MCO and Latino Community Formation - Revision history

Ccarlsson: added Baca photo

2025-10-24T20:47:50Z

added Baca photo

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:47, 24 October 2025
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	''Photo: Tim Drescher''		''Photo: Tim Drescher''

			[[Image:MCO-mural-Folsom-and-23rd-bw Henry-Baca-c-1980.jpg]]

			'''Another view, c. 1980.'''

			''Photo: Henry Baca''

	Early MCO campaigns sought to create new playgrounds, ban pawn shops on Mission, and convert an adult theater in the neighborhood into a family theater. In each instance, they sought both cosmetic and systemic change, finding creative ways to make their district more responsive to the needs of its family residents. For example, earlier redevelopment in South of Market area pushed some businesses southward to the Mission. One of those businesses was an adult theater whose presence in the neighborhood would have been unheard of in an earlier generation. After unsuccessful negotiations with the owner, the MCO targeted theater patrons, picketing the theater entrance. They handed out fliers declaring their intention to notify the patrons’ neighborhoods of their patronage. To add a serious tone to their tactic, members followed theatergoers and took down their license numbers. They even had a nun take photos as customers entered, though her camera had no film.		Early MCO campaigns sought to create new playgrounds, ban pawn shops on Mission, and convert an adult theater in the neighborhood into a family theater. In each instance, they sought both cosmetic and systemic change, finding creative ways to make their district more responsive to the needs of its family residents. For example, earlier redevelopment in South of Market area pushed some businesses southward to the Mission. One of those businesses was an adult theater whose presence in the neighborhood would have been unheard of in an earlier generation. After unsuccessful negotiations with the owner, the MCO targeted theater patrons, picketing the theater entrance. They handed out fliers declaring their intention to notify the patrons’ neighborhoods of their patronage. To add a serious tone to their tactic, members followed theatergoers and took down their license numbers. They even had a nun take photos as customers entered, though her camera had no film.

Ccarlsson at 05:56, 24 November 2021

2021-11-24T05:56:44Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:56, 23 November 2021
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	26. Miller, interview.<br>		26. Miller, interview.<br>

	[[Image:Ten Years small 87286100958430M.gif]] Find the book at [~~http~~://~~www.~~citylights.com/~~book~~/~~?GCOI=87286100958430~~ City Lights]!		[[Image:Ten Years small 87286100958430M.gif]] Find the book at [https://citylights.com/foundation-books/10-years-that-shook-the-city-sf-68-78/ City Lights]!


	[[category:Dissent]] [[category:Mission]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:Latino]] [[category:Ten Years That Shook the City]] [[category:2000s]] [[category:Redevelopment]]		[[category:Dissent]] [[category:Mission]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:Latino]] [[category:Ten Years That Shook the City]] [[category:2000s]] [[category:Redevelopment]]
	[[category:Mexican]] [[category:Nicaraguan]] [[category:Salvadoran]] [[category:Bay Area Social Movements]]		[[category:Mexican]] [[category:Nicaraguan]] [[category:Salvadoran]] [[category:Bay Area Social Movements]]

Ccarlsson at 05:26, 8 July 2021

2021-07-08T05:26:27Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:26, 7 July 2021
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	As the first mass meeting of the MCO, the convention would foster their democratic ideal by providing for the selection of officials, committees, and bylaws. But it could only work if a representative group showed up. As the organizing group’s leader, Martinez sought to harness the support of labor, who had only been lukewarm participants in MCOR. Exploiting his close ties to Gonzalez, he recruited the Obreros, and Local 261 also provided financial support. Tuttle and John McReynolds focused on organizing the grassroots constituencies for the convention. Mike Miller—with connections to Saul Alinsky and experience in SNCC—was hired as the full-time community organizer. The United Presbyterian Church donated money and staff support, in the assignment of Rev. Knotts. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of the city was also on board. Though diverse, like MCOR, the MCO relied on a broad Latino organizational base.		As the first mass meeting of the MCO, the convention would foster their democratic ideal by providing for the selection of officials, committees, and bylaws. But it could only work if a representative group showed up. As the organizing group’s leader, Martinez sought to harness the support of labor, who had only been lukewarm participants in MCOR. Exploiting his close ties to Gonzalez, he recruited the Obreros, and Local 261 also provided financial support. Tuttle and John McReynolds focused on organizing the grassroots constituencies for the convention. Mike Miller—with connections to Saul Alinsky and experience in SNCC—was hired as the full-time community organizer. The United Presbyterian Church donated money and staff support, in the assignment of Rev. Knotts. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of the city was also on board. Though diverse, like MCOR, the MCO relied on a broad Latino organizational base.

	At the first convention, in October 1968, over sixty organizations participated, representing an attendance of between six and seven hundred. Almost immediately, the gathering exposed the tensions within the district. Seemingly a debate on political tactics, the tensions also exposed a generational divide. Established and fairly mainstream organizations sought control over Model Cities funds, a status only assured if the city recognized the MCO as the legitimate representative in the district. To a varied youth contingent empowered by local, radical politics, this suggested a kind of reformism out of step with meaningful change. Groups like the Mission Rebels in Action, for example—an active youth-serving agency—embodied a militant posture. Seeing convention leaders as “sell-outs,” the Rebels took to the stage during the proceedings, seized the microphone, and called the gathering a “farce.” As the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' reported, the Rebels then tried to nominate their own platform of leaders.(11) While their tactics upset most in the audience—especially those who knew the group was partially funded by the Equal ~~Oppportunity~~ Commission and, hence, part of the aid bureaucracy in the Mission—the group did manage to stall the agenda.		At the first convention, in October 1968, over sixty organizations participated, representing an attendance of between six and seven hundred. Almost immediately, the gathering exposed the tensions within the district. Seemingly a debate on political tactics, the tensions also exposed a generational divide. Established and fairly mainstream organizations sought control over Model Cities funds, a status only assured if the city recognized the MCO as the legitimate representative in the district. To a varied youth contingent empowered by local, radical politics, this suggested a kind of reformism out of step with meaningful change. Groups like the Mission Rebels in Action, for example—an active youth-serving agency—embodied a militant posture. Seeing convention leaders as “sell-outs,” the Rebels took to the stage during the proceedings, seized the microphone, and called the gathering a “farce.” As the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' reported, the Rebels then tried to nominate their own platform of leaders.(11) While their tactics upset most in the audience—especially those who knew the group was partially funded by the Equal Opportunity Commission and, hence, part of the aid bureaucracy in the Mission—the group did manage to stall the agenda.

	[[Image:Mission rebels 1970s.jpg\|720px]]		[[Image:Mission rebels 1970s.jpg\|720px]]

Ccarlsson: added photo

2020-06-02T02:55:49Z

added photo

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:55, 1 June 2020
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	''Photo: Chris Carlsson''		''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

			[[Image:11 MCO.jpg]]

			'''MCO mural by Michael Rios at 23rd and Folsom, c. 1977.'''

			''Photo: Tim Drescher''

	Early MCO campaigns sought to create new playgrounds, ban pawn shops on Mission, and convert an adult theater in the neighborhood into a family theater. In each instance, they sought both cosmetic and systemic change, finding creative ways to make their district more responsive to the needs of its family residents. For example, earlier redevelopment in South of Market area pushed some businesses southward to the Mission. One of those businesses was an adult theater whose presence in the neighborhood would have been unheard of in an earlier generation. After unsuccessful negotiations with the owner, the MCO targeted theater patrons, picketing the theater entrance. They handed out fliers declaring their intention to notify the patrons’ neighborhoods of their patronage. To add a serious tone to their tactic, members followed theatergoers and took down their license numbers. They even had a nun take photos as customers entered, though her camera had no film.		Early MCO campaigns sought to create new playgrounds, ban pawn shops on Mission, and convert an adult theater in the neighborhood into a family theater. In each instance, they sought both cosmetic and systemic change, finding creative ways to make their district more responsive to the needs of its family residents. For example, earlier redevelopment in South of Market area pushed some businesses southward to the Mission. One of those businesses was an adult theater whose presence in the neighborhood would have been unheard of in an earlier generation. After unsuccessful negotiations with the owner, the MCO targeted theater patrons, picketing the theater entrance. They handed out fliers declaring their intention to notify the patrons’ neighborhoods of their patronage. To add a serious tone to their tactic, members followed theatergoers and took down their license numbers. They even had a nun take photos as customers entered, though her camera had no film.

Ccarlsson at 20:54, 4 September 2018

2018-09-04T20:54:11Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:54, 4 September 2018
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	[[Image:MCO-bldg-at-23rd-and-Folsom 20180818 200841.jpg]]		[[Image:MCO-bldg-at-23rd-and-Folsom 20180818 200841.jpg]]

	'''The former MCO offices at the corner of Folsom and 23rd, seen here in 2018.'''		'''The former MCO offices at the corner of Folsom and 23rd, seen here in 2018, the trees cover the wall that was once graced with Rios's mural.'''

	''Photo: Chris Carlsson''		''Photo: Chris Carlsson''

Ccarlsson: added photos

2018-09-04T20:52:58Z

added photos

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 Individually, each organization represented a slice of the Mission District. Joined together under the threat of redevelopment, they left few recognizable constituencies unrepresented. This unlikely merging of the neighborhood’s political and demographic diversity began in earnest when Bartalini called Ross. Revs. Grace and Knotts also saw the issue as a potential catalyst for a broad-based community movement. These varied efforts culminated in 1966 with the creation of the Mission Council on Redevelopment (MCOR). Though Bartalini and Hall demanded MCOR stand unequivocally opposed to the SFRA plans, the organizational base was more interested in creating an authentic representational body whose voice City Hall could not ignore. Only in that way could residents control their neighborhood’s future. To preserve that possibility, they did not oppose urban renewal, but instead sought the power of the veto over its local manifestation. Recognizing that goal could only be met if they legitimately represented their neighborhood, MCOR recruited the Catholic network, the Obreros, block clubs and tenants’ associations, Protestant churches, and various Latino organizations.
-[[Image:Barrett-We-Demand-to-Negotiate-MCO-w-picketers.jpg|420px|left|thumb|MCO picketers outside of Mission District building, 1970; ''Photo: [http://eltecolote.org/content/ El Tecolote] archives'']] MCOR represented the authentic diversity of the Mission, inclusive of poor and middle class, propertied and renter, Catholic and Protestant, and the multiracial population who called it home. The Mission Renewal Commission—comprised of large, local merchants—represented the lone, local voice supporting urban renewal. Consistently asking, “Where am I in this picture?” as plans progressed, MCOR demanded everyday people be considered as redevelopment came before the Mission and, later, the Board of Supervisors. Though the homeowners left MCOR in opposition to their willingness to negotiate, and the Obreros and other labor groups provided only minimal support, MCOR emerged successful in the early winter. When Mayor Shelley could not accede to an MCOR veto, the group sought to scuttle any redevelopment efforts. In December 1966, faced with the overwhelming opposition of most of the community, the Board of Supervisors squashed renewal.(8)
+[[Image:Barrett-We-Demand-to-Negotiate-MCO-w-picketers.jpg|420px|left]]
 Once they won the Board’s vote, MCOR—organized as a single-issue coalition—ceased activity in early 1967. The Mission, however, still confronted the fundamental issues inciting the city’s redevelopment crusade. In one square mile tract, representing the heart of the district, more than 2,000 units out of 15,000 were classified as deteriorating. Two hundred and sixty-two homes were listed as dilapidated. Local groups estimated that by the mid-1960s only 20% of the residents owned their own home. Additionally, residents confronted an inadequate education system, a lack of jobs and job training, and no effective political voice. Local grassroots organizers, in particular those focused on Latinos, sought to sustain the level of activism beyond MCOR. Single-issue and diffuse campaigns garnered some attention and success, notably revealing an emerging, new leadership. A young Latina named Elba Tuttle rose up in the Mission Area Community Action Board (MACABI). Martinez achieved prominence within the OBECA group. Reflective of the growth of Latino labor, Gonzalez and the Obreros helped secure the electoral victory of [[Mayor Joe Alioto|Mayor Joseph Alioto]]. As the War on Poverty began to provide funds for varied community efforts, community members also nurtured their political and organizational development. The lack of a cohesive effort, however, as well as growing conflicts over federal funds, revealed the deep fissures which remained due to the divisions of race, nationality, and generations. Mission activists were learning that “overcoming poverty is not simply a matter of political will; it is and has become even more one of political structure.”(9)
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 Once a representative structure was solidified, the MCO refocused their energies toward that common cause. Indeed, without tangible results, its representative structure would be meaningless. The MCO committees took on the work, functioning like issue-specific, grassroots campaigns. The committees reflected the collective concerns of the MCO, focused on issues like housing, the police, youth, employment, health, and community maintenance. Comprised, as it was, by an assortment of active and effective community organizations—many of which had experience with these issues—an initial wave of success for the MCO was not surprising. Of course, each concrete victory also fostered increased community support, making MCO membership a source of community pride.
 Early MCO campaigns sought to create new playgrounds, ban pawn shops on Mission, and convert an adult theater in the neighborhood into a family theater. In each instance, they sought both cosmetic and systemic change, finding creative ways to make their district more responsive to the needs of its family residents. For example, earlier redevelopment in South of Market area pushed some businesses southward to the Mission. One of those businesses was an adult theater whose presence in the neighborhood would have been unheard of in an earlier generation. After unsuccessful negotiations with the owner, the MCO targeted theater patrons, picketing the theater entrance. They handed out fliers declaring their intention to notify the patrons’ neighborhoods of their patronage. To add a serious tone to their tactic, members followed theatergoers and took down their license numbers. They even had a nun take photos as customers entered, though her camera had no film.

Mfriedman: linked to Bay Area Social Movements category

2014-08-06T23:21:30Z

linked to Bay Area Social Movements category

← Older revision		Revision as of 16:21, 6 August 2014
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	[[category:Dissent]] [[category:Mission]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:Latino]] [[category:Ten Years That Shook the City]] [[category:2000s]] [[category:Redevelopment]]		[[category:Dissent]] [[category:Mission]] [[category:1970s]] [[category:Latino]] [[category:Ten Years That Shook the City]] [[category:2000s]] [[category:Redevelopment]]
	[[category:Mexican]] [[category:Nicaraguan]] [[category:Salvadoran]]		[[category:Mexican]] [[category:Nicaraguan]] [[category:Salvadoran]] [[category:Bay Area Social Movements]]

Mfriedman: Addressing Injustice logo added

2014-07-31T00:00:32Z

Addressing Injustice logo added

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:00, 30 July 2014
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	'''<font face = Papyrus> <font color = maroon> <font size = 4>Historical Essay</font></font> </font>'''		'''<font face = Papyrus> <font color = maroon> <font size = 4>Historical Essay</font></font> </font>'''

	[[Image:13.gif\|64px\|left]] '''Listen to an excerpt from "All Those Who Care About the Mission, Stand Up With Me!" by Tomas Sandoval (read by Adriana Camarena):'''		[[Image:Addressing-injustice.png\|left]] [[Image:13.gif\|64px\|left]] '''Listen to an excerpt from "All Those Who Care About the Mission, Stand Up With Me!" by Tomas Sandoval (read by Adriana Camarena):'''

	<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/13TenYearsMissionCoalitionOrganization" width="500" height="30" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen></iframe>		<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/13TenYearsMissionCoalitionOrganization" width="500" height="30" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Ccarlsson: added information to captions and credits

2014-05-06T04:59:05Z

added information to captions and credits

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:59, 5 May 2014
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	[[Image:Larry-del-Carlo-and-2-others-w-MCO-sign.jpg]]		[[Image:Larry-del-Carlo-and-2-others-w-MCO-sign.jpg]]

	'''Larry del Carlo (left), Chair of the MCO Jobs and Employment Committee and MCO's 2nd Executive Vice President, with Segundo Lopez, Chair of the ~~MCOphone~~ company negotiating committee.'''		'''Larry del Carlo (left), Chair of the MCO Jobs and Employment Committee and MCO's 2nd Executive Vice President, with Segundo Lopez, Chair of the MCO phone company negotiating committee.'''

	''Photo: Spence Limbocker, courtesy of [http://eltecolote.org/content/ El Tecolote] archives''		''Photo: Spence Limbocker, courtesy of [http://eltecolote.org/content/ El Tecolote] archives''

Ccarlsson: added information to captions and credits

2014-05-06T04:57:24Z

added information to captions and credits

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:57, 5 May 2014
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	[[Image:MCO-activist-addresses-Supervisor-Terry-Francois.jpg]]		[[Image:MCO-activist-addresses-Supervisor-Terry-Francois.jpg]]

	'''MCO ~~activist and~~ Supervisor Terry Francois (at right) during press conference, c. 1971.'''		'''MCO Housing Chair Flor de Maria Crane speaks with Supervisor Terry Francois and Assemblyman Willie L. Brown, Jr. (at right) during press conference, c. 1971.'''

	''Photo: [http://eltecolote.org/content/ El Tecolote] archives''		''Photo: Spence Limbocker, courtesy [http://eltecolote.org/content/ El Tecolote] archives''

	Designed as a [[Neighborhood Politics\|grassroots, multi-issue coalition]] composed of scores of local organizations, the MCO actively involved 12,000 residents who sought democratic control over their neighborhood on behalf of the more than 70,000 people who lived there. At its height, the MCO became an institutional force, both the recognized voice of the district in political circles and the local group controlling funds from the Model Cities Program—a 1966 community development effort by the federal government mandating citizen participation. Through an assortment of programs and campaigns, they made lasting and meaningful changes to the infrastructure of everyday life for both contemporary and succeeding generations of local residents. The legacy of the MCO—balanced on a multiracial and working-class population successfully claiming rights and ownership over their neighborhood—extends beyond the programmatic. In the ways it envisioned its collective effort, and integrated and deployed the racial/ethnic diversity of the Mission, the MCO nurtured a collective community identity within the population largely of Latin American descent. As a result, they recreated the historic community identity of the Mission District, substantively rooting a hybrid and shifting form of class-based ''latinidad'' in the neighborhood, an identity which continues to shape its present in myriad ways.		Designed as a [[Neighborhood Politics\|grassroots, multi-issue coalition]] composed of scores of local organizations, the MCO actively involved 12,000 residents who sought democratic control over their neighborhood on behalf of the more than 70,000 people who lived there. At its height, the MCO became an institutional force, both the recognized voice of the district in political circles and the local group controlling funds from the Model Cities Program—a 1966 community development effort by the federal government mandating citizen participation. Through an assortment of programs and campaigns, they made lasting and meaningful changes to the infrastructure of everyday life for both contemporary and succeeding generations of local residents. The legacy of the MCO—balanced on a multiracial and working-class population successfully claiming rights and ownership over their neighborhood—extends beyond the programmatic. In the ways it envisioned its collective effort, and integrated and deployed the racial/ethnic diversity of the Mission, the MCO nurtured a collective community identity within the population largely of Latin American descent. As a result, they recreated the historic community identity of the Mission District, substantively rooting a hybrid and shifting form of class-based ''latinidad'' in the neighborhood, an identity which continues to shape its present in myriad ways.
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	[[Image:Larry-del-Carlo-and-2-others-w-MCO-sign.jpg]]		[[Image:Larry-del-Carlo-and-2-others-w-MCO-sign.jpg]]

	'''Larry del Carlo (left) and ~~others~~ with ~~MCO caravan~~.'''		'''Larry del Carlo (left), Chair of the MCO Jobs and Employment Committee and MCO's 2nd Executive Vice President, with Segundo Lopez, Chair of the MCOphone company negotiating committee.'''

	''Photo: [http://eltecolote.org/content/ El Tecolote] archives''		''Photo: Spence Limbocker, courtesy of [http://eltecolote.org/content/ El Tecolote] archives''

	Even considering the non-participation of certain Mission District interests, the foundational convention of the MCO emboldened the hundreds of participants. With 24 year-old president Martinez at the helm, the Coalition began the work of organizing the community into a mass movement as they sought to meaningfully address community issues and secure local control of Model Cities funds. As Martinez framed it, “We don’t want the money unless we in the Mission have a major voice in how it will be spent.”(13) This commitment to self-determination—described by Martinez as “the opposite of colonialism, which is a system in which someone else says he knows what is best for you and in which he has the power to make you do what he thinks is best for you. We want to decide what is best for us”—came with the participation of now more than 80 local organizations and nearly a thousand residents by its second convention. In less than a year, the MCO would become one of the most effective community coalitions in US history as they got to work addressing neighborhood needs while mobilizing for a head-to-head battle with the Board of Supervisors.		Even considering the non-participation of certain Mission District interests, the foundational convention of the MCO emboldened the hundreds of participants. With 24 year-old president Martinez at the helm, the Coalition began the work of organizing the community into a mass movement as they sought to meaningfully address community issues and secure local control of Model Cities funds. As Martinez framed it, “We don’t want the money unless we in the Mission have a major voice in how it will be spent.”(13) This commitment to self-determination—described by Martinez as “the opposite of colonialism, which is a system in which someone else says he knows what is best for you and in which he has the power to make you do what he thinks is best for you. We want to decide what is best for us”—came with the participation of now more than 80 local organizations and nearly a thousand residents by its second convention. In less than a year, the MCO would become one of the most effective community coalitions in US history as they got to work addressing neighborhood needs while mobilizing for a head-to-head battle with the Board of Supervisors.