Books: Non-Fiction

500 Años del Pueblo Chicano – 500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures

Book — Non-fiction. By Elizabeth Martinez. 1991 (2nd Edition).
Chicano history as told through hundreds of pictures and bilingual text.

Time Periods: All US History
Themes: Immigration, Latinx, Native American

500 Anos del Pueblo ChicanoContaining hundreds of photos, paintings, drawings, political cartoons, and text in Spanish and English about truths long denied, 500 Años is a huge photo essay, both a rare and valuable collection and a family album, about the Mestizo people in whom Indian blood runs strong, in whose blood runs the cry for freedom.

There is much to celebrate, Martinez writes: the survival of the people and the resistance to exploitation, colonization and assimilation; the particular strength of Raza women in the face of discrimination and oppression; the great love, determination and fighting spirit of the elders; and the children who are the future.

The struggle for tierra, paz y libertad is to be celebrated, as Martinez writes, “as all of humanity’s great stories of struggle.” It’s a story still being written. [Description from Oyate.]

This bilingual history was originally published in 1976 (and revised in 1991) to tell the true story of La Raza.

Produced by Elizabeth “Betita” Martinez.

ISBN: 9780963112309 | SouthWest Organizing Project | Out of print.