Historical Players

• 10 Point Program: Created in 1966, the Ten-Point Program was a set of guidelines by the Black Panther Party to state their ideals and ways of operation. These points became the inspiration for other groups, like the Young Lords and Red Guard Party, who were trying to address issues in their own communities. Separated into two categories, these demands often addressed the lack of nutritious food, housing, and education as means for liberation.
• The Black Panther Party: Formed in 1966, this revolutionary organization aimed to protect Black neighborhoods from police brutality as well as address its own political positioning like economic exploitation of African American communities, social inequality, and historical oppression. In addition, it provided various social programs including free breakfasts for children and medical clinics.
• Delano Grape Strike: In 1965, these efforts were led by the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee (AWOC), a predominantly Filipino organization and a week later, the predominantly Mexican National Farmworkers Association (NFWA). This five year strike gained national attention through a series of consumer boycotts, marches, community organizing, and nonviolent resistance. Ultimately, this strike was successful with pay increase , health, and walfare benefits, affecting more than 10,000 farm workers.
• Salinas Lettuce Strike: On August 27, 1934, Filipino lettuce cutters and white packing shed workers in Salinas, CA, demanded recognition from unions and improved working conditions. After several weeks of effective striking, the grower-shippers agreed to bargain. This agreement occurred on Saturday night with the bosses stating, “Send your workers back to work immediately and we’ll negotiate on Monday.” Sunday was not a workday, so no one returned to work until Monday. However, when Monday came around, growers negotiated with packing shed representatives, but refused to speak with Filipino representatives because they “violated the agreement to return to work immediately.” As negotiation happened, gangs burned Filipino labor camps and brought in cheap labor to replace the lettuce cutters.
• Vietnam War: This war between North and South Vietnam lasted between 1955-1975. Due to paranoia of communism, the United States became heavily involved in supporting South Vietnam. During the war, the U.S. used over 20 million gallons of herbicide (known as Agent Orange) over 6 million acres of South Vietnam, to to damage one of Vietnam’s largest export– agriculture. This not only deprived the Vietnamese of their food supply and wildlife, but it also had dangerous human consequences. The chemical warfare linked dioxin exposure, specific human disease, and dioxin-related deformaties. Recently, the Vietnamese governmese asked the U.S. to compensate Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange exposure, but the U.S. refused.