Ramon “Chunky” Sanchez
(October 30, 1951 – October 28, 2016)
Ramon “Chunky” Sanchez was a musician, songwriter, educator, and activist that became a cultural icon and leader of the Chicano community. “Chunky” was born in 1951 to Mexican immigrant parents in the California desert town of Blythe. Sánchez was taught traditional Mexican music by his mother and uncles who sang and played guitar. Both of his parents were farm laborers, and Chunky also worked in the fields, giving him an appreciation early on for the struggles of farm workers.
As a young man in the 1960s, Chunky joined the picket lines in the California fields with Cesar Chavez, demanding justice and better wages for farmworkers. Early on, he discovered that the music he was creating could be a powerful weapon in creating social change and overcoming prejudice and racism. He began to compose his own music, often with socio-political messages, and he was frequently asked to play by César Chávez at rallies and marches for the United Farm Workers Union. He would eventually become Cesar Chavez’s favorite musician.
Chunky’s journey is a remarkable lens on a time when young Mexican Americans became Chicanos, inspired to use collective action to improve the lives of their communities. His student activism began at San Diego State University with the community takeover of a section of public land that became Chicano Park in San Diego, an event which he memorialized in his enduring anthem, “Chicano Park Samba.”
Later he performed “We shall overcome/No nos moveran” on Joan Baez’s first Spanish language record and eventually formed a band, Los Alacranes Mojados (The “Wetback” Scorpions). Their first album included an iconic photo of the band crossing the barbwire fence at the U.S.-Mexico border in Tijuana. Today that fence is a militarized zone.
Performing compelling songs at schools, prisons, political events, quinceañeras, and weddings, Chunky became a favorite at demonstrations and rallies for over 40 years. Through it all, Chunky used his music to build community, learning how to employ honesty, humor, and song to inspire folks to stand up and speak truth to power.
Conrad Lorenz from Los Lobos recalls: “The community really loves him, and they cherish what he does. We don’t have that kind of a connection with our community like he does. That’s really special.”
“Singing Our Way To Freedom” chronicles Chunky’s life from his humble beginnings as a farmworker in Blythe, California to the dramatic moment when he received one of his nation’s highest musical honors at the Library of Congress in Washington DC in 2013.
Facts about “Chunky”
His family was all about the music. His mother and her brothers provided the music and entertainment for their village in Río Yaqui in Sonora, Mexico. When she got to the U.S.A., she passed on her musical skills and traditions to her children. (https://www.actaonline.org/ramon-chunky-sanchez-october-30-1951-october-28-2016/)
Ramon grew up working in the fields of the Palo Verde Valley, located in Riverside County on the border between California and Arizona.
He played 10 different instruments: guitar, requinto, jarana, vihuela, cuatro, 12- string guitar, marimba, upright bass, harmonicas and percussions AND composed most of his own music.
In 1969 he was recruited, along with other farmworker youth, to attend San Diego State University. He was a Mexican-American studies major.
His student activism began at San Diego State University with the community takeover of a section of public land that became Chicano Park.
He co-founded Chicano Park in Barrio Logan, San Diego.
A longtime resident of San Diego, he considered himself a “barrio-ologist,” and was known by many in the Chicano community as a “hero of the barrio.” (https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/san-diego-musician-chicano-leader-ramon-chunky-sanchez-dies/107500/)
He wrote the song “Chicano Park Samba” (Listen to the song here)– about the culture, spirit and struggle of Chicanos – for Chicano Park, a colorful, mural-filled cultural landmark under the Coronado Bay Bridge that was taken over by the community in 1970. The song narrates the struggle for the creation of Chicano Park and has become an anthem for the Barrio Logan community. (https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/san-diego-musician-chicano-leader-ramon-chunky-sanchez-dies/107500)
He performed on Joan Baez’s first Spanish language record.
Throughout his career he performed with many great artists such as Pete Seeger, Lalo Guerrero, Freddy Fender, Flaco Jiménez, the Texas Tornados, Los Lobos and many more.
Sanchez formed the band Los Alacranes (The “Wetback” Scorpions) with his younger brother Ricardo. Their first album included an iconic photo of the band crossing the barbed wire fence in the U.S.-Mexico border in Tijuana. Today that fence is a militarized zone.
Los Alacranes performed at United Farm Worker rallies at the invitation of Cesar Chavez.
He received many awards over his lifetime, including several from the California Arts Council and the City of San Diego Commission on Arts and Culture, as well as the César Chávez Humanitarian Award. In 2013, Sanchez was named a National Heritage Fellow by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).
San Diego’s Logan Heights’ King-Chavez Academy named an auditorium after Sanchez in 2013.
Chunky Sánchez married Isabel Enrique Sánchez, and had six children, Ixcatli, Ramón, Esmeralda, Mauricio, Tonantzin, and his son Fernando who sadly passed away in an accident. He has sixteen grandchildren.
Chunky Sánchez was the recipient of many awards in his lifetime. His exemplary music and his community work earned him numerous awards and acknowledgements from the California Arts Council, the City of San Diego Commission on Arts and Culture, the San Diego Public Arts Advisory Board, and in 2013 he became a National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellow, the nation’s highest level of acknowledgment for his traditional folk artists. And, in 2013, Chicano Park and the Chicano Park Monumental Murals were listed on the National Register and are currently awaiting recognition as a National Landmarks.
He spent much of his childhood in the fields. In Singing Our Way to Freedom, he recalled: “One day I was working during the weekends at a ranch right there in Blythe for a rancher. And the rancher was down there watching along with my dad. And he told my father, “You know, Ramon, some day when you’re not here anymore, your son is going to make a very good foreman on this ranch.” So I said this guy has already got plans for me, man. You know what I mean? He’s already got my whole life planned out. And I said I need to get out of here.”
Chunky’s arc of transformation from marginalized farm kid to charismatic activist shows how one can mobilize people to change the world through developing your sense of purpose. In his songs and in his life, Chunky offers an inspiring narrative, reminding us that the battle for freedom has to be fought anew by every generation.
