Ryan ChartrandThe Modern Languages and Literatures Department will host a night of Chicano poetry tonight, featuring the writings of renowned activist poet Xico González.
The event, titled “Xico González: RCAF Pilot of Azatlan,” is this quarter’s incarnation of a quarterly tradition put on by Chicano studies teacher Gloria Velásquez. Velásquez has been a Chicano studies teacher for 23 years and utilizes such events to reinforce the subject matter covered in her courses.
“I’m a literary activist from the Chicano movement days of the 1960s, and I use these events to expose students to the new generation of Chicano literary activists and cultural workers,” Velásquez said. “(Xico) represents the new generation, and I’m introducing Cal Poly students to him so that he can serve as a mentor and role model for them.”
González is a prominent member in the Raza arts community, and uses his art and poetry as a means for fighting for equality in what he views as “marginalized communities.”
“I create art to empower and give a voice for my community,” González said. “Through the arts I express who I am as a person – an individual who believes in and works for justice and equality.”
González is a particularly noteworthy member of the Raza arts movement as well as the larger Chicano community and began garnering attention when he established the Penn State chapter of MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan), serving as its president in 1996. He then served as the co-chair of the CSU Sacramento chapter of the group in 1999 and became a member of the Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF) in 2000. The RCAF is a coalition of Chicano artists based at CSU Sacramento, of which Velásquez is also an honorary member.
González also founded Revoltoso Books in 2000 and has since used the press to self-publish four books of poetry, including “The Indigina Poems” and “Poetria Revoltosa,” which he will be reading from tonight.
Other notable achievements from Gonzalez’s years of activism include founding the Brown Syndicate, a Raza arts organization dedicated to promoting the Raza fine arts, and receiving the Dolores Huerta Activism Award. Huerta is a famous Chicana activist who co-founded the United Farm Workers Union with Cesar Chavez.
González recently received his master’s degree in studio art from UC Davis and currently teaches in the Chicano studies program at CSU Sacramento.
“This is a great opportunity for students to meet a preeminent visual artist in person, the same ones that many students learn about and do presentations on in my classes,” Velásquez said. “Artists like González are really extensions of myself and why I came to Cal Poly to teach students about Chicano culture.”
The “Xico Gonzalez: RCAF Pilot of Aztlan” talk will take place at Phillips Hall in the Performing Arts Center at 6:30 tonight, and González will be available afterwards to sign copies of his books.
González will also perform Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts and Education Center in an open-mic session called “Raza Speaks: Flor y Canto,” hosted by Velásquez.