Anna Nieto-Gómez

Anna Nieto-Gomez (also rendered as NietoGomez) is an American scholar, journalist, and author who was a central part of the early Chicana movement. She founded the feminist journal, Encuentro Femenil, in which she and other Chicana writers addressed issues affecting the Latina community, such as childcare, reproductive rights, and the feminization of poverty.

Early life Anna NietoGomez was born in San Bernardino, California on March 30, 1946, the eldest of three. NietoGomez is a third-generation Chicana on the maternal side of her family while having roots in New Mexico back to the 1600s on her father's side of the family. Her mother, a high school graduate, began working for the Santa Fe Railroad at the age of eighteen in 1944. NietoGomez learned the value of independence from her father, a man who grew up witnessing his single mother struggle to raise him. Her father, a World War II veteran, taught NietoGomez how to cook and sew since he believed a woman should be able to survive on their own. because "That’s what San Bernardino was all about, putting Mexicans in their place." There was also discrimination from the teachers in which NietoGomez stated that "the teachers didn’t like us having us in there, and they let us know". by her Mexican Spanish teacher in school, this incident was reported to the principal by her mother and the teacher further humiliated her by claiming "She’s ashamed to be Mexican, and she reported me to the principal.” in front of the class. She was then switched into another Spanish class in which she learned vocabulary but did not speak Spanish because the teacher was Italian. It was not until she became an EOP (Education Opportunity Program) counselor that she was finally able to practice speaking in Spanish without judgement. and also addressed issues ignored by the Chicano population, including those to do with gender and sexuality. Her contemporaries in the group included Adelaida Del Castillo, Sylvia Castillo, Leticia Hernandez, and Corinne Sanchez. After NietoGomez's father died she wanted a change and she was a sign written on it saying "Chicano" and through this interaction she felt that ”..on one end, were trying to dispel these myths and these attitudes that were reinforcing this projecting inferiority and also superiority of one group over another, but then we were just reflecting back the same kind of attitude"

Career Later NietoGomez would serve at California State University, Northridge, in the Department of Chicano Studies, where she challenged sexism directly through the Chicano studies classes she taught. While at Cal-State Northridge, NietoGomez created the curriculum for critical Chicana studies courses on the topics of family, global identity, history, and contemporary issues. Encuentro Femenil published poetry and articles based on issues affecting the Chicana community, though publication stopped within two years. Her publication record also included 16 articles, many now classic works on Chicana feminism.

NietoGomez was denied tenure at California State University, Northridge in 1976, due to what she considered her political stance. After a lengthy battle to appeal the tenure decision, NietoGomez resigned on September 3, 1976. NietoGomez's tenure battle and professorship in general demonstrate not only the power dynamics and pitfalls in white male-dominated institutions, but also within the Chicano movement of the time. NietoGomez has published journals such as La Feminista and Encuentro Femenil and continues to publish and research into areas of sexuality, reproductive rights and higher education.

Selected works

Encuentro Femenil The Needs of the Chicano on the College Campus (1969)