The Sanchez Sisters, Chicana Sisterhood

Loretta and Linda Sanchez’s, the first Latina duo to serve in Congress, story first began in Mexico when a young  couple, like other immigrant families, came to United States for a piece of the American dream. A matriarchal run household heavily influenced the Sanchez sisters and their 5 siblings. Their mother who despite not receiving herself a formal education in her youth worked as a teacher’s aide when the children attended school and  instilled a love for education in the Sanchez sisters at a very young age. Maria Sanchez, their mother entered college and graduated in her forties thus, proving that it is never too late to get an education. However, their parent’s strong community activism shaped the sisters political careers and ideology. Their mother was an activist on behalf of immigrant families and their father was a unionized machinist. The sister’s hunger for success and change derives from their hard working family and the struggles they’ve had to face.

Loretta Sanchez, the eldest sister, received her MBA from American University and prior to congress worked as a financial analyst. Despite her success she recalled being a “shy, quiet girl” who did not speak English. She grew up poor and suffered from a speech impediment but those hardships made her even more passionate. In the Latino Community, language barriers prevent access to resources and opportunities because of a lack of knowledge that can be easily improved through education. Today, Loretta is the U.S. Representative for California’s 47th congressional district. On the other hand her sister Linda Sanchez began her career differently, she received her Juris doctor from UCLA and worked as a labor organizer. Then in 2003, Linda became the U.S. Representative for California’s 39th congressional district. Both sisters are strong advocates of families, which is very important to the Chicano/a movement. In addition, access to quality education and affordable health care are also big issues on their agenda, which greatly affect the Latino community. Most of all support for labor unions has been an issue close to their heart due to their upbringing and the culture they were surrounded by. The causes they support are a reflection of their lives. This resonates with the experiences of Chicana Feminists in their home life. Their interest in activism and awareness of issues grew out of the injustices they witnessed at home and in their community, especially the prevalent sexist attitudes and patriarchal society that oppressed women.

The Sanchez sister’s road to Congress has not been easy. Their struggles are documented in a joint memoir called “Dream in Color: How the Sanchez Sisters Are Making History in Congress,” in which they share the difficulties of being a minority in a white dominated institution, Congress and politics. They face multiple oppressions because of their race and gender however, they have overcome them with resilience. Their oral histories are compiled in childhood vignettes throughout the book, which help to create a very unique memoir. It also assists to combat the idea of the stereotypical politicians because the Sanchez sisters acknowledge their roots and incorporate experiences in shaping their politics. Even though they are Congresswomen of the 21st century like many Chicana Women of the 60s, they continue to face gender stereotypes, which have been used to weaken them as politicians. Linda shares in the memoir that “without a doubt, there are certain members of Congress who still believe women don’t belong there, and there are those who see women just as sexual objects,” echoing what women encountered in the 1969 Chicano Youth Liberation Conference in Denver, Colorado. Chicano men only wanted women by their side as secretaries and in minor roles but never in leadership roles that could possibly threatened their power. There was a similar power struggle in a recent controversy in which Loretta quit the Congressional Hispanic Caucus after she accused the caucus chairman, Rep. Joe Baca, D-Calif., of calling her a “whore” which contributes to the “vendida” logic about women, mentioned in ¡Chicana Power! It also shows how Latino men continue to oppress women with the virgin/whore dichotomy as a strategy to decrease their power in organizations and make women believe they are inferior to their male counterparts. Furthermore Loretta adds that “male superiority is very deeply ingrained in some Latino men of a certain generation,” which was seen through the Chicano Movement and in conferences that discussed the goals and priorities of the movement that only benefitted men and neglected women. Sexist attitudes are very present in politics, but the Sanchez sisters have learned that in solidarity women can overcome struggles. They are making history as women and most of all as women of color because they are challenging patriarchal institutions by enacting change and remaining true to their origins.

References:

  •  Blackwell, Maylei. ¡Chicana Power!: Contested Histories of Feminism in the Chicano Movement. Austin: University of Texas, 2011. Print.
  • Curphey, Shauna. “Sanchez Sisters to Make History in the House.” Women’s ENews. 19 Nov 2002. Web. 12 Feb. 2012 <http://www.womensenews.org/story/washington-outlookcongresswhite-house/021119/sanchez-sisters-make-history-the-house>.
  • Sanchez, Linda, Loretta Sanchez, and Richard Buskin. Dream in Color: How the Sánchez Sisters Are Making History in Congress. New York: Grand Central Pub., 2008. Print.
  • Press, The Associated. “Sanchez Sisters Recount Obstacles Getting to House in Joint Memoir.” NY Daily News. Web. 14 Aug 2008. Web.12 Feb. 2012.<http://www.nydailynews.com/latino/sanchez-sisters-recount-obstacles-house-joint-memoir-article-1.313528>
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Sánchez
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loretta_Sanchez
  • Image: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sanchez_Sisters.jpg

 

Pachucas

Amelia Venegas, "Pachuco woman"

In class the word machismo has been brought up a lot.  Recently we talked about it being used in two different ways.  One way that it was being used was to describe the wrong doings and oppression that Chicanas felt from the Chicano men. In the past few days we also discussed and read about machismo in the eyes of Chicanos.  Many saw it as helping out the family, staying true to their word.  One of the images that have survived for so long was the image of the pachuco.  The pachuco emerged in the 1940’s during the Second World War and has since been a cultural icon.  Yet standing right besides this cool cat was another figure.  The pachuca was another figure of resistance.  Both figures with their style resisted the norms and through that “came to signify resistance, style, and style as resistance” (Ramírez).  With their style and slang, they resisted and rejected the norms of society.  Just as effective form of resistance, was the act of remaining “silent”.

While pachucos were hailed the epitome of cool, pachucas were seen in another light.  They were seen along the lines as “putas”.  This is along the lines between the virgin and whore dichotomy.  The pachuco was seen as a cultural icon with pride and example of male masculinity and coolness as Ramírez states that Chicanos became cool from distancing themselves away from roles that their mothers did.  So it can be seen that some were hostile towards pachucas who they saw as challenging their masculinity.  Instead women that spoke “Caló” was viewed an as taboo act. It can be seen that by separating themselves from their mothers they proved their masculinity, and when Chicanas began to dress and talk in a similar fashion it can be seen a threat to their masculinity and coolness.

Like the pachucos who stood their ground, pachucas stood theirs in the courts and trials.  The way they responded or choose not to respond to persecutors’ questions   by refusing to say anything that could incriminate their friends or boyfriends, they stood against the racist charges and views of the courts. In the case expert of the article from, showcases an example of resistance from pachucas. Even the way they talked when answering was a way to rebel. Diverting from proper grammatical, instead they chose to use “slang” (Ramírez).  Defiantly ignoring the prosecutors and the social idea of women being proper, they instead chose to reject them.  Similar in Blackwell’s book, pachucas seemed to be empowered or by the use of this “taboo” language.  They rejected to answer to a society that was already against them.   Sometimes refusing to talk is as good as speaking out against the establishments.

References:

1. Saying “Nothin’“, Catherine S Ramírez.  Frontiers.  Boulder: 2006.  Vol. 27,  Iss. 3, p. 1-33,158-159 (35 pp.).2. Pachuco woman image from Los Angeles Her- ald-Examiner Collection. Los Angeles Public Library.

http://humweb.ucsc.edu/csramirez/SayingNothin.pdf

#CHST404 Chicana Feminisms Tweets 3/8/12

Twitter thoughts discussing Maylei Blackwell, ¡Chicana Power! (192-213)
Elizabeth Martínez, “Chingón Politics Die Hard,” (From De Colores Means All of Us 172-181)

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Reading Maylei Blackwell, ¡Chicana Power! (6)

Reading Assignment: Your reply (under Comments) is due before class on Wednesday, February 8. Remember, you don’t need to answer all or even any of the questions, but your response should demonstrate you’ve done and thought about the readings. Be sure to check and make sure your response posts.

Maylei Blackwell, ¡Chicana Power! (192-213)

Elizabeth Martínez, “Chingón Politics Die Hard,” (From De Colores Means All of Us 172-181)

How would you connect Elizabeth Martínez’s article to Blackwell’s theories?

As you come to the end of ¡Chicana Power!, what would you take from the text? If you were going to help revise it, what (if anything) would you suggest adding to or changing?

What are the rememberences that Blackwell sees coming out of her study?  How do they work along side Martínez’s memories and challenges?

Leadership inspired by Las Hijas De Cuauhtémoc

After reading in ¡Chicana Power! the section “From Barrio to University: The Promise and Challenge of the College Experience for Chicanas in the Late 1960s,” it led me to reflect on my own experiences as a first generation college student and as a student leader at Loyola Marymount University (LMU). The members of the Hijas de Cuauhtémoc came from very diverse households showing that even within a community women’s experiences are not homogeneous. The majority of them were completely unprepared and unaware about the culture on college campuses. The young group of college women not only faced external, but also internal and personal struggles. Feelings of guilt, inferiority, and alienation were some shared experiences between Las Hijas de Cuauhtémoc, like Anna NietoGomez, Leticia Hernandez, Corinne Sanchez, but those experiences unified them as sisters and also increased their political consciousness. Meeting other students from their own community was also a shock because some wanted to fit into mainstream culture for a variety of reasons, thus hid their Chicano identity. The entire Latino population especially, women dealt with many struggles to adjusting to college life.

Even though these women entered college around the 1960s, I can still relate to their stories 52 years later. Classes, professors, dorm room life, etc., were many issues that I did not have any knowledge about. My parents could not give a forewarning because they didn’t have the same opportunities or challenges. However, I found hope when I discovered Chicano Latino Student Services (CLSS) which caters to the roughly 20.7% Latino population that composes the undergraduate class. CLSS falls under the department of Ethnic and Intercultural Services, which “engages and empowers students to participate fully in campus life and achieve personal success, with a special focus on helping first year students of color transition to university life.” The reality is that one of the primary reasons the office exists is due to the efforts of Chicano men and women who united, mobilized, and fought to raise awareness about their struggles in all aspects of society. Personally, I was drawn to the mission of the department because they offered guidance and a home away from home for students of color. I worked at CLSS for a year and a half as a Fellow, which entailed working with a team of Latino students to create programs that educate our Latino community and the LMU campus about the diversity that exists within the Latino community, serious issues that affect it and to further promote solidarity. I had a unique opportunity to be a voice for the student population and to serve as a liaison to other departments at LMU. My experience at CLSS has been critical to my development. One of the privileges I had was to be an assistant to  Rigoberta Menchu, a Guatemalan Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, when she visited LMU in November of 2010. Also I developed and conducted a cultural student exchange with a University from Buffalo, New York.

However, I’ve also encountered difficult moments working as a Fellow at CLSS. There’s been mixed reactions from Latino Students who don’t feel strongly about their culture and prefer not reach out. Other students question why the office still exists and whether it’s relevant. In my opinion it definitely is because for some it is a safe haven because the truth is that LMU continues to still be predominantly white populated. CLSS can keep serving as another resource open for all students. It exists to cater to the needs of LMU students and to further support the academic and personal success of its Latino students.  It is very inclusive which is what the Chicano Movement strove for, but never division. Issues on all colleges campuses will always exist around the nation, but that is why student activism and participation is important to create a environment of tolerance and support.

I feel that the best way I can lead is by example. Even though academics are my top priority, participation in student life has enhanced my college experience and also serves as an extension to my learning. I am member of the Committee on the Status of Women that is composed of female students and faculty members who gather to discuss how women are being represented at LMU. My presence in the committee is important because it increases diversity within our group and I get to provide input on my experiences as a Latina on campus. I’m also in Student Alumni Association, which connects students and Alumni for networking opportunities. This is very important because as a first generation college student I need those connections and resources when I work as a professional.

Another huge opportunity was participating in the First Latino Summit at LMU held on March 31, Cesar Chavez day. It was a pivotal moment in LMU history because members from all levels of campus, students, staff, and faculty, focused and discussed strategies to improve Latino Student and faculty retention and the growth of the Latino population on campus. People were broken up into different discussion groups in which they discussed a variety of issues such as the first- generation college student experience. After very fruitful conversations they came back to the main group to report to everyone what was said and to open it up for further discussion. The conversations and presentations were documented to create a body of information for future generations to use and for the President and his office to review to create and implement programs that can offer solutions to the problems.

I have learned through my leadership roles that communication is key. There’s need to be more alliances between all groups and communities on campus because our struggles are also similar to other communities of color. Also that change will not happen by chance because it requires commitment, work, and perseverance, but most of all solidarity. There will be hard times but in those times it’s when you turn to your community and peers for strength. Also it’s important to remember that change happens over time. As a student leader, I get to contribute to the occurrence of change because my story can have an impact on someone which refers to the oral histories discussed in Blackwell’s book. The best person to tell my story is myself that’s why I am taking initiative to share with others what I know. Lastly, whenever people ask if I identify as a student leader, a Latina student leader or a woman student leader, I say all the above. I cannot separate my gender or race from my identity. To do so would be a lie because I represent many communities not just one single group. It is something I found very important to the majority of Chicana Feminist women.

Book Source:

  • Blackwell, Maylei. ¡Chicana Power!: Contested Histories of Feminism in the Chicano Movement. Austin: University of Texas, 2011. Print.
  • Image: http://atuva.student.virginia.edu/organization/latinostudentalliance

federal DREAM Act movement in association with Chicano movement

Over 65,000 undocumented students graduate from high school each year in the United States; these are students who do not have legal status to reside in the U.S. and face the burden of an unequal access to education. Undocumented persons or unauthorized persons are individuals who came to the U.S. without authorization, or came with the proper documentation but remained in the U.S. Many of these students were brought from their home countries at a very young age, some within the first few years of being born. These students come from family backgrounds of hard-working families who decided to come to the United States to achieve the American dream.

The federal DREAM Act (Development, Relief and Education of Alien Minors Act) is a legislation that would grant a path to citizenship for unauthorized students 1) who entered the U.S. before the age of 16, 2) resided in the U.S. 5 years prior to the enactment of the bill, 3) graduated from a high school in the U.S. or attained the equivalent of a high school diploma, or got accepted to a college institution, 4) at the time of the application must be between 12-34 years old, 5) demonstrate good moral character. The federal DREAM Act was first introduced in the senate in 2001, and has been reintroduced several times since then. The last time that came to a vote was during the lame duck session on December 18, 2010, in which the vote resulted in 55-41 with many Democrats voting against the bill. It was a great defeat for those who would benefit from the bill and those who stood in support. On May 11, 2011 Sen. Dick Durbin reintroduced the federal DREAM Act.

This movement reminds me of the Chicano movement because it takes committed people who deeply care about this issue. It is closely associated with a comprehensive humane immigration reform for unauthorized immigrants who have been contributors to the U.S. through their hard labor, and who many times are exploited by the cruel system. Within the Chicano movement, there existed the division between Chicana feminists who proclaimed equality, and those who did not see sexism as something to challenge within the movement. I experienced a similar issue in 2010 when I attended a 3-day conference along with other members of the student organization on campus (LMU RESILIENCE) to discuss our involvement with student groups from other campuses throughout California.

The conference was led by the hosting group at UC Santa Cruz and the leader of CHIRLA‘s CA Dream Network. The second day of the retreat, we were asked what 2010’s immigration campaign should focus on: mobilizing for the passing of the federal DREAM Act or mobilizing for a Comprehensive Immigration Reform. Student club organizations from various college institutions from all over California were being represented by 5 members. When the time came to vote on what issue to focus on, there was great division between the participants. We were torn between voting for the DREAM Act because this would only benefit students achieving a college degree (but we saw a greater chance of winning), and the Comprehensive Immigration Reform would include the students and families (but we also felt it would be a lot harder to achieve). The organizers of the retreat had to meet separately during dinner time because it seemed that their next day’s activities would have to change since many participants were still discussing the issue and we couldn’t come to a consensus.

By the end of the conference we were suppose to come up with a campaign plan and ready to mobilize our constituents at our campuses, but we had to take Sunday to come together as a group and bring to the table the tensions that were happening. Unlike the 1971 Conferencia de Mujeres por la Raza in Houston, Texas, nobody walked out. But the time that was set aside on Sunday to discuss the issue did help the organizing because many students expressed their feelings and their fears. More than 3/4ths of the participants, if not all, cried and demonstrated support. We were all in this together and we decided that the only way we could solve the issue was through conversation.

That year, many students, as it still continues today, were arrested. Many who participated in civil disobedience acts were part of the CA Dream Network. And that year, DREAMERS experienced a great defeat, yet again. Today the fight still continues, and students are continuously coming out, going into the offices of the Department of Homeland Security proclaiming a stop in the continuous deportations.

Recommended reading: Underground Undergrads, is comprised of inspirational stories narrating the lives and hardships of undocumented undergraduates at University of California Los Angeles.

Sources to reference:

 

On Chicana Artists: Isis Rodriguez

Picking up on the subject of Chicana Symbols, I wanted to present one that came to mind when discussing the idea in class.

Virgen LMA
Virgen LMA (1999), Isis Rodriguez

 

Chicana Art: Isis Rodriguez – a second-generation Latina, known in the Chicana art community for her cartoon-styled pieces. Specifically her series – Little Miss Attitude (1998), depicted Chicanas and Latinas in different ways. Although she was part of the art movement that was more about personal representation as opposed to covering the broader subject of Latina women, her works navigate through adolescence in a way many girls (especially Latina girls) can relate to. But unlike Coyolxauqui, neither her or her pieces stand as major symbols for the Chicana community, instead, Isis expresses herself through the symbols. Her pieces include images of the Virgin Mary, a native girl, and a “roughneck” chola girl, among others. All images of what a (Latina) girl has been, or could be seen as.

Thus the female symbols, like those for the Chicano movement, are varied and dynamic. Chicana feminists have taken advantage of their understanding of these women and their struggles as a way to display their current struggle.

Chicana Feminism in an Unlikely Place

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3ilElOoQQM]

Painfully, I’ll admit that writing a blog about Alice Bag’s Violence Girl has taken longer than reading the memoir itself.  I was unsure how to approach it.  In both the beginning and the end of the book, the influence of Chicano culture is obvious.  Alice Bag, born Alicia Armendariz, grew up in an ethnic East Los Angeles neighborhood, the daughter of a Mexican father and a Mexican-American mother.  At the end of her memoir, she returns to East LA to teach kindergarten, realizing that no one can gear lesson plans to immigrants and children of immigrants like a person who has shared their experience.  But what about the bulk of the book?  The large middle section, during which Alice lived in Hollywood and was a major player in the emerging punk scene of the late 1970s?  Even after reading Violence Girl, my brain still conjured up the image of punk rock as predominantly white and male.  Even though Alice’s book is full to the brim with strong, empowered women of the punk movement, to me they embodied a feminism that was distinctly Anglo and middle class.  I finally realized, however, that it was Alice’s poor, Chicano background that made her such a powerful force in the rebellious uprising of punk.

Alice grew up in a fairly typical Chicano household.  Her father did freelance construction work and her mother’s main responsibilities were to cook and clean.  Her mother, she remembers, never ate with her and her father at the table.  She stayed in the kitchen, eating only when the food was done and everyone else was served.  Her father was domineering, and ultimately quite violent.  Over any small signs of disrespect from her mother, he would beat her within an inch of her life.  From quite early on, growing up in this environment of extreme gender inequality, Alice decided that she would never grow up to live the kind of life her mother did.  Her father was the embodiment of exaggerated machismo and her mother fits perfectly in line with the Chicano Nationalist image of a woman who endures hardships for the sake of her domestic life.  Alice, in unknowing agreement with so many Chicana feminists, saw the problems inherent in this rigid definition of family life.

While beginning to formulate thoughts about Chicana oppression as a child in her own home, Alice was also beginning to understand Chicano oppression on a larger scale outside her home.  The only language spoken in her house was Spanish.  When Alice started going to school, though she was definitely not stupid, she was treated as such by unsympathetic teachers who were too lazy to help her overcome her language barrier.  If teachers are unwilling to help their students at such a young age, then students are left developmentally behind.  This handicap follows them throughout their school career, making college or white collar jobs a nearly impossible dream.  This is one of the many ways that Chicanos in America are kept down, and Alice’s realization of this lead to her later decision to be a teacher herself.  While still fairly young, Alice recalls seeing the young men and women of the Brown Berets protesting the Vietnam War.  She also recalls how quickly the peaceful protest turned into a horrifying scene of racially charged police brutality.

Like many art forms when they first emerge, punk was a challenge to the status quo.  It was youths that had always been outcasts, coming together to create a culture in which they no longer felt like outcasts.  There is, and always has been, and undercurrent of anger in punk.  Looking back on it, how can one not see that Alice Bag was the perfect punk candidate?  As she learned at the war protest, to be Chicano is to inherently challenge the status quo.  She would see that kind of police brutality mirrored at what were supposed to be peaceful (albeit chaotic) punk shows.  In these instances, Alice could understand better than most that to be outside of the dominant group is to be a target that society wants to subdue.  As one who, so young, learned the price women can pay for their subordination, her anger and her need for catharsis and her to establish a presence of strength made her a dynamic and forceful punk lead singer.

As a teenager, living in Hollywood to be close to the music scene she was entrenched in, she began to see her friends lives wrecked because of drugs.  Between heroin and loneliness, she saw people that loved take their lives and have their lives taken.  Without a doubt, I think it was her culture that spared her.  Among so many things that can be viewed in the Chicano family structure as negative, the overriding positive is the notion that family is important.  In one way or another, everyone in the family has a responsibility to each other.  Her father provided for her, her mother fed her, and she loathed the idea of ever letting them down.  They wanted her to have a better life, to rise above generations before her.  She could see that a lot of the paths her friends were winding up on were not paths that her parents would want her on, and ultimately were not paths that she herself would want to be on.  So she went back home.  She went back to school, and she reflected on all the things that pushed her to be successful, and all the things that held her back from success.  Having parents who loved her and supported her and told her she could be whatever she wanted to be pushed her; having teachers who wouldn’t spend an extra moment helping a English language learner held her back.  She saw the value in reading and writing, and this was her impetus in getting her teaching degree.  From teaching Kindergartners in East Los Angeles to teaching Nicaraguans of all ages in war torn villages, it was her Chicana culture that transformed her attitude of punk rebellion to positive revolutionary.

 

Works Cited:

Bag, Alice.  Violence Girl.  Port Townsend, WA: Feral House, 2011.  Print.

Women’s Leadership in the High School Blowouts of 1968

Education inequality has always been a common subject in the Latino community but the first time this issue was actually heard of across the country was during the 1968 East L.A. School Blowouts. These protests began in five East L.A. High Schools including Belmont, Garfield, Lincoln, Roosevelt and Wilson where the student dropout rates were about fifty percent.  The participants and supporters of the blowouts wanted to implement a bilingual and bicultural training for teachers, the elimination of tracking based on standardized tests and overall better access to a quality education. These high school walkouts were the beginning of a wave that brought about the student-ran organizations that create the main focus of the Chicano movement. Today there are plenty of articles and news stories that can be found on the Blowouts including how much has changed since then (http://articles.latimes.com/1988-03-07/local/me-488_1_lincoln-high-school-graduate). Yet, the role of women participation during these walkouts continues to be unrecognized. As Dolores Delgado Bernal mentions in “http://www.jstor.org/pss/3347162,” “their participation was vital to the Blowouts, yet because of a traditional leadership paradigm does not acknowledge the importance of those who participate in organizing, developing consciousness, and networking, their leadership remains unrecognized and unappreciated by most historians” (262).

A protest always takes a lot of planning; however this is the “behind the scenes” stage of an event that is never quite noticed. Before coming to the conclusion of a Boycott, numerous women including Tanya Luna Mount, Vicky Castro, Paula Crisostomo and Rachel Ochoa Cervera, attended and actively participated in meetings that were necessary to develop strategies from which to gather enough information of what really went on at these schools. The attendees for these meetings were primarily women and some even took place at the home of Tanya Luna Mount’s parents.

Another important stage of a protest is developing the consciousness of individuals, in which women took a great lead. “Developing the consciousness of individuals is crucial to generating and maintaining the momentum needed for any social movement,” and Delgado Bernal knows that this was possible thanks to the commitment of women. In her article, Delgado Bernal shares the stories of several women who participated in raising consciousness through informal conversations with their peers, family and other community members. They raised consciousness in any way they could regardless of the number of people that may not have believed them. It was in this step of the process that women also used print media to raise consciousness. Tanya Luna Mount and Mita Cuaron used their families’ mimeograph machines to duplicate their informational flyers that they would distribute throughout the community. Others were somehow connected to community activists newspapers like Inside Eastside and La Raza. Those that were directly involved with the publishings of these newspapers tried writing articles on the issues they saw in the education inequities and those that did not work directly in publishing all read and encouraged others to read these newspapers. Since Tanya Luna Mount and Paula Crisostomo were both still high school students at the time, they wrote articles that specifically addressed the educational conditions they had themselves witnessed in the East L.A. schools. Developing consciousness is often not seen as big of a task normally associated with the traditional characteristics of leadership, yet it is this type of “behind the scenes” work that sets up the stage for a movement to actually come about. It takes a leader to gather a community and to get a community together for a specific cause takes the time and effort to spread consciousness, this was one of the most important roles in women leadership during the walkouts, and although it may not be recognized as such, it was the fondation for the development of the movement itself.

Sources:

Delgado Bernal, Dolores. “Grassroots Leadership Reconceptualized: Chicana Oral Histories and the 1968 East Los Angeles School Blowouts.” Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies. Vol. 19, No. 2, Varieties of Women’s Oral History (1998), pp. 113-142

Image:

http://vivirlatino.com/2006/03/27/vl-en-casa-walkout-on-hbo-fidel-on-dvd.php

Reading Maylei Blackwell, ¡Chicana Power! (5)

Reading Assignment: Your reply (under Comments) is due before class on Monday, February 6. Remember, you don’t need to answer all or even any of the questions, but your response should demonstrate you’ve done and thought about the readings. Be sure to check and make sure your response posts.

Maylei Blackwell, ¡Chicana Power! (133-191)

How does Blackwell define and characterize the emergence and importance of Chicana print cultures and print communities? How do they fit with Benedict Anderson’s notion of imagined communities? How does gendering post-colonialism change Chicano nationalism?

How did the writings of Hijas de Cuauhtemoc influence Chicana/o groups outside of Long Beach? What was their influence in Los Angeles, in California and the southwest?

How did Hijas de Cuauhtemoc evolve into Encuentro femenil? What significance did the newspaper and then journal have to the Chicano Movement? How did it shape Chicana feminism?

What were the issues of the Houston Chicana Conference? How did succeed and to what extent? How did it breakdown? What were the issues (and the feminisms) being contested? What were the outcomes of the breakdown?