Salsipuedes [Broken run of 6 issues].

Santa Barbara, CA: University of California, Santa Barbara/Community Service Center/La Casa de La Raza, 1969-1971. 16” x 11 3/8”. Newsprint. Pp. 8-12. Publication sequence [numbering inconsistent, as issued]: [July 1969]; Aug 22 1969; Vol. I (Feb 1970); Fiesta Issue (Aug 20 1970); Vol. II, No. 3 (Feb 1971); Vol. I, No. 5 [May 1971]. About very good: folded horizontally, likely as issued; one issue with a large section neatly excised and one with a few faint stains; several chips, tears and light wear to edges; lightly toned.

This is a group of six issues of a very scarce Spanish- and English-language newspaper produced by and for the Latin American community of Santa Barbara, California, Salsipuedes. The issues cover state, national and international news and politics, as well as uplift and outreach efforts by college students and the community. They are also filled with original poems, photographic images, cheeky cartoons and powerful Hispanic art.

Because it is the name of a major thoroughfare, dam and creek in the Santa Barbara area, online research on Salsipuedes proved nearly futile; thankfully the issues provide context. The paper appears to have been founded, at least in part, by student activists at UC Santa Barbara in 1969, very possibly with the first issue present, of July. In April of that year, Chicano students from twelve universities had met at UCSB; El Plan de Santa Barbára grew out of the conference. The Plan called for the unification of student activist groups into one umbrella organization, Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán, known as MEChA, and also led to the implementation of Chicano studies programs throughout the California university system. From 1969 to 1971, MEChA grew rapidly in California; it exists today (having gone through a number of name changes) as a national organization, per their Wikipedia page, “that seeks to promote Chicano unity and empowerment through political action.”

The second issue on offer here, of August 1969, has a staff list of six members, three of whom were women, including Mariana “Mary Anne” Marin. Marin helped to organize the landmark conference and draft El Plan; she graduated from UCSB in 1971 and had a long career as an attorney in the Office of the Legislative Counsel. This issue also has an article explaining the paper's name and goals:

“In the early days of Mexican Santa Barbara, Salsipuedes referred to the eastern part of town which being a slough represented a physical barrier to easy access. As a result, the name given to the street: leave if you can . . . Even in those days Salsipuedes also represented a social world, the world of the low-born or poor . . . For us, Salsipuedes represents a specific historical reality, but also a challenge and a promise . . . a rebirth of our spirit and of our social involvement . . . If in the past the word expressed physical and social barriers, in the present it will express our creativity and our pride, in short, our liberation. A newspaper dedicated to the common good . . .”

The February 1970 issue shared news and information on MEChA, as well as the ongoing grape boycott and “How You Can Help Farm Workers.” An article in Spanish bemoaned the unique problems facing the community (injustice, poverty, lack of education and job opportunities), and beseeched residents to vote (“¡Sí Se Puede!”) “to improve our economic, political and educational situation.” There was news of local high schools and colleges, including “La Causa Drill Team,” “made up of junior high school Chicano students . . . to emphasize pride and awareness and to develop discipline and leadership among the members.” It also ran legal and medical aid services, including a clinic schedule, and great illustrated ads for restaurants, a realtor, clothiers and an “Artist's Co-Op.”

The Fiesta Issue of August 1970 included the statement of purpose and ten-point program of “Los Brown Berets,” as well as a call to boycott the “Old Spanish Day Fiesta”: “The majority of Santa Barbarans at the onset of the Anglo invasion were not Spanish but Indian and Mestizos. These are the people who built and made Santa Barbara.” It covered the National Chicano Moratorium rally in Los Angeles and recommended books available from “La Causa Distributors.” The February 1971 issue reported on legal action taken by the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee, police brutality at a peaceful demonstration against such, news from Spain and Cuba, and a special feature with large, beautiful images of art works by Diego Rivera. It called for a boycott of Coors beer per their discriminatory employment practices, covered the “Chicano Positive Movement” as well as a local “Escuela Project” for children and “Community Health Task Force.” There was also a full-page petition to Governor Reagan “for redress of grievances from the Mexican-American and Spanish surnamed community.” All of the issues ran original poems, cartoons and Latin American-inspired graphic designs and illustrations. Many had powerful art or photographic images gracing the entire rear page, along with messages of Chicano dissent or aspiration.

The last issue on offer here announced the paper's new headquarters, La Casa de La Raza, the “new cultural-service center for the Spanish-speaking,” “open to all individuals wanting to better our community through a joint working effort.” The center's offerings were to include “free health and legal services, evening classes, a bi-lingual library and child care center, recreational facilities, and cultural events such as the First Annual Feria de Arte” (art fair), presented by Santa Barbara Mexican American Educators on May 2, 1971. A 2022 article we found online called La Casa “Santa Barbara's First Latinx City Landmark” and celebrated its having been an “integral community space for over 50 years.” We found evidence of Salsipuedes existing only until November or December, 1971.

A fantastic group of issues of this little-known but powerful Latino/a American newspaper. OCLC locates two holdings of one physical issue each at the University of Kansas and University of Texas at Austin, with limited microfilm holdings at 13 institutions. Searching the Online Archive of California revealed the possibility of other physical issues within two collections at UCSB, one in a collection at UC San Diego, and two issues, possibly bound together, at the University of California, Berkeley. Very good. Item #8188

Price: $875.00