Research compiled by: Griselda A. and Pamela V.
The Chicano Power Patch symbolizes breaking the chains of discrimination. This symbol was popular in the Chicano Movement in Southern California. The patches were sold for fundraising efforts to help farm workers who were on strike (huelga), protesting for better living and working conditions.
Pat Mckee-Velasquez was the director at the Chicano Awareness Center in 1988. He later moved from Omaha to a different community in San Diego, California. Mckee-Velasquez is a valuable example of community leadership. He was there for a short period of time but he maintained the centers mission to provide education, culture tradition, and other community support. Catalina Quezada is the current director of the Latino Center of the Midlands. She helps her community succeed. Some of the services that the Latino Center of the Midlands offers the community include General Educational Development (GED), Literacy, English as a Second Language (ESL), and Computer Literacy.
Chicano Awareness Center to the Latino Center of the Midlands is located off 24th Street. The location hasn't changed since it first opened in 1971. The Culture Awareness Center changed its name in the early 1990's because more immigrants came from different Spanish speaking countries. Abelardo Hernandez, Alberto Rodriguez, and Jose Ramirez where the founders of the Chicano Awareness Center in the early 1970s the building is still up in South Omaha. The building is now called Latino Center of the Midlands. Even though the Chicano Awareness Center has changed it’s name to include the larger Latino community, the purpose has remained the same, to teach Spanish and English in the community.