In the late 1960s, a young Irma C. Lerma Barbosa, an original member of the Sacramento Brown Berets chapter, designed and hand-sewed this flag. The organization formed as response to the social inequities confronting ethnic Mexican communities and the need for community protection. Through this flag, Irma gave the working-class Chicana/o youth of Sacramento, committed to the ideals “to observe, serve, and protect,” a symbol of identity, unity, resistance, and power.
The Brown Berets of Sacramento, led by Freddy Rodriguez, proudly displayed this flag during rallies, protests, and community celebrations where they provided security for the community against police brutality and harassment. This flag is an emblem of Mexican American civil rights history and women's significant yet often unacknowledged contributions in the long struggle for social justice, freedom, equality, and self-determination.
The Brown Berets
The Brown Berets, originally organized in 1966 as the Young Citizens for Community Action and later the Young Chicanos for Community Action, formalized in 1967 by working-class Mexican American youths under the leadership of David Sánchez and Carlos Montes in the barrio of East Los Angeles. The organization, modeled in part after the Black Panther Party, ignited a new generation of Chicana/o youth with a new style of politics, one that rejected assimilation into mainstream white society, took pride in their Mexican heritage, and practiced direct action to assert their right to self-determination.
By 1969, the Brown Berets became one of the most prominent Chicana/o organizations, with over 20 chapters nationwide. Their 13-Point Political Program centered on self-determination and social, political, cultural, and economic liberation. The LA chapter supported the health and educational needs of the local community. They created the El Barrio Free Clinic (1968-1970), spearheaded by Gloria Arellanes, Chicana and Tongva heritage, supported high school students during the East LA Walkouts (1968), advocated for the development of ethnic studies on university campuses, and were part of the broad-based coalition the National Chicano Moratorium Committee Against the Vietnam War. The organization also published the newspaper La Causa that ran from 1969 to 1972.
Internal conflicts over leadership and direction led to the disbandment of the organization in 1972. Chicanas in the organization spoke out against the entrenched misogynistic culture of the Berets. Gloria Arellanes created the independent organization Las Adelitas de Aztlán in 1970. Today, several independent Brown Beret chapters remain active across the United States.
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 suporting the Black Panther Party. The Black Panthers are a revolutionary socialist political organization founded in 1966 by Bobby Seale and Huey Newton.
This is a white poster with a black border. There are eleven stripes, alternating blue and white, in a sunburst pattern. In the center, there is a figure of a Black man with his right arm raised and his shirt sleeves folded back. In his right hand is a machine gun. There is a red outline of his thumb and the thumbnail is red. He is wearing a beret. His eyes are red and his mouth is open as if shouting. On the left side of the poster are the words in italics, uppercase letters: "ONLY ON THE BONES OF THE OPPRESSOR CAN THE PEOPLE'S FREEDOM BE FOUNDED -- ONLY THE BLOOD OF THE OPPRESSOR CAN FERTILIZE THE SOIL FOR THE PEOPLE'S SELF-RULE." In the bottom center of the poster, outside the border, is a black panther. In the lower left corner is a description of Emory Douglas, the artist who designed the poster. In italics are the words "Revolutionary art by Minister of Culture EMORY." On the lower right corner are the words written in italics, "Ministry of Information / Box 2967 Custom House/ San Francisco CA 94126.
A hand-made deck of playing cards used by Freedom Riders in Parchman Penitentiary in Mississippi during the summer of 1961. The cards were made by cutting used envelopes into rectangles and writing the playing card that was represented on them with pencil. Some of the cards have the alternatating red and blue stripes of an airmail envelope around the edge. The deck is complete except for the 7 of diamonds. The ace of hearts bears the postmark of New York, NY, dated Aug. 7, 1961, and the name "Sally Rowley" can be pieced together using two cards. The donor, Joan Trumpauer Mulholland was herself a Freedom Rider.
