The August 29th Movement (or August Twenty-Ninth Movement, ATM) was a

Chicano Chicano (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

organization that lasted from 1974 to 1978. It formed out of the Labor Committee of La Raza Unida Party in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and other collectives, officially forming at a Unity Conference in May 1974. It was one of several organizations that were part of the

New Communist Movement The New Communist movement (NCM) was a diverse left-wing political movement during the 1970s and 1980s in the United States. The NCM were a movement of the New Left that represented a diverse grouping of Marxist–Leninists and Maoists inspired ...

, which were influenced by the thought of

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

and

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

's theories on the National Question. The ATM published a manifesto, "Fan The Flames: A Revolutionary Position on the Chicano National Question," in 1975. In it, the organization articulated the view that Chicanos living in the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

were an oppressed nation due to the annexation of northern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

in the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War (Spanish language, Spanish: ''guerra de Estados Unidos-México, guerra mexicano-estadounidense''), also known in the United States as the Mexican War, and in Mexico as the United States intervention in Mexico, ...

of 1846–48, and had a right to independence. The strategy of ATM, like other NCM formations, was to build a multinational communist party. The August Twenty-Ninth Movement published a newspaper, ''Revolutionary Cause'', and a theoretical journal, ''The Red Banner''. In

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

, the ATM chapter entered into the Chicano Communications Center, a media organization founded by Elizabeth "Betita" Martinez. They were responsible for the destruction of an entire edition of her book ''450 Years of Chicano History'', one of the first Chicano histories, due to disagreement of how ATM saw the books portrayal of the Chicano National Question.Martinez, Elizabeth Betita. "A View from New Mexico: Recollections of the Movimiento Left." ''Monthly Review''. July–August 2002. http://www.monthlyreview.org/0702martinez.htm. In 1978, ATM merged with

I Wor Kuen I Wor Kuen () was a radical Marxist Asian American collective that originally formed in 1969 in New York City's Chinatown. Borrowing from the ideologies of the Young Lords and the Black Panthers, IWK organized several community programs and pro ...

, an

Asian-American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for ...

Communist organization, to form the

League of Revolutionary Struggle League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Leagues (band), ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer ...

Publications

* ''Dasco Strike: Lessons for the M-L Movement''. August 29 Movement, 1974?, 7p. * ''Unity Statement'', 1974. * ''Fan the Flames: A Revolutionary Position on the Chicano National Question'', 1975. * ''Selected speeches presented at forums by the August 29 Movement 1974–1975 : Marxist-Leninists unite!,'' 1976?. * ''The Red Banner: The Theoretical Journal of the August Twenty-Ninth Movement (ML).'' * ''Revolutionary Cause=Causa Revolucionaria''. Newspaper.

References

Sources

Bill Gallegos: They Wanted to Serve the People

External links

History of Mexican Americans Defunct Maoist organizations in the United States 1978 disestablishments in California 1974 establishments in California New Communist Movement organizations {{US-party-stub