Vexed: The East L.A. Chicano Punk Scene Sal Guerena, UCSB Library Special Research Collections

Not long after the punk scene exploded in New York City in the mid-1970s, young Chicanas and Chicanos in the greater Eastside of Los Angeles began adopting the DIY (do it yourself) punk aesthetic. They expressed their anger, discontent, and feelings of marginalization through a frenzied musical style and biting social commentary.  Early Chicano punk bands,  or punkeros, embraced the punk rock energy and political edge to draw attention to historic and contemporary injustices. The photographs are drawn from the Chicano Punk Rock Collection in the Special Research Collection’s California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives.