Did you know that barrio is a term for a Chicano neighborhood, and that some of the oldest barrios can be found in major U.S. cities, like Los Angeles, Chicago, El Paso, and San Antonio? Or that menudo is actually a soup-type dish made with tripe, the stomach lining of a cow, and typically eaten early in the morning after big holiday celebrations to cure a hangover? Chicano Folklore is replete with such interesting and often surprising facts about Mexican American culture. Even before the United States-Mexican War in 1848, when 80,000 Spanish-Mexican-Indian people suddenly became inhabitants of the United States, people of Spanish and Mexican descent had a rich and unique culture in what is now the American southwest. Understanding Chicano folklore, or the customs, rituals, and traditional cultural forms that Mexican Americans share, is extremely significant to comprehending the Chicano experience. Chicano Folklore is the first reference book to focus wholly on this subject. From burrito (literally little burro or little donkey) to zoot suit (a style of suit worn by Mexican Americans, African Americans, and Filipino Americans during the 1930s and 1940s), the dictionary's more than 225 in-depth passages thoroughly explain the meaning and background of each cultural term. We learn about the music, religious practices, food, and key historical and mythical figures that make Chicano folklore so vibrant. The detailed, immensely informative passages of Chicano Folklore will entertain and educate anyone interested in understanding Chicano culture and the colorful impact it has had on America as a whole.

Chicano Folklore: A Guide to the Folktales, Traditions, Rituals and Religious Practices of Mexican Americans

Castro, Rafaela G.

Reference

Oxford University Press

In this historical chronicle by Rafaela G. Castro, one family becomes entangled in the scandals and secrets of a small migrant town. In the 1940s, a young couple, Jose Luis and Blanca, start their married lives in the fictional California village of Suntown in the San Joaquin Valley. However, external forces and a personal mistake lead to a tragic incident. Decades later, Blanca’s daughter, Luz, stumbles across a photograph and a mysterious letter to her mother that hints at a closely guarded secret and signed by a person known only as “D. S.” Determined to learn the truth about her mother’s relationship to this man, Luz journeys to the San Joaquin Valley to find him. In the process she discovers the rich, untold history of the struggle of migrant laborers to survive, live, and love in 1940s Central California.  Castro’s work depicts a vivid portrait of migrant life and bracero culture. Any student of California history and Chicano studies will find her work an invaluable and well-researched resource, as well as a story filled with intrigue and mystery.

Cantina Confidential

History

Americas

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Provocaciones: Letters From the Prettiest Girl in Arvin is a collection of sensitive essays that depict the lives of a close knit Mexican family living the San Joaquin Valley and later in the San Fancisco Bay Area. These insightful, loving , guilt ridden, and at times very sad narratives,. They reveal the religious, moral, cultural, and ethical values of a young girl raised in the 1950s and 1960s in a Mexican Catholic working class home.

Provocaciones: Letters from the Prettiest Girl in Arvin

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

Chusma House Pubns

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Books by Castro, Rafaela G.