El Grito del Norte
El Grito del Norte ("The Northern Call") was a bilingual (English and Spanish) newspaper based in Española, New Mexico. Co-founded by activist Elizabeth "Betita" Martinez and attorney Beverly Axelrod in 1968, the paper was originally the publication of the Reies Tijerina's Alianza Federal de Mercedes, an organization dedicated to recovering the lands of dispossessed Hispanos. It expanded to provide coverage of the Chicano Movement in urban areas, workers' struggles, and Latino political prisoners, as well as other Leftist causes.
| Type | Semimonthly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid[1] |
| Associate editor | Jose Madril |
| Managing editor | Elizabeth "Betita" Martínez |
| Founded | 1968 |
| Political alignment | Left |
| Language | English, Spanish |
| Ceased publication | 1973 |
| Headquarters | Española, New Mexico |
El Grito was unique in several ways. It had a pro-socialist political agenda[2] that was hostile to the power structure in New Mexico. This hostility prompted some repression. Antonio Cordova, a staff photographer, faced police harassment after photographing police teargassing protesters at a demonstration.[2] He was later assassinated by the police in 1972.[3]
It was staffed by a mostly volunteer collective of editors, columnists, writers, artists, photographers, and production workers. Of these, women, including Jane Lougee, Tessa Martinez, Adelita Medina, Kathy Montague, Sandra Solis, Rini Templeton, Valentina Valdes, and Enriqueta Vásquez, were predominant. This gave the paper a decidedly feminist bent.
Its social agenda countered prevailing negative images of Mexican-Americans by publishing cultural materials such as short stories, poetry, songs, and recipes.[4]
One major goal of the newspaper was training young Chicanas to run a newspaper. Two women trained at El Grito went on to found their own newspaper, Tierra y Libertad, in Las Vegas, New Mexico.
El Grito del Norte ceased publication in 1973 when managing editor Martínez and others moved to Albuquerque to found the Chicano Communications Center.
Notes
- MacPhee, 64
- Martínez, 2
- Hernández
- Vasquez, xiii-xiv
References
- Hernández, Alexandro D. (2013-03-16). "A Corrido of Struggle: Remembering Roberto Martínez and the Black Berets". Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
- Martínez, Elizabeth (July–August 2002). "A view from New Mexico: recollections of the movimiento left". Monthly Review.
- MacPhee, Josh; Erik Reuland (2007). Realizing the Impossible: Art Against Authority. Oakland: AK Press. p. 319. ISBN 1-904859-32-1.
While examining the pages of El Grito del Norte or of Industrial Worker, as well as the evocation of the mestiza/o aesthetic, it becomes obvious that the physicality involved in the design process became one of the main impetuses for how these tabloids took shape.
- Vasquez, Enriqueta (2006). Lorena Oropeza; Dionne Espinoza (eds.). Enriqueta Vasquez and the Chicano Movement: Writings from El Grito del Norte. Hispanic Civil Rights (in English and Spanish). Houston: Arte Público Press. ISBN 1-55885-479-7.
External links
- Table of Contents from El Grito del Norte (1966–1972)
- Chicano Newspapers and Periodicals 1966-1979 Maps and charts of over 300 Chicano newspapers from the 1960s and 70s.