BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Dead falls Romaldo Cortez, Brother of Gregorio Cortez, thanks to Sheriff Morris. The day is June 12th of 1901 and Sheriff Morris shows up to Gregorio Cortez’s home. Sheriff Morris along side with Boone Choate (who was supposed to be an expert in the Mexican language) were both in search of a horse thief, start asking questions immediately when they see Gregorio Cortez and Romaldo Cortez. Choate asked Cortez “, did you trade a house with Andres Villarreal?” Cortez answered solidly “No”. Cortez had traded a mare not a horse. As soon as Sheriff Morris heard his response, he told Choate to tell Cortez and his brother that they were going to be arrested. Gregorio asked why but Sheriff Morris misunderstood and shot Romaldo to death. In defense, Cortez shot Sherriff Morris for his brother. Cortez knew that he was going to get into trouble so he decided to flee. (Garcia) Many question if he’s a hero for defending his brother the way he defended him. Many think he is just a rebel for killing a sheriff for no good reason, but Cortez had a reason. Cortez is a hero for the reason that he was brave enough to confront injustices from defending his brother, never giving up, and persisted as long as he could, demonstrating that he had the courage most individuals do not. One of the many characteristics that a hero needs to have is bravery. Cortez of course didn’t want what happen to happen, but he had the bravery to stand up to an Anglo sheriff to defend his brother. At the time that this happened, Anglos intimidated many Mexican-Americans who were living in Texas because of the tension that was there from the war. Mexican American were abused and mistreated because of the language barrier that wasthere was between them. This... ... middle of paper ... ...ong. Wouldn’t you want to get out and leave? That’s exactly was Cortez did and he stayed strong about it. Cortez is a hero and should be respected as a hero for the reasons that he stood up the way many were scared to do so in his time. We live in a city filled with many Hispanics that could relate and argue the same that Cortez is a here to the Mexican American culture. For now Cortez’s story is only told as a folk tale but I believe one day Cortez is going to be recognized as a hero. Just give it time. Viva Gregorio Cortez! Works Cited Ballad of Gregorio Cortez. Youtube.com. Metro Goldwyn Mayer, 2000. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. . Garcia, Monica, and Kyle Putnam. "The Story of Gregorio Cortez." The Story of Gregorio Cortez. N.p., 7 May 2001. Web. 11 Feb. 2014. .
At the end of article they describe the pain Joaquín Murieta endured for being a honest and innocent man: “His soul swelled beyond its former boundaries, and the barriers of honor, rocked into atoms by the strong passion which shook his heart like an earthquake, crumbled and fell” (1). At the current time it didn 't matter if you were honest or not with law. If you weren 't white in 1850, you were considered an outsider. Since Joaquín Murieta was Mexican, he was not persecuted because of his transgression but because he was Mexican. The writer wanted to give you an idea of what it felt to be a Mexican and the mistreatment they got from the white
The author has covered various aspects of the life of Cortez. There are no two opinions that her extensive research can help create a living portrait of a stable yet constantly evolving community.
Alfredo Corchado — is the author of the book named " Midnight in Mexico:A Reporter's Journey through a Country's Descent into Darkness”. We are, probably, all interested in finding out the facts, news, and gossips about Mexico. This country was always associated with something mysterious. For me personally, the title of the book seemed to be very gripping, I was interested in revealing the secrets of life in Mexico, thus I decided to read this book. I was really curious, what can Alfredo Corchado tell me about the life in this country, the country, where the constant massacre is the picture, people used to see. In his book, the author tells the reader about the real situations, which took place in Mexico, reveals the secrets of the people’s lives and tells the story from the “inside”. He describes the way he lives his life, and does his work. The " Midnight in Mexico: A Reporter's Journey through a Country's Descent into Darkness” is a memoir. Author tries to transform his own experience into the story line. Corchado shows the reader the darkest episodes of Mexican society, while relying on his own experience.
All in all, Julio Cammarota was a great man, who was not afraid to question the law. He took a stand and wrote Sueños Americanos: Barrio Youth Negotiating Social and Cultural Identities, which was about how the Latina/o community delt with overwhelming racism and discrimination in California. Sueños Americanos not only gave a voice to the Latina/o community, but also encouraged more Latinas/os to go to school and get an education. Sueños Americanos is a wonderful book that tells how it is really like growing up in America being
Cinco de Mayo is usually confused with Mexican Independence day but that day is when Mexico fought French invaders. During 1910, Mexico revolted against its repressive rulers and adapted its new constitution. They came up with the term for those who were told in Mexico they weren’t Mexican and in America who weren’t American. They wanted to belong to both. While the Civil Rights movement is mostly known to give African-American rights but, Chicanos also fought for their rights. The term Chicano first became accepted during the Chicano Movement. Thus, Chicanos have many things to be proud of. Their Aztec ancestors were intelligent people who built a city on water and made all Chicanos royalty. Along with their Mexican ancestors won two revolutions and won against the huge French army. Trinidad Sanchez Jr., a poet, wrote about Chicano pride in his poem, “Why Am I so Brown?” Sanchez wrote the poem in order to call attention to that all should be proud of their skin color. His poem talks about Chicanos having honor in their skin color by using imagery, metaphors, and
Rain of Gold, is a true story about the history of Mexican people, their culture, traditions and customs that were passed down from the Euro-Indian heritage of Mexico. Rain of Gold was written by Juan Villasenor in search for his ancestral roots. The people of this story are real and not fiction. The places that are discussed are true. And the incidents did actually happen to his family. There are several underlying themes that need addressing. Such as: the importance of family, the importance of religion and spiritualism, woman as center of home and family, respect--protection of woman's virtue; ideal of women as pure, power of the woman--the mother, being a man-man as protector of the family, pride of man to be a provider, importance of traditions, respect for life, work and education/learning, death as part of life, honor, dignity, and finally discrimination and prejudice. I will be using this book as a reference and as a guide throughout this review to discuss the themes that are stated above.
These events are of course, an accurate reflection of what similar groups were going through in other parts of the country such as Texas, California, Arizona and New Mexico, which have been historically highly populated by Hispanics as well. One of the advantages of the video is that viewers are able to listen to first hand accounts of leaders and participants of this important social movement in Colorado. It is especially touching to see and hear Dr. Priscilla Falcon’s recollection of events when she was informed of her husband’s assassination. No doubt, the actions of leaders such as Ricardo Falcon, Corky Gonzales, Lalo Delgado, and Juanita Herrera greatly improved working conditions as well as education opportunities for Chicanos not only in Colorado, but throughout the United
Rodolfo”Corky” Gonzales is a hero because he was optimistic.Croky was optimistic when he did everything he could to start the crusade for justice. t is clear that
In closing, Francisco faced many hardships throughout his life. He had to adapt to his life here in the United States, deal with being a male in his family, as well as face discrimination. Through all the hard times, family and getting a good education were always his top priorities. With the help of his teachers and counselors, he was able to succeed in school, unlike the majority of the students. Francisco is a true hero in the eyes of many Hispanic immigrants who come to the United States and strive to be the best they can be.
The essay compares the Mexican American struggle to the African American struggle and even points out how some Mexican Americans did not want to join in the fight the get legal protection for the fear of being on the same level as an African American 12[12]. The student’s essay recognizes that although Hernandez was clearly guilty his lawyer Gus Garcia was fighting for the over all civil rights of Mexican American people when it came to trial by jury. The article further
Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina came into the world on October 24, 1891. He was born in the small city of San Cristobal in the Dominican Republic. He was the son of Jose Trujillo Valdez and Altagracia Julia Molina. Trujillo’s parents were married on September 24, 1887 in San Cristobal. Trujillo’s father was a merchant and was dedicated to buy and sell items that he could make a profit from. His mother was a housewife and was considered very sweet and kind hearted by those who knew her . Not much is known about Trujillo’s childhood and family because he had records changed to not bring any shame brought onto his name. What is known is that he was...
The downfall of the Aztec Empire was a major building block of the Spanish colonial empire in the Americas. Spain’s empire would stretch all the way into North America from the Southwest United States all the way up the Pacific Coast. The unfortunate side effect of this was the elimination of many nations of indigenous people. The three major themes shown in this conquest really give deeper look into the anatomy of this important historical event. Without context on the extent of native assistance given to Cortez in his fight with the Aztecs, a reader would be grossly uniformed. The Spanish conquest was closer to a civil war than an actual conquest. Until reading detailed personal accounts of the fighting it is difficult to judge the deadly effectiveness of the Spaniards technological superiority. Without it is difficult to imagine 500 conquistadors holding thousands of native warriors at bay. Once the greed of Cortez and greed in general of the Europeans one understands that if it wasn’t Cortez if would have just been a different man at a different time. Unfortunately fame and prosperity seem to always win over cares about fellow human beings
...n, Gonzalez states his identity; "I am Aztec Prince and Christian Christ." This combination of culture is the basis of his poem, which can be found at http://www.pbs.org/chicano/joaquin.html, and is representative of the heritage of Mexican Americans. The concept of Aztlan is explained in Chicano!, and the mural ‘Corazon de Aztlan,’ found in Chicano Park (http://chicanopark.org/murals/north/n8.html ), reinforces the importance of this image in the lives of Chicanos. The myth of Aztlan symbolizes centuries of culture and struggles of Mexican Americans who went through incredibly difficult times throughout history, but never lost hope and always stayed strong, determined to one day be treated equally as citizens of the United States of America.
A Texan, William B. Travis and a small group of Texans attacked a squad of Mexican troops in Anahuac with the motive that “taxes should not thus be collected from them to support a standing army in their own country” (SOS 1) and soon drove them back. Travis retreated to San Felipe and were assisted to Bexar. Skirmishes and the threat of war with Mexico soon followed.
de la Cruz, Juana Ines. "Hombres Necios." A Sor Juana Anthology. Ed.Alan S. Trueblood. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP, 1988.