José, I first heard of you breaking all the rules of aviation by piloting airplanes with adobe wings for the Royal Chicano Air Force. Then, I saw you draw on bar napkins and I felt kindred spirits. Your poetry readings in Caló were a marvel to see as you engaged people of all persuasions in the pachuco idiom. Profe, your spirit lives on in the people you touched. Descanse en paz y allá nos vemos.
Jose Montoya is a New Mexican by birth, so he is one of our manitos. He came from the villages on the east side of the Manzano Mountains. Like the rest of our familias, he knew hard work. Califas became his home. There is where he thrived with his artistic and musical talents. In the summer of l973 or ’74 Jose and others professors took a bunch of Califas Chicanos to Mexico City to study at Universidad Ahahuac. My wife Patricia and I were in the group. I taught Chicano Lit. and Jose taught art. We took his class. What a blast! He taught perspective not only in art, but perspective on life. He used to say, “It all depends on where you’re standing when you look at anything.” Something like that. Our most talented Chicano poet, always had a smile and a helping hand for everyone he met. I told Estevan Arellano yesterday, Jose has gone to write poems en el otro barrio. So let’s have a copita de tequilla para acompaniarlo en su camino. We loved him and continue to love him.
Among my many memories of José, was a conversation in regard to the family’s move
Montoya was a walking inspiration — with a quick darting dash of words that disarmed, charmed, and inspired ! The best part? It had a mischief of Chicano lore !
We have lost a treasured and valuable voice. We remember a speaking engagement where Montoya talked about how many Chicanos were trying to get in touch with their indigena roots. Some, he observed, seemed to be on the right path: he called them the Ya Mero Indians, because they were getting close to some essential truths. Others, said Montoya, seemed to be missing the point entirely and were just caught up in the feathers, trinkets and iconography: he called them the Ya ‘Pa Que Indians. We’ll miss Montoya’s wit, humor and insight.
Luís Torres, journalist and author, Sandra Gutiérrez,non-profit activist, Pasadena, California
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Jose’s admonition that Chicano culture and social history must be documented has been a guiding principle of Los Escritores del Nuevo Sol / Writers of the New Sun during our 20 years as a group of mostly Chicano/Latino poets, essayists, playwrights, memoirists. Long a participant and always a supporter of our writers’ collaborative, he was our friend, brother, mentor, and role model.
JoAnn Anglin, Coordinator, Los Escritores del Nuevo Sol, Sacramento, California
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Forever un vato de atolle. Who gave the example of la pelea por justicia para Mexicanos y Chicanos and who gave El Louie to the world and embraced by Marc David Pinate, who embraced code switching words and the new poetic paradigm, who wanted to share, who gave free Chicano Poetry classes, which I attended, which made me much more of a Chicano poet than the Mexican-American Hispanic I had become, who began attending Café Luna’s open mic and meetings with Escritores Del Nuevo Sol, who did this because of Jose Montoya.
As a young 19 year old artist caught up in the Chicano movimento I was searching for a style to that would convey all the feelings I had about our struggle. When I gazed on the work of Jose Montoya I knew this is path that my art should take. He had a profound influence on my art and many years later I thanked him for opening my eyes…_______________________________________________________
José Montoya was the ultimate Chicano poet/artist/musician/activist who described himself in many occasions as a “lifer” in his commitment to the Chicano liberation movement; he was considered by many of his poet peers as the national Chicano Poet Laureate and a living treasure. He lives on and rifa forever in the soul of La Raza!
Francisco X. Alarcón, Chicano Poet, Davis, California
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José was a true Chicano “Renaissance Man” who made a huge impact on arts and letters and whose influence extends far and wide. I plan to attend his memorial but need to know where and when. We were in the process of launching an online José Montoya sketchbook documentation project, the project will go on as a tribute to José. He would have brought it to life but he has already brought so much to life in art, literature, music, and as a wonderful human being with a passion for applying so many of his gifts to serve our people. As José would say, “La cultura cura.”
Sal Guerena, Director, California Ethnic and Multicutural Archives , Santa Barbara, California
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This is a huge loss for the Chicano community, especially for those of us in the cultural world. José will be remembered more than once at our upcoming Latino Art Now conference in DC, Nov. 7-9.
Eduardo Díaz. Director Smithsonian Latino Institute, Washington, D.C.
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I met Jose Montoya on several occasions. He had a fab sense of humor and a big heart. ATM, Jose! R.I.P.
Yesterday Jose Montoya, my poet guide, the first poet I ever heard read, the one who carried his art, his voice, his indigenous teachings with dignity and depth, passed on. He was considered the Godfather of Chicano Poetry. His most famous poem, “El Louie,” vibrantly related the life of a Pachuco from the Central Valley with all the Chicano slang (calo) and humor.I met Jose again in the early 1980s when I was director of the Los Angeles Latino Writers Association and we sponsored readings at the Self Help Art Center in East Los Angeles. We invited Chicano writers such as Lorna Dee Cervantes, Gary Soto and Jose to share their works with a community hungry for our stories, our poems. I only saw Jose intermittently over the years, but once a few years ago in Sacramento we read together in a kind of homage to our connection as Chicano writers, two generations (Jose was born in the early 1930s), pushing forward traditions that spanned thousands of years.
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