Latinx Studies Discussion

                              This week’s reading made me reflect on how divided we became because of these borders. In the story “Borderlands”, by Anzalduas, she metnions how the American basically took land from some of the Chicano indigenous tribes causing them to eventually live in fear of deportation to Mexico. Thus, resulting in these indigenous people having to live in cities they have never been to because their tribes had always been located in the north of Mexico. This part of their land was colonized By Americans, who were now deporting these indigenous people to places they have never been to. I keep repeating that part because it’s not resonating with me yet. This border that was created broke people and communities apart. This forced the indigenous people to have to identify as something they were not. I feel as though once their land was taken, they lost their nationality and home...

                            The story “Spit & Passion”, by Cristy Road both demonstrated and illustrated true emotions. I love that the story was uncensored because it allowed the readers to feel these emotions she was feeling. As humans we don’t always censor our emotions. Therefore, this story is the perfect and most accurate depiction of a teenagers’ true emotions, mentality, and suffering. It also gave us a better understanding of how she was feeling during her childhood, which allowed us to sympathize with her suffering. I could literally feel her anxiety, suffering, and loneliness as reading. Also, I love the art and illustrations in the book. In most books’ readers are left to picture their own scenarios, creating their own interpretations of what the author is trying to convey. However, in this book, the illustrations already do that for us. Questions for the author Cristy Road: Wha...

Out of the readings assigned this week, the essay about Aids and the article “ Young Lords Seize Lincoln Hospital Building”, stuck out to me the most. In the essay by Carlos Ulises Decena, he indicated that the HIV/AIDS epidemic has shifted drastically towards Latinx individuals and African Americans in the United States. It makes me feel like it’s unfair that individuals who are not part of the majority race in the United States don’t get equal treatment in the healthcare system. They are not provided with the same services. Hospitals in Latinx communities do not compare to hospitals and health clinics in suburban communities. Also, it is undeniable that patients who are Latinx get treated differently than those who are White. This statement is also based on personal experience. It’s almost as if there is a stereotype on Latinx individuals that prevent them from getting the proper care they need. For example, I know two people that went to the doctor for the same medical reason. T...

The Puerto Rican Archives at The Newark Public Library was very informational. We asked the archivist showing us around, why they chose to have Puerto Rican archives as opposed to other countries. He explained that Puerto Rico had one of the largest populations of Latinos present here in Newark. Also, the archivist who went searching for Puerto Rico’s archives was Puerto Rican herself. We noticed that Dr. Hilda Hidalgo had made large contributions to the archives. She was a former professor at Rutgers Newark. It was unfortunate to learn that many of the Latino Studies Programs that she advocated for no longer exist. Hearing about these programs being closed reminded me of the documentary “Precious Knowledge”. Any studies programs relating to Latin America and ethnic studies should not be closing down, especially with the high presence of Latinx Individuals in this country and Latinx students attending American public schools. I hope that sometime in the near future more ethnic st...

           I really enjoyed reading about Piri’s story in “Down These Mean Streets”, by Piri Thomas. However, not because of the intriguing story it tells, but because it hits so close to home. One of the themes of this story was about Piri finding himself. He did not know he was also Black because his family didn’t raise him with a part Black identity. Piri had a hard time and it took him a while to discover or identify as Black also. Piri was raised as a Puerto Rican Latino. This hit close to home for me because I had a hard time identifying myself as well as a child. I knew that I was born in the United States, but I was raised in Brazil. Both my parents were born in Brazil. My first language was not English. When I’d go over to visit family in the summer, my aunts would introduce me as their American niece, however, I did not feel as though I was just American and nothing more. The first language I ever spoke was Portuguese. When I returned to the ...

                                    In the essay “On Becoming” a young Dominican woman describes her cultural gender norms. The essay is about a young Dominican woman living in the United States. She does not conform to her culture’s ideas of femininity. In The essay, Nelly Rosario mentions that she did the opposite of what her family expects to be lady-like. Her family believed young women should never move away until she got married, they believed the young women were not allowed to be too independent until marriage. They also believed in premarital sex for young women. Nelly did just the opposite, she moved away for college where she educated herself and became very interested in politics. When she returned to her family, they were all surprised at how outspoken she was, especially pertaining to politics. Her family was surprised because they believed that it was not very feminine for a w...