Marysville Joint Unified School District attacks Chicano student club MeCha, censoring student activity, abolishing student organizing

REINSTATE M.E.Ch.A!: MARCH, PRESS CONFERENCE & PICKET
posted to [facebook.com/events/714092605281400/permalink/714252045265456]:
~ ~ THE FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHT TO ORGANIZE AS STUDENTS CONTINUES! ~ ~
FILING OF CLAIM AT DISTRICT OFFICE THEN MARCH, PRESS CONFERENCE AND PICKET  AT HIGH SCHOOL: Students demand re-instating of terminated campus student organization!
Friday, January 10, 2014 -
* 9am - Attorney will file claim at the Marysville Joint Unified School District office [1919 B Street, Marysville, Ca. 95901] followed by a march from the district office to the high school.
* 10am - PRESS CONFERENCE and PICKET at Lindhurst High School [4446
Olive Avenue, Olivehurst, CA 95961]

Check out the Moving Mural that students from MEChA de Lindhurst High School created for tomorrow's Press Conference, March and Picket at Lindhurst High!

Another stencil made by Lindhurst High MEChistas. Si se puede!


Press release from Law Offices of James P. Segall-Gutierrez [562-321-5950] [6709 Greenleaf Ave., Ste. 202 Whittier, CA 90601] [jpsglaw@gmail.com], posted to [https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bzc7MxG-0AejMUFxNjVZb3NQc2s]
On the week of October 4, 2013, administration officials at Lindhurst High School decided to implement a ban which terminated the M.E.Ch.A. student organization from school. By doing so Lindhurst High School has blatantly denied Chicana and Chicano students an opportunity to extend and enhance their study of curriculum subjects, focusing on democracy, civil rights, equality, discrimination and diversity with an eye toward the perspectives of Chicanas and Chicanos. In denying the club recognition, Marysville Joint Unified School District, Lindhurst High School & Bob Eckardt, Principal of Lindhurst High School, have trampled on students' first amendment rights of speech and expressive association.
To that end, students, parents and community have retained the services of the Law Offices of James P. Segal Gutierrez. At 9am, attorney James P. Segal Gutierrez will file the claim for damages at the Marysville Joint Unified School District. This will be followed by a short march to Lindhurst High School for the 10am press conference and picket, where it will be publicly announced that the law has filed the claim for damages for violations of denying freedom of speech, expression and assembly on behalf of the student members of the campus student organization - the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicana/o de Aztlan (MEChA) Lindhurst High School chapter.
The Law Offices of James P. Segal Gutierrez on behalf of the student members of MEChA of Lindhurst High School sent a letter to both Principal Bob Eckardt and Superintedent Dr. Gray Todd a month ago on December 5, 2013 outlining several basic demands to avoid entering into a legal battle. The demands were; allow MEChA to meet on school grounds, access to their funds, the implementation of more conducive environments for Chicana and Chicano learning. Thus far, the administration has not responded and now students and community will proceed with entering into a legal fight to secure their rights.


2014-01-07 letter from  Elias Serna, English PhD Candidate, Professor at CSUDH, Member of Association of Mexican American Educators Santa Monica / West LA Chapter:
Dear Principal Eckardt,
I am writing to you regarding the status of MEChA. I am a former high school teacher, currently a college instructor, and a former MEChA student in college. I find it unbelievable that you are playing power politics with young people.
The history of MEChA is in the Civil rights movement, especially in California where this group pioneered Ethnic Studies curriculum and led the racial diversification movement of university admissions, a cornerstone of the Civil rights movement. THis legacy is incontestable. It seems you are swallowing the propaganda wholesale that far right wing Republicans state about MEChA (which is mythical, one-sided and malicious); I certainly hope you are not a far right wing Republican.
Thousands if not more support MEChA/Chican@ Rights to assemble, speak/advocate, organize, study our culture : these are HUMAN RIGHTS. I cant believe this is happening in the "21st century" and let me remind you that California is NOT Arizona.
MLK holiday is coming up: how can you "celebrate racial harmony" when you are violating the human rights of Chicano/Latino young people?? Is the curriculum at your school culturally relevant, as it should be, or are Chicano contributions & histories being banned too? Do you offer a Chicano Literature class in your English department? Are the histories of Mexican Americans, African Americans and Indigenous peoples taught at your school? MLK, MEChA, Cesar Chavez and Ethnic/Chicano Studies movements were all part of the Civil Rights movement for racial justice and equality... do you stand against this? Republican Arizona was the only state to vote against the MLK national holiday in the 90's; I certainly hope you are not of this camp.
I await your reply.