CHICANⒶ
Chicano/Chicana. A political identification for a Mexican-American, usually born in the U.S., whose body is the borderland between two cultures, and who struggles for the autonomy of the Mexican-American people. A Chican@ is indigenous. A Chican@ is proud. A Chican@ has 500 years of resistance for inspiration.
“You are as big as the enemy you choose to fight and as small as the fear you feel inside. Choose a large enemy, and you are already huge!” - EZLN
Mexican/Chican@ Anarchism was first formally discussed and advocated by Ricardo Flores Magón, who became one of the intellectual inspirations for Emiliano Zapata (and through that, the Zapatistas). His slogan, “Tierra y Libertad!”, was borrowed from the Spanish Anarchists in the CNT-FAI, and it has become popularly known in Mexico as the slogan of Zapata and other revolutionary movements. Magón was one of the first radical Mexicans to agitate in the U.S., founding an anarchist commune in what would eventually become the Echo Park neighborhood in East L.A. He was eventually capture and died in a Texas prison.
In the U.S., “Tierra y Libertad!” has been popularized by Chican@ revolutionaries and activists. The Origins of Contemporary Chicana/Chicano Anarchism
Somos Mas Americanos que los hijos del Anglo-Saxon (We Are More American than the Children of Anglo-Saxons)
