My visit to this Museum got my skin with goose bumps from the excitement of entering an awesome place that has lots of history, information, and exhibits from my culture and roots. I was enjoying every moment by walking around all those displays, and seeing how everything started here on this side of the border.
One thing that got my attention instantly was the Braceros History and Zoot Suit “Pachuco” showcase. I think they both are very well related to Chicano Pachuco Culture. Pachuco style represents a notorious expression in the Chicano culture. It’s also about identity, which reminds me about a Mexican movie played by La India Maria, called “Ni de aqui ni de alla.” I think Mexican American youth back in the 1950’s were feeling the same way.
Chicano history began with a massive immigration of Mexicans to California, in the United States, around 1850. Thanks to the Gold Rush and the construction of the railroads in the 1870’s, the expansion in numbers of Mexicans arriving to the Los Angeles California area was made possible. The third massive migration was around the 1940’s with a program called “braceros”. This program recruited hundreds of Mexicans to work in the fields of California. After years of hard work, families went back to Mexico, because of the lack of migratory papers that allowed them and their families to live in the country. Others decided to stay, because they already had children born in the country. Mexican families settled down at the south of the border with Mexico, in areas like Texas, Arizona, and California. Because of the constant search for work on the fields, Mexican communities were continuously informed about any change on their life style around their communities, making possible the spread an...
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...for them to go back in time. Without a doubt, I am sure they are going to recall several things that was from their own past. Throughout the whole museum you can see different topics about our own history and heritage. It’s not enough in a limited period to be able to appreciate and listen to all the audio or comprehend all the information that they have transmitted through the available exhibits. It’s sad that I been here in this city for a very long time and was not aware of this cultural museum. Now that I recognize the abundant amount one can learn about Mexican heritage by visiting La Plaza de Cultura y Artes museum I will spread the word to my associates, friends, and family. It absolutely makes you appreciate the Mexican legacy and allows you to see all the history that has taken place in recent times within those partitions throughout the entire museum.
Cinco de Mayo is usually confused with Mexican Independence day but that day is when Mexico fought French invaders. During 1910, Mexico revolted against its repressive rulers and adapted its new constitution. They came up with the term for those who were told in Mexico they weren’t Mexican and in America who weren’t American. They wanted to belong to both. While the Civil Rights movement is mostly known to give African-American rights but, Chicanos also fought for their rights. The term Chicano first became accepted during the Chicano Movement. Thus, Chicanos have many things to be proud of. Their Aztec ancestors were intelligent people who built a city on water and made all Chicanos royalty. Along with their Mexican ancestors won two revolutions and won against the huge French army. Trinidad Sanchez Jr., a poet, wrote about Chicano pride in his poem, “Why Am I so Brown?” Sanchez wrote the poem in order to call attention to that all should be proud of their skin color. His poem talks about Chicanos having honor in their skin color by using imagery, metaphors, and
This is critical for the readers to know the show the bias, injustice, and premeditated ignorance of the United States educational system. It also demonstrates that Chicano Studies is not important regardless of the Hispanic population in this supposed “free” country. It seems as if the Chicano Studies was made only to fail by keeping it under funded and understaffed. By doing so, it has an affect on keeping away good scholars to maintain the historical development of Hispanics in the United States as well as its own history.
The focus of analysis will consist of Southern Chicago Mexicans and the way by which they established themselves as important features of US civilization. Within the late 1910s and early 1920s the first major waves of Mexican immigrants ventured into the Southside of Chicago. Members of the community overcame the discrimination against them while organizing themselves in way that introduced Mexican pride and community building across their
...n, Gonzalez states his identity; "I am Aztec Prince and Christian Christ." This combination of culture is the basis of his poem, which can be found at http://www.pbs.org/chicano/joaquin.html, and is representative of the heritage of Mexican Americans. The concept of Aztlan is explained in Chicano!, and the mural ‘Corazon de Aztlan,’ found in Chicano Park (http://chicanopark.org/murals/north/n8.html ), reinforces the importance of this image in the lives of Chicanos. The myth of Aztlan symbolizes centuries of culture and struggles of Mexican Americans who went through incredibly difficult times throughout history, but never lost hope and always stayed strong, determined to one day be treated equally as citizens of the United States of America.
Weber, David J. Foreigners in Their Native Land: The Historical Roots of Mexican Americans. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1973.
The zoot suit symbolized several different things for the Mexican American population in the Los Angeles community. Not only was it a symbol of pride in their Mexican heritage, but also a form of rebellion from the norms emplaced upon the Mexican teenagers by their parents. These suits were also a symbol of unity, these young men wanted to look different and feel as if they’re culture could be something they could display and be proud of. This whole image was seen by the modern culture of Los Angeles to be “gang” related or distasteful. These “Pachuco” or punks often spoke a hybrid of English and Spanish, this was known as “calo.” However, many of the Mexican American teenagers at the time, spoke only English. The outfit often included pants wide at the knee often 40 inches or more, a broad shouldered jacket, hat, chain wallet and shined shoes called “calcos.”
Mexican civilization is very much affected due its contact. with France, New Orleans of the USA.”Design, style and gastronomy are expressions that show the vibe of Yucatan, sentiment relevance more than its personal kingdom.”(4).
Mexican American struggles in the United States date back to the Spanish discovery of the New World in 1492. For over five hundred years, Mexicans have endured social injustices and inequalities at the hands of their superiors. The mistreatment of the native people of this land is constantly overlooked for "…the main goals shaping Spanish colonial policy were to maintain and expand political control and to convert Indians to Christianity." (Vargas p.30) With this mindset, the basic nature of relations between the dominant Anglos and the inferior Mexicans was that of suppression, rejection, ignorance and separation as opposed to establishment of ideals that would foster cultural relations and produce the true definition of a "melting pot" society.
Chicano!--the History of the Mexican American Civil Rights Movement. Dir. Moctesuma Esparza. PBS, 1996. Tv.
A significant part in being Chicano is embracing your roots and fighting for your rights. Chicano culture was at its peak in the 60’s and 70’s when Chicanos were exhausted of being oppressed. Chicanos young and old, decided that it was time to take a stand by not only expressing their feelings but their pride. This inspired the rise in Chicano art coming out at that time as well as a bunch of sayings going around like “Brown pride” and “We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us”. Most of my mom’s side identify as Chicano, especially the ones that were growing up at that time. They appreciate the movement, the art, and the lifestyle. In fact, I know that at least one of my tias participated in the school walkouts for Chicano rights. When I’m at a family party, I still notice that Chicano pride even in my older cousins who were born years after the peak. I understand that to some, Chicanos are perceived as cholos. There are some but not all, but all the older ones do show off their pride as I’ve seen.
Monroy, Douglas. Thrown Among Strangers: The Making of Mexican Culture in Frontier California . 1990.
Armando Rendon in his landmark 1970 wrote the book I am a Chicano. This book is about how activist in the Chicano movement pointed to an empty monolog of the word Chicano. Chicano means an activist. Chicanos describes themselves it was a form of self-affirmation; it reflected the consciousness that their experiences. Chicanos means, nations, histories, and cultures. This book talks about how Mexican American also used the term of Chicano to describe them, and usually in a lighthearted way, or as a term of endearment. In a text it talks how Chicanos haven’t forgotten their Mexican origins, and how they become a unique community. The book talks about how Mexican American community’s long-suffering history of racism and discrimination, disenfranchisement, and economic exploitation in the United States. The
Introduction to Chicano Studies or Chicano Studies 1A is an introductory course at UC Santa Barbara on the historical development of Chicano people that covers topics ranging from the Aztec Society to the contemporary Latino Generation. The class includes a lecture, with 500 students, and is taught by Professor Mario T. Garcia. It is held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:00 to 3:15 PM in Isla Vista Theater 1. There is also a mandatory section which is taught by a teacher’s assistant. The section is 50 minutes long, and in my case led by Sarah Latanyshyn on Friday afternoons in Girvetz Hall.
My first experience at the museum was a good one. I had so much fun even after we were done with the Norton-Simon. Being a business major, I did not know that art could speak to me as it did. It has not influenced me so much as to change my major, but it did open my eyes to a whole new world. Now when I look at art, I do not just see a pretty picture, but what the artist is actually trying to say.
The ethnic- Mexican experience has changed over the years as American has progressed through certain period of times, e.g., the modernity and transformation of the southwest in the late 19th and early 20th century, the labor demands and shifting of U.S. immigration policy in the 20th century, and the Chicano Civil Rights Movement. Through these events Mexican Americans have established and shaped their culture, in order, to negotiate these precarious social and historical circumstances. Throughout the ethnic Mexicans cultural history in the United States, conflict and contradiction has played a key role in shaping their modalities of life. Beginning in the late 20th century and early 21st century ethnic Mexicans have come under distress from the force of globalization. Globalization has followed the trends of conflict and contradiction forcing ethnic Mexicans to adjust their culture and combat this force. While Mexican Americans are in the struggle against globalization and the impact it has had on their lives, e.g., unemployment more common, wages below the poverty line, globalization has had a larger impact on their motherland having devastating affects unlike anything in history.