Latinx Studies Discussion

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...

- quote from "What does ‘Latinx’ mean? A look at the term that's challenging gender norms" , by Yassenia Padilla The Spanish Language has always been gendered. Words ending in “a” or “as” refer to the female gender, while words ending in “o” or “ os ” refer to the male gender. The term “Latinx” is a term that  ungenders  Spanish. The term Latinx, became more popular around 2014, and it began to be used beyond the LGBTQIA communities. The term Latinx means the same as “Latinos” or “Latinas”. However, it is more gender inclusive, especially to those who are either Transgender or Gender non-conforming. In the article,  “Why We Say Latinx: Trans & Gender Non-Conforming People Explain” , Jack  Qu’emi  Gutierrez said he identifies as an Afro-Latinx because he acknowledges both his  Latinidad /racial mixture, and his “commitment to a lack of participation in the gender binary”. Nik Angel Moreno  who identifies as a non-binary transgender person...

In class we discussed how language is power. I believe that is what Tato  Laviera  was trying to demonstrate through his poem  “Spanglish” . In the poem Tato describes the American and Latinx culture while using English and Spanish words or expressions. This poem highlights the positive attributes and characteristics of speaking both Spanish and English or “Spanglish”.  The author demonstrated in the form of a poem that there is nothing wrong with speaking Spanglish. That is a powerful demonstration for those Spanglish/Spanish speakers who are ridiculed for not speaking proper English the way Miguel Fernandez was when he first started school (as mentioned in the previous post). It’s important that Latinx individuals that don’t speak English properly feel the support from others.    It can be tough to be ridiculed or oppressed for not fluently speaking a foreign language as shown in the story  “How to Tame A Wild Tongue” , by Gloria Anzaldua. ...

Latinx students have faced many struggles in the United States. Many Latinx students do not speak any English when they first arrive here. This makes it difficult for them to learn when they are already at a disadvantage in communication. Some students are bullied and discriminated against for not Knowing English, which is what happened to Miguel Fernandez. Miguel Fernandez was made fun of for not speaking English when he first arrived at school in the Bronx, New York. What would help in situations like these, is having ethnic/Latinx studies available at schools, especially in communities with a large population of Latinx students. Having Latinx studies available to students would educate other students on the struggles of Latinx individuals. I believe that all students being educated and aware of Latinx individuals would reduce the bullying and discrimination of Latinx students.  These examples were also some of the reasons why students of Tucson High School in Arizona...