Hollywood has a way of showing the world as black and white. If you grow up in say, Sweden, you’ve probably grown up watching tons of Hollywood movies about the 60s and the 70s- The Vietnam war, the civil rights movement. You’ll know your Martin Luther King, as well as you know your Olof Palme. But, the fact is that the world is not black or white. It’s actually mostly brown. For every Black Panther in the 60s there was also a Young Lord (east coast/Puertorican) or a Brown Beret (southwest/Mexican). For reasons unknown, it is pretty much impossible (suggestions will be received with joy) to find movies about the Chicano Movement or about the fact that the young Chicano male fought side by side with the young black male in the Vietnamese jungles. From the hood to the barrio the whips lashed out just the same. Most people in the US and western Europe have heard about Rosa Parks but who has ever heard of a Rosita that did the exact same thing? Maybe Hollywood “allowed” black awareness movies to let some steam out and keep the hood under control. But the steam coming out the barrio was (and is) hotter than a tamale-cooker! I would like to end this text with a quote that I have used many a times. “The day we all unite, watch the pig get real polite” – ICE T.
Chicano Moratorium (1970)
Directed by; Thomas Myrdahl
