Thursday February 11th

In class on Thursday the 11^th, we were to have read “Chicano!” which was a brief history of the Mexican-American struggle for equal rights. Much of the article dealt with Reies López Tijerina and his quest to reclaim lands across the southwest that had been taken by the Anglos or the federal government. The article also touched on the fact that Chicano movements around the southwest during this period “exhibited differences…which at times created divisions” between movements. These differences mostly stemmed from what each regional group defined as a priority; there were many different facets to the Chicano Movement. In class, we discussed these at length, with some of the more prominent examples being: better education, land rights, better treatment in the workplace, and proper treatment in courts.

We also discussed César Chávez. Although Professor Lopez was not too keen on the analogy, she told us that Chávez could be considered the Martin Luther King, Jr. of the Chicano movement. Just like MLK, Chávez was one of the most symbolic people for his respective movement because he was able to bring a wide range of people together. His grape boycott, which began in 1965, was the first time the conditions of agricultural workers had been brought to attention; these people were some of the most disenfranchised people in the United States at the time.

To end class, we read the poem I am Joaquin by Corky Gonzalez. We were asked by Professor Lopez to read the poem and then ask ourselves “What story are we hearing?” Gonzalez’s poem takes many stories from Mexican history and combines it into one consecutive narrative and presents it as an alternative to American assimilation; Chicanos had no desire to become a part of the “American Melting Pot.” This poem was also a way for the Chicano movement to unite. With the class divide between Mexican haves and have-nots widening, the need for cultural survival was paramount.