Being a Chicano in Hollywood, my experience is that you're not given credit for any sophistication... You're just kind of some guy that just crossed the border, you know, on the back of a truck and that's it.
Chicanos and running water are endlessly fascinating. I can watch them all day.
To me, you have to declare yourself a Chicano in order to be a Chicano. That makes a Chicano a Mexican-American with a defiant political attitude that centers on his or her right to self-definition. I'm a Chicano because I say I am.
You have to want to be Chicano to be Chicano.
There are some Chicanos who don't want to be Chicanos - they want to be Mexican-American, Hispanic, or even Spanish.
Don't ever insult a Chicano about being a Chicano because then all the other Chicanos will be on you with a vengeance. They will even fight each to be first in line to support you.
A great Chicano forebear of mine in writing is Rolando Hinojosa-Smith. He was writing good border mysteries for Chicano readers back in the '80s and '90s.
I am representing California, and all of California, definitely as a Mexicano, a Chicano, a Latino.
The word 'Chicano' was originally a derisive term from Mexicans to other Mexicans living in the United States.
