Who's Joaquin?

In his free verse poem “I Am Joaquin,” Rodolfo Gonzales brings to life a man who finds himself in a predicament, an internal battle of identity. Joaquin, forced to choose between a full stomach and retaining his cultural identity, puts the weight of his entire heritage on his shoulders. He has “come a long way to nowhere,” which is not, in his mind, what his “own people” so valiantly struggled for. Joaquin feels as though he has betrayed his history, and in turn, the peoples that have made up his Mexican cultural identity – his blood. 

Joaquin is Mexican. What does that mean?

Joaquin answers this question through listing figures in Mexican history: Aztec rulers, Mayan princes, priests, revolutionaries, all who made Mexico what it is today. These figures make up Joaquin’s cultural background and fought for his freedom – as a Mexican. He “rode with Pancho Villa” and had “killed and been killed” only to squander it all and move to the United States. It is almost as if Joaquin thinks of himself as a prisoner of war, someone “whose pride and courage could not surrender with indignity their country’s flag to strangers,” and now “bleed[s] in some smelly cell” (America).

Joaquin cuts out the figurative historical statements and begins speaking of the present situation in America, where Mexicans “lengthen the line at the welfare door” and “fill the jails with crime.” His “land is lost,” and his “culture has been raped” by the United States. This section of the poem takes on an extremely bitter tone using descriptive words like “stinking,” “mutilated,” and “vicious.” This the tone of an oppressed man ready to fight, which is exactly what Joaquin resolves to do. Towards the end, Joaquin reintroduces himself: “I am Joaquin. I must fight and win this struggle for my sons, and they must know me for who I am.” Joaquin is a Mexican, he has endured the Europeans and “toils” and “slavery” and “the suburbs of bigotry.” Here, Joaquin takes the tone of a warrior, as if he did actually ride with Pancho Villa.

He lists off different racial terms that Mexicans have been referred to as, the last being “Chicano,” a Mexican who lives in America. Joaquin resolves that he is still Mexican, no matter where he lives, or what he calls himself – he “refuses to be absorbed.” The end of the poem takes on the tone of a rousing speech, on that a military general could be giving to his troops before going in to battle, ending with the cry: “I SHALL ENDURE! I WILL ENDURE.”

By the end of the poem, Joaquin has won his internal battle by accepting who he is and embracing his history. He is a Mexican, someone who has endured oppression and prevailed numerous times. He resolves to fight for his culture, just as Cuauhtemoc did, just as Pancho Villa did, just as Hidalgo did. Because that is who he is. He is Joaquin.  

Though difficult for me to relate to as a semi well off and privileged white person from the suburbs, I found Gonzales’s poem to be extremely effective and very well executed. The protagonist is dejected but gains inspiration and the wherewithal to persevere through his history.He finds strength in his heritage.

How often do we as Americans do this? What is the difference between finding strength in heritage and being nostalgic?