On Saturday, September 6, the Westside Chicano Moratorium will return to the streets of Los Angeles to mark the 55th anniversary of one of the largest anti-war demonstrations in U.S. history. The day will begin with a rally and march starting at Palms and Sepulveda and continue with a community gathering at the Mar Vista Recreation Center on unceded Tongva land.
The original Chicano Moratorium of August 29, 1970 brought tens of thousands of Chicanos into the streets of East LA to oppose the Vietnam War and the systemic racism facing their communities in schools, jobs, and immigration enforcement. This year’s Westside gathering connects that legacy to today’s struggles, calling for an end to what organizers describe as the occupation of Palestine by the IOF and the occupation of Los Angeles by ICE.
Organizers have identified four central demands that reflect both global and local struggles. They are demanding the removal of ICE from Los Angeles, an end to policing practices that rely on surveillance, racial profiling, and collaboration between local police and federal immigration authorities, an end to the genocide in Palestine including a call for an arms embargo, and the full protection of public education including ethnic studies.
The event is being organized and endorsed by a broad coalition of groups including Westside for Palestine, Community Solidarity Project, Palms Unhoused Mutual Aid, Venice Justice, CD11 Coalition for Human Rights, Ground Game LA, DSA Los Angeles, the Peace and Freedom Party Los Angeles, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Throughout the day local organizations will table in the park, share resources, and invite neighbors to get involved in ongoing campaigns.
The schedule begins with crowd gathering at 9 am, followed by an opening rally and march. By late morning the march will return to the park where speakers, music, art, and cultural expression will carry the event through to 1 pm. Organizers say participants can expect powerful visuals including custom banners, matching shirts, flags, and community art.
The Westside Chicano Moratorium is not only a commemoration of history but also a statement on the present. Organizers point to U.S. tax dollars funding immigration enforcement and foreign wars while displacement pushes working class families out of neighborhoods like Venice, Santa Monica, Culver City, and Sawtelle. Their message is that the struggle against war, racism, and occupation is not a thing of the past but an urgent fight of today.