Chicano poetry

Chicano poetry is a branch of American literature written by and primarily about Mexican Americans and the Mexican-American way of life in society. The term "Chicano" is a political and cultural term of identity specifically identifying people of Mexican descent who are born in the United States. In the same way that American poetry comprises the writing of the offspring of English and other European colonists to North America, so Chicano poetry and literature comprises the writing of the offspring of Latinos who either emigrated to the United States or were involuntarily included in the country due to the Mexican-American War of 1848.

Chicanos have been writing poetry in these lands that became the United States since the late-sixteenth century. Despite their having cultivated all types of written and oral literature, many of their literary traditions persisted in order to preserve their cultural identity within an expanding and overwhelmingly aggressive "national" culture that did not recognize Spanish speakers as part of an ever-evolving "America."

Chicanismo is a cultural movement begun in the 1930s in the Southwestern United States by Mexican Americans to recapture their Mexican, Native American culture. The four major themes of Chicanismo are generally considered to be: (1) the power of the creative earth and labor upon it; (2) political transformation through collective efforts; (3) strong familial ties extending back into Mesoamerican pre-history; and (4) spiritually-influenced creative artistic imagination as reflected in the visual ARTS.

There are several theories concerning the origin of the term Chicano. The most prominent is that it is derived from Mexicano, which comes from Mexica (pronounced "meshica"). Whatever its origin, the term was in widespread use by the 1950s and gained popularity in the 1960s. It is also during this time that the label Black gained popularity in place of the terms Negro and Colored People. It was the young Black community angry at the racism that was being perpetuated against them who burned and destroyed several cities. However, many older black people wanted to be called Negro or colored because they did not wish to be identified with the word black which for some represented the turmoil of the times. So too, many older Mexican-Americans refused to accept the term Chicano, instead proudly identifying themselves as Mexicano.

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