Transforming Borders - What do we do with this? Where do we go from here? What does it mean to transform? What is transformation? How can we use these theories for transformative work? Growing up, in K-12, I was the little girl in the front row of the class picture. I was small for my age. In 4th grade, I became interested in basketball. I distinctly remember thinking that I wanted to perform beyond my dance classes which I was slowly disliking as I got older. So I transformed from a ballerina to a basketball player. I remember the wanting of approval, the cheering of the audiences. I wanted the spotlight. When I tried out for basketball my freshman year of high school, the coach at my school told me that I was too short to be on the team. I was short. But to not provide me with an opportunity to even try out is something that I still carry around with me. Had I had the ganas at that time, I would have four lettered that coach all the way to the principal's office. I was new and d...
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Border Crosser: What borders do you cross I'm a non-traditional student at the age of 40 I am mixed race; Mexican-American I am unable to bear children and I want to adopt I am an only child with one living parent and no extended family within 600 miles I am a licensed small business owner, changing careers due to the pandemic I am a licensed volunteer football (coach) with plans to coach collegiately in DI-III or NAIA I am an aspiring educator I have a brain tumor
(Re)building, (Re)searching, (Re)gain, (Re)flect, (Re)spond In chapter 5 of the book “Light in the Dark” by Gloria Anzaldua, she states “Your goal is to cultivate an acute awareness of processes at work in your own psyche and to create symbols and patterns of its operations” (Anzaldua, & Keating, A.). In 2020, being aware & accepting that I needed a career change after 15 years was my process. It was something that I reflected on for a full year before making the switch. As an aspiring teacher, it is my hope that my students, the athletes that I coach, will leave my classroom or the football (soccer) pitch empowered and prepared enough to challenge the status quo if they want to be a business owner like myself while everyone is telling them to look elsewhere. I hope they have the ganas to create their own path & explore their own passions as I did & continue to do. And I hope they learn something new, feel inspired, whether it is a new skill or technique or someth...
J. Lo & Kahlo: How do you see this play out? What are your thoughts about yesterday and today's readings? Can these things be viewed as empowerment? I think anyone taking a WGS course would agree that representation matters. It matters in the workforce, schools, elected officials, etc. It should be said that as a community, the Latino (insert your preferred term here), is still to this day being short-changed for our contributions in the U.S. (and the world). I hardly feel as though Jennifer Lopez represents me. I say this as someone who purchased or was gifted her first handful of CD's. I still enjoy her music. Most of it is upbeat and I have good memories of road-tripping with friends in my 20's with her music as the soundtrack. Someone lifted her up at a time when there was a lack of POC on basic television. She was a background dancer on In Living Color. She is not a major award winning actress but I think she could be. She is uplifted now in her 50's bec...
Testimonios Through Creative Acts Sandra Fernandez, Cruzado (Settled In) 2015 Redlining was my first thought when I looked at this piece. Some might think that 2020 ushered in mayhem that highlighted every crack in our country's foundation but I disagree. We were already there. In the middle of COVID, the weight of social justice inequalities weighed heavily and everything came to a head when George Floyd was killed. And Breonna Taylor. And Elijah McClain. And Adam Toledo. Redlining is a discriminatory practice in which services are withheld from potential customers who reside in neighborhoods classified as 'hazardous' to investment; these neighborhoods have significant numbers of racial and ethnic minorities, and low-income residents. There are so many perspectives and ways in which to discuss systemic inequalities. In this post, I will only discuss redlining as it relates to what is happening in Dallas County, approximately one hour away from where I live....
Read, reflect, process, read, create and connect to class theorizing and lived experiences, witnessing of the world. The poem Tlatelolco reminds me of the all to familiar story within my own family. My grandparents were adamant that their eight children (my mom & her siblings) graduate from high school. They also implored their children to go to college or a technical school. All but one went to college. The boys registered for the draft and went to war but when they returned, two of the three went to college and graduated. The other earned a technical degree. Four of the five girls all went to college and graduated. The one that didn't struggled in school and dropped out after a semester. My grandfather especially was insistent on his girls getting a college education. He saw his own sisters, all of his family born in the U.S., struggling without higher education degrees. My mom and her sisters that did go to college all went to and graduated from Texas Woman's University ...
Reflect on each author’s passages and reflect on three questions that come up for you. Share these. You are not seeking answers you are processing, reflecting in any way you feel necessary. Q: How can we as a (U.S.) society end cultural appropriation specifically in RTVF? Social media? What role can professional athletes & their employers play in changing the narrative? Q: What can millennials and younger generations do right now/tomorrow to change the narrative around our culture and history? What can we do as the next generation so that the correct history isn't lost and so that the next generation and the one after that don't fall into being white-washed from school textbooks? What about the school library books? There is a war on books in schools in Texas as they relate to the LGBTQ+ community. Who's next? Q: In art/artifacts/collections, what determines the value? My grandma and mom always told/tell me "this will have value one day". It might be a book o...