1 00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:04,120 Speaker 1: Hey, their listener. I'm Desi Contreras. As an editor at 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Latino USA, part of my job is to help producers 3 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:10,400 Speaker 1: shape their stories. Together, we get to figure out the 4 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: right story structure and focus. One of my favorite things 5 00:00:13,920 --> 00:00:16,840 Speaker 1: is witnessing how those story ideas turn into the beautiful 6 00:00:16,840 --> 00:00:20,239 Speaker 1: episodes that you hear week after week. I'm so excited 7 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:23,439 Speaker 1: to see Latino USA turned thirty and that you, dear listener, 8 00:00:23,520 --> 00:00:27,040 Speaker 1: get to join us for this celebration. Happy thirtieth anniversary, 9 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:27,920 Speaker 1: Latino USA. 10 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:32,559 Speaker 2: This is Latino USA, the radio journal of news and 11 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:38,120 Speaker 2: Kurture Latino USA, latin Latino USA. I'm Mariainojosa. We bring 12 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:41,520 Speaker 2: you stories that are underreported but that mattered to you, 13 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 2: overlooked by the rest of the media. 14 00:00:43,159 --> 00:00:45,240 Speaker 3: And while the country is struggling to deal with these 15 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:48,040 Speaker 3: we listen to the stories of black and Latino Studios 16 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:53,120 Speaker 3: United Latino Front, a cultural renaissance organizing at the forefront 17 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:54,040 Speaker 3: of the movement. 18 00:00:54,760 --> 00:01:02,520 Speaker 2: I'm Maria Inojosa nose Bayan. Hey you know USA listener, Gomostas, 19 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:07,560 Speaker 2: here's a show, the Los Archivos. The year was nineteen 20 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:11,400 Speaker 2: sixty seven. The setting Abraham Lincoln High School on the 21 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:15,400 Speaker 2: East Side of Los Angeles. That's where two students, Bobby 22 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:17,679 Speaker 2: and Joli, began to fall in love. 23 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:20,480 Speaker 4: I always liked Jioli. I always liked her a lot. 24 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:25,440 Speaker 4: Neither one of us had a boyfriend or a girlfriend 25 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:28,040 Speaker 4: at that time, but we hung out together with the group, 26 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:29,280 Speaker 4: you know, the rest of the kids. 27 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:33,120 Speaker 5: He was always a joker. He was making everybody laugh. 28 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 5: We were close. We had the same kind of circle 29 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:44,760 Speaker 5: of friends. But I really liked his friend. His friend Louis. 30 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:47,639 Speaker 4: My best friend. Actually, we would all go out together, 31 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:50,560 Speaker 4: the three of us, many times, you know, and I 32 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:51,559 Speaker 4: knew they liked. 33 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:53,840 Speaker 6: Each other, but I liked her too. 34 00:01:55,360 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 2: Bobby Verdugo and Joli Rios were both seniors at Lincoln High. 35 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 4: Well, it was at that one particular Christmas party in 36 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:04,120 Speaker 4: sixty seven. 37 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:06,040 Speaker 6: We were celebrating, and. 38 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:08,560 Speaker 4: You know, we shouldn't be drinking ray for kids, but 39 00:02:08,639 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 4: there was liquor there, you know, so we started drinking 40 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:15,799 Speaker 4: some movie that loosened the anxiety a little bit. 41 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 6: I think Louis had a little bit too much to 42 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:18,639 Speaker 6: drink that night. 43 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:21,960 Speaker 4: So I saw my chance, you know, she was standing there, 44 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:25,240 Speaker 4: and I asked. 45 00:02:25,040 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 6: To do dance. 46 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:35,359 Speaker 5: Bobby actually sang to me, are you angry with me, Darling, 47 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:37,600 Speaker 5: you know a Midnight Or's song, And I said, oh 48 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:38,880 Speaker 5: my god, this guy sings. 49 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:42,920 Speaker 7: Are you rengry with me? Darling? 50 00:02:43,600 --> 00:02:44,000 Speaker 5: With me? 51 00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,040 Speaker 7: Darling with me? Darling. 52 00:02:47,440 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 5: We were slow dancing, you know, I said, oh man, 53 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:50,960 Speaker 5: this guy is very romantic. 54 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 2: I love it, you know. 55 00:02:56,520 --> 00:03:03,200 Speaker 7: Loved you level. 56 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:06,760 Speaker 2: As the two slow danced into the CRISP December night, 57 00:03:07,280 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 2: a fifty year love story began, and soon something else began. 58 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:21,079 Speaker 3: Too, a movement that was going to set the course 59 00:03:21,320 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 3: for the rest of their lives together. 60 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 2: Ram Fudro Media and BrX It's Latino USA. I'm Maria 61 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 2: Jojosa today. A love story but also a story of 62 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 2: student activism. It's almost Valentine's Day and we couldn't help ourselves. 63 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:47,720 Speaker 2: So we're bringing you a love story but also a 64 00:03:47,760 --> 00:03:53,200 Speaker 2: story about student activism. We were taking you back to 65 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:57,280 Speaker 2: the late nineteen sixties when thousands of Los Angeles students 66 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:01,080 Speaker 2: participated in protests that were part of the Grown Chicano movement. 67 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 2: They're known as the East La walkouts or blowouts. The 68 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 2: majority of the students were of Mexican descent, and for 69 00:04:10,160 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 2: most of them, this was their first experience with activism. 70 00:04:13,760 --> 00:04:16,599 Speaker 2: They walked out of their classrooms to protest discrimination in 71 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:20,120 Speaker 2: their schools and to demand change. It was one of 72 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:23,800 Speaker 2: the first mass movements of Chicano youth in a major 73 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 2: American city Throughout the country. Nineteen sixty eight was a 74 00:04:29,839 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 2: year of tragedy, fury, and hope in the civil rights movement, 75 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 2: but for young people who lived it, the unrest was 76 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:40,920 Speaker 2: happening alongside their everyday lives. They were starting families, or 77 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:44,839 Speaker 2: going to college, or like Bobby Verlugo and Joli Rios, 78 00:04:45,279 --> 00:04:48,839 Speaker 2: they were falling in love. Producer Jennie Yamoca picks up 79 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 2: the story from here. 80 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 8: Bobby Anyoli grew up on the East side of Los 81 00:04:52,279 --> 00:05:00,440 Speaker 8: Angeles and one of the city's oldest neighborhoods, Lincoln Heights. 82 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:04,680 Speaker 8: It was the nineteen fifties and the community was majority 83 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 8: of Mexican and tight knit. Here's Jolie. 84 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:10,520 Speaker 5: Our circles are very small when you grew up in 85 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:13,560 Speaker 5: the city, in the vadios, you know, we don't get 86 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:14,200 Speaker 5: out much. 87 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:17,560 Speaker 8: Bobby and Joli lived about eight blocks apart. They didn't 88 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:20,919 Speaker 8: know each other as kids, but they lived almost parallel lives, 89 00:05:21,480 --> 00:05:24,400 Speaker 8: both from working class families and both the oldest. Other 90 00:05:24,520 --> 00:05:28,000 Speaker 8: siblings Bobby werememberus his early years when the neighborhood was 91 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:29,280 Speaker 8: one big family. 92 00:05:29,279 --> 00:05:30,200 Speaker 6: In those days. 93 00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 4: I mean, I remember many of the mothers who were 94 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:36,440 Speaker 4: not mine, you know, pulling me by the year and 95 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:38,839 Speaker 4: taking me home if they saw me doing or getting 96 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:41,280 Speaker 4: involved in some things that I shouldn't have been doing 97 00:05:41,320 --> 00:05:42,080 Speaker 4: as a little boy. 98 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 6: But I had a real good childhood, you know. 99 00:05:44,960 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 4: I didn't feel some of the things that I would 100 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 4: realize later about being oppressed and being treated as a 101 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:57,359 Speaker 4: second class citizen, you know, those kind of things I 102 00:05:57,360 --> 00:05:59,039 Speaker 4: didn't realize until much later. 103 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,360 Speaker 8: In nineteen sixty five, Bobby and Yoli met at Lincoln 104 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:08,240 Speaker 8: High School. At first they were just friends, but. 105 00:06:08,960 --> 00:06:13,679 Speaker 4: Was beautiful bad I tell you, I immediately was drawn 106 00:06:13,800 --> 00:06:14,159 Speaker 4: to her. 107 00:06:15,080 --> 00:06:17,960 Speaker 8: Julie had dark, shiny hair that just brushed her shoulders, 108 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:21,919 Speaker 8: and her presence was warm and nurturing. Friends at school 109 00:06:21,920 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 8: would call her Mamma Yoli. Bobby was a football player, 110 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:28,880 Speaker 8: and he looked like one. He had broad shoulders. 111 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:31,760 Speaker 5: I thought he was handsome. He had a lot of 112 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 5: facial hair. I said, Oh, man, that's a man as 113 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:35,719 Speaker 5: a real man. 114 00:06:36,839 --> 00:06:40,159 Speaker 8: Before Yoli officially started at Lincoln High School, her uncle 115 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:42,040 Speaker 8: gave her one piece of advice. 116 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 5: When you go to high school, you are going to 117 00:06:44,920 --> 00:06:48,720 Speaker 5: demand to be a math major. When you go see 118 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:49,360 Speaker 5: that concert. 119 00:06:49,680 --> 00:06:53,039 Speaker 8: He was referring to the public schools tracking systems. You 120 00:06:53,040 --> 00:06:55,960 Speaker 8: could take college prep classes or be placed on a 121 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:59,600 Speaker 8: vocational track, and Mexican American students were generally put in 122 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:02,920 Speaker 8: the vocal courses to prepare them for things like factory 123 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,359 Speaker 8: or secretary work. But Yoli had the grades for college. 124 00:07:06,880 --> 00:07:09,360 Speaker 8: So Yoli demanded to be placed in math classes. 125 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 5: And I could tell it was different because my friends 126 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:16,560 Speaker 5: who didn't insist, we're taking typing and a little bit 127 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:20,280 Speaker 5: of bookkeeping, and we're all in the home economics, you know, 128 00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 5: And I was I would never see them, I'd never 129 00:07:22,160 --> 00:07:23,080 Speaker 5: see my girlfriends. 130 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 8: In the fall of nineteen sixty seven, Bobby and Yoli 131 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:30,000 Speaker 8: began their last year at Lincoln High and that's when 132 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 8: they slow danced on that December night. 133 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:35,480 Speaker 4: That night, you know, we hung out to the rest 134 00:07:35,520 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 4: of the evening, you know, And then weeks after that 135 00:07:38,440 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 4: we started getting closer and closer and kind of like 136 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:46,200 Speaker 4: unsaid words, but it was kind of exclusively seeing and 137 00:07:46,280 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 4: talking to each other. 138 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 8: They started talking more and more over the phone. They 139 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:52,880 Speaker 8: had a few classes together, and Yoli would call Bobby 140 00:07:52,880 --> 00:07:54,920 Speaker 8: at seven in the morning to wake them up for school. 141 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:58,560 Speaker 5: Bobby, you know, he was in my class and I 142 00:07:58,600 --> 00:08:00,960 Speaker 5: don't think there was a day class where he didn't 143 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 5: crack a joke. And they would march him up to 144 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:06,520 Speaker 5: the front of the room and just bend over, grab 145 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 5: your knees and boom, get paddled. 146 00:08:09,440 --> 00:08:12,520 Speaker 8: Bobby Jeseus front and center. What you're hearing is a 147 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:15,200 Speaker 8: scene from the two thousand and six HBO film Walkout. 148 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:17,680 Speaker 6: What I Do You spoke Spanish? 149 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:18,120 Speaker 2: You Know the. 150 00:08:18,200 --> 00:08:20,560 Speaker 8: Rules, which is based on the events and the East 151 00:08:20,600 --> 00:08:24,480 Speaker 8: Side schools in nineteen sixty eight. Bobby's character gets into 152 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:28,920 Speaker 8: trouble with the teacher first, and just like Yolie said, 153 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:33,440 Speaker 8: he swatted in front of the class with Jolie's character 154 00:08:33,920 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 8: watching as. 155 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:38,199 Speaker 4: The young Chicano want to be tough, so you don't 156 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:41,320 Speaker 4: want to complain too much, thinking, well, you know what, 157 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:43,720 Speaker 4: I's right, and I could take this. You know, go 158 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:46,599 Speaker 4: ahead hit me if you're gonna break me or anything. 159 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:49,839 Speaker 4: But it hurts the spirit, you know, little by little 160 00:08:49,880 --> 00:08:50,800 Speaker 4: they were breaking me. 161 00:08:52,320 --> 00:08:58,200 Speaker 5: It was humiliating. It angered you. I felt really powerless. 162 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:07,360 Speaker 8: Corporal punishment was common at Lincoln High, but there were 163 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:10,720 Speaker 8: other more subtle ways that Bobby and Joli felt mistreated. 164 00:09:11,600 --> 00:09:15,320 Speaker 8: In her trigonometry class, Yoli noticed a complete lack of 165 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:16,560 Speaker 8: interest from her teacher. 166 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:20,360 Speaker 5: One day rang out this little green carpet and it 167 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:22,880 Speaker 5: had a little putting thing at the end, and then 168 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:25,840 Speaker 5: it brings out some golf clubs and he's at the 169 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:29,559 Speaker 5: front of the class and he starts putting, and I said, Wow, 170 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:33,559 Speaker 5: this guy is going to go golfing. You know this teacher, 171 00:09:33,679 --> 00:09:37,040 Speaker 5: this Anglo teacher, was teaching in Mexican school, So why 172 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:39,880 Speaker 5: Amon put forth the effort. 173 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:42,760 Speaker 8: Like Yoli, Bobby was a bright kid and he was 174 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:45,880 Speaker 8: active on campus. But as he got older, he started 175 00:09:45,880 --> 00:09:46,920 Speaker 8: noticing a change. 176 00:09:47,160 --> 00:09:51,360 Speaker 4: My performance level kind of tapered off. I wasn't getting 177 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:54,120 Speaker 4: the straight a's in the seventh and eighth grade that 178 00:09:54,200 --> 00:09:58,880 Speaker 4: I used to. They turned to c's, d's. In my 179 00:09:59,000 --> 00:10:01,360 Speaker 4: junior year, I realized I was in trouble. 180 00:10:01,640 --> 00:10:04,360 Speaker 8: Bobby said he was repeatedly told by teachers, many of 181 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:07,640 Speaker 8: them might that he wasn't worth their time, and it stuck. 182 00:10:07,960 --> 00:10:10,480 Speaker 6: So I started to believe it and I started to perform. 183 00:10:10,679 --> 00:10:14,679 Speaker 4: Likewise, so by the time I got to eleventh and 184 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:17,880 Speaker 4: going into my senior year, I started realizing. 185 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:18,600 Speaker 6: I'm not going to make it. 186 00:10:19,040 --> 00:10:23,520 Speaker 4: I'm not going to graduate, and I realized I had 187 00:10:23,559 --> 00:10:27,480 Speaker 4: to take responsibility for my actions or inactions. But there 188 00:10:27,520 --> 00:10:29,640 Speaker 4: was a lot more to it than just me being 189 00:10:29,679 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 4: a failure. I was being failed by the schools that 190 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:37,520 Speaker 4: my parents entrusted them to teach me. 191 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 6: They weren't doing their job. 192 00:10:40,920 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 8: What was happening to Bobby was a common story at 193 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:46,720 Speaker 8: Lincoln High in nineteen sixty eight. Lincoln had a huge 194 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:51,520 Speaker 8: dropout rate, almost forty percent, and the kids affected well 195 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:54,640 Speaker 8: over ninety percent of the student body was Latino, mainly 196 00:10:54,679 --> 00:10:58,880 Speaker 8: of Mexican heritage, and that segregation wasn't just by chance. 197 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,240 Speaker 8: Families had been pushed into Eastside neighborhoods like Lincoln Heights, 198 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:07,080 Speaker 8: Foil Heights, and East la displaced by freeway construction and 199 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:12,360 Speaker 8: other development. The public schools in these neighborhoods were underfunded, overcrowded, 200 00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:15,679 Speaker 8: sometimes forty five kids to a class, and teachers came 201 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:18,480 Speaker 8: here after year with low expectations and a lack of 202 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:24,240 Speaker 8: cultural sensitivity. In the sixties, there was no shortage of 203 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 8: inspiration for young people who felt mistreated, communities of color 204 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:31,320 Speaker 8: that had been oppressed for centuries were crying out for revolution. 205 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:36,160 Speaker 8: The civil rights movement, the war in Vietnam, and especially 206 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:38,200 Speaker 8: the farm worker strike led by the Lotus wed then 207 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:44,800 Speaker 8: Sasta Chavez began to politicize Mexican Americans. At the time, 208 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:48,720 Speaker 8: Mexican American youth were calling themselves Chicano and Chicana, which 209 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:52,679 Speaker 8: historically was used as a derogatory term towards people of Mexican. 210 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:55,839 Speaker 5: Heritage, and we are going to take that negative terminology 211 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:59,680 Speaker 5: and make it revolutionary, making it to it We're standing 212 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:06,800 Speaker 5: up against discrimination, against racism, against second class citizenship. For me, 213 00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:09,440 Speaker 5: I accepted that that we were going to be a 214 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:17,840 Speaker 5: part of a movement of change. 215 00:12:14,880 --> 00:12:18,360 Speaker 8: And the discrimination you only mentioned. Shared stories from friends 216 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:21,840 Speaker 8: about police profiling young Mexican Americans in the neighborhood. 217 00:12:22,080 --> 00:12:25,559 Speaker 5: We knew when we would cruise down Wadier Boulevard we 218 00:12:25,559 --> 00:12:28,440 Speaker 5: were being stopped and searched and seized. 219 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:32,480 Speaker 8: Underground newspapers were being passed around in the schools, newspapers 220 00:12:32,520 --> 00:12:36,520 Speaker 8: like Larissa magazine with articles informing the students about civil rights. 221 00:12:36,960 --> 00:12:40,360 Speaker 8: Even the cartoons made a statement. One depicted corporal punishment 222 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:46,400 Speaker 8: with the saying, teach the best, spank the rest. As 223 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:49,720 Speaker 8: they grew closer, Bobby and Julie were also gaining a 224 00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:52,760 Speaker 8: new understanding of social injustice in their community. 225 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:55,800 Speaker 5: They can't do that. They're violating your civil rights. So 226 00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:59,520 Speaker 5: all of these things peaked up. What are our rights? 227 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:03,960 Speaker 5: It was a quick joke in our minds and in 228 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:05,320 Speaker 5: our consciousness. 229 00:13:05,760 --> 00:13:08,000 Speaker 4: Not all the teachers were bad, though, and not all 230 00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:11,000 Speaker 4: the teachers hit, and not all the teachers would say 231 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:13,160 Speaker 4: things that would try to dehumanize you. 232 00:13:13,880 --> 00:13:16,559 Speaker 6: I had some very good teachers. Selcastro, of course one 233 00:13:16,600 --> 00:13:16,960 Speaker 6: of them. 234 00:13:17,120 --> 00:13:20,160 Speaker 8: Sel Castro was Bobby's social cities teacher at Lincoln High. 235 00:13:20,240 --> 00:13:22,840 Speaker 8: He was young, in his early thirties. Here he is 236 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:26,760 Speaker 8: being interviewed in archived newstape from the PBS series Chicano. 237 00:13:27,120 --> 00:13:29,800 Speaker 9: Most teachers approach to Mexicans with a negative attitude and 238 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:31,719 Speaker 9: that you have nothing to give to me. I am 239 00:13:31,760 --> 00:13:34,560 Speaker 9: going to make you an angle, come hell or high water, 240 00:13:34,920 --> 00:13:36,600 Speaker 9: and whatever you have to say about it. 241 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:38,959 Speaker 8: Makes no difference, he related to his students. He grew 242 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:41,880 Speaker 8: up on the East Side, and he was Mexican American 243 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:43,319 Speaker 8: like many of his students. 244 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:47,720 Speaker 9: For years, the schools have wrapped or blamed the Mexican 245 00:13:47,760 --> 00:13:50,800 Speaker 9: home for not doing a good job and educating the kid. 246 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:52,559 Speaker 9: In other words, if the kid doesn't go to school, 247 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:55,560 Speaker 9: it's a Mexican parents fault or the Mexican homes fault. 248 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:58,320 Speaker 9: That has never been the fault of the Mexican home. 249 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:02,040 Speaker 8: Sel Castro, who died in twenty thirteen, became more than 250 00:14:02,040 --> 00:14:04,600 Speaker 8: a teacher to Bobby. He became a mentor. 251 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:07,000 Speaker 4: It's okay to be angry, but what do you do 252 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:09,760 Speaker 4: about it? And I think that's really what I learned 253 00:14:09,760 --> 00:14:10,160 Speaker 4: from Sal. 254 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:13,040 Speaker 8: Sal began to help Bobby Yoli and the other students 255 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:16,640 Speaker 8: at Lincoln High organize it was time to demand more 256 00:14:16,679 --> 00:14:21,880 Speaker 8: from the schools. Students from several Eastside high schools began 257 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:25,680 Speaker 8: getting together with the help of seal Castro. Some of 258 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:27,200 Speaker 8: their parents and others helped too. 259 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:29,520 Speaker 4: A lot of college students were the ones who were 260 00:14:29,560 --> 00:14:33,720 Speaker 4: actually hosting, letting us into their homes to discuss these things. 261 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:35,920 Speaker 8: And these college students, many of them, had gone to 262 00:14:36,040 --> 00:14:39,240 Speaker 8: high school on the East Side and experienced the same problems. 263 00:14:40,200 --> 00:14:42,080 Speaker 8: Even though Bobby had little chance at this point of 264 00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:45,240 Speaker 8: going to college, he became one of the group's leaders. 265 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,920 Speaker 4: And My involvement was a very personal one. Even though 266 00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:52,200 Speaker 4: I didn't think I was going to graduate. I said 267 00:14:52,320 --> 00:14:55,120 Speaker 4: to myself, I need to be involved in this. I 268 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:57,960 Speaker 4: need to be involved in making change. It may be 269 00:14:58,040 --> 00:14:59,880 Speaker 4: too late for me at this point. 270 00:15:00,640 --> 00:15:01,400 Speaker 6: I'm a senior. 271 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:05,280 Speaker 4: I got a zero point one five great point average 272 00:15:05,320 --> 00:15:08,440 Speaker 4: at this point, and whatever it was, I'm not going 273 00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 4: to make it. 274 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:13,720 Speaker 6: But I still need to fight to make some change. 275 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:17,320 Speaker 8: As the students started to organize, they weren't sure of 276 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:20,360 Speaker 8: what actions they should take, but they knew it needed 277 00:15:20,400 --> 00:15:28,320 Speaker 8: to be big. One of the first steps was smaller though. 278 00:15:28,840 --> 00:15:31,720 Speaker 8: They handed out surveys asking how the students felt about 279 00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:32,240 Speaker 8: the schools. 280 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:35,520 Speaker 5: We were taking our cues as the information we'd come 281 00:15:35,560 --> 00:15:40,760 Speaker 5: back again. Our job was to communicate to our classmates. 282 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:44,600 Speaker 8: Early in nineteen sixty eight, rumors began to swirl that 283 00:15:44,680 --> 00:15:48,040 Speaker 8: a massive student walkout was in the works. The students 284 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:50,160 Speaker 8: were beginning to drop the long list of demands to 285 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:53,960 Speaker 8: present to the school board. They wanted bilingual education, more 286 00:15:54,040 --> 00:16:02,960 Speaker 8: Latino teachers, and an end to corporal punishment. Bobby and 287 00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:07,400 Speaker 8: Joli and their friends continued organizing, and then on Friday, 288 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:12,080 Speaker 8: March first, something happened at another Eastside high school, almost 289 00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:17,560 Speaker 8: two hundred students walked out. The blowouts had officially. 290 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:25,600 Speaker 2: Begun, coming up on Latino USA the walkouts. 291 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:27,880 Speaker 4: Truthfully, I didn't even know if I was going to 292 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:31,440 Speaker 4: walk up, you know, I wanted to, but there was fear. 293 00:16:31,760 --> 00:16:32,680 Speaker 6: There was real fear. 294 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:47,160 Speaker 2: Stay with us, get out when. 295 00:16:48,520 --> 00:16:58,320 Speaker 10: Through much more do Latino Music and Miss Angri and 296 00:16:58,840 --> 00:17:07,480 Speaker 10: m Andre which are at the Pronto. 297 00:17:09,080 --> 00:17:12,280 Speaker 2: Hey, we're back. And when we left off, it was 298 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:16,119 Speaker 2: March of nineteen sixty eight and the East Side walkouts 299 00:17:16,280 --> 00:17:21,360 Speaker 2: had officially begun. Producer Jennie Yamogun tells us what happened next. 300 00:17:23,680 --> 00:17:26,920 Speaker 8: Bobby Vardugo, Joli Rios and their classmates left into action 301 00:17:27,080 --> 00:17:29,600 Speaker 8: that day when they heard that the students at another 302 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:32,360 Speaker 8: high school Wilson, had walked out of class. 303 00:17:32,640 --> 00:17:35,320 Speaker 5: There was a message that when now people were calling 304 00:17:35,560 --> 00:17:38,159 Speaker 5: each other on the phone or seeing each other at 305 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:41,240 Speaker 5: school or going over to each other's how we got 306 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:43,840 Speaker 5: to meet because Wilson walked out? 307 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:45,040 Speaker 2: What are we going to do? 308 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:48,160 Speaker 4: And we didn't anticipate that was going to happen so soon, 309 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:50,880 Speaker 4: But there was a lot of agreement and there were 310 00:17:50,920 --> 00:17:52,400 Speaker 4: those who were really anxious. 311 00:17:52,800 --> 00:17:55,879 Speaker 8: So the organizers at Lincoln High School, including Bobby, started 312 00:17:55,920 --> 00:17:58,840 Speaker 8: planning their own walkout. They had to do it soon 313 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:00,879 Speaker 8: if they wanted to continue the momentum. 314 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:03,399 Speaker 4: There was a sense of urgency about what we're going 315 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:06,640 Speaker 4: to do, and we needed to talk about what our 316 00:18:06,680 --> 00:18:10,000 Speaker 4: goals were, but also to realize what the consequences may be. 317 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:13,560 Speaker 8: The students and organizers knew that the police could get 318 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:18,680 Speaker 8: involved and it could get violent. On Tuesday, March fifth, 319 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:22,879 Speaker 8: students from another Eastside high school, Garfield, walked out. The 320 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:26,040 Speaker 8: Chicana newspapers that were passed around in schools reported that 321 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:30,480 Speaker 8: over two thousand students left their classrooms. The next day, 322 00:18:30,760 --> 00:18:33,800 Speaker 8: it was Lincoln High School's turn. The organizer spread the 323 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:37,240 Speaker 8: word to other students walk out at ten am. 324 00:18:37,280 --> 00:18:43,359 Speaker 4: Truthfully, March sixth, that Wednesday, I didn't even know if 325 00:18:43,400 --> 00:18:44,280 Speaker 4: I was going to walk up. 326 00:18:45,160 --> 00:18:46,639 Speaker 6: I really didn't, you know. 327 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:50,399 Speaker 4: I wanted to, and I had been preparing for that moment, 328 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:52,800 Speaker 4: but there was fear. 329 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:54,000 Speaker 6: There was real fear. 330 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:57,160 Speaker 5: As I was headed out to school, I went over 331 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:01,359 Speaker 5: to my mom to remind her. Mom, get we're walking 332 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:04,120 Speaker 5: out today, and she was. She turned around. I guess 333 00:19:04,160 --> 00:19:07,960 Speaker 5: she had forgotten, so she goes okay, Well, just be careful, 334 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:10,160 Speaker 5: you know, she just said, be careful. 335 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:13,240 Speaker 6: My mom knew I was gonna walk out before I did. 336 00:19:13,359 --> 00:19:13,600 Speaker 7: You know. 337 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:16,119 Speaker 4: She was already waiting outside to make sure that I 338 00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:20,439 Speaker 4: wouldn't get hurt, as were a lot of parents. My 339 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:23,880 Speaker 4: attendance record was never all that great, but I remember 340 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:27,399 Speaker 4: really wanting to be at school that day to walk out. 341 00:19:27,720 --> 00:19:31,040 Speaker 8: The timing ten am was strategic. It was meant to 342 00:19:31,119 --> 00:19:33,960 Speaker 8: hit the school where it hurt it's funding, because that 343 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:37,520 Speaker 8: funding was partly based on attendance, and since the teachers 344 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:40,920 Speaker 8: took attendance around ten am, they'd have to report all 345 00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:51,119 Speaker 8: the absences and the school would lose money. This is 346 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:54,720 Speaker 8: another scene from the HBO film Walkout, which shows the 347 00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:58,320 Speaker 8: students standing up from their desks and leaving their classrooms. Right, 348 00:19:58,359 --> 00:20:03,440 Speaker 8: let's take attendance, right as a teachers took attendance, and 349 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:05,439 Speaker 8: student leaders running down the halls yelling. 350 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:10,920 Speaker 5: We were just kind of like waiting to hear the call. 351 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:15,639 Speaker 5: You know, we weren't exactly sure who was somebody was 352 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:17,919 Speaker 5: going to knock on the door, or how it was 353 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:20,720 Speaker 5: going to go. But then we heard Bobby, you know, 354 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:22,720 Speaker 5: the different students coming by. 355 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:26,200 Speaker 4: I remember being in the hallways yelling walk out, and 356 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:29,439 Speaker 4: I've been confronted by the vice principal telling me to 357 00:20:29,480 --> 00:20:30,480 Speaker 4: go back to my class. 358 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:32,919 Speaker 5: One thing that was going through my head as we 359 00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 5: were walking out is I could see there was two 360 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:40,560 Speaker 5: teachers and I can't remember their names, but they look 361 00:20:40,840 --> 00:20:45,639 Speaker 5: so sad because I had never seen that expression, you know, 362 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 5: and I said, good, I interpret that expression that good. 363 00:20:50,359 --> 00:20:54,960 Speaker 5: Feel bad because you have been discriminating against us. We 364 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:59,239 Speaker 5: have been abused, we have been treated badly, poorly as 365 00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:00,480 Speaker 5: second class citizens. 366 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:10,000 Speaker 4: We walked out and we were in the courtyard, all 367 00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:15,120 Speaker 4: the students, fifteen hundred plus students in the courtyard, and 368 00:21:15,400 --> 00:21:18,600 Speaker 4: we didn't know what we're going to do. You know, 369 00:21:18,800 --> 00:21:24,320 Speaker 4: there was like no plan of action, and I wanted 370 00:21:24,320 --> 00:21:26,720 Speaker 4: to stay you by you only side and my brother 371 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:31,360 Speaker 4: seemed to make sure that they nothing would happen to them. 372 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:33,639 Speaker 8: While the student leaders were trying to figure out their 373 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:36,760 Speaker 8: next steps, one of their fellow organizers gone on top 374 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:38,959 Speaker 8: of a water fountain in the courtyard. 375 00:21:38,640 --> 00:21:43,399 Speaker 4: And started yelling Chicano power and this and started getting 376 00:21:43,480 --> 00:21:48,120 Speaker 4: everybody all excited and being like the voice. 377 00:21:47,840 --> 00:21:51,040 Speaker 5: You know, he got up and just not saying Chicano power, 378 00:21:51,080 --> 00:21:53,679 Speaker 5: he was saying we have the highest dropout rate. You know, 379 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:59,280 Speaker 5: it was a period of education for all the students 380 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:03,560 Speaker 5: to hear. These are the grievances we are going to demand. 381 00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:05,600 Speaker 5: There should be no corporate punishment. 382 00:22:05,840 --> 00:22:08,960 Speaker 4: And I think it was either he or someone made 383 00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:13,320 Speaker 4: the decision, Let's go outside. What are we doing in here? 384 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:15,880 Speaker 4: Nobody can see us in gire? What kind of statement 385 00:22:16,040 --> 00:22:16,240 Speaker 4: is this? 386 00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:24,920 Speaker 8: They eventually spilled out from the courtyard into the streets 387 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:29,680 Speaker 8: and continued chanting Chicano power and walk out. Over ninety 388 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:32,159 Speaker 8: percent of the student body from Lincoln walked out of 389 00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:36,119 Speaker 8: their classrooms that morning. The students walked to a local 390 00:22:36,160 --> 00:22:39,400 Speaker 8: park called Hazard Park, about a thirty minute walk from Lincoln. 391 00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:43,040 Speaker 8: The school board had an area office there. They swarmed 392 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:46,199 Speaker 8: the building, but there was only one superintendent there and 393 00:22:46,240 --> 00:22:49,200 Speaker 8: he wasn't able to address their concerns. Most of the 394 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:52,200 Speaker 8: students went back to class later that afternoon, but this 395 00:22:52,440 --> 00:22:53,840 Speaker 8: was just the beginning. 396 00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:56,880 Speaker 6: So it didn't last all day. The walkout itself. 397 00:22:57,160 --> 00:23:00,400 Speaker 4: We went back into school, which was interesting to see, 398 00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:02,920 Speaker 4: Like you really said, some of the teachers look sad, 399 00:23:03,000 --> 00:23:05,359 Speaker 4: some of them looked excited. Someone that came up to 400 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:08,359 Speaker 4: us and without any words you know, either hugged us 401 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:10,600 Speaker 4: or said I'm glad. 402 00:23:10,800 --> 00:23:12,240 Speaker 6: You know, you guys are okay. 403 00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:15,359 Speaker 8: Bobby said he heard that some of the teachers just 404 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:16,520 Speaker 8: ignored the protest. 405 00:23:17,000 --> 00:23:19,600 Speaker 6: You know, let's just move on. You know, this is 406 00:23:20,119 --> 00:23:21,320 Speaker 6: you had your moment. 407 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:21,719 Speaker 7: You know. 408 00:23:21,880 --> 00:23:23,679 Speaker 6: They didn't realize it was going to happen through the 409 00:23:23,720 --> 00:23:24,440 Speaker 6: rest of the week. 410 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:34,280 Speaker 8: So Thursday, more walkouts at Roosevelt High School, students were arrested, 411 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:39,120 Speaker 8: and at other schools gates were closed so students couldn't leave, 412 00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:47,080 Speaker 8: but that didn't stop them. On that Friday, March eighth, 413 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:50,280 Speaker 8: thousands of students from all the East Side high schools 414 00:23:50,440 --> 00:23:54,320 Speaker 8: walked out. They peacefully marched to Hazard Park. 415 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:57,920 Speaker 6: Some of the schools had to come greater distances. 416 00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:01,439 Speaker 4: The estimates of the crowd, you know, whoever you talked to, 417 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:05,280 Speaker 4: but there were over ten thousand students from different schools 418 00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:06,399 Speaker 4: meeting there. 419 00:24:06,680 --> 00:24:08,480 Speaker 6: It Hazard are rallying. 420 00:24:08,800 --> 00:24:12,200 Speaker 4: It's pretty remarkable if you think about it, because each 421 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:14,040 Speaker 4: school is a different neighborhood. 422 00:24:14,200 --> 00:24:17,920 Speaker 5: There's these little mounding hills. You know, Belmont's coming over 423 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:21,160 Speaker 5: the hill. They would make announcements. You know, Garfield's coming 424 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:24,439 Speaker 5: up on the plant. You know this street and it was. 425 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:28,040 Speaker 5: It was so good to see the unity and being 426 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:32,120 Speaker 5: able to have the district officials there to hear us out. 427 00:24:34,320 --> 00:24:36,760 Speaker 8: The students rallied and spoke about the poor conditions of 428 00:24:36,800 --> 00:24:39,600 Speaker 8: their schools, and they share their demands with members of 429 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:42,080 Speaker 8: the Los Angeles School Board who were there to listen. 430 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:45,080 Speaker 4: By that time, the sun had come out, and it 431 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:49,560 Speaker 4: was in many ways metaphorically and even you know, physically, 432 00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:52,080 Speaker 4: it was like salhad mentioned. 433 00:24:51,880 --> 00:24:54,320 Speaker 8: Seal Castro, the teacher who inspired Bobby. 434 00:24:54,800 --> 00:25:04,680 Speaker 6: It was beautiful beat Chicano. That day. 435 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:07,120 Speaker 8: After the walkouts, the Los Angeles School Board finally agreed 436 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:10,440 Speaker 8: to listen to the students on their own turf their schools. 437 00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:13,399 Speaker 8: They organized a meeting that would take place at Lincoln 438 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:17,040 Speaker 8: High later in March. Meanwhile, Bobby and you only hit 439 00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:20,040 Speaker 8: a new milestone in their budding relationship. 440 00:25:22,040 --> 00:25:22,480 Speaker 5: One day. 441 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:22,720 Speaker 7: You know. 442 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:26,119 Speaker 5: It was my girlfriends are saying, well, are you Bobby together? 443 00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:28,520 Speaker 5: I said, I don't know. 444 00:25:28,880 --> 00:25:30,080 Speaker 2: Maybe so. 445 00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:34,000 Speaker 4: The term going around man going steady, you know, back 446 00:25:34,040 --> 00:25:34,840 Speaker 4: in the sixties. 447 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:38,400 Speaker 6: And on that one particular morning when she called. 448 00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:41,840 Speaker 5: Me, she said, Bobby, you know it's already ten minutes 449 00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:45,800 Speaker 5: fifteen minutes to seven. You got to go to football practice. Okay, okay, 450 00:25:45,840 --> 00:25:48,119 Speaker 5: and Bobby, by the way, I have a question. I go, 451 00:25:48,560 --> 00:25:49,680 Speaker 5: are we going around? 452 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:51,480 Speaker 6: Are we going around? 453 00:25:51,680 --> 00:25:55,760 Speaker 4: Because my friends it doesn't matter to me classical line, Eh, 454 00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:56,840 Speaker 4: it doesn't. 455 00:25:56,600 --> 00:25:59,159 Speaker 6: Matter to me, but my friends are asking are you 456 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:00,000 Speaker 6: guys going around? 457 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:03,560 Speaker 5: And then he said something to the effect. Well, he goes, 458 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:07,679 Speaker 5: you know, I like you, and I said, okay, let. 459 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:10,280 Speaker 6: Me ask you. Do you want to go around with me? 460 00:26:10,920 --> 00:26:16,440 Speaker 4: She goes no, but Fater, She's just of course, yeah, 461 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:18,080 Speaker 4: but don't worry. 462 00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:19,879 Speaker 6: It's it's just something I wanted to know from me. 463 00:26:23,560 --> 00:26:26,560 Speaker 4: Well, yeah, when I get to school, everybody's standing at 464 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:28,560 Speaker 4: the front gate waiting for me to get there, and 465 00:26:28,600 --> 00:26:30,280 Speaker 4: they say happy going. 466 00:26:30,080 --> 00:26:31,800 Speaker 6: Around day to you. 467 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:34,679 Speaker 4: It's like, yeah, I'm sure, I'm sure, glad it was 468 00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:37,480 Speaker 4: just two you and me here. So I gave her 469 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:40,760 Speaker 4: my ring and we officially. That was March twenty third, 470 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:43,520 Speaker 4: a couple of weeks after the blowouts, and that's where 471 00:26:43,560 --> 00:26:44,760 Speaker 4: we became Bobby and Joi. 472 00:26:52,040 --> 00:26:54,920 Speaker 8: On March twenty sixth, the Los Angeles School Board met 473 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:58,040 Speaker 8: with students at Lincoln High School. The meeting lasted four 474 00:26:58,080 --> 00:27:02,360 Speaker 8: hours and over a thousand people attended. The students were 475 00:27:02,359 --> 00:27:05,199 Speaker 8: able to air thirty six demands. They were published in 476 00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:08,679 Speaker 8: the Los Angeles Times. They wanted mandatory bilingual and by 477 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:13,840 Speaker 8: cultural education, to abolish corporal punishment, and for teachers and 478 00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:18,600 Speaker 8: administrators to stop discriminating and be respectful of cultural traditions. 479 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:22,520 Speaker 8: As the meeting ended, the board agreed not to punish 480 00:27:22,520 --> 00:27:26,440 Speaker 8: the students that participated in the walkouts, but overall nothing 481 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:29,000 Speaker 8: much came of it. It may not have been the 482 00:27:29,040 --> 00:27:32,920 Speaker 8: immediate outcome that the students wanted, but still they had 483 00:27:32,960 --> 00:27:35,920 Speaker 8: forced the powers that be to hear their voices. 484 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:41,320 Speaker 5: It was exciting to have these thoughts, to think we 485 00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:44,720 Speaker 5: can do this. We weren't afraid of the challenge. We 486 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:45,840 Speaker 5: were ready to take it on. 487 00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:53,040 Speaker 8: Bobby didn't graduate that year from Lincoln High School. With Yoli, 488 00:27:53,440 --> 00:27:56,600 Speaker 8: he sat in the bleachers and watched. He did ultimately 489 00:27:56,600 --> 00:27:59,320 Speaker 8: get his ged and attend college, but he didn't finish 490 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:02,600 Speaker 8: his degree until he was in his forties. Joli did 491 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:05,320 Speaker 8: go to college immediately after high school on a scholarship, 492 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:09,320 Speaker 8: and eventually she became a union organizer and Bobby became 493 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:13,399 Speaker 8: a social worker who mentored tem fathers. They got married 494 00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 8: in nineteen seventy nine and for decades the two of 495 00:28:16,800 --> 00:28:19,440 Speaker 8: them worked to improve the same community they had grown 496 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:21,240 Speaker 8: up in and protested in. 497 00:28:21,640 --> 00:28:24,640 Speaker 4: We may not be sixteen to seventeen year old students anymore, 498 00:28:25,080 --> 00:28:27,600 Speaker 4: but we're going to continue this fight and be there 499 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:30,240 Speaker 4: where we can and try to make some change. 500 00:28:30,520 --> 00:28:36,000 Speaker 8: Even today, after five decades, Bobby and Joli still act 501 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:38,520 Speaker 8: like high school sweethearts. At least they did when I 502 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:41,280 Speaker 8: visited them. And I'm not the first person to ask 503 00:28:41,320 --> 00:28:42,920 Speaker 8: them about their long relationship. 504 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:46,440 Speaker 6: It seems to be a particular interest in the fact that, God, 505 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:50,160 Speaker 6: they were boyfriend girlfriend back then and they're still together, 506 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:53,800 Speaker 6: you know, And I'm sure there have been challenges and 507 00:28:53,840 --> 00:28:57,440 Speaker 6: they have, But I think the work is a lot 508 00:28:57,480 --> 00:28:59,520 Speaker 6: bigger than just us. 509 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:03,880 Speaker 8: I asked them if the work, their activism is the 510 00:29:03,920 --> 00:29:06,040 Speaker 8: secret to their long lasting relationship. 511 00:29:06,480 --> 00:29:09,440 Speaker 5: So, no matter what in our relationship, when we would 512 00:29:09,440 --> 00:29:12,080 Speaker 5: get angry with each other, and it could be small 513 00:29:12,120 --> 00:29:15,040 Speaker 5: things all he doesn't do is wash or he's always 514 00:29:15,160 --> 00:29:20,360 Speaker 5: late or whatever, But when things are happening politically, you know, 515 00:29:20,440 --> 00:29:23,520 Speaker 5: no matter what it was that you know upsets you, 516 00:29:24,200 --> 00:29:26,440 Speaker 5: an issue comes up that has to be discussed. Boy 517 00:29:26,560 --> 00:29:27,560 Speaker 5: that goes away quick. 518 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:30,680 Speaker 4: I'm going to say thank you and I'm going to 519 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:33,440 Speaker 4: take that as a big forgiveness and a lot of 520 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:36,320 Speaker 4: things that I've done or not done in a good 521 00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:39,200 Speaker 4: way all these years. 522 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:42,320 Speaker 6: Just the fact that here we are fifty years later. 523 00:29:43,040 --> 00:29:45,400 Speaker 4: I mean, there were a lot of boyfriend girlfriends who 524 00:29:45,440 --> 00:29:48,960 Speaker 4: walked out together holding hands, and I think a lot 525 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:51,920 Speaker 4: of it. To its credit, or maybe to our credit, 526 00:29:52,480 --> 00:29:56,600 Speaker 4: our work has kept us together. That passion for wanting 527 00:29:56,640 --> 00:29:59,080 Speaker 4: to do well, and we seem to be able to 528 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:03,040 Speaker 4: do it better together rather than apart, has kept us alive. 529 00:30:08,600 --> 00:30:12,040 Speaker 8: Fifty years have passed since Bobby and Yuli stood up together, 530 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:14,800 Speaker 8: walked out of their high school classrooms and made a 531 00:30:14,840 --> 00:30:18,720 Speaker 8: mark in history. It's the type of history they would 532 00:30:18,760 --> 00:30:21,160 Speaker 8: have loved to learn about in high school, and now, 533 00:30:21,680 --> 00:30:24,240 Speaker 8: because of them and the rest of the East Side students, 534 00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:26,080 Speaker 8: Latino kids can. 535 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:43,320 Speaker 2: Today. Bobby Verdugo and Joli Rios are both retired and 536 00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:47,080 Speaker 2: they've traveled around the country sharing their experience as student 537 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:53,320 Speaker 2: organizers and participants in the nineteen sixty eight walkouts. Sadly, 538 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:57,080 Speaker 2: Bobby Verdugo died at the age of sixty nine. The 539 00:30:57,160 --> 00:31:00,160 Speaker 2: Chicano leader is remembered by Yoli and his two daughters 540 00:31:00,240 --> 00:31:03,160 Speaker 2: and by the many students and young adults he mentored 541 00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:08,280 Speaker 2: throughout his life. The legacy of the student walkouts continues 542 00:31:08,320 --> 00:31:11,560 Speaker 2: to live on. It's immortalized in documentaries and the HBO 543 00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:15,040 Speaker 2: film Walkout that you heard from throughout this episode, but 544 00:31:15,120 --> 00:31:18,240 Speaker 2: most importantly, its impact is felt in the same hallways 545 00:31:18,240 --> 00:31:22,520 Speaker 2: where students made history more than five decades ago. Now, 546 00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:26,800 Speaker 2: while those changes weren't immediate, some were made at East 547 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:31,000 Speaker 2: Side schools over the years. Corporal punishment was banned and 548 00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:35,960 Speaker 2: college enrollment for Latino students spite. At Abraham Lincoln High School, 549 00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:39,720 Speaker 2: where Bobby and Joli went, ethnic studies classes are now 550 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:55,400 Speaker 2: offered and the dropout rate is about three percent. Now, 551 00:31:56,360 --> 00:31:59,080 Speaker 2: that's it for this week. This episode was produced by 552 00:31:59,160 --> 00:32:02,480 Speaker 2: Janie Yamocan, edited by Alison McCadam. It was mixed by 553 00:32:02,960 --> 00:32:07,120 Speaker 2: Stephanie Lebau. Back checking for this episode by Nidia A. Baltista. 554 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:13,200 Speaker 2: The Latino USA team includes Andrea Lopez Cruzado, Marta Martinez, 555 00:32:13,520 --> 00:32:19,720 Speaker 2: Mike Sargent, Daisy Contreres, Victoria Estrada, Renaldo Leanos, Junior, Patrisa Subran, 556 00:32:20,080 --> 00:32:25,160 Speaker 2: and Elizabeth Loenthal Torris. Our editorial director is Fernande Santos. 557 00:32:25,560 --> 00:32:30,400 Speaker 2: Our senior engineer is Julia Caruso. Our associate engineers our 558 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:34,600 Speaker 2: gabriel Le Bias and jj Carubin. Our marketing manager is 559 00:32:34,680 --> 00:32:39,000 Speaker 2: Luis Luna. The Midnighters music is courtesy of Jimmy Espinosa. 560 00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:42,240 Speaker 2: Our theme music was composed by Saniel Rubinos. I'm your 561 00:32:42,240 --> 00:32:45,400 Speaker 2: host and executive producer Marigul noo Rosa. Join us again 562 00:32:45,480 --> 00:32:47,640 Speaker 2: on our next episode. In the meantime, look for us 563 00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:52,080 Speaker 2: on social media. Remember Lottevayas and we'll see you on 564 00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:52,880 Speaker 2: the next one. 565 00:32:53,040 --> 00:32:53,360 Speaker 7: Ciao. 566 00:32:56,520 --> 00:33:01,040 Speaker 11: Latino USA is made possible in part by California Endowment, 567 00:33:01,360 --> 00:33:04,680 Speaker 11: building a strong state by improving the health of all Californians. 568 00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:06,200 Speaker 7: The Annie E. 569 00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:10,040 Speaker 11: Casey Foundation creates a brighter future for the nation's children 570 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:15,440 Speaker 11: by strengthening families, building greater economic opportunity, and transforming communities. 571 00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:20,960 Speaker 11: And the Ford Foundation, working with visionaries on the front 572 00:33:20,960 --> 00:33:26,440 Speaker 11: lines of social change worldwide. 573 00:33:26,680 --> 00:33:31,440 Speaker 2: Together in love and in struggle. Just made that up.