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Introduction: Community Control as a Conceptual Framework During the epoch of protest (1955-1974) Mexicanos in Crystal City, Texas, in 1963 and again in 1970 experimented with the concept of community control. After decades of internal colonialism they rejected their political subordination and powerlessness.! The two historically unprecedented political takeovers form the basis of what I describe in this book as the Cristal experiment. Before community control became popular in the mid- and late 1960s, Mexicanos in Crystal City (hereafter Cristal, as used by Mexicanos) took control of the city council by winning all five seats that were in contention in 1963. Although this council's term of office was short-lived (1963-1965), many have perceived it as setting a political precedent, the first electoral revolt by Mexicanos in south Texas (or Azt1

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