In the late 1970s, Rodolfo “Rudy” Cuellar, an artist in the Royal Chicano Air Force, repurposed aprons from another screen print job to design and print this apron for La Raza Bookstore, located in Sacramento, CA. Established in 1972, the bookstore was the brainchild of RCAF member Philip “Pike” Santos who collaborated with Sacramento State University (presently CSUS) students, including Juan Gutierrez, Pete Hernández, Gilbert Gamino, and Louie "the Foot" González, to bring the idea to life. Two years later, future executive and artistic director Terezita “Tere” Romo joined as a volunteer. The main mission of the bookstore was to redress the lack of access to Chicano/a, and later Native American, publications.
In 1980, Tere Romo secured funds to add an art gallery, Galería Posada. The gallery served as an important platform for creating and amplifying Chicana/o and Native American art and culture. It became La Raza Galeria Posada to reflect this additional component. The organization, nurtured by artists, writers, community members, and activists, became a social hub and cultural center, offering literary and musical programs, art exhibitions, and fostering community activism. La Raza Galería Posada ceased to exist in 2014.
The Royal Chicano Air Force
La Raza Bookstore and La Raza Galeria Posada were part of the Royal Chicano Air Force. Formed in 1970 as the Rebel Chicano Art Front by Sacramento State professors José Montoya and Esteban Villa, along with their art students, the collective became known for their posters and murals. Montoya and Esteban Villa, along with their art students, the collective became known for their posters and murals. As was true of other artists at the time, their art was not individually signed, but marked with the group’s initials: RCAF. After being confused with the Royal Canadian Air Force, they decided to call themselves the Royal Chicano Air Force (RCAF). After moving off-campus and establishing the nonprofit Centro de Artistas Chicanos in 1973, the RCAF was joined by members of La Raza Bookstore and Breakfast for Niños Program as well as other university students and professors, writers, photographers, musicians, dancers, community activists, and politicians. Together, they produced posters and community murals, art exhibitions, and literary programs as well as provided a free breakfast program for children, arts programs in schools, Chicano sports activities, and organized countless cultural and civic events and initiated annual spiritual ceremonies.
About donor:
This object was donated by Irma C. Lerma Barbosa, a Chicana Yaqui painter, printmaker, muralist, performance artist, Chicana civil rights activist, and community organizer deploying art to elevate marginalized voices and ignite collective action in the long struggle for social justice.
Lerma was born on June 10, 1949, in Elko, Nevada, to Yaqui Mexican parents with ancestral roots in the Pascua Yaqui Nation in Arizona and the Sierra Mountains of Sonora and Chihuahua, Mexico. She grew up in Roseville and North Highlands in Sacramento County, California. Lerma became politically involved at an early age. As an agent of change, she worked with local community members and university students to identify and address issues affecting the Mexican community, participating in some of the most influential youth-led organizations of the Chicana/o Movement. Lerma joined the Brown Berets of Sacramento in 1969, later co-founding the Royal Chicano Air Force/RCAF in 1970 and Las CoMadres Artistas in 1992. From the late 1980s-1990s, she continued her commitment to social justice and civic engagement by working in the public and private sectors, including as president of the California State Employees Association, District Labor Council 787- Service Employees International Union.