They Called Me "King Tiger" My Struggle for the Land and Our Rights

Reies Lopez Tijerina was one of the four acknowledged major leaders of the 1960s' Mexican-American Civil Rights Movement: The others were Cesar Chavez, Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales, & Jose Angel Gutierrez. Of these four, Chavez & Tijerina were the most connected to, & involved in, grassroots community organizing, while the latter two were more dedicated to political change. But where Chavez consistently advocated non-violent protest, Lopez Tijerina increasingly turned to militancy. He & his followers even took up arms against the authorities. & of these four, Tijerina was the only one to spend significant time in prison for his acts. Tijerina is, significantly, the only member of this historical group to have penned his memoirs, perhaps in an effort to explain the trials & frustrations that brought him & his Federal Land Grant Alliance members to break the law: reclaiming part of a national forest reserve as part of their inheritance; invading & occupying a courthouse, inflicting a gunshot wound on a deputy sheriff in the process; & challenging New Mexico & national authorities at every opportunity. But the acts that placed him in most danger were also the ones that won the hearts & minds of many young Chicano activists. What is clear from Lopez Tijerina's testimony is his sincerity, his years of research on the issues of land grants & civil rights, & his persistent spiritual & political leadership of the disenfranchised descendants of the original colonizers of New Mexico. All of the passion & commitment, as well as the flamboyant rhetoric of the 1960s, is preserved in this recollection of a life dedicated to a cause & transformed by continuous prosecution. They Called Me "King Tiger" is an historical document of the first order, clarifying the motives & thinking of one of the Chicano Movement's now-forgotten martyrs--a man who sought justice for those who have been treated like foreigners on their own soil.Lopez Tijerina, Reies is the author of 'They Called Me "King Tiger" My Struggle for the Land and Our Rights' with ISBN 9781558853027 and ISBN 1558853022.