What Can We Learn From Historic Youth Movements?

UnTextbooked is back with a new episode in our series, “UnTextbooking the Museum Collections.” We're sharing the untold story of Irma Lerma Barbosa, a Chicana activist and artist whose work will be preserved for years to come in the National Museum of American History's Collections. Curator Veronica Mendez tells us how this acquisition came to be and why it’s historically significant in telling the long history of the Latina/o Civil Rights Movement

Irma attended college at a time when the Chicano movement was just gaining momentum – and she jumped right into fighting for her community. Picture this – a legacy that includes being welcomed into Cesar Chavez's family home through her time in the United Farm Workers Movement, leadership with the Brown Berets, spearheading a free breakfast program to help her community, and eventually founding her own woman-led arts collective.

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Show Notes:

(00:00) - Introduction to Irma Lerma Barbosa

(3:06) - Veronica Mendez, Smithsonian Curator

(4:25) - Irma’s early life & joining Brown Berets

(8:14) - What is the Chicano Movement?

(10:41) - Connection to the Black Panthers

(13:04) - Smithsonian Acquisition

(15:01) - Brown Berets Flag

(20:15) - Royal Chicano Air Force

(24:38) - Irma’s Place in History & Gender

(30:49) - What Sustains Political Movements?

(34:13) - What’s Special About Youth Activism?

(38:53) - Outro