A review by Edgardo

A review by Edgardo of
Written Under the Influence of Trinidad Sanchez
A collection of poems by Juan Manuel Perez

As Juan Manuel Perez says in a poem recently published in Writers of the Rio Grande -

“I invite you into my soul
Somewhere between Texas and Mexico
Where Black Death bleaches great dreams
Of otherwise hard working people
I invite you into my soul
Just once
For a little stroll”

As long as there is a Chicano culture, there should of course be Chicano poetry. Somewhere between the 1930’s and the aftermath of World War 11, and more or less culminating in the 1960’s and 70’s, a new identity came into the consciousness of the people of Mexican-American descent that lived in the United States. There were families that had lived in Texas, California, New Mexico and Arizona for many generations, even pre-dating the American settlers from the east…and still their Anglo neighbors would call them “Mexicans”. It would be equivalent to calling the white Americans “Englishman”

So the time had come to not renounce Mexico, but to embrace being an American. To achieve being welcomed and embraced as fully entitled first class Americans was another thing altogether. It was a long struggle, still ongoing.

One thing many people do not know is that the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that ended the Mexican-American war, had provisions in it to protect the rights of Mexican living in what was now to be the United States. The right to use the Spanish language in courts, and in legal proceedings, as well as the right to property established during Mexican sovereignty was to be respected as wel
Well, we know how this all ended up.

The reason I’m spending time on this historical background is that Juan Manuel Perez’s book of poems is almost entirely relevant to “chicanismos.” Chicano Poetry is of course a sub-genre, ignored by the mainstream and, I believe, actively despised by the Mexican intelligentsia (a whole other subject). So is this all transitional? Will it soon become another historical footnote? Will assimilation takes its toll on the Chicano soul; will it like “Tejano Music” become a mere foot note, a fond memory, batted around the dying embers of a late night parillada? I don’t think anyone really knows. One thing for sure is that with immigration new Chicanos are being produced all the time.

The Jews of America are very much assimilated, yet there is a kosher core to them that keeps them cohesive. Many French-Canadians have held to their culture against the English invasion for several hundred years now, after all, like the Mexicans, they were there first! African-Americans are not so much a race anymore as an ethnic group, with their own southern, yet urban culture. And many have the white-bread culture of middle class white American culture.

This is one reason they pay sociologists so well. To figure all this stuff out…
Juan Manuel Perez is the Poet Laureate of the San Antonio Poetry Association for 2011-2012. He is a very gifted spoken word, performance poet as well. For a look under the covers of Chicano consciousness, this collection will do well.

Visit the website: JuanMPerez.com