Gloria Anzaldúa's How to Tame a Wild Tongue is an essay about the author's struggle to accept her Chicana identity and bilingualism. In the essay, she quotes a saying from her mother: Tengo la lengua chicanista y no me voy a quitarla por nadie (I have a Chicana tongue and I'm not going to get rid of it for anyone). This saying perfectly encapsulates Anzaldúa's feelings about her language and culture. She is proud of her heritage and wants to keep her culture alive, but at the same time, she feels pressure to conform to mainstream standards.
Anzaldúa grew up in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, where Spanish was the dominant language. As a child, she was constantly told by teachers and other authority figures that she needed to speak English in order to succeed in life. This made her feel ashamed of her native language and led to years of struggling with her identity. It wasn't until she met other Chicanos who were also proud of their culture that she began to accept herself.
Nowadays, Anzaldúa is an outspoken advocate for bilingualism and multiculturalism. She believes that everyone should be able to express themselves in whichever language they feel most comfortable with. She also believes that we should all learn from each other's cultures instead of trying to erase them.