Annotations for Dates: 1968

For several months now, students along with Latino professors have tried to get a department by working through university channels. All of those attempts have failed. In fact, there have now been three generations of students since 1968 who've attempted to establish a Chicano studies department at the well-known campus. Now, the six students and one university professor, on the water only fast, say they're determined to continue even if it takes their lives.

Cal Tjader knew that and he went to the record one. So he came to see me and then we made the agreement to record two albums, one for his company, which were Verb records, and then we recorded the other one, Bamboleate with Tiko, moving from one direction, which is the authentic dance orchestra to get into the album that we merged with him because he saw right away I went into variations. We did a walls resemblance and things like that. It was very interesting and very educational for me and rewarding because Cal Tjader was a great, great player.

[Highlight--Music--Piano]

Eventually, for Palmieri, even La Perfecta wasn't perfect. And his classic recording Champagne signaled a change in his musical direction.

Highlight--Music--Salsa

This was done in 1968. That's where La Perfecta breaks up. The beginning of '68, we did a tour of Venezuela and after that, that was the ending of La Perfecta. Phase one curtain down, that was it. Boom.

My friends, today, on the 25th anniversary of our birth, I pledge to you that the National Council of La Raza will carry on the struggle.

That's Raul Yzaguirre, president of the National Council of La Raza, the nation's largest community-based Hispanic organization. At its recent national conference in Detroit, NCLR celebrated its 25th anniversary, and as Latino USA's Vidal Guzman reports, "While many of its members believe great strides have been made for Latinos over the past 25 years, they also see challenges and struggles ahead."

The 25th annual conference of the National Council of La Raza opened with a retrospective hosted by actor Edward James Olmos.

The year is 1968, and it is a year of tragedy. First, Martin Luther King, then Bobby Kennedy are killed by assassin's bullets. For those neither black nor white, but brown. It is a momentous year. In that year, a great organization is born in Phoenix, Arizona. It was then called the Southwest County...

As I look back, and I saw the photos of the marches we were doing, we were fighting discrimination.

Ed Pastor, a founding member, went on to become the first Latino congressman from the state of Arizona.

I look back, there's a lot of stories of success that people have empowered themselves and there has been movement forward, but the irony of the whole thing is that we have a long way to go.

This was made clear with a release during the conference of a report called the State of Hispanic America. According to the survey, Latinos are more likely to be among the working poor than other Americans. In 1991, one third of Latino families living below the poverty line had at least one full-time worker. The authors say this challenges the stereotype of poor Latinos, as well for recipients. Another study released at the conference focuses on Latinos in the Midwest; up to now, a largely invisible population. John Fierro, one of the authors of the report is Director of Community Affairs at the Guadalupe Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

Well, I think overall what we've seen was Hispanics in the Midwest resemble the national scene as far as educational attainment. Both areas suffer from high dropout rates. Poverty is high, the income is basically similar, but a couple things that stand out to me is definitely the labor force participation among Hispanic females, that when you look nationally, Hispanic females rank third among blacks, whites and Hispanics. Whereas in the Midwest, they're leaders.

Everyone in attendance at this 25-year retrospective agreed great accomplishments and great strides have been achieved. However, they also felt that many of the original problems that the council began to tackle in the sixties have still not disappeared, but they left the conference feeling the 90s will provide many opportunities for continued progress. NCRL president Raul Yzaguirre, echoed that sentiment.

We will win because our issues are America's issues, because ending poverty and discrimination is not only the right thing to do, it's the smart thing to do.

For Latino USA, covering the National Council of La Raza's 25th anniversary in Detroit, Michigan, I'm Vidal Guzman.

The Reverend Walker says he was actually surprised when the bus he was driving was seized. Even though the group stated they were making the trip to challenge the embargo against Cuba.

[Background--Afro-Cuban Jazz] This was done in 1968. That's when La Perfecta breaks up. The beginning of '68, we did a tour of Venezuela, and after that, that was the ending of La Perfecta, phase one, one curtain down. That was it. Boom.