Chicano poetry

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Chicano poetry is a branch of American literature written by and primarily about Mexican-Americans and the Mexican-American experience. The term "Chicano" is a politico-cultural term of identity specifically identifying people of Mexican descent who were born in the United States. In the same way that American poetry is comprised of the writing of the offspring of English and other European colonists to North America, so is Chicano poetry and literature comprised of the writing of the off-spring of Latinos who either emigrated to the US or were involuntarily included in the United States due to the Mexican-American War of 1848.

[edit] Pioneers and forerunners

Well known Chicano poets who were instrumental in creating a niche both in American and Latin American literature and developed an impetus were early writers such as Abelardo "Lalo" Delgado, Trinidad "Trino" Sanchez, Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales. Delgado wrote "Stupid America", Sanchez wrote "Why Am I So Brown?" and Gonzales authored the epic "Yo Soy Joaquin."

[edit] Unifying concepts

These poems primarily deal with how Chicanos deal with existence in the United States and how Chicanos cope with marginalization, racism and vanquished dreams. Many Chicano writers allude to the past glory of the Mesoamerican civilizations and how the indigenous people of those civilizations continue to live through the Chicano people who are largely "mestizos", people of mixed Native American, European and African ancestry.