West Side Recorder Volume 7 No 4

              WEST SIDE RECORDER
Volume 7—Number 4
Monthly Newspaper of the West Side, Denver, Colorado
August, 1970
VOTE-It's Your Right
-AND Responsibility
September 8th is Primary
Election Day for those who
are eligible to vote. To become eligible, one must be
registered. The deadline for
registering for the Primary
has past but registration
will open again immediately
after the Primary Election.
Many people are not a-
ware of the election rules
that affect them regarding
their right as a citizen to
vote. An example is the law
governing the right of an
ex-convict to vote. Many
people believe that ex-convicts cannot vote. This is
not true. House Bill No. 1016
recently clarified Section
2.49-3-2 of the Colorado Revised Statutes 1963 to read:
No person while confined in
any public prison shall be entitled to register or to vote at
any general, primary, or special election. Every person
who was a qualified elector
prior to such imprisonment,
and who is released by pardon or by having served his
foil term of imprisonment,
shall be vested with all the
rights of citizenship except as
otherwist provided in the con-
stitotion.
This means that a convict can
register and vote immediately
upon being released from prison.
Another little known fact is
that if a person is registered as
unaffiliated, he or she can vote
in a primary election by going
to the polling place on election
day and choosing a party affiliation . If you failed to register
during the recent registration
drive that was held on the West
Side, you can register for the
General Election after the primary. Remember, and eligible
member of a household can
register the rest of the eligible
members of the household.
IViva La Raza! - Sept. 16
El Dia de Independencia
A group of concerned
Mexican Americans have gathered together to plan activities for the Mexican
American holiday of September 16th. After the initial meeting in July, 1970,
the Steering Committee for
September 16th (as they
call themselves) set up various committees in areas per-
tainent to developing a festive and wonderful holiday.
A float committee to gather
all those interested in making and displaying floats was
one of those committees. A-
nother was the Publicity
committee for the development and dissemination of
all materials relating to
September 16. A special assignment- committee was
formed to provide some security measures for the parade. Another committee
was the Finance Committee
which had the problem of
trying to bring in enough donations to feed an expected
crowd of 10,000.
As planning continues towards the holiday, the various committees have functioned beautifully. Although
problems have arisen, they
have been delt with by the
respective committees. Perhaps, the best way to answer the question of "Why
September 16", would be to
say that September 16th signifies, to the Mexican American communities, a united effort by them to focus
attention on the plight of
the Mexican American. This
is the underlying theme be
hind all that goes on September the 16th."
The last thing to write about
would be the activities for the
September 16th holiday. A
parade orginating at Civic Center down Cleveland Place to
16th Street, left down 16th
street to Larimer, up Larimer
to 15 the Street, up 15th Street
to Colfax Ave, up Colfax to the
State Capitol will be the main
attraction.
At the State Capitol, several
prominent Mexican American
speakers will be featured. Rudolph (Corky) Gonzales, leader
of Crusade for Justice; Al Gu-
rela, Gubernatorial Candidate
from La Raza UnSda Political
Party; Andres Galvadbn, Candidate for District Attorney's office in Ft Collins also of La
Raza Unida Political Office;
plus several others will be
speaking on the Mexican American Movement throughout this
nation.
After hearing these nationally reknown speakers, participants in the parade will be treated to a luncheon at the Crusade
for Justice building located at
16th and Downing. It is hoped
that the Finance Committee Will
have received enough donations
to cover the cost of such a gigantic feeding.
Later on that night, starting
around 7 p.m., the holiday atmosphere will be transferred to
the Coliseum where a night of
wonderful and authentic Mexican entertainment will be featured. Interspursed with this,
will be rock groups for those
so inclined.
It is hoped, that this day will
be one of a festive nature, and
that everyone will participate
and enjoy themselves. The
value of such an occasion can
only be seen if you participate
with a festive attitude. The
gathering together of a tremendous number of Mexican
Americans will speak for itself.
La Academia
Del Barrio Is
Summer Success
La Academia del Barrio is
a summer educational program which was held at Auraria Community Center,
1212 Mariposa, between
June 22 and August 28,1970.
Classes were conducted on
Monday, Wednesday and Friday in West Denver and
Tuesday and Thursday at El
Salvador Baptist Church,
3925 Shoshone, in North
Denver.
CHILDREN AGES 8-12
The program was geared
toward children ages 8-12.
It was held in West and
North Denver because of
the high concentration of
Chicanos in both areas. A-
nother reason is because of
the high drop out rate of
Chicano youngsters from
West and North High
Schools.
CHILD MUST HAVE
CONFIDENCE
The reason for emphasis on
this age group is that by this
time it is possible to tell which
children are having difficulty in
their basic classes. Most children "drop out" of school by
sixth grade and only make it
officially    later    on    in    high
school.
The young elementary child
is beginning to form basic concepts and skills in education at
this point in his life.
The most important concept
of La Academia is that a child
cannot succeed in anything if
he does not have confidence and
pride in himself first. He must
be able to see himself as a vital
part of the society around him
in order to be able to contribute
to it instead of reject it.
Much individual attention was
given to each child. No class
had more than 10 children.
When necessary they were instructed on a 1 to 1 basis. For
this, thanks must be given to
the tutors sent to the school by
Metro State College.
La Academia operated with
lew set rules to follow, only the
original concept of building self
confidence and instilling pride.
Everyone in the program
shared the heartwarming experience of watching the children
express themselves. Their likes,
dislikes, frustrations and time
of great achievement
Approximately 55 children attended daily, both in North and
West Denver. Enrollment never
fell below 50. They remained
interested throughout the summer. This was one means of
evaluating the success of the
program.
LEARNING AND FUN
COMBINED
The curriculum had much to
do with it. Along with Mexican History, Spanish, Cultural
Dance (Mexican folk dancing),
Creative Dance, and Art, the
children also took part in mathematics, creative writing, English, and reading classes. Swimming classes were held at Lincoln Park Pool and Columbus
Pool Many of the chUdren received Red Cross Cards which
established  them  as   beginners
Marchers rest in front of banner, on way to Denver.
West Siders March
With Farm Workers
During the first part of August, about 60-75 lettuce Farm
Labors marched from Pueblo
to Denver to make the public
aware of their strike against
the lettuce farm owners in
Southern Colorado, and other
parts of the nation. A number of West Siders joined them
for aU or part of the march.
Ricky Montoya of 603 W. 8th
Ave. marched the whole distance with them. Ricky is a 14
year old student at Baker.
Others who marched were,
Alfredo and Juanita Herrera
and family, Germaine Aragon
and family, and Baker and Lake
Jr. High students: Rebecca Ros-
alez, Maty Gurule, Rita Duran,
Rosalee Gurule, Juanette Lu-
oero, Elaine Martinez, Terry
Romero, Tomas Lujan, George
Lujan,  and  Richard Martinez.
Oentro Cultural lent it's kitchen facilities for the preparation of the food that M..A.P.A.
(Mexican    American    Political
Association) prepared and
served the lettuce Strike marchers. Members of M.A.P.A. who
prepared and served the meals
are: Mr. and Mrs. Lupe Carlos,
Mark Medrano, Dee Rivers,
Chuck Garcia, Gilbert Martinez,
Bal Chavez, Jose Flores, and
Mrs. D. Carabajal.
Other Denver and West Side
organizations helped the marchers in different ways. The West
Side Action Council gave them
$250.00, Crusade for Justice
gave them food, the American
Friends Service Committee gave
them food and clothes for the
strikers In Center, Colorado,
Mrs. Juanita Herrera bought and
cooked food for them, and The
Mile High chapter of G.I. forum
contributed food for the strikers
in Pueblo and Center. Donations
can still be given to the striking
famlies through tftie Mile High
Chapter. You can take food,
clothes, etc. to Operation Ser
at 1049 Inca St.
or advanced beginners in Swimming.
All classes were held from 9
a,m. to 2 p.m. with a hot lunch
included.
PLANNED BY UMAS
GIRLS
La Academia del Barrio was
originated by Virginia Lucero
and Betty Castro, both students
at Metro State College and
members of UMAS (United
Mexican American Students).
They wrote a proposal and presented it to the West Side Action Council. It was passed unanimously, and the Council
funded it for $7,000. It was also
presented to the North Denver
Action Council and they also
passed it for $7,000. The American Lutheran Church contributed $2,500 and recently the Catholic Archdiocese funded the
school with a $6,000 grant.
Plans are now being worked out for an after-school program and on into another summer program.
The staff of La Academia
wishes to thank the residents
of both areas for their interest,
time and effort. Without them
the program would not have
been possible. Most importantly,
the children must be acknowledged for their whole-hearted
participation in the school.
FINAL PROGRAM BY
CHILDREN
La Academia wound up the
summer with a program at
Bryant Webster Elementary on
CONTRIBUTIONS FOR
THIS ISSUE OF THE
WEST SIDE RECORDER
(BASIC COST $700)
American Lutheran
Churches $200
Catholic Archdiocese   200
Colorado Printers     10
Engineering Drafting
School      10
Germaine Aragon
Family      10
First Bethany
Lutheran Church .... 10
First Mennonite
Church 10
Inner City Parish  10
St. Elizabeth's
Catholic Church....    10
St. John's Lutheran
Church     10
St. Joseph's
Catholic Church ...... 10
Wesley United
Methodist Church  .. 10
West Side Coalition .... 10
Thursday, August 27th from
7:00 to 9:00 and the West Side
made their presentation at Cen-
tro Cultural on August 26, Wednesday, also from 7:00 to 9:00.
The programs featured El
Teatro Academia, composed of
each and every child in the
school. They acted, sang, and
danced. Along with this there
was also displays of all kinds
from the different classes.