The fight continues fifty-five years after the Chicano Moratorium

Thousands of people marched through East L.A. and demanded justice for the Latino troops drafted and killed during the Vietnam War at the Chicano Moratorium 55 years ago.

Last Saturday, the Community Service Organization Orange County held its own Chicano Moratorium. Members of the community watched original music, poetry and dance performances at El Centro Cultural De México. Organizers also hosted a march that led attendees to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Santa Ana Field Office.

This year marked the first time the organization put on a larger-scale event.

Active members of their community and best friends, Michelle Sanchez and Bianca DiVerde, attended the event.

“It’s something to find community,” said Sanchez. “Especially in little places like this, where it may not be as uplifted as in big news media [or] big influencers talking about it, but this is where you find the most genuine opportunities to learn.”

Although the Chicano Moratorium happened almost 60 years ago, CSO OC members see parallels between past and present struggles. “It is important to commemorate that legacy of Chicano struggle and the same things that they were fighting for and advocating for, we see the parallels today,” said co-chair of the Immigration Community in CSO OC Rain Mendoza.

The organization issued a list of demands as part of their Chicano Moratorium. Some demands included ICE out of Santa Ana and ending U.S. aid to Israel.

“A lot of [the demands] are very similar. It’s still anti-war, still anti-police brutality and still pro-immigrant,” said Mendoza.

Mendoza emphasized the importance of hosting the event in Santa Ana, a city where 42% of the residents are foreign-born and 77% are Hispanic or Latino.

Poet Gustavo Hernandez, a Santa Ana author, saw the event as a good way to unify the community’s voice. “For me, Santa Ana has been at the center of so much activism that we need to make ourselves visible and show that there’s power here in the city, these spaces and the community.”

Hernandez and fellow Santa Ana author Iuri M. Lara read from their poetry collection. The crowd listened intently as both authors delivered passionate readings of their work.

Orange County Poet Laureate, Gustavo Hernandez, read original poems inspired by Santa Ana. Photo by Ash Mojica / el Don

Santa Ana musician Francis Co. performed a song titled “ICE out of Santa Ana.” The musician said, “It was important for me to play it here in the city that I live in, and work in and love because it is a shared experience we are all having right now.”

Alongside the musician, hip-hop duo Kozmik Force performed songs that represented the Chicano and Indigenous struggle. Their songs synchronized attendees into chants of “Long live Gaza.”

Jag Arreola, who makes up half of Kozmik Force alongside Native Threat, used his voice to speak up for issues affecting Palestine and Yemen. “It’s all related,” said Arreola.

Kozmik Force, made up of members Jag Arreola (left) and Native Threat (right), performed multiple songs that drew in a crowd to sing and dance along. Photo by Ash Mojica / el Don

In the middle of the event’s performances, organizers gathered attendees to march to the USCIS Santa Ana Field Office. People held up signs condemning ICE, demanding police accountability and justice for Noe Rodriguez, who was killed by two Santa Ana police officers in 2024.

In front of the office, organizers led chants against the Santa Ana Police Department and ICE. Speakers also grabbed their microphones to speak up for their community.

Luz Ochoa delivered a powerful speech calling for justice. Photo by Ash Mojica / el Don

Saturday’s event ended with vibrant dances and loud music that invited community members and organizers to the dance floor.

One of the final performances of the event included ballet folklórico. Photo by Ash Mojica / el Don

According to DiVerde, these events are also great ways for the community to engage with politics.

“It’s a really good mixture of what it is to have a healthy engagement with politics, without it always being so heavy, because it gets really draining,” said DiVerde. “It’s getting the information but also being able to recharge at the same time.”