#chicanxs

[misangremellama]

Op-Ed: Central Americans Aren't Co-Opting Chicano Studies. They're Building on Their Shared History

After UCLA voted to change the name of its Chicano Studies program to include Central Americans, some accused the group of co-opting the Mexican struggle. By: Ester Trujillo

I was 19 years old when I frantically demanded that my University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Chicana/o Studies professors explain to me why there was only one book in the school library on U.S.-based Central Americans. My professor, Alicia Gaspar de Alba, explained that it takes time to produce published research and that if there was a book I could not find, I should consider writing it. That day a fire sparked inside of me. My Chicana/o Studies professors pointed me in the direction of social inquiry and before I knew it, I was in a Chicana and Chicano Studies doctoral program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where I was able to conduct research on the Central American experience in the U.S. that was rooted in social justice and cultural resilience.

I am a U.S.-born Salvadoran-Mexican. I am a scholar of Central American Studies, Chicana and Chicano Studies and immigrant integration. All three of my degrees – my B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. – are in Chicana and Chicano Studies from UCLA and UC Santa Barbara.

Recently, faculty at UCLA’s Cesar E. Chavez Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies voted 15-1 to change the name of the department to the Cesar E. Chavez Department of Chicana, Chicano and Central American Studies. The amendment is a reflection of work that has taken place within the department for at least 10 years – if not longer.

Since I graduated from UCLA in 2010, the Latino student body has grown and diversified, mirroring demographic changes in the city overall. Los Angeles is now the second-largest Salvadoran city by population in the world, outside of San Salvador, the Central American country’s capital. The name change is reflective of the institutional urgency to address the needs of a shifting urban reality. Not unlike the young scholars of the past who advocated for Chicana and Chicano Studies departments, undergraduate and graduate students at UCLA wrote letters in support of the new name and listed their reasons for the push toward inclusivity.

However, a recent op-ed on The Daily Chela argues that the name change is due to pressure from a “faction of students” who are demanding that their Central American heritage be included in the Chicana/o experience. In the piece, author Brandon Loran Maxwell contends that altering the name of a department or an organization with “Chicano” in its title contributes to the erasure of the specific history of that space and to the eradication of the contributions made by activists who worked hard to establish those spaces.

The fear of erasure of specific Mexican cultural history that Maxwell expects will come from changing the names of institutions is a fear all too familiar to Central Americans. But including Central American Studies is not co-opting Chicana/o Studies or otherwise eradicating it. 

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[sdpubliclibrary]

Pocas Pero Locas

#2

[misangremellama]

The Central American Community of California’s Central Valley Will Not Be Erased (OPINION)

It will not happen. By: Paula Ayala

“Los que nunca sabe nadie de dónde son” – Roque Dalton

Imagine a party commemorating you, your life, your tragedies—yet you were not invited to it. A party to make others feel good about themselves and their efforts to “aid” you and even sprinkle your name in there a few times to remind the “gente” that “your life mattered too.” A party for them, to remind them that their struggle was your struggle, but your voice was not needed because they had their own voice.

I’m writing this piece as a Central American feminist, raised in Fresno but landed here out of poverty from Los Angeles, via my family’s transit through Mexico and generationally rooted in El Salvador. This is my attempt to describe an experience of Central Americans in the Central Valley. While our names our being thrown around, our people are screaming, but we are still not being heard.

Our name is Central America and many names and peoples within, but our name is just becoming recognizable… to some. Our stories are complex and unknown to a majority but we are hearing much of it now due to state-sanctioned violence from the U.S., such as concentration camps and Mayan indigenous and Central American children dying or outright murdered by state agents. Not only at the U.S.-Mexico border, but inside Mexico too. State agents and narco-traffickers who actively hunt down Central Americans (along with other mobile and racialized people) for profits in sexual slavery, extortion and assaults. Our families, however, have long known of this epidemic for years, talking about it in the privacy and protection of our own homes.

What is typically heard in media or even in non-Central American households is “those people’s governments and countries are corrupt, they are plagued with drugs and violence” and the typical “where is that in Mexico?”  For instance, the comment of “they are plagued with drugs and violence” was actually a recently comment heard from a Central Valley muralist and graduate student at an academic conference. Their presentation centered on the work they did to paint a visually iconic Chicanx mural in a Los Angeles Central American community as a way to heal “those people’s plagues.” This person won a conference award for misrepresenting a whole community and came out as the new “Chicanx savior” for our community.

Our diasporic community is disrupting this narrative.

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[misangremellama]

A Message From ME(ChA)'s National Board: Why We Decided to Change the Name of Our Movimiento

"We make this statement to address the many misconceptions following the decision to permanently change MEChA’s name," write students from MEChA's National Board.

From the article:

In light of recent events at the National MEChA – formerly known as Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlán – Conference this past weekend (March 29 to March 31, 2019) in Los Angeles, hosted by UCLA’s MEChA chapter, we come forward as a collective to write a statement. We make this statement to address the many misconceptions following the decision to permanently change MEChA’s name. During this conference we held a Resolution Circle where votes totaled to 29 in favor, three against, and two abstaining to move forward with The University of Oregon’s motion to replace “Chicanx” and “Aztlán” from the name in order to reflect our restructuring of the guiding philosophies of MEChA.

We first want to acknowledge the labor and sacrifices that Chicanxs and MEChistxs of the past had to do to get us to where we are now. We are by no means erasing those struggles; on the contrary, we are acknowledging and addressing the oppressive history and nature of MEChA. So in reality, we are honoring the history of our elders by bringing to light MEChA’s flaws and improving our organization. We are not abandoning the constructive and empowering lessons of our forerunners; we will continue the movement, work to right the wrongs of the past, and look forward to a future of liberation and radical love.

We are honoring the history of our elders by bringing to light MEChA’s flaws and improving our organization.We are not trying to take away anyone’s “Chicanx” identity. People are free to identify with the specific political and real implications of that identity. We are moving away from “Chicanx” being the sole representation of those within MECHA because it does not reflect the makeup of MEChA chapters across the US. We encourage individuals to continue to celebrate their Chicanidad within the organization, but without the exclusion of our other Latinx hermanxs who don’t identify with that. Since MEChA must be a place for Latinx people to find community in higher education, we wish to use our name to reflect that.

Furthermore, we have been disappointed and truly hurt by the disrespect shown by some members and alums, both at the Resolution Circle and on social media. This has caused divisiveness in the Chicanx and Latinx community and real harm to students. All we are asking is for us to redirect our attention to the opinions of students directly involved in MEChA who organize, campaign, educate communities, etc. After all, MEChA is a student-led movement. If we hope for unity, we must listen to those with real stakes in El Movimiento. Trust that we have rational, critical, and independent thought; we have not made this decision hastily.

The reasons for removing “Chicanx” and “Aztlán” from MEChA are as follows: Chicanx, which directly translates to Mexican-American, is exclusionary. Although some identify with the political connotations Chicanx can have, it has not traditionally been used in that way. We recognize that it would be wrong to force non-Mexican-Americans, Indigenous Mexicans who cannot identify with this term, and Black Mexicans whom this term has historically excluded to use this term to describe their political philosophy. As it is, MEChistx members who are not Mexican-American are often victims of xenophobia from Chicanx MEChistxs, and Indigenous and Black MEChistxs are often subjected to anti-Indigenous and anti-Black violence by Mestizx Chicanx MEChistxs.

Many of our ancestors were not Aztec but rather Maya, Purépecha, K’iche’, Guaraní, Garifuna, among others. As a collective, we recognize that the term Aztlán reflects MEChistxs’ appropriation of Aztec cultures and traditions; however, many of our ancestors were not Aztec but rather Maya, Purépecha, K’iche’, Guaraní, Garifuna, among others. The use of the term “Aztlán” also influences us to take part in the erasure of Indigenous peoples who are the true ancestral stewards of the US Southwest. We voted to remove “Aztlán” because although Aztlán was created as a philosophical ideology, it has had geographical consequences in claiming the land that was taken by the US on February 2, 1848 with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. Chicanxs from the ’60s claimed the Southwest part of the United States as “Occupied Mexico” and our rightful land; however, this is not our land. The reality is this land belongs to the many Indigenous people who were here before the Mexicans and Chicanxs, e.g. the Diné people, the Tongva people, etc.

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[misangremellama]

can i call myself chicanx if i was born in mexico and born to only mexican parents but have lived here for 10+ years? or like, what does the term mean exactly?

From what I understand, Chicanx refers to Mexican-Americans who were born here in the US, so they feel that they exist in the space between being Mexicans (by heritage, blood, and/or culture) but also being of the US (by birth and culture), too much of one for the other but just as much one as the other, if all that makes sense. Though I do think Mexicans who were brought here quite young might also refer to themselves as Chicanxs.

If there are Chicanxs that would like to weigh in, please do!

[misangremellama]

Hi! I was wondering about the usage of the word "chicana/chicano/chicanx." Some sources say people use it when their parents are Mexican-born but the person in question is born in the US, but some say it can mean your grandparents were the last ones born in Mexico. Also, do both parents have to be Mexican? Which is the correct definition?

As far as I know, “Chicanx” can refer to anyone of Mexican heritage, typically born in the US, regardless of generation. Mixed chicanxs can identify as chicanxs if they choose.

(Keep in mind though that I’m not Mexican/Chicanx so there are better sources than me)

[ultraevonne]

#Eastlos #Chicanxs represent! The Moratorium mural by @elgronk and @willie.herron_ featured here 🙌🏾 Does anyone know the name of this documentary? #Sunday #sundayvibes #oldiesporvida #oldies #repost • @mr_oldies213 The ultimates - why I love you (at Los Angeles, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/BwivLHngH3paTZWoC41Dxxd0wpFeGOu3aAfvd80/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=5hkbx31wnc4h

[goodmexicangirl]

Amazing practitioner @jenabird38 of @koshawellness will lead a beautiful #soundbath at @tonallistudio this Sunday Go to @koshawellness Instagram and click on link for tickets. You won't want to miss this. #chicanxs #meditations #lakshmi #wellnesslatina collaborations (at TONALLI STUDIO)