2024 Cinco de Mayo

La Alianza is your host for the 39th annual Cinco de Mayo Celebration in Downtown Hayward. Visit La Alianza Water booth to make a donation to name a reading room in the NEW Hayward Library after the activist & labor organizer César Estrada Chávez.  Every little bit helps! La Alianza de Hayward is a non-profit community based group committed to cultural events via civic duty.  

• One Subaru of Hayward
• Arteaga's Food Center
• David Montano at Americano Productions
• Bay Bombs Car Club
• The Chabot College Puente Project
• La Cultura Magazine
• Vintage Alley
• Hayward Chamber of Commerce
• Waste Management
• Kaiser Permanente
• Manada Roofing
• East Bay Community Energy
• City of Hayward
• Montano Pix
• Supervisor Elisa Marquez 
• Hayward City Council Member Francisco Zermeño
• Attorney Eduardo Robles
• Teamsters Local Union No. 70
• NorCal Carpenters Local 713

How did this come about? How did a few ill-armed Mexicans defeat the mightiest European army of the 19th Century? Through the inspirational leadership of Benito Juárez.

After the European allies landed without opposition at Veracruz, México in January 1862, the Spanish and English representatives realized that the French had grander ideas than simply collecting a $15 million loan; they actually wanted to conquer Mexico. The Spanish and English returned home, and in February, the French army of more than six thousand men, under the command of Brigadier Charles Latrille, Comte de Lorencez, began the march inland on a wave of occupation. General Lorencez was confident in his letters home: " We are so superior to the Mexican race, in organization, discipline, morality and elevation of feeling, that at the head of six thousand soldiers I am already master of Mexico."

When President Benito Juárez, learned France, and their allies, not respecting México’s right for self-government and liberty, had landed in Veracruz, he addressed the Mexican Congress:

"...México, a small country, is big. México, a weak country, is strong. México, a young nation, is powerful, because the love for liberty and justice is present in every Mexican...Among individuals, as well as nations, respect of the rights of others is peace.”

The French Army marched from the port of Veracruz, planning first to capture Puebla on the way to México City. Blocking General Lorencez' advance was General Ignacio Zaragoza's Mexican Army. Zaragoza's troops were in fortified positions at Fort Loreto and the Fort of Guadalupe overlooking the city of Puebla. The Mexican troops, 3,500 poorly trained and armed men, fought tenaciously. They were losing, but what eventually turned the tide, what filled them with pride, strength and the will to defeat the French, were the words of the Mexican National Anthem (“Mexicanos, al grito de guerra...), begun by a lone soldier with his bugle. It became the rallying cry of that battle, which the Mexican soldiers ultimately won.. After suffering a thousand casualties, the French abandoned the attack and retreated to Orizaba.

Although the battle of Puebla did not end the war between Mexico and France, its anniversary on May 5, 1862 has been observed ever since, in México and abroad, as a popular National Holiday.

The Mexican and the Mexican-American presence in California is actually tied to the history of México and the migration of the Aztec Indians from the lands of the north of México. According to Aztec history, they left Aztlán, or the Southwest of what is now the United States, and settled in the valley of México. Moreover, the early settlers of California were mestizo people primarily of Indian and Spanish descent, not unlike their northern counterparts, who were the offspring of those who settled Santa Fe, New México in 1610. Because of this, in no small part, can the history of the Mexican and the Mexican-American be told without relating this part of history.

A War of Liberation, not Independence 

On May 5th, 1862, in Puebla, México, French imperialism suffered a tremendous blow when a smaller, ill-prepared Mexican army, led by General Ignacio Zaragoza, defeated the greatest European army at that time. Previously, México had been heavy in debt to Europe, and since the United States was preoccupied with its own Civil War, France decided to first install the Emperor Maximillian, with the intent of making México a French colony. Benito Juárez governed from exile and the Mexican revolt began, culminating in several battles, after the one in Puebla, and finally, defeating the French altogether in 1867 thus maintain its rightful independence. 

México and the United States: A Tie that Cannot Be Broken

The Cinco de Mayo is celebrated in this country not only because when México won its independence from Spain, in 1821, California still belonged to México, but because the Southwest was still México. Also, after the American-Mexican War, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo of 1848 "provided specific guarantees for the property and political rights of the population" and attempted to safeguard their cultural autonomy, i.e., they were given the right to retain their language, religion and culture.

In the same way that they have resided in the Southwest, the Mexican and the Mexican-American have been present in California for over two-hundred years. Their presence in Hayward is highlighted with the ownership of the area by Señor Guillermo Castro, or Don Castro (in Spanish, Don was respect for an elder person and/or identifies a person of some stature). Don Castro's original ownership of the area came as a land grant after the Mexican War with Spain in 1810 and was a reward of the Mexican Government for the victory over the Spanish. Don Castro started his hacienda, which he called El Rancho San Lorenzo by building his adobe hacienda exactly where the old City Hall is today, between Mission Blvd. and Main Street, in Hayward.

Our Present Celebration

One can only suppose that in those days when El Rancho San Lorenzo was a thriving community, it was a welcome respite from a long journey to both Mexican and Anglo travelers. Probably on many occasions the respite consisted of fiestas put on by the Castro's and the people of the Rancho. We are gathered here today, not less than a block away from the center of that Rancho, to celebrate the Cinco de Mayo. Today also marks the beginning of a new celebration by La Alianza de Hayward. Today we will be implementing a celebration recognizing past and present people who made, and continue to make, Hayward Area Mexican and Mexican American History.