The Mexican American Experience, a radio program produced by the Longhorn Radio Network, includes interviews, music, and informational programs related to the Mexican American community and their concerns. Program summary: Host Richard Goodman discusses the life of Reies Lopez Tijerina, his career as an activist, and his place in the land grant movement among Hispanos in northern New Mexico. Although born in Texas, Tijerina spent much of his adult life in New Mexico, where he moved after becoming a pastor. There he learned of the plight of the Hispanos whose land the forest service, powerful Anglo industrial interests and the railroads had stolen. It is there where he joined the movement to return the Tierra Amarilla land grant to the residents of the town of San Joaquin de Chama. In 1966, frustrated with the government's lack of a response to his appeals, he led the occupation of the Echo Amphitheatre, which was within the pueblo's land grant, and asserted their right to the land. This incident marked the beginning of Tijerina's legal troubles, and the state tried for years to send him to jail, finally succeeding in 1970. Released in 1971, his incarceration had already made him a symbol of political repression in the U.S., and he continued to speak out against the crimes of the government. Tijerina preached a message of unity for Chicanos, while also working with Black Militants and other activists throughout the United States. He has become one of the most well-known and dedicated leaders of the Chicano Movement. Research for this episode comes from Rodolfo Acuña's Occupied America. Keywords: 1848, 1968, Alianza Federal de Mercedes, Archivo General de la Nacion, Baptist Preacher, Black Militancy, Chicano Black Relations, Chicano Movement and Latin America, Citizen's Arrest, Colonialism, Corky Gonzalez, Echo Amphitheatre, Ejidos, El Tigre, Ethnic Solidarity, Falls City, Texas, Forest Rangers, Francisco Salazar, Hispanos, Identity, Kit Carson National Forest, La Confederación de Pueblos Libres, Land Grants, Millenialism, New Mexicans, New Mexico, Occupied America, People's Constitutional Party, Political Crimes, Political Repression, Protestant, Reies Lopez Tijerina, Religion, Religious Conversion, Rodolfo Acuña, San Joaquin de Chama, Senator Joseph Montoya, Solitary Confinement, State District Attorney Alfonso Sanchez, The Poor People's Campaign, Tierra Amarilla, Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Broadcast date: 1976-12-22.
Creator/Contributor:
Longhorn Radio Network (creator) and Goodman, Richard (host)
Date Created/Date Issued:
12/22/1976
Owning Repository:
Benson Latin American Collection, LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections, The University of Texas at Austin