Abelardo Delgado Explained

Abelardo Barrientos Delgado, aka Lalo (November 27, 1931 – July 23, 2004), was a Chicano writer, community organizer, and poet.^[1] His work was important in establishing the Chicano poetry movement.^[2]

He was a major contributor to the Chicano Movement of the 1960s and 1970s.^[3] A professor in Metropolitan State University of Denver's Chicano/a Studies Department for 17 years, he was honored by the city of Denver posthumously in 2005 with the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award.^[4] In 2004, he was posthumously named Denver's first Poet Laureate.^[5] Metropolitan State University hosts the annual Lalo Delgado Poetry Festival; which celebrates Delgado as a social justice poet and "the grandfather of Chicano and Chicana poetry in this country."^{[6] [7] [8]}

Delgado was awarded the Tonatiuh-Quinto Sol Award for literature in 1977.

Personal life

Born in Boquilla de Conchos, Chihuahua, Mexico, Delgado moved to El Paso, Texas in 1943. He grew up in a tenement occupied by 23 families sharing three bathrooms, learning English from a boys club after school.^[9] Delgado organized his first protest while in school, refusing to sing the National Anthem and eventually convincing his classmates to sing in Spanish instead.^[10]

Lalo was married to Lola Estrada and had eight children.^[11]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Abelardo Delgado Papers, 1947– (bulk 1968–1981). legacy.lib.utexas.edu. February 22, 2019.
2. Book: Gilb, Dagoberto . Hecho en Tejas: An Anthology of Texas-Mexican Literature . 2008 . UNM Press . 978-0-8263-4126-6 . 174 . en.
3. Book: Kanellos, Nicolás. The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Latino Literature. Gale Virtual Reference Library. 2008. 352–353.
4. Web site: Local Chicano poet "Lalo" Delgado celebrated posthumously at Auraria – My Met Media. mymetmedia.com. March 15, 2019.
5. Web site: Denver's own poet laureate, for better or verse. Milofsky. David. August 4, 2005. The Denver Post. March 15, 2019.
6. Web site: Events, Supported Events. msudenver.edu. March 15, 2019.
7. Web site: Honoring 'grandfather' of Chicano poetry – My Met Media. mymetmedia.com. March 15, 2019.
8. Book: Historical Dictionary of U.S. Latino Literature. Lomelí. Francisco A.. Urioste. Donaldo W.. Villaseñor. María Joaquina. December 27, 2016. Rowman & Littlefield. 9781442275492. en.
9. News: Obituary: Lalo Delgado. Reed. Christopher. August 4, 2004. The Guardian. February 22, 2019. 0261-3077.
10. Web site: Poetry Daily Prose Feature – Jarica Linn Watts: Introduction to Here Lies Lalo. poems.com. February 22, 2019.
11. News: Lalo Delgado, 73; Poet Was Seminal Figure in Rise of Chicano Literature. Woo. Elaine. August 1, 2004. Los Angeles Times. March 15, 2019. 0458-3035.