Rigoberta Menchu

Menchú uses pathos, appealing to her readers’ empathy, to gain their support for her human rights efforts by demonizing ladino culture through horrific examples of violence and the idea that she can only resist racial discrimination by assimilating to the culture perpetuating it. As Elisabeth Burgos-Debray states in the

A Chicana woman is a person of Mexican origin. Activist Cecilia Caballero falls into this category. Through a website that she cofounded, Chincana M(other)work, author Caballero writes to spread social justice to mothers who are minorities including Mexican women who are treated unlike white mothers. Caballero has good intentions when arguing how life is different being a brown mother by sharing a personal story and using emotional appeals, which in return makes her writing effective for her target audience. However, her writing would not be effective for other audiences outside the echo chamber because she fails to recognize other people’s point of views and circumstances, which ultimately would have made her writing stronger by appealing to a larger audience.

Rigoberta Menchu, a Quiche Indian woman native to Guatemala, is a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for politically reaching out to her country and her people. In her personal testimony tittled “I, Rigoberta Menchu” we can see how she blossomed into the Nobel Prize winner she is today. Following a great deal in her father’s footsteps, Rigoberta’s mobilization work, both within and outside of Guatemala, led to negotiations between the guerillas and the government and reduced the army power within Guatemala. Her work has helped bring light to the strength of individuals and citizen organization in advocacy and policy dialogue on the world scale. In a brief summary of the book I will explore why Rigoberta Menchu is important to

“I, Rigoberta Menchu” by Menchu is an autobiography that details the genocide of the Mayan people in Guatemala. The book has earned her the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for publishing the truth about the trials and tribulations that the indigenous people of Guatemala faced. The problem is that the autobiography has been found to be untrue. The details of the book were fabricated by Menchu, in an attempt to send her message about the indigenous Guatemalan people 's struggles. This has created a controversy amongst Latin American scholars, as well as amongst the education system that requires the autobiography as reading material. The entirety of the situation has even called into question whether or not the content of the book could be taken seriously as material because of this fabrication.

Although this course is about global women’s movements, the overall argument in which I intend on taking for the purpose of this book review is that besides women, First Nations men are also victims of oppression. In addition to oppression, first nations are often stereotyped by society. Rice’s book does a good job on reflecting this idea once again, through the use of first person point of view stories. It allows the reader to really understand how these stereotypes affect the everyday lives of First Nations people. Before getting into how stereotyping affects the lives of these people, we will begin with looking into oppression and how it relates to the textbook.

Gloria Anzaldua’s short essay, Towards a New Consciousness, begins with the description of her mixed culture, a mestiza, and the conflicts she faces in being torn between being Mexican and Native American. Anzaldua expresses her struggle of her torn heritages by describing herself as being caught between two cultures and their values. Instead of being able to love and respect both cultures, Anzaldua feels as if we people feel the need to take up one side of our heritage and end up hating the other part. She paints an image as standing on an opposite side of a riverbank, yelling back and forth answers and questions showing that we eventually end up favoring one side and only getting pieces of the other

Anzaldúa recounts her experience growing up in a community where her Chicana culture wasn’t widely accepted. She would be punished for speaking the language her culture influenced to create a language, which corresponds to a way of life. In Gloria Anzaldúa’s “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” the variety of languages helps her compare, contrast and define her argument of the distinguished languages concerning her Chicana identity.

She also talks about the Native feminist ethics, which brings understanding of the cultural perspectives of leadership under the spotlight. In this respect, I think understanding of Native women’s traditional gender functions, roles and responsibilities is crucial in perceiving Indigenous feminism. This is because I think in many tribal societies such as the Pashtun tribal societies in the northwestern FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) perceive gender roles and responsibilities as complementary. The FATA areas and the colonial government system were creation of the British colonizers. This example is very much relevant to the case of Native societies that were/are colonized in North America because the British colonial rulers applied the similar methods to control and regulate Pashtun tribes in the FATA areas. In comparison to the CFR Courts to implement the Code of Indian Offences in Canada, the colonizers introduced and enforced the FCR (Frontier Crimes Regulations) in the FATA areas on the Pakistani side of the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. In this colonial structure, the Political Agent system implemented the FCR in which, for example, because of one tribal individual the entire tribe was punished. Unfortunately, the FCR is still very much alive and is being used the way many colonial laws are currently implemented in Canada and

It’s hard to say that comparing two individual’s lives is an easy task. When looking at my life and Esmerelda Santiago’s life, the sociological imagination could be used to assist in doing that. The following concepts will be used to better understand the surprising similarities and differences: immigration, doing gender, conformist, double consciousness, deviance and traditional authority. I will start by analyzing Esmerelda Santiago’s life. Following that, I will analyze my life and will finish with a conclusion that draws out the comparisons and differences of both.

One must learn to adjust themselves to the dominant culture while having their own cultural values, Anzaldua called it “plural personality”. Mestiza for her is possibility of thinking at border length. Rejection of binary thinking of border and it system of diffraction. All cultural identity is built in the story that is being told which passed down culture, identity and traditions. This encourages tolerance of ambiguity. There’s no Mestiza for her because it’s tainted and forged through power and domination. It’s a combination of inequality, rejection of traditional culture and the acceptance to create a new culture that gives rise to a new consciousness. Anzalua’s “new” identity is very significant to idea to a certain extent, other than defining herself according to society’s definition of what constitutes being Hispanic

Hooker claims indigenous groups are more successful and gaining collective rights due to the view of indigenous groups as a distinct cultural group while Afro-decedents are not seen as having a distinct culture, but rather a separate racial group (Hooker, 2005). Wade (1997) also pointed the inequality in epistemology of academics in who study Latin America. Where black groups are studied by sociologists in relation to racism and indigenous peoples are studied by Anthropologist (p.60). Blacks find it more difficult to gain recognition because the multicultural reforms adopted by Latin American states are based on ethnic identity rather than race

I wanted to look at how he transitioned from one country to another. I also looked at if he felt in racial tension or hostility as an immigrant in the south. I also focused on the concept of community in the US compared to Guatemalan community.

Activist, Gloria Anzaldua’s narrative excerpt “How to Tame a Wild Tongue” She goes into depth of ethnic identity, while knocking down walls of linguistic and identity down. How one would identify themselves while broadcasting the struggles any person with culture has felt. She uses ethos, pathos, and logos alongside all five senses. Making the reader feel as though they witness the struggles she went through if not witness then actually experienced. Anzaldua’s thesis is that language is a part of one’s identity. It is what makes a person who they and connects them to their roots. People shouldn't let others try to tame their tongue or cut off their native language; because once they do and are given that power they can disconnect the person from their culture and roots.

Enlightenment and Romanticism, Banerji asserts, are two fundamental literary traditions of Mary Shelley’s novel. As Frankenstein immerses in the intellectual conflicts that arouse with the Enlightenment by stating her belief that excessive rationalism can be dangerous and destructive. She expresses her belief of this danger by conveying her protagonist Vector Frankenstein as being consumed with an insatiable desire for knowledge (due to his rationalist upbringing/education) that ultimately leads to his creation of the monster. Banerji also points out the novels use of the typical gothic motifs such as the gothic’s tendency to blur the line between good and evil or the distinction between the “pursuer and pursued”. The novels use of horror versus

In this class, I was presented with an opportunity to reflect upon my personal knowledge of Indigenous