Ricardo Sánchez
Ricardo Sánchez (1941-1995) was a prominent figure in the Chicano Movement, known for his passionate advocacy against racism and his promotion of dignity within the Chicano community. Born in El Paso, Texas, as the youngest of thirteen siblings, Sánchez experienced a challenging upbringing marked by both intellectual curiosity and the harsh realities of street life. After dropping out of school, he served in the army and later faced legal troubles, which ultimately led him to pursue education and a career in journalism. He earned a doctorate in American studies and cultural linguistics, and went on to teach at various universities while also founding his own publishing house, Míctla Publications.
Sánchez's literary work often blended Spanish and English, reflecting the complexities of his identity and experiences. His writings, including his first book, "Canto y grito mi liberación," serve as a powerful critique of societal injustices and a celebration of Chicano potential. Throughout his career, he emphasized literature as a political act and expressed his belief that the struggle for freedom and dignity is a universal human experience. In his later years, he became more critical of the Chicano Movement, advocating for unity and self-discovery within the community. His contributions as a poet and speaker were recognized nationally, earning him accolades and invitations to prominent literary events.
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Ricardo Sánchez
- Born: March 29, 1941
- Birthplace: El Paso, Texas
- Died: September 3, 1995
- Place of death: El Paso, Texas
Biography
Ricardo Sánchez is best known as a founder of the Chicano Movement, a vigorous voice combating the racism he himself experienced and a champion of moral strength and dignity. He acquired his restless indignation growing up in El Paso, Texas, where he was born on March 29, 1941, the youngest of thirteen children. Inquisitive and intelligent, he read voraciously but also became streetwise in the rough pachuco (gang) subculture in the barrios.
Stifled and belittled at public school, he dropped out and joined the army, where he did well, but accidental deaths in his family drove him into a despairing recklessness. He went to prison twice for armed robbery during the 1960’s, the second time after marrying Maria Teresa Silva and struggling to support his family. Paroled in 1969, he earned a general equivalency degree and won a Frederick Douglass Fellowship to study journalism.
In 1974, as a Ford Foundation Graduate Fellow, he received a doctorate in American studies and cultural linguistics at Union Graduate School in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He worked as a reporter and then as a writer-in-residence or professor at several universities, including the University of Massachusetts, Amherst College, the University of Alaska, the University of Utah’s Ethnic Studies Center, and Washington State University. He also founded his own publishing house, Míctla Publications, participated in social programs, and wrote newspaper columns. He died in 1995.
Sánchez was a leading voice in the Chicano Movement of the 1970’s, and his writings, frequently mixing Spanish and English, reflect the incisive vehemence of his personality. His first book, Canto y grito mi liberación (y lloro mis desmadrazgos. . . ), denounces Anglo-dominated America, where “nothing is truly immoral, except being poor and/ or helpless.”
For Sánchez, literature was a dedicated political act that could quash racism and oppression and celebrate Chicano potentiality. However, he darkly warns, “If it takes a river of blood to carve out freedom, then let it be.” In his later books, Sánchez came to criticize the Chicano Movement’s slackness and infighting. Further, he believed the Chicano struggle reflected the common human need for liberty, self-discovery, and dignity. At the same time, the richness of his experimentation with language increased. In his poem about the human struggle, “as we walk . . . , he wrote, “as we walk/ through the valleys/ of our insecurities,/ we shall act/ the only way we can,/ our visions/ but the sum/ of hope/ agglutinated/ to experience. . . “
Sánchez also wrote a screenplay analyzing the Chicano Movement, Entelequia, and short stories. In much demand as a poet and speaker, Sánchez was invited to participate in the One World Poetry Festival in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 1978 and in Mexico City’s Poets of the Latin World in 1986. He also received a poetry in residency grant for 1975 from the National Endowment for the Arts and was inducted into the El Paso Writers Hall of Fame.