Finding Chicano Roots

By La Cucaracha Staff

What names have you called yourself or names others have called you? The question was posed by narrator Charlene Barrientos Ortiz. The responses from the audience started out tame — Mexican-American… Chicano… Spanish… Hispanic… Latino… LatinX… — then it got ugly — wetback, illegal, undocumented…

That’s how the Calle Cultural Community Education Forum at the El Pueblo History Museum on Feb. 5, 2026, started out. The program was a two-hour discussion about finding our Chicano roots. The promotional flyer said it was to “share the true story of the Mexican American, the Chicano and Latino People.”

Four distinguished panelist carried on most of the discussion, but the audience frequently added its own comments and applause. The panelist introduced themselves. They were:

• Deborah Mora Espinosa, retired former director of El Pueblo History Museum where the forum took place. She was raised in Grand Junction, Colo., and considered herself a Mexican. Her mother preferred the term Spanish. “I was dark-skinned and identified with being Mexican,” she said.
• Judy Baca said “I was raised in Salt Creek and consider myself Chicana.” Baca is a retired professor of Chicano Studies at Colorado State University Pueblo.
• Antonio Esquibel, PhD, speaking in English and Spanish said, “My people came from Mexico City 300 years ago.” He was a Chicano Studies professor at the then, Southern Colorado State College, in the 70s and was director of Teacher Corps.
• Jorge Hernandez, Superior Court of Riverside County, Calif., judge, said he grew up with title of Chicano. “Yo Soy Chicano.” He attended an all-Chicano school until ninth grade. “That’s where I heard my first beaner jokes and ethnic slurs,” he said.
  

Barrientos Ortiz led the panel in a discussion of experiences that influenced their self-identity, educations and professions. The intent of the forum was to influence young Chicanos and inspire pride in their ancestry, heritage and differences from mainstream America.

“Break the chain! Get an education,” Judge Hernandez advised. He said he grew up wearing kakis and Pendleton shirts — like a cholo. He liked the look and style of the Pachucos and their zootsuits. They had their own language and music. “The Pachuco is a symbol of resistance,” he said.

Hernandez lived in a Chicano barrio and attended all-Chicano schools until he reached the ninth grade. “That’s where I heard my first beaner jokes,” he said.

Espinosa said because her dad worked for the railroad, she had a free pass to take the train to Pueblo from Grand Junction to visit relatives. Visiting Pueblo made her realize “we were considered inferior in Grand Junction. As a teenager, I didn’t have the vocabulary to define the difference, I just knew it was wrong.“

Esquibel told a familiar story. Speaking in Spanish he talked about being punished for speaking Spanish. “By the time I graduated high school, I couldn’t speak Spanish,” he said. “I was brainwashed. I just thought I was a brown gringo.”

Baca told Esquibel that he was one of her first Chicano Studies teachers. She retired in 2025 after 37 years at what became Colorado State University Pueblo. “It was not all smooth sailing,” she said. “There has always been pushback on Chicano Studies and there was resistance to making it a department. We just hired our first tenure-tract Chicano Studies professor this year.”

Espinosa said Chicano Studies was invaluable to the Chicano Movement because it taught us our history. The knowledge stayed with us throughout our careers.

Judge Hernandez had the last word. “We need two things in every university — Chicano Studies and MEChA. Break the barrier, they’re trying to keep us in our place.”

The forum was sponsored by Culturas con Llantas, El Movimiento Sigue, La Cucaracha News, El Pueblo History Museum and Steve Lucero.