Cultural Experience In Laredo

Being an avid music lover and a communication studies student, I had a desire to integrate the knowledge acquired during the course of my classes with an event that enabled me to understand the dynamics between culture and music events. This intrigues me to study and experience the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival as an artifact of music. Coachella is an extremely popular event amongst individuals of my age bracket where people of diverse races, ethnic background, creeds unite together for the love of music. Considering it the perfect opportunity, I decided to experience the true essence of Coachella. The event is said to be the most popular

This tenacious journey to develop my identity was finally over. For a brief moment, I was able to denounce the racial stigmas against me. However, if I were to be faced with this uncomfortable situation once again, I would simply smile. I would invite anyone who disapproved of my heritage to Latin-America Fest. I refuse to be silence in the faces of the ignorant. I refuse to be intimated by racism. I stand proud and tall with my Latino brothers and sisters, facing the world everyday. Regardless of what the world may think, I will continue to defy the gravitational pull of triumph and rise above the prejudices against

A misperception of the global community is that countries are comprised of a single culture. In this compartmentalized worldview, a country has the same food, ideas, and traditions as if our national borders are the only aspect to define us. However, Mexico is far from a homogenized culture or identity; there is a myriad of differences within present day Mexico and the Mexican-American Community. In Chicago, the Westside neighborhood of Pilsen showcases the rich diversity of Mexican culture. Pilsen has changed hands as many immigrants thrived in its streets throughout the century and is now predominantly Latino/Mexican. The small neighborhood’s vibrant culture is encapsulated in the brilliantly colored painted murals featured on many building,

Overall, the chapter, which focuses on “Hispanicity”, impacted me because I began to formulate ideas which opposed those that had been hammered into my mind all my life. For so long I had heard that minorities were victims to oppression by whites and for that reason minorities should strive to do more than what is expected from them. In reading Rodriguez’s claim, questions that had never been explored in my development arose in my mind such as “Are Hispanics really the victims?”, “Do Hispanics truly strive to their fullest to accomplish things that have never been done?”, and lastly, “Are Hispanics committing acts of hypocrisy?”. If a Hispanic

After finding out a little bit of information about Latino Union, I became very intrigued about it. It would be a great way to complete this essay while at the same time satisfying my own personal interest in the organization. I love what Latino Union is about and how passionate they are about what they do for the community and for themselves. Being able to sit down with Milo and talk about his own personal experiences and hearing the passion in his voice really made me decide that I want to be apart of Latino Union so that I too can influence other students to join. Based on my experience and the information I gathered, I would recommend other UCR students look into organizations that spark an interest within them and become a part of those groups of students, it will be a great way for students to learn more about their community, their peers, and

The topic of social justice was not always a passion of mine to pursue in life. Growing up in a small town it was always difficult to see the gaps in our society. It was not until I started working for a Christian nonprofit that helped change my philosophies. For the past three years, I have been working as a missionary with Destino; a Christian nonprofit that focuses on raising up a generation of Latino college students to go out and change the world wherever God has called them. Since moving out of my small town and into an urban environment I have been able to witness firsthand the struggles Latino college students face. The worries they face as an undocumented student paying their way through college because they do not qualify for financial aid. The problems within Latino culture and the importance of providing for their family rather than receiving a college degree. The difficulties of fighting racism as a minority student attending a majority culture university. These are only a handful of struggles my students face everyday living in Denver. Although working with Destino, I have learned the importance of being culturally aware and to continue fighting on to be a voice to others who are unable to

This is a narrative of one Mexican American woman’s experiences and her views on the importance of passing down the cultural beliefs of her ancestors. In the section of the country in which I live there is a large population within the community of Mexican American culture. Although I have frequent contact with people of Mexican American heritage either through employment or interaction out in the community, I have a limited understanding of their culture. For this reason, I chose to learn more about the population of people I have frequent contact with and as a professional work with as clients in the field of mental health counseling. The quest of finding someone knowledgeable to discuss the population, their cultural background and some of their necessities, as well as some past experiences, led me towards contacting a church. This took calling two different churches before the person at the second church informed me that I needed to speak with, Mrs. Socorro Garcia head of their Hispanic Ministries. Unfortunately, Mrs. Garcia was on vacation when I called, but I was able to speak with her over the phone the following week, setting up an interview in person at her office a couple days later. This was a relief because I was becoming concerned about locating someone for a personal interview.

While I may not have had much exposure to diversity in my hometown, I have done my best to put myself out there and learn from those who have backgrounds different from my own. I even participated in the Walk a Mile in Her Hijab event last Spring. I think coming to Loyola has helped me to understand my personal privilege, and recognize that I have much to learn regarding all the beautiful things that each individual brings to the table.

On January 30th, 2017, I went to a Courageous Conversations talk offered by the Center of Faith and Justice in the Gallagher Student Center at Xavier University. Dr. Kyra Shahid, associate director of the Center for Diversity and Inclusion, lead the discussion which focused on the experiences of LatinX people on college campuses pre- and post- the US presidential election of Donald Trump. The discussion focused on people of Latino decent including the countries of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South and Central American and how President Donald Trump’s executive orders has and will affect them. People from many different countries apart from the ones listed about were invited to speak up and ask questions about the situation.

The crowd was a very respectful crowd. For me it did not seem to be the stereotypical crowd that you would imagine at a summer concert that this was. People where up and singing and dancing to the music and where having an overall good time listening to the music. The crowd ranged from little kids to adults, but everyone was almost in unison with the music, it’s a weird thing to experience. From where my family where sitting we did not see that much alcohol being drank and even less intoxicated people. With this you could really enjoy the show without having to deal with annoying drunk fans. If you accidently bump into someone they where respectful and apologized. You could talk to your family and Tim and Faith would encourage you to sing along to the music by stopping mid song and you would sing without them.

Over the last four years, I’ve gone to over thirty concerts for artists whose genres range from pop, rap, and alternative. Since I’m experienced with them, I’m aware of the different price ranges and the stage performances. After my first concert, I started working so that I could afford to have concerts as a hobby. Even though I have gone to many different types of concerts, like pop, rap, and alternative, my favorite kind to experience are alternative concerts.

The moment I stepped foot into the doorway, I knew that the night would not turn out the way I had expected. I was stunned in fear by the way people looked: tattoos, piercings, and hoodies was clearly the norm at the scene. The room was dark, and I felt the stuffy air choke me up. First impressions are everything, and this one was unlike any other; I was somewhat scared and uneasy. This is how I felt the night my friends introduced a new idea to go to a metal concert for the first time. This was no Bruce Springsteen or Billy Joel concert; it was a new entity that was explicitly more fierce and threatening that I have ever imagined. Metal concerts are dangerous and unappealing places where people fight, get hurt, and are reckless with their behavior; attending these concerts have demonstrated how revoking the people and venue can be, and have changed my views on them and music forever.

I went to my first concert when I was 16. I had begged my mom to take me to Sarah McLachlan, a chanteuse of glorious pop melodies and soprano range. The show itself was powerful and enchanting, and I had fallen in love with what live music was – an opportunity to interact with people who bend notes and chords to reach emotions and touch souls. When I went to college, all my spare money went to concert tickets. I would go to local shows and talk my way past the bouncer to stand front and center and feel the bass drum kick. Sometimes, I would live on a subsistence of ramen and peanut butter sandwiches to save for a big show. Walking into a stadium to see thousands of people share love for an artist is like entering a

I have been to multiple concerts before but nothing compares to the Resonance Music and Arts Festival, a weekend long camp out of like-minded, motived, music loving individuals. In simpler terms, modern day hippies. These hippies focus more on medication, dancing, and yoga as a way to reach the ultimate state of joy. The people around me, the clothing they wore, the smell of weed that filled the air, and the music that blared through the speakers were all things I will never forget about that summer weekend. The life style of hundreds of individuals in a crowd was different from anything I had ever laid my eyes on.

looking for causes, how listeners make their decisions to attend and how they critique or respond to performances. Secondly, their approach is correlational that to seek qualitative insight on the experiences of the EJBF audiences. Lastly, they focus on attendances’ perceptions and observe behavior by participating in the events and gaining first hand experiences. Broadly speaking, the authors conduct qualitative research although there are still small amounts of quantitative data of showing ages of respondents and previous festival attendance.