Xinachtli

Xinachtli (pronounced she-nawsht-lee), aka Alvaro Hernandez, was born in Alpine, Texas. Born into a racially-segregated society, he was forced to attend segregated public schools and experienced the violent policing of Chicano barrios. At 23 years old, Xinachtli was put in jail for the first time and convicted for a crime he didn’t commit. He soon began his study in law and prisoners’ rights, which led him to study histories of global revolutions and movements, such as the anarchist-communist Mexican Liberal Party and the Black Panther Party, leading him to the works of thinkers like Ricardo Flores Magón and George Jackson. Through his study he re-birthed and dedicated his life to eliminating the racist and oppressive colonial occupations across Turtle Island and the world. A respected Chicano freedom fighter, Xinachtli has been recognized nationally and internationally as the coordinator of the Ricardo Aldape Guerra Defense Committee and spearheaded the National Movement of La Raza, Stop the Violence Youth Committee, and Prisoners Solidarity Committee in Houston, Texas, where he is known as a symbol of resistance. As of 2025, he has served 27 years of his 50-year-long sentence, 23 of those in solitary confinement. Today, he is known as a writer, poet, artist, leader, and respected elder. He has written countless essays addressing a spectrum of topics including anti-imperialist movement building and historical analysis, some of which can be found on his freedom campaign website, freealvaro.net.

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