M.E.Ch.A.

HISTORY MEChA de Palomar College is one chapter of this 39 year old national student organization. Our organization focuses on higher education, political, cultural and social awareness. We exist in high schools, colleges and universities throughout the country. Our chapter has become the most active club at Palomar in the past year with various events, fundraisers, and our Christmas Program which will be on its 37th year, and will continue to be active. We are descendants of the ancient so-called Mesoamerican civilizations that covered an area from Aztlan (the U.S. Southwest) to the area called Costa Rica in Central America. This land which the Aztecs called Anahuac. We founded our mother Olmeca civilization independent of any other civilization sometime before 1800 B.C. We created this civilization out of our own genius. We invented, philosophized, and developed a civilization that produced El Tajin, Chichen Itza, Tikal, and Copan; we triumphed through the Maya genius for mathematics, astronomy, and the calendar. We excelled with the magnificence of Teotihuacan and the beauty and brilliance that was the Mexica empire. We did this by ourselves. No one else created the beauty of our civilization. Around 300 B.C. in Teotihuacan we had begun what was to become the largest city in the world by 500 A.D., with a population of over 200,000 inhabitants. In 1325, we the Mexica founded Tenochtitlan .With a population of 350,000 in 1519 it was larger than any city in Europe. It was a city of masonry, universities, the largest marketplace in the world, and a civilization so dazzling that the Spaniards could not believe their eyes when they first saw the beauty of our great Tenochtitlan. In 1519 when the Spaniard Europeans came to Anahuac (Mexico) they did not come to trade with us, nor to discover new lands. They came here to steal from us, to enslave us, to kill us and to destroy our civilizations. They imposed on us their government, religion, language, and they branded us with their Spanish surnames. By destroying our cities, killing our leadership and our educated classes, they left our people poor, ignorant, enslaved, empty of pride, and robbed of land, dignity, identity and destiny. Still we prevailed.