VIVA VARIETY; VALLEY'S CINCO DE MAYO EVENTS TAKE DIFFERENT FORMS.Byline: Sharline Chiang Daily News Staff Writer From restaurants and community centers to schoolyards and college campuses, Mexican-Americans and others celebrated Cinco de Mayo Cinco de Mayo (Spanish; “Fifth of May”) Mexican holiday commemorating the Mexican victory over the French at Puebla in 1862. The French army, better-equipped and far larger than the Mexican army, had been sent by Napoleon III to conquer Mexico. on Wednesday in a variety of places and ways across the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. . Canterbury Avenue Elementary School elementary school: see school. in Reseda started the day with performances by Canterbury Mariachi and Folklorico. Visitors were invited to view a cultural exhibit of three Mexican holidays - Cinco de Mayo, Dia de los Muertos Día de los Muer·tos n. See Day of the Dead. [Spanish : día, day + de, of + los, the + muertos, pl. of muerto, dead.] , and Mexican Independence Day. At Valley College, unlike other events, a morning program held at the Van Nuys campus offered few signs of festivity - only a couple of performances by traditional Mexican dancers and singers. Instead, the day focused on the universality of the struggle for freedom and human dignity Human dignity is an expression that can be used as a moral concept or as a legal term. Sometimes it means no more than that human beings should not be treated as objects. Beyond this, it is meant to convey an idea of absolute and inherent worth that does not need to be acquired and . Students participated in lectures and discussions, and were treated to a sneak-preview screening of ``Zapatista,'' a documentary by Santa Barbara-based Big Noise Films on the Zapatista movement in Chiapas, Mexico. Many students said the event's academic and political tone was a perfect antidote to the growing commercialization of Cinco de Mayo in America. ``Most people just celebrate Cinco de Mayo as just a party. I think it's a good day for Mexicans and Latinos (to find out) facts about the world,'' said liberal studies student Veronica Vazquez, 19, of San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. . ``Like here they're giving the students information on movements in different countries. They're talking about genocide, like what's going on What's Going On is a record by American soul singer Marvin Gaye. Released on May 21, 1971 (see 1971 in music), What's Going On reflected the beginning of a new trend in soul music. in Kosovo, and removing indigenous people from their own land,'' Vazquez said. Prior to the screening, Louisa Ollague, regional census director for the Mexican American Mexican American n. A U.S. citizen or resident of Mexican descent. Mex  i·can-A·mer Legal Defense and Educational Fund, urged students to get family and friends to participate in the census count, to be taken April 1. ``It's very important for you to educate others because that's where the power is,'' Ollague said. ``Legal or illegal (resident's status), everyone has the right to be counted, a right to political representation.'' Cinco de Mayo marks the Mexican army's defeat of well-armed French troops at the Batalla de Puebla in 1862. Not to be confused with Mexican Independence Day, observed on Sept. 16, Cinco de Mayo has come to symbolize Mexican resistance to outside forces. CAPTION(S): 2 Photos PHOTO (1) Mariachi Azteca performs for students at Valley College, one of many Cinco de Mayo events held across the Valley on Wednesday. David Sprague/Daily News (2) Fifth-grader Christine Sandoval dances at Canterbury Avenue Elementary School. John Lazar/Daily News |
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