Walkout, a new HBO release that tells the true story of a group of Chicano students who staged a compelling 1968 walkout to protest the injustices of the public high-school system in East Los Angeles, features the mantra "Om Hraum Mitraya" from Deva Premal's Dakshina.
Director Edward James Olmos, who grew up in East Los Angeles and went on to a highly sucessful career as an actor and director, noted at a recent screening of Walkout that things have changed since his days in school, when violence and discrimination against Chicanos was rampant. But he added, "Not enough has changed. We still think there’s such a thing as a Latino race, an African race, a European race," and use that as a cultural determinant, "when there’s only one race: the human race."
The film's emotional climax uniquely illuminates this theme by using Deva Premal's rendition of the ancient Sanskrit mantra, "Om Hraum Mitraya", from her album Dakshina. Like Walkout, this mantra's message of friendship and respect implores us to realize that we are all one community, one family. That the theme of "Om Hraum Mitraya" so closely matches that of Walkout makes it an obvious choice for inclusion in the film. That Edward James Olmos selected a Sanskrit mantra for a film focused on Chicano issues highlights the universal principles inherent in each.
