Enriqueta Longeaux y Vásquez Quotes

It seems that before the Europeans came to the Americas, our highly cultured Indian woman usually held an honored position in the "primitive" society in which she lived. She was mistress of the home and took full part in tribal elections. The position of the woman was not only free, but honorable. She was a strong laborer, a good mechanic, a good craftsman, a trapper, a doctor, a preacher and, if need be, a leader. It seems that among the so-called SAVAGE people of this continent, women held a degree of political influence never equaled in any CIVILIZED nation.

Protesting this war, Chicano/as rose to condemn the killing fields with the slogan "Raza Si, Guerra No,” we wanted our young men here fighting for justice instead of in a faraway war.

When she tries to speak of Machismo, she is immediately put down and told "We know all about it, there are many many books written on the subject." She receives nothing but censorship again. She tries so hard to say, "Yes, there is much on Machismo, but can't you Machos look at the women and children who are the VICTIMS of your Machismo?" She tries so much to speak up and instead finds herself speaking to deaf ears and a completely closed mind.

I learned to listen, not only to words, but to the hearts of people; thus capturing the passion, anger, outrage, and indignation when discussing racism, greed, repression and exploitation. These sentiments became an eruption of hundreds of years of repressed thought now set free.

The Chicana/o Movement is a vital chapter of Southwestern history, a history needed to inspire new dreamers as activists become the elder generation. As we recall this chapter in Chicano history, we reseed the harvest of the Civil Rights Movement and cultivate the harvest of "La Revolución Chicana" remembering that our ancestors planted the first resisting seeds of non-defeat. This Revolución is the foundation of today's evolving issues, the metamorphosis of activism that makes all movements more important than ever. It will take more than thirty years to change 500 years of colonial racist exploitative attitudes, changes which only you can make possible as we live the sun of justice, The Sixth Sun.

As I look back I remember, To think that at one time even my mother accused me of being a communist and threatened to report me to the government as such. I always respected her and had never answered her, but this time I answered: Go ahead, I will call the FBI for you and you can turn me in. Who do you think I learned to be a revolutionary from? Remember when you would say: 'Si yo supiera hablar inglés, ¿ya me hubieran echado a la prisión?' Pues yo sí sé inglés, y ahora, justed me acusa de ser comunista? Ándele, entrégueme.Her little eyes blinked and after a long silence we both laughed, hugged and cried as she said, Hija de tu nana, me ganaste. I thought, Of course, I won, what do you expect from the daughter of the Mexican Revolution? Later, in 1968, I brought her to visit me in New Mexico and took her to hear Reies Tijerina when he spoke at Española High School. I will never forget the incredible look that came over her face as she drank up every word. After he finished, my mother walked right over to Reies, talked to him and hugged him, tearfully saying, Nunca crei que oyera en este país las palabras y verdades que ha dicho usted. After we left, I smilingly hugged her and reminded her that now, she too was a communist. ¡VIVA LA REVOLUCIÓN, SIEMPRE!

To find a job, a single mother will be faced with working very hard during the day and coming home and again having to work at home.

We want an abundant society with a different kind of man, the Cubans said. In other words, people will not work for money-they will not have to sell their hard work to somebody else. They will work for the good of the land, for the good of all the people. (1969, about Cuba)

When the article, "The Woman of La Raza" came out as a result of the 1969 Chicano Conference, I experienced repercussions because I wrote about The Woman. Instead of being intimidated, I felt it necessary to write a whole book on La Mujer.

I believe that one of the big problems we will find is the racism in education. We know that in school they are not given a culture that they can identify with. They are not taught who they are. Our way of thinking and our human values: as a matter of fact, discouraged. Our own children are wandering away from Raza culture and this is mostly because they have been educated to feel inferior. Our own history books in the schools tend to wipe us out as a people. Our children don't know themselves. It is our obligation and responsibility to show them who and what they really are. We must realize that when educators speak of equality, it is in law and in writing but not in practice. And worse yet, what is being taught to our children is that the Americano as well as their history is superior and infallible. This is totally inhuman, and if you really want to see what this attitude does to people, just go to a foreign country and see the behavior of the American wherever he goes. And listen to what people from other countries feel about the Gringo. (1969)

Although Sor Juana abandoned her writing, the calibre of the body of work she left Mexico remains unparalleled. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz soared as the most enlightened daughter of the new world. She challenged the foundation of the European Christian institution in her natural law perspective and understanding of the universe. Fearless, Sor Juana left the continent a mandate regarding the rights of women to think.

I spent much thought getting things to sound right and inoffensive. I am of the belief that a universal stream of consciousness envelopes the planet and people in many places can get the same ideas at relatively the same time. Who knows, there may be women in China, India, Iraq, or Africa doing a project just like this. I hope so.

The new man is a person of the future. The idea of the new man (and new woman) is the realization that human beings have no limit for development. They have great capacity. They can be unselfish, and without envidia. They can all work together for the common good. They can be freed from the pressure of getting money, and become real humans instead of work-machines. (1969, about Cuba)

Both, men and women faced the white, male-dominated world and its blatant racism; women in the workplace and servicemen in the war where they returned to tell stories of Raza and Blacks far outnumbering Anglos in the front lines.

While Aztlán is debatable to some, the time of enlightenment is taking place in the 21st century, and it is essential that we learn of our ancestry. Nationhood and sovereignty are not a separatist plan, but a tool for decolonizing. We need to DECOLONIZE, DECOLONIZE, DECOLONIZE. Already Emma Perez, Chela Sandoval and other writers have devoted a considerable amount of thought and time on the need to decolonize and resist further colonization in the world.