chicano

Originally airing on PBS, the Chicano—Taking Back our Schools documentary is, as its title suggests, about Chicanos who decided that they had had enough of the racism and inequalities of the American educational system. Victims of systematic racism, forced to assimilate into the dominate culture, and denied their heritage, Chicanos fought back by organizing blowouts, speaking out against discriminatory treatment, and involving parents who gave voice to concerns that their children were falling behind and would be unable to ever compete in American society. The blowouts took place in Los Angeles, particularly Belmont High School and others. Mexican-American activist and educator Sal Castro took part also. Through his guidance and knowledge, Chicano students walked out of class, took to the streets, and marched in defiance of what they had been taught and all the stereotypes that had been attached to them. The Chicano Movement reinvigorated the arts by giving artists powerful images and rhetoric to work with. The article The Chicano Movement and the Forming of the Artistic Consciousness starts with the origins of the Chicano Movement and its founding document, El Plan Espiritual de Aztlan. The demands made in this document – bilingual education, self-determination, and freedom from unjust laws and an unjust economic system, capitalism – are echoed in poems like Corky Gonzalez’s bilingual “I am Joaquin” and painted on murals in cities like Los Angeles and San Francisco. These murals in particular are designed to be communal spaces and to teach those passing by about Chicano history, important Chicanos like Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, and about the contributions that Chicanos have made in the community. By making these murals communal, the artists also showed that they would defy the traditional norms of art and make their works free for everyone to see. They did not need museums to show their work or approval from anybody. These artists lived up to the spirit of the Plan Espiritual de Aztlan.