Advocacy

Barrios Unidos Founder and UCSC alumnus Daniel “Nane” Alejandrez is a pillar of activism and champion of nonviolence in Santa Cruz County

February 26, 2025

By Haneen Zain

Daniel “Nane” Alejandrez (Merrill ’81, community studies) has dedicated his life to justice, healing, and empowerment. As the founder of Barrios Unidos (BU) in Santa Cruz, he has worked tirelessly to uplift underrepresented communities, support incarcerated individuals, and promote violence prevention. What started as a group that met inside UCSC student housing, has become a beacon in Santa Cruz County, serving as a local hub of social justice work. 

Alejandrez was deeply influenced by renowned figures like Harry Belafonte, who acted as a close mentor and entrusted him with career-defining opportunities, and César Chávez and Dolores Huerta, who instilled in him a commitment to grassroots activism. Father Greg Boyle shaped his approach to gang intervention and reentry support, while global leaders like Hugo Chávez exposed him to international discussions on justice. 

These relationships reinforced Alejandrez’s dedication to mentorship, nonviolence, and community empowerment, driving his lifelong mission to uplift marginalized communities and provide alternatives to violence for future generations.

“Today, I sit here at Barrios Unidos trying to decide the best way to keep that legacy going, because it’s not just my legacy,” Alejandrez said. “It’s the legacy of all these people I had the privilege to be with.” 

BU runs ten programs spanning at-risk youth engagement to reintegration programs for incarcerated individuals. These programs serve Barrios Unidos’s mission to promote multicultural social justice, nonviolence, and economic equity through cultural healing, civic leadership, and community development.

Dozens of UCSC students intern with Barrios Unidos every year, gaining valuable frontline experience that sets them apart in their careers, including UCSC alumna Carmen Perez. Perez, who once sat in Alejandrez’s office as a UCSC student, led the Women’s March in DC in 2017. Other former students have made an impact globally, from Africa to Albuquerque. 

Alejandrez, who strongly credits UC Santa Cruz with helping to shape his vision and setting him on a lifelong path of preaching nonviolence, is grateful to be able to pay forward opportunities to UCSC students. 

“I always say that UC Santa Cruz saved my life,” Alejandrez said. “UC Santa Cruz gave me an opportunity, and I take that very seriously.”

A Vietnam War veteran struggling with addiction and violence in his Fresno neighborhood, Alejandrez sought an escape from the cycle of street wars and drug trafficking that surrounded him. Initially aiming for La Raza Studies at Hayward, a wrong turn led him to Santa Cruz, where he found himself in the midst of a campus protest—his first encounter with UCSC. Staff within the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) welcomed him and helped him enroll. 

Alejandrez’s time at UC Santa Cruz was transformative, giving him the structure and flexibility to channel his lived experiences into activism and community work. He had dipped into community organizing while a student at Fresno City College, so EOP staff encouraged Alejandrez to pursue the community studies major. 

Alejandrez engaged in cultural and community-based projects, started a theater group, organized lowrider car shows, and taught media production classes. He also launched Barrios Unidos, initially holding meetings in student housing and expanding outreach to surrounding communities, advocating for peace and nonviolence. 

“I knew I was going to stay in Santa Cruz and definitely wasn’t going back to Fresno or anywhere in the Central Valley at that point,” Alejandrez said. “Santa Cruz is a beautiful place.”

UCSC alumna Barbara Garcia gave him his first job with Salud Para La Gente.

“She believed in me,” Alejandrez said, who struggled to find a job post-graduation. “That’s really what I needed. I needed someone to believe in me.” 

Alejandrez found stability in Santa Cruz and built a life in the county.

Now 40 years sober, Alejandrez continues to put belief in others the way Garcia did for him through Barrios Unidos.

All of Alejandrez’s work in Santa Cruz traces back to the start he got at UCSC. 

“All these things in my life today, I wouldn’t have had if I hadn’t come to UC Santa Cruz,” Alejandrez said. “If I had stayed in Fresno, I wouldn’t be here today. So when I hug my grandkids, I always say it’s like hugging the trees at UC Santa Cruz. That’s how I feel.” 

Barrios Unidos’ Impact on Peace and Justice

By Joshua Patstone | October 7, 2023 (view article at Santa Cruz Vibes Magazine)

It’s been almost two decades since Frank de Jesus Acosta and the legendary Harry Belafonte shared these sentiments about Barrios Unidos in the book, “The History of Barrios Unidos: Healing Community Violence.” Much has changed since then. While Barrios Unidos continues its community work, many of its movement leaders, partners, and loved ones have passed away, including Harry Belafonte.

The political and social landscape has also changed, with rising violence and social unrest at home and around the world. However, by adhering to its guiding principle of “La Cultura Cura” (Culture Cures), Barrios Unidos has persevered and made substantial progress toward its ultimate goal: social justice and equity.

“The story of the Barrios Unidos Community peace movement now spans about 30 years. It’s a tale of individual struggle and redemption by its early pioneers who found a way out of street gang warfare, addiction, and poverty gripping America’s barrios. It’s also the narrative of an evolving grassroots mobilization rooted in the Mexican American (or Chicano) civil rights and antiwar movements of the 60s and 70s. Over a quarter-century, BU’s work has expanded, engaging thousands, saving countless lives, nurturing leaders, and sowing transformative hope across the nation.”Frank de Jesus Acosta“The History of Barrios Unidos: Healing Community Violence,” 2007

To grasp Barrios Unidos, one must understand the Chicano movement. We often get bombarded with images of lowriders, tattoos, and the all-too-familiar gang and prison culture. While many of these images are undeniably part of Chicano culture, they don’t provide a comprehensive representation. Media depictions often ignore the rich history of community organizing, intellectual contributions, art, and resistance that define the movement. Chicano history should be understood as emerging from specific materials and historical circumstances, like colonization, class relations, religious and political ideologies, organization, policies, migration, and more.

The Chicano movement traces its roots back to struggle, starting from the time of violent European colonization of the Americas, through the Mexican American War, and up to the present day. It’s a culture and ideology born out of resistance against the genocide and state violence faced by Indigenous populations in the Americas. 

Chicanismo, or the identification and practice of being Chicano, involves reclaiming a culture that has been attacked, misused, and nearly wiped out due to Western colonization. Chicanismo simultaneously holds a political stance, a cultural and racial identity, and a way of life that keeps changing and evolving to fit the current historical context. It’s the fight for independence, sovereignty, and dignity in the midst of ongoing racialized violence and white supremacy.

Corky Gonzales beautifully explains chicanismo in his famous poem “I am Joaquin” when he says, “And now! I must choose between the paradox of victory of the spirit, despite physical hunger, or to exist in the grasp of American social neurosis, sterilization of the soul and a full stomach.”

Barrios Unidos is a vital aspect of the Chicano movement, carrying the responsibility of its continuation. The organization’s history is extensive, and capturing its entirety in one document is impractical. Recognized globally for advocating incarcerated individuals, nonviolence, peace among gangs, mentoring youth and leaders, and policy transformation, Barrios Unidos remains dedicated to creating peace and justice, not only in Santa Cruz but around the world.

“Barrios Unidos follows in the positive spiritual traditions of Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King, Cesar Chavez, and Malcolm X after his pilgrimage to Mecca. The story and example of Barrios Unidos inspire everyone in the movement.Harry Belafonte

Founded by Daniel “Nane” Alejandrez, a child of Fresno’s Westside farmworker community, Barrios Unidos emerged from a commitment to make a difference. His journey, marked by personal struggles and an encounter with Cesar Chavez’s teachings, fueled the organization’s inception. The collaboration of individuals like Henry Dominguez, Walter Guzman, Otilio “OT” Quintero, Mary Lou Alejandrez, Danny Glover, and more solidified Barrios Unidos’ impact on countless lives.

Barrios Unidos’ history is profound, touching communities worldwide, facilitating peace treaties between gangs, advocating for incarcerated individuals, and mentoring individuals who have achieved historic milestones for peace and justice. Now, Barrios Unidos aims to pass its knowledge to the next generation, ensuring the actualization of peace and justice.