The Fire That Will Never Die

Poetry to Honor the 1970 Chicano Moratorium

“National Chicano Moratorium March August 29, 1970” by Kjmagnuson, CC BY 2.0.

We are proud to publish the poem entitled “La Moratoria Chicana – Un Incendio Que Nunca Muere,” written in 1991 by veteran Chicano organizer Bill Gallegos. Also see Bill’s August 29, 2025, article in The Nation: Why We Should Honor the Chicano Moratorium Against the War.

This August 29th marks the 55th anniversary of the Chicano Moratorium Against the US War against Vietnam. The Moratorium was the largest anti-war action organized by an oppressed community of color. Upwards of 25,000 Chicanos and Chicanas, overwhelmingly working class, marched and rallied in East Los Angeles, California to demand an end to the war.  

The Moratorium was organized by Chicano revolutionaries from California, Colorado and other Southwestern states, and raised the slogans “Our War Is in The Barrios, Not in Vietnam,” and “Raza Sí, Guerra No!” The Moratorium was motivated in part by the huge casualty rate of Chicano soldiers in Vietnam contrasted with the pitiful low numbers of Chicanos in colleges and universities, and the disproportionately high numbers of Chicanos in US jails and prisons.  

The peaceful Moratorium was brutally attacked by Los Angeles sheriffs who murdered three Moratorium participants and injured dozens more. It stands today as a symbol of international solidarity, of national liberation, and of the struggle for true democracy and self-determination. The Moratorium celebrations have been kept alive by a small number of activists and it is to the shame of the US Left that this extraordinary action against US imperialism is not celebrated broadly as a proud moment of peoples’ history.

La Moratoria Chicana – Un Incendio Que Nunca Muere

Waves crashing through the streets of a hot and smoggy barrio.
Thunder/thunder…pounding along the shoreline of poverty. La Playa de Opresion.
Raza Sí! Guerra No! / Raza Sí!  Guerra No! / Raza Sí!  Guerra No!
An ancient sound; a holy sound: un grito por la paz.

We will die for you no more. Our blood will no longer flow for bankers and crooks.
Our flesh will never again rot for pitiful dreams of stolen wealth.
We will continue to die; but we will die in a noble way … we will die fighting you.

25,000 of us say, “Hell No. We Won’t Go!”
But we will stay 
And fight you.
We will sacrifice our youth / La Primavera, to fight you;
To build on your ruins something beautiful, 
Untouched by your corruption.

Raza Sí! Guerra No! Raza Sí! Guerra No! Raza Sí! Guerra No!
A new prayer / a new song / a new poem / a new dream…..
For our homeland / nuestra gente / nuestra Nación.

Don’t call me wetback.
Don’t talk about Spics, beaners, and dirty Mexicans. 
Don’t tell me about “my place.”
This is our place / our barrio / our colonia / our comunidad;
Racist / earth-destroyer / dying boss of a dying empire.
You better watch yourself here.  

25,000 in a Moratorium Against Your War.
We will fight you … / To the Death: 
the toilers / seekers of knowledge / creators of Art /
The youthful future of our people / experienced teacher of past generations …
ALL, ALL: WE WILL ALL FIGHT YOU!
Nuestra Guerra es Aquí!  Nuestra Guerra Es Aquí!  Aquí estamos y no nos vamos.

You attack.
2500 cops sent to kill us.
Mindless, they shoot / kill / maim / burn / march on the dignity of our jefitos.
Yes, you did murder four of our sons: Salazar, Ward, Díaz, and Montag
But look how they rise from the grave!
Watch their faces in the thousands who throw stones through your cowardice;
Who torch your ragged inhumanity.

Can you see their somber warning as they live again?
Can’t you see the outlines of their souls
In the flames which raise bold tongues to heaven?

The Moratorium / La Moratoria: the fire that will never die.