Raúl R. Salinas (March 17, 1934 - February 13, 2008), better known by his pen name raúlrsalinas, was a

Chicano Chicano or Chicana is a chosen identity for many Mexican Americans in the United States. The label ''Chicano'' is sometimes used interchangeably with ''Mexican American'', although the terms have different meanings. While Mexican-American ident ...

pinto Pinto is a Portuguese, Spanish, Jewish (Sephardic), and Italian surname. It is a high-frequency surname in all Portuguese-speaking countries and is also widely present in Spanish-speaking countries, Italy, India especially in Mangalore, Kar ...

poet, memoirist,

social activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fr ...

, and prison journalist. Much of raúlrsalinas' writing was grounded in arguments for

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

and human rights. He was an early pioneer of Chicano pinto (

prisoner A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison. ...

) poetry and is notable for his use of

vernacular A vernacular or vernacular language is in contrast with a "standard language". It refers to the language or dialect that is spoken by people that are inhabiting a particular country or region. The vernacular is typically the native language, n ...

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all Eu ...

, and

free verse Free verse is an open form of poetry, which in its modern form arose through the French '' vers libre'' form. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech. Defini ...

aesthetics. Alongside Ricardo Sánchez,

Judy Lucero Judy A. Lucero (pen name, #21918) was a Chicana prisoner poet, cited as a legend among Latina feminists. Lucero had a particularly tough life, becoming a heroin addict after being introduced to drugs at the age of eleven by one of her stepfathers, l ...

Luis Talamantez Luis Talamantez (born April 10, 1943) is an American writer, poet, and prisoner's rights activist. He gained widespread recognition in the 1970s as a member of the San Quentin Six, a group of men charged with inciting the riot which killed three ...

, and Jimmy Santiago Baca, raúlrsalinas sought to make prisoners' rights a more central focus of the

Chicano Movement The Chicano Movement, also referred to as El Movimiento, was a civil rights movements, social and political movement in the United States inspired by prior acts of resistance among people of Mexican descent, especially of Pachucos in the 1940s and ...

. Incarcerated for over a decade (1959–1972) for carrying a small amount of

marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in variou ...

, raúlrsalinas wrote extensively while in prison, including essays, letters, prose, and journalism, the vast majority which is now held at Stanford University. raúlrsalinas' work extended beyond his prison writing, focusing also on his Xicanindio (indigenous identified Chicano) heritage and his politics as a Latino internationalist. According to

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, raúlrsalinas "transformed elements of the American literary canon."

Works

*
Un Trip through the Mind Jail y Otras Excursions
' (Arte Publico Press, 1980). * ''East of the Freeway: Reflections De Mi Pueblo'' (Red Salmon Press, 1995). * ''Many Mundos Of Raulrsalinas: Un Poetic Jazz Viaje'' (Calaca Press, 2000). * ''Red Arc: A Call For Liberación Con Salsa Y Cool'' (Wings Press, 2005). *
raú́lrsalinas and the Jail Machine: My Weapon is My Pen
' (University of Texas Press, 2006). * ''Indio Trails: A Xicano Odyssey Through Indian Country'' (Wings Press, 2006). *
Memoir of Un Ser Humano: The Life and Times de Raúlrsalinas
', edited by Louis G. Mendoza. (Red Salmon Press, 2018).

References

1934 births 2008 deaths 20th-century American poets 21st-century American poets Activists for Hispanic and Latino American civil rights American people of Mestizo descent American poets of Mexican descent Latin Americanists Mestizo writers {{US-poet-1930s-stub

Works

See also

References