[500 Años del Pueblo Chicano/500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures— Expanded/Revisado. 8-1/2" x 11", 238 pp, B&W. Published by Southwest Organizing Project, 211 Tenth St. SW, Albuquerque, NM 87102 (505) 247-8832.]
by Beth Bright and Todd Prane
The history of these continents did not begin 502 years ago. The people of the Americas hardly noticed the arrival of one lost and ignorant sailor to a small island in the eastern Caribbean Sea. But things were different from that time on, all over the Americas.
500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures, edited by Elizabeth Martínez, tells one, very important part of the history since then. It tells a story of Chicano history—a story of resistance— starting with Indigenous resistance to the Spanish, and the creation of La Raza, continuing up to the early 1990s.
500 Years is set up as a photo montage with headlines and captions, including poetry and quotations from the famous and not-so-famous figures of Chicano history. The story takes its structure and direction from the content of the images. Words are secondary to the pictures.
What's unique about this telling of the history of Chicano resistance is its accessibility. The power of pictures, both photographs and other artwork, "speak" a powerful story of the struggles of a people. Even for someone who reads neither Spanish or English, the individuals and actions shown would be enough to see the power of a whole people. The book uses images to tell a history with a distinctly non-academic slant.
It's easy to open a picture book; it's easy to feel like you can understand it, like it's talking to you. The pictures themselves are beautiful, both in their content and the quality of reproduction. It is also a rare and valuable collection of such a volume of photographic material. Over 800 photos, drawings and prints make up the volume. In some ways the reliance on photographs shapes (maybe even limits) the telling of the history. The section on early history is short, and struggles since 1930 take up the last two-thirds of the book. But this only serves to increase the immediacy of the book. It is a history that is still being written (and photographed).
The Roots of La Raza
La Raza is "the Race," a cultural and racial identity used by people of Mexican heritage to identify themselves. La Raza was born of the mixing of the Spanish conquistadors and the Indigenous peoples. In 500 Years "La Raza" and "Chicano" are used almost synonymously. The book focuses on Raza living in what are now territories of the US. In this context Chicano and Raza become more interchangeable. In general Chicano refers to people who are Raza but, because they have not been living in México, are not Mexican. Raza were oppressed by the full-blooded Spaniards, followed soon afterward by Anglos (English speakers). By the 1600s the struggles of Indígenas and of La Raza in what is now México, and the territories which are now the states of Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona and California, often coincided.
Some of the negative aspects of the relationship between La Raza and the Indígenas are left out of this early history, when the Mestizos were displacing Indígenas, and the modern history, where the same displacement continues, always alongside unity. In spite of this glossing of the history, 500 Años does an excellent job of connecting the oppression of the Indigenous peoples and Raza living in the Southwest. The photos show us an Anglo veteran of the Wounded Knee massacre who leads the Ludlow massacre of Chicanos. They show us continuity between the traditions and lifestyles of the Chicano residents of the Southwest and their Indigenous neighbors.
Most of the history of Chicanos is intimately involved with their economic exploitation by Anglos. Much of the book is devoted to labor struggles of Chicanos, particularly in agriculture. Two ways that the story of labor comes through is in the voices of individuals who participated in the struggles, and through the showing of the participation of wimmin. Through pictures we see the faces of people who have fought for Chicano rights to better working conditions, wages, health care, living conditions. We see faces of those who have died for these, and faces in celebration of victory when gains were made. And in all of this we see wimmin: in the fields, on the pickets at factories, with babies, with grown children who are fighting, and in leadership positions in their communities. It is rare to see a presentation of wimmin in which wimmin seem to appear of their own accord, because they are everywhere and do everything, and not because someone thought it was a good idea to put them in the book. From the pictures of female soldiers during the Mexican revolution to wimmin labor activists, to wimmin taking their families across the border, wimmin are present in this book in many different, active forms.
The Southwest
The struggle shown in this book is specifically about the region that is now the southwestern US. When the book tells the story of Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa, what we discover to be important about him is that he came to the US-held territories and was the only foreign military commander ever to take over a town in the US: Columbus, New Mexico. As the history continues, the individual struggles that we see take place in the Southwest. This region has a unique history of Chicano culture and resistance. The Chicano population here is large and vocal, and the struggle here goes on every day. For every step forward for environmental, economic and social justice, a new battle lies just around the corner, from pesticides in the fields to Intel polluting the air and water. 500 Years succeeds in connecting the Chicano community and its fights today to its history in this region.
Language
The use of language in the book is interesting on two counts. The story is driven by the pictures, with captions, headlines, and explanatory paragraphs taking their cues from the photos they accompany. This gives the history less fluidity, since not every moment of importance will have a photograph or picture to portray it. The photos don't just tell us that wimmin were important in the Mexican Revolution, they show us Carmen Robles and other commanders of the day. The result is a history that starts and stops, that focuses and looks away. It takes a bit more work to build a whole picture out of it, but the story eventually comes together, almost as though the connections draw themselves.
The second interesting element in the use of language is the way in which English and Spanish play off of each other throughout the book. Almost all of the text of 500 Años is printed in both English and Spanish, but sometimes headlines are larger in one language than the other. Sometimes the English is on top, sometimes the Spanish. Sometimes, when the words in the two languages are similar, no translation is provided at all. Readers are constantly startled by words in a different language than they're used to popping up unexpectedly. This captures a sense of Chicano presence in the book as well as any of the pictures. But the unorthodox layout and translation of the text in the book also makes native English speakers check themselves more often—it makes Anglos more aware that they are Anglos and that they might have a place (however dubious at times) in the pictures, too.
The History of the Book
500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures was originally published by the Chicano Communications Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1976 under the title 450 years of Chicano History in Pictures. It has been in and out (mostly out) of print since then—a hard-to-find treasure possessed mostly by New Mexicans and people with the right connections. This reprinting by the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) in 1991 has both revised the book (adding scores of pictures, especially from the '70s, '80s and '90s), and has made it available to a much broader readership.
Wherefore Nationalism?
No anti-authoritarian account of this book would be complete without at least a mention of Chicano nationalism. The use of the term and concept of "La Raza" by Chicano nationalists can be problematic. "La Raza" can be exclusionary—not just of Anglos, but also of other Latinos. In spite of the apparent connections to Indigenous history, Raza in México have been no kinder to the Native communities than have the Anglos here (the Chiapanecos have taught us this). But Raza can also be the position from which an oppressed people inside of the US base their resistance. Anti-nationalist anarchists would be wise to understand this complicated subject before dismissing one more potentially revolutionary community struggling to organize itself.
Empowerment
Because 500 Años is a political book, with an activist agenda, it does more than tell a story. It emphasizes the ability of people to fight against their oppression, and shows, over and over again, the people winning. While this may be one way of skewing the truth, it is also a way to mobilize and organize in a community. 500 Años succeeds in not only educating the reader on Chicano struggles, but impels her to be involved. The reader knows that this fight affects her, and the successes outlined in the history encourage her participation.
Anarchists in the US talk a lot about working in communities, particularly communities of color. We face many problems doing that, from being a primarily white movement to not setting down roots in any community to ghettoizing ourselves. Books like 500 Años are both tools and examples for community organizing. They offer an informational way into a community through the beginnings of understanding, and they provide a model for successful mobilization. Anarchists in this country need both of these things in order to become relevant and effective in the on- going struggles of the people around us. Happy reading, happy working, happy organizing!