María Limón, born María de Socorro Limón Castro, is a

Chicana Chicano (masculine form) or Chicana (feminine form) is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans that emerged from the Chicano Movement. In the 1960s, ''Chicano'' was widely reclaimed among Hispanics in the building of a movement toward politic ...

writer, poet, and activist based in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. As a self-identified

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are non-heterosexual or non- cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against LGBTQ people in the late 19th century. From the late 1980s, queer activists began to ...

Tejana Tejanos ( , ) are descendants of Texas Creoles and Mestizos who settled in Texas before its admission as an American state. The term is also sometimes applied to Texans of Mexican descent. Etymology The word ''Tejano'', with a ''J'' instead o ...

, Limón's writing focuses on the

Latino experience in the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

Life and career

Though Limón has been writing since 1985, she has been employed in the fields of domestic violence and public health for over three decades. As a member of allgo, an Austin-based

Latino organization, she worked to assist other queer people of color overcome the oppression they encountered daily. With other members of allgo in 1989, Limón founded Informe-SIDA, a non-profit fighting

HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

in communities of color in the Austin area. Limón is currently employed as the Prevention Coordinator at the Texas Council on Family Violence.

Literary themes

Much of Limón's work is defined by her identity as a

raised in a working-class household. Consequently, themes of navigating multiple cultural identities, intersecting layers of oppression, and the results of education and social mobility are recurring themes in her writing. Her short story "Santiago" focuses on a small moment in the relationship between a young Chicana and her Mexican father. Set in the desert near

Alameda, California Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for "Avenue (landscape), tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States, located in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is built on an informal archipe ...

, the eponymous Santiago muses over his desire for a new car as he waits for his daughter to help him fix his blown out tire. As she pulls in, Limón notes her "outfit that was as far away from Mexican as she could afford,". As they drive to a nearby gas station, Dulce remembers the bits of paint that as a child she would pick off of Santiago's arms. The juxtaposition of Dulce's American clothing, implied to be a result of her college education, and Santiago's paint-flecked arms serve to highlight cultural and class divides between the two. Though she harbors resentment towards her father for leaving her mother and their family, she eventually recalls the selflessness that protected her from harm when they were together. Santiago jokes about being buried in his broken-down car, the nicest car he had ever owned, and Dulce asks him not to joke about such things. Dulce's words represent her respect for her father and his working-class roots, and the two come to a silent understanding before he drives away.

Contributions

* ''Merienda tejana : the writings of Mary Sue Galindo, María Limón, Jesse Johnson'' (1985). Compiled by Juan Rodriguez and Petra Rodriguez. Contribution by María Limón. * ''Queer Codex: Rooted'' (2008). Compiled by Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano. Contribution by María Limón. * ''Entre Guadalupe y Malinche: Tejanas in Literature and Art'' (2016). Compiled by Inés Hernández-Ávila and Norma Elia Cantú. Contribution by María Limón.

Sources

*Barrera, Sonia. "María Limón, Austin Activist." ''María Limón, Austin Activist , UT Watch on the Web.'' N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Mar. 2017. *Hamze, Adam. "30 Years On, Austin Group Still Looking Out for Queer People of Color." ''Reporting Texas.'' N.p., 9 Dec. 2015. Web. 04 Mar. 2017. *Hernández-Ávila, Inés, and Norma E. Cantú. Entre Guadalupe Y Malinche: Tejanas in Literature and Art. Austin: U of Texas, 2016. Print.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Limón, María American poets of Mexican descent Writers from Austin, Texas American women poets Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)