Enduring Legacies: Ethnic Histories and Cultures of Colorado

18: Pedagogical Practices of Liberation in Abelardo “Lalo” Delgado’s Movement Poetry

327 This study draws on the work of Brazilian philosopher Paulo Freire as a conceptual framework for Chicano Movement Poetry in Colorado, particularly that of Abelardo Barrientos Delgado, affectionately known to many as “Lalo.” A principal objective is to engage Delgado’s poetry, the historical specificity of the word, and a particular political and cultural practice within the context of and in dialogue with Freire’s work in critical pedagogy. Delgado (1931–2004) achieved recognition for his contribution to Chicano Movement Poetry in many forms, particularly as a recipient of the TonatiuhQuinto Sol Award for literature in 1977 and as Denver’s first Poet Laureate in 2004. Poet, writer, community organizer, educator, social worker, teacher, and administrator are among the various roles he played as part of his extensive civil rights work. Delgado gained notoriety as a writer after moving to Denver, Colorado, in the 1960s. By the time of his death “Lalo” had produced fourteen books, starting with Chicano: 25 Pieces of a Chicano Mind in 1969. Taking the publication of Chicano works into his own hands, he founded Barrio Publications, which published several collections of his poetry and fiction written in English and Spanish. Much of his poetry, fiction, and essays has appeared in periodicals and anthologies, particularly his signature poem Pedagogical Practices of Liberation in Abelardo “Lalo” Delgado’s Movement Poetry 18 Miriam Bornstein-Gómez 328 Pedagogical Practices of Liberation “Stupid America,” which depicts the alienation suffered by young Chicanos. Clearly, his work reflects thematic versatility alongside social commitment. It offers vivid descriptions of social and economic injustices, including satirical poems that offer political insight as well as tender and sensitive poems. In expressing the people’s hopes, struggles, and dreams, Delgado’s creative and political work represents a significant legacy in Chicano letters. Paulo Freire (1921–1997) is one of the most important voices in pedagogical philosophy and in developing a congruent approach to learning. His work in critical pedagogy has had an extraordinary influence on educators engaged in social change and in the struggle for equality for disenfranchised and marginalized social sectors. Delgado’s poetic discourse exposes the impact of dominant cultural forces on the lives of Latinos/as as a subordinate group in the United States. Upon close analysis, one finds compatibility in political insights between Freire’s work and Delgado’s poetry. Their discourses cross textual, cultural, and political borders to reinforce each other’s specificity. As a critical educator and “cultural worker,” Freire theoretically engages in a political practice that challenges hegemonic power. While his work emerges in theory and practice as anti-colonial and postcolonial discourse, Delgado’s poetic discourse comes to light from a subaltern location within colonial hegemony. His poetry is far from being considered an entity in and of itself as his work derives from, and stands in dialectical relation to, a specific historical and cultural context in which cultural representation makes visible a reality rendered meaningless by dominant culture. It is at this point about how knowledge is produced and communicated that Delgado’s poetry connects with Freire’s pedagogy of liberation. This, as well as other fundamental concepts , constitutes the overlap between theories of education and Delgado’s cultural representation—for example, the significance of critical awareness (conscientization) and action (praxis) in social transformation, dialogue and questioning as a method of learning, teaching by working with the people, education imbued with political values, the importance of lived experience and knowledge of the learner, engagement and equality in community building . Therefore, it is possible to examine how Freire explores education as cultural action and Delgado explores cultural action as education. Education and the Struggle for Equality Antonia Darder, in Culture and Power in the Classroom (1991), observes that rapid demographic shifts in the United States indicate that increasing numbers of students in the public educational system are bicultural. Her work offers a culturally democratic vision based on educational principles shaped by Paulo Miriam Bornstein-Gómez 329 Freire and Henry Giroux, as she affirms that the current U.S. educational system is designed to educate Euro-American students and, as such, does not meet the needs of bicultural students. This has resulted in a historical marginalization of these students from mainstream American life and in the creation of a subordinated population. Students who are disenfranchised by dominant cultural forces are a product of disenfranchised communities. Furthermore, in The Politics of Education (1985), Freire asserts...