#Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science

[kuramirocket]

From migrant farmworker to scientist: Mexican Elma González opened doors for Latinas in STEM

Dr. Elma González and a student.

There’s been a push in recent decades to get more women to pursue careers in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math). Historically, women have been underrepresented in these often high-paying industries, and the difference is even more pronounced among women of color.

Elma González, a Latina scientist who grew up in South Texas, was one of the first to open doors for women like her.

Born in 1942 in northeast Mexico, González was the daughter of migrant farmworkers. She started picking crops like sugar beets and cotton in South Texas when she was 13. She often missed school, but still fell in love with science and math.

“I just enjoyed all of the mathematical and science courses that I took,” González said in a 2013 interview with the University of Oklahoma. “I took as many of them as I could."

After graduating from high school in 1961, González went to Texas Woman’s University in Denton. By her junior year, González knew she no longer wanted to travel with her family to pick crops. She wanted to stay put.

She landed a gig in a lab at Baylor Medical School in Houston. 

González graduated from TWU in 1965 and worked as a research technician at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. Then, she went on to study biology and chemistry at Rutgers University. She earned her Ph.D. in 1972.

She then took a prestigious postdoc at UC Santa Cruz. A post doc helps new Ph.D. recipients get ready for the job market.

Also at UC Santa Cruz was another Mexican American – Raymond Rodriguez, a graduate student studying microbiology.

“I was there a couple of years before I noticed that there was this person up on the next floor above me,” Rodriguez said. “I would walk by – the lab door was always open.  And I never got to see her face because she was always looking into the microscope. And that was Elma.”

González was one of the few Latina doctorate-holders in the country at the time. There were so few people of color in science education that in 1973, González co-founded the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS).

In 1974, González became the only Mexican American woman faculty member at UCLA, and in the entire UC system. Rodriguez noted that just by being at UCLA, González paved the way for Mexican Americans.

“Her presence at UCLA was a major, major breakthrough,” Rodriguez said. “In her role as instructor, she was showing me that all the women that were in there, ‘You can be like me.’”

In 2020, González created a research endowment at Texas Woman’s University. The fund supports undergraduate research and mentorship in the sciences. She is now retired and lives in Texas, but Rodriguez says her contributions live on.

“What she did was to open the door,” Rodriguez said. “And now there are many Latinas being hired. She was a pioneer. She’s the one that had to lay the groundwork for all the other Latinas – and Latinos, period – to follow.”

Source

#🇲🇽 #Elma González #STEM #hispanic heritage month #mexican #latina #hispanic #Raymond Rodriguez #Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science #SACNAS

[celebratingamazingwomen]

Lydia Villa-Komaroff (b. 1947) is a Mexican-American molecular biologist. She is a founding member of SACNAS, The Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science.

She completed her PhD in cell biology at MIT in 1975, and later was part of the team that discovered how bacteria could generate insulin. In 1996 she started working for Northwestern Unviersity and became its Vice President for Research.

#born on this day #amazing women #lydia villa komaroff #mexico #mexican american #latina #biology #science #women in science #women in stem #feminist #feminism

[setcesult6-blog]

bdjobs today : Leading Job Site in Bangladesh

BD jobs today whatever length of time that she can recollect, Lourdes Velazquez's folks, who emigrated from Mexico to Los Angeles, made training a high need. Utilized in employments that were both work concentrated and low paying, they showed their youngsters the significance of exceeding expectations in school. Acknowledging their folks' recommendation, both Velazquez and her sister sought after cutting edge degrees.   "We are the main two in our family that have sought after professions in STEM," she said.

Today Velazquez is a first-year doctoral understudy in biomolecular science and building at UC Santa Barbara. She is likewise among 12 Ph.D. understudies on grounds who are colleagues of the National Science Foundation's Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) program, which underpins doctoral understudies from underrepresented minorities in science, innovation, building and arithmetic (STEM).

The program will furnish them with more than two years of money related help — cordiality of financing from the college and from the National Science Foundation's Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation — just as a large group of scholastic and expert advancement assets all through their time here. "Being a piece of BD has been a superb affair; I can't be progressively appreciative," said Velazquez.

Being a minority in your field can be disconnecting. "Having an accomplice of colleagues to trade encounters and thoughts and bolster one another, regardless of whether they're in various offices, can be useful similarly as an update that there are others out there who are additionally pushing forward," clarified Arica Lubin, partner executive of the Center for Science and Engineering Partnerships (CSEP), which manages the BD program at UC Santa Barbara.

Individual Marcela Areyano resounded Lubin's estimation. "Growing up I didn't know any individual who had sought after STEM degrees or had headed off to college in my family. I was the first," said Areyano, who was brought up in Lompoc. She additionally considered as a student at UC Santa Barbara, where she joined the understudy amass Los Ingenieros, which advances Hispanic association in STEM fields. "I had the chance to meet numerous Latinx engineers," she stated, "which is a piece of the reason I chose to proceed with my degree when things got extreme."

Areyano progressed into a doctoral program at UC Santa Barbara, where she thinks about the material properties of the strings marine mussels use to stay themselves to surfaces. As a graduate understudy she's proceeded to fill in as an officer for the Santa Barbara part of the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, and was the establishing president for the Society of Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans (SACNAS) graduate understudy section.

Notwithstanding having examination consultants, colleagues likewise are combined with staff tutors in their fields who give proficient and passionate direction as they seek after their doctoral degrees. The staff guide is somebody who comprehends the desires, the achievements and the way of life of the understudy's program and division," said Lubin.

 The BD program additionally accomplices colleagues with companion tutors in their orders, more seasoned Ph.D. understudies who can enable them to explore the down to earth substances of a doctoral program. Added to this are numerous workshops, classes and discourses went for directing the colleagues through their projects and past. "As a minority understudy bouncing straight into a Ph.D. program from my undergrad work, it has been useful to have a mentorship and guiding system explicitly intended for my scholastic needs," said Xochitl Clare, a sea life science understudy and an original Hispanic African American.

[matthewschiavello]

Please check out this really interesting project and consider supporting it or sharing it with those you think may be interested. This is not my project, but one I think is a really great idea.

The Wonder Women Project is a series of collectible enamel pins celebrating amazing women and their accomplishments. These women are role models for people of any gender and should be recognized for their contributions to the world. 

The Pins include:

Ursula Burns  - A mechanical engineer by education, Burns rose to become CEO of Xerox, making her the first African American woman CEO to head a Fortune 500 company, and the first woman to succeed another woman as head of a Fortune 500 company.

Mary Wells Lawrence -  a retired American advertising executive. She was the founding president of Wells Rich Greene, an advertising agency known for its creative, innovative, and revolutionary work. (You can thank her for “Plop, plop, fizz, fizz.”)  Lawrence was the first female CEO of a company listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Cathleen S. Morawetz - a Canadian mathematician who spent much of her career in the United States. Morawetz’s research was mainly in the study of the partial differential equations governing fluid flow, particularly those of mixed type occurring in transonic flow. (How air moves over a foil to create a boom!)

Flossie Wong-Staal -  a Chinese-American virologist and molecular biologist. She was the first scientist to clone HIV and determine the function of its genes, a major step in proving that HIV is the cause of AIDS.  In 2007, The Daily Telegraph heralded Dr. Wong-Staal as #32 of the “Top 100 Living Geniuses.”

Patricia Bath - an American ophthalmologist, inventor, and academic. She has broken ground for women and African Americans in a number of areas. Before her, no woman had served on the staff of the Jules Stein Eye Institute, headed a post-graduate training program in ophthalmology, or been elected to the honorary staff of the UCLA Medical Center. Before her, no African-American person had served as a resident in ophthalmology at New York University and no African-American woman had ever served on staff as a surgeon at the UCLA Medical Center. Bath is the first African-American woman doctor to receive a patent for a medical purpose.

Lydia Villa-Komaroff - a molecular and cellular biologist who has been an academic laboratory scientist, a university administrator, and a business woman. She was the third Mexican American woman in the United States to receive a doctorate degree in cell biology at MIT. She is a co-founding member of The Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science. She was part of a team that discovered how bacterial cells could be used to generate insulin.

Mae Carol Jemison- is an American engineer, physician and NASA astronaut. She became the first African American woman to travel in space when she went into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on September 12, 1992. After medical school and a brief general practice, Jemison served in the Peace Corps from 1985 until 1987, when she was selected by NASA to join the astronaut corps. She also made a brief appearance in Star Trek: The Next Generation!

Jocelyn Bell Burnell -  an astrophysicist from Northern Ireland who was credited with “one of the most significant scientific achievements of the 20th Century”. As a postgraduate student, she discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967. She was President of the Royal Astronomical Society from 2002 to 2004, president of the Institute of Physics from October 2008 until October 2010, and was interim president following the death of her successor, Marshall Stoneham, in early 2011.

cheers!

#artists on tumblr #projects #great ideas #support #great women #wonder woman

[uicscience]

L@s GANAS presented at the 2018 Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science Conference: (Left to Right) Ana Hernandez, Jocelyne Lemus, Leslie Zuniga, Arianna Perez-Ortiz, Axia Alfonso, Cynthia Martinez, Veronica Arreola and Kryztal Peña.

UIC’s L@s GANAS earns national acclaim for diversity in STEM

The University of Illinois Chicago’s Latin@s Gaining Access to Networks for Advancement in Science, or L@s GANAS, initiative has been named a recipient of INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine’s 2020 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award.

UIC and L@s GANAS received the award because of their dedication and leadership in fostering diversity, equity and inclusion on campus and in the classroom and, in particular, by advancing the number of Latinx students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, said Amalia Pallares, associate chancellor and vice provost for diversity at UIC.

“We are honored that UIC’s commitment to educating a more diverse generation of future STEM leaders has been recognized by INSIGHT to Diversity magazine,” Pallares said.

In Spanish

Pallares pointed to L@s GANAS as a program that focuses on increasing the number of Latinx students with degrees in the STEM fields. It is housed within UIC’s Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Affairs and Academic Programs, partners with the Rafael Cintrón Latino Cultural Center, the UIC Office of Diversity, UIC Student Affairs, Hispanic Center of Excellence, Math and Science Learning Center and the Latin American Recruitment and Educational Services Program. The program embodies key priorities at UIC: diversity, equity, inclusion, student success, and inclusive teaching and mentoring.

“We are thrilled to be recognized for our multifaceted initiatives developed to encourage, support and celebrate the success of Latinx students interested in STEM fields and professions,” said Aixa Alfonso, principal investigator and UIC associate professor of biological sciences. “This award is a feather in the cap of our hardworking students, committed staff, leadership team and the institution.”

The focus of L@s GANAS is to support UIC students to successfully engage in and obtain degrees in STEM fields. Along with other UIC programs, it is interested in fostering a sense of belonging among students and providing practical strategies and experiences that support their professional development.

“Through the program, L@s GANAS Fellows recognize the importance and relevancy of their unique backgrounds, perspectives and experiences, and incorporate those personal elements into their academic careers making them better scientists. Many of our students are motivated as Latinx citizen-scientists to give back to their communities,” said Veronica Arreola, L@s GANAS program director.

“This award recognizes the high-quality, collaborative and holistic effort by the L@s GANAS program that cultivates the potential of Latinx undergraduates in STEM fields by providing various opportunities, including mentoring and engagement in research,” said Nikos Varelas, vice provost for undergraduate affairs and academic programs and distinguished professor of physics. “The L@s GANAS program has transformed the educational experience and success of participating students at UIC.”

The magazine, which is the oldest and largest diversity-focused publication in higher education, recognizes U.S. colleges and universities that “demonstrate an outstanding commitment to diversity and inclusion.” The Inspiring Programs in STEM Award honors colleges and universities that encourage and assist students from underrepresented groups to enter the STEM fields. UIC will be featured along with 49 other recipients in the September 2020 issue of the magazine.

Lenore Pearlstein, owner and publisher of the magazine, said a focus of the award is to highlight the many STEM programs and recognize them for their, “success, dedication, and mentorship for underrepresented students.

“We want to honor the schools and organizations that have created programs that inspire and encourage young people who may currently be in or are interested in a future career in STEM,” Pearlstein said.

UIC is an Asian-American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution, or AANAPISI, and has been designated a Hispanic-Serving Institution, or HSI, by the U.S. Department of Education. UIC is one of only 16 Research 1 HSI institutions in the country, and the majority of its undergraduates are eligible to receive Federal Pell Grants.

A call for nominations for this award was announced in April 2020.

For more information about the 2020 Inspiring Programs in STEM Award and INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, visit insightintodiversity.com.

#STEM #UIC #diversity #Diversity in STEM #higher ed

[disreiley]

faculty-in-pediatric-<b>gastroenterology</b>

View - faculty-in-pediatric-gastroenterology jobs available on Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science. from Google Alert - Gastroenterology http://bit.ly/2Lq3Xz5

#IFTTT #Google Alert - Gastroenterology

[elvisomar]

Lydia Villa-Komaroff

(born 1947) Molecular biologist

Lydia Villa-Komaroff is a molecular biologist who assisted with the creation of artificial insulin. She was the third woman of Mexican-American descent in the United States to receive a doctoral degree in the sciences. She is a co-founder of The Society for the Advancement of Chicanos, Hispanics, and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS).

Number 185 in an ongoing series celebrating remarkable women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

#lydia villa-komaroff #molecular biology #science #women in stem #insulin #sacnas #mexican-american

[drjacquescoulardeau]

https://www.linkedin.com/groups/1397077/1397077-6241229199609339908?midToken=AQH6JLJVoX5ZGA&trk=eml-b2_anet_digest_weekly-hero-21-grouppost~0&trkEmail=eml-b2_anet_digest_weekly-hero-21-grouppost~0-null-irk8z~izmfnmml~6d&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Aemail_b2_anet_digest_weekly%3BcoO336lJRfSyYlgGjeVFLw%3D%3D

 Linguistic Anthropology

5,567 members

C. Isa Kocher

Creative Consultation

  SCIENCE, NOT SILENCE

The March for Science is a celebration of our passion for science and a call to support and safeguard the scientific community. Recent policy changes have caused heightened worry among scientists, and the incredible and immediate outpouring of support has made clear that these concerns are also shared by hundreds of thousands of people around the world. The mischaracterization of science as a partisan issue, which has given policymakers permission to reject overwhelming evidence, is a critical and urgent matter. It is time for people who support scientific research and evidence-based policies to take a public stand and be counted.

ON APRIL 22, 2017, WE WALK OUT OF THE LAB AND INTO THE STREETS.

We are scientists and science enthusiasts. We come from all races, all religions, all gender identities, all sexual orientations, all abilities, all socioeconomic backgrounds, all political perspectives, and all nationalities. Our diversity is our greatest strength: a wealth of opinions, perspectives, and ideas is critical for the scientific process. What unites us is a love of science, and an insatiable curiosity. We all recognize that science is everywhere and affects everyone.

Science is often an arduous process, but it is also thrilling. A universal human curiosity and dogged persistence is the greatest hope for the future. This movement cannot and will not end with a march. Our plans for policy change and community outreach will start with marches worldwide and a teach-in at the National Mall, but it is imperative that we continue to celebrate and defend science at all levels - from local schools to federal agencies - throughout the world.

U.S. science groups endorse March for Science

 Here are the groups included on today’s list of formal March for Science partners: Earth Day Network (co-organizing Washington, D.C., march) 314 Action 500 Women Scientists American Anthropological Association American Association for the Advancement of Science American Association of University Professors American Geophysical Union American Society for Cell Biology (about 9000 members) Association for Research in Vision & Ophthalmology Center for Biological Diversity Cochrane Collaboration Consortium of Social Science Associations Department for Professional Employees, AFL-CIO Entomological Society of America (about 6000 members) International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, AFL-CIO League of Extraordinary Scientists National Center for Science Education National Coalition of Native American Language Schools and Programs The Natural History Museum (mobile museum) New York Academy of Sciences NextGen Climate America Research!America Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science Science Debate Sigma Xi (more than 110,000 members) Society for Conservation Biology North America Union of Concerned ScientistsShow less

 Updated: Major U.S. science groups endorse March for Science

AAAS, AGU now among official partners as of today Sunday, February 26, 2017

#Science #libefrty #freedom #civil rights #civic society #human righths

[mathematicianadda]

Resources for Anti-Racism and Social Justice in the Mathematical Sciences

(Author Positionality: I want to start this post by stating I am writing this from my position and lived experience as a white, male-passing queer, non-binary person who has lived their whole life in the United States of America. I am employed full-time as the mathematics & statistics librarian at a large endowment public doctoral granting university in the USA. I do not have to go up for tenure. I am a highly privileged person. I have not been perfect and I have been a part of the problem. I believe anti-racism is the way to no longer be a part of the problem. I believe Black Lives Matter.)

Note: This post will focus on the mathematical sciences within the USA as that is where my lived experience and knowledge lies.

It is as clear now as it ever has been that systemic racism, empowered to a great extent by white supremacy, is a part of the society of the USA. This systemic racism has most recently made itself visible through the killings of George Floyd, Tony McDade, and Breonna Taylor (among many others), by police and Ahmaud Arbery by a former officer, as well as the differential impact race has on COVID-19 infection rates and outcomes. It is also made visible within US mathematical sciences (under whose umbrella I include both Mathematics & Statistics) in various ways including that while the first Ph.D. granted in mathematics in the USA was in 1862 it was not until 1924 that Elbert Frank Cox became the first black person granted a Ph.D. in mathematics in the USA and intersectionally that Euphemia Lofton Haynes had to wait 19 more years to become the first black woman granted a Ph.D. in mathematics in the USA. Statistical and Mathematical organizations from around the country have all made statements which are worth reading, I would like to call attention in particular to the one by the National Association of Mathematicians

NAM was founded in 1969, one year after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. sparked widespread protests throughout the nation, similar to the ones we are seeing today. Indeed, NAM’s founding was a direct result of the marginalization of black people within the professional mathematics community, which then and now serves as a microcosm of the society in which we live. Over 50 years since NAM’s founding, despite the lessons of the civil rights movement, we still see systemic racial inequities in education, economic prosperity, criminal justice and public health. To-day, it should be clear to us all that the consequence of ignoring these racial inequities is dire.

NAM’s Statement on the Death of George Floyd https://www.nam-math.org/include/pages/files/pdfs/george_floyd_statement.pdf

(you can join NAM here).

In my own journey toward removing things like false neutrality and color-blind ideology and incorporating anti-racism and social justice into my life and work I have put together a set of lists and resources which may be helpful for those who see a need to take anti-racist steps against this systemic racism. These resources are especially helpful to those with white privilege like I have, especially if you have never interrogated your privilege.

First let us define Anti-Racist:

There is no such thing as a “not-racist” policy, idea or person. Just an old-fashioned racist in a newfound denial. All policies, ideas and people are either being racist or antiracist. Racist policies yield racial inequity; antiracist policies yield racial equity. Racist ideas suggest racial hierarchy, antiracist ideas suggest racial equality. A racist is supporting racist policy or expressing a racist idea. An antiracist is supporting antiracist policy or expressing an antiracist idea. A racist or antiracist is not who we are, but what we are doing in the moment.

This is what an antiracist America would look like. How do we get there? by Ibram X Kendi

This set of Scaffolded Anti-Racist Resources provide activities, books, articles, videos, podcasts, and next steps for everyone, even if they have no prior knowledge of social justice and anti-racist concepts. For those looking for a more structured approach, Autumn Gupta and Bryanna Wallace have put together a 30 day Racial Justice challenge (at 10,25, or 45 minutes a day). If you are just starting your journey and looking for definitions of some foundational social justice concepts I was on a team which recently published a column featuring 15 such definitions with examples of each from the sciences.

There are a number of readings on these topics that are related to the mathematical sciences as well. I will call out some I have personally found helpful in conceptualizing and integrating anti-racist and social justice ideas into my conceptualization of the mathematical sciences: The rehumanizing mathematics work of Rochelle Gutiérrez, the Living Proof: Stories of Resilience Along the Mathematical Journey collection, Inventing the Mathematician: Gender, Race, and Our Cultural Understanding of Mathematics by Sara N. Hottinger, AMS’s Inclusion/Exclusion Blog, the many other readings available at University of Michigan’s Math Learning Community on Inclusive Teaching site, and the items on NCTM’s Math and Social Justice book and article list are all good, if incomplete, starting points. If you are looking for more readings that encompass all of the sciences the pan-STEM Decolonising Science Reading list by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein provides a wide selection.

Finally, I have put together a list of anti-racist mutual aid projects you can donate to,

Help support the next generation of black mathematicians with Mathematically Gifted and Black

Directly provide #BlackAndSTEM Students with mutual aid (via @jazztronomy)

organizations and projects focused primarily on the mathematical sciences you can become a member of, or otherwise support and sponsor,

Become a member (or donate to) National Association of Mathematicians

Contribute to or Sponsor the EDGE (Enhancing Diversity in Graduate Education) Program

Support the Benjamin Bannecker Association’s mathematics education advocacy work

Build a new mathematics community with the Math Alliance

Donate to support TODOs mission of equity and social justice in math education for all

and others which cover the rest of STEM.

Support #VanguardSTEM and their Conversations with Women of Color in STEM video series

Build a more diverse STEM with Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science

There are a lot of learning and actions happening and a lot more which need to happen. I know there is still so much left for me to do and so much left for me to learn. You can reach out to me if you want to discuss these topics more. If you are starting out and struggling with the concepts or you are looking for more ways to learn more about anti-racism and social justice or you are wondering what a next step could be I can not guarantee I will have an answer but I am happy to talk with you. I hope everyone has been able to find and access the support they need, and if there is a way I can provide needed support let me know and I will do what I can.

Black Lives Matter.

from The Aperiodical https://ift.tt/2MGqR2J from Blogger https://ift.tt/2BGcpFX

#Blogger

[lopevic]

From the Pond to a Puddle

5 Latinx students share what it’s like coming from a big city to Madison.

When I came to Madison, I noticed an immediate difference between here and my hometown of Chicago. Chicago had no shortage of Latinx students like me. It was so easy to find other people to talk to in Spanish, to meet up to try that new Mexican restaurant down the block. Here, authentic Mexican food is hard to come by. I’ve found very few people who I can speak Spanish with. It was so jarring to go from being surrounded by people like me to having almost nothing.

“I can’t be the only one,” I mused to myself. There are about 40,000 undergraduate and graduate students that attend UW-Madison. There had to be other Latinx students, and especially other big city Latinx students who experienced as big of a culture shock as me.

And so, while Latinx Heritage Month may be over, I wanted to bring attention to Latinx students who came from other cities. Latinx students encapsulate about four percent of UW-Madison’s undergraduate population; we’re a small group, but we still matter. And we have a few words to say about how we’re represented and treated on campus.

Without further ado, let me introduce you to the five students that I interviewed:

Eddie

City: Milwaukee

Nationality: Mexican-American

Eddie is a first-generation Computer Science student at UW-Madison. After watching his parents work tirelessly to provide a better life for himself and his brothers, Eddie sought a degree that would both make him happy and help support his parents. Outside of school, Eddie can be found modding the UW-Memes for Milk Chugging Teens Facebook page. He’s also a part of Leaders in Engineering Excellence and Diversity (LEED), a scholarship program that aims to promote academically talented students from underrepresented groups.

Jaime

City: Los Angeles

Nationality: Mexican-American

Jaime is a first-generation student at UW-Madison studying Genetics. Although he sometimes feels uncomfortable at UW-Madison, Jaime takes his fear in stride to carve a path for other Latinx students. Jaime is also the president of the Society of Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, Inc. (SACNAS). There, he works to provide career and leadership positions for his members.  

Nancy

City: San Francisco

Nationality: Mexican-American

Nancy is a first-generation student at UW-Madison. Latinx citizens are taken advantage of daily, a fact that Nancy is no stranger to. After witnessing this, she was motivated to pursue a degree in Law. Nancy is a part of the Latinx Law Students Association (LLSA) outside of school, where she strives to increase diversity in UW-Madison and make students feel comfortable on campus.

Soph

City: Houston

Nationality: Venezuelan-American

Soph is a second-year student at UW-Madison studying Pre-Med. Being surrounded by her family’s lively traditions and delicious food has made Soph proud of her heritage. While she misses her family dearly, Soph enjoys trying new restaurants in Madison to get a taste of home. Additionally, as a peer mentor for ILS 138 and Learning Community Programming Assistant (LCPA) at Chadbourne residence hall, Soph dedicates herself to providing a memorable experience at UW-Madison for first-year students.

Sophia

City: Los Angeles

Nationality: Bengali, Guatemalan-American

Sophia is a half Bengali, half Guatemalan-American student pursuing Journalism at UW-Madison. Sophia acknowledges that it’s hard for cities like Madison to encapsulate her ethnicities. Nonetheless, she misses parts of her culture, such as bachata music, Guatemalan food, and speaking Spanish in general. Outside of school, Sophia is a part of the Latin Student Union (LSU), ALT Magazine, and has participated in the Latin History Month Committee.

Questions.

Do you speak Spanish? Would you describe knowing the language as being an important factor in being culturally attuned?

Eddie: Yes, and I would say so. Mostly because then you can speak to your family in your native tongue. It also helps you become closer to traditions.

Jaime: Yes, but — it’s funny. I don’t know if Spanish is either my first language or my second language. I always forget! I always had to speak it because my mom only speaks Spanish. I had to learn it to be able to communicate with her.

But anyway, yeah, I think so. There have been times where, at least here in Madison, I’ll go to one of the Mexican markets. That’s probably one of the only places where I get to speak Spanish. And it’s like, “Okay, cool. I can actually have a conversation in my language.” So yeah, I think it’s important anywhere.

Nancy: I do, and — yes and no. I have a sense of pride in speaking Spanish. For me personally, I feel more attuned with my culture. I can have certain conversations with people and in some settings, I even feel more comfortable around certain people speaking the language.  I do think it’s super important to know the language and the benefits that come along with it. However, I don’t feel like speaking Spanish is a requirement for being attuned with your culture.

Soph: I’m working on it! I understand a lot of it really well. I just get nervous when I speak it because I sound white. But in terms of being an important factor, I kind of feel like it is. I want to join the Venezuelan club on campus, but I feel like I’m not “Venezuelan enough” because I don’t speak Spanish. At home, though, I don’t feel any less for not being able to speak Spanish. Or when I go to a restaurant, I feel just as home whether I speak Spanish or not. In a way, I feel like speaking Spanish is important, but it’s not a necessity to have. I can still belong to the culture without speaking it.

Sophia: Yes. I think that being able to speak and understand Spanish opens up doors to aspects of the culture, such as being able to watch novellas or listen to Spanish music, but I think you can connect to the culture even if you don't speak Spanish.

Would you describe your hometown / city diverse? If so, in what ways? (e.g. ethnically, socially, culturally) If not, what makes you think so?

Eddie: I grew up in the southside of Milwaukee, which is notorious for being very segregated. The southside is primarily Hispanic. So in regards to “diverse,” it depends on what you consider diverse. If you consider diversity as actual different groups — then no. I had maybe one or two white neighbors around the block. Maybe one or two African-American neighbors. Even businesses were Hispanic.

To be more specific, I would say it was mostly Mexican. I’m only saying that not because I spoke with too many of my neighbors, but because the businesses around us were mainly owned by other Mexicans.

Jaime: Here, it’s almost a rarity seeing another Latinx person. Over in LA, regardless of where you are, it’s rare to not find someone speaking Spanish. You’ll also find all types of food. Where I live, there are Mexican restaurants, and like, two or three Cuban restaurants. You’ve also got Chinatown and Korea Town. So, you not only have Latinx people, but people coming from a variety of cultures.

Nancy: San Francisco is diverse in many ways. Although it caters to more wealthy individuals, there are still a lot of people of a variety of income levels. Along with that, every ethnicity, food, type of activity you can think of is available in San Francisco. That’s what made it what it was.

Because it’s such an expensive city to live in, though, diversity in San Francisco is changing. It’s pushing a lot of people out, a lot of which are artists and service workers — people who can’t afford to keep living there. I lived in the Mission neighborhood, and you can definitely see the contrast between the small mom and pop shops to the fancy restaurants next door.    

Soph: Houston is so culturally diverse and there are so many types of people there. Liza Koshy, who’s a Houston native, described it as a salad bowl. Not a melting pot, because it’s not like we’re all enveloped together. You need different parts of everything to make it a wonderful salad. And I think that’s a great way to describe Houston. It’s very diverse but we’re not melting together. We appreciate every aspect of each group of people that are there.

Sophia: I’m from Bellflower, California, which is in LA. California is very well known for its diversity, and Bellflower reflected this. Especially at school; it was very easy to recognize the various cultures and ethnicities present.

How would you describe the role that being Latinx had on your personal identity?

Eddie: I mean, it’s not like every day I wake up and think to myself, “I’m Mexican.” But I do think it made me more appreciative of family. That’s very much one of the tenants in Hispanic culture. Family is important, especially in terms of respect. You should also keep in contact with them. I call or text my mom every day. And those are skills I apply to my friends too. In that way, that’s affected what I do and who I am.

Jaime: Being Latinx is really stressful! I say that being here in Madison specifically. It’s no surprise that there aren’t many Latinx people here, and even less in the university. In my department, there are very few people of color. The Genetics department is working toward increasing diversity, but being Latinx and being in this environment almost seems like I’m representing my whole culture. I mean, realistically I know I’m not, but I’m one of the few Mexicans. The impression that I leave on my colleagues could make it or break it for someone else down the line.

Nancy: It played a big role on the path I had to take to get here. I’m very proud of my heritage, my family, and the fact that I’m a first-generation American. To me, that’s a part of the overarching background of my life.

For example, I got to see how people who couldn’t speak English got taken advantage of. People who live in rural communities, who don’t have a lot of money, get taken advantage of by “lawyers” who are abusing the system. Being Latinx allowed me to see that firsthand. This, along with issues surrounding DACA, are things that are specific to our community. That inspired my decision in pursuing a degree in law.

Soph: I think it had a big role in my identity. I love my culture, I love the food, I miss the language while I’m here. I get upset because I look white when I’m not. I’m so much more than that. A big part of me is Venezuelan and I don’t think that gets highlighted enough.

Sophia: Growing up half Latinx was great! I was exposed to a really amazing culture, and I enjoyed Guatemalan dishes like Guatemalan tamales. I also listened to Bachata with my mom and sister. Being able to have the Latinx culture in my life really shaped me as a person. From having a strong work ethic to appreciating family, Latin culture will forever have an influence in my life. However, it was also confusing since I’m half Bengali. There was definitely a culture clash at times. Overall, I was able to — and am able to — experience both cultures and really appreciate them for what they are.  

Did you grow up in a community with people of similar ethnic backgrounds as you? If so, what was the dynamic of the community (e.g. being social, lively, interactive, etc.)? If not, did that impact your cultural identity at all?

Eddie: Well, the friends I made were pretty mixed. It was about 50/50, and in high school, I actually had more white friends. But on the Hispanic side, it led to a larger prevalence of Mexican holidays. Mexican radio stations were also a lot more prevalent, such as La Grande. There were also organizations focused on getting documentation for those who were undocumented.

That community helped me realize who I am. “Who am I?” is a question that only we can dictate for ourselves, but I would say that has helped me affiliate with those who are hardworking, those who will sacrifice anything for another person.

I see that a lot in my own family. Especially my dad, who works 70 hours work weeks. Some days he leaves for work at 10:30 and comes back at 11. That kind of sacrifice is what I admire. When I asked him about it, he said that it was worthwhile to see me and my two brothers grow up.

That’s a big influencer as to why I’m here. Why I’m going for Computer Science. It’s not only a field that I’m interested in, but it’s also a field in which I can earn more money than what my dad does. I hope I can help him out, which I guess dictated the direction I’m going in life.

Jaime: So, I grew up in a city called Bell Gardens, a suburb east of LA. It was about 85 percent Latino and very few non-people of color. When I was 13, my family and I moved to a city right next door called Downey. It was the same thing: a lot of Latinos — Mexicans, Salvadorans, Cubans. Those were the three biggest groups if I remember correctly. Both cities provided a lively community but in different ways.

Bell Gardens didn’t provide the best community. I guess because it wasn’t the safest. Downey had its own things too. But Bell Gardens had more of a family feel to it, and I think it was because I lived across a park. Downey was more modern and had more of a bigger city vibe to it, even though it was the same size as Bell Gardens.

Nancy: The town I grew up in, which was also in California, had a large Latinx community. As an agricultural town, there were a lot of rich, white people who owned dairy farms. Those who usually worked on those farms were Latinx or brown in general.

The community was, at least in the Spanish-speaking community, very intertwined. We all knew each other to some extent. It was a small enough town where I went to elementary, middle, and high school with the same people. You’re familiar enough with each other, but the Latinx culture you were a part of expressed itself in different ways. It created a bit of a divide, in terms of who you hung out with or the interests you had. We still understood each other though, just on a different level.

Soph: I grew up in a more suburban part of Houston. And yeah, a lot of it was Hispanic. In fact, my best friend growing up was Colombian. It was something that we both had in our back pocket because, like me, she also looked very white. So I grew up around it, but it wasn’t a major part of the community.

When I’m around family, it gets so lively. We talk so loud and so fast and there’s just so much food! And it makes me so happy. Spanish sounds the same to a lot of people, but it really doesn’t. I love Venezuelan Spanish more than anything in the world.

Come to think of it, I hid that I was Hispanic for a long time. I vaguely remember hearing in elementary school that Latinx people were not as smart as white people. So when I’d fill out standardized tests, I would say that I was white because I didn’t want people to think that I was stupid.

Sophia: Growing up, my relatives were around a lot, which helped expose me to my Guatemalan culture. My aunts and uncles would visit often and I would spend a lot of time with my cousin. Growing up, we were like sisters. In addition, my parents were friends with our neighbors, who were Mexican. They had kids around the same age as my siblings. We would hang out a lot!  

Have you ever experienced a situation where you personally felt that a UW Madison was tone-deaf on a subject regarding your heritage?

Eddie: It wasn’t institutional, but I sometimes feel that can’t really relate to other people here. I hear people in my classes ask questions like “Have your parents gone to this university?” or “What’s your lineage?” My parents could barely get a high school education back in Mexico. So, not the university itself, but people have reminded me that I’m different.

Jaime: Not personally, and it’s probably because of my own ignorance. There are certain things that I try to not concern myself with. But I know, for example, there are things like the Homecoming video.

Thankfully, I’ve had good experiences. About a month after I got to Madison, my student coordinator asked if I could meet her in her office. First question that she asked: “How are you doing?”

And I said, “I’m doing good.”

“No,” she responded. “I’m asking because Madison is very white.”

That was something that I really appreciated. So, although I’ve had positive experiences, I know that not everything is peachy.

Nancy: I don’t know that I can speak to that for the larger campus because I’ve only been in Madison for a couple of years. I spend a lot of my time in the Law building. We don’t have a lot of time to explore the rest of campus.

However, I think that it’s difficult to help students of color feel comfortable in a place that doesn’t have much experience in catering to students of color. The university is aware and trying, but it’s difficult to help students of color when they don’t know how to. It’s also hard to increase diversity, at least within the Law School, when people know it’s not diverse. It’s like a cycle. I’ve been lucky to have made friends that are culturally-aware, and thankfully I’m comfortable here, but I’m not blind to the fact there’s a lot of work that needs to be done. I’ve had conversations with the Law School’s administration and we’re definitely making efforts to increase the diversity.

I also know that there’s the Homecoming video. A few friends and I were talking about how it’s important to depict UW-Madison in a very realistic way. It is predominantly white. There are communities of color in Madison, there are ethnic clubs that cater to students of color, and there are various religious groups. There’s a presence in Madison that is diverse. And I’m not saying that you should put every token student of color in the video to make Madison look more diverse, but the video could and should have been done differently.

Soph: Well, there’s obviously the Homecoming video. But I do see posters for events talking about issues regarding Venezuela. I’m glad that they’re bringing attention to these issues because Venezuela is not in a good place right now.

Sophia: Definitely. There are certain things on campus that the UW Madison administration prioritizes, and supporting the Lantinx and APIDA communities isn’t one of them. The Latinx and APIDA centers were only added into Multicultural Center within the last semester or so. The renovations for them have been repeatedly pushed back, as well. In addition, there is an overall lack of awareness of all multicultural communities on campus. It is blatantly obvious that UW-Madison doesn’t pay attention to concerns and needs of students of color.  

How would you compare and contrast where you’re from to Madison?

Eddie: Madison’s definitely a smaller city compared to Milwaukee. Madison’s demographics don’t match at all to Milwaukee’s, but I have seen more people from Asia here. Percentage-wise, though, UW-Madison is primarily white. So in that regard, Madison is a lot more white than Milwaukee.

Jaime: Madison is way smaller than LA. Don’t get me wrong, I like Madison, but LA has diversity in literally everything. Probably anything you can think of you can be found in LA. I can go a couple of miles from where I live, and there’s a pho restaurant on every corner, there’s a Korean barbecue place on every block. In Madison, there are very few pho restaurants, very few Korean barbecue places. In terms of food, people around me, and convenience, LA has Madison beat.

The biggest thing, though, is that I almost feel trapped in Madison. Here, there’s Madison, the villages surrounding it, and then cornfields. It’ll take hours before you reach places like Milwaukee, Chicago, or even the Dells. Back home, you’ll have to drive for a while before you reach a non-city area.

Nancy: Madison is a lot smaller. It feels more like a big town. San Francisco is obviously very big and very loud. Madison is quieter but it moves at a pace that’s healthier for life. Everyone is hard-working, but everyone understands that there’s more to life than just that.

Soph: I’m actually pleasantly surprised by the amount of Venezuelan food in Madison. I did not think there was going to be any. And I was so excited to find a Venezuelan restaurant that tastes just like home. Madison also has Peruvian food — and really good Peruvian food, which is something I didn’t really have in Houston. So I was really surprised by the diversity of food here.

Sophia: Between LA and Madison, the distinction of diversity is very obvious. Between Madison and Pewaukee, I would say Madison is far more diverse. I do appreciate the local Indian and Latin restaurants and stores in Madison because it makes it feel a little more like home. In Pewaukee, there are barely any Latin restaurants, which was a difficult adjustment since LA has a variety of stores and restaurants to choose from.

Do you feel that your specific ethnicity/nationality is equally represented in both where you’re from and Madison?

Eddie: No. God, no. Milwaukee, in general, had a good Hispanic community. I don’t really see that here in Madison, other than outreach events hosted by the university.  

Jaime: No, not at all. Like I said, in LA, it’s hard to run into someone who’s not Mexican or Latino or even brown. Here, I’ll sometimes look around and think to myself, “Hmm. There’s not a single other Hispanic person in this room.” Sometimes that makes me uncomfortable, but it depends on the situation. It just makes me feel like all eyes are on me. The imposter syndrome will sometimes kick in, where it feels like I don’t belong here. But then I remember that my being the only person color in the room doesn’t mean anything as to how I got here. If anything, it means that I’m trying to put my foot in and make it easier for other people of color down the line.  

Nancy: No, absolutely not. It comes back to that cycle I mentioned. My undergrad alone had more Latinx students than I’ve seen here in Madison. But it was also a coast school, so demographics were different. There’s a strong community here, though, and I’ve started to get acquainted with them all. It’s wonderful. There’s some representation, it’s just more low-key and smaller than what I’m used to.

Soph: I’ve only met one other Venezuelan on campus. He and I talked on the “UW-Madison class of 2022” page on Facebook, but I haven’t talked to him in a while. In general, I haven’t met many South American people here. In Houston, you can find them everywhere.

I know other Latinx people here, though. I see them, I talk to them, I teach them. But I feel like we don’t really talk about our cultures. We’re friends for the sake of being friends, not for our heritages.

Sophia: I think my ethnicity is hard to be represented in any city, whether it be LA or Madison. However, it was a lot more accessible for me to interact with more diverse people in LA. My middle school was extremely diverse in comparison to UW-Madison. Classes here consist of very few students of color, whereas a class in my middle school was comprised of students of many backgrounds.  

Do you feel comfortable openly discussing your heritage in Madison? Why or why not?

Eddie: I haven’t met anyone that’s been openly racist to me. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt that if I were to speak about who I am and my experiences, they won’t jump to conclusions. I mean, I’ve felt microaggressions, but that’s something that comes with being in the minority. So like, when it comes to group projects or discussions, I get a general feeling that other students think I don’t speak English well. They’ll repeat the questions to me or speak to me slowly. Or sometimes people will tell me, “Oh wow, I don’t hear an accent!” when I speak. I know I look different, but speaking differently comes with being a different person.

Jaime: Yes, but not in just my heritage, but about anything. I never realized how important my culture was to me before I moved here. Being able to share it, regardless of who it’s with, is important so that I can keep what lays inside me.

Nancy: I’m not uncomfortable at all. And like I said, maybe it’s because I got lucky and I’ve made wonderful friends that genuinely care and are curious about my heritage. I’ve never felt uncomfortable expressing that I’m Latinx. Madison is very open to that. Maybe I haven’t had that experience yet and maybe I will soon — knock on wood!

Soph: I do but I’m also an open person. I try not to hide anything about myself, I want people to know about me and my culture and what’s going on at home. I feel like it’s important to know, and I want people to know about my family and heritage. I keep coming back to family, but that’s what’s important to me. I really, really just love my heritage and where I come from.

Sophia: I would say that I’m pretty comfortable discussing my heritage in Madison, especially when people seem genuinely interested. It’s important to talk about my heritage and other minority groups on campus to bring awareness. There are many cultures out there and being diverse is an important aspect of society.

Link to article here.

[cascornerfairfieldu-blog]

What’s Happening in Social Sciences?

Social scientists study societies and the relationships of individuals within them. Here, at Fairfield, this is often done with an eye toward identifying injustice and working to improve people’s lives.  In the Departments of Communication, Economics, Politics, Psychology, and Sociology & Anthropology, our faculty are engaged in world-class, innovative, exciting research.  

Psychology students are studying how cognitive risk factors impact suicide in Dr. David Hollingsworth’s lab, and how social cognition and childhood trauma impact intimate partner violence in college dating relationships in my lab. Others are investigating how animal models can be used to evaluate treatments for autism with Dr. Shannon Harding. Students learn how positive and negative emotions impact relationships with Dr. Michael Andreychik, and how technology can influence our memories with Dr. Linda Henkel.  Many of these students will be presenting this work along with their faculty mentors around the country and regional, national, and international conferences.  For example, Jennifer Mezzapelle, just found out that her senior honors thesis was accepted for at the Psi Chi student journal, and Chelsea Salvatore won a prestigious travel award to present at The Society for Advancing Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science.  

In the Politics Department, Dr. Gayle Alberda is a nationally recognized scholar who is participating in a national Election Day Field Research Project in 2018.  With Dr. Marc LeClair, she co-founded the MPA Summit – an annual public forum held every spring at Fairfield— that brings citizens, state and local leaders together to discuss critical social and political issues facing Connecticut. She has also helped create and implement Ready to Run CT, a one-day workshop designed to empower women to become active participants in Connecticut’s political process.  

New books are also hitting the presses and making an impact. Dr. Gwen Alphonso, Polarized Families, Polarized Parties: Contesting Values and Economics in American Politics, portrays a century-long battle for the power to define the meaning, function, and purpose of the family—a Manichean struggle that animates the raw and disruptive partisanship of our political time.  Dr. Kevin Cassidy is finishing a book manuscript, Beyond the Good Friday Agreement: How Former Enemies are Building Peace and Working Class Power In Northern Ireland.  

Other faculty in the Social Sciences are contributing to their fields on the national stage. Dr. David Downie will attend the Second Conference of Parties to the Minimata Convention on Mercury during which he will contribute to the official UN report on the content and result of these important negotiations.  And Dr. Janie Leatherman will offer her innovative and path-breaking course, United Nations Security Council Crisis Simulation, giving students a hands-on learning experience in world diversity by simulating a United Nations Security Council crisis in international peace and security. Dr. Rachelle J. Brunn-Bevel of Sociology & Anthropology is examining how students’ race, ethnicity, class, gender, and immigrant status intersect to influence their educational experiences and outcomes. And Dr. Annemarie Iddins studies transnational media industries and cultural politics in the Maghreb and its diaspora.  Among the most popular undergraduate courses, Dr. Maggie Wills is offering her groundbreaking and well received alcohol course this fall.

As this brief survey highlights, our social science faculty have been active researchers and publishers in their fields, and many of their projects involve student co-authors and contributors. To date, they have authored or co-authored 41 peer-reviewed journal articles and 14 book chapters, we have given 67 conference presentations and 31 invited talks or exhibits. It’s a very exciting time in the School of Social Sciences!

#FairfieldU #FairfieldCAS

[jonesinspace-blog]

Chicano Significance

Chicano@Speculative Production

Chicano@ speculative production centers around the concept of producing a new world. It is a world constructed in the imagination, but is still connected to the real in a sense that the real is perceived as temporal, and creates a world that is on the promises of equality and social justice. It hints towards the future, not the world in which we currently live in. It deeply intertwines sociopolitical and historical oppressive experiences the Chicano group has been forced to endure. As well as engenders a unique typology. This also helps us understand a community that is under attack. It also deploys tactics for surviving oppression and gives insight to how life will be in a future. Free of oppression. CPS helps individuals make sense of their reality and better comprehend their oppressed conditions. CPS paints the picture clear of the life individuals currently live and of what their future could look like.

Mestizage Mestizage refers to the violent mixing of people and cultures. Such as the Spaniards conquering what is  viewed as current day Mexico. Those who end up being conquered are usually alienated from their mother culture, which results in an alienated consciousness and results in incorporating oneself with both cultures. Mestizage usually involves the genocide of a group of people as a precondition. An example being the mixture of Europeans into indigenous, and African people. Mestiza attaches itself to this term, which means original. It is a useful entity in reclaiming all parts of ones identity. For those of Chicano decent the term mestizage means half indigenous and half conquerer, which is both and important and smart way to look at the conquering of a group of people. When viewed from this perspective they can consider that they have the blood of a people that was truly down and connected to earth, as well as the blood of the strong conquistadors.

II Tezcatilipoca Tezcatilipoca promises freedom from mass media and violence. Tezcatilipoca is the smoke and mirrors and the god of the nocturnal sky. He was an important deity in Aztec religion. He provides Chicano art with its audience. As well as showing the futures needs for a path way out of the congested maze of simulations and capital significance. It embodies representational possibilities and synthesis the contradictions involved with creating ethnic identity in a culture of colorized racism. Tezcatilipoca Is often brought to life in media through women’s labor when women’s work is marginalized. Tezcatilipoca Is a trickster and resides all over the planet. He also denies his fabrication and demands a biological link back to the real, this being a reappropriation of Aztec identity. The possibilities and problems of the future are most clear in the digital form of how the trickster god lives on, Tezcatilipoca is alive and well in the digital realm.

Tenochtitlan

A deity once told the native people of Atzlan to migrate south due to a threat coming from the east. Atzlan is where the origin story of many indigenous peoples begin. It is the birth place of their culture. While migrating south they stopped multiple times, but never truly found a place to call home. Over the course of two centuries the native people this the Americas saw a sign. That sign being an eagle eating a serpent on a cactus. This is when the leaders of those native people decided to settle. The place they settled they originally called Tenochtitlan, but in modern times is seen as Mexico City. Even though they were able to escape from the threat up north, they were not able to escape the conquistadors that attacked from the south. Their are many stories that surround the journey taken by the indigenous people of “Turtle Island”, but their isn’t one clear enough to know exactly what happened on this voyage.

III Speculative Fiction Speculative Fiction is an umbrella category that creates genre boundaries to encompass or include heterogeneous forms and genres of writing. Speculative fiction includes science fiction and fantasy, as well as the work of people of color. Speculative fiction can promote human rights ideals. Human rights alone are a speculative principle. It is said that rights must be natural equal and universal, which is very far from non fiction in the world in which we live. In speculative fiction the world is defamiliarized and presents something far different from our own experiences. Speculative Fiction also presents an intimate relationship between nature and technology, in which futuristic progress comes at the expense of natural resources and sustainable food sources. Speculative fiction also provides new ways to retell colonial and post colonial histories and imagine alternatives to neoliberal economic hegemony. It also warns that without viable alternatives the future will repeat the worst of colonial histories along the U.S and Mexico border. It has always been said that history will repeat itself and if we don’t look at more modern philosophies, and ignore the ones of the unstable  Europeans that arrived here over 500 years ago then this could be a reality.

Rape Trees

Many women and girls that migrated from Latin America and are of Chicano decent were victims of sexual assault in the earlier years of the formation of the Untied States. Those who wish to enter the United States without going through customs must do dealings with smugglers and often criminal gangs. Rape tress are ripped with bodies of unwilling women’s undergarments that are clinging to branches of trees feet away from the U.S Mexican border. These women are illegal immigrants are usually victims that can be heard screaming in the desert due to violent gang rape and then forced into silence. Rape trees are warnings to illegals not to speak about what had been done. It is a terrible price that some people pay to enter this country. Freedom should be free, along with peace and tranquility. Someone needs to put a stop to this violence and chaos and a possible solution to this nonsense is to bring down the barriers and borders all together.

IV Food Food is an important piece of latinx culture, and Latin labor is often a missing ingredient. In our modern society technology seems to be the key to the hunger scare that the world may soon face, and that certain parts of the world are currently enduring. Though genetically modified organisms/food is frightening to many due to the possible effects many believe it could have on the body. Food plays an important role in ones identity in relation to race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic status. Many cultures believe they are who they are because of what they eat and how what they eat makes them different. The things we view as edible or essential to or diet can encode ethnicity and cultural authenticity or Americanness. Relationships to food articulate larger social problems, as well as illuminates decolonial knowledge related to food. Food is an important factor in establishing diversity and the way we process and create food will have a major impact on society.

PostCyberpunk fiction Post cyberpunk fiction is a world that is impacted by rapid technological change and an omnipresent computerized infrastructure and its characters are integral members of a society instead of alienated loners unlike those found in cyberpunk novels of the 1980s is suffused with an optimism that ranges from cautious to exuberant and makes fundamentally different assumptions about the future. It is a bleak predecessor of cyberpunk. The characters in post cyberpunk novels often have families and sometime even children. These characters are always seemingly anchored in their society rather than adrift in it. They have careers as well as prior obligations. Their social land scape is often as detailed and nuanced as the technological one they were previously in. The characters in a post cyber punk society usually look for newer ways to live in and strengthen an existing social order, even try to shape a better one.

Latinidad

Is the belief that Latinos believe themselves to be part of a larger whole. It’s is suggested that in order for Latino groups to become more present in the political atmosphere, then the “New Era” must subscribe and fall face first into this concept of Latinidad. This would help them mobilize and address sets of issues, which will help secure federal issues and gain national exposure. Latinidad is historical practice constituted through the homogenizing effects of racism experienced by Latinos and other people of color. Latinidad is less likely to effect/influence first generation Latinos. The belief is that group unity is vital for Latino advancement, though for this to happen the “New Era” has to bring a halt to infighting among the different nationalities within the Hispanic group. The reason for bringing an end to infighting is because if the Latino group wishes to bare political power  the will have to present themselves as a collective whole.

V

Chicanafuturism is connected to Afrofuturism, which reflects diasporic experiences. Chicanafuturism articulates colonial and postcolonial histories of indigenismo, mestizaje, hegemony, and survival. It attends to cultural transformations resulting from new and everyday technologies that excavate, create, and alter, narratives of identity, technology, and the future. It intergrates the promises of science and technology, which help redefine humanism and what it means to be human. In Chicanafuturism all fences and barricades are overcome. Chicanafuturism also cultivates the Chicano experience in modern times and what it’s like to be apart of Chicano America. It also gives rise to a troubling antimony, which is directed towards the past that a group of people have in common such as shared historical oppression. The chicanos here in America strive for a utopia when in reality it’s a dystopia. Here they struggle to identify as a happy medium. The title Chicano is that happy medium.

Middle passage The middle passage was traveled by Africans coming to the americas. This was considered to be the most gruesome part of the voyage in which many lives were lost due to sickness, starvation, and lack of sanitation. This shows how coming across borders creates tension, and from one country to the next there’s even more of it. Here in America they paint you this picture of excellence. Drawing you in like your mother calling you to come home for dinner. Making you feel as though your are going to be accepted with open arms when that is far from the truth. They make you believe that you are going to be treated well when in reality they are saying “yes please come to our country, we’re not going to really accept you and your not going to be treated they way you should be treated”. The neo middle passage is another term that is experienced by those from central and South America.

VI Poetry Poetry plays a vital role in the Chicano arts and is used as a form of expression. As earths creates we have the ability to express ourselves in multiple different forms. Poetry being one of these forms allow artist to paint pictures with their words to either tell a story, express hardship, pain, and even oppression. For poets poetry helps an individual identity oneself and restructure ones identity.  Heart breaking discoveries about ones identity can often be found in a poetic script, but is hidden with slick word use often giving only small glimpses of what a poet is really trying to expose. Being a poet I understand the complexity of poetry, and how much though goes into a final product. In Chicano literature the role that poetry plays is to paint a picture rich enough for the world to see the experience the life of the Chicano people. To see their struggles and the double oppression they face.

Latin@ Latin@ offered a gender neutral choice. In Spanish most nouns are said in a masculine context or a feminine context. Latin@ makes it all inclusive when talking about those of Chicano heritage. With this you don’t have to include the “o” or “a” at the end of a word. This word diverts feminist challenges to a piece of rhetoric. This shorthand term refers to different but related groups. In today’s society it is more common for individuals to attempt to be more politically correct. With this term being all inclusive means that it addresses various genders. He term Latin@ is used for political reason to promote gender equality. Some people may argue that this is a sexist approach, though in reality it’s takes the past, present, and future into consideration by addressing all genders and people that identify with any sexuality. With this word their is so injustice and instead it is one hundred percent just.

[collegenewsupdates-blog]

Meet Nicolas Santiago, STEM diversity advocate and future physicist

DePaul Newsline The Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science recently recognized Nicolas Santiago, a senior physics student at DePaul, at the National Diversity in STEM Conference in Long Beach, California. SACNAS honored him with a 2016 Student Presentation Award for his research entitled, “Chinese Archeomagnetism.”   Santiago’s research explored the earth’s ancient magnetic field, which protects…

Meet Nicolas Santiago, STEM diversity advocate and future physicist College News Updates

#college #univeristy