Insurgency

This book is a memoir about the author's initial involvement and his assuming of a leadership role in the late 1960's Chicano student movement in California. The walkout by students of Azusa High School protesting the racial tracking of a majority of Chicano students into MR (Mentally Retarded) classes and a demand for the hiring of Chicano teachers and administrators erupted on December 13, 1968. The Azusa Herald, a local newspaper, recorded it as a Rebellion. The author vividly recalls details which preceded the walkout and how the students came together to form UMAS (United Mexican American Students), forerunner of MECHA, a popular Chicano student organization that today is established on many high school and college campuses. Sabotaging efforts by school administrators denied the author admission into seven colleges and universities. The melodrama in taking a leadership role of UMAS, connecting with Los Angeles area Chicano movement leaders, and the surprise ending to the pinche desmadre (damn mess) of a college admission makes for interesting reading to the very end.