Texas, for years, was a one-party state
controlled by white democrats. In 1962, a young eighteen-year-old heard
the first rumblings of Chicano community organization in the barrios of
Cristal. The rumor in the town was that five Mexican Americans were
going to run for all five seats on the city council. But first, poor
citizens had to find a way to pay the $1.75 poll tax. Money had to be
raised—through bake sales of tamales, cake walks, and dances. So began
the political activism of José Angel Gutiérrez.
Gutiérrez's
autobiography, The Making of a Chicano Militant, is the
first insider's view of the important political and social events within
the Mexican American communities in South Texas during the 1960s and
1970s. A controversial and dynamic political figure during the height of
the Chicano movement, Gutiérrez offers an absorbing personal account of
his life at the forefront of the Mexican-American civil rights
movement—first as a Chicano and then as a militant.
Gutiérrez traces
the racial, ethnic, economic, and social prejudices facing Chicanos with
powerful scenes from his own life: his first summer job as a tortilla
maker at the age of eleven, his racially motivated kidnapping as a
teenager, and his coming of age in the face of discrimination as a
radical organizer in college and graduate school. When Gutiérrez finally
returned to Cristal, he helped form the Mexican American Youth
Organization and, subsequently the Raza Unida Party to confront issues
of ethnic intolerance in his community. His story is soon to be a
classic in the developing literature of Mexican American leaders.
"One of the
monumental narratives of the Chicano movement. . . . Gutiérrez has had
remarkable influence, not only on the Chicano social agenda, but on
formation of minority political parties and the rise of local control
over everyday life."
—Genaro Padilla,
professor of English, University of California, Berkeley
"Long overdue,
this memoir of one of the giants that led the powerful Chicano movement
is provocative, insightful, and extremely revealing. His candid
portrayal of his life as a militant activist is a major contribution to
the study of Chicano politics."
—Armando
Navarro, author of The Cristal Experiment: A Chicano Struggle for
Community Control
The
Making of a Civil Rights Leader
José Angel Gutiérrez
Author: José Angel Gutiérrez
Price: $9.95 paperback
Shipping: $3.00
An inspiring account for young people of the evolution of a Chicano
fire-brand
Born in 1944, José Angel Gutiérrez grew up in a time when
Mexicans and Mexican Americans in Texas and the Southwest attended
separate schools and avoided public facilities and restaurants that were
designated “Whites Only.” Despite the limits of segregation and rural
culture in Texas, the passion to learn and to educate others, as well as
to undo injustice, burned in his belly from an early age. Gutiérrez
offers portraits of his early influences, from his father’s own pursuit
of knowledge and political involvement, to his Mexican pre-school
teacher’s dedication to bilingual-bicultural education which did not
exist in public schools at that time, and to his mother’s courage and
persistence, taking up migrant field work to provide for her family
after the death of young Gutiérrez’s father.
In this
intensely narrated memoir, Gutiérrez details his rise from being beaten
down byracist political and agricultural interests in South Texas to his
leadership role in the Chicano civil rights movement of the 1960s and
1970s. Complemented by photos from his personal archives, Gutiérrez
recalls his struggle for education, his early baptism in grass-roots
political organizing, and his success in creating one of history’s most
successful third party movements, La Raza Unida Party.
Along the
way, Gutiérrez earned college and law degrees, as well as a Ph. D. in
Political Science. He was elected or appointed to school boards,
commissions, judgeships and party chairmanships, all with the
single-minded purpose of extending equality to Mexican Americans and
other minorities in the United States. Through his tireless efforts, he
crossed paths with African American and Native American civil rights
leaders, Mexican presidents, and other international figures.
Praise
for the work of José Angel Gutiérrez:
“Studies of
the Chicano movement of the '60s and '70s are limited, so the
reflections of an activist like Gutierrez offer useful context and
detail.” —Booklist on The Making of a Chicano Militant
“This is a
classic in Chicano politics.” —Pluma Fronteriza on A Gringo Manual on
How to Handle Mexicans
A
Chicano Manual on How to Handle Gringos
Author: José
Angel Gutiérrez
Price: $12.95 paperback
Shipping: $3.00
A
tongue-in-cheek “how to” guide written by a hero of the Chicano movement
for the education of grass-roots leaders
Under this somewhat threatening title, the
renowned civil rights leader José Angel Gutiérrez provides a guidebook
to minority empowerment through the use of analysis, practical
experience and anecdote. His primary goal is the conversion of Latino
demographic power into educational, economic and political power. In an
incisive introduction, Gutiérrez analyzes the types of power and
evaluates Chicano and Latino access to power at various levels in U.S.
society. In very plain, down-to-earth language and examples, Gutiérrez
takes pains to make his broad knowledge and experience available to
everyone, but especially to those who want to be activists for
themselves and their communities. For him the empowerment of a minority
or working-class person can transfer into greater empowerment of the
whole community.
This manual penned by the founder of the
only successful Hispanic political party, La Raza Unida, brings together
an impressive breadth of models to either follow or avoid. Quite often,
Gutiérrez’s voice is not only the seasoned voice of reason, but also
that of humor, wry wit and satire. If nothing else, The Chicano
Manual on How to Handle Gringos is a wonderful survey of the Chicano
and Latino community on the move in all spheres of life in the United
States on the very eve of its demographic and cultural ascendancy.
Praise for A Gringo Manual on How to
Handle Mexicans
“This is a classic in Chicano politics.” —Pluma Fronteriza
A
Gringo Manual on How to Handle Mexicans
Author: José
Angel Gutiérrez
Price: $12.95 paperback
Shipping: $3.00
The “how
to” guide written by a hero of the Chicano movement for the education of
grassroots leaders
José Angel Gutiérrez is the firebrand civil
rights leader of the 1960s and 70s who succeeded in making a
minority-based political party a reality in Texas and various other
states. In 1970, Gutiérrez led la Raza Unida Party to stunning victories
in Crystal City, Texas, and surrounding communities, with Mexican
Americans winning all contested seats on the city council and school
board, seats held for decades by Anglos. One of the four great leaders
of the Chicano Movement, Gutiérrez, along with César Chávez, Reies López
Tijerina, and Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales, made national calls for
militancy and unity, penned nationalist manifestoes, and forced
political and educational reform at national and regional levels.
Despite Gutiérrez’s total commitment to
la causa, he found time to write in order to share his political
wisdom. Originally self-published during the head of the Chicano
Movement, A Gringo Manual on How to Handle Mexicans, now expanded
and revised, is a humorous and irreverent manual meant to educate
grassroots leaders in practical strategies for community organization,
leadership, and negotiation. With tongue in cheek, Gutiérrez attacks the
authorities and sacred cows that caused Chicanos anxiety for decades.
The manual is a classic in Chicano politics and as a political self-help
recipe book. It remains as relevant today as when it was originally
published in the early 1970’s.
We Won't Back Down: Severita Lara's
Rise from Student Leader to Mayor
Author: José
Angel Gutiérrez
Price: $9.95 paperback
Shipping: $3.00
An
enlightening biography for young adults of a little-known female
activist in the Hispanic Civil Rights Movement
On December 9, 1969, change was in the air.
The small town of Crystal City, Texas would never be the same. After
weeks of petitioning for a hearing with the Crystal City school board,
students of Crystal City High and their parents descended on the
superintendent’s office. The students had been threatened with
suspension and even physical violence. Powerful members of the community
had insisted they would fire the parents of students if they went in
front of the school board, and still, they came. Finally, the school
board removed the chairs in the gallery, and the parents and students
stood until members of the school board fled to avoid the confrontation.
As the students and their parents stood in front of the building, a cry
rose from the crowd. “Walk out. Walk out."
So began the Crystal City High student walk
out. At the center of the fervor was Severita Lara. Called la
cabezuda, or stubborn girl, by her mother, Lara bore the mark of a
leader from an early age. She was not afraid to stand up to anyone:
girls or boys, teachers or superintendents. She always followed her
father’s advice, “If you know it’s right, do it."
José Angel Gutiérrez, the famous civil
rights leader, chronicle’s Lara’s ascent from a willful child to the
mayor of Crystal City. From her father’s doting support to her mother’s
steel-rod discipline, Gutiérrez offers a detailed portrait of the early
family life of the woman whose continuing struggle against segregation
and discrimination began while she was still a high school student in
Crystal City. He also follows her attempts as a single mother to achieve
her dream of being a doctor and providing for her sons.
This is the
story of la cabezuda, Severita Lara, who has made an indelible imprint on
American history.
They
Called Me "King Tiger:"
My
Struggle for the Land and Our Rights
Author: Reies
López Tijerina
Translation: José Angel
Gutiérrez
Price: $14.95
Shipping: $3.00
In this autobiography, Reies López Tijerina,
writes about his attempts to reclaim land grants, including his taking
up arms against the authorities and spending time in the federal prison
system.
“His compelling, often controversial, story
brings to life a time of great turmoil and a major civil rights leader
who has faded into obscurity.” —MultiCultural Review
The
Gringo Manual
Author: José
Angel Gutiérrez
Price: $10.00
Shipping: $3.00
How Gringos Hold Onto Power.--
A Gringo Manual explains 141 "tricks" the
gringo uses to cheat and defeat Chicanos. In short, clear
descriptions you learn how the gringo will try to stop a Chicano who
demands his rights. How and why do the growers exploit Chicano
migrants? How do public bodies cheat the Chicano out of time on
agendas? Why do Chicanos seldom get elected to office? How
do you get a grant for community services?
The
Making of a Chicano Militant: Lessons
from Cristal
The
Making of a Civil Rights Leader
José Angel Gutiérrez
