 In its entirety, the poem describes the then modern dilemma of Chicanos in the 1960s trying to assimilate with American culture while trying to keep some semblance of their culture intact for future generations, then proceeds to outline 2000 years of Mexican and Mexican-American history, highlighting the different, often opposing strains that make up the Chicano heritage.In the poem, for example, the speaker, Joaquin, traces both his ancestry to the Spanish "conquistadores" and the Aztecs they "conquered"; he also identifies with revolutionary figures of Mexican history such as Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Benito Juárez, Pancho Villa and Joaquin Murrieta who was a legendary Californian known for seeking retribution against the Anglo-Americans invaders who killed his wife.The poem creates a "multivalent and heroic identity" in the figure of Joaquin, one that serves as a "collective cultural identity that contains within it a call to action."