"It is important for us to be visually literate; it is a survival skill. The media is what passes for culture in contemporary U.S. culture, and it is extremely powerful. It is crucial that we systematically explore the cultural misdefinition of Mexicans and Latin Americans that is presented in the media." --Yolanda Lopez

Chicana artist Yolanda Lopez achieved international recognition for her groundbreaking and controversial Virgin of Guadalupe series of paintings (1975-78) in which she transformed the beloved icon in order to celebrate and sanctify ordinary Mexican and...

The Mexican Museum of San Francisco was founded in 1975 by artist Peter Rodriguez to "foster the exhibition, conservation, and dissemination of Mexican and Chicano art and culture for all peoples." Its holdings include some 14,000 objects with a historical range extending from pre-conquest Mexico to contemporary Mexican American and Latino communities in the United States.

The Chicano Studies Research Center's collection includes a broad selection of the museum's administrative papers and related materials. Karen Mary Davalos draws on these documents to trace the origins of the...

The Chicano Studies Reader, the best-selling anthology of writings from Aztl?n: A Journal of Chicano Studies, has been newly expanded with essays drawn from the past five years of publication. These essays update each of the thematic sections of the second edition: Decolonizing the Territory, Performing Politics, Configuring Identities, Remapping the World, and Continuing to Push Boundaries. A revised introduction by the volume's editors precedes each section and offers analysis and contextualization. This third edition documents the foundation of Chicano studies, testifies...