Who Am I Guzman Analysis

The image of a somewhat cohesive revolutionary party working towards peace put forth by Womack draws a stark line between the “bandit” enemy described by General Huerta and the Zapatistas. Brunk, in his writings on Zapata, challenges this narrative by exploring the gray space that does not allow for easy delineation between revolutionaries and bandits. Rather than existing as an arbitrary offshoot of Zapatismo, “banditry represented the pursuit of local political (and economic) goals” (Brunk, 349). Womack does acknowledge the “insoluble village rivalries that only compromise could ease”, but does not relate them directly to feuds involving bandits (Womack, 233). The nature of local politics was arguably defined by the multiplicity of intrinsic power struggles over local democratization.

Prior to being assigned the reading of the memoir “Always Running”, by Luis Rodriguez, I had never given much thought on juveniles involved in gang life. Rodriguez achieved success as an award-winning poet; sure the streets would no longer haunt him - until his own son joined a gang. Rodriguez fought for his child by telling his own story in the vivid memoir, “Always Running.” “Always Running” is the compilation of events Luis experienced during his youth in San Gabriel. The theme of the book is to always strive for the best things in life and to always take a stand for what you believe. Lured by the seemingly invincible gang culture of East L.A., he witnessed countless shootings and beatings, as well as senseless acts of street crime against his friends and family members. As a Latino in a poor neighborhood, Luis struggled through criticism, stereotypes, and mistreatment. With the help of his mentor, Chente, Luis saw a way out through education and the power of word to successfully break free from years of violence and desperation.

Juan Gonzalez uses Chapter 12: “Speak Spanish, You’re in America!: El Huracán over Language and Culture” of his novel Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America to introduce a truly polarizing argument that has plagued the Latino community in the United States of America. Gonzalez is quick to point out that English is the common language in this country, though he is quicker to note that it should not necessarily be so. This author is so incredibly biased in this chapter that it is nearly impossible to disagree with his opinion without feeling like one is completely shutting out the entire Latino community. However, speaking as a member of this community, perhaps it is this unique insight that allows for not only a contending opinion, but also the framework to make the opinion relevant. Gonzalez makes brash claims with little supporting evidence and relies heavily on argumenta ad passiones to manipulate the reader’s emotions instead of focusing on rationalism and sound judgment. Quite possibly, it was the abundance of this logical fallacy that made it difficult to sympathize with his argument; though, it lays the basis for this chapter analysis.

This project’s purpose is to record a people who have lived through the promises and outcomes of the Bolivarian Revolution, an idea that captured Venezuela’s spirit and spread across 16 Latin America nations as the Pink Tide. The poor and working class will be a fundamental component of this story as I investigate the role the revolution has played in shaping the lives of this perpetually overlooked group of people. Simultaneously, the nature of these issues will create a portal into the world of Venezuelan heritage, traditions, and political and civic culture. What I write will be the reality of the situation; the interpretation will be left up to the reader.

Montejano’s book on the local history of the Chicano movement zeros in on the city of San Antonio, Texas as well as its surrounding cities. The city itself was severely segregated by Anglo elites at the top

Over the past fifty or so years great strides have been made on the subject of Mexican-American civil rights, but the first pivotal moment for these civil rights barely gets any recognition in the annals of American civil rights, in which it rightly deserves. This victory, which has been labeled “The Longoria Affair”, would cause a momentum within Latino civil rights movement that was previously unseen and would lead the way for political opportunities for Latinos.

Cesar Chavez was a civil rights activist who organized the earliest Chicano movements. In an essay by Jorge Mariscal, Chavez’s political ideology is

Myths of Harmony by Marixa Lasso is a harrowing account of racial tension and deceit in the Age of Revolution in Colombia. The main theme of the book is that racial harmony is a myth that was cultivated during Colombia’s fight for independence (9). The author states that the lower classes were not any better off after the Revolution than before (4). The culture was known for caciquismo (patron-client relations) and fraudulent elections. These claimed racial equality, but in reality discriminated against certain races (4). Lasso discusses the role of the pardos - free Africans - community as a whole and their role in the political landscape. Racial identities were formed during the Age of Revolution by the struggles of the time period (152). The colonial wars during the Age of Revolution shaped the racial identities of numerous nations. Through racial visionaries, these nations chose a racial identity.

Carroll, Patrick. and Limón, José E. . Felix Longoria's Wake: Bereavement, Racism, and the Rise of Mexican American Activism. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2003.

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

The Puerto Ricans in New York were being submerged in racist repression and a severe economic exploitation. There Puerto Ricans faced filthy and dangerous tenement housing and a school system that denigrated their language and culture and offered little opportunity for higher education. The Latino population could not get ahead because of the daily repression to which they are subjected. In the streets they faced an occupying army, the New York City Police Department, which was openly racist and used violence liberally. “Puerto Ricans were good enough to die in the jungle of Vietnam, but were treated like the Viet Cong on the streets of New York,” according to to “palante brief history of the Young Lords”what the young lord tried to do oster seeing all the events that were helping to denigrated the latino community they began to clean the streets. Gave

One article within the Los Angeles Times Gregorian calendar, 1944 titled, “Youthful Gang Secrets Exposed,” sought-after to uncover the foreign underworld of adolescent language. The article reported: “Gang members speak an odd non-standard speech unintelligible to the uninitiate.” Press reports like this burning mass psychosis regarding the American allegiance of Mexican youth within the us throughout wartime

The film Gringos at the Gate is a documentary about the interesting and dynamic relationship between the United States and Mexico. It uses the sport of soccer, futbol, to highlight the patriotism each country has for their respective country. The director also highlights the issue of identity for Mexican Americans. Many are conflicted with the idea of not knowing who they are supposed to (or in some cases allowed to) support. In this class we spoke about how through history Latin America has struggled with identity. As seen in Jake Silverstein’s article, “Grand Opening Ronald McDonald conquers New Spain”, and Gringos at the Gate, the interaction between two countries in Latin America can lead conflict in deciding one’s

From a terrorist group to being investigated by the FBI, to the Mayor of Chicago calling for a “War on Gangs”, the Young Lords, a radical activist group that started as a gang was fighting for their community by addressing social justice issues and lack of support by Chicago higher-ups. The Young Lords Organization started to pop up in other major cities such as New York City which later separated itself from the Chicago Young Lords. The New York City branch has piles of information on the events that occurred within the Puerto Rican community but little has been said about the original Chicago Young Lords. This essay will help fill the missing history of the Young Lords Organization by addressing the origins, aspirations, the impact on the

When Octavio Paz first visited the largest Mexican population center outside of Mexico’s international borders, Los Angles, he said the city had a "vague atmosphere" of Mexicanism in that manifested itself through "delight in decorations, carelessness and pomp, negligence, passion and reserve." But he felt that his "ragged but beautiful" ghost of Mexican identity rarely interacted with "the North American world based on precision and efficiency." Instead, this Mexicanism floated above the city, "never quite existing, never quite vanishing.1By the time Paz visited the exterior Mexico, a generation of Mexican revolution immigrants had their children in the United States and they had matured. These people had heard the corridos of the Revolutionary