Anzaldúa, Gloria (1942–2004)

Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa was an influential Chicana feminist scholar and activist. Born in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas in 1942, Gloria Anzaldúa worked as a migrant worker in her youth and fell in love with reading at age 9. She went on to earn a B.A. degree from Pan American University and her M.A. from the University of Texas at Austin. At the time of her death, Anzaldúa worked as a lecturer at University of California at Santa Cruz where she was weeks away from defending her doctoral dissertation. Anzaldúa was 61 when she passed away on May 16, 2004, from complications related to diabetes.

Gloria Anzaldúa's ideas and writings have influenced and shaped discussions about feminism, cultural theory, queer theory, communication theory, spirituality, and Chicano/a studies. Her writings and edited anthologies are widely used in colleges and universities globally. In addition to her academic contributions, Anzaldúa serves as an activist role model for many communities. Through her efforts to raise consciousness about various forms of oppression, Anzaldúa helped to build an inclusive feminist movement.

Anzaldúa's writing career was over 23 years long and includes essays, poetry, children's books, scholarly research, folk tales, autobiography, and political commentary. Her works mix genres and go beyond a monolingual approach. Anzaldúa wrote in a flowing combination of English and Spanish. She was among the first Chicana writers to claim and write about her lesbian identity. Anzaldúa also wrote about her own spirituality as influenced by her grandmother.

She is best known for her book Borderlands/La Frontera (1987), which was named one of the 100 Best Books of the century by the Utne Reader and Hungry Mind Review. Borderlands/La Frontera examines the conflict inherent to the border between the United States and Mexico and tells the history of the twice-conquered people. Anzaldúa addresses causes of oppression and linguistic terrorism and discusses the necessarily fluid mestiza consciousness.

Other published works by Anzaldúa include, but are not limited to, a collection coedited with Cherríe Moraga titled This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color (1981) and Making Face, Making Soul/Haciendas Cara: Creative and Critical Perspectives by Feminists-of-Color (1990). Anzaldúa authored two children's books, Friends from the Other Side/Amigos del otro lado (1993) and Prietita and the Ghost Woman/Prietita y la Llorona (1995). Another collection of feminist writings, coedited with AnaLouise Keating, is titled This Bridge We Call Home: Radical Visions for Transformation (2002).

Anzaldúa received numerous awards for her writings and activism. Some of the awards are the Before Columbus Foundation American Book Award, the Lambda Lesbian Small Book Press Award, NEA (National Endowments for the Arts) Fiction Award, the Lesbian Rights Award, the Sappho Award of Distinction, and the American Studies Association Lifetime Achievement Award.