Adam Marquez
Christina Sigala
Intro to Chicana/o Studies 1000-002
July 12, 2016
Chicana/o Identity: Reflections on Yo Soy Joaquin
The purpose of this paper is to discuss identity1
and how it pertains to Mexican-Americans.
I have chosen to reflect on Yo Soy
Joaquin because it, above any other single influence to which I have been
exposed, epitomizes the Mexican/ Mexican-American condition, while
simultaneously providing the substance for a much needed mend to a fractured
identity. The following paragraphs will
be dedicated to explaining identity, what that means to the Mexican-American
community, and Yo Soy Joaquin’s role
in the Mexican-American community’s growth.
This paper will begin, slightly unconventionally, with a concise
explanation of what I think Corky Gonzales and his Yo Soy Joaquin have contributed to the Mexican-American community;
what that means philosophically, and explanations of my terminology, will
follow.
As the toltecatl, Corky Gonzales was able to convey a
narrative of the Mexicans and Americans.
He retold the history which had been all but forgotten. He evidenced, and validated that
Mexican-Americans were somebody; he hurdled the obstacle of diachronic
identity. It wasn’t just any retelling
of history he gave to Mexican Americans, the narrative was told in an epic
poem; an expression dear to the heart of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. Corky
Gonzales gave Mexican-Americans the gift of Yo
Soy Joaquin, which was the gift of memory, it was a narrative, but not just
any narrative, a narrative which resounded with the hearts of
Mexican-Americans.
In giving Mexican-Americans a
narrative, and retelling their history, Corky Gonzales gave Mexican-Americans persistence. It must be noted that by “narrative”
I mean a retold story, a rallying history/remembrance; Yo Soy Joaquin is, in actuality, technically classified as a poem
and not a narrative. Corky Gonzales identified, and named the many-faceted
nature of Mexican-American identity by using names like: “La Raza,” “Méjicano,” “Español,” “Latino,” and “Chicano” (Gonzales) . In the article Terms of Identity: What’s in a Name, Felipe Ortego y Gasca, informs
us of the importance of naming; it is
essential to the identity of an individual or a group (de Ortego y Gasca) .
A group without a name is a group without an identity. Early activists who would eventually identify
as Chicanos have described their predicament as: being the hyphen between the
Mexican and American of the term “Mexican-American” (PBS) .
Corky gave Mexican-Americans identity by giving name, and validity to their
diachronic existence.
By giving
identity-through-name, Corky Gonzales was able to distinguishing marks
which make Mexican-Americans uniquely identified as a cohesive group with an
identity; he presented personhood. Yo Soy Joaquin, is an epic poem, a point at which an entire group
can rally around, which infuses dignity, and identity into an entire people
group who lacked cohesion; it is a summary of history, it is a namer of
identity, it is a carrier of pride, it is a reminder of a meaningful existence;
to name one’s self, or one’s group, is a revolt of dignity infusion against
oppression and one’s oppressor.
In
an article entitled Oppression, for the textbook Race Class and Gender, Frye writes of oppression in terms of
the etymology of the word oppression
by writing of the nature of its root pressed
(Frye 43) . Frye claims that for a thing to be pressed,
it is by necessity, taking on the image (impression) of whatever is doing the
pressing (Frye 43) .
Such a pressing molds, immobilizes, and reduces the oppressed from his/ her
original identity, and stands in opposition to each person coming into his/her
own identity. Before
Corky Gonzales wrote Yo Soy
Joaquin, Mexican-Americans were in a crisis of identity; through a process
of Americanization, Mexican-Americans had been made to take on the identity of
their oppressor (Vigil 202) .
The Americanization of Mexican-Americans wasn’t the only
problem though. Before America imposed
its culture on Mexico and Mexicans, various European groups had
influences. Spain, through syncretic
acculturation, changed the nature and expressions of Mestizo religion,
spirituality, expressions of worship, and subsequently, an overhaul of culture (Vigil 93, 100) .
French influence was not as pervasive, but it still had lasting effects.
The influence of foreign cultures over Mestizo culture has been far reaching
and detrimental to Mexican and Mexican-American identity.
Identity is a big topic with which philosophers have been
grappling for centuries. In an article
about identity, written for The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,
Olson lists three essential elements of identity: personhood, persistence and
evidence (Olson) . Olson was writing about personal identity,
but his framework is useful for group identity as well.
For group identity, Personhood
refers to the distinguishing marks which makes a group uniquely identified as
that group and not something else. This
was particularly difficult for Mexican-Americans in the era of Yo
Soy Joaquin,
as they were not native Mexicans, nor were they accepted as Americans. Ironically, they were expected to integrate
into society, as Anglos, while simultaneously being rejected by Anglos. Having
common interests, traits, and causes are especially important in this category;
they are all things Corky Gonzales
identified as necessary and offered in ways in which only Yo Soy Joaquin could.
Persistence refers to diachronic identity, which
is the way in which a group maintains identity under changing conditions. The
adult version of a child is still the same person as the child even though
he/she has taken on different characteristics, experiences, and perspectives. In one way the child/ adult can be thought of
as different people because they are dissimilar. But most of the time the child/ adult is
viewed as the same person. Documentable
history is especially helpful in this category. Yo Soy Joaquin brought to the Mexican-American community a concise,
lyrical reminder of its evolving identity.
Evidence refers to anything which helps us
establish that a diachronic group is indeed the same group about which we are referring. Marks, in her study of film and art, is
helpful in understanding evidence. She discusses, in Loving a Disappearing Image, the concept that diachronic identity
needs memory, the preservation of memory, and the retelling of memory
(narrative). She emphasizes that it is
not just the retelling of memory which is important to identity, but the manner
in which the narrative is told, or delivered, is at least as important as
content (Marks) .
Corky Gonzales brought an oral-style recalling which was particularly pertinent
as such a recalling is the traditional conveyance of such things for Mexicans.
Concerning narrative, Beatriz de la Fuente gives us some
helpful terminology. She describes narrative
as, what she terms: “the dialogue between the head and the heart;” the word she
uses for that concept is toltecayotl (de la Fuente) .
She informs us that the conveyor of the dialogue between the head and
the heart is the toltecatl, or the
artist. De la Fuente’s concept is
important to bring up in this paper because I understand Corky Gonzales,
through Yo Soy Joaquin, to be the toltecatl
of Mexican-American people. Yo Soy Joaquin, went far in bringing
identity to Mexican-Americans.
As
demonstrated through this paper, Corky Gonzales and Yo Soy Joaquin have been invaluable to Mexican-Americans. They, above any other single influencing
factor, have done more to infuse dignity, and bring about a rallying-point
cohesion for necessary identity. With a
freshly conveyed dignity-filled identity, individual Mexican-Americans and the
collective was enabled to forge forward with heads held high. Corky Gonzales’ epic poem facilitated
empowerment and gave voice to Mexican-Americans whose dignity was always there,
albeit weathered, and latent, and whose voice had been only temporarily muted. With a new voice and sense of empowerment, Mexican-Americans
would continue to reinvent themselves in healthy manifestations to take on the
twenty-first century as a dominating force. Marquez, 2016
Note
1 In an interview I held with my aunt (My
father’s, brother’s wife), Kathy Marquez (formerly Kathy Gonzales), who is the
niece of Corky Gonzales, and who was deeply involved in the activism of the
Chicano Movement, I learned of the necessity of dignity and identity for
Mexican-Americans. I furthered her input
with my own extensive research to bring the concepts she felt needed voice
concerning the movement. (Marquez (Gonzales))
Works Cited
de la Fuente, Beatriz. "Traces of an
Identity." The Aztec Empire 41.52 (2004).
de Ortego y Gasca, Felipe. "Terms of Identity:
What's in a Name." Latino Suave Magazine (2005-2006).
Frye, M. "Oppression." Anderson, M. Race
Class and Gender: An Anthology. 7. Belmont: Wadsworth Cengage Learning,
2013. 43-45.
Gonzales, Rodolpho (Corky). 1972. history.msu.edu.
.
La Raza de Colorado - El Movimiento. By PBS. Dir. PBS. 2006. PBS Documentary .
Marks, Laura. "Loving a Disappearing
Image." Cinémas : Revue d'études cinématographiques Cinémas
(1997): 93-112.
Marquez (Gonzales), Kathy. Table Talk:
Conversations With My Aunt Adam Marquez. Denver , 13 July 2016.
Olson, Eric T. "The Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy." Spring 2016. Plato.Stanfod.Edu. 23 June 2016.
.
Vigil, James Diego. From Indians to Chicanos.
Long Grove: Waveland Press, Inc., n.d.
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