1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,160 Speaker 1: I am not a white person, I am not a mestizo. 2 00:00:02,360 --> 00:00:08,000 Speaker 1: A'macholo from Futuro media. 3 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 2: It's Latino Usa. I'm Maria no josa. Today we're digging 4 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 2: into the meaning of the term cholo, how it's being reclaimed, 5 00:00:17,520 --> 00:00:21,680 Speaker 2: and how it's violent history still plagues those who use it. 6 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:36,480 Speaker 2: In the United States, the mere utterance of the word 7 00:00:36,600 --> 00:00:41,960 Speaker 2: cholo invokes images of gang members, low writers, and tattoos. 8 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:46,559 Speaker 2: But in South America, where many of you, dear listeners 9 00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:50,839 Speaker 2: have roots, the term cholo or cholito can either be 10 00:00:50,880 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 2: a term of endearment or a racial slur used against 11 00:00:54,800 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 2: people of indigenous ancestry. How come one word is used 12 00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:03,880 Speaker 2: to describe two very different groups of people on opposite 13 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 2: sides of the world. Well, it turns out that while 14 00:01:07,840 --> 00:01:12,040 Speaker 2: contrasting the word cholo in Lima, Peru and the cholo 15 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:17,080 Speaker 2: of California, they actually share a common past, the long 16 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 2: history of racism and colorism in Latin America that began 17 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 2: with the arrival of the Spaniards over five centuries ago, 18 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:29,080 Speaker 2: and that has endured all of this time. In many 19 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:32,240 Speaker 2: of our home countries and also here in the US. 20 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 2: Producer emilsee Kiros Is here to take us on a 21 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:41,120 Speaker 2: journey from the streets of California to the andes of 22 00:01:41,200 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 2: Peru to find the roots of an ancient and harmful 23 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:49,400 Speaker 2: term that some people are nonetheless reclaiming as an element 24 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 2: of pride and identity. 25 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:58,560 Speaker 3: Here's Emise, As a Chicana who grew up in southern California, 26 00:01:59,040 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 3: the term cholo meant a very specific thing to me. 27 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:06,680 Speaker 3: It meant flannel shirts fastened up to the last button, 28 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:11,040 Speaker 3: with khaki pants, writing in a low rider listening to oldies. 29 00:02:11,840 --> 00:02:15,119 Speaker 3: Cholo culture is such a vibe that it's been appropriated 30 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:18,440 Speaker 3: by everyone from superstars like Rihanna to Lana del Rey 31 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 3: and even crossed Frontiers which Cholo subculture is popping up 32 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 3: in places as far away as Japan, youngest in Thailand, 33 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 3: where locals have begun to identify as Cholos, where cholo 34 00:02:36,080 --> 00:02:41,840 Speaker 3: clothing and love Chicano culture. This is Mona aka Sad Girl. 35 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:44,760 Speaker 4: I just want to Fly, I want to be a flow. 36 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:52,840 Speaker 3: What one of Japan's foremost Japanese Chicano rappers. You may 37 00:02:52,880 --> 00:02:55,959 Speaker 3: remember this early two thousands hit song lean Like Acholo 38 00:02:56,120 --> 00:03:03,359 Speaker 3: by Down aka Kila Shot, or watched movies about cholo 39 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:06,200 Speaker 3: culture like blood and blood out three. 40 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:08,920 Speaker 4: Vatos locos full of carnal. 41 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:11,520 Speaker 3: Or American me, the state is so lame. 42 00:03:12,639 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 5: They paid for the game. 43 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 3: But do you know where the word cholo really comes from? 44 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:18,800 Speaker 3: And did you know that a cholo in South America 45 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:21,359 Speaker 3: is not the same as acholo from the United States. 46 00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 3: I only recently learned that there were toolos in South 47 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 3: America during a conversation with my partner, who's prove An American. 48 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,600 Speaker 6: So I feel like provins are always really proud, right, 49 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:34,240 Speaker 6: and it's like even if you're a cholo, like. 50 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 7: At least for me and my wait, what do you mean? 51 00:03:38,840 --> 00:03:43,480 Speaker 6: Like like my dad was always like, you know, listening 52 00:03:43,480 --> 00:03:45,480 Speaker 6: to Waino or like speaking. 53 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 3: Which I literally didn't, but like was he a gangster? 54 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:50,280 Speaker 7: No, he wasn't a gangster. 55 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 6: He like like very indigenous, like he wore that poncho 56 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:56,400 Speaker 6: and like Thenolo then. 57 00:03:57,080 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 5: It's like indigenous people in Peru. 58 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 3: Tolo is like just an indigenous person for you. Yeah, 59 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 3: this was the first time I had ever heard the 60 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:10,960 Speaker 3: word cholo used to describe someone in a way that 61 00:04:11,040 --> 00:04:15,080 Speaker 3: didn't mean hood or gangster. I immediately wanted to know 62 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:17,799 Speaker 3: if the cholo from Southern California, and if the cholo 63 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:20,520 Speaker 3: from South America had the same meaning, and if so, 64 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:23,479 Speaker 3: how did they come to mean such vastly different things? 65 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:27,440 Speaker 3: Where the word originate? Who was first the trollo of 66 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 3: California or the soolo of the Andes. In my search 67 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 3: for answers, I reached out to doctor Raquel Chang Rodriguez, 68 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 3: a professor in colonial literature at the City University of 69 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 3: New York. 70 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 7: Its origins are uncertain. Some scholars believe that it comes 71 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 7: from the now show load, which was the word for dog. 72 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:56,280 Speaker 3: Now what is the language of the assets? 73 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:01,839 Speaker 7: But one of the earliest mentioned of the warl appears 74 00:05:01,960 --> 00:05:08,720 Speaker 7: in Commentarios Realists Royal Compentarists by the Peruvian mestizo writer 75 00:05:09,080 --> 00:05:13,640 Speaker 7: in Ca Garcilaso de la Vega that work days back 76 00:05:13,800 --> 00:05:19,280 Speaker 7: to sixteen h nine. He indicates there that the word 77 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:24,279 Speaker 7: means dog and it was used in a priorative way 78 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:30,000 Speaker 7: by the Spaniards to refer to these individuals of mixed 79 00:05:30,200 --> 00:05:35,839 Speaker 7: origins African and Indian. But now it is applied differently, 80 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 7: is applied to almost anyone that could be of mixed parentage. 81 00:05:42,720 --> 00:05:44,919 Speaker 3: This was a really good start, but I decided to 82 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:46,760 Speaker 3: do a little more digging to see if I could 83 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:49,839 Speaker 3: find any earlier mentions of the word, and I did. 84 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:55,279 Speaker 3: I found that in fifteen fifty five, a man named 85 00:05:55,320 --> 00:05:59,480 Speaker 3: Freya Lonso de Molina, living in Mexico, then called Novaspana, 86 00:06:00,040 --> 00:06:04,359 Speaker 3: wrote a bilingual dictionary of Spanish and Nawat called mccabulario 87 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:09,600 Speaker 3: in Linguo Castellana i Mexicana. In this dictionary, the word cholo, 88 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:13,279 Speaker 3: spelled with an X, not a ch in Nawat, is 89 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:18,640 Speaker 3: directly translated to criallo or esclavo, a servant a slave. 90 00:06:20,640 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 3: Cholos also appeared in the Spanish castas, a series of 91 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:28,200 Speaker 3: paintings that date back to the sixteenth century that portrayed 92 00:06:28,200 --> 00:06:31,960 Speaker 3: the ethnic mixing in the Americas in elaborate detail. 93 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:33,280 Speaker 5: Listen to this. 94 00:06:33,920 --> 00:06:36,680 Speaker 3: The Spanish had a label and a cast for every 95 00:06:36,760 --> 00:06:38,680 Speaker 3: kind of racial mix there was to be found in 96 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:42,560 Speaker 3: the Americas. For example, a person born to a Spanish 97 00:06:42,600 --> 00:06:46,599 Speaker 3: father and a native mother produced a mestizo, and mestiso 98 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:49,080 Speaker 3: sat in the middle of the social latter. At the 99 00:06:49,080 --> 00:06:52,440 Speaker 3: top were pure blooded Europeans and at the very bottom 100 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 3: were black and indigenous people. In this caste system, cholo 101 00:06:57,240 --> 00:06:59,040 Speaker 3: was a name given to a person who was three 102 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:03,440 Speaker 3: quarters Native and a quarter Spanish. For centuries, this is 103 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:06,040 Speaker 3: how the word was used both in the United States 104 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:09,080 Speaker 3: and in Mexico up until the Chicano Movement of the 105 00:07:09,160 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 3: nineteen sixties and seventies, when Chicano gang members began to 106 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:15,720 Speaker 3: reclaim the word and call themselves chorlos. 107 00:07:16,080 --> 00:07:20,239 Speaker 5: We are a bronze people with a bronze culture. 108 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:23,560 Speaker 2: Before the world, before all. 109 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:28,560 Speaker 6: Of North America, before all our brothers, the Bronx continents. 110 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:35,200 Speaker 2: We are a nation, We are a union, are pre pueblos. 111 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:43,360 Speaker 3: We are at plan Today we are exploring the term chorlo, 112 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:46,800 Speaker 3: but just really quickly, Chicano, in case you're not familiar 113 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:50,160 Speaker 3: with the term, typically refers to people of Mexican descent 114 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:54,240 Speaker 3: born in the United States. Chican X identity, as it 115 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:57,560 Speaker 3: is often called today, is centered around social justice and 116 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:02,720 Speaker 3: indigenous pride. Okay, so back to cholo. After learning about 117 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 3: the origin of the term, I wanted to know if 118 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:08,640 Speaker 3: Mexican tolo's today still knew the racist history behind this word. 119 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 3: So I reached out to Michael Flores, a former gang 120 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:15,680 Speaker 3: member turned actor who's pretty much who you'd picture when 121 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 3: you think of a Mexican cholo. 122 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:23,720 Speaker 5: My name is Michael Flores. I'm an actor, producer, director, creator. 123 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:27,680 Speaker 3: Michael identifies as a cholo and doesn't try to hide it. 124 00:08:28,080 --> 00:08:30,000 Speaker 5: I'm proud to be a chilo. I'm proud to be 125 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:32,800 Speaker 5: someone who says, hey, you know what, I grew up 126 00:08:32,800 --> 00:08:35,280 Speaker 5: that way and this is who I am today, you know. 127 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,360 Speaker 5: So yeah, I'm proud of it. You know. 128 00:08:39,200 --> 00:08:42,160 Speaker 3: Michael's from South central Los Angeles. He's six foot two, 129 00:08:42,600 --> 00:08:45,320 Speaker 3: has a bald head, a go tee, and a body 130 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:48,400 Speaker 3: full of tattoos. He's someone that most people would find 131 00:08:48,720 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 3: pretty intimidating, but it's actually a real sweetheart once you 132 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:54,480 Speaker 3: get to know him. Yeah, so, Michael, what is being 133 00:08:54,520 --> 00:08:55,439 Speaker 3: a cholo mean to you? 134 00:08:56,400 --> 00:09:01,560 Speaker 5: Trolo is a lifestyle. Toto is the way you carry yourself. 135 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:04,520 Speaker 5: Being a troll is also territorial. You know, you have 136 00:09:04,640 --> 00:09:10,040 Speaker 5: territories where you can't go or something could happen. So yeah, 137 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 5: I think. And then the pride, you know, walking with pride, 138 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:15,960 Speaker 5: walking with your head up, with your body straight, you know, 139 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:20,120 Speaker 5: feeling feeling the power you know, of being a troller. 140 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:24,560 Speaker 5: Or I go somewhere they know what I am. They're like, damn, 141 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 5: look at that trollo. You know what I mean. They're like, oh, shoot, 142 00:09:27,120 --> 00:09:29,679 Speaker 5: sometimes people move out of the line. I'm like, nah, 143 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 5: you can stay in line, you know what I mean. 144 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:34,600 Speaker 5: It's cool. I'm not gonna take your wallet or none 145 00:09:34,640 --> 00:09:36,880 Speaker 5: of that stuff. But you know, those are things that 146 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:40,440 Speaker 5: people identify us as, you know, as a thief or 147 00:09:41,080 --> 00:09:44,760 Speaker 5: someone who beat you up, and I don't even do that, 148 00:09:44,840 --> 00:09:47,840 Speaker 5: you know what I mean. But that's what the total is. 149 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:51,720 Speaker 3: Michael. What does it mean for you then to not 150 00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:55,679 Speaker 3: just be someone who identifies as a trollo, but to 151 00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:58,400 Speaker 3: have been a gangster also. 152 00:09:58,679 --> 00:10:00,959 Speaker 5: Like I made mistakes. I want to prison for eight years, 153 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:03,640 Speaker 5: you know what I mean, for being in a gang. 154 00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:06,480 Speaker 5: You know, I still identify with my hood because that's 155 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:10,200 Speaker 5: where I've been from my whole life, you know. So 156 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:15,200 Speaker 5: I'm not active anything like that, but you know, I 157 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:17,200 Speaker 5: still have it all over my body, you know. And 158 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:21,640 Speaker 5: there's times where I'm filming something and someone will walk 159 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:23,319 Speaker 5: up with me with a gun and I'm not paying 160 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:26,160 Speaker 5: attention real life. Cocked the gun in front of me, 161 00:10:26,200 --> 00:10:27,520 Speaker 5: put it in my chest and be like where the 162 00:10:27,559 --> 00:10:30,880 Speaker 5: fuck are you from? And I'm like like, hey man, 163 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:33,959 Speaker 5: I'm filming a movie. It doesn't matter how old I am. 164 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:36,959 Speaker 5: It doesn't matter. I'm in someone else's neighborhood. I'm in 165 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:39,280 Speaker 5: a violation. I need to tell those guys, hey, you 166 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:40,000 Speaker 5: know what. I'm here. 167 00:10:40,800 --> 00:10:43,320 Speaker 3: As an actor, many of the roles Michael has played 168 00:10:43,440 --> 00:10:46,000 Speaker 3: have either been an inmate or a villain or something 169 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:48,600 Speaker 3: along those lines. So I asked him what he thought 170 00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:50,920 Speaker 3: those roles say about Torlos. 171 00:10:51,280 --> 00:10:53,520 Speaker 5: I'm always hired to be a prisoner. I'm always hired 172 00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:58,320 Speaker 5: to be a gunman. All these things that I would 173 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:01,920 Speaker 5: never do, but that I'm hired to do, you know, 174 00:11:02,040 --> 00:11:04,920 Speaker 5: or written for me or but what I'm also doing 175 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:10,720 Speaker 5: is creating movies with trollos, like comedies like Central Clause. 176 00:11:10,760 --> 00:11:13,960 Speaker 5: I just created Central Clause. You know. We just have 177 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:16,480 Speaker 5: to change the way people think of us. I want 178 00:11:16,480 --> 00:11:18,320 Speaker 5: to do funny stuff. I want to give people an 179 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:22,080 Speaker 5: opportunity to see that trollos can make you laugh. That's 180 00:11:22,320 --> 00:11:24,480 Speaker 5: one of our jobs. One of our jobs is to 181 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:30,199 Speaker 5: change the way Trollo is used. I think our job 182 00:11:30,360 --> 00:11:34,520 Speaker 5: is to show them that tolo's aren't bad. I think 183 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:37,840 Speaker 5: it's on us to change that, and I think everything 184 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:41,360 Speaker 5: that we do to educate people is a step to 185 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:46,120 Speaker 5: making Trollo a better word and something to be proud of. Man. 186 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:54,800 Speaker 3: Yeah, talking to Michael was really eye opening for me, 187 00:11:55,480 --> 00:11:57,400 Speaker 3: but it also left me with more questions than I 188 00:11:57,440 --> 00:12:01,520 Speaker 3: had before. Why are trolo's always associated with gang life 189 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:05,920 Speaker 3: and violence? How did the reclamation of this word as 190 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:09,080 Speaker 3: a positive thing by Chicanos turn into a word that's 191 00:12:09,120 --> 00:12:14,480 Speaker 3: become almost synonymous with gang life and criminal activity. To 192 00:12:14,520 --> 00:12:16,680 Speaker 3: get answers, I spoke with him. 193 00:12:17,640 --> 00:12:22,760 Speaker 8: My name is al Valdez and currently I'm a professor 194 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:26,559 Speaker 8: at the University of California, Irvine, and I teach classes 195 00:12:26,559 --> 00:12:31,920 Speaker 8: on gangs, prison gangs, the effect of trauma, and the 196 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:32,839 Speaker 8: developing brain. 197 00:12:33,480 --> 00:12:36,559 Speaker 3: Doctor Beldez, when did you start to realize the relationship 198 00:12:36,679 --> 00:12:40,760 Speaker 3: between the term cholo and Mexican street gang members. 199 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:43,200 Speaker 8: I really didn't know this word until I wrote a 200 00:12:43,240 --> 00:12:47,640 Speaker 8: book where the Mexican Mafia drop out Renee Boxer and Ricez. 201 00:12:48,679 --> 00:12:52,720 Speaker 8: He indoctrinated me into the ways of the Mexican mafia 202 00:12:52,800 --> 00:12:56,040 Speaker 8: prison gang culture. He also trained me in the other 203 00:12:56,760 --> 00:13:02,360 Speaker 8: three major prison gangs in California and in theme. 204 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 3: Theme stands for the Mexican mafia. 205 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:09,640 Speaker 8: They understand and look at the Aztec culture. They consider 206 00:13:09,679 --> 00:13:12,960 Speaker 8: themselves sort of Aztec warriors, and when I was getting 207 00:13:12,960 --> 00:13:16,240 Speaker 8: my history lessons from him, that's soon I heard the 208 00:13:16,280 --> 00:13:19,439 Speaker 8: word cholo and I saw it. We have the fire 209 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:24,360 Speaker 8: god and the word for dog in the Aztec culture 210 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:26,840 Speaker 8: that's abbreviated asololo. 211 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 3: The fire god doctor Valdez mentioned is Charlotte xol Otl. 212 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:34,880 Speaker 3: He was the god of fire and of the underworld, 213 00:13:35,559 --> 00:13:38,920 Speaker 3: and the Mexican herost dog cholot Squinty, or simply Cholo, 214 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:43,240 Speaker 3: was named after him. Doctor Valdez, Why do you think 215 00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:46,000 Speaker 3: Mexican gang members call themselves cholos. 216 00:13:47,080 --> 00:13:50,679 Speaker 8: I think it's a term of endearment, of recognition. Uh, 217 00:13:50,760 --> 00:13:53,000 Speaker 8: they don't use it in a derogatory way at all. 218 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:57,080 Speaker 8: Sometimes Mexicans are called cholo's and that's not in a 219 00:13:57,160 --> 00:13:59,640 Speaker 8: nice way. And some people who are not of color, 220 00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:03,320 Speaker 8: the true color, will use the N word to refer 221 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:05,439 Speaker 8: to people of color, and they don't mean it in 222 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:09,679 Speaker 8: a nice way. But yet in rap songs, in TVs 223 00:14:09,800 --> 00:14:12,480 Speaker 8: and movies, you see people of color calling each other. 224 00:14:12,559 --> 00:14:15,320 Speaker 8: The word is a term of endearment, and so I 225 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:20,040 Speaker 8: think that's what cholo has come to be used as. 226 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:23,400 Speaker 3: Could you explain a little bit because I'm still not 227 00:14:23,520 --> 00:14:28,200 Speaker 3: understanding how do the gang association start and why do 228 00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:31,040 Speaker 3: you think that Chicanos who were being called cholos as 229 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:34,200 Speaker 3: this racial slur, started to form street gangs. 230 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:38,040 Speaker 8: Cholo is one of those words that's always been associated 231 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:42,600 Speaker 8: with Latino gangs. I think they begin with an excluded group, 232 00:14:43,080 --> 00:14:45,800 Speaker 8: and I think whether the exclusion is real or perceive, 233 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:50,320 Speaker 8: and you add racism, class distinction, and bias. People form 234 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 8: together for protection. It's my opinion that all the street 235 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:58,800 Speaker 8: gangs and prison gangs in the United States initially formed 236 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:03,280 Speaker 8: for protection and very quickly they turned into criminal organizations 237 00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 8: because they understand whether that grouping and solidarity they have 238 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:07,800 Speaker 8: a power base. 239 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:17,240 Speaker 2: Coming up on Latino USA, we talked to another kind 240 00:15:17,240 --> 00:15:21,160 Speaker 2: of cholo, the Andean one, and look at why Peruvians 241 00:15:21,240 --> 00:16:19,400 Speaker 2: have a complicated relationship with the term. Stay with us notes, Hey, 242 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 2: we're back. And when we left off, we had learned 243 00:16:22,840 --> 00:16:26,240 Speaker 2: about the centuries old roots of the word colo and 244 00:16:26,360 --> 00:16:30,480 Speaker 2: heard from a US Cholo from California. Now let's meet 245 00:16:30,520 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 2: Marco Abiles. He's a Peruvian Cholo living in Maine. Here's 246 00:16:36,320 --> 00:16:37,920 Speaker 2: producer Emil Sekiros. 247 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:42,120 Speaker 3: Cholo is a word Mexicans and people in the US 248 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:45,440 Speaker 3: have used to label Chicanos that they deemed to be 249 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:49,680 Speaker 3: second class citizens, people from the inner city, people from 250 00:16:49,680 --> 00:16:53,320 Speaker 3: el barrio who had limited resources and were subjected to 251 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:57,120 Speaker 3: systemic and state violence. This doesn't sound like a term 252 00:16:57,160 --> 00:16:59,800 Speaker 3: of endearment that I heard my partner use, but again, 253 00:17:00,400 --> 00:17:05,200 Speaker 3: I don't really know how it is used in South America. 254 00:17:06,440 --> 00:17:09,760 Speaker 3: In order to understand Cholo culture from the Andes, I 255 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:13,160 Speaker 3: reached out to Marc Guabiles, a Peruvian journalist and self 256 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:16,840 Speaker 3: identifying Cholo in the South American sense. He's also a 257 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:19,720 Speaker 3: published author with two books on the Andy and Cholo. 258 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:25,080 Speaker 3: In his first book, or I'm Not Your Cholo, Marco 259 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:28,320 Speaker 3: explores how harmful the word cholo is when it's used 260 00:17:28,320 --> 00:17:31,880 Speaker 3: as an insult, the violence that carries, and how deep 261 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:36,679 Speaker 3: this violence is embedded in Peruvian history. 262 00:17:37,520 --> 00:17:41,160 Speaker 1: We Peruvians have like a very complicated relationship with this work. 263 00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:45,120 Speaker 1: When I was a kid, cholo was an insult that 264 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:51,560 Speaker 1: I tried to run run away from. Cholo meant like 265 00:17:52,640 --> 00:17:53,720 Speaker 1: dirty Indian. 266 00:17:54,400 --> 00:17:57,080 Speaker 3: I had no idea that the word clo was still 267 00:17:57,080 --> 00:18:00,320 Speaker 3: being used as a racial slur towards indigenous people in 268 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:03,320 Speaker 3: South America. The first time I had ever heard cholo 269 00:18:03,480 --> 00:18:07,560 Speaker 3: in the South American sense was remember when my partner 270 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:10,720 Speaker 3: casually called her father a chorlito, But for her and 271 00:18:10,760 --> 00:18:14,200 Speaker 3: her family, the term cholo or toilito is used to 272 00:18:14,240 --> 00:18:19,119 Speaker 3: acknowledge their indigenous heritage with pride. So I asked Marco 273 00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:21,720 Speaker 3: if the sport was being reclaimed and if it was, 274 00:18:22,040 --> 00:18:27,760 Speaker 3: whether this revendication had been successful. He mentioned Bolivia, another 275 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:30,760 Speaker 3: Indian country that commonly uses the word cholo. 276 00:18:31,640 --> 00:18:35,760 Speaker 1: So in Bolivia, for example, that cholita is is a 277 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:42,800 Speaker 1: woman dressed up with like you know, beautiful long skirts 278 00:18:42,840 --> 00:18:48,479 Speaker 1: and like very colorful like dressing. And in the in 279 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: the past in Bolivia, these women, like as most indigenous people, 280 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:57,159 Speaker 1: were treated like like aliens, like pretty bad. But with 281 00:18:57,359 --> 00:19:01,639 Speaker 1: a Moralis government in the early to thousands, there was 282 00:19:01,680 --> 00:19:06,159 Speaker 1: this movement and rabnication of the indigenous identities and also 283 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:11,639 Speaker 1: the identity of indigenous women. So now when you go 284 00:19:11,680 --> 00:19:15,600 Speaker 1: to Olivia you see these indigenous women like everywhere in 285 00:19:16,640 --> 00:19:20,119 Speaker 1: La Paz or in Elato, of course, but there's also 286 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:25,080 Speaker 1: a culture around like the tolita. It's an image of pride, 287 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:29,840 Speaker 1: of indigenous pride, So that is something very very very interesting, 288 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:35,480 Speaker 1: but still there in Bolivia, tolo mierda, like factinglo is 289 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:39,880 Speaker 1: still is used as an insult and very very very bad. 290 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:42,560 Speaker 1: So I think what I'm trying to say is that 291 00:19:43,480 --> 00:19:48,360 Speaker 1: rave indication is not erasing the violence that is embedded 292 00:19:48,359 --> 00:19:49,639 Speaker 1: in this world. 293 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:52,920 Speaker 3: Marco is aware of the Mexican origin of the word 294 00:19:53,040 --> 00:19:55,359 Speaker 3: and told me how it came to be introduced to Peru. 295 00:19:56,359 --> 00:20:01,080 Speaker 1: So the arena meaning of toolo is dug because in Mexico, 296 00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:04,240 Speaker 1: in the now, there's this like type of dog call 297 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:08,040 Speaker 1: cholie squintly. So when they when they bring the world 298 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:12,439 Speaker 1: to Peru, they used it to name indigenous people. For 299 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:16,760 Speaker 1: Spanish conquerors, indigenous were not like human beings. They were 300 00:20:16,840 --> 00:20:20,639 Speaker 1: like animals. They were treated like animals, not only because 301 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:23,360 Speaker 1: the color of their skin or because of their culture, 302 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:27,679 Speaker 1: but because of the they were not like Christians. And 303 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:32,240 Speaker 1: for me, it's very important to like notice that it 304 00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:35,760 Speaker 1: was an insult in the beginning, and it is an 305 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:40,320 Speaker 1: insult now. So that's that's the line that crosses the 306 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:43,199 Speaker 1: history of the word soolo, it's it was always a weapon. 307 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:46,679 Speaker 3: Marco was unaware that cholo meant something different in the 308 00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:50,560 Speaker 3: US and in Mexico too. It wasn't until he moved 309 00:20:50,560 --> 00:20:53,080 Speaker 3: to the United States that his version of cholo and 310 00:20:53,119 --> 00:20:55,400 Speaker 3: the Mexican version of cholo collided. 311 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:58,080 Speaker 1: I was working as an interpreter and it was like, 312 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:01,040 Speaker 1: I think in the in two thousand and sixteen, and 313 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:05,399 Speaker 1: I was driving my car with a guy from I 314 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:08,879 Speaker 1: think he was from what Is and we were talking 315 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:12,400 Speaker 1: about about my book. And I was telling, hey, Roberto, 316 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:15,200 Speaker 1: I'm going to publish this book. What's what's the name 317 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:19,160 Speaker 1: of the book. Not so Tolo. I am not your chlo. 318 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:23,560 Speaker 1: And he said, but you are not tallo. Why do 319 00:21:23,640 --> 00:21:26,040 Speaker 1: you use the word you are not cholo and I 320 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:28,359 Speaker 1: and I said, of course, no, yes I am. I 321 00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:30,800 Speaker 1: am a chilo. In people like would call me like 322 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:34,879 Speaker 1: tolo uh. And then he told me, no, Tolo in 323 00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:40,119 Speaker 1: Mexico is like this kind of like the member of 324 00:21:40,280 --> 00:21:43,600 Speaker 1: a gang, like like a young guy using all this 325 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:47,600 Speaker 1: like jewelry and with this like weird. 326 00:21:47,480 --> 00:21:52,160 Speaker 3: Hair, confused, just like I was. Marco also did his research. 327 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:58,280 Speaker 1: I could see still that the word cholo in used 328 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:03,919 Speaker 1: in Mexico or in the US, feel like something very aggressive. 329 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:08,960 Speaker 1: There's a general parttern that I can see is like 330 00:22:09,720 --> 00:22:12,800 Speaker 1: it is used the word sholo is used to name 331 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:16,680 Speaker 1: like super standard people. So there's a standard people, which 332 00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:20,320 Speaker 1: is like white people or mestizo in in Latin American countries. 333 00:22:20,359 --> 00:22:23,000 Speaker 1: So we are the standard, we are the people, and 334 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:26,960 Speaker 1: Cholos are the super standard those who are not yet 335 00:22:27,240 --> 00:22:30,639 Speaker 1: like the standard or human beings. And that is like, 336 00:22:30,800 --> 00:22:35,240 Speaker 1: that is crazy. But what is also crazy for me 337 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:38,320 Speaker 1: is that people who have power, people who are in power, 338 00:22:38,440 --> 00:22:41,879 Speaker 1: like white people, who we would say can't use the 339 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:45,959 Speaker 1: word soolo in Latin America in a in a sweet 340 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:50,960 Speaker 1: way like expressions of law. To do that, they need 341 00:22:51,000 --> 00:22:54,840 Speaker 1: to like eliminate all the context. And they eliminate all 342 00:22:54,840 --> 00:22:58,600 Speaker 1: the context through ignorance, through you know, white innocence or 343 00:22:58,760 --> 00:22:59,600 Speaker 1: white privilege. 344 00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:05,159 Speaker 3: So why did you start identifying as a troller? 345 00:23:07,280 --> 00:23:09,800 Speaker 1: I try to improve my relationship with this world because 346 00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:13,200 Speaker 1: I feel that, okay, this is an insult, but what 347 00:23:13,680 --> 00:23:16,359 Speaker 1: would happen if I just take the word from those 348 00:23:16,400 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 1: who use it to like insult me or punish me. 349 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:23,879 Speaker 1: So I started like self identifying myself as a tolo 350 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:28,199 Speaker 1: as a way to fight against that violence. What I 351 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 1: tried to say is I come from this indigenous history 352 00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:37,639 Speaker 1: and I am not super standard, but I am like 353 00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:42,000 Speaker 1: part of a marginalized community, and I want to make 354 00:23:42,040 --> 00:23:46,040 Speaker 1: that clear. I don't want to erase that, but that 355 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:48,679 Speaker 1: is something that I started to do, like in my 356 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:52,280 Speaker 1: late twenties, early thirties. 357 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:54,760 Speaker 3: And then Marco told me that in Peru and in 358 00:23:54,800 --> 00:23:58,000 Speaker 3: other countries in Latin America, there's this idea that we're 359 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:02,560 Speaker 3: all mestizos is persistent. It's the idea that we're all 360 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:07,800 Speaker 3: mixed race without acknowledging the indigenous populations. 361 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:10,719 Speaker 1: And that is that is a very very crazy idea 362 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:13,040 Speaker 1: because you go to the streets and you just see 363 00:24:13,520 --> 00:24:19,159 Speaker 1: different types of people white, black, brown, whatever. So for me, 364 00:24:19,480 --> 00:24:21,240 Speaker 1: it is important to say that I am a Toto 365 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:24,640 Speaker 1: because I don't want to erase the disparities. I want 366 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:28,399 Speaker 1: people to know it. And a way to do that 367 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:32,480 Speaker 1: is just like calling myself a cholo. I am not 368 00:24:32,520 --> 00:24:34,880 Speaker 1: a white person, I'm not a mestizo. I'm a cholo. 369 00:24:35,720 --> 00:24:38,679 Speaker 3: After listening to Michael and Marco talk about their different 370 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:42,679 Speaker 3: Trolo identities and we're reflecting on the racist, aggressive origin 371 00:24:42,880 --> 00:24:45,880 Speaker 3: and nature of this term, I wondered if there would 372 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:49,200 Speaker 3: ever be a time where the term trolo could ever 373 00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:54,280 Speaker 3: just be something universally positive. Here's Michael again. 374 00:24:54,920 --> 00:24:58,520 Speaker 5: For me. Trollo here is derogatory in some ways the 375 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:02,720 Speaker 5: way people use it, but the way we interpret it 376 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:04,840 Speaker 5: is the way it should be looked at. You know 377 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:06,960 Speaker 5: what I mean, Like I walk around, I'm a trollo. 378 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:10,560 Speaker 5: I'm proud, you know what I mean. I go everywhere 379 00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:13,280 Speaker 5: and people know what I am, so I'm proud of it. 380 00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:17,280 Speaker 5: You know, if we let it be a derogatory term, 381 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:22,520 Speaker 5: then it just belittles us. Can't give that word power. 382 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:25,639 Speaker 5: We have to use it to our advantage. But we 383 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:28,600 Speaker 5: also have to teach the young kids the total doesn't 384 00:25:28,640 --> 00:25:30,879 Speaker 5: mean you have to kill another guy or you know 385 00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:32,240 Speaker 5: what I mean. We have to reach out to the 386 00:25:32,320 --> 00:25:35,280 Speaker 5: children and say, hey, look guys, I grew up like this. 387 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:38,240 Speaker 5: You know I've done that. You don't have to do that. 388 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:41,560 Speaker 3: Michael is less enthusiastic. 389 00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:45,160 Speaker 1: So for indigenous people, the word total still is an insult, 390 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:49,640 Speaker 1: and I think that is not going to change because sadly, 391 00:25:49,680 --> 00:25:54,359 Speaker 1: the conditions in which Indienous people living in Latin America 392 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:59,920 Speaker 1: has not changed, and they are not changing. It's Indianus people. 393 00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:04,520 Speaker 1: We see what's going on with them in equal or 394 00:26:04,640 --> 00:26:09,000 Speaker 1: in Peru, in Guatemala, they are like sometimes it feels 395 00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:14,120 Speaker 1: drastic to talk about, like genoeside, but that's what is 396 00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:18,000 Speaker 1: happening with Indienus people since the Congress, and that it 397 00:26:18,080 --> 00:26:24,600 Speaker 1: hasn't stopped. So I think maybe we can start like 398 00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:27,400 Speaker 1: finding different meanings for the word soolo and we can 399 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:32,639 Speaker 1: use it in a very in a more sweet way. 400 00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:36,520 Speaker 1: But what is going to be hard, really hard, is 401 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:42,280 Speaker 1: to create h a Latin America that doesn't kill in 402 00:26:42,320 --> 00:26:47,879 Speaker 1: the NUS people just for being in the enns. That 403 00:26:48,040 --> 00:26:49,919 Speaker 1: is that is the real challenge here. 404 00:26:56,680 --> 00:27:08,080 Speaker 3: Cholo, kinggster, indio, savage, perro, slave, These are all terms 405 00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:14,080 Speaker 3: we've normalized to describe the same people, Indigenous people, the castaways, 406 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:18,679 Speaker 3: the ones that colonization tried so hard to erase, but 407 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:22,720 Speaker 3: are still here. They're on the streets of La LAPAs 408 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:26,359 Speaker 3: and Lima, and they're reclaiming what they can and learning 409 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:28,760 Speaker 3: to be proud of who they are, no matter whether 410 00:27:29,400 --> 00:27:31,000 Speaker 3: their total music sounds like this. 411 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:45,760 Speaker 7: Or like this, Oh no No. 412 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:56,560 Speaker 2: This episode was produced by Emil Sekiros and edited by 413 00:27:56,600 --> 00:28:02,000 Speaker 2: Andrea Lopez Grussado. Latino USA team include Nil Massias, Mike Sargent, 414 00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:07,400 Speaker 2: Marta Martinez, Julia Ta Martinelli, Gini Montalbo, Alejandra Salasar, Renaldo 415 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:10,080 Speaker 2: Leanos Junior and Julia Rocha, with help. 416 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:10,959 Speaker 5: From Raoul Perez. 417 00:28:11,400 --> 00:28:16,200 Speaker 2: Special thanks to Jocelin Asusina Contreras. Our engineers are Stephanie Lebaud, 418 00:28:16,280 --> 00:28:20,040 Speaker 2: Julia Caruso and Leah Shaw. Our digital editor is Louis Luna. 419 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:23,040 Speaker 2: Our New York Women's Foundation nig Knight Fellow is Mari 420 00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:26,840 Speaker 2: es Quinka. Our theme music was composed by Sighera Rubinos. 421 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:28,920 Speaker 2: If you like the music you heard on this episode, 422 00:28:28,920 --> 00:28:32,040 Speaker 2: stop by Latinousa dot org and check out our weekly 423 00:28:32,080 --> 00:28:35,760 Speaker 2: Spotify playlist. I'm your host and executive producer Maria jo Josa. 424 00:28:36,040 --> 00:28:38,160 Speaker 2: Join us again on our next episode, and in the meantime, 425 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:40,280 Speaker 2: look for us on all of your social media. Hi 426 00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:42,640 Speaker 2: loos BeO estella proxima cho. 427 00:28:46,360 --> 00:28:50,800 Speaker 4: Latino Usa is made possible in part by W. K. 428 00:28:51,080 --> 00:28:55,800 Speaker 4: Kellogg Foundation, a partner with Communities where Children Come First, 429 00:28:56,840 --> 00:29:04,240 Speaker 4: the chan Zuckerberg Initiative, and the Heising Simons Foundation Unlocking knowledge, 430 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:09,560 Speaker 4: opportunity and possibilities. More at hsfoundation dot org. 431 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:18,400 Speaker 2: Take it away, It meanstick. I'm Mariao Hossa. Next time 432 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:22,640 Speaker 2: on Latino USA. A year after George Floyd's murder, a 433 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:26,080 Speaker 2: family conversation about race and Latini that. 434 00:29:26,880 --> 00:29:29,600 Speaker 8: We were never separated from being black. 435 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:32,200 Speaker 4: We always knew we were black, and it wasn't just 436 00:29:32,200 --> 00:29:33,360 Speaker 4: because of the color of our skin. 437 00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:37,400 Speaker 2: It's our culture that Next time on Latino USA