20250HR__012599INT INTRODUCED 2026-06-24 2025 HR INT Introduced by Assembly Member Valencia LEAD_AUTHOR ASSEMBLY Valencia Relative to Chicano Heritage Month. Chicano Heritage Month

WHEREAS, Chicano Heritage Month is celebrated in August to recognize the significant contributions of Mexican Americans to the history of the United States; and

WHEREAS, In 2021, the City of Santa Ana, California, became the first major city in the United States to declare August as “Chicano Heritage Month”; and

WHEREAS, “Chicano” or “Chicana” are sometimes used interchangeably with “Mexican American,” although the terms have different meanings for different people. Nonetheless, “Chicano” and “Chicana” were reclaimed by ethnic Mexicans in the 1960s and 1970s to express political empowerment, ethnic solidarity, and pride in being of Indigenous descent; and

WHEREAS, The Chicano Movement was a social and political movement in the United States inspired by prior acts of resistance among people of Mexican descent that worked to embrace a Chicano/Chicana identity and world view that combated structural racism, encouraged cultural revitalization, and achieved community empowerment by rejecting assimilation. Examples of this movement are shown through the advocacy work of individuals such as Vickie Castro, Ruben Salazar, Corky Gonzales, Sylvia Mendez, Dolores Huerta, and countless others; and

WHEREAS, The Chicano Movement was influenced by the Black Power movement, and both movements held similar objectives of community empowerment and liberation while also calling for Black-Brown unity; and

WHEREAS, California is home to 12.7 million people of Mexican origin, about percent of the state’s population, and roughly a third of all Mexican Americans in the country. Chicanos/Chicanas have been a long-standing part of the culture of the United States, with an undeniable influence in education, public safety, infrastructure, economic development, culinary arts, and governance; and

WHEREAS, The Chicano population grew from million in to over million in 2000; and

WHEREAS, People of Mexican origin alone make up about percent of all Californians, and roughly percent of the state’s Latino population; and

WHEREAS, Chicano and Chicana students remain underrepresented in the University of California and California State University systems. In 2015, only out of every Mexican American women and out of every men earned a bachelor’s degree; and

WHEREAS, According to State Department of Education statistics, over three million Chicano/Latino students are enrolled in California’s public K–12 schools. To put that into perspective, that is percent of total enrollment as of the 2025–26 school year; and

WHEREAS, Chicanos/Chicanas represent a significant and rapidly growing demographic and we honor their invaluable accomplishments and contributions;

now, therefore,

be it Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the Assembly recognizes August as Chicano Heritage Month and encourages Californians to join us in acknowledging and celebrating diversity in California; and be it further Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.