: other more subtle ways that Bobby and Joli felt mistreated. 140 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 5: In her trigonometry class, Yoli noticed a complete lack of 141 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 5: interest from her teacher. 142 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:29,040 Speaker 3: One day rang out this little green carpet and it 143 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:31,560 Speaker 3: had a little putting thing at the end, and then 144 00:08:31,600 --> 00:08:34,559 Speaker 3: it brings out some golf clubs and he's at the 145 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:38,240 Speaker 3: front of the class and he starts putting, and I said, Wow, 146 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:42,240 Speaker 3: this guy is going to go golfing. You know this teacher, 147 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:45,760 Speaker 3: this Anglo teacher, was teaching in Mexican school, So why 148 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:48,160 Speaker 3: Amon put forth the effort. 149 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:51,439 Speaker 5: Like Yoli, Bobby was a bright kid and he was 150 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:54,560 Speaker 5: active on campus. But as he got older, he started 151 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:55,600 Speaker 5: noticing a change. 152 00:08:55,880 --> 00:09:00,000 Speaker 2: My performance level kind of tapered off. I wasn't getting 153 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:02,680 Speaker 2: in the straight a's in the seventh and eighth grade 154 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:07,440 Speaker 2: that I used to. They turned to c's, d's. In 155 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:10,079 Speaker 2: my junior year, I realized I was in trouble. 156 00:09:10,320 --> 00:09:13,080 Speaker 5: Bobby said he was repeatedly told by teachers, many of 157 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:16,000 Speaker 5: them might that he wasn't worth their time, and it. 158 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:18,440 Speaker 2: Stuck so I started to believe it, and I started 159 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:22,320 Speaker 2: to perform likewise. So by the time I got to 160 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:26,079 Speaker 2: eleventh and going into my senior year, I started realizing 161 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:28,880 Speaker 2: I'm not going to make it, I'm not going to graduate, 162 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:33,800 Speaker 2: and I realized I had to take responsibility for my 163 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:35,479 Speaker 2: actions or inactions. 164 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:37,680 Speaker 4: But there was a lot more to it than just 165 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:38,920 Speaker 4: me being a failure. 166 00:09:39,440 --> 00:09:43,680 Speaker 2: I was being failed by the schools that my parents 167 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:46,200 Speaker 2: entrusted them to teach me. 168 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 4: They weren't doing their job. 169 00:09:49,640 --> 00:09:51,960 Speaker 5: What was happening to Bobby was a common story at 170 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:55,439 Speaker 5: Lincoln High in nineteen sixty eight. Lincoln had a huge 171 00:09:55,520 --> 00:10:00,280 Speaker 5: dropout rate, almost forty percent, and the kids affected while 172 00:10:00,280 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 5: over ninety percent of the student body was Latino, mainly 173 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:07,560 Speaker 5: of Mexican heritage, and that segregation wasn't just by chance. 174 00:10:08,200 --> 00:10:11,920 Speaker 5: Latino families had been pushed into Eastside neighborhoods like Lincoln Heights, 175 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:15,800 Speaker 5: Foil Heights, and East La displaced by freeway construction and 176 00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 5: other development. The public schools in these neighborhoods were underfunded, overcrowded, 177 00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:24,400 Speaker 5: sometimes forty five kids to a class, and teachers came 178 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:27,200 Speaker 5: here after year with low expectations and a lack of 179 00:10:27,200 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 5: cultural sensitivity. In the sixties, there was no shortage of 180 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:36,960 Speaker 5: inspiration for young people who felt mistreated. Communities of color 181 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:40,000 Speaker 5: that had been oppressed for centuries were crying out for revolution. 182 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:44,839 Speaker 5: The civil rights movement, the war in Vietnam, and especially 183 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:46,920 Speaker 5: the farm workers strike led by the Lotus Wert and 184 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:53,520 Speaker 5: Sasera Chavez began to politicize Mexican Americans. At the time, 185 00:10:53,800 --> 00:10:57,440 Speaker 5: Mexican American youth were calling themselves Chicano and Chicana, which 186 00:10:57,520 --> 00:11:01,319 Speaker 5: historically was used as a derogatory term towards people of Mexican. 187 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:04,560 Speaker 3: Heritage, and we are going to take that negative terminology 188 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:08,000 Speaker 3: and make it revolutionary, making it to say that we're 189 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:14,880 Speaker 3: standing up against discrimination, against racism, against second class citizenship. 190 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:17,880 Speaker 3: For me, I accepted that that we were going to 191 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:26,840 Speaker 3: be a part of a movement of change. 192 00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:27,080 Speaker 5: And the discrimination you only mentioned. Shared stories from friends 193 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:30,520 Speaker 5: about police profiling young Mexican Americans in the neighborhood. 194 00:11:30,760 --> 00:11:34,040 Speaker 3: We knew when we would cruise down with your boulevard, 195 00:11:34,080 --> 00:11:37,080 Speaker 3: we were being stopped and searched and seized. 196 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:41,160 Speaker 5: Underground newspapers were being passed around in the schools. Newspapers 197 00:11:41,200 --> 00:11:45,200 Speaker 5: like Larissa magazine with articles informing the students about civil rights. 198 00:11:45,679 --> 00:11:49,079 Speaker 5: Even the cartoons made a statement. One depict a corporal punishment, 199 00:11:49,160 --> 00:11:55,079 Speaker 5: with the saying, teach the best, spank the rest. As 200 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:58,400 Speaker 5: they grew closer, Bobby and Julie were also gaining a 201 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:01,480 Speaker 5: new understanding of social injustice in their community. 202 00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 3: They can't do that. They're violating your civil rights. So 203 00:12:04,840 --> 00:12:08,480 Speaker 3: all of these things peaked up, what are our rights? 204 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:12,640 Speaker 3: It was a quick joke in our minds and in 205 00:12:12,679 --> 00:12:14,000 Speaker 3: our consciousness. 206 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:16,679 Speaker 2: Not all the teachers were bad, though, And not all 207 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:19,680 Speaker 2: the teachers hit, and not all the teachers would say 208 00:12:19,760 --> 00:12:23,000 Speaker 2: things that would try to dehumanize you. I had some 209 00:12:23,160 --> 00:12:25,679 Speaker 2: very good teachers, Sulcaster, of course, one of them. 210 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:28,880 Speaker 5: Sel Castro was Bobby's social cities teacher at Lincoln High. 211 00:12:28,960 --> 00:12:31,520 Speaker 5: He was young, in his early thirties. Here he is 212 00:12:31,559 --> 00:12:35,439 Speaker 5: being interviewed in archived newstape from the PBS series Chicano. 213 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:38,480 Speaker 7: Most teachers approach to Mexicans with a negative attitude and 214 00:12:38,520 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 7: that you have nothing to give to me. I Am 215 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:43,240 Speaker 7: going to make you an angle, come hell or high water, 216 00:12:43,600 --> 00:12:46,400 Speaker 7: and whatever you have to say about it makes no difference. 217 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:48,000 Speaker 5: He related to his students. He grew up on the 218 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:51,240 Speaker 5: East Side, and he was Mexican American like many of 219 00:12:51,240 --> 00:12:52,040 Speaker 5: his students. 220 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:56,440 Speaker 7: For years, the schools have wrapped or blamed the Mexican 221 00:12:56,480 --> 00:12:59,439 Speaker 7: home for not doing a good job and educating the kid. 222 00:12:59,559 --> 00:13:01,280 Speaker 7: In other words, if the kid doesn't go to school, 223 00:13:01,280 --> 00:13:04,199 Speaker 7: it's a Mexican parents fault or the Mexican homes fault. 224 00:13:04,679 --> 00:13:07,000 Speaker 7: It has never been the fault of the Mexican home. 225 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:10,720 Speaker 5: Cel Castro, who died in twenty thirteen, became more than 226 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:11,760 Speaker 5: a teacher to Bobby. 227 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:13,280 Speaker 6: He became a mentor. 228 00:13:13,679 --> 00:13:15,680 Speaker 2: It's okay to be angry, but what do you do 229 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:18,400 Speaker 2: about it? And I think that's really what I learned 230 00:13:18,440 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 2: from sal. 231 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:21,760 Speaker 5: Sale began to help Bobby Yoli and the other students 232 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:25,320 Speaker 5: at Lincoln High organize it was time to demand more 233 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:30,560 Speaker 5: from the schools. Students from several Eastside high schools began 234 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:34,360 Speaker 5: getting together with the help of sel Castro, some of 235 00:13:34,400 --> 00:13:35,880 Speaker 5: their parents and others helped too. 236 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:38,240 Speaker 2: A lot of college students were the ones who were 237 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:42,439 Speaker 2: actually hosting, letting us into their homes to discuss these things. 238 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:44,640 Speaker 5: And these college students, many of them, had gone to 239 00:13:44,720 --> 00:13:47,920 Speaker 5: high school on the East Side and experienced the same problems. 240 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:50,800 Speaker 5: Even though Bobby had little chance at this point of 241 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 5: going to college. He became one of the group's leaders. 242 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,600 Speaker 2: And my involvement was a very personal one. Even though 243 00:13:57,640 --> 00:14:00,880 Speaker 2: I didn't think I was going to graduate. I said 244 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:03,800 Speaker 2: to myself, I need to be involved in this. I 245 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:06,679 Speaker 2: need to be involved in making change. It may be 246 00:14:06,720 --> 00:14:10,120 Speaker 2: too late for me at this point. I'm a senior. 247 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:13,959 Speaker 2: I got a zero point one five great point average 248 00:14:14,000 --> 00:14:17,160 Speaker 2: at this point, and whatever it was, I'm not going 249 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:21,440 Speaker 2: to make it. But I still need to fight to 250 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:22,400 Speaker 2: make some change. 251 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:26,000 Speaker 5: As the students started to organize, they weren't sure of 252 00:14:26,040 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 5: what actions they should take, but they knew it needed 253 00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:37,000 Speaker 5: to be big. One of the first steps was smaller though. 254 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:40,440 Speaker 5: They handed out surveys asking how the students felt about 255 00:14:40,440 --> 00:14:41,080 Speaker 5: the schools. 256 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:44,200 Speaker 3: We were taking our cues as the information would come 257 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:49,440 Speaker 3: back again. Our job was to communicate to our classmates. 258 00:14:49,920 --> 00:14:53,280 Speaker 5: Early in nineteen sixty eight, rumors began to swirl that 259 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:56,760 Speaker 5: a massive student walkout was in the works. The students 260 00:14:56,760 --> 00:14:58,880 Speaker 5: were beginning to drop the long list of demands to 261 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:02,160 Speaker 5: present to the school board. They wanted bi lingual education, 262 00:15:02,520 --> 00:15:11,560 Speaker 5: more Latino teachers, and an end to corporal punishment. Bobby 263 00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:16,120 Speaker 5: and Joli and their friends continued organizing, and then on Friday, 264 00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:20,800 Speaker 5: March first, something happened at another Eastside high school. Almost 265 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 5: two hundred students walked out. The blowouts had officially begun. 266 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:34,080 Speaker 1: Coming up on Latino USA the walkouts. 267 00:15:34,320 --> 00:15:36,600 Speaker 4: Truthfully, I didn't even know if I was going to 268 00:15:36,640 --> 00:15:40,160 Speaker 4: walk up. You know, I wanted to, but there was fear. 269 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:41,400 Speaker 4: There was real fear. 270 00:15:42,400 --> 00:16:31,400 Speaker 1: Stay with us, Hey, we're back. And when we left off, 271 00:16:31,680 --> 00:16:34,880 Speaker 1: it was March of nineteen sixty eight and the East 272 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:39,760 Speaker 1: Side walkouts had officially begun. Producer Janice Yamogun tells us 273 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 1: what happened next. 274 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:46,600 Speaker 5: Bobby Vardugo, Joli Rios, and their classmates left into action 275 00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:49,280 Speaker 5: that day when they heard that the students at another 276 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:52,040 Speaker 5: high school, Wilson, had walked out of class. 277 00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:55,000 Speaker 3: There was a message that when now people were calling 278 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:57,840 Speaker 3: each other on the phone or seeing each other at 279 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:00,920 Speaker 3: school or going over to each other's out, we got 280 00:17:00,920 --> 00:17:04,359 Speaker 3: to meet because Wilson walked out, what are we going 281 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:04,720 Speaker 3: to do? 282 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:07,840 Speaker 2: And we didn't anticipate th was going to happen so soon, 283 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:10,560 Speaker 2: But there was a lot of agreement and there were 284 00:17:10,600 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 2: those who were really anxious. 285 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:15,560 Speaker 5: So the organizers at Lincoln High school, including Bobby, started 286 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:18,520 Speaker 5: planning their own walkout. They had to do it soon 287 00:17:18,560 --> 00:17:20,400 Speaker 5: if they wanted to continue the momentum. 288 00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:23,080 Speaker 2: There was a sense of urgency about what we're going 289 00:17:23,160 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 2: to do, and we needed to talk about what our 290 00:17:26,359 --> 00:17:29,720 Speaker 2: goals were, but also to realize what the consequences may be. 291 00:17:30,400 --> 00:17:33,199 Speaker 5: The students and organizers knew that the police could get 292 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:38,360 Speaker 5: involved and it could get violent. On Tuesday, March fifth, 293 00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:40,520 Speaker 5: students from another Eastside high. 294 00:17:40,359 --> 00:17:41,960 Speaker 6: School, Garfield, walked out. 295 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:45,560 Speaker 5: The Chicana newspapers that were passed around in schools reported 296 00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:50,160 Speaker 5: that over two thousand students left their classrooms. The next day, 297 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:53,480 Speaker 5: it was Lincoln High School's turn. The organizers spread the 298 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:56,920 Speaker 5: word to other students walk out at ten am. 299 00:17:56,960 --> 00:18:03,040 Speaker 2: Truthfully, March sixth, that Wednesday, I didn't even know if 300 00:18:03,080 --> 00:18:03,960 Speaker 2: I was going to walk up. 301 00:18:04,800 --> 00:18:06,320 Speaker 4: I really didn't, you know. 302 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:10,080 Speaker 2: I wanted to, and I had been preparing for that moment, 303 00:18:10,920 --> 00:18:12,480 Speaker 2: but there was fear. 304 00:18:12,720 --> 00:18:13,680 Speaker 4: There was real fear. 305 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:16,800 Speaker 3: As I was headed out to school, I went over 306 00:18:16,880 --> 00:18:21,040 Speaker 3: to my mom to remind her. Mom forget we're walking 307 00:18:21,080 --> 00:18:24,639 Speaker 3: out today, and she turned around. I gause she had forgotten, 308 00:18:25,240 --> 00:18:28,199 Speaker 3: So she goes, okay, well, just be careful, you know, 309 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:29,840 Speaker 3: she just said, be careful. 310 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:32,560 Speaker 2: My mom knew I was going to walk out before 311 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:35,159 Speaker 2: I did, you know, she was already waiting outside to 312 00:18:35,200 --> 00:18:37,040 Speaker 2: make sure that I wouldn't get hurt, as were a 313 00:18:37,080 --> 00:18:42,320 Speaker 2: lot of parents. My attendance record was never all that great, 314 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:45,280 Speaker 2: but I remember really wanting to be at school that 315 00:18:45,359 --> 00:18:47,040 Speaker 2: day to walk out. 316 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:50,720 Speaker 5: The timing ten am was strategic. It was meant to 317 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:53,639 Speaker 5: hit the school where it hurt it's funding because that 318 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:57,200 Speaker 5: funding was partly based on attendance, and since the teachers 319 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:00,600 Speaker 5: took attendance around ten am, they'd have to report all 320 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:10,800 Speaker 5: the absences and the school would lose money. This is 321 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:14,359 Speaker 5: another scene from the HBO film Walkout, which shows the 322 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:17,480 Speaker 5: students standing up from their desks and leaving their classrooms 323 00:19:19,119 --> 00:19:24,200 Speaker 5: right as the teachers took attendance, and student leaders running 324 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:25,159 Speaker 5: down the halls yelling. 325 00:19:27,760 --> 00:19:30,600 Speaker 3: We were just kind of like waiting to hear the call, 326 00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:35,560 Speaker 3: you know, we weren't exactly sure somebody was going to 327 00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:38,200 Speaker 3: knock on the door or how it was going to go. 328 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:41,440 Speaker 3: But then we heard Bobby, you know, the different students 329 00:19:41,760 --> 00:19:42,400 Speaker 3: coming buy. 330 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:45,840 Speaker 2: I remember being in the hallways yelling walk out and 331 00:19:46,080 --> 00:19:49,240 Speaker 2: being confronted by the vice principal telling me to go 332 00:19:49,280 --> 00:19:50,160 Speaker 2: back to my class. 333 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:52,600 Speaker 3: One thing that was going through my head as we 334 00:19:52,600 --> 00:19:55,720 Speaker 3: were walking out is I could see there was two 335 00:19:55,760 --> 00:20:00,359 Speaker 3: teachers and I can't remember their names, but they looks 336 00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:05,320 Speaker 3: so sad because I had never seen that expression, you know, 337 00:20:05,359 --> 00:20:09,720 Speaker 3: And I said, good, I interpret that expression that good. 338 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:14,639 Speaker 3: Feel bad because you have been discriminating against us. We 339 00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:18,919 Speaker 3: have been abused, we have been treated badly, poorly as 340 00:20:18,960 --> 00:20:22,280 Speaker 3: second class citizens. 341 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:29,680 Speaker 2: We walked out and we were in the courtyard, all 342 00:20:29,720 --> 00:20:34,800 Speaker 2: the students, fifteen hundred plus students in the courtyard, and 343 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:38,280 Speaker 2: we didn't know what we're going to do. You know, 344 00:20:38,480 --> 00:20:43,960 Speaker 2: there was like no plan of action, and I wanted 345 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:46,359 Speaker 2: to stay you by you only side and my brother 346 00:20:46,480 --> 00:20:51,080 Speaker 2: seemed to make sure that nothing would happen to them. 347 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,320 Speaker 5: While the student leaders were trying to figure out their 348 00:20:53,320 --> 00:20:56,440 Speaker 5: next apps, one of their fellow organizers gone on top 349 00:20:56,480 --> 00:20:58,480 Speaker 5: of a water fountain in the courtyard. 350 00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:03,119 Speaker 2: And started yelling, Chicano are in this and started getting 351 00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:07,800 Speaker 2: everybody all excited and being like the voice. 352 00:21:07,520 --> 00:21:10,760 Speaker 3: You know, he got up and just not saying Chicano power, 353 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:13,600 Speaker 3: he was saying, we have the highest dropout rate. You know. 354 00:21:13,760 --> 00:21:18,960 Speaker 3: It was a period of education for all the students 355 00:21:19,000 --> 00:21:23,240 Speaker 3: to hear. These are the grievances we are going to demand. 356 00:21:23,280 --> 00:21:25,280 Speaker 3: There should be no corporal punishment. 357 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:28,640 Speaker 2: And I think it was either he or someone made 358 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:32,960 Speaker 2: the decision, let's go outside. What are we doing in here? 359 00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:35,560 Speaker 2: Nobody can see us in here? What kind of statement 360 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:35,959 Speaker 2: is this? 361 00:21:41,800 --> 00:21:44,600 Speaker 5: They eventually spilled out from the courtyard into the streets 362 00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:49,399 Speaker 5: and continued chanting Chicano power and walk out. Over ninety 363 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:51,840 Speaker 5: percent of the student body from Lincoln walked out of 364 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:53,080 Speaker 5: their classrooms that morning. 365 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:55,480 Speaker 6: The students walked. 366 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:57,920 Speaker 5: To a local park called Hazard Park, about a thirty 367 00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:02,200 Speaker 5: minute walk from Lincoln, had an area office there. They 368 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:05,480 Speaker 5: swarmed the building, but there was only one superintendent there 369 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:08,800 Speaker 5: and he wasn't able to address their concerns. Most of 370 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,520 Speaker 5: the students went back to class later that afternoon, but 371 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:13,480 Speaker 5: this was just the beginning. 372 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:16,560 Speaker 4: So it didn't last all day, the walkout itself. 373 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:19,360 Speaker 2: You know, we went back into school, which was interesting 374 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:21,560 Speaker 2: to see the like you really said, some of the 375 00:22:21,600 --> 00:22:24,240 Speaker 2: teachers look sad, some of them looked excited. Some of 376 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:27,080 Speaker 2: that came up to us and without any words, you know, 377 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:30,280 Speaker 2: either hugged us or said I'm glad. 378 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:31,879 Speaker 4: You know you guys are okay. 379 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:35,040 Speaker 5: Bobby said he heard that some of the teachers just 380 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:36,200 Speaker 5: ignored the protest. 381 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:39,280 Speaker 4: You know, let's just move on. You know, this is 382 00:22:39,800 --> 00:22:42,439 Speaker 4: you had your moment. You know. They didn't realize it 383 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:44,240 Speaker 4: was going to happen through the rest of the week. 384 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:53,960 Speaker 5: So Thursday, more walkouts at Roosevelt High School, students were arrested, 385 00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:58,800 Speaker 5: and at other schools gates were closed so students couldn't leave, 386 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:06,760 Speaker 5: but that didn't stop them. On that Friday in March eighth, 387 00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:10,800 Speaker 5: thousands of students from all the Eastside high schools walked out. 388 00:23:11,640 --> 00:23:14,000 Speaker 6: They peacefully marched to Hazard Park. 389 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:17,640 Speaker 4: Some of the schools had to come greater distances. 390 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:20,679 Speaker 2: The estimates of the crowd vary, you know, whoever you 391 00:23:20,760 --> 00:23:23,960 Speaker 2: talk to, but there were over ten thousand students from 392 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:29,159 Speaker 2: different schools meeting there at Hazard are rallying. It's pretty 393 00:23:29,160 --> 00:23:32,680 Speaker 2: remarkable if you think about it, because each school is 394 00:23:32,720 --> 00:23:33,719 Speaker 2: a different neighborhood. 395 00:23:33,880 --> 00:23:37,600 Speaker 3: There's these little mounding hills. You know, Belmont's coming over 396 00:23:37,640 --> 00:23:40,840 Speaker 3: the hill. They would make announcements, you know, Garfield's coming 397 00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:43,800 Speaker 3: up on the floor. You know this street, and it 398 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:47,320 Speaker 3: was it was so good to see the unity and 399 00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:51,280 Speaker 3: being able to have the district officials there to hear 400 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:51,960 Speaker 3: us out. 401 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:56,440 Speaker 5: The students rallied and spoke about the poor conditions of 402 00:23:56,480 --> 00:23:59,240 Speaker 5: their schools, and they share their demands with members of 403 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:01,760 Speaker 5: the Los Angeles board who were there to listen. 404 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:04,760 Speaker 2: By that time, the sun had come out, and it 405 00:24:04,800 --> 00:24:09,280 Speaker 2: was in many ways metaphorically and even you know, physically, 406 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:11,760 Speaker 2: it was like sal had mentioned. 407 00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:14,640 Speaker 6: Seal Castro, the teacher who inspired Bobby it. 408 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:16,160 Speaker 4: Was beautiful to be a Chicano. 409 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:25,800 Speaker 8: That day, after the walkouts, the Los Angeles School Board 410 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 8: finally agreed to listen to the students on their own 411 00:24:28,640 --> 00:24:30,080 Speaker 8: turf their schools. 412 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:33,040 Speaker 5: They organized a meeting that would take place at Lincoln 413 00:24:33,119 --> 00:24:36,840 Speaker 5: High later in March. Meanwhile, Bobby and Joli hit a 414 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:39,080 Speaker 5: new milestone in their budding relationship. 415 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:44,359 Speaker 3: One day, you know, it was my girlfriends were saying, well, 416 00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:49,159 Speaker 3: are you Bobby together? I said, I don't know. Maybe 417 00:24:49,640 --> 00:24:49,960 Speaker 3: so the. 418 00:24:50,040 --> 00:24:53,800 Speaker 2: Term going around meant going steady, you know, back in 419 00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:57,359 Speaker 2: the sixties. And on that one particular morning where she 420 00:24:57,440 --> 00:24:58,680 Speaker 2: called me, she. 421 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:02,200 Speaker 3: Said, Bobby, you know it's already ten minutes fifteen minutes 422 00:25:02,240 --> 00:25:05,480 Speaker 3: to seven. You got to go to football practice. Okay, okay. 423 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:07,760 Speaker 3: And Bobby, by the way, I have a question. I go, 424 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:09,360 Speaker 3: are we going around? 425 00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:13,080 Speaker 2: Are we going around? Because my friend it doesn't matter 426 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:15,000 Speaker 2: to me classical line. 427 00:25:15,000 --> 00:25:16,520 Speaker 4: Eh, it doesn't. 428 00:25:16,280 --> 00:25:18,800 Speaker 2: Matter to me, but my friends are asking are you 429 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:19,880 Speaker 2: guys going around? 430 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:23,240 Speaker 3: And then he said something to the effect. Well, he goes, 431 00:25:23,240 --> 00:25:26,440 Speaker 3: you know, I like you, And I said, okay. 432 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:29,679 Speaker 4: Let me ask you. Do you want to go around 433 00:25:29,680 --> 00:25:29,960 Speaker 4: with me? 434 00:25:30,600 --> 00:25:36,120 Speaker 2: She goes, no, but theater She's just, of course, yeah, 435 00:25:36,480 --> 00:25:37,760 Speaker 2: but don't worry. 436 00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:39,480 Speaker 4: It's just something I wanted to know from me. 437 00:25:43,240 --> 00:25:46,239 Speaker 2: Well, yeah, when I get to school, everybody's standing at 438 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:48,239 Speaker 2: the front gate waiting for me to get there, and 439 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:49,880 Speaker 2: they say happy going. 440 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:51,440 Speaker 4: Around day to you. 441 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:54,320 Speaker 2: It's like, yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure, glad it was 442 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:57,160 Speaker 2: just to you and me here. So I gave her 443 00:25:57,200 --> 00:26:00,560 Speaker 2: my ring and we officially. That was March third, a 444 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:03,200 Speaker 2: couple of weeks after the blow outs, and that's when 445 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:04,439 Speaker 2: it became Bobby and IOI. 446 00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:14,560 Speaker 5: On March twenty sixth, the Los Angeles School Board met 447 00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:17,720 Speaker 5: with students at Lincoln High School. The meeting lasted four 448 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:22,040 Speaker 5: hours and over a thousand people attended. The students were 449 00:26:22,040 --> 00:26:24,879 Speaker 5: able to air thirty six demands. They were published in 450 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:28,359 Speaker 5: the Los Angeles Times They wanted mandatory bilingual and by 451 00:26:28,359 --> 00:26:33,520 Speaker 5: cultural education, to abolish corporal punishment, and for teachers and 452 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:38,280 Speaker 5: administrators to stop discriminating and be respectful of cultural traditions. 453 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:42,199 Speaker 5: As the meeting ended, the board agreed not to punish 454 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:46,119 Speaker 5: the students that participated in the walkouts, but overall nothing 455 00:26:46,200 --> 00:26:47,760 Speaker 5: much came of it. 456 00:26:47,760 --> 00:26:48,679 Speaker 6: It may not have been. 457 00:26:48,560 --> 00:26:52,400 Speaker 5: The immediate outcome that the students wanted, but still they 458 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:55,600 Speaker 5: had forced the powers that be to hear their voices. 459 00:26:56,240 --> 00:27:01,080 Speaker 3: It was exciting to have these thoughts, to think we 460 00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:04,400 Speaker 3: can do this. We weren't afraid of the challenge. We 461 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:06,640 Speaker 3: were ready to take it off. 462 00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:11,280 Speaker 6: Bobby didn't graduate. 463 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:13,440 Speaker 5: That year from Lincoln High School. With Yoli, he sat 464 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:16,520 Speaker 5: in the bleachers and watched. He did ultimately get his 465 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:19,480 Speaker 5: ged and attend college, but he didn't finish his degree 466 00:27:19,520 --> 00:27:20,640 Speaker 5: until he was in his forties. 467 00:27:21,680 --> 00:27:23,760 Speaker 6: Yoli did go to college immediately. 468 00:27:23,359 --> 00:27:26,720 Speaker 5: After high school on a scholarship, and eventually she became 469 00:27:26,760 --> 00:27:29,959 Speaker 5: a union organizer and Bobby became a social worker who 470 00:27:30,040 --> 00:27:34,240 Speaker 5: mentored team fathers. They got married in nineteen seventy nine, 471 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:37,439 Speaker 5: and for decades the two of them worked to improve 472 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:40,879 Speaker 5: the same community they had grown up in and protested in. 473 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:44,320 Speaker 2: We may not be sixteen to seventeen year old students anymore, 474 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:47,280 Speaker 2: but we're going to continue this fight and be there 475 00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:49,880 Speaker 2: where we can and try to make some change. 476 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:55,680 Speaker 5: Even today, after five decades, Bobby and Joli still act 477 00:27:55,720 --> 00:27:58,199 Speaker 5: like high school sweethearts. At least they did when I 478 00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:01,639 Speaker 5: visited them, the first person to ask them about their 479 00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:02,600 Speaker 5: long relationship. 480 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:06,119 Speaker 2: It seems to be a particular interest in the fact that, God, 481 00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:09,840 Speaker 2: they were boyfriend girlfriend back then and they're still together, 482 00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:13,480 Speaker 2: you know, And I'm sure there have been challenges and 483 00:28:13,520 --> 00:28:17,120 Speaker 2: they have, but I think the work is a lot 484 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:19,320 Speaker 2: bigger than just us. 485 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:23,520 Speaker 5: I asked them if the work, their activism is the 486 00:28:23,600 --> 00:28:25,720 Speaker 5: secret to their long lasting relationship. 487 00:28:26,160 --> 00:28:29,080 Speaker 3: So, no matter what in our relationship, when we would 488 00:28:29,119 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 3: get angry with each other, and it could be small 489 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:34,720 Speaker 3: things all he doesn't do is wash or he's always 490 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:40,040 Speaker 3: late or whatever, But when things are happening politically, you know, 491 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:43,200 Speaker 3: no matter what it was that you know upsets you, 492 00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:46,120 Speaker 3: an issue comes up that has to be discussed. Boy 493 00:28:46,240 --> 00:28:47,200 Speaker 3: that goes away quick. 494 00:28:47,720 --> 00:28:50,360 Speaker 2: I'm going to say thank you, and I'm going to 495 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:53,120 Speaker 2: take that as a big forgiveness and a lot of 496 00:28:53,160 --> 00:28:55,960 Speaker 2: things that I have done or not done in a good 497 00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:58,880 Speaker 2: way all these years. 498 00:28:58,920 --> 00:29:01,960 Speaker 4: Just the fact that here we are fifty years later. 499 00:29:02,680 --> 00:29:05,080 Speaker 2: I mean, there were a lot of boyfriend girlfriends who 500 00:29:05,120 --> 00:29:08,640 Speaker 2: walked out together holding hands, and I think a lot 501 00:29:08,680 --> 00:29:11,600 Speaker 2: of it. To its credit, or maybe to our credit, 502 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:16,280 Speaker 2: our work has kept us together. That passion for wanting 503 00:29:16,320 --> 00:29:18,760 Speaker 2: to do well, and we seem to be able to 504 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:22,680 Speaker 2: do it better together than a part has kept us alive. 505 00:29:28,280 --> 00:29:31,720 Speaker 5: Fifty years have passed since Bobby and Yuli stood up together, 506 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:34,480 Speaker 5: walked out of their high school classrooms, and made a 507 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:38,400 Speaker 5: mark in history. It's the type of history they would 508 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:40,840 Speaker 5: have loved to learn about in high school, and now 509 00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:43,880 Speaker 5: because of them and the rest of the East Side students, 510 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:45,760 Speaker 5: Latino kids can. 511 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:55,240 Speaker 1: Our Thanks to producer Jennie Yamoca for that story. After 512 00:29:55,280 --> 00:29:58,760 Speaker 1: this episode aired in February of twenty nineteen, Bobby and 513 00:29:58,840 --> 00:30:02,760 Speaker 1: Yoli continued to try around the country, sharing their experience 514 00:30:02,800 --> 00:30:10,520 Speaker 1: as student organizers and participants in the nineteen sixty eight walkouts. Sadly, 515 00:30:10,840 --> 00:30:14,440 Speaker 1: last month, in May, Bobby Verdugo died at the age 516 00:30:14,480 --> 00:30:17,800 Speaker 1: of sixty nine. The Chicano leader is remembered by Yoli 517 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:20,640 Speaker 1: and his two daughters, and by the many students and 518 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:24,920 Speaker 1: young adults he mentored throughout his life. The legacy of 519 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:28,360 Speaker 1: the student walkouts continues to live on. It's immortalized in 520 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:31,640 Speaker 1: documentaries and the HBO film Walkout that you heard from 521 00:30:31,680 --> 00:30:35,400 Speaker 1: throughout this episode, but most importantly, its impact is felt 522 00:30:35,400 --> 00:30:39,000 Speaker 1: in the same hallways where students made history more than 523 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:43,960 Speaker 1: five decades ago. Now. While those changes weren't immediate, some 524 00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:48,000 Speaker 1: were made at East Side schools over the years. Corporal 525 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:52,479 Speaker 1: punishment was banned and college enrollment for Latino students spiked. 526 00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:55,680 Speaker 1: At Abraham Lincoln High School, where Bobby and Yoli went, 527 00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:59,440 Speaker 1: ethnic studies classes are now offered and the dropout rate 528 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:22,440 Speaker 1: is only about three percent. This episode was produced by 529 00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:26,320 Speaker 1: Janis Yamoca and edited by Alison McCadam. The Latino USA 530 00:31:26,320 --> 00:31:31,480 Speaker 1: team includes Miel Masiez, Sofia Palisaka, Luis Trees, Antonia se Jiro, 531 00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:35,560 Speaker 1: Gimmy Montago, Alisa es Carse, and Alejandra Salasal, with help 532 00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:39,280 Speaker 1: from Paul Berees. Fact checking by Nidia about Tista. Our 533 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:43,480 Speaker 1: engineers are Stephanie Lebo and Julia Caruso. Additional engineering this 534 00:31:43,560 --> 00:31:46,760 Speaker 1: week by Leah Shaw, our director of Programming in Operations 535 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:51,080 Speaker 1: is Natalia Fidelhouz. Our digital editor is Amandel Cantra. Our 536 00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:54,320 Speaker 1: New York Coins Foundation Nignite fellow is Juia Rocha. The 537 00:31:54,600 --> 00:31:58,440 Speaker 1: Midnighters music is courtesy of Jimmy Espinosa. Our theme music 538 00:31:58,560 --> 00:32:01,160 Speaker 1: was composed by Saniel Robinos. If you like the music 539 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:03,760 Speaker 1: you heard on this episode, stop by Latinousa dot org 540 00:32:04,160 --> 00:32:07,240 Speaker 1: and check out our weekly Spotify playlist. I'm your host 541 00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:10,040 Speaker 1: and executive producer Maria Jojosa. Join us again on our 542 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:12,400 Speaker 1: next episode, and in the meantime, look for us on 543 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:15,560 Speaker 1: all of your social media and remember stay safe. Asta 544 00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:16,800 Speaker 1: Aproxima Shoo. 545 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:23,720 Speaker 9: Latino USA is made possible in part by California Endowment 546 00:32:24,120 --> 00:32:27,400 Speaker 9: building a strong state by improving the health of all Californians, 547 00:32:28,200 --> 00:32:34,720 Speaker 9: the wind Coat Foundation and the Heising Simons Foundation unlocking knowledge, 548 00:32:35,040 --> 00:32:40,040 Speaker 9: opportunity and possibilities more at hsfoundation dot org. 549 00:32:43,920 --> 00:32:48,680 Speaker 6: Together in love and in struggle. Just made that up.