Chicano Arts & Culture
- History of the Mexican-American People
A quick framework for teaching Chicano Literature classes. Chicano history ordered by chronology and topic: From America's Spanish heritage, Spanish to Mexican to Anglo rule, the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, to the Chicano Movement.
- Are Chicanos the Same as Mexicans?
Richard J. Salvador's typology of the Spanish speaking people of the United States is another important framework for teaching Chicano Literature.
- Americo Paredes
Author of George Washington Gómez: A Mexicotexan Novel, Paredes established the foundations of modern Mexican American scholarship
with his research in corridos, folkloric ballads, and Chicano folklore.
- Ana Castillo
One of the leading figures of Chicana literature, Castillo's website offers a complete bibliography, interviews, excerpts of work, and the author's excellent blog.
A great resource for teaching Latino Literature; with many Latino author sites, Latino publications and writer resources, reviews of the latest books and films by Latinos.
- Border Correspondent: The Selected Writings of Ruben Salazar
Ruben Salazar, was a correspondent and columnist for the Los Angeles Times and the first Mexican-American journalist to cross over into mainstream English-Language journalism. He frequently wrote about border life, the Chicano protest movement, and other issues important to the Chicano community. He was killed by police during the National Chicano Moratorium March in Los Angeles in 1970. An e-Scholarship edition.
- Southwest Children's Literature
A great resource for elementary school teachers; with reviews and lesson plans for hundreds of Southwest-themed children's books, including many Chicano authors such as Pat Mora, Ralfka Gonzalez, and Ana Cruz.
- Why Should Latinos Write Their Own Stories?
In this essay, El Paso native and author of The Last Tortilla and Other Stories, Sergio Troncoso, discusses the importance of defining and preserving the culture through Latino Literatue.
Chicano Myth & Folklore
- La Llorona
An important myth among the Mexican-American communities. "The weeping woman" is the ghost of a woman crying for her dead children. Variants of the llorona tale are also popular in Mexico and in most of the Americas.
Research in Latino/Chicano Studies
- The Pew Hispanic Center
A nonpartisan research organization whose mission is to improve understanding of the U.S. Hispanic population and to chronicle Latinos' growing impact on the nation. Conducts and commissions studies on a wide range of topics, including demography, economics, education, identity, immigration, labor, and politics. A good fact-finder resource for Latino Literature and culture classes.
Devoted to the exploration of Mesoamerican cultures of Mexico and
Central America, including the Olmec, Zapotec, Mixtec, Teotihuacan,
Toltec, Aztec and Maya.
- The Aztecs
Many resources on Aztec culture such as Aztec language pronunciation, stories, music, Aztec and Mesoamerican gods; offered by Mexicolore, an educational organization.
- The Aztec Calendar
A site devoted to the tonalpohualli, or the sacred Aztec calendar, whose main use was as a tool for divination. Exploring the tonalpohualli allows for a deeper exploration of the Aztec's worldview, cosmology, and myriad gods.
- Frida Kahlo Online
From ArtCyclopedia; From the collections of the Metropolitan, National Museum of Women in the Arts, Phoenix Art Museum, Arte Latinoamericana; biography and extensive resources.
- La Chicana: A Celebratory Photo Essay
Real-life images of Mexican American women in work, play, and
community activities, from turn-of-the-century to
contemporary Chicanas and their families. From the Chicano Research Collection Department of Archives and Manuscripts at the Arizona State University Libraries.
- Arte Latino
Latino art treasures from the Smithsonian American Art Museum; with works by Gloria López Córdova, Luis Jiménez, Delilah Montoya, and more.
- Poetas y Pintores: Artists Conversing with Verse
Francisco X. Alarcón, Rigoberto González, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Pat Mora, and other Chicano/Latino writers engage with the works of visual artists. Initiated by the Center for Women's InterCultural Leadership at Saint Mary's College and the Institute for Latino Studies at the University of Notre Dame.
- The Virtual Diego Rivera Web Museum
The muralist painter was born in Guanajuato Mexico and later lived in Mexico City. In Paris, he was influenced by post-modernism and cubism, and later adopted a simplified style that evoked Mexico's pre-Columbian past. Much of his work detailed the history of Mexico and its peasant farmers and laborers in the rich beauty and colors of a uniquely Mexican landscape.
- Chicano Art Magazine
A quarterly Chicano arts publication based in Los Angeles California featuring the latest Chicano/Chicana artists.
- Musica Fronteriza/Border Music
An interesting scholarly paper by Manuel Pena, originally published in Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies, UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center. How Chicano border music preserves both a culture of resistance and assimilation through traditional musical forms like conjunto and corrido, and newer hybrids such as orquestra.
- Accordion Dreams
The arrival of the German accordion to Texas in the 19th century gave birth to "Conjunto," a uniquely Texas Chicano musical tradition. This site not only provides information about the documentary film directed by Hector Galan and narrated by Tish Hinojosa, but also the history and musical elements of conjunto, and pioneer and contemporary artists.
- Lila Downs
Contemporary ranchera musician, Lila Downs was born to a Mixteca Indian mother and Scottish leftist Father in Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, and grew up both in Oaxaca and Minneapolis, Minnesota. She sang with the band "Los Cadetes de Yodoyuxi" and later with "La Trova Serrana," a group of folk musicians from the Zapotec town of Guelatao, Oaxaca. She also studied social anthropology and voice at the University of Minnesota.
Daily news scoured from the Net on immigration, art, music, poetry, pop culture, Chicano celebrities, and more.
An aggregation service whose goal is to bring together daily Latino news from around the nation. A comprehensive information archive reflecting Hispanic life in the US.
- Margo Candela Blog
A collection of essays, postings, and thoughts on her experiences as a Chicana fiction writer and author of Underneath It All.
Author of Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles Through Baja California, The Other Mexico, and Sky Over El Nido, is the founding editor of Tameme and a translator of contemporary Mexican poetry and fiction. Creative Writing students especially should read her "10 Tips for Getting the Most Out of Your Writing Workshop."
Links updated on September 10, 2010