This flyer was designed by Irma C. Lerma Barbosa and Kathryn Garcia, members of the Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF), to promote the 1974 Conferencia Femenil (Women’s Conference ’74) held at the Centro de Artistas Chicanos de Aztlán, then RCAF headquarters, in Sacramento, California.
Organized and led by Lerma, this day-long conference centered on increasing access to available support and acts of mutual “ayuda” (aid). The objective was to bring together women from the community and connect them to essential resources on career pathways, traditional medicinal healing, family planning, and the impact of affirmative action for ethnic Mexican women. At the heart of the event was the fundamental acknowledgment of Chicana’s central role in the struggle for social change. The panels fostered intergenerational conversations where Chicanas discussed their distinctive experiences, rethinking their place in the home, the family, the Chicana/o Movement, and U.S. society at large.
The 1974 Conferencia Femenil (Women’s Conference ’74) was the first women’s conference organized by the RCAF and co-sponsored by the Washington Community Council and the National Education Task Force de la Raza, now UnidosUS.
The Royal Chicano Air Force
Formed in 1970 as the Rebel Chicano Art Front by Sacramento State professors, José Montoya and Esteban Villa along with their art students, the collective became known for their posters and murals. As was true of other artists at the time, their art was not individually signed, but marked with the group’s initials: RCAF. After being confused with the Royal Canadian Air Force, they decided to call themselves the Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF). After moving off-campus and establishing the nonprofit Centro de Artistas Chicanos in 1973, the RCAF was joined by members of La Raza Bookstore and Breakfast for Niños Program as well as other university students and professors, writers, photographers, musicians, dancers, community activists, and politicians. Together, they produced posters and community murals, art exhibitions, and literary programs as well as provided a free breakfast program for children, arts programs in schools, Chicano sports activities, and organized countless cultural and civic events and initiated annual spiritual ceremonies.
About donor:
Irma C. Lerma Barbosa is a Chicana Yaqui painter, printmaker, muralist, performance artist, Chicana civil rights activist, and community organizer deploying art to elevate marginalized voices and ignite collective action in the long struggle for social justice.
Lerma was born on June 10, 1949, in Elko, Nevada, to Yaqui Mexican parents with ancestral roots in the Pascua Yaqui Nation in Arizona and the Sierra Mountains of Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico. She grew up in Roseville and North Highlands in Sacramento County, California. Lerma became politically involved at an early age. As an agent of change, she worked with local community members and university students to identify and address issues affecting the Mexican community, participating in some of the most influential youth-led organizations of the Chicana/o Movement. Lerma joined the Brown Berets of Sacramento in 1969, later co-founding the Royal Chicano Air Force/RCAF in 1970 and Las CoMadres Artistas in 1992. From the late 1980s-1990s, she continued her commitment to social justice and civic engagement by working in the public and private sectors, including as president of the California State Employees Association, District Labor Council 787- Service Employees International Union.
A poster advertising the Longest Walk. The Longest Walk, held in 1978, consisted of a march from San Francisco, CA to Washington, DC to bring awareness to the rights of Native people and to protest eleven bills that threatened treaties between the government and several Native tribes.
This 1960s organizing pamphlet from the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) asks, “Where is Democracy?” Behind this question was a demand for equal representation for all who have felt excluded or marginalized by the electoral process and political institutions.
In the late 1970s, Rodolfo “Rudy” Cuellar, an artist in the Royal Chicano Air Force, repurposed aprons from another screen print job to design and print this apron for La Raza Bookstore, located in Sacramento, CA. Established in 1972, the bookstore was the brainchild of RCAF member Philip “Pike” Santos who collaborated with Sacramento State University (presently CSUS) students, including Juan Gutierrez, Pete Hernández, Gilbert Gamino, and Louie "the Foot" González, to bring the idea to life. Two years later, future executive and artistic director Terezita “Tere” Romo joined as a volunteer. The main mission of the bookstore was to redress the lack of access to Chicano/a, and later Native American, publications.
In 1980, Tere Romo secured funds to add an art gallery, Galería Posada. The gallery served as an important platform for creating and amplifying Chicana/o and Native American art and culture. It became La Raza Galeria Posada to reflect this additional component. The organization, nurtured by artists, writers, community members, and activists, became a social hub and cultural center, offering literary and musical programs, art exhibitions, and fostering community activism. La Raza Galería Posada ceased to exist in 2014.
The Royal Chicano Air Force
La Raza Bookstore and La Raza Galeria Posada were part of the Royal Chicano Air Force. Formed in 1970 as the Rebel Chicano Art Front by Sacramento State professors José Montoya and Esteban Villa, along with their art students, the collective became known for their posters and murals. Montoya and Esteban Villa, along with their art students, the collective became known for their posters and murals. As was true of other artists at the time, their art was not individually signed, but marked with the group’s initials: RCAF. After being confused with the Royal Canadian Air Force, they decided to call themselves the Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF). After moving off-campus and establishing the nonprofit Centro de Artistas Chicanos in 1973, the RCAF was joined by members of La Raza Bookstore and Breakfast for Niños Program as well as other university students and professors, writers, photographers, musicians, dancers, community activists, and politicians. Together, they produced posters and community murals, art exhibitions, and literary programs as well as provided a free breakfast program for children, arts programs in schools, Chicano sports activities, and organized countless cultural and civic events and initiated annual spiritual ceremonies.
About donor:
This object was donated by Irma C. Lerma Barbosa, a Chicana Yaqui painter, printmaker, muralist, performance artist, Chicana civil rights activist, and community organizer deploying art to elevate marginalized voices and ignite collective action in the long struggle for social justice.
Lerma was born on June 10, 1949, in Elko, Nevada, to Yaqui Mexican parents with ancestral roots in the Pascua Yaqui Nation in Arizona and the Sierra Mountains of Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico. She grew up in Roseville and North Highlands in Sacramento County, California. Lerma became politically involved at an early age. As an agent of change, she worked with local community members and university students to identify and address issues affecting the Mexican community, participating in some of the most influential youth-led organizations of the Chicana/o Movement. Lerma joined the Brown Berets of Sacramento in 1969, later co-founding the Royal Chicano Air Force/RCAF in 1970 and Las CoMadres Artistas in 1992. From the late 1980s-1990s, she continued her commitment to social justice and civic engagement by working in the public and private sectors, including as president of the California State Employees Association, District Labor Council 787- Service Employees International Union.
Customized college graduation cap, black, fabric, square in shape with a red and white tassel. Attached white border to the top of the cap and attached white flowers, paper monarch butterflies (emblems of immigrant rights activists), and a Mexican flag pin and an LGBTQ pride pin. Also, text in white which reads "I am one of those people Mexico sent" with an image of a colored cactus beneath it..
Worn by Jairo Javier Morales at his gradution from Ripon College, Ripon Wisconsin. When he walked across the stage to graduate, Jairo opened up his gown, brought out large monarch butterfly wings, and performed a “revealing” of his status and sexual orientation to the crowd. His cap states “I’m one of those people Mexico Sent.” He donated his graduation robe, cap and his handmade, handpainted butterfly wings.
The collection combines the two most recognizable symbols of DACA—the graduation robe and the monarch wings. Therefore, the graduation robe, serves double duty by telegraphing DACAs key messages: migration is necessary and beautiful (the wings) and undocumented students right to an education versus low-wage employment. Javier is an undocumented artist and activist who constructed a graduation gown that expands out into full monarch butterfly wings. Javier attended and graduated from Rippon College in Wisconsin where he was one of a handful of students of color. He became very well-known and respected at Rippon becoming the Director of Events in the Office of Student Activities. He wanted everyone to know that that the person they admired was undocumented. So he unfolded his wings at graduation despite thinking “I’m going to die.” He received a standing ovation.
A poster advertising a Civilan Police Accountablity Council which is to hold police accountable, conduct investigations, build trust in civilian oversight, and advance the culture of policing.