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== Chicano History: == A "Chicano" refers to a person of Mexican descent in North America. Chicanos and Latino's differ as Chicanos are American's with citizenship that may be heavily influenced by their family's culture while Latinos are born in other countries. Cultural roots are important to Chicanos as they continue to celebrate historical practices such as "the day of the dead" whereas in an American culture is called Halloween. Chicanas live with their dominant Mexican ancestral culture as they may be Americans but they categorize themselves as Mexican-American. Chicanos have had to adapt to a dual culture structure in the 20th century where they learn to speak English and adapt to the American Culture but are still heavily influenced by their Mexican culture. They have targeted as being a minority group in early 20th century American society and have counteracted by not being called "brown" in history when being "White" was dominant.

Chicano literature had predominantly male writers before females began writing and voicing their opinions. Chicanas voices where not heard as much because Chicano's had a masculine culture which would be named "Machismo" in Mexican terms. During the Chicano Movement in which Chicanos where fighting for social and civil rights in the United States Chicana writers began to express themselves for their voices to be heard too and this would cause the number of Chicana Authors to increase as they became important to the movement. Chicano literature has changed over time, originally it would be thought of as folktales from a Mexican American or a person who is trying to voice his opinion as a minority in an American society but the meaning of Chicano literature is changing as it has become an important topic in literature. Chicano literature has expanded its boundaries from just being folktales from a local poor neighborhood or "barrio" to be a way of Chicanos being able to voice their cultures, history, and ideology.

Chicano noteable authors and Travel Writers:
Stephanie Elizondo Griest is a Chicano travel writer who has traveled to many countries around the globe. She has learned to speak Russian and earned a degree in Journalism. She grew up in South Texas in Corpus Christi, TX. Griest began speaking about wanting to travel in her high school years. She traveled to Moscow while learning Russian and even created a guideline to traveling to Russia. She had added to "Chicano" studies by her form of travel writing exploring how Mexican culture can be affected in a border region. She has relevant contributions as she grew up in an American Culture in Texas being heavily influenced to a Mexican-Culture. She is heavily influenced by her Mexican culture from family and friends who resisted assimilation of the Mexican culture. In Griest's Mexican Enough she explores her cultural differences. She does interviews with people about the assimilation issue and how people choose to keep their cultural identity roots as they search for self-assurance in their society.

Jovita Gonzales is a Mexican American born in Texas who has graduated at the University of Texas with a Masters degree. A couple of books she has written includes Dew on the Thorn, The Women who lost her soul and other stories, Life along the border, and Caballero. Jovita was educated from an early age and was exposed to fictional writing. She grew up with a sense of pride of being Mexican-American which would lead to her dedicating herself to writing about Texas-American stories.

Dew on the Thorn gives the reader a sense of it was for Mexican societies living near the border in the history. In the story, Mexicans being robbed of their land after the Mexican-American war opposed the idea of moving out of Texas as they viewed that area as their home. The idea of losing their homes to people they thought of as strangers caused them to oppose the idea of leaving the land even if Texas had become part of the United States. A common theme to this book was how would an oppressed Mexican society react to being a minority in an American society.

Luis Alberto Urrea is a Mexican American author born in Tijuana, Mexico August 20, 1955. His father is from New York and his mother from the state of Sinaloa in Mexico. Although Urrea was born in Mexico he was still considered a U.S. citizen that was born abroad.

Border literature:
Traveling through the border is becoming an important topic as the population of Mexicans is growing in regions close to the border such as Texas and California. The migration of Mexicans to the U.S. is causing an increase in literature for labor workers and studies of the Mexican American Culture. The Motivational force of Mexicans traveling across the border is viewing it as an opportunity to increase their capital and expand their opportunities. Mexican Americans near the border struggle with their identity because they are mostly considered immigrants though some may be U.S. citizens. Mexicans view crossing the border as an opportunity to improve their living conditions for themselves and their families though they have had a strong bonding to their Mexican nationality and would look at those that became U.S. citizens as traitors. Before the 1930s there weren't any Mexican-American literature, Mexicans would stay in their homes and not seek the U.S. as an escape but after U.S. Mexican war they sought themselves as being denied their civil rights while having U.S. citizenship. Mexicans after the U.S. Mexican war found themselves receiving a much lower pay than White labor disregarding their skill level in a work environment.

Dual-cultural identity:
Stephanie Elizondo Griest takes a neutral standpoint where she is acting as a third person in her books. She explores what it's like to have a Mexican culture in an American society. Even though Chicano's are bound to the Mexican culture it seems as if they are distant from Mexico itself because of the US-Mexico border thus creating a mixture of culture for the people of the region with US Culture and Mexican Cultures. Mexican culture is known for having a mixture in it. The importance of mixture in the surviving Mexican culture is noted from Mexican Natives. Mexicans living near the border keep their cultural identity because they live close to Mexico despite being blocked by the Us-Mexico border. Another factor that helps Mexican culture last in the United States are factors such as people migrating from Mexico to the US bringing their culture with them and influencing family. Their culture is thought to be assimilated by later generation of Immigrations migrated to the US but younger generations develop an interest in their cultural roots. People born in the United States to immigrant parents face an assimilation process where they try to adapt to their communities but still feel like they're considered foreign.