Monthly Archives: August 2016

Carol’s Bio

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Mad as a Hatter

Mad as a Hatter

Hello everyone! Let me introduce myself. My full name is Carol Xiomara Marroquin. I am a graduate student here at Cal State Dominguez Hills. I graduated in the Fall of 2013 as a Liberal Studies major. I, unfortunately, decided that teaching the kiddos was not for me, and so I came back to DH to pursue another career path. I stumbled about the Arts and Humanities: The City Master’s Program, and I have 2 more semesters to go. I still want to be an educator, and this program is allowing me to do so. I will hopefully teach at the community college or lower division level after I am done. I am taking this course as an elective at the moment.

Although at first glance I look Caucasian, I am indeed, Latina. My parents are both from Guatemala, and they both came to the United States while my mom was 2 months pregnant with me. Must have bumped my head many times during her journey here because I’ve been told by my mother that I tend to be a little quirky here and then.

I love all things Disney. My favorite color is blue. I love to have dance parties for one and I love having solo carpool karaoke sessions in my car. I am looking forward to what this class has to offer, and I am looking forward to reading everyone else’s bios. Have a good day!

Mayra Murillo’s Bio

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tk duck duck goose

Hello Class!! My name is Mayra Murillo I am a Child Development major I hope to go into Special Education or Speech Therapy after I receive my BA. The picture above is a picture of my first class that I ever worked with (they were my students for two years). I had already loved working with children because of the environment and being to teach them and vice versa but working with this class just sealed the deal with me wanting to fully commit to this field.  But anyways, I am in this class because I have found my past Chicano classes interesting and intriguing and I pondered the idea of possibly having Chicano Studies as a minor. I hope to learn more this semester and look forward to learning about you all as well.

esmeralda

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Hello everyone I’m esmeralda. I have taken Chicano/a studies courses in the past and have found them very interesting. I am taking this one for personal growth. I want to note that although I am proud to consider myself a Chicana it has not always been easy for me. Like most of CSUDH students, it is a big sacrifice to be here with you today but I keep pushing myself as a form of personal resistance. I feel that just recently I have been able to find some clarity in life. Growing up my life was marked by stress of extremes and now I push myself to compromise and find self acceptance. One vivid memory I have of these extremes is in relation to my skin color. On my mother’s side of the family everyone is a fair skinned whereas my dad’s side of the family is quite tanned. Growing up my I had aunts from my mother’s side who constantly made distasteful comments about my dark complexion. As a child I had no idea how to process this, and wouldn’t dare disrespect my aunts and stand up for myself, so with time I became very ashamed about my dark skin. For many years I suffered from depression and avoided sun exposure at all costs. In the heat of summer I would wear long sleeve shirts and pants to “protect” my skin from the sun. I also tried as much as possible to stay indoors. It wasn’t until I saw a picture of myself that I was startled to see my yellowish complexion that I finally gave up! At that point I remember this incredible sense of frustration and disappointment. It was after many years of mental health services (I don’t want to give off the wrong impression that the color of my skin the only reason I suffered from depression, it was a combination of several issues) that I was finally able to come to terms with who I am and I am glad to say that I was finally able to speak up for myself and my children, now when or if my aunts make a distasteful comment about my complexion of the complexion of my children I rather rudely remind them that having white skin is not a talent and I affirm myself and my kids by saying that I love our darker complexion I let them know it is very beautiful. I even joke with them by asking: when you go buy a roasted chicken what would you rather get a pale chicken or a golden brown chicken?

golden-chicken

Week 1 Assignment: What is Chicana/o?

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Using crowd sourcing, we’re going to develop a working definition of Chicana/o. In the comments below, I want you to write a paragraph (100-200 words) giving something of a definition / impression or sense of what Chicana/o means. Use the ‘net and any other books you may want. Cite your sources by putting in links and MLA citations. Sound fun? Hope so. Here’s the catch. Each webpage can only be cited once. So if someone has already put up a link, you need to find a new one. Look at each other’s links and make comments if the spirit moves you. Make sure you finish putting your links up (you can keep on reading and commenting of course) by 11:59 Pacific Time Friday, August 26.

Example: Actor Cheech Marin starts out his essay titled “What is a Chicano” with the phrase “Who the hell knows?” He then goes on to say to be a Chicano you have to declare yourself a Chicano — which I take to mean that he sees being a Chicano as a choice. He goes on to specifically say: “That makes a Chicano a Mexican-American with a defiant political attitude that centers on his or her right to self-definition. I’m a Chicano because I say I am.” I think he’s right, but I also use “Chicana/o” to refer to Mexican Americans generally. So I’m still left wondering, what is a Chicana/o?

Citation: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cheech-marin/what-is-a-chicano_b_1472227.html
Marin, Cheech. “What Is a Chicano.” The Blog. The Huffington Post. 2012. Web. 15 Jan. 2014.

Note: your first comment response may take longer to show up as it needs to be hand moderated.

Dr. Perez Bio

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Me and Dr. Teresa McKenna on the day of my Ph.D. hooding.

Me and Dr. Teresa McKenna on the day of my Ph.D. hooding.

I am a native of Los Angeles and grew up all over LA. For the past 10 years I’ve lived in Santa Monica. My BA, MA and PhD are in English, with a specialization in Chicana/o literature. I work on Chicana feminist texts from the 1960s and 70s.

My favorite thing to do used to be calligraphy but I don’t do very much of it anymore. Now I love reading and working with all things digital, especially ways that show off my students’ research and writing the way this blog will. I love looking at pictures of pets and very much want a dog of my own. Sadly my landlord says no. Boo.

This picture was taken on one of the happiest days of my life — the day my PhD advisor hooded me, making me a “doctor.”

The thing I most want you to know about this class and why I do what I do:
There are not enough voices engaged in Chicana/o studies in this university, in this state, in this country, in this world. Our artists, our people are under attack and it has pretty much ever been so. Yet there is so much that is significant in Chicana/o thought, in literature, art and in our own lives. I teach what I do the way I do because I want us to see it and talk about it together. I want my classes to add to and be part of this collection, to hear the voices from our past and amplify them. I want your voices to be amplified, your word to be read, your art seen. And so there is a lot of for us to look at, to read, to watch, to uncover. It is work and it is amazing.

Week 1: Welcome and Bio Assignment

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Welcome to Chicana / Chicano Studies 486

We’re going to be spending this semester studying, exploring the Chicana / Chicano family and in the process, hopefully learn more about our own families and traditions.

Your first blogging assignment is going to be to write your biography using whatever name you choose to go by for this course. WordPress can be a little tricky to use, so if you haven’t used it before, please follow the instructions. Once you’ve written your post, please go through and read the introductions of your classmates. You should include an image (instructions for adding an image are here).

Bio post needs to be posted by Friday, August 28 at 11:59PM.