Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales (June 18, 1928- April 12, 2005)
Work Read, Year Published
·
“I Am Joaquin” (1967)
Accomplishments:
Gonzales
began as a boxer, later owned a bar in Denver, Colorado. Eventually, he became
a significant activist and spokesperson for the Chicano/a movement beginning at
this time. He founded the Crusade for Justice (1963), War on Poverty (1966),
the dance company Ballet Folklorico de Atzlan, the newspaper El Gallo (1966, chairperson and
publisher). That same year, he dedicates himself to advocate for Chicano/a
culture and self-improvement. 1967, Gonzales publishes his only work, I am Joaquin, which has now become “one
of the most widely read and important representations of Chicano literature and
of the Chicano movement itself”. The first annual Chicano Youth conference is
held in 1968, where Gonzales presents “El Plan Espiritual de Aztlan” (setting
the American Southwest as the “homeland” for Chicano/as).
The significance of Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales is that
while he only has one published piece, it created impact and influence to an
entire movement. The major theme in this poem is that of the inner struggle as
the Chicano/a often face in their lives. The poem is written in a unique
structured way and at specific points declaring statements in all capitals. The
poem contains historical references, Gonzales is telling of an entire people’s
culture through them, using the contrast of said people’s ancestor to show how
Chicano’s struggle to choose a side is long and not new. At the end, stating
that if the ones before them could go on, so can they. From “Corky” Gonzales,
it important to note that he was an activist and heavily involved with
organizations to promote the Chicano/a movement. This poem, however, becomes
the basis for that movement, and while singular, incredibly important, like the
man how wrote it.
Citation:
"Rodolfo Gonzales." Contemporary Authors Online.
Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature
Resource Center. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
Pat Mora (January 19, 1942- )
Works Read, Year Published:
·
“Legal Alien” (1984)
·
“Fences” (1991)
·
“Curandera” (1984)
Accomplishments:
Mora is one of the most
notable Hispanic writers in the U.S. with 9 memeberships, 30+ awards, all from
her 8 adult and 25 children works (some which have been translated to several
various languages). Her first adult poems collection comes in 1984 in the form
of Chants, then in 1992, she produces her first book, A Birthday Basket for Tia,
however, Tomas and the Library was one her first accepted books for publication
but due to lack of illustrator, the book was held back for almost a decade
until joined with art by Raul Colon. As an advocate for cultural appreciation
and literacy as well as literacy conservation, in 1997 Mora successfully
lobbied for El Día de los Niños/El Día de los Libros (celebrating children and
bilingual literacy) as part of National Poetry Month. The Estela and Raul Mora
Award came into existence in 2000, established by Mora and family. She is now a
full-time writer and speaker.
Mora’s children works are more significant than her
adult pieces, and it has been widely recognized. She actively advocated for
literacy and not just that, but made it so that culture was instilled in it. Mora
promotes in her children books embracing one’s Mexican-American heritage by
having traditional aspects of the culture in her stories, often set in the
Southwest or the desert (her hometown of El Paso, Texas influence), with themes
of family. Her pieces are descriptive (Fences),
full of imagery (Curandera), and
often bi-lingual (Legal Alien). One
of her focuses is the bi-lingual aspect to her work, highly important to know.
Pat Mora’s books and poems are written to embrace both sides of the Chicano/a
culture, and her usage of the two languages only work to encourage her beliefs
of literacy and culture because she is making her readers read in both
languages while exposing them to themes that encompass the culture making it
normal for kids (mainly) to grow up appreciating it, unlike her childhood, in
which she felt she needed to hide it.
"Pat
Mora." Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2008. Literature
Resource Center. Web. 20 Mar. 2015.
Lorna Dee Cervantes (August 6, 1954 –)
Works Read, Year Published:
·
"Visions of Mexico
While at a Writing Symposium in port Townsend, Washington" (1981)
·
"A Poem for the Young
White Man Who Asked Me How I, An Intelligent, Well-Read Person, Could Believe
in the War Between the Races" (1981)
·
“Flatirons” (1991)
·
“Death Song” (1991)
·
"Beneath the Shadow of
the Freeway" (1981)
Accomplishments:
Mid 1970s,
Cervantes forms publishing company, Mango Publications, used to help publish fellow
Chicano poets and creates, Mango, a
literary review for San Jose. She also develops 4 poetry collection works:
Emplumada, From the Cables of Genocide: Poems on Love and Hunger, Drive: The
First Quartet: New Poems, Ciento: 100 100-Word Love Poems. Is considered one of
America’s top Chicano and Women poets, youngest to have a poem in Norton
Anthology of American Literature (she
has 4 poems).
The work produced by Cervantes is significant
because of the different styles and themes (Emplumada vs. Ciento: 100 100-Word
Love Poems) she is able to write. From the selections given, 3 held the themes
of her different cultures, as well as different aspects of those cultures, be
it the ignorance of others, personal, or the comparisons of her two homes. The
other 2 had very strong themes of death. Which according to the collections
they belong to makes sense. The first 3 belong to her first collection in which
holds strong themes of social issues while the other 2 belong to the second
collection, written after her mother’s murder. The 3 that share the same theme
also share a similar writing style. For those, it was to the point in form of
thoughts or storytelling. The other two, are more of what we expect a poem to
be, the use of language is freer, more figurative. But neither is better than the
other, both are equally great. She is an interesting individual, her back story
is full of inspiration that flows into her work and by remembering that, one
can remember her work and what each collection is and means.
Citation:
Thomas, Susan K. "Lorna Dee Cervantes." Twenty-First-Century American Poets. Ed.
John Cusatis. Detroit: Gale, 2013. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 372. Literature Resource Center. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
Alberto H. Urista a.k.a Alurista (August 8, 1947-)
Works Read, Year Published:
- “EL
Maguey en su Desierto” (1971)
- “Must
be the Season of the Witch” (1971)
- “To
Be Fathers Once Again” (1971)
- “Mis
Ojos Hinchados” (1971)
- “Our
Barrio” (1971)
Accomplishments:
Alurista is co-founder of the Chicano Student
Movement of Aztlan (MECHA), the Chicano studies department at San Diego State
University, the founder and co-editor of Maize magazine (1976), and the chief organizer of Festival Floricanto,
a literary event. He has 11 works
as “Alurista” and 14 works as an editor as well as publishing or
contributing to various books/periodicals.
He has received 5 awards and is one of the better known and
impactful Chicano poets.
Alurista’s work is significant because he spread
more widely the idea of “Aztlan” (Mexican Amerindian ideology, the ancient
homeland of which the chicano/as must go back to, concept by Rodolfo Gonzales).
Through his work he is able to instill Chicano/a culture and pride in a that
turns him into an advocate to revolutionize against the “Anglo-Saxon
domination”. Alurista’s poems often feature “Aztlan” themes and the use of
English, Spanish, and “chicano/a Spanish”. In the five pieces we looked at, all
have the multilingual aspect. They all also show a sort of sorrow in having to
fight for their culture, which is being lost. Alurista’s constant usage of
Spanish/English and “chicano/a Spanish” is memorable. He has developed a way to
smoothly flow between the languages which only makes his poems even more
impactful. His work being inspired by Chavez’s movement and his own creation of
a “homeland” here in the Southwest is worth knowing as well as his head-on take
to advocate for Chicano/a culture.
Citation:
"Alberto H. Urista." Contemporary
Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2001. Literature
Resource Center. Web. 23 Mar. 2015.
Ines Hernandez (February 28, 1947- )
Works Read, Year Published:
·
“Para Teresa” (1987)
Accomplishments:
1970’s, early 80’s,
Ines Hernandez is active in the Texas Chicano/a movement, working with various
groups. She begins to involve herself more in the Native American Community
through D-Q University’s Indian college (Davis, California) when she moves to
Fresno, Califorinia to teach at San Francisco State University’s La Raza Studies
department and English at Fresno State in 1982. She has 10 memberships, 3
written works and is contributor to 12+ other pieces. She is now a tenured
member of University of California, Davis and is currently working on a “book-length manuscript on the movement of writers in
indigenous languages in Mexico, based in Mexico City, called "Escritores
en Lenguas Indigenas”.
What makes Ines Hernandez different than the other
poets we’ve looked at is that she intentionally focuses on sexism, the gender
roles and their affect in the Chicano/a culture, which is significant. Like the
other poets, Hernandez focuses on the Chicano/a culture, one’s place within
that, but she also goes between that and her Native American roots, and the
women’s place among all that. The form of her writing, from the piece given, is
clear, simple, and a narrative making her work quite easy to understand. She,
like the others, also writes poems in both English and Spanish but it isn’t she
chooses to do always; some of her pieces are entirely in English or Spanish.
Her poetry can also contain Native American expressions because she does focus
on that as well, not just her Chicana identity. Remembering that Ines Hernandez
is not only Chicana but Native American as well is important, unlike the other
poets whose parents are both from Mexico, or they themselves. Her struggle is
now between 3 dominating cultures in her life, the “American”, Chicana, and
Native. Another important aspect of Hernendez is her feminism. While the other
women poets we look at have the female perspective, it is done coincidently;
Hernandez makes it something she’s purposefully acknowledging.
Citation:
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