The Iconography of Chicano Self Determination Shifra Goldman

Shifra Goldman's essay The Iconography of Chicano Self Determination: Race, Ethnicity, and Class discusses how Chicano/a artists have explore the ideas of race, ethnicity, and class throughout their artist works which led to their self- identities. The essay eloquently defines the terms by using different types of art work during each section of the term being defined. She believes that racism was brought from Anglo-Saxon settlers from Europe and found it useful during the genocide of the Native Americans. With ethnicity she believes there are tied between social inequality and ethnicity. She states "both these factors exacerbate ethnic consciousness, since the experience of discrimination is related to one's identity and thus to one's ethnicity, which is an important aspect of that identity". In the class section she explores farmer workers and political action taken during the time with Cesar Chavez. She concludes by saying that Chicano/a in the U.S has been known to be three manifestations which are cultural resistance, cultural maintenance and cultural affirmation.
The piece I have selected that relates best to Yolanda Lopez is her self-portrait, Portrait of the Artist as the Virgin of Guadalupe, 1978. The image relates to Lopez's active particapantion within her community and within the Chicano movement. She created this image to represent women more than just passive, within the Chicano/a art of the late 70s and early 80s there was very little representation of active and energetic women. The image portraying more than Yolanda Lopez herself it portrays her strength as an individual and the power she has as an artist. It shows the strides Yolanda Lopez has faced as an artist, as a Chicana and as a Feminist.