The poem “I Am Joaquín” by Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales is credited with setting the foundation for the Chicano poetry literary genre. Published in 1967, Gonzales’s epic poem made a profound impact on the emerging Chicano Movement. This was a socio- cultural and civil rights movement in which activists relentlessly pursued substantial political representation, increased economic possibilities, and improved educational prospects for Mexican Americans by removing them from generational poverty, marginalization, and powerlessness. This was a time when information circulated primarily through print media, and like many documents that later became instrumental for the burgeoning Mexican American civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the poem was mimeographed and widely distributed at rallies and meetings. The poem’s impact is attributed to its reliance on the oral and visual idiosyncrasies of Mexican American culture, which made it an instant source of inspiration for young Chicanos.