"I Am Joaquin" response

Among the numerous social movements of the 1960s, the Chicano Movement is perhaps the most underplayed of all, overshadowed by causes of civil rights, feminism, and widespread opposition to the Vietnam War. Yet it provided the entire population of Mexican Americans with hope that they could some day reclaim their ethnic identity, while at the same time finding financial success and acceptance in a country that seemed to depend on the suppression of their people. It is this dichotomy between the “victory of the spirit” (line 10) and “a full stomach” (line 12) that features so prominently in Rodolfo ‘Corky’ Gonzales’ 1967 long poem, I Am Joaquín, which was one of the first, as well as the most influential, works of poetry to emerge from this period. In the poem, Gonzales stresses not only the desire of mestizo immigrants to be given the same opportunities for success as white citizens, but also, most importantly of all, to do so while retaining their identification with Chicano culture. This is reflected, as seen both in the title and at the start of the majority of the poem’s lines, by the frequent repetition of the phrase “I am…”

The descriptions employed in the poem to define this culture, however, are not what people living at the time of the poem’s publications would identify as belonging to a Mexican heritage. Rather, Gonzales forms his sense of self by evoking very contradictory imagery, recalling both an Aztec ruler, proclaiming with valor “I am Cuauhtémoc, proud and noble” (line 20), as well as the Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés, claiming that he is “the sword and flame of Cortes the despot” (line 26). This conflicting assimilation of influences, though seemingly in opposition, particularly emphasizes the complexity of the mestizo heritage. They are not a people defined by a single time, place or event; instead, it is a culmination of differing societies and values, and they now share the legacy of “both tyrant and slave” (line 34). To this effect, Christianity is used in the poem as a symbol of unity by which the whole of their history is united; though the church was once used as a weapon against the Aztec society, Gonzales holds it in as a source of reverence and empowerment, stating that “Spaniard Indian Mestizo / were all God’s children” (lines 38-39).

While the first section of the poem is preoccupied with the past, the latter half seems more concerned with present action. It has a more immediate and active tone, with language like “My culture has been raped” (line 225), and with a barrage of assertions concerning the necessity to “fight” and “win this struggle” (lines 288-89). A great emphasis is also placed on the future, with the poet underlining the importance of later generations to carry on this cultural identity that he has just outlined; he warns against those who disregard their pasts, “and dissolve into a melting pot / to disappear in shame” (lines 162-63). Perhaps this is the reason Gonzales felt it so important to define the parameters of this heritage; before this poem, there was no single message under which the entirety of Mexican Americans could rally, and the word Chicano meant nothing even to the people it was meant to identify. The speaker of this poem wishes only to provide to future generations with something that their ancestors never had: an identity.