the leichtag foundation, the san diego county board of supervisors, the hervey family fund at the san diego foundation, the virginia g. piper charitable trust, and by wells fargo. male speaker: at wells fargo, we support the diverse cultures within the hispanic community. we honor the cultural heritage and impactful contributions of hispanics and us latinos who have enriched the cultural fabric of our country. additional support from these and many other donors...

female speaker: a complete list is available at aptonline.org. [crowd chanting in spanish] chunky sanchez: the scourge of history are on my face, and in the veins of my body that aches. [crowd cheers] i do not ask for freedom. we are freedom! [crowd cheers] ♪ we are not afraid ♪ chunky: a lot of people didn't understand, what is chicano? well to me, chicano is not necessarily someone that was born in a certain place

but rather a state of mind and a state of heart. [♪♪♪] virginia zarp: and i look back on pictures then, and i thought oh my god, we were poor, but i didn't feel poor at the time. chunky: things were very simple. it's like the wizard of oz says, "there's no place like home." [♪♪♪] carlos legerrette: you're talking about chunky sanchez from this little small california rural town, blythe, where it's like a blip on a radar screen, you know. [♪♪♪] narrator: growing up, chunky and his siblings were virtually invisible to the larger society. [giggling] chunky would escape these rural beginnings and discover a special gift that would change the future of his community forever. [♪♪♪]

his journey is a remarkable lens on a time when young mexican americans became chicanos. [crowd chanting] carlos: he was absolutely cesar chavez's favorite musician. [crowd chanting] narrator: they were ordinary young people who found the courage to fight for self-determination and justice. [♪♪♪] chunky: we went in there and did two or three songs and everybody was ready to go out and challenge the world. it was powerful, it was penetrating to the soul. [♪♪♪] narrator: how did this young kid from a small rural town in the middle of nowhere become one of the leading musicians of the chicano civil rights movement and go on to receive one of his nation's highest musical honors? [♪♪♪] how did he and his generation find the courage to fight

for social justice in the face of racism and discrimination? [♪♪♪] how did he learn to use music and imagination to take us on a journey, a journey towards freedom? chunky: pocho, take three! [guitar music] narrator: chunky's journey began in blythe, california. it's a small rural community about 90 miles north of the u.s.-mexican border. it was a world, with two languages and two cultures

existing side by side, often in an uneasy relationship. chunky: when my mother took me to kindergarten, i was scared. i didn't know where i was going. i walked in the classroom. she took me in the classroom, everybody was speaking english. i didn't speak any english at the time, even though i was born here. i was scared. my teacher looked at me. i looked at her. i thought i was like in a foreign country or something. i started crying. i ran out after her. this went on like for two weeks, i went in and out and finally i got used to it. [chunky singing] narrator: like many of his chicano classmates, chunky spoke only spanish when he started elementary school. many schools had little respect for the language and culture that young chicanos brought to school with them. chunky: ♪ my name was ramon when i started kindergarten ♪ ♪ but by the third grade everybody called me raymond ♪ chunky: raymond, raymond, hey, i was trying to adjust to this, you know what i mean, and if there was a girl named maria, her name became mary

and juanita became jane. until one day we got a new student by the name of facundo gonzales, facundo gonzales. when he came to school, we noticed they called an emergency administrative meeting. we could kind of hear them talking through the door. what'll we do with this guy? man, you know what i mean. how are we going to change his name, you know? one teacher goes, well, you know what, why don't we try to shorten the name a little bit. and they go, yeah, but how do you spell it? f-a-c-u-n-d-o. why don't we just spell it fac? one of the teacher says, that means his name would be "fac" and the other teacher looked at him and said, "no that sounds too much like a dirty word. you can't be saying, "fac, where's your homework? where's fac at?" you know what i mean. but that was a trip that we always remembered going through elementary school because facundo was the only guy who never got his name changed. in changing your name you lose identity, you lose who you really are, who your parents named you. we became ashamed of ourselves of who we were.

you know, like i said i was still bringing burritos but even so i was kind of ashamed, you know, to bring the burrito out for lunch. i would go hide behind the building to eat my burrito. but all that ashamedness, you know, came into play there and it molded you as a person and it wasn't good, it wasn't healthy for you, because you were trying to be something you weren't. my mother was a housewife, stay at home. my dad was a foreman for one of the farming companies here in the valley. [ranchera music] our home was situated on a piece of land with a bunch of agricultural fields behind us and to the side. [ranchera music] my mom and father came across that border with no papers back in the '30s. back then, immigration really wasn't a big deal you know. and eventually, they got naturalized here in blythe. i believe my mother came through sonora and into mexicali.

they gathered enough money to, one by one immigrate my grandmother and the rest of the siblings from mexico. and then they were all together as a family again. [ranchera music] i personally never felt deprived because my parents always had a roof over our head, and it was a house they were able to buy. we were never hungry. so for me i was like, "hey, i'm living the american dream. what's the problem here?" [jazz music] virginia: my mother liked a lot of louis armstrong songs. and she liked the trumpet, so she decided chunky was going to get music lessons, and he was going to play the trumpet. so she rented a trumpet from the only music store

in blythe at the time. even though he was okay, he was never fantastic on the trumpet, but he would basically use the trumpet to torment us as kids, because, i remember, oh we might have been about 9, 10 years old, and every morning chunky would wake up in the morning and play "reveille". ["reveille" plays] and he'd wake up the whole neighborhood. i was never a morning person, so i really resented that. my mother would teach chunky how to harmonize. then of course he took an interest in the guitar because of my uncles. they had the musical background. they played guitars, they sang, my mother and her brothers. they did a lot of old classical stuff like from los trios, from the thirties. that influenced us as we were growing up. [bolero music]

virginia: my dad was old school and had a very clear definition of sexual roles. girls were with their mothers. they were in the house. they did housework. they cooked. they did your laundry. that's where they functioned. men and boys went out to the fields and worked. and so, chunky being the oldest son he had, my dad would take chunky with him at a very early age. and he taught chunky how to drive a pickup truck when chunky was 10 years old. [bolero music] he taught chunky how to plant. chunky had that fieldwork experience very early in life. [ranchera music] narrator: chunky's father and mother were like a lot of mexican workers who had been crossing the border for generations. there was always a huge demand for their labor in the mines, on the railroads and in the booming agricultural fields of the southwest.

some were actively brought here by u.s. labor recruiters. by the 1960s, a young community organizer named cesar chavez had been remarkably successful in organizing our country's poorest and most forgotten workers -- the farmworkers who were responsible for the food on our tables. chavez preached a philosophy of non-violence and imagined a better world for these workers. tactically, nonviolence is extremely effective. but we say even more, we say that as a philosophy, as a way of life, perhaps, it's even more important. cesar chavez came to blythe i remember one time because there was a field office that was set up right there in blythe right on main street. i remember it created a lot of controversy. he wasn't there that long but he gave a speech about organizing and he stirred up the town, let me tell you.

narrator: chavez and dolores huerta co-founded the united farmworkers union. before that, farmworkers had been virtually abandoned by organized labor. chavez and huerta began the difficult task of organizing them, emphasizing the importance of self-determination and the dignity of their work. [ranchera music] they seized upon a novel approach against the growers in order to improve the wages of farmworkers -- a nationwide boycott against eating grapes. in a surprising victory beyond anyone's expectations, the boycott garnered the attention of robert f. kennedy and captured the imagination of many americans who knew very little about how our food got on to our nation's tables. when chunky first saw cesar chavez, his horizons began to expand far beyond blythe. [applause] chunky: he was very dynamic, he was calm, but yet he was powerful.

the way he delivered the things that he was talking about, everything made sense. it was like he was opening your eyes, you know, about very simple things that we always took for granted. yeah, you know he's right. [♪♪♪] we never had drinking water on the fields. we always had to bring our own water. you know, we never had toilet facilities out there, we always had to go into the bushes, you know, and the ladies that worked out there had to do the same thing, and that wasn't right. and maybe a little higher wage wouldn't be too bad either. [♪♪♪] one day i was working during the weekends at a ranch right there in blythe for a rancher. and the rancher was down there watching along with my dad. and he told my father, he said "you know, ramon, some day when you're not here anymore, your son is going to make a very good foreman on this ranch." [chunky chuckles]

so i said this guy has already got plans for me, man. he's already got my whole life planned out. and i said i need to get out of here. narrator: in our nation's capitol, president lyndon johnson backed landmark legislation aimed at securing and guaranteeing the civil rights and voting rights of powerless communities. [♪♪♪] in order to level the playing field, the federal government created affirmative action - a national program to help historically excluded and disadvantaged students attend college. chunky was a perfect candidate for the program. a local activist and friend of the family, miguel figueroa, was instrumental in helping chunky apply to college. miguel figueroa: chunky wasn't very impressive back in those days. he wasn't a great football player, or basketball player or anything like that. he was just chunky, and he wanted to go to college. the original plan through

the mexican american political association was that we were going to educate our youth, and they were going to come back to their respective communities and build community there. they were going to become the chief of police, the postmasters, the superintendent of schools, the principals. they were going to build our community and enjoy the american dream. they were going to be like everybody else, only when they became the leaders, we thought, we would end discrimination. chunky: not too long after that i went to check the mail right there in front of my house in blythe and there was a letter there from san diego state college. it had my name on it, so i opened it up. it said "congratulations; you have been accepted to san diego state." you know i didn't know whether to jump for joy or get scared. it was a culture shock. the town i came from had like 9,000 people. and then we came to san diego state and come to find san diego state had a population of 20,000 at that time.

the school was twice as big as the town i came from. herman baca: there was 68 spanish surnames, not necessarily mexicans. it could have been filipinos. it could have been persons from south america. it could have been people from mexico, but 68 out of a student enrollment of 20,000. he was wandering around campus. a little short, well rounded kid. he's still well rounded, as a matter of fact. but it seemed like he was lost. chunky: had it not been for the chicano studies department and a professor by the name of jose villarino who took me under his wing, you know, and kept me focused. because you can get frightened to a certain extent, where you just say, well, forget all this. i'm going back home and be a farmer all my life you know. when he came to san diego state, it was a culture shock for him because he didn't expect to see so many people. so it took some time to adjust. chunky: the teachers show up you know with ties and white shirts,

and you know long sleeved shirts to teach a class. we took a class called aztec thought and culture. and here comes alurista, a little short guy, small, beads around his neck and talking broken english, and spanish, and slang, and everything else. but lo and behold, man, the guy, he opened our eyes to a lot of things that we were not aware of, growing up as chicanos that put a lot of the puzzle together for us. and in putting that puzzle together, we also put our, we put our conscience together, our minds together, our souls, our spirits. [drums playing] narrator: a s chunky's eyes were opened, he learned more about our community's history. he connected more directly with his indigenous background. his mother's family was yaqui indian from sonora and he found strength in his indigenous identity. [music continues]

chunky: i think we learned from the indigenous brothers and sisters. we don't own anything. when we die, we don't take nothing with us. this land is here for everybody. [drums continue] narrator: many cities around the country were undergoing a redevelopment process called urban renewal. it sounded positive but it devastated many inner city communities. in san diego, under the guise of urban renewal, a new interstate highway divided the chicano community in two. to make amends, the state of california promised to build a community park in the barrio. instead, without warning, the city abandoned that plan and began building a highway patrol station on the land designated for the community park. i remember we got a call, and so they asked for help.

we talked about it, and i remember him saying "are you going to go?" and i said "absolutely." and a lot of students went. he was in a chicano studies class and they alerted us and we all stopped our classes and marched over to the park. chunky: i said to myself, i want to be part of this. i want to be part of this whole - i didn't call it a movement at the time - but whatever it was, i wanted to be a part of it. being on strike is very boring because all you do is walk in circles. so one day we thought, "what can we do to liven it up. bring your guitar or something." so we brought a guitar. [ranchera music] and then we realize, "hey, there's things happening, let's write a verse about this." we began to write verses about things that were happening, next thing you know we got two verses, then three, then four, hey we got a song now, la guitara campesina. [♪♪♪]

when i was there, i looked around and i saw the seriousness of the people, you know. it's something i had never seen in people struggling, you know, the kids digging the ground, the grandmothers yelling at people and telling them, "hey, do this, do that." and yet at the same time, they were making food for everybody. it was unbelievable. i said, "wow, these people are for real! and i began to see the power that was in music. ['chicano park samba'] ♪ in the year 1970 ♪

♪ in the city of san diego under the coronado bridge ♪ ♪ lied a little piece of land ♪ ♪ a little piece of land that ♪ ♪ the chicano community of logan heights ♪ ♪ wanted to make into a park ♪ ♪ a park where the chavalitos could come and play in ♪ ♪ so they wouldn't have to play in the street ♪ ♪ and get run over by a car ♪ ♪ a park, where all the viejitos could come en la tarde ♪ ♪ and just sit down and watch the sun go down ♪ chunky: we think of a park as a park, but when you really stop and look at it, a park is a very sacred part of our community. a park is where you take your children to go play. a park is where you go talk to people and exchange ideas. it's a sacred place. it's almost like going to church. you're going to go there to interact with the community. chicano park was very important because it taught us that if you want something in life, you have to work for it. you have to struggle for it. nothing is going to be handed to you on a silver platter.

[chunky singing] ♪ under the bridge ♪ ♪ under the bridge ♪ [ranchera music] narrator: chunky had arrived in san diego at a crucial moment. the city's chicano community was fighting for self-determination on many fronts. the takeover of chicano park led the park to become a permanent artistic and cultural monument for the community. estevan azcona: in san diego you had, groups like la rondalla amerindia de aztlan, formed as a group of students at san diego state university in the chicano studies department, who were coming together, learning songs under the direction of one of the professors, jose villarino. and they would go out to marches and rallies, here locally and up and down the state. chunky: we began to follow cesar through the state of california on his campaign

you know and just opening up the rallies for him. and this was very enlightening because you learned a lot. miguel vazquez: we'd be out in the back of a pickup truck and the strikes. and we'd be with the picketers in front of the fields, like in the bakersfield area, out in the country. and a lot of esquiroles were there. so we'd be singing to them. people would be holding a couple of the loud speakers. and we'd be jamming and singing to them. and then i'd start talking to them. i'd say, "ok, if you want another song, throw a peach." so they'd throw a peach up. they wanted another song. almost all mexicanos. so we knew they would love the music. so we'd sing them another song and that was kind of the catch that that we, the members of la rondalla, were helping pull esquiroles out of the fields. pretty soon we'd ask them to come out and join the other brothers and the union. pretty soon, you'd see them coming out of the fields. it was pretty cool, the music carries a heavy message. [♪♪♪] miguel vazquez: music was very big tool for cesar.

he wouldn't let people talk for too long without bringing in somebody to sing a song. [siren, radio chatter] there was always a possibility of violence. and we knew about what had happened to farm workers before that were beaten up in that same type of demonstration. [screaming] we had eggs thrown at us. we had tomatoes thrown at us. people would even spit on us sometimes. i had people that would actually shove me, push me, tear my, and the first thing i thought, you know i was like 22, 23 years old, i wanted to crack their heads, but i knew that wasn't the best way to do it. so we would walk. we would just walk away and go set up somewhere else and start playing somewhere else. it was just very inspiring to see grown men turning the other cheek and walking away, because they knew that was a strong thing to do. linda legerrette: whenever there was any kind of an event that the farmworkers were having, cesar would always call or he'd have someone call and say,

"can you get chunky to come up and play for us?" i mean, he just loved chunky. carlos: chunky was absolutely cesar chavez's favorite musician. he starts to become an icon in the southwest. [♪♪♪] chunky: touring up and down with this group, playing everywhere, broadened my views and my visions on life itself, on people, on dealing with people, you know. coming from the small farm town, i began to realize that there was a lot more to life and to the world than what was back in that small town. marco antonio: we started to go to places like ucla, santa barbara, berkeley, san francisco state. [♪♪♪] we met joan baez at the farm workers conventions in fresno, because she was also invited to play for the farm workers at the convention,

at least on four occasions that i can remember. and she heard us play at the convention and then invited us to participate in recording a song, no nos moveran, a record that she was producing at the time in spanish. [♪♪♪] [crowd chanting] [indistinct shouting] narrator: young people all over the world were demonstrating and demanding change. in mexico and latin america, artists and musicians were taking up the call for social revolution. in 1973, chunky decided to visit mexico city for the first time

to learn more about the country where his parents were born. he was joining many chicanos who were traveling to mexico with the same curiosity, eager to visit their homeland. it was like a pilgrimage. [♪♪♪] chunky: i was flabbergasted by the pyramids, the mercados. everything was mexican. this was my roots. where have you been all my life, you know what i mean. [♪♪♪] you climb the pyramid of the sun and you stand up there, open your arms up to the gods, man. like a whole reincarnation of you as a person. narrator: throughout latin america, musicians were putting their lives at risk, protesting oppressive and abusive actions

on the part of their political leaders. it was during these turbulent times that chunky arrived in mexico. during this visit he had the opportunity to attend a festival of protest songs -- of latin american protest song. there was a big concert being held. it was a great opportunity to take the chicano struggle to an international stage. and lo and behold i got there on the day that they were having this big musical festival in mexico city. the protest music of latin america. and there was all these people. the whole place was packed. it was a political, musical event. everybody and anybody that was anything in protest music at the time was there. [♪♪♪]

i got there and one of the organizers said "you know what, we have all kinds of representation here but we don't have anybody representing chicanos. would you like to represent chicanos?" i said "ok." and i did some huelga songs and talked about cesar chavez and how that was all related to everything that was happening there. when i came back to san diego after that i was fired up. i produced a cancionero, a song book of protest songs

called cantos rebeldes de las americas and if you looked at the guitar, as it goes out, it transforms into a rifle barrel. i began to realize the songs could be used not just to entertain people and get them drunk and get them happy and hung over, but rather also to educate them and put a consciousness in their minds, in their hearts, in their souls, that they are worth something, that they do have value in this life, that they can struggle for something better, and they don't have to be put down all the time. and that's why i came back with all that energy that's when i began to realize...that... i couldn't really go back to the rondalla and implement that. it would be better for me to begin to develop another group and the only guy that was really listening to me and learning the songs with me was my brother rick. so hey, there's two of us. [♪♪♪]