Martha Gonzalez

Academic career

Gonzalez holds a PhD degree in Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies from the University of Washington and a BA in ethnomusicology from the University of California, Los Angeles. She was a Fulbright Garcia-Robles Scholar (2007–2008), a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellow (2012–2013), and a Woodrow Wilson Career Enhancement Fellow (2016–2017).

Musical career Gonzalez is a singer/songwriter and percussionist for the Chicano rock band Quetzal. In addition, Gonzalez and her partner Quetzal Flores have played a key role in connecting Chican@/Latin@ communities in the U.S. and Jarocho communities in Veracruz, Mexico. In September 2011, the U.S. Library of Congress and Kennedy Center invited Gonzalez to perform and speak as a part of their "Homegrown" music series.

Personal life Gonzalez is the middle of four children, born in Los Angeles to parents who had immigrated from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Gonzalez and her siblings grew up singing in downtown Los Angeles. She is married to her Quetzal bandmate Quetzal Flores, and they have a child together.

Selected research and publications

2014: “Creating a Mexican-AfroCuban American Beat” in What It Means to be American 2014: “Mixing in the Kitchen: Entre Mujeres Feminine Translocal Composition” in Performing Motherhood, Demeter Press, ISBN 978-1-927335-92-5 2014:: A de activista, Triangle Square, ISBN 978-1609805692 2015: “Sobreviviendo: Immigration Stories and Testimonio in Song” Center for Latino Research at University of De Paul University. 2020: Chican@ Artivistas: Music, Community, and Transborder Tactics in East Los Angeles, University of Texas Press, ISBN 978-1-4773-2113-3