The August 29th Movement (or August Twenty-Ninth Movement, ATM), was a
Chicano
Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...
communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, ...
organization that lasted from 1974 to 1978. It formed out of the Labor Committee of
La Raza Unida Party in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
, and other collectives, officially forming at a Unity Conference in May 1974. It was one of several organizations that were part of the
New Communist Movement, which were influenced by the thought of
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; also Romanization of Chinese, romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the List of national founde ...
and
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet Union, Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as Ge ...
's theories on the National Question.
The ATM published a manifesto, "Fan The Flames: A Revolutionary Position on the Chicano National Question," in 1975. In it, the organization articulated the view that Chicanos living in the
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, N ...
were an oppressed nation due to the annexation of northern
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...
in the
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the ...
of 1846–48, and had a right to independence. The strategy of ATM, like other NCM formations, was to build a multinational communist party.
The August Twenty-Ninth Movement published a newspaper, ''Revolutionary Cause'', and a theoretical journal, ''The Red Banner''.
In
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex
, Offi ...
, the ATM chapter entered into the
Chicano Communications Center, a media organization founded by
Elizabeth "Betita" Martinez. They were responsible for the destruction of an entire edition of her book ''450 Years of Chicano History'', one of the first Chicano histories, due to disagreement of how ATM saw the books portrayal of the Chicano National Question.
[Martinez, Elizabeth Betita. "A View from New Mexico: Recollections of the Movimiento Left." ''Monthly Review''. July–August 2002. http://www.monthlyreview.org/0702martinez.htm.]
In 1978, ATM merged with
I Wor Kuen, an
Asian-American
Asian Americans are Americans of Asian ancestry (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of such immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for all the indigenous peopl ...
Communist organization, to form the
League of Revolutionary Struggle.
[https://www.marxists.org/history/erol/ncm-1a/index.htm#a29m]
Publications
* ''Dasco Strike: Lessons for the M-L Movement''. August 29 Movement, 1974?, 7p.
* ''Unity Statement'', 1974.
* ''Fan the Flames: A Revolutionary Position on the Chicano National Question'', 1975.
* ''Selected speeches presented at forums by the August 29 Movement 1974–1975 : Marxist-Leninists unite!,'' 1976?.
* ''The Red Banner: The Theoretical Journal of the August Twenty-Ninth Movement (ML).''
* ''Revolutionary Cause=Causa Revolucionaria''. Newspaper.
References
Sources
Bill Gallegos: They Wanted to Serve the People
External Links
Mexican-American history
Defunct Maoist organizations in the United States
1978 disestablishments in California
1974 establishments in California
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