The Nomadic Chicana Writer in Ana Castillo and Emma Pérez

Abstract

From today’s perspective, more than 30 years after the publication of This Bridge, there is little doubt that Moraga and Anzaldúa have been the trailblazers of radical Chicana feminism. Many atravesad@s and women of color from multiple backgrounds within LGBTQ, Chicana/ Latina, and other diasporic and/or displaced communities have embraced and disidentified with their art and theories and with their search for a method of oppositional consciousness. They were able to put the ideas of a collective into writing, and to use their publications as tools for “preservation and revolution.” However, their leadership not only was a result of conceiving the anthology, or being able to publish their groundbreaking sole-authored books. It arose as a result of complex political alliances among activists and intellectuals who were acting simultaneously—most of the time independently—and who were not restricted to one generation or region. In this regard, their provisional alliance as coeditors of This Bridge is a clear example. Born in the Río Grande Valley in Texas, Anzaldúa was ten years older than Moraga, who was born in Whittier, California. They collaborated intensely for several years to make This Bridge a reality, and then they separated and continued their work as independent intellectuals forming new alliances and developing new interests.