Walkout Page #2

Right there.

Check out these houses.

They're all Beaver Cleaver.

Wow. What do

these people do?

Lawyers, doctors,

businessmen.

College-educated people.

- Hey, Mr. Castro?

- Yeah?

- You went to college, right?

- Yeah.

How come you ain't

living out here?

- Far out.

- That's beautiful.

Whoa.

Wow.

- You ever been to the beach?

- Of course.

Once.

And another rule:

Don't pick up any moving sticks.

- Those are snakes.

- Well, mine wasn't moving.

And you're not supposed

to pick those up either.

Why, are they dangerous?

They like

to think they are.

Hi. Here,

let me help you.

- Thank you.

- Mm-hmm.

Uh, excuse me. Thank you

so much for your help.

Paula, you can get

your bag. No boys allowed.

Come on. Ladies,

get your bags and thank the guys

for their genuine

kindness.

Does anybody

know why they're here?

Hey, does anybody know

why they're here?

To meet girls!

- To meet boys.

- Yeah!

All right, all right.

I'll tell you

why you're here.

Because an administrator,

or a teacher,

or somebody who understands

the Chicano struggle

saw something in you.

Maybe you're smart.

Maybe you're good at sports.

Maybe you're good with people.

Maybe you're just

a chingon vato loco.

Ah, Bobby Verdugo.

Cholo king!

One out of four

Mexican-Americans

graduate high school.

You guys are almost

over that hurdle.

The next hurdle is

getting you into college

and getting a degree.

"Time" magazine,

you guys see it?

It's America's Bible,

and we made it!

Whoo!

Let me read it to you.

It's called "Pocho's Progress."

- What? Pocho?

- Who are the Pochos, by the way?

- Who's Pocho?

- "Nowhere is Pocho's plight

more evident than in the monotonous

sun-scabbed flatlands

of East Los Angeles."

What are they talking about?

We got hills in East L.A.

I know, I know.

"In tawdry taco joints

and rollicking cantinas,

the reek of cheap sweet wine

competes with the fumes

of frying tortillas."

- This is how they see you.

- That's bullshit, man.

Yeah.

So if our schools

are inferior,

and the police beat us up,

so what, right?

We deserve it, right?

We're cheap,

- tawdry and poor-- no?

- No! No!

- No.

- 2%

of Chicanos make it

into college.

to change that.

Until we get educated,

somebody else will be

writing our history.

- I want us to write it.

- That's right, yeah!

- Let's write it.

- Yeah!

Huh? I want us

to make our own history!

The great American Chicano!

Remember! Remember that freedom

is in education and knowledge.

- Got it.

- Thank you.

U.M.A.S.

Hi, welcome

to Occidental.

- Strong liberal arts--

- Thank you.

I'm gonna have so much

to fill out tonight.

- Got it, got it. I am hungry, girls.

- Hi, Mr. Castro.

- UCLA.

- I see L.A., we saw L.A.

- What's with the berets?

- Like the Black Panthers, only brown.

- That's original.

- Ladies, sign up right here.

- What do you guys do?

- We're a community action group

improving conditions

in the barrio:

cleaning up parks,

registering people to vote--

Don't forget about

protesting police brutality.

- Yeah?

- That's right. I'm David Sanchez,

- Carlos Montes.

- Hi.

- Armando Lopez.

- Oh--

- How are you doing?

- How are you guys? Nice to meet you.

Here, this'll give you an idea

of what's really going on.

Thanks for your

contribution.

We want people who've got

the guts to change things.

- You think you've got the guts?

- Hey, girls?

You want to change

something, go to college.

- You're Al's sister, right?

- Yeah.

- Paula.

- Moctesuma Esparza.

I went to Lincoln

with him.

You passed by my booth.

And... where are you

going to college?

Oh, um,

I don't know yet.

There's 40 Chicanos in UCLA--

at a school of 30,000

not counting the gardeners. We need

all the beautiful Chicanas we can get.

No, I mean I don't know

if I'm going to go to college.

Yes, you are.

You're a leader.

That's why you're here.

Please, fill these out.

We'll even pay

the application fee. Uh, Vickie!

Vickie will help you with

any questions you have, okay?

- Hey, you guys.

- Thank you, Monte.

It's Mocte.

Hey, here's my number.

Call me.

- Thank you so much.

- Thank you.

- See you.

- See you later, girls.

Hey, Yoli.

Take that.

"Chicanas," I like that.

Chicano, Chicana,

how does that make you feel?

You all should really be going.

You've got to get a degree.

Good grades will help

if you don't have the money.

Chicano!

This is a poem

by Corky Gonzales.

"I am Joaquin,

Lost in a world

of confusion,

Caught in the whirl

of gringo society,

Confused by the rules,

Scorned by the attitudes...

I've come a long way

to nowhere...

I am Cuauhtemoc...

King of an empire,

civilized...

far beyond the dreams

of the Gachupin Cortez...

I am the Maya Prince...

Great leader

of the Chichimecas...

I rode

with Pancho Villa.

Hidalgo! Zapata!

Murietta! Espinoza!

are but a few... who dared

to face The force

of the tyranny of men

who rule by farce

and hypocrisy.

I stand here

looking back,

and now I see

the present.

In a country that's

wiped out all my history...

and stifled my pride.

I shed a tear

of anguish

when I see my children

disappear in the shroud

of mediocrity,

never to look back...

and remember me.

And now the trumpets sound,

The music in the people

stirs a Revolution,

Like a sleeping giant,

slowly rearing its head...

And we start to move.

La Raza!

Mexicanos! Espanoles! Chicanos!

Latinos! whatever I call myself,

I look the same

I feel the same

I cry and sing the same...

I am Joaquin...

My blood is pure.

I am Aztec prince...

I am Christian Christ.

I shall endure!"

Yeah, I know one thing--

I ain't

no Joaquin.

- Who's Joaquin?

- The guy from the poem.

"Lost in a world

of confusion,

Caught in a whirl

of a gringo society."

Hey, that's Bobby!

You're Chicano, Bobby.

You can't wash that sh*t out.

You're an Aztec.

Mexica.

Man, I ain't no Aztec.

I'm a Dodger's fan.

"Lost in a world

of confusion."

And you're the son of your father.

Your father's a Chicano.

My father's

a Teamster, man.

Naw, man,

he's from Bakersfield.

He's Mexican-American.

No, you're either Mexican

or you're American, you can't be both.

- You're one or the other.

- That's not true.

But Irish-Americans

don't have to chose.

I'm not

a Mexican-American.

I'm a Chicana.

Born and raised in the U.S.A.

- We can all agree on that one, right?

- Yeah.

You know, one day I want

to be the first great Chicano surfer.

- What's stopping you?

- I can't swim.

Okay, what was your

favorite part, Paula?

Oh, the best part was

definitely dancing around the fire.

Oh, you two were so funny.

Bobby was such a dork.

I've never seen you

move like that, man.

You get red ants on your feet,

of course you move like that.

This is what's great though.

You've got a bunch of kids,

some of the brightest kids,

right, that want to change

as much as you guys,

that's what's great about it.

I didn't know there were

that many people--

Rate this script:5.0 / 1 vote