"Old-time Chicano activists say that during the 1960s, Emiliano Zapata's image
was so prevalent that the Los Angeles Police Dept. once put out an all-points
bulletin on him. Today, this hero of the Mexican Revolution remains a symbol to
Chicano youth. During a recent national gang summit, while black youth walked
in wearing images of Malcolm X, Chicano youth wore Zapata T-shirts. At
Stanford Univ., Chicano students live at a center known as Casa Zapata. "His
image is powerful: a bandolera across his chest, a big sombrero, a big mustache
and he stands straight," says Valentina Hernandez, a Chicana student at Harvard
graduate school of education. "They don't teach Zapata in schools for good
reason. If they did, they would be creating a lot of little revolutionaries."
It was Emiliano Zapata who said, "It is better to die on one's feet than to
live on one's knees." Eighty years ago, the mestizo Zapata exhorted Indians &
campesinos to turn their "face" against bad government--to rebel. In the
Nahuatl tongue, more than in English, "face" is synonymous with character &
identity. During the Chiapas rebellion, the inheritors of Zapata's struggle
have invoked his name & his deeds. While Zapata is undergoing a rebirth in
Mexico, north of the border he has long been a part of the Mexican American
psyche. His legacy is not just for history. His stand in the land wars & the
indigenous movement he forged have instilled a pride & spirit of resistance
that remains strong on both sides of the border. "We still have that Zapatista
rebellion inside of us," said Daniel "Nane" Alejandrez, director of the
National Coalition To End Barrio Warfare, in Santa Cruz, Calif., "because we
will not stand for the abuse of our people." Mexican biographer Jesus Sotelo
Inclan wrote that Zapata was not one man, but many people before & after him.
The campesinos of Southern Mexico still refer to him as "mi general." He
serves as a symbol for landless urban dwellers. Even the government has
appropriated his image. The presidential plane & helicopter both bear his name.
Every April 9, the anniversary of Zapata's death, the president visits his
birthplace. Sometimes a man rides a white horse, as Zapata did, a part of the c
commemorative service. In the past, there have been times when old campesinos
had to guard his bones to protect them from being transferred to government
hands. As a people dispossessed & without power, Chicanos share with campesinos
& Indians an ancestral memory & spiritual connection. Their identity is more
strongly rooted in the memory of their Indian ancestors who lived on this
continent for thousands of years than with Mexico as a nation. After centuries
of colonialism, in Mexico to this day, it is an insult to be called an Indian.
In the 1960s, Chicanos sought to replace this shame with pride, reclaiming both
Zapata's revolution & their own indigenous past. In coming to terms with their
racial identity, they found the courage & strength to speak out against
oppression. It is not suprising that Mexican Americans & other Latino groups
have rallied to the cause of the Zapatistas in Chiapas."
Christine Marin, Curator/Archivist (602-965-2594)
Chicano Research Collection. Dept. of Archives & Mss.
University Libraries. Arizona State University
Tempe, Az.85287-1006__FAX: 602-965-9169_BITNET:IACCNM@ASUACAD
Ref: MCLR-L List