THIS WEEK ON LATINOPIA: SAL BALDENEGRO ON “WHEN ARE WE MEXICAN…INDIGENOUS?” EL ZOCOTROCO ON “DIASPORA: SI ME ESCUCHAS,” AND WHAT IS CHICANO ART AND VICTOR SANCHEZ CARDONA’S VIRTUAL GALLERY TOUR.
Welcome to another week of Latinopia. This week Sal Baldenegro’s Political Salsa y Mas column looks at the notion of indigeneity and how it was adopted as part of the Chicano civil rights movement. All of this comes in light of the recent controversy over the removal of the words “Chicano” and “Aztlan” by the central committee of MeCha (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano and Aztlan). The stated rationale by the student organization’s leadership is that the two words are exclusionary of other Latino and gender identity groups and appropriate Native American identity. The student group hasn’t decided what their new name will be, but Sal points the historic antecedents to how the term Chicano evolved and the historic importance of our indigenous roots. Do check it out.
Also see the accompanying video as a multitude of distinguished Chicano artists take on the question of “What is Chicano art?”
As the 2020 political season begins to heat up with twenty candidates vying for the Democratic nomination to run against Donald Trump, José Umpierre, el Zocotroco, reminds us of the unique power in the hands of Puerto Ricans who have moved from the island to the mainland. When the Puerto Rican diaspora began following World War Two the new immigrants settled for the most part in New York and became known as Nuyoricans. But since that time hundreds of thousands of people from the island have emigrated to the United States and can now be found throughout the United States and especially along the East Coast. With more people of Puerto Rican ancestry now living on the mainland ( 4.6 million) than on the island (2.3 million), they represent a powerful voting blog for 2020. And this leads us to San Juan-based Umpierre’s insightful essay, here both in Spanish and in English.
And speaking of the island, check out the cool virtual tour of art work by Victor Sanchez Cardona. A native of San Juan, Cardona’s work is awesome!
Enjoy your week on Latinopia.
Tia Tenopia