EMILIANO ZAPATA IN POPULAR CULTURE

References and depictions of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, places and things named for and commemorating him.

Contents

Places named after Zapata

People named after Zapata

Emiliano Zapata in movies

Emiliano Zapata in music

Tourism and museums

Murals and other depictions in art

Places named after Zapata

★ Metro Zapata, Mexico City Metro

★ Emiliano Zapata, Morelos

★ Emiliano Zapata, Veracruz

★ Emiliano Zapata, Baja California Sur

★ Emiliano Zapata, Chiapas

★ Emiliano Zapata, Chihuahua

★ Emiliano Zapata, Coahuila

★ Emiliano Zapata, Durango

★ Emiliano Zapata Norte, Mérida, Yucatán

★ Emiliano Zapata, Michoacán

★ Emiliano Zapata, Nuevo León

★ Emiliano Zapata, Sonora

★ Emiliano Zapata, Tamaulipas

★ Emiliano Zapata, Tlaxcala

★ Emiliano Zapata, Zacatecas

And many other towns, schools, streets, housing developments, etc. across the country.

★ Zapata County, Texas is named for Antonio Zapata, a Texas rancher, not Emiliano Zapata.

★ Grupo Zapata , a large Ford dealership based in Tlalnepantla, Mexico was founded in the 1950's and does not claim any connection to Zapata the revolutionary.

People named after Zapata

★ Zapata, A.

Emiliano Zapata in movies

★ The western subgengre Zapata Western.

★ The film Viva Zapata! (1952), with Marlon Brando as Zapata

★ The film (2004) with Alejandro Fernandez as Zapata

★ The short soap opera ''Zapata: Amor en Rebeldía'' (2004: Telemundo or Argos)

★ The Mexican-Russian film Campanas Rojas (1982) with Jorge Luke as Zapata.

★ Zapata appears in the Mexican soap operas ''Senda de gloria'' (1987) with Manuel Ojeda as Zapata and ''El vuelo del águila'' (1994).

★ Zapata has also been represented in the movies by Jaime Fernández (1966), Tony Davis, (1969), Antonio Aguilar (1970), Alejandro Fernández (2002 – in the Nahuatl language and Alberto Estrella (2003).

★ Nickelodeon game show Legends of the Hidden Temple - in one episode, the artifact that teams competed to retrieve from the temple was The Applewood Amulet of Emiliano Zapata.

★ In the 2007 film Ocean's 13 the character Virgil refers to Emiliano Zapata to inspire his fellow maquiladora workers.

Emiliano Zapata in music

★ In E.L. Doctorow's historical fiction novel Ragtime, the character of Mother's Younger Brother goes off to join Zapata in the Mexican Revolution after the main events in the novel. It is mentioned at the end by Mother's Younger Brother in the musical version.

★ Political Rap/Metal band Rage Against the Machine have a song, ''Zapata's Blood,'' and also refer to him in the song ''Calm Like A Bomb.''

★ Australian band Midnight Oil quote Zapata at the conclusion of their song "Power and the Passion" with the line "It is better to die on your feet, than live on your knees".

★ cLOUDDEAD reference him in the song ''Son of a Gun''.

★ Spanish ska punk music group 'Ska-P' has a song dedicated to the memory of Zapata called ''Juan sin tierra,'' written by Jorge Saldaña, which contains the line, ''"Gritó Emiliano Zapata: Quiero tierra y libertad. Y el gobierno se reía cuando lo iban a enterrar."'' (Emiliano Zapata shouted: I want land and freedom. And the government laughed as they went to bury him.)

★ Finnish leftist hardcore punk band 'Etulinja' has a song called 'Zapata -vive!'

★ Indie rock group Spoon, which hails from Austin, TX, uses Zapata's image accompanied by the text "Austin, Tejas" on a 2006 tour t-shirt.

★ A 1970s Mexican psychedelic rock band called themselves La Revolución de Emiliano Zapata.

★ Mexican rock group Maná reference Zapata in their song, "Justicia, Tierra, y Libertad," from their 2002 release entitled "Revolución De Amor."

★ Swedish electro group The Knife has a song called "Zapata"

★ 'Note' The quote ''Es mejor morir a pie que vivir arrodillado'' (It is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees) originated with Cuban patriot Jose Martí, not Zapata, although the Zapatistas have made much use of the slogan.

Tourism and museums

The ''Ruta Zapata'' through important Zapata related sites in southeastern Morelos serves as a pilgrimage path for latter day Zapata admirers. Some of these sites are [1]:

★ ''Casa de Zapata'' museum in Anenecuilco.

★ ''Ex Cuartel de Emiliano Zapata'' (Zapata's former headquarters) in Tlaltizapan.

★ ''Hacienda de Chinameca'' site of Zapata's death and an equestrian statue of Zapata.

★ ''Plazuela de la Revolución del Sur'' in Cuautla.

Murals and other depictions in art

★ 6th St. and Westlake street mural in Los Angeles, California

★ Mural by Diego Rivera in the ''Palacio Nacional'', Mexico City

★ Mural by Diego Rivera in Teatro Insurgentes, Mexico City

★ Mural by Diego Rivera at the Escuela de Chapingo

★ ''Casa Zapata'' murals at Stanford University

★ Other murals and artworks by José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros
Many poems have also been written about Zapata. An example of one, a student of Mexican Revolutionary history, is recorded below:

I AM ZAPATA!
I am Emiliano Zapata, el Tigre del Sur
I wonder on whose side is Villa the fool.
I hear all my people, they cry out for land
I see all the tierra, and start a warring band.
I want libertad, and that tierra too
(for) I am Zapata, El Atilla del Sur!
I pretend I beat Diaz, him and his rules,
I feel he is evil and foolish and cruel.
I touch their heart, the Mexican poor,
I worry and scurry and call them to war.
I cry “Tierra—that and libertad!”
I am here to save you, mi hijo, my comrade.
I understand their cries, the sorrows they tell,
I say “Down Diaz, Down C’rranza—On Justice and Down Putrid.”
I dream of and do recall, the cry of Nahuatl.
I try to conquer, destroy, shoot, and kill
(for) I hope to rid the land of evil and bad-will.
I am Zapata the brave, and conquer I will!