I Am Joaquin, Rewritten

Abstract

The poem “I Am Joaquin, Rewritten” is a political rebirth inspired by the history of Latinos in the United States before the Anglo settlements, the 1960s civil rights era, the reenvisioning of the Chicano and feminist movements, ignited by recent anti-Latino and immigrant sentiment and laws wrapped around the mantle of Joaquin Luna's shattered dream. It serves as a political and social framework to advance public discourse by reinvigorating the civil rights movement to pursue equal rights for all via national efforts to educate every child in the country, combat poverty, and tolerate difference by reconceptualizing and recontexualizing the all-American Dream.

Keywords:

• activism
• adolescent
• critical pedagogy
• curriculum
• family
• migration/transnationalism