For my field report I chose to visit The Centro Cultural de la Raza located in Balboa Park. The Centro Cultural de la Raza was established in 1970 and completed in 1985. It was created in order to preserve, promote, and educate about Mexican, Chicano, Indigenous and Latin culture and art.
When I arrived at the Centro I was greeted by a volunteer by the name of Bertha “Birdie” Gutierrez who has been a volunteer there for five years, I asked for a tour of the establishment. Birdie is also a jewelry designer and sells pieces she creates that are Chicano inspired there. She does this in order to raise money for Chicano causes. I was told that the building itself used be a water tank, which explains its circular shape. Birdie explained that the circle is sacred in the Chicano culture. The first mission that took place was the large mural that is spread upon the circular wall of the old tank. It was designed by Guillermo “Yermo” Aranda and it is titled “La Dualidad”. The mural took 12 years to complete. There were other artists that contributed to this piece, and a lot of those artists also contributed to the artwork in Chicano Park.
There is currently an exhibit of the work by Sergio Vásquez on display in the Centro titled “Portraitures and Alebrijes”. There was about 13 pieces, and one book by him on display. The walls are white and there is a lot of empty space between each piece, really creating an environment of focus on each creation.
The Centro Cultural de la Raza located in Balboa Park has an important history here in San Diego for Chicanos on its own. Salvador Torres, Guillermo Aranda, Ruben de Anda, Mario Acevedo, Victor Ochoa, David Avalos, the Enrique Family, the Delia Moreno Family, and others worked together to organize ...
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... taught the people to plant and cultivate leading to prosperity. The belief that every person has some good within them is also called Watakame.
The mural “La Dualidad” represents a long history of our peoples beginnings, struggles, and successes. I think that The Centro Cultural de la Raza is an important pillar in our community because it preserves the lessons we all need to learn. It is often said that to know where you are going you must know where you have been. I believe that, that lesson is taught within the walls of the Centro. I will be completely honest, I lacked knowledge of our history before this course and before my trip to the Centro. I have definitely become more passionate about my culture as a result, and that itself is significant. That why we need classes like chicano studies, professors like you, and places like The Centro Cultural de la Raza.
The first paragraph gives the readers and idea of the growing interest on Chicano Studies. It’s has developed over the course of twenty-six years and obtaining more non-chicano intellectuals that have absolutely no connection thus having no clue if studying the history of Chicanos. Part of the reason for everyone’s sudden interest in Chicano Studies is to integrate it into a larger ethnic study programs. The downfall of integrating the studies is that it places limitations on other courses that intervene with the major academic departments. The new development of Chicano Studies is really an excuse to teach genuine studies and to allow teachers to implement connected programs to receive a permanent status within their careers. Another part of keeping Chicano Studies in succession is to deliberately undermine its true meaning as well as keep it understaffed and under financed. This situation diminishes the programs ability to do community service for further future developments.
Through visiting La Plaza De Culturas Y Artes, I have learned a lot more interesting, yet, surprising new information about the Chicano history in California. For example, in the 1910’s and on the high immigration of Mexicans and other Chicanos, into coal mines and farms by major corporations, made California one of the richest states in the US. I also learned that most of California 's economy was heavily reliant on immigrants. Immigrants were the preferred worker for major corporations because they didn 't have American rights and were given the harder jobs for less pay.
The room was set up by having paintings on the walls with a sculpture directly in the center. This was the focal point of the room, Soundsuit, by Nick Cave. This piece was rich in color and character and I was immediately drawn to it. When I rounded the corner of the gallery there were many extravagant pieces such as Untitled #8 (2014) by Mickalene Thomas and Woman Under Willow (2014). Both pieces are inspired by Matisse, rich in color, and represent woman. The American gallery does a good job transitioning from one piece to another because each work is similar in some aspects. This gallery was less organized and different mediums were presented all throughout. There was a traditional quilt, Tar Beach 2 (1990) displayed in the same area as mediums such as wooden panels, oil pastel, and the metal hood of a car. This gallery and collection inspired by Matisse displayed many breathtaking works that I enjoyed seeing.
Most importantly, I wanted to understand why people are so dedicated to their heritage even though they are apart of the United States culture. Even though this does not personally impact me, I have known other people who can relate to this first-hand so I wanted to become more aware, as well as, connect with what they go through and feel. During my reading 3 placement at Morse Elementary School in Poughkeepsie, I worked with two boys who were Mexican and fluently spoke both languages. When both students presented a poster about themselves, they described many aspects of their Mexican culture and when asked to identity themselves, they said they were “Mexican.” After reading the article and having this first-hand experience, this allowed me to understand what Casares is describing. This is another reason why I selected this reading because I wanted to see the connection and if there were any similarities or
“Honoring our heritage. Building our culture.” What can you picture in your head while reading this? Do feel honored? Maybe special? Probably phenomenal? Well, this year's Hispanic Heritage month’s theme has brought to us a meaningful, and inspiring perspective on how Latinos are becoming more honored. Not only honored by their country, and other Spanish countries, but also being honored by the United States. Hispanics have impacted our nation through their solid responsibility to family, confidence, and diligent work. They have put in the effort and time to represent their Latino/a background. They have improved and formed our national character by looking back at what their ancestors would do. These hispanics deserve the right to be honored
Chavez Ravine was a self-sufficient and tight-knit community, a rare example of small town life within a large urban metropolis, but no matter how much the inhabitants loved thei...
...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.
In Michelle's paper she recaps the history of Mexicans in the United States that was not completely dealt with in either the website or the movie. Michelle points out that the Latin@s history is essential to understanding the Mexicans experience. She also wrote of the Mexican's el movemiento and how the website and movie brought about different accounts of this momentous event.
Although it is desirable to incorporate personal experiences of others to get a feel of the encounters that occurred to the typical or atypical individual within the Chicano movement, this does not entirely mean that the filmmakers left out those who studied the history of it. Historian Mario T. Garcia was a prominent addition in contributing to the historical experiences within the movement and brings in credibility. The concept of utilizing Chicanos who endured the reign of oppression and discussed their involvements to the impartiality efforts was a thrilling and clever one, there was still a need of a backbone in the factual side of it. By introducing an essence of experience, it generates a personal and emotional aspect in the documentary that can be unfavorable and stray from the informative attitude of a documentary. Having Garcia apart of the documentary grounds this enlightening dimension that insights as preventative measure which is an adept move on behalf of directors Luis Ortiz and Antonio
In El Plan de Santa Barbara, we are provided with a brief description of what “racial structure” has created for the Chicano community.Those who are privileged, “Anglo-American community,” have determined our future, a future where we are meant to stay in the lower class of society. In the Manifesto of EPDSB, it states “due to the racist structure of this society… self-determination of our community is now the only acceptable mandate for social and political action”(EPDSB 9). This “racist structure” stated in El Plan de Santa Barbara is traced all the way back to our ancestors during the Spanish invasion and through the Chicano movement we have been able to fight back against this “racist structure.”
...ento de Productos artesanales de plástico en el Ministerio de Educación. Con la ayuda de José Orozco y David Siqueiros, Rivera creó el Sindicato de Trabajadores Técnicos, Pintores y Escultores. Rivera y sus ayudantes pintaron 235 paneles al fresco individuales que cubren 15.000 metros cuadrados. Estos paneles mostraron sus puntos de vista políticos de México cultural, histórico y popular.
Art Gallery: The ground floor art gallery will serve as an opportunity for local artists to showcase their art to the community. Along with show casing local art, the art gallery will also host art programming for the community to participate in and share their artistic talents. The Development team anticipates this space to be occupied by Galleria de la Raza, a local non-profit whose mission is to foster public awareness and appreciation of Chicano/Latino art.
Albuquerque has various mural. They are all unique and they all have a different story. The mural that I will be analyzing is called “Our Community Our Family”. It is located in Kirtland Park on university Blvd. the mural was designed by Leah Lee and Joe Stephenson, the artist assistant was Leticia Thompson and it was painted with students from Lowell elementary school, Wilson middle school and Albuquerque high school as well as other volunteers. It was painted in April of 1996.
The struggle to find a place inside an un-welcoming America has forced the Latino to recreate one. The Latino feels out of place, torn from the womb inside of America's reality because she would rather use it than know it (Paz 226-227). In response, the Mexican women planted the seeds of home inside the corral*. These tended and potted plants became her burrow of solace and place of acceptance. In the comfort of the suns slices and underneath the orange scents, the women were free. Still the questions pounded in the rhythm of street side whispers. The outside stare thundered in pulses, you are different it said. Instead of listening she tried to instill within her children the pride of language, song, and culture. Her roots weave soul into the stubborn soil and strength grew with each blossom of the fig tree (Goldsmith).
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...