Inspiring and encouraging Chicano students to attend college, especially first generation students, has been a movement lead by many clubs, organizations, and by teachers who are passionate about their careers. Thus, “first generation students” is a term that states that a student does not have a record of previous generations attending college. Usually, students classified as such come from low income families as well as from poor neighborhood communities. That is to say, many of these individuals are also minorities such as African Americans and Chicano students. Also, public schools in low income areas tend to have poorly taught material in school. Consequently, there exists a direct correlation between race and poverty that portrays a …show more content…
Johanna Alatorre is a first generation Chicana student and has been an active member in the Latino Union organization since 2014. As she opened the door to her bedroom and welcomed me inside, she looked nothing like I expected. She did not have strong Mexican features as I had imagined. In the contrary, Alatorre had a very light skin complexion, short wavy brunette hair, and was about four foot eleven. Her large, brown, 80’s vintage eyeglasses stood out, as well as her heartwarming smile. I stood there nervously but a sense of complete comfort arose when I noticed she was wearing a gold rosary necklace and her Mexican huaraches. In that instance I knew we had a lot in common. As Alatorre tried to get rid of the mess she had laying on her grey sofa, my eyes wandered around her bedroom. On her desk I noticed a Mexican flag, a sugar skull, and a black and white porcelain skull. Above her sofa, on the wall, was a colorful Mexican confetti banner. Right below that, a large white poster filled with pictures of Alatorres’ friends and family. Right in the center of the white poster was a black paper with the words “Amor Y Paz” (love and peace), and a clenched fist which symbolizes solidarity and expresses strength, resistance, and unity as a community. (See fig. 1.) This information Alatorre explained with a deep passion for her culture and her hard working Chicano community. Underneath the poster was a
Gloria Anzaldúa was a Texas-born, lesbian, Latina, feminist, that wrote about many of her personal experiences and views of the diverse background she grew up in. Growing up a certain culture at home and being in a country with a different culture, brings along a lot of self-identifying issues. Gloria Anzaldúa uses various strategies and languages to write this powerful piece by code-switching, quoting others, diction, and rhetorical questions. Anzaldúa’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” speaks about the social issues that Latinos face involving identity, language, and sexism.
Success! That’s what we feel when artist with roots from Mexico, Elizabeth Blancas, self-identified as a Xicana, expresses her mind on a relevant issue throughout an outstanding display of empowering and freedom in the piece “Women & Two Spirits Are The Backbone Of Every Tribe”, in the corner of Saint Marguerite with Saint-Antoine West streets. In her painting, the artist presents a sexual issue and the cultural role it has in the indigenous tribes. Although the artist expertise relies on serigraphy, she blooms in the mural world hand-brushing distinguished figures by giving voice to protesters against a US company pipeline construction site, near the Standing Dakota Indian Reservation, and in special Caro Gonzales and Lauren Howland.
Growing up in a Hispanic household has shaped and built my values in life. At Appleton North High School, I am one out of the few Hispanic students. Knowing that my parents have migrated to America to give me a better future has motivated me to make it happen. Although, as a Mexican-American, I have felt out of place as a minority. However, with time I learned to accept my cultural differences. In fact, to this day, I thank my widowed father for the sacrifices and greater opportunities he has given me. My goal is to keep representing the few Hispanic students in college by working hard to achieve my career goals; not all Hispanics are fortunate enough to attend college. I also work to inspire young Hispanics to find their potential and follow
These claims have been well documented. However, the connection to the graduation gap may be clearer with an answer of how other factors such as financial and other family problems brought about by poverty affect them. The rest of the book provides possible solutions to questions of invisibility such as respecting and valuing black students. Another solution is removing remedial programs for challenging curricula and supports that are appropriate.
After reading Chapter Three of Valencia’s “Chicano School Failure and Success,” I was surprised about how unsupportive the data was regarding Chicano/a and Hispanic student success and their family’s socioeconomic status. Valencia does note there is some data that supports how big a role socioeconomic status has in student dropout rates, yet there is also data that suggests it does not play as large of a role as previously thought or even is a factor altogether. This really took me back, as I am a big supporter to the theory that socioeconomic status is directly tied to modern student success, and that race is a subsection of the socioeconomic struggles people face which has arisen over time.
One of the most influential parts of Gloria Anzaldúa’s work is her concept of a mestiza consciousness and how it can be utilized to help us better understand and even accept the multiculturalism within our ethnic identity. Being a Mexican American or Chicana can be a complicated experience because of how the two worlds are divided in more ways than one. Not only is it challenging to find a sense of belonging when you’re divided by a physical and theoretical border, but it also takes a toll on the psyche to consistently adjust oneself in order to fit the scene. However, the mestiza consciousness is an inclusive and universal mindset that enables Chicanas to embrace all aspects of their identity, without having to sacrifice part of themselves in order to fit a concrete definition. Coinciding with Chicana feminism, the mestiza consciousness empowers women and enables them to celebrate their culture and
Esperanza’s neighborhood, home only to Mexican-American families, is separated from the rest of society. Many parents of these families were raised in Mexico, and although their children now reside in America, they still expect them to continue to practice the traditions of their initial culture. Esperanza, like many other young Hispanics, is thrown into this situation along with her siblings. She tries to balance holding on to the customs of her family with fitting in at school and among her peers. Despite her efforts to blend in, the severity of the segregation causes both the American and Mexican cultures to conflict each other. Esperanza senses the grudge between the two cultures and tells readers that “those who don’t know any better come into our neighborhood scared. They think we are dangerous. They think we will attack them with shiny knives” (28). The Mexican-Americans in Esperanza’s community are regarded as lower class and threatening to the rest of society. As a result of this labeling, Esperanza will never be completely like her white American peers. The amount of influence coming from her home culture changes her in a way that is so unlike the Americans that she gives up trying to fit in. Instead, she decides to take the best of each culture and create her own way of living. To conclude, this novel distinctly explores the theme of two different cultures striving to mix together.
My ideas to inspire and engage my generation of Hispanics is to go to college and show how we can all make it to our dreams. Even though there might be hoops and things we have to go through to be able to get there. Showing my achievements can show other people how they are able to also get there. In addition, provide my help with my services and whatever I can do to help other people get where they want to be. I want to be able to show what I have done, even though I might had going through extra loops due to limitations and different challenges were not enough to stop me to go where I want to go.
Hi, I was highly agreed that "most Chicano students in East Los Angeles felt tat they needed to obtain an education to achieve the American dream, but they also believed that they needed to fight for equal access to an education to secure a successful future for themselves and the following generations in their community.” I think that not only Chicano students felt this, all the new immigrants felt like this. The education is the most important way to change people’s life. I think through the education, democracy will be achieved. I think the unequal treatment in education still have in America. What do you think?
Since my transfer orientation at UCR, I was interested in getting involved with the Chicano students Program. It was the main organization that I felt connected to. Fortunately I had the opportunity to intern at CSP, it has been one of the greatest experience of my collage years. I am so proud of my self of getting out there and doing something for our college campus. This quarter I discovered skills that I had hidden, before this internship I didn’t now some skills that I had hidden. I have always been and introvert student but was hoping to get my extrovert side and have learned that I do have it. I am proud to say that Spring 2016 internship has been one of the best experiences.
Another major predicament that plays a large role in the amount of African Americans that do not receive a higher education is once they get to college, they do not have a typical or enjoyable experience once there. In today’s society, it is hard to imagine that there is still racism and segregation in schools and colleges today but the reality is, it still does very much exist. This is especially true when black students attend predominantly white universities. Even though most colleges promote themselves by talking about how diverse their
For many years, the Mexican-Americans faced discrimination by education. Only the Americans had the right to quality education while the Chicanos were considered as less important. In particular, the Chicano women could not attend school. Educating a Chicano woman was considered as a waste of time and resources (Zugel 2012). It would bring no value to the society by taking a Chicano woman to school.
Mrs. Garcia is a middle age Mexican American woman, first generation acculturation into the societal beliefs
Using these traditional images that older Chicana women are familiar with to represent the ideas of younger women can help communication between generations, and narrow the chasm between them. Yolanda Lopez’s depictions of La Virgen de Guadalupe capture the complexity of the different stages a Chicana woman goes through as daughter and mother (Anzaldúa, 2015, 53). The daughter is depicted as an athlete who has the freedom to show her skin for comfort, and not be seen as a whore. The mother is shown as performing the domestic task of sewing. Unlike the traditional Virgen, she is at work, and she is allowed to have wrinkles on her face.
Section A: I am a Mexican-American woman, born to Mexican immigrant parents, and by birthright an American citizen. In my phenotype, I do not look like a stereotypical American, with blonde hair, blue eyes, or a light complexion. I have black hair, dark brown eyes, and a light brown skin complexion. While exploring my identity and my sense of belonging in my Mexican-American, or Chicana identity, I can relate to the growth and development described in the Model of Death and Dying. For, I have the privileges of an American, but have witnessed discrimination against my fellow Mexicans counterparts.