PART 1 - Introduction, PAGE 2 OF 2. Continued from pg 1.
One of the principal shortcomings of our movement during the “Chicano Power” period, roughly from 1965 to 1975, was the absence of a coherent ideology. This political weakness made organizations and individual activists susceptible to self-serving interpretations of our struggle. Debates framed the movement as one for “civil rights”, as an auxiliary to white workers, or based only on developing an identity within the United States. Deeper questions and challenges to the movement went unanswered by the political programs of the time, and this ideological frailty hindered organizational consolidation, and led to the burn-out, drop-out, or sell-out of many strong activists. Furthermore, this made our movement more susceptible to state sponsored infiltration and repression.
We live in a time where change is constant, crisis is permanent, and nothing is static. Opportunists argue that the most pressing struggle is to accommodate and assimilate to change as defined to us by United States imperialism. For Unión del Barrio it has not been a simple matter of “adapting” our principles to current conditions, but holding fast to our political program which illuminates the enduring principles of revolutionary struggle. While exploitation, neocolonialism, and imperialist aggression continue to exist, our priority is to expand our work, sharpen our ideology, and further consolidate Unión del Barrio as a revolutionary organization. This is what we have done since our formation, and what we will continue to do as part of the liberation struggle in México and Nuestra América – this is our contribution to the worldwide struggle to end the subjugation, and repression of the vast majority of people on the planet earth.
Since our founding in 1981, Unión del Barrio has understood the need for a political program capable of guiding our movement. For this reason, we have expanded, refined, and enriched our political program, bringing us closer to building a vanguard party necessary to assume a leading role as part of the liberation struggle of México and Nuestra América. One of Unión del Barrio’s principle contributions to the Chicano movement has been the development of an ideology that speaks to the immediate needs of our communities. With this political program we address the realities of La Raza, and provide a vision for the urgent defense of our rights and interests within the present boundaries of the United States. Furthermore, this political program embraces and advances our connection to the rest of Latin America, as well as defines our relationship to all oppressed and colonized peoples on this planet.
In a revolutionary organization, effective collective action comes from a cohesive ideology, and subsequently requires a political program capable of guiding our organizational efforts towards freedom and self-determination. This political program represents our principles of unity, the anchor of our theory and practice, and serves as a guide for organizational leadership, structures, and members involved in day-to-day struggle.End of Introduction. Next is Part 2 - "Who We Are".
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