Hasta Mas Alla De Los Gritos
A Chicanx Punk Zine
December 2015
"We realize the importance of our voice when we are silenced"
This zine is intended to be my final assignment for the class Latin@/Chican@ Art, Politics, & Culture
: Punk has, historically, been a subculture faced by white people; the “face” of punk is the cis-white male. Though this is the way the public views it, punk is much more. Punk culture surrounds itself around the idea of DIY (do it yourself) both musically and aesthetically. The DIY attitude is very similar to the long-standing Chicanx practice of rasquachismo, making use of what you have. Chicanx Punks have found a place in punk through the practice of DIY/rasquachismo, political activism, and living outside of society’s accepted standards.
Punk: a cultural movement that is expressed both musically and aesthetically. The music tends to be short, angry, and political. The ethic of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) is deeply imbedded into the culture.
Chicanx: a Chicanx is someone who identifies with the socio-political issues that tend to plague those of Mexican/ Latinx descent. Artist Santos Martinez describes Chicanx as, “a politicized Mexican American”
Chicanx Punk: A politicized Mexican American that does everything themselves and plays/enjoys short, angry, and political music. (my definition obviously)
Rasquachismo and DIY Fregadx pero no jodidx
Punk is pretty much synonymous with the idea of DIY (do-it-yourself). DIY in punk is anti-consumerist. It’s about being able to express yourself with what little you have. Rasquache is the same idea; you use what you have.
. The official definition of Rasquache mentions that it was the ethic of the lower class or the impoverished in Mexico. It was seen as negative until Chicanxs took it back. In his essay Rasquachismo: a Chicano sensibility Tomas Ybarra-Frausto says, , “To be rasquche is to be unfettered and unrestrained, to favor the elaborate over the simple, the flamboyant over the severe”
When Chicanx punks wanted to go to a show, they would have to cross from East LA over to Hollywood; there was always a crossing of an invisible, unspeakable border. It wasn't until 1980, when The Vex, the first punk venue in East Los opened, that chicanx punks finally felt they had a home. Finally, on their turf.
Willie Heron, of art collective ASCO and punk band Los Illegales said The Vex was meant "to eliminate the barriers that inhabited Chicanos from playing in other parts of L.A., and that kept outsiders from coming from the neighborhood
Misogyny by Teresa Covarrubias A woman is a precious thing far beyond a wedding ring YOu have kept her under your thumb Creating the light-haired and Dumb YOu abuse her
YOu don't love her You confuse her
YOu just use her
a woman's beauty is her mind all you see is the sexual kind YOu don't love her BLatant is misogyny Scattered in our history you will find it hard to kill the strength from within a woman's will
Riot grrrl vs xicanisma
Latina's sometimes felt they could not identify with the chicano politics, which greatly excluded women's concerns. They also felt they couldn't relate to white, middle-class feminism. Alicia Armendariz Velasquez (The Bags) and Teresa Covarrubias (The Brat), felt like being Latinas in Punk was a new path of "being" in the world; it was a way to show the world how and what they lived for. In the book "Travels of Chicana and Latina Pop Culture", a quote says of them,
"Both women asserted that the visual and sonic language of punk subculture allowed them to express their private rage about restrictions placed on them and the violence done to their bodies and to their mothers bodies
Playlist
1. Monstro- Downtown Boys 2. We Don't Need English- The Bags
3. Attitudes The Brat
4. Complejo de Salvador Blanco- Cochina
5. Misogyny- Teresa Covarrubias 6. Zapatista Guerer@-Subsistencia
Sources Dawes, Liana. “Why I Was Never a Riot Grrrl.” Web log post. Bitch Magazine. Bitch Media, 15 May 2013. Web.
Hernandez, Deborah. Rockin' Las Amé ricas the Global Politics of Rock in Latin/o America. Pittsburgh, Pa.: U of Pittsburgh, 2004. Print. Martinez, Fred. “Who is Rasquache”. Fred Martinez is Punk. Web
"The Roots and Power of Xicanisma" Decolonize Your Mind. Web
all images from google images.
El Fin