The Chicana and Chicano student movement has been plagued by opportunists that have sought to rechannel the energies of our people and divert us from our struggle for self determination.  The educational plight of the Chicana and Chicano students continues to be ignored by insensitive administrators.  Overall, Chicana/Chicano junior high, high school, and college pushout rates have risen since 1969, forcing many Chicanas and Chicanos to a life of poverty.  These factors along with a growing right wing trend in the nation are combining to work greater hardships on Chicanas and Chicanos.  New repressive and racist immigration laws are continuously directed at our Gente.  Along with this, the current administration has started the progress of dismantling Affirmative Action and Civil Rights protections.  Just as Hispanic seeks to deny our indigenous heritage, so does Latino.  The terms Hispanic and Latino further ignores our unique socio-economic and historical aspects of our Chicana/Chicano Gente.  This cannot be ignored.  We cannot coin terms for unity’s sake when these terms fail to fully represent our diverse communities.  Chicanismo does not seek to use the word “Chicano” as an umbrella term when representing all of “La Familia de La Raza”.  Rather, Chicanismo seeks to educate our barrios and campos about our history y cultura to further create a movement of self determination for the Liberation of Aztlan, something that Hispanic and Latino has yet to represent or recognize.  These factors have made it necessary for Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan to affirm our philosophy of liberation (i.e. educational, socio-economic, and political empowerment) for our Chicana/Chicano nation.

 Joining with other community-based Chicano nationalist organizations, M.E.Ch.A. is committed to ending the cultural tyranny suffered at the hands of institutional and systematic discrimination that holds our Gente captive.  We seek an end to oppression and exploitation of the Chicana/Chicano community.

 We, as Mechistas, see the process of Chicanismo as evolutionary.  We recognize that no one is born politically Chicana or Chicano.  Chicanismo results from a decision based on political consciousness for our Raza, to dedicate oneself to building a Chicana/Chicano Nation.  Chicanismo is a concept that integrates self-awareness with cultural identity, a necessary step in
developing political consciousness.  Therefore, the term Chicano is grounded in a philosophy, not a nationality.  Chicanismo does not exclude anyone, rather it includes those who acknowledge and work towards the betterment of La Raza.

 Chicanismo involves a personal decision to reject assimilation and work towards the preservation of our cultural heritage.  Recognizing that all people are potential Chicanas and Chicanos , we encourage those interested in developing a total commitment to our movement for self determination for the people of Aztlan to join Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan.

 Thus, by all means necessary, We Chicana/Chicano estudiantes of Aztlan, dedicate ourselves to taking our educational destiny into our own hands through the process of spreading Chicanismo, in the spirit of carnalismo.

 M.E.Ch.A. is committed to ending the cultural tyranny suffered at the hands of institutional and systematic discrimination that holds our Gente captive.  We seek an end to oppression and exploitation of the Chicana/Chicano community.

 As Mechistas, we proclaim that we are the people of Aztlan and that we recognize our indigenous unity with our brothers and sisters of Ixachitlan (Alaska to Tierra del Fuego).  We declare that we are the descendants of El Quinto Sol.  Our fundamental drive is to organize and challenge Chicana/Chicano estudiantes to maintain self respect and dignity to overcome historical prejudices and discrimination against the Chicana and Chicano Gente.  The historic mission of M.E.Ch.A. involves an educational plan of action that builds an educational ladder for the advancement of our people.  Recognizing that the strength of our movement is rooted in our barrios, M.E.Ch.A. pledges itself to reach out to the community and to the schools, working to establish new educational opportunities.  We also recognize that our M.E.Ch.A. chapters are much stronger when they are rooted in and accountable to the Chicana/Chicano community.  Consequently, We, Mechistas commit ourselves to return to our community and contribute to the development of the Chicana/Chicano Nation.