ABSTRACT

A popular literary Spanish-language political culture thrived in New Mexico in the late 19th and early 20th century as political poetry and prose filled the pages of a vibrant Spanish-language press that informed a politically engaged and sophisticated Mexican American, Spanish-speaking society. For mexicanos of the Creation Generation, their resistance to American assimilation through the Spanish-language media left a strong political and literary legacy, especially in New Mexico. For Mexican-origin people of the Migration Generation and the Mexican American Generation, the Spanish language and Spanish-language media continued to be a weapon of resistance to US In spite of those increasing assimilation efforts, one of the resources that remained and continues to remain crucial today for Chicana/o resistance to colonialism and assimilation was and is Spanish-language and other Hispanic/Latino-oriented media. Spanish-language television stations and networks continued to provide their evening news, but with more commercial time and less expanded content dedicated to political news and information–except during some election periods.