Yo what’s good folks! My name is Oscar and I’m a high school intern at the Freedom Archives. Recently, I’ve had the opportunity to edit some audio recordings. The project was awesome because the recordings I worked with were really interesting and learning how to use Protools to modify sound clips was also really fun. I am excited because editing audio is a great skill to have. I worked on an interview from the 1970s of La Raza Unida’s gubernatorial candidate, Ramsey Muniz.
La Raza Unida was a political party established in Crystal City, Texas on January 17th, 1970. The party was established and developed solely by Mexicanos. Their intention was to provide electoral representation as well positive economic, political, and social solutions for Mexican Americans communities in Texas.
Ramsey Muniz provided strong leadership during the Chicano Civil Rights movement in the 1970s. In 1972 and 1974 he ran for governor of Texas as a nominee for La Raza Unida party. Although he did not win, he was able to establish the Chicano people as a powerful voice in government.
Because of his strong involvement in politics, Muniz has always been a target of government repression. In 1976 he was charged with drug conspiracy charges and was incarcerated for several years only to be released to continuous harassment and stalking by the government and DEA. In 1994, he was framed by the DEA and is currently serving a term of life without parole in Leavenworth, Kansas.
The three audio clips were recorded during the La Raza Unida political convention that Muniz attended during his Texas gubernatorial campaign. During the convention, he was interviewed on various topics. Questions ranged from his thoughts on the Republican and Democratic Party, Cesar Chavez, and current Chicano political leaders.
If you’re interesting in learning more about Ramsey Muniz and his status as a political prisoner, you can check out his sub-collection in the Political Prisoner Collection at the Archives.