What is "chicanismo"

Chicanismo is the ideology behind the Chicano movement. It is an ideology based on a number of important factors that helped shape a social uprising in order to fight for the liberties of Mexican-Americans. Chicanismo was shaped by a number of intellectuals and influential activists as well as by the artistic and political sphere. The many contributors to the ideology collaborated to create a strong sense of self-identity within the Chicano community. Cultural affirmation became one of the main methods of developing Chicanismo. This cultural affirmation was achieved through a new sense of nationalism for Mexican-Americans. And also by drawing ties to the long forgotten history of Chicanos in lands that were very recently Mexican and also by creating a symbolic connection to the ancestral ties of Meso-America. Chicanismo became rooted in these romantic ideas and spread at an alarming rate in the 1960s across one of the largest minority groups in the US.