José Montalvo
José Montalvo was a notable figure in the Chicano rights movement, recognized for his passionate activism and poetic contributions. Born on September 9, 1946, in Piedras Negras, Mexico, his family migrated to San Antonio, Texas, in 1959. After serving in the Air Force and marrying Carmen Sánchez in 1967, Montalvo became deeply involved in the Chicano movement, using poetry as a medium to address social injustices faced by his community. His literary works, initially written in Spanish, reflect themes of love, idealism, and political disenchantment, often characterized by a blend of sentiment and activism.
Montalvo's poetry collections, including *Pensamientos capturados* and *A mí qué!*, showcase his dual identity as both a romantic and a disillusioned activist. His later works, like *Black Hat Poems*, transitioned into English while maintaining a critical edge. Montalvo also ventured into children's literature with *The Cat in the Top Hat by Dr. Scio*, a satirical take on American history. His final collection, *Welcome to My New World*, was published during his battle with colon cancer and conveys a more reflective tone. Montalvo passed away in 1994, leaving behind a legacy of honest and impactful poetry that resonated with both his community and broader social issues.
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Subject Terms
José Montalvo
Poet
- Born: September 9, 1946
- Birthplace: Piedras Negras, Mexico
- Died: August 15, 1994
Biography
In “I Am Not a Poet,” José Montalvo describes himself as a bohemian of his people, and throughout his short life he was an iconoclastic champion of Chicano rights and a critic of complacency. He was born in the town of Piedras Negras in northern Mexico on September 9, 1946. In 1959, after crossing the border regularly to find work, his family settled in San Antonio, Texas, where Montalvo graduated from high school in 1966. Although he aspired to attend college, he found himself academically unprepared and joined the air force in 1967. That same year he married Carmen Sánchez. After a year in the Netherlands, he finished his military service in Laredo, Texas, and became involved in the Chicano movement. He began writing poetry to help focus his activism in fighting the social injustices that Chicanos experienced.
Montalvo graduated from San Antonio College with an associate’s degree in 1973 and from St. Mary’s University with a bachelor’s degree the next year. In the years following, he worked as a community organizer, counselor in a halfway house, adult education teacher, and activities counselor for the Texas Youth Commission. Active in the Raza Unida Party, he ran unsuccessfully as the party’s candidate for the Texas state legislature in 1974.
Montalvo’s early poetry was written primarily in Spanish, sometimes in street slang. His first collection, Pensamientos capturados, contains poems about himself, both as a romantic dreamer who adores his family and culture and as a jaded activist in political causes. As literary critic Francisco A. Lomelí points out, sometimes, “sentiment prevails over craft as Montalvo’s way of expounding on issues that concern him.” These issues include love, idealism, male sensuality, social problems, and war. His is particularly incensed by Chicanos who participate in patriotic American rituals that they do not fully understand.
His next poetry collection, A mí qué!, also has the ardent tone of an activist witnessing declining interest in his cause. In some poems, Montalvo turns his attention outward to other countries’ problems, as in “Para Nicaragua libre.” Black Hat Poems was his first collection of English-language poetry, and its poems contain humor and lyrical reflections on family life; however, there is still a bitter anger in some poems, as in “Why Trying to Be White Liberal Didn’t Work for Me!” Montalvo’s collection of cartoons and poems, The Cat in the Top Hat by Dr. Scio, is a pastiche of Dr. Seuss’s children’s books, but it is a purely adult work, suffused with irony about what he perceived as the meddling, power-hungry history of the United States. Montalvo published his final collection, Welcome to My New World, while he was ill with colon cancer; the collection speaks frankly of social problems but with less disenchantment toward others and occasional self- deprecating humor.
Montalvo worried that his poetry was less successful in print than when he read it before an audience, yet his critics were primarily appreciative of his work. Critic Ricardo Sánchez, for example, praised its honesty, earthiness, rusticity, and penetrating simplicity. Montalvo died in 1994.