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Chicano poetry is a subgenre of Chicano literature that stems from the cultural consciousness developed in the Chicano Movement. [1] Chicano poetry has its roots in the reclamation of Chicana/o as an identity of empowerment rather than denigration. [2] [3] As a literary field, Chicano poetry emerged in the 1960s and formed its own independent literary current and voice. [1] [4]
The Chicano Movement inspired the development of a poetic current among the Mexican Americans who embraced Chicana/o identity. [1] [4] Chicanos and Chicanas both addressed marginalization, racism and vanquished dreams in the United States. Many Chicana/o poets retold the history of Mexican Americans that differed from the dominant narrative of mainstream Anglo-Americans. [3] The surge of creative literary activity among Chicana/o authors in the 1960s and 1970s became known as the Florecimiento, or Renaissance. [5]
Chicano poets focused on the effects of racism on the Chicana/o community and the perseverance of Chicanos to maintain their cultural, political, and social identity. Nephtalí De León was one early pioneer, writing a poetry book Chicanos in the early 1960s as well as the poems "Hey, Mr. President, Man!," "Coca Cola Dream," and "Chicano Popcorn." [6]
Chicano poets reframed the Pachuco figure of the 1940s, who was historically looked down upon by the Mexican American community. [2] One of the most notable poems to do this was “El Louie” by José Montoya. [3] For Chicano poets, this was true to a lesser extent for the Pachuca figure, who was embraced mainly as a lover to the Pachuco. [2]
Abelardo "Lalo" Delgado's poem "Stupid America" written in the 1960s discussed the poor treatment of Chicanos and their erasure as artists, poets, and visionaries who are not permitted by the American mainstream to reach their potential. [7] Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales' poem "Yo Soy Joaquin" was widely influential, being adapted into a 1969 film by Luis Valdez of the same name. The poem reviewed the exploitation of the Chicano:
Chicana poets challenged the role of women in the community through their poetry and spoke to a variety of issues. [9] [10] Chicana feminist poets used poetry to express their views of aggressive masculine pride or machismo, [11] which had excluded them from the movement. [12] This included the poem "Machismo Is Part of Our Culture" by Marcela Christine Lucero-Trujillo. [13]
In the interwar period, unmarried Mexican American women were often mandated by their families to be accompanied by a male when going out, who would watch over them throughout the night. [13] A woman's purity was linked to the family's reputation and a chaperone was sent to watch on their daughter's activities. [13] Women sought freedom yet also sought to be good daughters to their families. [13] Chicana feminist poets addressed this in their work, such as "Pueblo, 1950" (1976) by Bernice Zamora, who discussed the consequences young, unmarried, Mexican-American women would face from a simple kiss: [14]
Chicana poet Inés Hernández-Ávila valorized the Pachuca in her poem "Para Teresa." [2] Other poets who reframed the Pachuca figure were Alurista, José Montoya, and raúlrsalinas. [15] Poems the reframed the Pachuca also included “Los Corts (5 voices)” and “and when I dream dreams” by Carmen Tafolla, and “Later, She Met Joyce” by Cherríe Moraga. [15]
An example of Chicana poetry is “La Nueva Chicana” by poet Viola Correa, [12]
While the Chicano Movement itself experienced a decline by the late 1970s, poets who embraced Chicana/o identity continued to carry the consciousness of the movement forward through their poetry. Trinidad "Trino" Sánchez's "Why Am I So Brown?" (1991). [16] The poem was inspired by the daughter of one of his friend's experience of colorism for her darker skin color, when she came home asking her father the question. [16] [17]
The latter part of the 20th century saw the emergence of Juan Felipe Herrera as a dominant force in the genre. [18] In Herrera's works, cultural expression is shown from the 1960s to the present. His poetry is most known for being willful, expressing a unique voice. [19]
Chicana/o poets continue to address experiences of racism in the United States. A strong undercurrent among Chicana/o poets is planting the community's roots in Mesoamerican civilizations and how the indigenous people of those civilizations continue to live through the Chicano people who are predominantly of mestizo (mixed) ancestry. [5] For example, Chicana poet Lucha Corpi published a collection of poetry authored "LLuvia/Rain." This work creates a framework on cultural remembrance with an emphasis on the sensuality of rain referencing the Nahua god of rain (tlaloc). [4]
Chicana poets continue to expand on the theme of marginalization beyond only focusing on racism and marginalization. Chicana poets also focus on themes of sexual abuse, misogyny, and the creation of a complex Chicana identity. The great thematic diversity of the field is owed to the many reflections of Chicano/a poets. [5]
A handful of U.S. publishers specialize in Chicano poetry, including the following:
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Chicano or Chicana is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. Chicano was originally a classist and racist slur used toward low-income Mexicans that was reclaimed in the 1940s among youth who belonged to the Pachuco and Pachuca subculture.
José Montoya was a poet and an artist from Sacramento, California. He was one of the most influential Chicano bilingual poets. He has published many well-known poems in anthologies and magazines, and served as Sacramento's poet laureate.
The Plan Espiritual de Aztlán was a pro-indigenist manifesto advocating Chicano nationalism and self-determination for Mexican Americans. It was adopted by the First National Chicano Youth Liberation Conference, a March 1969 convention hosted by Rodolfo Gonzales's Crusade for Justice in Denver, Colorado.
Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales was a Mexican-American boxer, poet, political organizer, and activist. He was one of many leaders for the Crusade for Justice in Denver, Colorado. The Crusade for Justice was an urban rights and Chicano cultural urban movement during the 1960s focusing on social, political, and economic justice for Chicanos. Gonzales convened the first-ever Chicano Youth Liberation Conference in 1968, which was poorly attended due to timing and weather conditions. He tried again in March 1969, and established what is commonly known as the First Chicano Youth Liberation Conference. This conference was attended by many future Chicano activists and artists. It also birthed the Plan Espiritual de Aztlán, a pro-indigenist manifesto advocating revolutionary Chicano nationalism and self-determination for all Chicanos. Through the Crusade for Justice, Gonzales organized the Mexican American people of Denver to fight for their cultural, political, and economic rights, leaving his mark on history. He was honored with a Google Doodle in continued celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month in the United States on October 1, 2021.
Chicanismo emerged as the cultural consciousness behind the Chicano Movement. The central aspect of Chicanismo is the identification of Chicanos with their Indigenous American roots to create an affinity with the notion that they are native to the land rather than immigrants. Chicanismo brought a new sense of nationalism for Chicanos that extended the notion of family to all Chicano people. Barrios, or working-class neighborhoods, became the cultural hubs for the people. It created a symbolic connection to the ancestral ties of Mesoamerica and the Nahuatl language through the situating of Aztlán, the ancestral home of the Aztecs, in the southwestern United States. Chicanismo also rejected Americanization and assimilation as a form of cultural destruction of the Chicano people, fostering notions of Brown Pride. Xicanisma has been referred to as an extension of Chicanismo.
Norma Elia Cantú is a Chicana postmodernist writer and the Murchison Professor in the Humanities at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.
The Chicano Movement, also referred to as El Movimiento, was a social and political movement in the United States that worked to embrace a Chicano/a identity and worldview that combated structural racism, encouraged cultural revitalization, and achieved community empowerment by rejecting assimilation. Chicanos also expressed solidarity and defined their culture through the development of Chicano art during El Movimiento, and stood firm in preserving their religion.
Chicana feminism is a sociopolitical movement, theory, and praxis that scrutinizes the historical, cultural, spiritual, educational, and economic intersections impacting Chicanas and the Chicana/o community in the United States. Chicana feminism empowers women to challenge institutionalized social norms and regards anyone a feminist who fights for the end of women's oppression in the community.
Latino poetry is a branch of American poetry written by poets born or living in the United States who are of Latin American origin or descent and whose roots are tied to the Americas and their languages, cultures, and geography.
Alberto Baltazar Urista Heredia, better known by his nom de plume Alurista, is an American poet and activist. His work was influential in the Chicano Movement and is important to the field of Chicano poetry.
Chicano studies, also known as Chicano/a studies, Chican@ studies, or Xicano studies originates from the Chicano Movement of the late 1960s and 1970s, and is the study of the Chicano and Latino experience. Chicano studies draws upon a variety of fields, including history, sociology, the arts, and Chicano literature. The area of studies additionally emphasizes the importance of Chicano educational materials taught by Chicano educators for Chicano students.
I Am Joaquin, by Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales and translated by Juanita Dominguez, is a famous epic poem associated with the Chicano movement of the 1960s in the United States. In I am Joaquin, Joaquin speaks of the struggles that the Chicano people have faced in trying to achieve economic justice and equal rights in the U.S., as well as to find an identity of being part of a hybrid mestizo society. He promises that his culture will survive if all Chicano people stand proud and demand acceptance.
Juan Felipe Herrera is an American poet, performer, writer, cartoonist, teacher, and activist. Herrera was the 21st United States Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2017. He is a major figure in the literary field of Chicano poetry.
Lorna Dee Cervantes is an American poet and activist, who is considered one of the greatest figures in Chicano poetry. She has been described by Alurista as "probably the best Chicana poet active today."
Carmen Tafolla is an internationally acclaimed Chicana writer from San Antonio, Texas, and a professor emerita of bicultural bilingual studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Tafolla served as the poet laureate of San Antonio from 2012 to 2014, and was named the Poet Laureate of Texas for 2015–16. Tafolla has written more than thirty books, and won multiple literary awards. She is one of the most highly anthologized Chicana authors in the United States, with her work appearing in more than 300 anthologies.
Laurie Ann Guerrero is a Chicana poet from San Antonio, Texas. She was the poet laureate of San Antonio from 2014 to 2016 and the Poet Laureate of Texas from 2016 to 2017. In the fall semester of 2017, she became the first writer-in-residence at Texas A&M University San Antonio and a "fully immersed faculty member. She will teach a contemporary American woman poets course, host numerous University writing workshops and mentor students while working on her next writing project."
The term Chicanafuturism was originated by scholar Catherine S. Ramírez which she introduced in Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies in 2004. The term is a portmanteau of 'chicana' and 'futurism'. The word 'chicana' refers to a woman or girl of Mexican origin or descent. However, 'Chicana' itself serves as a chosen identity for many female Mexican Americans in the United States, to express self-determination and solidarity in a shared cultural, ethnic, and communal identity while openly rejecting assimilation. Ramírez created the concept of Chicanafuturism as a response to white androcentrism that she felt permeated science-fiction and American society. Chicanafuturism can be understood as part of a larger genre of Latino futurisms.
A Mexican American is a resident of the United States who is of Mexican descent. Mexican American-related topics include the following:
Chicano literature is an aspect of Mexican-American literature that emerged from the cultural consciousness developed in the Chicano Movement. Chicano literature formed out of the political and cultural struggle of Chicana/os to develop a political foundation and identity that rejected Anglo-American hegemony. This literature embraced the pre-Columbian roots of Mexican-Americans, especially those who identify as Chicana/os.
Chicano Youth Liberation Conference was a conference held in Denver, Colorado in March 1969. It is also called the Denver Youth Conference. This was the first large scale gathering of Chicano/a youth to discuss issues of oppression, discrimination, and injustice. Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales and the Crusade for Justice were the main organizers, and they drafted and presented "El Plan Espiritual de Aztlan" at the conference, which played a major part in the national Chicano movement.
