About this item
As the heyday of the Chicano Movement of the late 1960s to early 70s fades further into history and as more and more of its important figures pass on, so too does knowledge of its significance. Thus, Chicano Movement For Beginners is an important attempt to stave off historical amnesia. It seeks to shed light on the multifaceted civil rights struggle known as "El Movimiento" that galvanized the Mexican American community, from laborers to student activists, giving them not only a political voice to combat prejudice and inequality, but also a new sense of cultural awareness and ethnic pride.Beyond commemorating the past, Chicano Movement For Beginners seeks to reaffirm the goals and spirit of the Chicano Movement for the simple reason that many of the critical issues Mexican American activists first brought to the nation's attention then--educational disadvantage, endemic poverty, political exclusion, and social bias--remain as pervasive as ever almost half a century later.
About the Author
Maceo Montoya grew up in Elmira, California. He comes from a family of artists, including his father Malaquias Montoya, a renowned artist, activist, and educator, and his late brother, Andrés Montoya, whose poetry collection "The Iceworker Sings and Other Poems" won the American Book Award in 2000. Maceo graduated from Yale University in 2002 and received his Master of Fine Arts in painting from Columbia University in 2006.
Montoya's paintings, drawings, and prints have been featured in exhibitions and publications throughout the country as well as internationally, including seventeen drawings in David Montejano's "Sancho's Journal" (University of Texas Press 2012) , an ethnography of the Brown Berets in San Antonio. Montoya's first novel, "The Scoundrel and the Optimist" (Bilingual Review, 2010) , was awarded the 2011 International Latino Book Award for "Best First Book" and Latino Stories named him one of its "Top Ten New Latino Writers to Watch." In 2014, University of New Mexico Press published his second novel, "The Deportation of Wopper Barraza," and Copilot Press published "Letters to the Poet from His Brother," a hybrid book combining images, prose poems, and essays. "You Must Fight Them," a novella and stories is now available from University of New Mexico Press.
Montoya is an assistant professor in the Chicana/o Studies Department at UC Davis where he teaches the Chicana/o Mural Workshop and courses in Chicano literature. He is also the director of Taller Arte del Nuevo Amanecer (TANA) , a community-based arts organization located in Woodland, CA. More information, including examples of his artwork, can be viewed at www.maceomontoya.com.
