cover image Enriqueta Vasquez and the Chicano Movement: Writings from El Grito del Norte

Enriqueta Vasquez and the Chicano Movement: Writings from El Grito del Norte

Enriqueta Vasquez, . . Arte Pblico, $16.95 (231pp) ISBN 978-1-55885-479-6

Born during the civil rights era, the Chicano movement fashioned a new, empowered identity for Mexican-Americans. Vasquez was at the center of this movement, and her columns in El Grito del Norte (The Shout from the North ) offered a new voice and purpose for those involved. In these essays, collected for the first time, she examines the liberal ideologies of the time—feminism, socialism, environmentalism, pacifism—paving the way for Chicano thought. A central tension lies between putting women's needs and Mexican-American needs first. Though these are difficult questions to answer, Vasquez's writing remains simple and folksy, and she often relies on her personal life to provide examples. By the end, the essays, though often repetitive, offer a great window into both Chicanismo and the development of identity politics in the 20th century. The two essays written by Chicano scholars and the editors of the book, effectively use history and cultural theory to support the columns and bring them to life. (Nov.)