Chican@s: Our Background and Our Pride

When Nephtali de Leon's Chicanos: Our Background and Our Pride was first published in 1972, it was banned by the Dallas (Texas) Public Library System and its author was "e;escorted out"e; of the school he attended (Lubbock High) by armed police. At the time, the word "e;terrorist"e; was not used, but he was accused of being a "e;revolutionary"e;. This work appeared as an action and reaction against the particularly institutionalised white supremacist security agencies. This book constituted - and still constitutes - a pioneering contribution to a new transcendental birth: a new aesthetics of a resurrected people. In the United States there is a declared war against the ten million Chicanos, and this book is a testimony to the enduring spirit of survival in an ongoing struggle.