Women Scandals: Dante Navarro

The late Marla O. Anderson
UWM 1970 instrumental takeover leader and a 1978 UWM Bachelor of Science Graduate

¡Adelante! First TV program to air historical event commemorating the 1970 UWM Takeover of Chapman Hall by the Hispanic community.

By H. Nelson Goodson
January 20, 2011

Milwaukee - On Tuesday, the ¡Adelante! MPTV TV 10-36 show hosted by Patricia Gomez became the first actual program to air a segment of the 40th Anniversary and Commemoration of the the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) takeover of Chapman Hall by the Hispanic community in 1970 to gain access to higher education. Gomez and her TV crew beat any other main stream news media TV channel throughout the Milwaukee area in covering the historical event. ¡Adelante! shows the banquet at the UWM Ballroom and the vintage news footage of the actual takeover of Chapman Hall and UWM on August 27, 1970.
The Hispanic community and higher educational activists marched, fought, struggled and took over UWM for higher education access. Their endeavers succeeded to over turn the discriminatory UWM policy that kept Latinos and minorities from enrolling at the urban university.
The ¡Adelante! show interviews actual participants and instrumental leaders of the 1970 UWM takeover, Jesus Salas and Ernesto Chacon. Both Salas and Chacon headed the steering committee for the 40th Anniversary and Commemorative Committee established by the Roberto Hernandez Center at UWM (RHC).
Members of the committee included, Carmen C. Cabrera, Gloria Gonzalez, Fela Salinas, Rose Landero-Ferrar, Graciela de la Cruz, Leticia Ledesma-Keltz, Rita Renteria Valenzuela, Dr. Enrique Figueroa, director of the Roberto Hernandez Center UWM formerly the SSOI, Lupe Martinez, Jose Ruano, Oscar Tovar, Salvador Sanchez, and H. Nelson Goodson.
The interview also shows Marla J. Possell, who spoke about her mother. Possell is the proud daughter of the late Marla O. Anderson, an instrumental leader of the UWM Takeover as well. Anderson's decision to join Salas and Chacon in 1970 led to the actiive participation of hundreds of families to back, join and march in support of the UWM takeover to gain access to higher education for Latinos and their children.
Anderson originally from Camargo, Tamaulipas, Mexico is well known for her leadership and instrumental role in the August 27, 1970 University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (UWM) takeover of Chapman Hall, where she along with four men, Jesus Salas, Dante Navarro Gregorio "Goyo" Rivera and Jose Luis Huerta-Sanchez were arrested in a peaceful protest. They were protesting UWM's discriminatory policy that prevented Latinos from enrolling.
In 1970, only 14 Hispanic students were enrolled compared to 25,000 White students and there were no Latino faculty at UWM. Anderson's role helped open the doors of education for thousands of Latinos in the state of Wisconsin UW-System. Their success in 1970 helped create the Spanish Speaking Outreach Institute (SSOI) at UWM which focus on recruitement, advicing and retention of Hispanic students. The SSOI was later renamed in 1996 the Roberto Hernandez Center and since 1970 thousands of Hispanics have graduated.
Anderson enrolled at UWM and later graduated from the School of Education with a Bachelor of Science degree in May 1978, while raising six children. Today about 1,400 Hispanic students are enrolled per semester and at least 30 Latino faculty work at UWM.

Check out ¡Adelante! video link at: http://www.mptv.org/video/watch/?id=621

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UW-Milwaukee to commemorate 40th Anniversary of the takeover of Chapman Hall in 1970 http://bit.ly/5AX35

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Dante Navarro, Honorary Parade Marshall

Photos by HNG

An estimated, 60,000 people lined up along the parade route and at least 10,000, people attended the bicentennial festival after the parade.

By H. Nelson Goodson
September 19, 2010
Updated:

Milwaukee - On Sunday, the Mexican Independence Bicentennial parade committee featured Dante Navarro as the Honorary Parade Marshall for this year. Navarro is well known for his community education activism in the 1970's. He was an instrumental leader in the 1970 peaceful protests and sit-ins at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM) Chancellor's Office.
Navarro along with four other people were arrested on August 27, 1970, while engaged in a peaceful sit-in, protest and persistence to change UWM policy to allow Latinos to enroll. The four people arrested with Navarro were Jesus Salas, Marla O. Anderson, Gregorio "Goyo" Rivera and Jose Luis Huerta-Sanchez.
Navarro was the first Hispanic candidate to run for public office in Milwaukee's South side.
Last night at the UWM banquet sponsored by the 40th ACT Anniversary Committee and the Roberto Hernandez Center, Navarro was recognized along with other leaders and protesters for their success in making higher education accessible to generations of Latinos in Wisconsin.
For years, Navarro was the first Hispanic radio announcer in a Spanish Radio program geared to the Latino community and has worked for UMOS concerning migrant issues.
The parade sponsored by United Migrant Opportunity Services (UMOS) celebrated the 39th Mexican parade in Milwaukee's South side.
This year's three mile long parade route skipped the newly opened $1.6 million Streepscape renovation project on S. Cesar E. Chavez Drive. The Chavez Drive opened for traffic flow in early September.
The one day festival on Sunday opened to the public at the UMOS Corporate Office parking lot, from noon until 9:00 p.m.
An estimated, 60,000 people line up through the parade route and at least 10,000, people attended the bicentennial festival after the parade.
Mexico is celebrating its 200 years of Independence and 100 years of their revolution.

Added article recognizing Dante Navarro for his instrumental role in the UWM peaceful protests and sit-ins in 1970.

Milwaukee Latino Community To Celebrate 40th Anniversary, Making Higher Education Accessible http://bit.ly/bafD6L

In photo (L-R) Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Arnoldo Sevilla gave El Grito at the Mexican Independence Bicentennial parade and UMOS festival; Marla Possell, Emcee-volunteer; Alberto Fonscerado, representative from the Mexican Consulate in Chicago; and Rita Renteria, who recently retired from UMOS.
The Mexican Independence Bicentennial Grito was celebrated in unity throughout Mexico, around the the world where large populations of Mexican Citizens reside and in the U.S., except in Chicago.
The Mexican Consulate in Chicago experienced protests on a weekly basis in August and September by Mexican members of the Chicago community for excluding the Mexican Civic Society of Illinois from officially participating in the Bicentennial Grito.
Mexican Consul Manuel Rodriguez Arriaga decided to exclude the Mexican Civic Society of Illinois and had never released any comment for the decision. Members of the Hispanic community are calling for Rodriguez Arriaga's removal. They raised allegations that Rodriguez Arriaga in Chicago hasn't legally represented or condemn the removal of thousands of undocumented immigrants from Mexico that have been deported by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Illinois.

Related article to El Grito protests in Chicago, Illinois at the Mexican Consulate.

Breaking News: Second Protest At Mexican Consul In Chicago Over Bicentennial "El Grito" Ouster Of Mexican Civic Society http://bit.ly/9ESaRF

More Milwaukee, Wisconsin Mexican Independence Bicentennial Parade Pictures by HNG included below.