Tony Diaz, a Houston-based writer, activist, talk show host, and self-described “cultural accelerator,” goes by many monikers. He was Antonio Diaz as a schoolboy on the South Side of Chicago. He became the AztecMuse as a writer in Houston, where he was the first Chicano to get an MFA in creative writing from the University of Houston. A stylish artist known to pace, and rattle off jokes with the speed of a practiced emcee, he’s also known as “El Librotraficante” for his role in a movement led by an intrepid band of Houstonians to fight Arizona’s ban on Mexican American studies a decade ago.
The so-called librotraficantes—which included current Texas poet laureate Lupe Mendez, and Houston environmental justice activist Bryan Parras—rode in a caravan to Arizona, smuggled in books, and established underground libraries. Ultimately, they assisted in a successful court fight that overturned Arizona’s ban. Among the books that had been targeted was native Texan Sandra Cisneros’ classic novel, The House on Mango Street. Diaz has continued to build networks of Chicano writers, artists, allies, and “cultural accelerators” ever since.
