Can you do the Chicano Clap? No? Well, StoryCorps knows a few folks out West you can give a call…
KJZZ on-air personality Marcos Najera shared the StoryCorps experience with his parents, Ascencion “Sonny” Najera and Yolanda Najera, and his godmother, Rosie López. Earlier that day, Yolanda and Rosie marched with other locals in Phoenix, Arizona’s Stop the Hate March. Led by the National Day Laborers Organizing Network (NDLON), one of this peaceful demonstration’s goals was to raise public awareness of the need for immigrants’ rights and equal opportunities.
The morning’s activities sparked the Najera’s afternoon conversation, bringing about memories of similar demonstrations in the 1960s and 1970s when Sonny, Rosie, and Yolanda, all long-time friends, attended Arizona State University. This was during the early days of Chicanos por La Causa, an equal rights advocacy organization that Sonny initiated and helped name. Looking back on his years of activism, Sonny says, “We live in a world of many races. So, we have to be ready to help everybody. That, to me, is my goal.”
