"That's why we want him here.". "He made education relevant for us and made school worth going to," said Richard Verches, an international human rights lawyer and lecturer atUCLA. Showing search results for "Sal Castro" sorted by relevance. I said: You want me. My students and I were enthralled with the power of his voice, the humanity that he projected . Sal Castro, a lifelong educator and a leader in the 1968 "blowouts" that occurred in Eastside Los Angeles schools, died of cancer on April 15, 2013 at 79 years of age. "Sal Castro held a mirror up to our district that showed the need for a youths' rights agenda more than 45 years ago," district Superintendent John Deasy said in a statement. I still remember those days there. Posted on May 23, 2022 by 0 One of the reasons why theres a lot of resistance to allotting more money into education today is because white folks think that money is only going to be spent on minorities in schools, and they dont want to spend their tax money on minorities. There was rationing of food and clothing, and you couldnt buy meat except with food stamps and little red chips, and you had to go to the school to get a new book of food stamps. At the height of the civil rights movement, Castro, then a young teacher at Lincoln High, walked out with his students to protest schools that set up Mexican Americans to fail. Fidel Castro. Theyre in groups the whole time theyre there. Castro, the Mexican kid has a charming passivity, and you tell me you want to take that away? I said, Oh, shit, Ive got problems here., So I started finding kids who were eligible to run for student council. 11, No. He leaves a wife, two sons and two grandsons. 371 Copy quote. [All] Power! Close. I said, Oh, shit! and walked home. Rate it: (0.00 / 0 votes) September 6, 2013. Get a free quote now He was a Catholic educated by the Christian Brothers and the Jesuits. In March 1968, students from Wilson High School walked out after the school principal cancelled a performance of the Neil Simon play Barefoot in the Park. Runtime: 110 minutes. Ochoa: What made you decide to become a teacher? The district attorney slapped a bunch of conspiracy charges on him. "The real fight is with a book under your arm." The more I saw, the more I got into it, and the more I saw how really terrible the situation was. Sal is related to Elizabeth Castro and Daniel Castro as well as 2 additional people. Following the small walkouts, students from the five public schools in East Los Angeles and North East Los Angeles (Roosevelt, Wilson, Lincoln, Garfield, and Belmont), with the aid of local Chicano college students (like David Sanchez and Vickie Castro), coordinated unified protests. Cell: (562) 972-0986 Chicano activist and educator Sal Castro wows the crowd with his past -- and presence. Definition of sal castro in the Definitions.net dictionary. Sal Castro speaking in 1963 with the principal of Belmont High School in Los Angeles, where he was a teacher: Any change that was going to happen, thats the way it was going to be. Yet Castro supports the president and had a fat Obama-Biden button pinned to his T-shirt during our exchange. We kept in contact with the kids from Wilson, Roosevelt, and a few other schools. Sal Castro Quotes & Sayings . However, his father was forcibly repatriated during the . It was a pleasure and a learning experience to have spent so much time with him and listen to his stories. Sal Castro went above and beyond my expectations as our agent. In June, more than 40 years after the Los Angeles Unified School District tried to fire Sal Castro for his leadership of the 1968 Chicana/o Blowouts, it came full circle and named a middle school after him. With Alexa PenaVega, Michael Pea, Yancey Arias, Laura Harring. Now, as an artist and teacher, Gamboa said, he hopes to "carry forth some of Sal's influence.". As a young teacher, Castro was a key organizer of the 1968 student . $1,300,000. Considered pivotal moments in the Chicano movement, the walkouts and the Moratorium inspired a generation of artists, writers, activists and educators, many of whom are active today. Salvador Castro was a Mexican American civil rights activist and fervent education reformer. Sal Castro: Chicano! This prompted the cancellation of the assembly and the suspension of the offending students. "This is about civil rights," Castro wrote on his board. Villaraigosa said Monday he backed federal recognition for the memorial. They picked the name: the TMs. 1. The demands were real revolutionary ideas like smaller classes and more counselors. Case in point: A group of 10-year-old Latino boys and girls were giddy just to see Castros name placard on the table. Eager to promote empowerment, Castro taught his students they should first take their grievances to the school board. That same school year we were honored to be named after Salvador Castro, a Mexican-American Civil Rights activist that fought and pressed for education reform for Chicano students. It taught us that the only way things can change is by protesting and taking up the system, he adds. About 15 years ago, I invited Sal Castro to speak to my Chicano history class at UC Santa Barbara. Publish. This one is for the students, he said. Starting in 1963, the aim was to train a new generation of . I constantly tour, even when I don't have a record out. The president doesn't have to come to the dedication himself, but Castro is adamant that it be someone of national stature. I also knew that there was a program at Belmont where a bus came, picked up 25 seniors, took them to City College to get college English credit. They started writing the initials TM on the chalkboard of every classroom. They saw the love. Ochoa: Can you tell me about your role in the walkouts and with the students? "Now they're putting up a monument in his honor.". In March 1968, thousands of Chicano students walked out of their East Los Angeles high schools and middle schools to protest decades of inferior and discriminatory education in the so-called "Mexican Schools." During these historic walkouts, or "blowouts," the students were led by Sal Castro, a courageous and charismatic Mexican American teacher who encouraged the students to make their . Castro: As the kids get off the buses in Malibu, high school mariachis are playing. April 15, 2013 12 AM PT. TV Shows. Salvador B. Castro Middle School was named after him several years ago. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images He was arrested that day and charged with 30 counts of disturbing the peace and conspiracy to disturb the peace after the walkouts, which involved students from Lincoln, Garfield, Belmont, Wilson and Roosevelt high schools. The next day, students walked out at other Eastside schoolsRoosevelt, Lincoln and Belmont, despite the school administrators barring the doors and locking the gates. Sal Castro Quotes & Sayings. Related Topics. I guess they fell in love, got married, and I was born. He went to college, became a teacher and in the early 1960s planted the seeds of a later movement in a county program designed to train young Chicano leaders. Stars: Alexa PenaVega, Michael Pea, Yancey Arias, Laura Harring. Castro, who was born Salvador but went by Sal, was a social studies teacher in different schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. TOPIC. 28 reviews of Sal Castro - Keller Williams Pacific Estates "WOW where do I begin!!! The difference is that these days a lot of district administrators agree with him. Then they get broken up into groups of 10 with two college students. Thats the attitude today. Castro was arrested for his leadership role in the East L.A. walkouts. Ochoa: So you entered teaching with that perspective, knowing that it was going to be a fight. But Castro insisted on meeting with me to express his frustration with President Obama. You know what happens to the U.S.-born kid, he puts the onus on himself, rather than the teacher. Movies. No, he says. "He taught pride, fairness, dignity and motivation. George Clarke. Anaheim's Savanna High School celebrates Sal Castro Day every March 27. He got sent back to Mexico, so then that started the unique process of my education in that we kept going back every summer because my mother had to keep her papers. Castro was born in Los Angeles and began kindergarten at Belvedere Elementary School in East Los Angeles, but moved to Mexico when his father was forcibly repatriated during the "Repatriation Movement". He was 79. "We had rights to be educated. californiamexicocenter@gmail.com. Interacting with college folks and seeing all those PhDs really juices them. Sal Castro Realtor BRE 01839759. That really made people stop and think, Oh yeah, these kids are right. Go set up field trips to bring the kids to the college. Finally Castro got an opportunity to speak -- and he didnt disappoint. In 2010, district officials honored the outspoken educator by dedicating a school to him, Salvador B. Castro Middle School, which shares Belmont's campus. Branded a dangerous agitator by television news commentators and charged with a series of felonies, Castro was fired by the school district. Illustrator: Joseph Ciardiello. I liked the fact that I was able to deal with kids from all around and exchange ideas about what could be done. Working with the kids, I started thinking: Man, this is cool. It was affordable. Former L.A. Times writer Daniel Hernandez talked about growing up in San Diego and Tijuana, the overarching theme in his book "Down and Delirious in Mexico City." He was a central figure in the 1968 East L.A. Chicano . It put us on the map, says Montes, now a community activist focused on police brutality. Those students who walked outreally gave back, affirms Talaveras-Bustillos. He also wore a "Yellow Dog Democrat" button, which I was told means he would vote for a yellow dog before a Republican. Some at the funeral wore shirts or jackets representing the Chicano Youth Leadership Conference, a nonprofit organization Castro founded in 1963 that trained future leaders at annual workshops held until it lost its funding in 2009. Lowering the class size, having more college counselors, those were things they could do. Rate it: (0.00 / 0 votes) vis cmica: Fuerza, sal cmica, o sea, el talento de la gracia. Sal Castro went from classroom to jail cell. Or maybe they're just running out of names. Not only do the professors talk about intellectual things, but there is also a lot of cultural and historical awareness. At a campaign assembly, candidates from the new political party addressed the student body in Spanish; when addressing the student body in Spanish was prohibited at that time. We worked for over 10 years on this project and I conducted some 50 hours of taped interviews with Sal. The lecture is free and open to the public. I had to stay there. The conditions were so poor, he told The Times 20 years later, it was "like American education forgot the Latino kid.". The Board of Education voted him out of his job. The only committee recommendation the supervisors acted on, however, was the creation of an "Urban Affairs Liaison", which had little effect on the quality of education in Los Angeles schools. The movement reached predominantly black campuses too, but is remembered today as a seminal event in Chicano activism. Mario T. Garca, Sal Castro. . So the conference continued every year, once a year. "Sal was a teacher, but he taught more than United States history and government," Lerchenmuller said. More college counselors were hired at Eastside schools and the number of Mexican American students soared at UCLA and other campuses. History Shorts: Dolores Huerta Organizes a Movement, Latino, Hispanic, Latinx, Chicano: The History Behind the Terms, How the Chicano Movement Championed Mexican American Identity. Naming a school for Castro is a necessary jolt to our collective memory. But when I realized I would have to go out and beg for money I said, Nah, Ill beg for money for the kids, which I do for the Chicano Youth Leadership Conference, but not for myself. But eventually, he landed back in the classroom at Belmont High, where he continued to press for student rights until his retirement in 2004. In fact, I first got into hot water at Belmont in 63. 17785 Center Court Cir Dr N 120 Cerritos, CA 90703. If it took so long for the first Mexican American to receive that presidential recognition, what were the chances of a second commemoration? And youve got to get your degrees. Castro: You start with the love of the kids, not the love of your subject matter. Chicano and Chicana studies, Latinx studies They became professors, they became activists in their own communities.. If she had been at work at the laundry, hell, they would have taken her. A lot has changed in L.A. since the 1960s. Castro was arrested for his leadership role in the East L.A. walkouts. We lead the nation in high school dropouts. Close. MEMBERS . This is a Journey Box about Sal Castro who had a major influence in the 1960s where students in LA were engaged in "walkouts" due to educational inequalities in schools. . But the main thing was that these kids had to graduate and go on to college. By Teresa Watanabe, L.A. Times,April 15, 2013. I was able to learn to read, and everything around me looked like family. The charges were dropped in 1972. Arman Mahmoodi DRE # 01945581, Keller Williams Beverly Hills. The students prepared a list of demands to present to the school board. To that end, he has written inviting the president twice,Michelle Obamatwice, Biden once, Secretary of StateHillary Clintononce and former PresidentClintononce. UMAS (United Mexican American Students) had already been created. Castro wasn't a Marxist. A lot of the comments when they leave are, We didnt know that there were that many PhDs, and we didnt know that our people have done so much. They walk out of there feeling 10 feet tall, and theyre very emotional. Many walkout participants and youth organizers later took part in the Chicano Moratorium of August 29, 1970, an anti-Vietnam War march that became the largest protest in Los Angeles history to that date. They dance the polka to the country music. Votes: 3. Garcia, who had spent the last 10 years working on the book, would have been a sufficient replacement to cover the life and times of Castro if Castro hadn't shown. His widow, Charlotte Lerchenmuller, reminisced about the couple's 45 years together and how excited she was to be his "date" as a chaperon at the Lincoln High School prom in 1968. After he retired from teaching, he continued to lecture about his experiences and the importance of education, especially for Mexican Americans. "It is extremely humbling for me and East L.A. kids to be put on the same list with giants of our country, including Lincoln, Jefferson, Washington, Grant, Roosevelt, and Garfield; also, Kennedy, Mendez and Ochoa. He's happy he's being honored but also feels the labor leader's monolithic stature has overshadowed the struggles of city Latinos who derived no benefit from the farmworker fight. Ochoa: So the Chicano Youth Leadership Conference had already started, and then in 1968 were the student walkouts. If I had to do it again, I do it with 10 or 15 and absolute faith. the journal uses pathos by showing how far the struggle for chicano's and their education has . Share your thoughts on Walkout's quotes with the community: https . This review is absolutely necessary, and I want to express my sincere appreciation for Sal Castro!!! Because she was older and bigger, she should have known Spanish. The 15-year-old girl suffered . 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