Carlos Cortez

Carlos Cortez (August 13, 1923 – January 19, 2005) was a postwar and contemporary artist who was also a poet, printmaker, graphic artist, photographer, songwriter, editor, muralist, and political activist.

He was a member of the Industrial Workers of the World.

Cortez had an extraordinary life with active political parents who taught him about pacifism and socialism.

He followed his parent's path and became active in the IWW.

Carlos Alfredo Cortez was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on August 13, 1923.

He is the son of socialist parents Alfredo Cortez and Augusta Ungerecht.

Carlos was raised in a multicultural, highly talented, and supportive home.

Carlo’s father, Alfredo, was a Yaqui, Mexican, who spoke five languages but sang in seven.

Alfredo worked as a construction worker, was a union organizer, and was a Wobbly member of the Industrial Workers of the World.

Carlos’s mother, Augusta was a socialist pacifist of German descent, spoke German, and was born in Racine, Wisconsin.

She worked as a domestic worker and also became a Wobbly member of the IWW.

Alfredo and Augusta married in 1923.

The Cortez family was not wealthy, and they were not religious; as most people were in their Milwaukee neighborhood, they were a part of the working class.

From an early age, Cortez experienced racism and discrimination because of his parents' political beliefs and because his father was a dark-skinned Mexican.

Although his father Alfredo did not finish elementary school, he was academically gifted.

When Cortez was young, his mother spoke a children's version of German to him, referred to as Kinder-Deutsch.

At the school he attended in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, the students were predominantly German and Mexican.

Cortez was often teased by both groups of children because, due to his German, Native, and Mexican ancestry, he felt as if he did not belong.

Cortez's parents were supportive and helped him cope with the racism and discrimination he experienced growing up.

His family lived in a predominantly immigrant community, and he learned to speak different languages from his neighbors and his mother.

During this time, he chose to identify with his German and Mexican cultures and used the experiences he went through to inspire his artistic mind.

He identified as Latino and Native American but focused a lot of his works on his Native and Mexican cultures and supported many events related to his self-identification.

Another part of Cortez's life that made him happy was his wife, Mariana Drogitis, whom he met in 1957 when she visited Milwaukee.

She was originally from Patras, Greece.

Cortez's father encouraged Cortex to join his first political organization, and he joined the Young People's Socialist League (YPSL).

As a child, his parents left a big impression on him.

Cortez expressed his opposition to injustices, the government, and the world's ecological issues through artistic mediums.

His choice of literary weapons were his prolific poetry, corridos, hymns, and haikus complimented by his notable wood arts, engravings, and political cartoons.

Cortez specialized in story-telling poetry, describing tales of working people's daily realities.

These stories eventually made it into his column for the Industrial Worker of the World called "The Left Side".

He was a member of the IWW for almost 60 years.

Cortez was also a labor organizer with the IWW and invested in working with fellow artisans.

He was a pacifist like his mother, Augusta.

During World War II Cortez was sent to prison at the Federal Correctional Institution, Sandstone, Minnesota for 2 years for refusing to be drafted because it went against his pacifist/socialist views.

He believed that there was no nation worth fighting for; the struggle worth fighting for was the working class.

In the late 1970s, Cortez was at a ceremony at Casa Aztlan and met with a Spanish and Nahuatl-speaking Indian who had given him the spirit nickname of Koyokuikatl which meant "singing Coyote".

Cortez enjoyed painting, sketching, and drawing.

He chose not to attend a traditional college but instead took classes at the Layton Art Gallery.

To support his artistic talent, he took on normal jobs working as a teacher, factory worker, salesman, writer, Illustrator editor, and construction.

His father, Alfredo Cortez, used his influence to assist him in obtaining a job in construction.