About Mecha and Its History

What is Mecha?

Our philosophy is to educate and empower youth toward self-determination and increase the number of Latinx students in higher education to develop a sense of identity and cultural roots. We also serve as a support structure for students to ensure successful college completion as well as overall well-being. We seek unity and empowerment through political action and promote cultural diversity.

What is Mecha's Mission?

At the national level, it is an organization that seeks to promote Chicanx unity and empowerment through political action. It is a student organization that promotes higher education, cultura, and historia.

At Portland State, Mecha’s philosophy is to educate and empower youth toward self-determination and to provide our members with community and the resources necessary to develop their cultural identity through analyzing their place and worth as Latinx individuals. We aim to create a sense of belonging, create a network of support, and be a familia.

Here is a brief history of how Mecha developed since its vey beginnings:

The Beginnings: How it Started

MEChA began during the 1960s, it was empowered through the political movements at the time, especially the civil rights and Chicano Movement.
Year 1968:
- The Brown Berets were a youth organization that agitated against police brutality in East Los Angeles.
- March 6, 1968: The Brown Berets and other youth organized the East L.A. walkouts - a series of protests against unfair conditions in Los Angeles schools referred to as Chicano Blowouts.
- Students, school administrators, and teachers formed the Chicano Coordinating Committee on Higher Education (CCCHE) - a network to pressure the adoption and expansion of equal opportunity programs in California's colleges.

The Papeles

March 1969: In wake of a call for nationhood, the 1st Chicano Youth Liberation Conference was organized by Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales in Denver, CO. Here, the term ‘Chicanismo’ was coined & a manifesto plan was made: El Plan de Aztlan (EPA).
April of 1969: Over 100 Chicana/Chicano college students came together at University of California, Santa Barbara (USCB) to hold a nationwide conference & formulate a plan for higher education: El Plan de Santa Barbara (EPSB).
El Plan de Santa Barbara successfully helped develop two very important organizations to the Chicano Movement: Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (M.E.Ch.A.) and Chicano Studies.

Conference at University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB)

Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán was already in use by a few groups & the name was adopted by the conference attendees bc of the importance of each of the words & as a means of transcending the regional nature of the multiple campus-based groups.
Conference attendees also set the national agenda & drafted El Plan de Santa Bárbara, a pedagogic manifesto.
Mecha chapters first took root on California college campuses and then expanded to high schools & schools in other states.

Development of Mecha

There exists over 400 loosely affiliated chapters within the national organization.
Mecha consists of educational & social activities: such as academic tutoring, mentorship, folklore and poetry recitals, high school outreach, exploring the way of life through an indigenous perspective, bringing Chicano speakers to their campus, and attending Statewide, Regional, & National Conferences. Many chapters are also involved in political actions.

M.E.Ch.A. vs Mecha: The Name Change

The acronym M.E.Ch.A. stands for "Movimiento Chicano de Aztlan" (Chicano Student Movement of Aztlan).

The acronym is exclusionary as it does not reflect our openness to welcome and mobilize for any and every racial and ethnic group, gender non-conforming folks and Indegenous peoples.
At the 2019 National Conference at University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), it was voted to change the meaning of the acronym M.E.Ch.A., but there was no agreement on what it would be changed to.
At the 2020 National Conference, hosted by Arizona State University (ASU), it was decided the name "Mecha" would remain the same, but it would no longer include the acronym.

Acknowledgment - Quoted from Mecha National Update

We are an organization that combats all aspects of colonization and its legacies, especially settler colonialism, capitalism, white supremacy, anti-blackness, Transphobia and Queerphobia, imperialism, borders, and prisons

Mecha is the word for "match" or "what will spark the change"

Somos la mecha que hara el cambio - We are the match that will spark the change

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