Mario R. Gonzalez, Chicano artist and Vietnam War veteran, originally conceived of La marcha por la humanidad as part of his graduating thesis in the University of Houston’s art program. He was aided Rubén A. Reyna and students of the University of Houston chapter of the Mexican American Youth Organization (MAYO). The mural was in part a response to the renaissance of political artwork and organizing energized by the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, and the desire to have Mexican-American culture be a visible presence on the UH campus.  

Gonzalez considers La marcha por la humanidad to be a self-portrait, though it “resonates with Chicanos because it is their story too.” It centers on a student on the final steps of his education, confronted both by Mexico’s memory of colonial and revolutionary struggle (depicted to his left), and the state of the U.S. Chicano Movement in the 1970s (depicted to his right), with their continued struggle to assert the civil rights threatened by American xenophobia and racism. A skeletal Uncle Sam—who appears to be aggressively leaning towards the right while resting his foot on the U.S. Constitution—and the man to his left with the string-puppet crossbar symbolize this contentious climate. The future is represented by this student and the role he will choose to play for his community. As Gonzalez states, it is an invitation for the viewer to not “forget their roots, [and to] work for the wellbeing and for the prosperity of not just the Hispanics but of the entire world.” Moctezuma hovers behind the student, symbolizing his conscience and warrior spirit. 

Other key figures on the left side include two Aztecs in fiery bondage with their plumed serpent deity Quetzalcoatl overhead, representing the Spanish conquest of the indigenous peoples of Mexico. A woman with a flag swoops towards the center, representing Las Adelitas—the women who fought in the Mexican Revolution of 1910-20. She accompanies multiple campesinos, below her, who fought in the same struggle—farmworkers brandishing machetes with heads bowed, in recognition of the struggle that continues ahead.

On the right side, from left-to-right, the student artists included Chicana and Chicano national leaders. Among them Alicia Escalante, César Chávez, José Angel Gutierrez, Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales, and Reies López Tijerina. A priest near the center symbolizes the Catholic Church’s involvement in the Chicano Movement. Underneath, the masses represent empowerment in grassroots mobilization. Lady Justice, on the far right, holds unbalanced scales to symbolize the injustice in her failure to recognize the barrios she hovers over, comprising the shotgun-style houses of Gonzalez’s own Second Ward neighborhood in Houston.