Independent Spirit, Community Activism and Cultural Self-Determination:

The Story of Calaca Press

by Victor Payan

The story of Calaca Press began in 1997 with a conversation about the future which San Diego community activists Brent Beltrán and Consuelo Manríquez de Beltrán were having with their friend Manuel J. Vélez. Vélez, a poet who had recently graduated with a Masters' degree from a creative writing program at UTEP, pondered the lack of publishing opportunities for independent Chicano writers. Taking a cue from their activism, Brent and Consuelo knew that the best opportunity for success is the one you create yourself.

After assessing their resources, which basically consisted of their do-it-yourself attitude and a Macintosh Performa computer, Brent and Consuelo gave birth to Calaca Press and a first edition of Vélez's book of poetry, Bus Stops and Other Poems. Four years and a Macintosh G3 later, and their small press has published two more books and seven spoken word CDs, all sharing Brent and Consuelo's independent spirit and vision of community activism and cultural self-determination.

"We're an independent Chicano family-owned press that believes in creating avenues for bilingual artists and performers," says Beltrán.

In their commitment to supporting new, emerging and established artists, Calaca Press has showcased the work of nearly two dozen writers and performers representing the diversity of the contemporary Chicano and Latino experience. Speaking loudly, proudly and with eyes wide open, Calaca Press' authors unflinchingly telegraph their experiences and speak their minds.

"We believe that there are many unknown voices within our community that are worthy of being published yet are not due to various societal and corporate realities, restrictions and biases," says Beltrán. "This is particularly true when it comes to publishing progressive bilingual voices."

Since its humble beginnings with Bus Stops, Calaca Press has published two more literary works, Campesino Fingerprints by Rod Ricardo-Livingstone and as our barrio turns...who the yoke b on? The anticipated novel by alurista, the renowned Chicano poet and author of Floricanto en Aztlan and Nationchild Plumaroja.

In addition, Calaca Press has also actively developed a relationship with local San Diego artists such as Victor Orozco Ochoa, Mario Torero and Sal Barajas, each of whom have designed original artwork for Calaca projects.

In 1999, Calaca Press expanded from publishing literary works into recording and producing spoken word CDs. Their inaugural project, Raza Spoken Here: poesía chicana volume 1, was a cutting-edge collection of contemporary Chicano and Chicana poets. The critically-acclaimed CD featured an early sampling of high-powered verse by emerging poets such as Manuel J. Vélez, Sandra C. Muñoz, Olga Angelina García Echeverría, Daniel Sánchez-Glazer, Chuy Quintero and Christian Ramírez. Even more established performers such as Elba Rosario Sánchez, the Taco Shop Poets and revolutionary border-bard Trago Amargo contributed to the effort.

Since that intrepid introduction, Calaca Press' foray into CD production has yielded numerous titles which document the emergence of a strong and exciting grass roots Raza literary movement.

Raza Spoken Here 2, the much-anticipated followup to their debut disc, delivers up more notes from the underground with an even more diverse selection of writers and performers. In "Summer Fruits," Fresno-born poet Rod Ricardo-Livingstone recounts his upbringing in the San Joaquin Valley. Salvadoran-born Leticia Hernández-Linares takes a stand against consumerism, globalization and gentrification in "Gold Rush," Austin-based Xicanindio activist poet raúlrsalinas boldly declares "We Hafta Shaft NAFTA!" Award-winning Iranian/Guatemalan hip-hop rockero robertkarimi recounts the vigilante killing of two grafitti artists in "La pena de muerte," and self-described Tejana punk Buddhist Tammy Gomez presents a rollicking musical meditation on assimilation in "On Language." The disc concludes with the Northern California raza rock group Grito Serpentino inviting the listener on a bluesy chalupa-induced cultural nightmare in the hilarious "Ode To The Taco Bell Chihuahua." RSH2 also includes works by alurista, alejandra ibarra, Antonieta Villamil, Los Delicados, and tatiana de la tierra.

In addition to these two compilations, Calaca Press has also released five full-length spoken word CDs in the last two years, which they sell through independent book and record stores, cultural centers, and their Web site, www.calacapress.com.

Elba Rosario Sánchez and Olga Angelina García Echeverría team up for When Skin Peels. Bay Area favorites Los Delicados serve up a postmodern barrio snapshot in Word Descarga, and the San Diego-based Taco Shop Poets chime in with Chorizo Tonguefire. Currently, the Taco Shop Poets are in the studio working on their second collaboration with Calaca Press called Crossing Guard, which features guest appearances by José Montoya and raúlrsalinas.

Working with Red Salmon Press, Calaca Press released the electrifying Los Many Mundos de raúlrsalinas: un poetic jazz viaje con friends in 2000. In this impassioned, jazz infused disc, word warrior raúlrsalinas tackles issues relating to cultural survival, historical erasure, AIDS, and the prison-industrial complex in such works as "Pueblo Querido," "A Walk Through the Campo Santo," "Amorindio," "La Peste Arriveé," "Homenaje a la Pachuca."

Calaca Press has also collaborated with acclaimed artist and author Simón Silva to release Small-Town Browny, a double-CD of Silva's poignant short stories about rural campesino life.

Beltrán says he and Consuelo actively pursue collaborations with other community artists and small presses.

"Calaca Press has been lucky to come across so many talented voices, yet we recognize that our means are limited to produce them all," he says. "Therefore, we strongly encourage and assist other people, friends, poets, writers and performers to start their own presses, to self-publish and to record their own CDs."

Still with an eye to the future, Calaca Press has also begun producing cultural events in San Diego. Over the past few years, they have brought raúlrsalinas, Leticia Hernández-Linares, Rod Ricardo-Livingstone, Olga Angelina García Echeverría, Elba Rosario Sanchez, Sandra Muñoz, Los Delicados and Grito Serpentino to San Diego, a city hungry for Chicano cultural arts programming.

"There is a definite need for this kind of material," says Beltrán, "especially considering the changing demographics of California, the southwest and the rest of the country. It is necessary and important for each community to develop its own artists and speak for itself."

All of the titles in the Calaca Press catalog are distinguished by a confidence and vitality that emanates from the powerful sense of awareness and self-determination of their authors. A welcome resistance to the corporate cultural erasure of the so-called "Latin Explosion," these diverse works present intelligent, critical and original voices that challenge, uplift the spirit and also entertain.

With all of this that has come in during the past four years, just imagine what the future will bring!