How Did The Chicano Movement Champion Mexican-American Identity

What is a Chicano, and why was this movement so important to them? How did the Chicano Movement champion Mexican-American identity and fight for change? The Chicano Movement was one of the largest and most widespread civil rights and empowerment movements by Mexican, decent people in the United States. In the 1960’s, a radicalized Mexican-American movement began pushing for a new identification. The years of the movement are between 1965 through 1975. Why did the movement in 1965? Well ,that year marked the beginning of the famous grape strike in California's Central Valley (San Joaquin Valley) led by Cèsar Chávez, Dolores Huerta, and the farm workers to establish a union for work that would not only bring them much-deserved wages and benefit

West and South West. After the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War in 1848, Mexicans who chose remain territory ceded to the United States were promised citizenship and “the rights to their property, language, and culture.’’ Mostly in many cases, Mexicans in America, those who later immigrated and those who lived in regions where the U.S. border shifted over, found themselves living as second class citizens. Land grants promised after the Mexican-American War were denied by the U.S. government, impoverishing many land-grant descendants in the area. Throughout the early 20th century, many Mexican-Americans attempted to assimilate and even filed legal cases to push for their community to be recognized as a class of white Americans, so they could gain civil rights. But later on by the 1960s, those in the Chicano Movement abandoned efforts to blend in and actively embrace their full heritage. Adopting “Chicano '' or “Xicano '', activists took on a name that had long been a racial slur—and wore it with pride. And instead of only recognizing their

“As we keep empowering ourselves to push that limit, then we’ll be opening doors for the next generation and the next generation,” says Arenas, bassist for Chicano Batman. “And because we have Instagram and Bandcamp we have the self-starter tools for musicians to really put their business out there, then we can all create our own destiny”. Many Chicano rappers have been heavily influenced by Mexican history, including many themes relevant to the Mexican and Chicano people living in the United States and Mexico. Chicano rap is mainly enjoyed by hip hop listeners in the United States. Chicano rap's ability to reach large audiences without mainstream airplay or media promotion is due largely in part to nationwide lowrider car tours and their accompanying concerts headlined by Chicano rappers. This environment allows Chicano rap artists to earn significant incomes through independent label releases while promoting directly to a target audience. One of the most widely recognized Chicano rappers today is Lil Rob of San Diego, his album "Natural High/High Till I Die" sold 90,000 copies and his single "Summer Nights" was considered a major crossover and received heavy rotation on radio stations and video programs not directly related to Chicano rap