The Chicano Movement and Mexican Muralism: A Comprehensive Study Guide

The Long Sixties and the Framework of the Chicano Movement

• Timeline of the "Long Sixties": Historians utilize the term "the long sixties" to describe the period between $1955$ and $1975$. This era is characterized by significant migrations and numerous political movements.

• Lecture Focus: The discussion centers on the Chicano movement and imperialist history, framed specifically through the lens of artwork and muralism. This artistic medium is noted as being particularly specific to the Mexican and Mexican American communities.

• Central Thesis - "Aztlan is America": The overarching takeaway is that to understand United States history, one must inherently understand Mexican history, as the two are deeply intertwined.

Aztec Iconography and Pre-colonial Context

• Definition of Aztlan: Aztlan is considered the mythical homeland of the Aztec empire. While the empire primarily existed in the $1400s$ in what is now Central Mexico, linguistic evidence suggests the Aztecs originated from the US Southwest (potentially near California or San Marcos).

• Historical Documents (Codices): Knowledge of the Aztecs is derived from codices—books that fold within themselves. These were created after the Spanish conquest ($1521$) by Spanish missionaries who interviewed indigenous people to record their history.

• Visual Literacy in Codices:

  • Footprints: Symbolize traveling or the passage of time.

  • Hill/Tail Symbol: Represents a specific place.

  • Desert/Savage Elements: Cacti and wolf-like figures signify a harsh starting environment.

  • Cloud/Scroll Symbols: Represent a specific city.

  • Year 1 Flint: A square symbol signifying the year $1215$.

  • Speech Scrolls: Little things coming out of mouths indicate someone important is speaking (e.g., a ruler or god).

  • Gender Indicators: Aztec women were often depicted with hair braided in curls and wearing long skirts.

• The Hummingbird God (Huitzilopochtli): Known as the "hummingbird of the South," he is associated with fire and the sun. He is the deity that commanded the Aztecs to leave Aztlan. He required a constant supply of sacrificial victims.

• Founding of Tenochtitlan ($1325$): The Aztecs were told to settle where they saw an eagle with a snake in its mouth perched on a cactus. This occurred in what is now Mexico City.

• Aztec Military Culture:

  • Warrior Classes: The two primary groups were the Jaguar and the Eagle warriors.

  • Featherwork: Feathers were considered nature's most valuable gifts, more precious than gold. They were used in elaborate headdresses.

  • Weaponry: The primary weapon used was the "Macuahuitl."

• Quetzalcoatl: The feathered serpent god, highly significant to the Maya and frequently appearing in Chicano murals.

The Mexican Revolution and the Rise of National Muralism

• The Revolution ($1910$ to $1920$): A messy struggle to overthrow the dictator Porfirio Diaz. Key leaders included Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata.

• Post-Revolutionary Nationalism: In the $1930s$ and $1940s$, the Mexican educational department faced the challenge of creating a shared national identity in a regionally divided country where many could not read.

• Los Tres Grandes (The Big Three): To teach history through images, the government contracted three major muralists:

  1. Diego Rivera: Perhaps the most famous, partly due to his marriage to Frida Kahlo.

  2. Jose Clemente Orozco.

  3. David Alfaro Siqueiros.

• Indigenous Bias: The government chose to tie Mexican history specifically to the Aztecs. This is visible in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, where the Aztec (Mexica) room is the largest and most central.

• The Aztec Sunstone: Often incorrectly called a calendar, it depicts the four worlds that existed before the current (fifth) world. For example, one world lasted $606$ years and was destroyed by jaguars.

• Linguistic Legacy: The word "Tianguis" (open-air market) is a Nahuatl (Aztec) word still used today.

The Chicano Movement ($1960$ to $1972$)

• Demographics and Social Status: In $1960$, there were approximately $5,000,000$ people of Mexican descent in the US. Despite being legally white, they faced segregation, police brutality, and were treated as second-class citizens.

• Terminology: "Chicano/a" was originally a derogatory term meaning "unpolite" or "bad Mexican." The movement reclaimed it to signify a pride in having both Mexican and American heritage.

• Major Organizations:

  • MAPA: Mexican American Political Association.

  • MALDEF: Mexican American Legal Defense Fund.

  • UFW: United Farm Workers.

• United Farm Workers (UFW):

  • Leaders: Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta (who coined the chant "Si se puede").

  • Filipino Contribution: Philip Veracruz and Larry Itliong of the Filipino workers' movement taught the UFW how to protest and suggested working together.

  • Actions: A $300$ mile march from Delano to Sacramento in $1966$; a massive boycott of the grape industry; hunger strikes by Chavez.

Internal Divisions and the Question of Identity

• Cesar Chavez's Stance on Immigration: Chavez was notably against undocumented Mexican immigration for a long period, arguing that it undermined the wages of Mexican American citizens.

• LULAC and Assimilation: The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) pushed for full assimilation, encouraging members to speak only English and stop being Catholic to be seen as "fully American."

• "Walls and Mirrors" by David Gutierrez: This book explores how the Mexican community in the US is uniquely divided compared to other immigrant groups (e.g., Irish or Filipino).

• Primary Cleavages of Division:

  • Language: The "stupid argument" that one is not Mexican if they don't speak Spanish (ignoring that Spanish is a colonial European language and many in Mexico speak only indigenous dialects).

  • Region: Loyalty to specific states or towns in Mexico.

  • Birthplace: Whether one was born in Mexico or the US (illustrated by the example of Lupita Nyong'o, who was born in Mexico to Kenyan parents but may not identify as Mexican).

  • Documentation Status: Friction between the documented and undocumented.

Radicalism and Chicano Muralism

• The Brown Berets: Initially called the "Young Citizens for Committee Action" ($1966$), co-founded by David Sanchez and Carlos Montes in East LA. They modeled themselves after the Black Panther Party, utilizing weapons for self-defense while managing social programs (clinics, food, and employment).

• Chicano Moratorium: A protest led by students against the Vietnam War and police brutality, which resulted in a violent crackdown by the sheriff's department.

• Decline of the Movement: Factors included FBI infiltration (COINTELPRO), internal conflicts, and management issues under Cesar Chavez.

• Chicana Feminism: Women faced a "dual struggle" against both racial and gender discrimination. Judy Baca became a pioneer in Chicana muralism, notably painting the history of LA in a riverbed in $1976$.

• Themes in Chicano Murals:

  • Indigenous representation.

  • Virgen de Guadalupe.

  • The Three Faces: Representing the Indian, Mestizo, and Spanish traditions.

  • Duality: Life and death; male and female; yin and yang.

Chicano Park: A Case Study

• History of Logan Heights: In the $1950s$ and $60s$, the construction of Interstate $5$ and the San Diego-Coronado Bridge split the community, creating a southern section known as Barrio Logan.

• The $1970$ Occupation: Residents found out a promised park site was being turned into a California Highway Patrol station. They occupied the site for $12$ days, successfully forcing the city to approve the park.

• The Murals: Because the park is under freeway overpasses, the cement pillars became canvases. First murals were painted in $1976$ by artists like Judy Baca, Salvatore Torres, and Victor Ochoa. They feature UFW flags, eagle warriors, and icons like Selena and Prince.