“To be a Chicano in the mid 20th century meant witnessing the Chicano Movement that was occurring on the west coast. Though, to be a Chicano in the Midwest meant having the responsibility to carry the themes of this social movement to a region where the cultural and social representation of the Chicano community was scarce. The purpose of this research project was to uncover the ways in which The Midwest Council of La Raza(MWCLR) impacted this region of the country and further established and empowered the lasting Mexican American presence. The group of midwestern representatives and university students made it their goal to highlight the issues that impacted the Chicano community in the Midwest such as immigration, activism, and workers’ rights.
As a third generation self-identifying Chicana now located in Indianapolis, I am curious as to how the Chicano experience has both aligned and diverged from the narrative deriving from the west coast that largely dominates the field of Latino/a studies across the country. Though I do not foresee myself continuing research on this particular organization in the near future, my hope is that my research will give a midwestern voice to the field of Latino/a Studies, one that has largely been dominated by the southwestern narrative.”