Find more information for the conference at https://www.facebook.com/MEChANationalConference/

The University of California, Los Angeles M.E.Ch.A. chapter is excited to host you in beautiful Los Angeles for the 26th MEChA National Conference! MEChA de UCLA is thrilled that you have chosen our chapter to host this momentous annual meeting on Friday, March 29th, 2019 - March 31st, 2019. We are well underway in our planning efforts!

We look forward to hosting you, see you soon!

-MEChA de UCLA

Find more information for the conference at mechanationals2018.com.

The University of Utah M.E.Ch.A. chapter is excited to host you in beautiful Salt Lake City for the 25th MEChA National Conference! MEChA de University of Utah is thrilled that you have chosen our chapter to host this momentous annual meeting on March 15th-18th, 2018.

MEChA de U of U has been saddened and angered by the recent political discourses and the surge of racist, anti-queer, sexist, xenophobic, islamophobic violence, both physical and emotional. We are truly inspired by the tenacity that our communities have demonstrated by continuing to fight back. We hope to celebrate and affirm our community’s resilience by sharing space, connecting, dialoguing, and collectively healing. We hope that the conference provides a space to think critically and explore issues of power, history, self-identity, and how we can decolonize the toxicity we have learned to normalize in order to take action and rebuild our communities.

We also recognize that an important part of MEChA is building relationships amongst our members, chapters, and community. We hope you take this time to check out Salt Lake City and Utah’s natural beauty. Salt Lake City is surrounded by national and state parks like Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Arches. In recent years, Salt Lake City has also been experiencing a demographic change where over half of the students in the public school system identify as Chicanx/Latinx. Despite its predominantly white population, Utah is home to increasing populations of color whose cultures and communities remain present and vibrant. Please be sure to support some of the local business owned by raza and check out the great work being done by some of our community members!

We look forward to hosting you. Much peace and love, and see you soon!

-MEChA de U of U

Art by Carlos Gamboa, Jorge Zapata, and Lau Zárate.

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the disappearance of 43 students from Ayotzinapa Normal School, a rural teacher’s college located in the southern state of Guerrero, Mexico.

It all started on September 26th in the town of Iguala, when police opened fire on three buses full of students. Six people were killed and 43 students were arrested, then handed to cartel hitmen from Guerreros Unidos. They have not been seen since.

On yet another sad anniversary without justice, MEChA stands with the families of the 43 disappeared students and the thousands of disappeared family collectives across Mexico.

¡Vivos se los llevaron, Vivos los queremos!

Online, graphic artists from all over have added art and portraits of the missing students to a Tumblr called Ilustradores con Ayotzinapa. Each illustration is a detailed portrait of a missing student. We invite you to visit this art gallery in remembrance of the missing students.

You can visit the online gallery at http://ilustradoresconayotzinapa.tumblr.com/

As a collective council of all ten regions representing students across the United States, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlán, also known as M.E.Ch.A., is heartbroken and disgusted at the Trump Administration’s decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

DACA was created on the foundation that those who applied and qualified for the program would remain in the U.S. without fear of deportation, allowing them to continue to work, study and be active members of our society. As our communities have been shocked into fear based on the decision that was made, we have to ensure our communities that we will do our best to be reactive—ensuring that they know their rights and what the decision on DACA means for them.

All of our MEChistAs, regardless of their documentation status, are invaluable. We are firmly committed to protecting the rights of each and every student who is part of our communities.

Let us continue to march, be loud, unapologetic and unafraid until our voices are heard for not just the 800,000 DACA recipients, but for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States. Ending DACA and its protections undermines the work that so many MEChistAs, past and present, have made to work hard to get to where they are and achieve so much.

¡La lucha sigue!

Sincerely, Angel Mandujano-Guevara, National Co-Chair 2016-2017

To all MEChA Chapters, Centrales, and Regions,

We, the National MEChA Coordinating Council of the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlán, are deeply disturbed and saddened by the outcome of the 2016 Presidential election. The past 24 hours we have witnessed a grave injustice occur against the nation we find ourselves in. A man unqualified to serve as “leader of the free world” has seized power. He is dangerous, as are those who support him. We have heard this kind of hateful rhetoric before, and it has pierced our hearts and minds and seeks to weaken our resolve. They have alluded to causing us physical harm, deporting immigrants, breaking families apart, further militarizing the U.S. southern border, and a myriad of other divisive tactics meant to oppress our communities.

This shameless individual will inevitably be the next President of the United States. The Republican party will control the House of Representatives, Senate and Supreme Court. In the past we have been subject to oppression from both sides of the U.S. political system, and together we have overcome comparable obstacles. Each chapter knows the best course of action to take to defend their communities moving forward.

We only seek to carve a place for ourselves in this world, and too often our determination for existence is met with hostility. In this time of great despondency, we ask our members across the country to gather their courage and stand strong together. Comfort each other and look ahead to the fight we now face. From Ferguson to Standing Rock, the last few years have set the stage for the future of all marginalized groups in this country, and we must stand together for our fellow Black, Brown, LGBTQIA+, Native American, and Undocumented Immigrant+ human beings. Many of us find ourselves disillusioned, depressed, and perhaps unable to comprehend what new challenges we will now face. We ask that you all comfort your allies, your families, and yourselves. As we continue to press forward, let us remember to reflect and heal often.

La Gente Unida, Jamas Sera Vencida

2016-17 National MEChA Coordinating Council

Additional Resources:
Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255
Trevor Project: 866-488-7386
ACLU Immigrant Rights
My (Un)Documented Life
United We Dream