I'm Chicana, I'm from southeast LA. But even growing up in predominantly Chicano communities, I didn't get to learn much about Chicano history in school. It was also rarely talked about outside of school too. Thankfully, my dad knows quite a bit about Chicano history, and he's very passionate about it. I grew up being proud of being brown. And I guess that's what sparked my interest. I would find ways to learn about it on my own; learn more about my history and my people's history and finding ways to share that too.
Since there's not a lot of educational materials about Chicano history, I
would do things like watch YouTube videos, and talk to people who were
very much involved in Chicano activism.
For instance, I would talk to the Brown Berets, an organization that was
started in the early 70s during the Chicano movement. I got to know some
members from a chapter in San Bernardino, which is in southern California.
I eventually ended up joining the chapter and I feel like they've taught
me a lot about indigeneity within Chicanismo, and also a lot about like
the activist history behind the term Chicano.
As for culture, I feel like my entire life I was kind of just raised in
that. Like I said, my dad was really big on that and would show me Chicano
art. Sometimes there would be some museums with Mexican and Chicano art,
and we attended those. We would also go to other community events, like
low rider car shows.
Now that I'm in college, I've tried to take that further and take a more
formal approach. I enroll in classes that are focused on Latino Studies
and Latino culture. And while that's not equivalent to Chicanismo, I think
a lot of times they do have content from Mexican authors and Chicano
authors.
I think that our culture is very unique and it's very focused on the
family. And typically, events like that are family spaces. People will
get together and elotes y carne asada. It's a time to be with family
and really connect.
I also think
seeing a bunch of other Chicanos at those type of events helped me
to be able to recognize the beauty in our culture.
It's it's a very safe space where you see people being happy all
around you. If you were to just hear about our culture from the
outside, I feel like I've heard stuff said about certain things being
ghetto or whatever, but I guess you can really see the truth behind
those traditions when you're really in them.
I've always liked to do artsy stuff. Over the years, I've tried a
bunch of different things. I like to draw, I like dancing, recently
I've really liked paininting. I look to a lot of Chicano art for
inspiration. That's what a lot of my drawings are based off of.
As for dancing, I think that is something very important in Mexican
culture. I had done Dance Azteca for a bit, but unfortunately I had to
go to college just after I had started. Every once in a while, I try
to practice what I have learned.
A little over a year ago, I started beading earrings, which is also a
Mexican tradition that I'm trying to keep alive. I've also gotten into
writing poetry, that has all been very focused on my identity as a
Chicana.
So really most of my art is centered around my Mexican and Chicana
identity, or at least that's been a big inspiration for me starting
different projects.
I honestly just try stuff and learn from other Chicanos. When I started to make earrings, I would watch youTube videos from other indigenous people. Other things I picked up a lot from my friends and family. My dad really likes to draw, so I grew up drawing with him. For Dance Azteca, I was actually in a dance group that I found through the Brown Berets, so they taught me. For other forms of dancing, I learned a lot from my mom and friends. When I really started to get into poetry, it was because of two of my friends, Jared and Nubia. They're really great poets and they've shown me some of their work. I felt inspired. They didn't really tell me 'This is how you do poetry,' but after hearing their stuff, I was inspired to make my own.
I think it's a good place to start learning about our history through
books. Theres a lot of authors who have recently starting more about
our history. There's one book by Rodolfo Acuña, and he writes an
extensive history about what Chicanos are now by starting back with
indigenous groups from before Colubus.
It's also important to recognize that our culture is something that
is writing on paper. It's something that real people
experience.So making friends or meeting people who are Chicano and Mexican
andlearning about the traditions from them. Not every Chicano or every
Mexican is the same, but there are a lot of traditions that are
similar, so
learning from community members and getting that experience for
yourself is a great way to become more connected to your
roots.
Something I've been wanting to do for a while is learn Nahuatl, which
is an indigenous language of Latin America, specifically for what are
known as the Aztecs. But it was also the ligua-franca of Latin America
for a long time and there are a lot of speakers. But it's really
difficult to learn because I haven't had other people who I can
practice with, but I hope I can do that in the near future.
And then also,
I want to continue to practice the art forms I have already done
and keep learning more about Chicano history.
I know some stuff, but because we've been systematically left out of
history, purposefully erased, it's really hard to keep learning. But I
would definitely like to do more research into that, wether it be
looking through different books or talking to community members.