I AM JOAQUIN BY RODOLFO ‘CORKY’ GONZALES

BACKGROUND INFORMATION  Published in 1967 by Rodolfo ‘Corky’ Gonzales  Gonzales - June 18, 1928 – April 12, 2005  Gonzales was a prominent leader (often credited as one of the founders) of the Chicano Movement of the 1960s.  “Also known as “El Movimiento,” the Chicano Movement was a continuation of the 1940’s Mexican American Civil Rights Movement. It challenged the ethnic stereotypes that existed in America about the Mexican culture and heritage. The Chicano Movement was comprised of many separate protests, which included ones that sought educational, social, and political equality in the United States. One of the first organizations that gave strength to the movement was the United Farm Workers organization, formed in This labor union was formed by Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and Philip Vera Cruz, and UFW fought for equality of Mexican-American workers in the agriculture business. “  “The Chicano Movement also was inspired by other civil rights movements during this time period, like the African-American Civil Rights Movement. Many Chicanos fought alongside African Americans during this time of radical activism and the quest for equality. “When Chicanos first became involved in the civil rights movement, their goal was to openly confront discrimination, correct historical conflicts, and seek retribution. They joined these efforts in a variety of elements, including education, politics, the criminal justice system, art, the church, health, employment and economics, and housing.”

“I AM JOAQUIN”  Part of the aim of the poem is to provide a sort of official history or historical narrative for the Mexican American.  In this sense, “I am Joaquin” is like an epic. An epic is defined as a long and formal narrative poem written in an elevated style that recounts the adventures of a hero, who often embodies the traits of a nation or a people.  Notice the way it goes through a chronology of events by referencing important people associated with such events. What are some of the historical events referenced?  Notice the use of words associated with genealogy.  Joaquin is like the father of Chicanos/Chicanas; the poem is his genealogy – mentions many important Chicanos, Mexicans, Ameri-indians

FRAGMENTED IDENTITY OR A MESTIZO IDENTITY  Four cultures in question in the figure of Joaquin, each pair a contradiction of sorts: Indigenous + Spanish Mexican + American Mexican Mexican American

NATIONALISM  The term “nationalism” is generally used to describe two phenomena: (1) the attitude that the members of a nation have when they care about their national identity, and (2) the actions that the members of a nation take when seeking to achieve (or sustain) self-determination. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)  Nationalism is often reflective of the dynamic of the family. Fatherland or Motherland; brothers and sisters.  Nation does not equal “state” as in the power of the “state.” Whereas a nation often consists of an ethnic or cultural community, a state is a political entity with a high degree of sovereignty. While many states are nations in some sense, there are many nations which are not fully sovereign states. As an example, the Native American Iroquois constitute a nation but not a state, since they do not possess the requisite political authority over their internal or external affairs. If the members of the Iroquois nation were to strive to form a sovereign state in the effort to preserve their identity as a people, they would be exhibiting a state-focused nationalism.

CHICANO NATIONALISM  Chicano nationalism is the pro-indigenist ethnic nationalist ideology of Chicanos. While there were nationalistic aspects of the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the Movement tended to emphasize civil rights and political and social inclusion rather than nationalism. However, nationalistic discourse is evident in some of the political and literary work coming from Chicanos during that times.  You see it in “I am Joaquin” – the speaker is trying to set up the values and characteristics of a people by referring to their genealogy and less directly to their relationship to the land they inhabit. The speaker is trying to narrativize a nation complete with its history and destiny.

CRITIQUES  I am Joaquin is essentializing insofar as it pushes for a particular “cultural identity” even if that identity is “hybrid.”  I am Joaquin allows no room for the female subject or for woman; woman is “nameless” or not named in the poem.  Richard Rodriguez, Next of Kin: “that essential Chicano subject represented by Joaquin is not merely an essential subject devoid of context nor exclusively reliant on the imaginary homeland Aztlan, but a subject who derives his power from a material base, a family dynamic reconfigured by and through cultural nationalism.” (29)