Aztlán: homeland of the Chicana/o people. The word is taken from Nahuatl mythology — the northern homeland of the Aztecs. Chicano/as lay claim to the US southwest — the land ceded by Mexico under the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hildalgo — as their homeplace, as Aztlán. Poet and Chicano revolutionary Alurista first used the term Aztlán in a poem he read during the Chicano Youth Liberation Conference in March 1969. Map of of Aztlán.
Californios: The Spanish speaking population of California under Mexico before 1848 when California became a territory of the United States. The term does / did not include the Native American population. Author Maria Amparo Ruiz de Burton identified as a Californio.
Chicano/a: sometimes also spelled Xicana/o. Terms used for US citizens of Mexican descent. Began to be used during the Chicano Movement, mainly among Mexican Americans with a revolutionary politic during movement’s peak in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Now used as both a synonym for Mexican American and by Latina/os who identify with with the movement’s resistance to US imperialism.
Cosmopolitanism: the notion that all humans belong to a single community which can be based on a shared morality. This contrasts with communitarian and particularistic theories, especially the ideas of patriotism and nationalism.
MALCS: Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social is a national organization of Chicanas/Latinas and Native American women working in academia and in community settings with a common goal: to work toward the support, education and dissemination of Chicana/Latina and Native American women’s issues. Through networking, occasional meetings and their annual Summer Institute, MALCS members share information, offer support, and continue to struggle for social justice.
NACCS: The National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies is the academic organization that serves academic programs, departments and research centers that focus on issues pertaining to Mexican Americans, Chicana/os, and Latina/os. It hosts an academic conference annually.