José Angel Gutiérrez is the firebrand civil rights leader of the 1960s and 70s who succeeded in making a minority-based political party a reality in Texas and various other states. In 1970, Gutiérrez led la Raza Unida Party to stunning victories in Crystal City, Texas, and surrounding communities, with Mexican Americans winning all contested seats on the city council and school board, seats held for decades by Anglos. One of the four great leaders of the Chicano Movement, Gutiérrez, along with César Chávez, Reies López Tijerina, and Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales, made national calls for militancy and unity, penned nationalist manifestoes, and forced political and educational reform at national and regional levels. Despite Gutiérrezs total commitment to la causa, he found time to write in order to share his political wisdom. Originally self-published during the head of the Chicano Movement, A Gringo Manual on How to Handle Mexicans, now expanded and revised, is a humorous and irreverent manual meant to educate grassroots leaders in practical strategies for community organization, leadership, and negotiation. With tongue in cheek, Gutiérrez attacks the authorities and sacred cows that caused Chicanos anxiety for decades. The manual is a classic in Chicano politics and as a political self-help recipe book. It remains as relevant today as when it was originally published in the early 1970s.

Under this somewhat threatening title, the renowned civil rights leader Jos? Angel Guti?rrez provides a guidebook to minority empowerment through the use of analysis, practical experience and anecdote. His primary goal is the conversion of Latino demographic power into educational, economic and political power. In an incisive introduction, Guti?rrez analyzes the types of power and evaluates Chicano and Latino access to power at various levels in U.S. society. In very plain, down-to-earth language and examples, Guti?rrez takes pains to make his broad knowledge and experience available to everyone, but especially to those who want to be activists for themselves and their communities. For him the empowerment of a minority or working-class person can transfer into greater empowerment of the whole community. This manual penned by the founder of the only successful Hispanic political party, La Raza Unida, brings together an impressive breadth of models to either follow or avoid. Quite often, Guti?rrezÍs voice is not only the seasoned voice of reason, but also that of humor, wry wit and satire. If nothing else, The Chicano Manual on How to Handle Gringos is a wonderful survey of the Chicano and Latino community on the move in all spheres of life in the United States on the very eve of its demographic and cultural ascendancy.

Originally published under title: Dictionary of Chicano folklore. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, c2000.

"Throw away your other books dealing with Hispanics in the workplace. This book is now the definitive guide. Following Jacob's practical advice will reduce turnover, increase productivity and ensure everyone is treated with dignity and respect." --Michael L. Gooch, SPHR, Author of "Wingtips with Spurs" "Essential reading for every employer in the U.S. working with Spanish speaking employees. A couple hours reading can give you the knowledge that it took me 30 years to learn-the hard way. A must read for human resource managers." --Mark Smoky Heuston, HR Director, Dakota Provisions "Every chapter is filled with insights on how to get ahead of the curve and take a leadership position. If you don't read this book, then expect your company to miss some golden opportunities." --Willian J. Lawrence, Chairman, Bubbles Enterprises LTD.

Born in 1944, Jose Angel Gutierrez grew up in a time when Mexicans and Mexican Americans in Texas and the Southwest attended separate schools and avoided public facilities and restaurants that were designated "Whites Only." Despite the limits of segregation and rural culture in Texas, the passion to learn and to educate others, as well as to undo injustice, burned in his belly from an early age. Gutierrez offers portraits of his early influences, from his father's own pursuit of knowledge and political involvement, to his Mexican pre-school teacher's interest in bilingual-bicultural education which did not exist in public schools at that time, and to his mother's courage and persistence, taking up migrant field work to provide for her family after the death of young Gutierrez's father. In this intensely narrated memoir, Gutierrez details his rise from being beaten down by racist political and agricultural interests in South Texas to his leadership role in the Chicano civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Complemented by photos from his personal archives, Gutierrez recalls his struggle for education, his early baptism in grass-roots political organizing, and his success in creating one of history's most successful third party movements, La Raza Unida Party. Along the way, Gutierrez earned college and law degrees, as well as a Ph.D. in Political Science. He was elected or appointed to school boards, commissions, judgeships and party chairmanships, all with the single-minded purpose of extending equality to Mexican Americans and other minorities in the United States. Through his tireless efforts, he crossed paths with African American and Native American civil rights leaders, Mexican presidents, and other international figures.

This book furthers appreciation of key pieces in American literature from the Chicano Movement by placing them in the context of history, society, and culture. Part of Greenwood's new Historical Exploration of Literature series, this book provides teachers with ready-reference works that align language arts and social studies standards for secondary classes on the topic of the Chicano Movement. It will serve to help students better understand key pieces in American literature from the Chicano Movement by putting them in the context of history, society, and culture through historical context essays, literary analysis, chronologies, documents, and suggestions for discussion and further research. The book includes works such as Bless Me Última by Rudolfo Anaya (1972), This Migrant Earth by Tomás Rivera (1970), The Revolt of the Cockroach People by Oscar Z. Acosta (1973), and The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros (1984). The book also supplies additional information in the form of chronologies, historical context essays, and primary document excerpts that support understanding of the historical period, as well as materials such as activities, lesson plans, discussion questions, topics for further research, and suggested readings.

Even as a teenager, Joseph Albert Calamia understood the need to live by the rule of law. In high school, a class bullys continual harassment of a skinny Hispanic kid led Joseph to confront him. But he wisely did so with the coachs permission, challenging the boy to a boxing match. The tormentor went down quickly and Calamia settled the score under the jurisdiction of the high school coach. Calamia began his career as a criminal defense attorney in El Paso, Texas, in 1949. He was a crusader for justice, considered by many to be akin to Don Quixote, tilting at windmills. But he disagreed, "The big difference is that my demons were real." His demons were the institutionalized practices that favored expediency over the rights of individuals; he spent his lifetime fighting to ensure peoples rights were not trampled by law makers and enforcers. A World War II veteran, Calamia grew up in El Pasos Segundo Barrio, a few blocks from the Rio Grande River that separated Mexico from the United States. He grew up in a world that expected those of Mexican descent to maintain their inferior status. But he couldnt stand by and let injustice occur without a fight. Over the course of his long career, Calamia successfully challenged a host of attacks against civil liberties, including police undercover tactics and the constitutionality of searches and seizures in drug, immigration, and other cases. Published as part of Hispanic Civil Rights Series, this enlightening book documents the efforts of one man who devoted his life to protecting the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.