Common Ground: Iranian Student Opposition to the Shah on the US/Mexico Border

In the decades leading up to the Iranian Revolution of 1978–79, student activism both within Iran as well as abroad played a significant role in developing widespread opposition to Shah Reza Pahlavi's dictatorial government. Youth mobilisation among the Iranian student diaspora reached a pinnacle during the years immediately preceding the revolution and drew direct connections with other anti-imperialist, pro-democratic campaigns simultaneously occurring around the world. In the US/Mexico border city, El Paso, Texas, this global phenomenon manifested in the cross-cultural collaboration of Chicano and Iranian student activists. This paper presents a micro-history of the interethnic collaborative activism of these two groups; and how it provided a community of solidarity for the Iranian youth who comprised a social base that helped bring about the Iranian Revolution.