Fresno La Causa Honor Roll

Fresno La Causa Honor Roll Spotlighting the legacy of the Chicano student movement, Brown Berets and farmworker unionization As a Brown Beret his unit supported the students.

2-5-23
Catarino was a founding member of Universidad de Aztlan, he was a proponent of Chicano Studies, he started the 1st alternative high school in Fresno for Chicanos (Millbrook) and he was a high school counselor at the time of his death. It is with this legacy that we go forward profiling student achievement and teach about La Causa. The Fresno Brown Berets were originally started in 1968 by

Catarino "Cat" Hurtado, who created many community institutions to address Chicano education and power. He was also the leader of Fresno La Raza Unida party. After the brown berets disbanded in 1973, Catarino started networking with activists throughout Aztlan, Centro America and beyond. He became a cuadandero and worked as a high school counselor. He passed away in 2/1977 after a car accident. Some believe his car was sabotaged by the FBI, who had history of trying to entrap him and also because of the high power alliances he was making. He was seen as a threat to the status quo. In 1994, prior to passage of Propostion 187, the Brown Berets were reactivated in Fresno County. The Fresno unit organized several conferences and marches to address the issue of Chicano killing Chicano. The unit stopped organizing in mid 2000 but recommissioned in February 2011 to again address the need for Barrio Peace and Chicano/a empowerment.

07/09/2025

Free Ernesto Chicano Ayala. The chairman of La Raza Unida Party was kidnapped today at a Home Depot in Van Nuys by heavily armed masked goons riding in unmarked white vans.

Brown beret uniforms spotted for sale at Fresno Fairgrounds remate
12/08/2024

Brown beret uniforms spotted for sale at Fresno Fairgrounds remate

10/31/2024

The Brown Berets continue a violence prevention program by teaching Raza about their history and culture. The culture cures. La cultura curas...................David Sanchez

Always believe in yourself
10/19/2024

Always believe in yourself

Incarcerated students at Valley State Prison celebrated their graduation, earning bachelor's degrees from Fresno State.

Recent Raza graduates -- teachers about to inspire youth to help them move mountains.
08/08/2024

Recent Raza graduates -- teachers about to inspire youth to help them move mountains.

Grandmother feels pride as her first grandchild will be going to college next.
06/08/2024

Grandmother feels pride as her first grandchild will be going to college next.

06/07/2024

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The Fresno Brown Berets were originally started in 1968 by Catarino "Cat" Hurtado, who created many community institutions to address Chicano education and power. The unit was still active even after the Brown Berets disbanded in 1972.

Cat believed in the concept of Aztlan and was one of the founders and builders of La Universidad de Aztlan. He also helped form the Fresno chapter of the La Raza Unida Party and was a chairman of the Brown Berets in its early days in Fresno. His other involvements included Millbrook Charter School, El Concilio, the Minority Advisory Committee which oversaw Telemex for Channel 30-TV, Centro La Familia, the Universidad de Campesinos Libres, Inc. (UCLI), and Chepa.

Cat also helped organize Navidad del Valle and its toy drive so less advantaged Chicanitos could also enjoy Christmas. At the time of his death, he was employed as a counselor at Clovis High School and his interests and lifestyle steered more into indigena. He had established dialogues with movements in Central and South America, and was definitely moving towards doing the same in Africa and Southeast Asia.

Catarino Cat Hurtado died February 12,1977 in a car accident. Often referred to as the "man who started the Chicano movement in Fresno", he wrote this poem a week before his death and was read at his rosary.