Xóchitl Morales is a Chicana poet, spoken word artist, musician, and cultural advocate from Delano, California. Raised in a family deeply rooted in mariachi and traditional music, Xóchitl performed with Los Morales, a family ensemble that blends multigenerational musical traditions with a strong commitment to cultural preservation. Early experiences playing vihuela and guitarrón shaped not only Xóchitl’s musical language but also later work as a poet and storyteller.

Xóchitl’s work moves between music, poetry, and education, using each as a platform for articulating themes of migration, labor, identity, and belonging. Performances often feature songs like "De Colores" and "El Pueblo Unido," iconic pieces tied to farmworker and global worker movements. Through these songs, music does not exist solely for entertainment; it functions as a living archive of struggle, hope, and collective action. The histories carried in music are framed as essential for understanding diasporic experiences and for envisioning new, just worlds.

Poetry and writing are deeply informed by Xóchitl’s musical upbringing. In this way, creative work often addresses the political dimensions of migration, environmental justice, labor rights, and the ongoing need for solidarity among marginalized communities.

This story draws from Xóchitl’s performances at the Mi Tierra Festival in Poplar and the Corrido Concert in Fresno, as well as a recorded interview that reflects on protest music, cultural memory, and how music can help imagine more just and connected futures.

For Xóchitl, music and poetry are acts of reclamation—spaces to remember, resist, and create new possibilities for connection, healing, and transformation in the Central Valley and beyond.