Fall 2009

CONTENTS

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11 | ARTE Y CULTURA

Reviving the World of BalletBy Raquel Nieves

Los Angeles a la Canadad: Stereotype GaloreBy Pricscilla Gonzalez

12 | EXPRESSIONES

Brick by Brick: Ode to My Mexican MotherBy Alvaro Huerta Sin VergüenzaBy Tanya Shirazi

14 | SPECIAL SECTION AZTLÁN: A DISCUSSION

What is Aztlán?By Helga Salinas

En Búsqueda de una Categoria UnificadoraBy Carina Padilla

In Defense of AztlánBy Adan Alvarez

Aztlán: A Brief HistoryBy Milo Alvarez

3 | EDITOR’S LETTER

4 | NOTIRAZA

The End of Public Education By Paulina Aguilar

100 Days on the New Left By Gilbert Portillo

5 | TARADO DEL MES

August, September, OctoberBy Martin Torres

6 | TOPEN ESTO

Imagining Cuba as [Truly]IndependentBy David Benítez-Romero

Micheletti, the Lesser of Two?By Yaquelin Perez

7 | UNIVERSIDAD

Restoring Our History: The Great Wall of L.A.By Oscar Chavez

8 | COVER STORY

The Value of Higher EducationBy Salvador Mesinas

10 | COMUNIDAD

Cuba: Vibrant SolidarityBy David Benítez-Romero

PG. 8 Uncertainty in UC’s Budget

PG. 7 Healing our History

Pg. 14 Aztlán

The signs that students are holding up in the cover image are representative figures that of what many students may owe after at-tending a pub-lic university.The photo was take by Violeta Lerma and was ed-ited by Diego Henry Santos Dominguez.

ABOUT THE COVER

Nov., 2009

Fall 2009 3

La Gente

LA Gente is one of the oldest Latin@ newsmagazines, holding strong over 35 years of civic journalism. LA Gente seeks out and reports the truth about current or long-standing issues that affect our underrepresented community.

LA Gente serves as a space to shed light on the many injustices we face as a community, as well as give information on how to get involved in the pursuit of social equality.

We also provides a space for incar-cerated individuals because we believe that they have valuable experiences that deserve recognition.

LA Gente arose out of the need to give power to the often-silenced Latino community, a purpose we aim to con-tinue. ¡Que Viva Nuestra Gente!

Querida Gente,

I’m proud to present you with the first issue of the 2009-2010 school year. As you may have noticed, we’ve made some changes to the magazine.To start, we will be printing under the name LA Gente, omitting “de Aztlán” from the title. After much delib-eration, we’ve opted for this change because we want the magazine to be more inclusive, specifically to those attracted to the magazine but don’t subscribe to or are not familiar with the political and cultural ideology behind Aztlán.During this issue’s development we did extensive research on the publication’s history. Our research unveiled the following: the first issue ever published in 1971 was under the name La Gente, and the name has changed 39 times throughout history. The back pages of this issue were reserved for opinions and discussions about Aztlán.To balance the publication and our newly renovated website, www.lagente.org, the editorial staff decided to condense the issue to 16 pages compared to the previous 32-page edition. Though the issue is shorter, it is packed with fantastic pieces. From a photo essay on Cuban culture to the restoration of “The Great Wall of Los Angeles,” to the university’s impending budget crisis, you’ll be sure to find something you love.

Disfruten!

Con amor,Violeta Lerma

EDITOR-IN-CHIEFVioleta Lerma

MANAGING EDITORDiego Henry Santos Dominguez

BUSINESS MANAGERSSamantha De La Fuente

Marissa Ramirez

PUBLICITY MANAGER David Benítez-Romero

MANAGING ASSISTANTHelga Salinas

COPY CHIEFSamantha Lim

COPY EDITORSGilbert PortilloJulianna Ornelas

Jaquelin HernandezHelga Salinas

Britney Radbone

DESIGN EDITORVioleta Lerma

WEB MANAGERMaria Esmeralda Renteria

STAFF WRITERSCarina Padilla

Gilbert PortilloPaulina Aguilar

Salvador MesinasHelga Salinas

Julianna CookeYaquelin PerezRaquel NievesTanya Shirazi

CONTRIBUTORSAdan AlvarezMilo Alvarez

Alvaro HuertaMartin Terrones

PHOTOGRAPHERS David Benítez-Romero

Violeta LermaMaribel Camargo

Diego Henry Santos Dominguez ( DHSD )

ILLUSTRATORTJ Nguyen

DESIGNERSGenesis BautistaVioleta Lerma

Marissa Ramirez

STUDENT MEDIA DIRECTORArvli Ward

STUDENT MEDIA ADVISERAmy Emmert

LA Gente is a member of the Campus Progress Publications Network.

www.campusprogress.org

We are located at:118 Kerckhoff Hall308 Westwood Plaza

Los Angeles, CA 90024

Email: lagente@media.ucla.eduPhone: 310.825.9836

From the Editor

Unsigned editorials represent a majority opinion of the La Gente Editorial Board. All other columns, cartoons, and letters represent the opinion of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board. The UCLA Communications Board has a media grievance procedure for resolving grievances against any of its media. For a copy of the complete procedure, contact UCLA Student Media at 310.825.2787.

Copyright 2009ASUCLA Communications Board

Anything to say? Did you love it, hate it--did we already say, love it?

Drop us a line, send us an email, or send us a text--haha we don’t have texts, but contact us anyway.

Join LA Gente!Are you a driven, self-motivated ambicious individual? Are you willing to put in time to publish a magazine? Then join our team! We’re looking for:

*Designers*Editors*Marketers

*Managers*New Media (Web, Radio, Video)

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Check our your favorite newmagazine at its newly renovated website:

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You can also follow us on Twitter- @LAGenteNewsmagor visit us on Facebook, search La Gente Neswmagazine

We still want expose the unheard and unseen but thisinvolves YOU, so we invite your opinions and blog entries.

VOL. 40 ISSUE 1

A Quick Style Guide:Latino/a = Latin@ Chicano/a = Latin@

= end of articleLa in our name is capitalized as such--LA--not only because we are in L.A. but because we’re open to include all people

Fall 20094

Faced with hundreds of underperforming, over-crowded, and underfunded schools all over Los Angeles County in the midst of a crumbling

state budget, Superintendent Ramon C. Cortinez and the Board of Education accepted that they couldn’t realistically save failing schools. Earlier this summer, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and the Los Angeles Uni-fied School District (LAUSD) announced their plan to reform the education system. But it won’t be by imple-menting a new curriculum or investing in new educa-tional materials. The proposed “Public School Choice” plan will relinquish LAUSD administrative and financial control of more than 200 schools in Los Angeles Coun-ty. In addition, new multimillion-dollar school sites will also be made available for bidding.

This large-scale educational experiment is overdue for some schools and those will be at the forefront of this educational takeover. Schools which have consis-tently underperformed in state tests and demonstrated drastically low Academic Progress Index scores have been identified by the LAUSD as focus schools and will be privatized by an outside group.

The task of saving our schools will fall upon small charter school programs and other non-profit groups

such as GreenDot, Alliance for College-Ready Public Schools, and Synergy Academies among others. As of now, at least 688,000 students are relying on the LAUSD for an education. Students have been receiving an edu-cation, probably the best their system could provide them with; however, what LAUSD is doing falls short of what they should do to educate their students.

In an attempt to save the public school system, charter schools and non-profits will need to bridge a large divide, demographically and educationally. The areas that will be affected will be are South and East Los Angeles as well as the San Fernando Valley. An overcrowded student population, coupled with a high population of English as a second language learners makes overhauling schools in these areas an incredibly urgent and complex task. The new administration for these schools will need to find a way to address the edu-cational needs and deficiencies of the existing student population while integrating their very own students, faculty and new curriculum.

Despite the possibilities that this offers, there are lingering uncertainties. Can outside groups save our schools? More importantly, how long will it take for years of overcrowding, academic underperformance,

outdated textbooks, and underfunding to be turned around?

The outcomes of this educational reform are still unknown, but this plan will quickly become a reality to students all over Los Angeles County. The application process started in late October and final decisions will be made by the Board of Education in February. The application process is detailed; community members, faculty, students, and LAUSD administrators are among the many that can participate, but the final word will rest upon the Board of Education.

A reform of this size has massive implications for parents, students, and teachers. Although LAUSD ac-knowledges that their attempts to maintain a high qual-ity education in Los Angeles County have had no avail, what guarantees us that the next administration can get it right? What will happen if this educational experi-ment implodes on itself ? Those questions will remain uncertain within the coming months, however what will be certain is that the takeover among schools will likely be messy, leaving hundreds of teachers unemployed. Whether or not charter schools can effectively pick up the pieces LAUSD leaves behind, students will be the first to feel the resounding effects of this change.

Benjamin Waserman moved to the United States in hopes of starting a new life, but a big chunk of his

past was missing. His daughter, Kastle decided to do something about it. She contacted the Red Cross of Los Angeles and submitted a Family Tracing Services request.

Family Tracing Services is provided by the Red Cross free of charge to anybody in the U.S. looking for a close relative in another country. In order to qualify, separa-tion or loss of contact needs to have occurred because of armed conflict or a natural disaster. Kastle’s efforts proved fruitful and her father reconnected with a long-lost cousin who relocated in Paris, restoring a link within the family history.*

Now imagine similar success stories from the coun-tries devastated by blood-thirsty civil wars such as the guerrilla-filled mountainous regions of El Salvador or the grim jungles of Guatemala.

The End of Public EducationNOTIRAZA

Gilbert Portillo/// LA Gente Staff Writer/// gportillo@media.ucla.edu

Paulina Aguilar/// LA Gente Staff Writer/// paguilar@media.ucla.edu

100 Days on the Left

On June 1, a new government took power in El Salvador. The new government, led by Mauricio Funes of the Frente Farabundo Marti Para La Liberación Nacional (FMLN) is the first leftist government that is elected in the country’s history. The historic significance of this election is profound, since it is

the first time the former guerilla group has won the presidency after years of right-wing political domination by the Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA).

Just over four months into the Funes administration, public opinion remains high. According to a poll by the Salvadoran Universidad Centroamericana, seven out of 10 Salvadorans believe the country will improve un-der the new government. In addition, Funes enjoys one of the highest popularity ratings in Latin America. The Mexican poll firm Mitofsky has placed Funes as the highest rated leader in the Americas. The high approval ratings are significant considering the highly polarized elections in March, where dirty electoral tactics sought to discredit and radicalize Funes, who embraces more moderate politics than previous FMLN candidates.

BRINGING CHANGE

The first 100 days of the Funes presidency have been characterized by the incorporation of many social programs intended to help the poor, an area neglected under previous administrations. Less than 20 days after taking office, Funes announced the “Plan Global Anticrisis,” which aims to begin a system of social protection, promotion and creation of jobs, and will seek to stimulate and develop the economy. In a country where many kids fail to eat proper meals, the government is amplifying its school nutrition program that will include an additional 500,000 students for a total of 1.4 million nationwide. Another area previous administrations have neglected is the care of El Salvador’s elderly. A basic pension plan has been created for 42,000 adults ages 70 and up who live in the poorest regions of El Salvador. The monthly payments will aid those who have worked hard all their lives and yet have little to show for it.

CHALLENGES AHEAD

An increasing gang problem has placed El Salvador with one of the highest homicide rates in the world. Just this past month of October, there were a record-breaking 430 murders in El Salvador. As a response, the new government has recently announced it will implement a temporary re-assignment of military personnel to assist in policing the most high-crime areas. According to the Human Rights Commission of El Salvador, the crime epidemic can be linked the neoliberal policies implemented by the right-wing ARENA party, which has ruled the country for the last 20 years. The economic policies implemented by ARENA aided the creation of vast wealth inequalities where the young and poor increasingly found themselves disenfranchised, lacking op-portunities, and an easy prey to the cycle of violence that is prevalent in El Salvador’s poorest regions. Already showing a promising start, Funes has stated that throughout his five-year term, he will seek to reverse the previ-ous governments’ legacies of poverty, social exclusion, and delinquency.

Fall 2009

AugustIt was a long time coming. After nearly 35 years of eating, the time was just right to start a diet.

But this was no ordinary diet: it was a hunger strike. After announcing the dismissal of thousands of teachers, cutting English as a Second Language (ESL) programs, eliminating kindergarten, and

cancelling summer school by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) School Board, I and a handful of other brave souls endured a hunger strike that lasted 24 days. When the dust settled and vic-tory was pronounced on both sides, many thought the worst was over. Unfortunately, the world doesn’t work that way. In their lack of infinite wisdom, the LASUD board of directors, led by board member Yolie Flores Aguilar and her Sancha Pansa, Monica Garcia, decided to stick it to the teachers and the parents by announcing their solution to the education crises: the abolishment of public education and its sale to the highest bidders.

Ok, so I have a flair for exaggeration, but Flores Aguilar’s resolution, “Public School Choice: A New Way at LAUSD,” is anything but a solution to the problem. The resolution passed by a majority of the Board and supported by our illustrious mayor, Antonio Villaraigoza (ha! Ni yo me la creo), would allow corporate owned and managed charter schools to run over 250 public schools of their choosing, giv-ing parents and the community more control over them. As wonderful as that may read on paper, the facts just don’t add up. Critics of this proposal claim that charter schools are not outperforming public schools and that they are, in fact, scoring worse, even after only admitting students with the highest grade point averages. Because of its design, charter schools can reject any student on any basis. Some parents have complained that their practices are unfair, that rejecting a student for having low scores and labeling that student as a special education student affords them the right to deny them admission because they do not have the manpower or specially trained teachers to handle those students.

Unfortunately, awarding the LAUSD School Board (except board member Marguerite Lamotte – the Board’s only voice of reason) the Tarados del Mes Award would only compliment their personalities. What they have done in the past months and the consequences of those decisions will affect an already disenfranchised, underrepresented and overcrowded community of students for years to come.

SeptemberClark Gable looked mighty sexy doing it.

Humphrey Bogart couldn’t live without it. Bette Davis wouldn’t be Bette Da-

vis without one. And let’s face it, Maria Felix without one, well…who am I kidding, she’d still be Maria Felix. What did this small sample of iconic figures have in common: they all looked mighty fine smoking a ciga-rette. But what the ‘frack,’ to steal a word from the series “Battlestar Galactica,” were

the 138 artists smoking in September that they would publish a letter demanding the re-

lease of convicted rapist, Roman Polanski, from his incarceration in a luxurious jail cell in Switzer-

land, where I’m sure their prison beds are adorned with Martha Stewart linens and Sealy Posturepedic mattresses, have Italian espresso machines and contain an in-jail McDonalds café. And here is what I just don’t understand, what did Whoopi Goldberg mean when she said that what happened to the girl was not “rape-rape.” Santa María purisima! What is wrong with these people?!

Artists are supposed to be intelligent people. The brain is dedicated to thinking. But were they using any part of it when they argued Roman Polanski has already suf-fered enough? She was 13 years old. She was drugged. She said no. Case closed. Period. Woody? Wess? Guillermo, what the hell, boy? Gael, tu también? Pedro, habla conmigo? Alejandro, 24 grams? Walter, did you read her diary? And Whoopi? Didn’t you play a rape victim in “The Color Purple”? Did you lie to all of us when you said you got into character very intensely when you won the Golden Globe?

What Roman Polanski did in 1978, in the home of another pursuer of young wom-en, Jack Nicholson, was shameful. His decision to evade justice may have legal merit; who knows, who cares? But the logic used to justify his release and actions by these 139 artists is equally regrettable. For their outspoken support and demand for his immediate release and dismissal of all charges, La Gente is please to honor Roman Polanski and the 138 members of the entertainment community its Tarados del Mes Award.

OctoberFor the past 47 years, the people of Cuba have endured an economic

embargo imposed by the United States since Castro’s rise to power. On Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009, the United Nations, in its 19th year in a row, condemned U.S. policy in Cuba with a 187-3 vote. Two coun-

tries, the US Marshall Islands and Micronesia abstained. Despite overwhelm-ing support by the world, with only the U.S., the island nation of Palau, and surprise-surprise, America’s favorite side-kick, Israel, opposing the resolution, the embargo remains intact, thanks in large part to a U.S. veto.Since 1992, when 59 countries voted in favor of a resolution to end the em-bargo, 133 countries have now switched sides in support of Cuba. Many fear that even if Israel, Palau and the other U.S. controlled or influenced territories voted in favor, the United States would still veto the resolution in defiance of the world. After 47 years, there is no question in the minds of world leaders that the people of Cuba have suffered enough by both Cuban and American leaders. At a time when America has a leader determined to bring peace and stability to the region, putting an end to this embargo is the right thing to do. If President Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize is to ever have any meaning, then he is going to have to make the right decision in the coming years, when it is expected that any one of the remaining three countries—except for Israel—will sup-port the wishes of the world. But until that happens, the governments of the United States, Israel, Palau, as well as the US Marshall Islands and Micronesia, are hereby awarded the Tarados del Mes Award for both holding a grudge and for blindly supporting a government that knows no better.

tARADO DEL MES

Check out more Tarados! Visit www.lagente.org

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Fall 2009

The United States government imposed an economic blockade over Cuba during the

1960s that damaged their relationship and slowed Cuba’s economic growth. So what will occur if and when the U.S. government lifts the economic blockade it imposed in an attempt to strong-arm the Cuban government to democratize? Would lifting the blockade create a positive change for the island, or will U.S. influence corrupt and turn Cuba into a capitalist regime?

Currently, both countries have come closer to settling their differences and there have been instrumental talks that were unheard of during the years of the Bush regime. Earlier this year, President Obama ended the travel restrictions that prevented Cuban Americans from visiting the is-land. But is Cuba ready for the drastic change that a complete end to the blockade could bring?

The love-hate relationship between the United States and Cuba has gone through a series of changes. The U.S. played a major role in Cuba’s independence from Spain, and continued to be a major influential player in an attempt to spread imperialistic ideals to the island. Unlike Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, all of which became neo-colonies, Cuba was able to maintain its culture and current socialist ideals. Prior to the Cuban Revolution, Cuba’s leader Fulgencio Batista had long standing business ties with American industries as well as strong support from the U.S. government.

After years of fighting, Batista was over-thrown and a new leader emerged in Cuba. Fidel Castro brought many positive changes, which had a profound effect on the marginalized masses. The changes included free education and healthcare, which led to an improvement of literacy and a drop in infant mortality rates.

The Cuban revolution also attempted to

address other human rights concerns pertinent to the island by creating an egalitarian colorblind society. Prior to the revolution and during the period when the U.S. had multiple investments on the island, many Afro-Cubans suffered racism in the hands of its oppressive government.

Upon visiting the island earlier this year, I witnessed some of the problems created by the blockade, which had a strong effect on the econo-my and society. Cuba became a country dependant on tourism since it lacked the economic support that the Soviet Union had once provided. The rise of tourism led to the creation of two monetary systems, the Cuban convertible peso (CUC) for tourists, which is about the equivalent of a U.S. dollar, and the moneda nacional, which is approxi-mately 1/25 in value to the CUC and mainly used by locals.

Unfortunately, the booming tourist indus-try also arrived with racial discriminatory hiring practices by European investors. These discrimi-natory practices contributed to the separation of class based on race. In my travels, I’ve observed that those who obtain positions in the tour-ist industry with more public interaction (lobby receptionists, bellhops, and valets) were generally lighter-skinned, and those in the low-end ser-vice positions (kitchen workers, maids, janitors) were darker. The lighter-skinned Cubans who are exposed to the public earn higher wages, more tips, and have greater access to the CUC than the darker Cubans who hold low-end service jobs.

Lifting the economic blockade will open up trade and could be beneficial to the Cuban people; it could create jobs, lead to better wages and to better quality of life. Although lifting the blockade could lead to Cuba becoming a U.S. neo-colony, I am hopeful that it would lead to change that will benefit millions of Cubans.

Imagining Cuba as (Truly) Independent

David Benítez-Romero/// LA Gente Staff Writer///

dbenitez@media.ucla.edu

It’s been four months since the ousting of Honduran lame duck president, Manuel Zelaya.

His nightmare began on a Sunday morning, June 28, 2009. Envision him being removed from his quarters to the beat of military boots and machine gun point. At this time Zelaya must have surely realized he was still in his pajamas. Meanwhile, a ridiculously hasty ceremony took place, where his liberal adversary, Roberto Micheletti took the presidential oath, installing an interim administra-tion. Though his pajamas were still on, Zelaya realized this was not a nightmare, it was real, and it was international headlines.

Zelaya’s tension with Congress began after his election in 2005. Though he was a part of the Liberal Party of Honduras for decades, it became obvious to congress that Zelaya’s liberal politics were swaying too far left as evidenced by his new alliance with Venezuela’s infamous President Hugo Chávez and Cuba’s current president, Raul Castro.

While his alliance with Chávez did not alien-ate Congress wholly, Zelaya’s risky decision to draft a referendum proposing the amendment of their constitution in hopes of reelection in the upcoming Nov. 29 election surely did. This audacious decision on Zelaya’s part is inevitably

reminiscent of the referendum to end presidential term limits that passed in Venezuela in February. Had Zelaya carried out the dispersal of ballots, the act would have violated Honduran law since only congress is given the power to call a referendum. In light of this, congress’s distrust of Zelaya is perfectly rational.

The Honduran situation is truly a complex one. Because of the coup, no country has rec-ognized Micheletti’s interim administration. The United States is the most insistent about reinstat-ing Zelaya, in its own aim at upholding democracy.

Like the coup, Zelayas’ plot to call a referen-dum should have signaled the impending violation of democratic principles, yet foreign governments appeared to have no interest in interfering then.

While pointing fingers at a coup d’etat comes easy, in this case it is hypocritical. Despite Miche-letti’s alleged efforts to maintain the democratic principles of the Honduran constitution, the man-ner in which he carried out the defense of these principles is undemocratic in nature. However, we cannot deny that because of the coup, another anti-democratic act was prevented. The coup, in my opinion, is overall less atrocious than Zelaya’s pretentious call for a referendum.

Micheletti, the Lesser of Two?

Yaquelin Perez/// LA Gente Staff Writer/// yperez@media.ucla.edu

Topen Esto!

!6

“Zelayas’ plot to call a referendum should

have signaled the impending violation of

democratic principles, yet foreign govern-

ments appeared to have no interest in

interfering then.”

Will the lifting of the blockade create a

positive change for the island, or will U.S.

influence corrupt and turn Cuba into a

capitalist regime?

Fall 2009

In early November, members of the local art community, UCLA students and alum-ni, and various other supporters gathered

at the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC) for a Día de los Muertos celebration, which dually served as a commemoration for “The Great Wall of Los Angeles” mural.

The iconic work of art, celebrating over 30 years of proud history, has recently been declared a “site of public memory worth pres-ervation” by California’s Cultural and Historic Endowment, and consequently, formerly-elu-sive funding has allowed for new restoration efforts to save the ailing mural.

Welcoming visitors to the SPARC event was a traditional Día de los Muertos altar ornately adorned with a bountiful spread of breads, fruits, sugar skulls, candles, cem-pasúchil flowers, and of course, photos of deceased friends and family. A giant papier-mâché skull draped with fiery tissue paper flowers and framed by elaborate papel picado decorations crowned the piece. Attendees gathered around and discussed concepts such as ancestry, cultural history, and due remem-brance.

Every year around this time, many Lati-nos honor such values through this unique, colorful ritual. Appropriately, these same values figured into the night’s discussion of SPARC’s first public art project, “The Great Wall of Los Angeles.”

Situated along the Tujunga Flood Control Channel of North Hollywood and stretching for half a mile, “The Great Wall,” said SPARC, “chronicles the contributions made by ethnic and diverse people to the history of America, in particular California.” For instance, one piece captures the Zoot Suit riots of the 20s while another, the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II.

Professor Judith Baca, renowned muralist and the mastermind behind the “Great Wall,” spoke at the event about her work, “We started with six painters and it quickly became 30. We didn’t have enough brush sets! It spread by word of mouth. It has been a real labor of love. You can really feel a convivial work spirit.”

Other guests of the Día de la Muertos event spoke with similar reverence for the mural. Overall, it is a work that evokes an ancestry too often acculturated and a too-often overlooked history that nevertheless binds all Americans. One would expect such a powerful, invaluable monument to last for all time.

But naturally, “after many years, the mural has suffered extensive damage due to sun exposure and lack of restoration funds,” said SPARC.

With the newly attained funding, SPARC began repairing and repainting the Great Wall in October, an effort that will start up again in the summer of 2010. Help-ing is a team “made up of muralists, UCLA students, and community youth, some

include Great Wall alumni from the original 400 youth workers of 30 years ago,” said SPARC.

Additionally, SPARC, in partnership with the firm, wHY Architecture, will also construct a new “interpretive green bridge” that will offer a central entrance to the public, while also serving as a viewing platform. The green bridge will be built with recycled debris found at the Los Angeles River.

Hopefully, the restoration efforts will also serve to revive community interest in the mural, and more importantly, in what the thirty-year-old project signifies.

Carlos Rogel, project manager of the renovation and a UCLA art department alumnus, said, “we’re out there putting bristle to the wall to bring back the story of our peoples.”

In a similar vein, Baca said, “The mural is the story of the people. Restoring it is relieving the open wound.”

universidad

7

Restoring Our History: The Great Wall of Los AngelesOscar Chavez/// LA Gente Staff Writer/// ochavez@media.ucla.edu

1. Paper mâché skull and altar 2. Project Manager Carlos Rogel taking a break at the site 3. Volunteer Sonja working on mural 4. Prof. Judith Baca at the Day of the Dead celebration 5. UCLA student Emmanuel Portillo working at the site

For more information on the Great Wall restoration project and to find out how to volunteer visit www.sparcmurals.org

1.

2.

3.

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4. 5.

If you would like to contribute to the project monetarily call SPARC at 310.822.9560

For more information on other mural restoration efforts in the Los Angeles area visit www.savelamurals.org

PHOTOS BY DHSD/LA Gente

Fall 2009

José races down the courtyard between Royce Hall and Powell Library on a sunny Friday afternoon. In the student-

deserted courtyard, only a few crows atop the red hued bricks watch as he hurries down to the Student Activity Center where we are go-ing to meet. As he runs, all he can think is that in two days time he will be sitting down taking his first midterm at UCLA.

The quarter thus far has been bittersweet for the AB-540 freshman. Although the sleep-less nights in high school paid off—as he now attends his dream school—he finds himself in a whole other world of uncertainty. A world not concerned with GPAs and test scores, but rather a world of financial insecurity.

Like thousands of students across Califor-nia, he knows that the UC Regents meeting on Nov. 18 and 19 will decide his future. If the Regents decide to raise fees yet again, this time by 32%, continuing his education and achiev-ing his dream of becoming a doctor will prove to be more difficult. Both UC President Mark Yudof and Chancel-lor Block have stated that the decline in state funds is a major factor in why the University is considering the fee increases. “The State has become an unreliable partner through chronic underinvestment,” said Yudof in an October letter to students and parents.

For now, all that José can do is take things day by day. “I grew up in Tijuana, Mexico where my mom worked three jobs and still wasn’t making enough money to support me and my sisters. She came to the U.S. to work. She was gone for four years.”

Economic problems pushed José and his family to move around often. To escape the gang violence prevalent in his low-income neighborhood of Duarte, California, José worked any job he could get and opted instead to pursue a higher education.

“I didn’t grow up in the best neighbor-hood, but I always tried to make the best of it and seek the resources. Whatever I could do,” José said.

The Undergraduate Student Association Council (USAC) president, Cinthia Flores, is committed to doing whatever she can do to “create a greater awareness on campus” about the issue. “We have been organizing an educational campaign in partnership with the

8

Salvador Mesinas/// LA Gente Staff Writer/// smesinas@media.ucla.edu

ABOVE LEFT: A coalition of faculty and students (undergraduate and graduate) began the school year by participating in a statewide walk-out on Sept. 24 in protest of furloughs and fee hikes across the UC system. ABOVE RIGHT: A poster carried by a protester displaying the drastic increase in University of California tuition in the last 50 years.

ABOVE: The graph on the left demonstrates the decline of California’s Investment in the UC System per student. The graph on the right demontrates that the majority of revenue for the UC’s core operating budget comes from State Gen-eral Funds. For more information visit www.universityofcalifornia.edu. Source: University of California

The Value of Education: Crisis in the Budget

Fall 2009

External Vice President’s office,” she said in an interview with La Gente. Through another part-nership with Block, USAC was successful in re-instating Night Powell earlier this month, a 24-hour library service that many students like José utilize, especially those who commute or simply don’t have a place to study.

José’s resilient optimism is reminiscent of millions of Californians’ attitudes today. 2009 has been a year of rampant unemployment in which Nobel Peace Prize winner Barack Obama has given billions in bailout money to financial goliaths such as AIG instead of the ailing Ameri-can people. And in a year in which the Governa-tor has chosen to close California’s massive bud-get deficit by slashing millions from education, specifically $637 million according to Yudof.

Through it all, Californians have had to come to terms with the grim economic reality and we will undoubtedly persevere, as it is in our steadfast nature to do so. But let us reflect for a moment on the true nature of the issue at hand: whether a democratic society should provide its members quality education as an unalienable right rather than a privilege.

What is democracy, but an institution found-ed on the principle of “for the people and by the people.” The future of any democratic society is dependent on the quality of education it bestows on its youth, an education by which individuals can develop an appreciative sense of the dem-ocratic principles that make America so great. Higher education in America is supposed to pre-pare students to actively engage in and material-ize the promises of democracy. While we must question how the proposed fee increases and cuts in services affect the 34,000 UCLA students, we must, more importantly, question the values that UCLA¬–and the state–represent when they con-tinue to undermine and marginalize quality over costs.

And then there’s José, who doesn’t have the luxury of contemplating the principles of de-mocracy. He has to take his midterm in two days, while crunching numbers to figure out how he can afford another quarter at UCLA.

“Honestly this is all new to me, I am the first in my family to go to college. It’s a privilege, but I am sometimes frightened because I don’t know exactly what to do, having that feeling of constant uncertainty and financial insecurity,” José said.

9

ABOVE LEFT: A coalition of faculty and students (undergraduate and graduate) began the school year by participating in a statewide walk-out on Sept. 24 in protest of furloughs and fee hikes across the UC system. ABOVE RIGHT: A poster carried by a protester displaying the drastic increase in University of California tuition in the last 50 years.

ABOVE: The graph on the left demonstrates the decline of California’s Investment in the UC System per student. The graph on the right demontrates that the majority of revenue for the UC’s core operating budget comes from State Gen-eral Funds. For more information visit www.universityofcalifornia.edu. Source: University of California

The Value of Education: Crisis in the Budget

PHOTOS BY David Benítez-Romero/La Gente

Fall 2009

David Benítez-Romero /// LA Gente Staff Writer/// dbenitez@media.ucla.eduCuba: Vibrant Solidarity

comunidad

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TRANSLATION BY Violeta Lerma /// LA Gente Staff Writer/// vlerma@media.ucla.edu

Regardless of the fact that Cuba has been oppressed economically since the US blockade, the country has a rich vibrant culture. As a socialist country, Cuba has instilled ideologies of collectiveness and solidarity even amongst the youngest members of society. It is true

that Cuba lacks in material goods, but its vivaciousness and high morale has aided with overcom-ing its economic struggles.

A pesar del hecho que Cuba sigue económicamente oprimida por el bloqueo Estadoun-idense, el país mantiene una cultura rica y vibrante. Como un país socialista, Cuba ha inculcado hasta a los menores miembros de la sociedad ideologías de solidaridad y

colectividad. Es verdad que Cuba carece de bienes materiales, pero su vivacidad y su alto estado de ánimo ha contribuido hacia la superación de sus dificultades económicas.

RPHOTOS BY David Benítez-Romero/La Gente

Fall 2009 11

Classical ballet originated in the courts of Europe and for many years was dominated by European

countries. Europeans introduced ballet to the states at the turn of the century, and up until the 1980s most ballet stars in America were either from the Soviet Union or England. However, today Latin American dancers are reviving the art of ballet all over the country. This very old art form is taking on a new demographic and also bringing in new audiences, as dancers from Cuba, Argentina, Mexico and more take the stage.

Major ballet companies in the US such as American Ballet Theater, Bos-ton Ballet and San Francisco Ballet have found success with the help of Latino dancers. At American Ballet Theater, the United States’ most prestigious ballet company, seven of its 17 principal danc-ers are Latin American. This is because ballet schools in Latin American countries are so strong. For example, Escuela Supe-rior de Ballet, of Guadalajara Mexico, is responsible for more than a third of the winners in American ballet competitions such as the International Ballet Competi-tion and Youth American Grand Prix.

Another Latin American country whose dancers have had significant impact on the ballet world is Cuba. With an enor-mous network of ballet academies Cuba continues to produce ballet star after bal-let star. Two examples are sisters Lorena and Lorna Feijoo. Lorena, principal danc-er with San Francisco Ballet, and Lorna a

principal with Boston Ballet, immigrated to the US at an extremely young age in pursuit of their art.

Both sisters trained in Havana, at the Ballet National de Cuba, and were noticed by American ballet companies. Since then, both Feijoos have danced every lead fe-male role in ballet’s repertoire and have also performed contemporary works by choreographers such as George Bal-anchine, William Forsythe, and Cristopher Wheeldon.

Both Lorena and Lorna, in their sep-arate ballet companies, have gained critical acclaim as some of the US’ top balleri-nas. Their presence as Cuban citizens in American ballet companies has attracted more attention from the general press to the ballet world while their skill continues to captivate audiences.

Strong ballet training is a key aspect of the growing participation of Latinos in classical ballet. Ballet schools in Cuba are so successful because of the country’s rich history in ballet. Cuban ballet legend, Alicia Alonso created the Cuban National Ballet in 1948 and also was a co-founder of The American Ballet Theater in 1940. In addition, ballet has been government sponsored in Cuba after Fidel Castro un-derwrote a network of state-sponsored ballet academies that are still going strong.

Latin American dancers are extremely talented and bring an amazing caliber and style to the art of ballet. Bravura roles are done with a fiery bravado and finesse, and adagio roles are done with gut-wrenching

emotion, and touched with the elegance of lace and light. Jose Manuel Carreno, a Cuban principal dancer with American Ballet Theater, seems to jump seven feet in the air with absolutely no effort. His upper body remains fluid and elegant, as he performs impossibly fast footwork and busts out nine flawless pirouettes. And all aspiring ballerinas can look up to another Cuban dancer, Xiomara Reyes. Reyes, an-other principal dancer with the American Ballet Theater, has a dance quality unlike any other ballerina on stage. Her presence is full of feminine youthful innocence.

Every step, from a simple plié to the most intricate turn combination, is deliv-ered with complete intent and passion. Each step is like a precious gemstone, and she sparkles as one of America’s most celebrated ballerinas. Reyes also trained with The Cuban National Ballet School, and has danced with top ballet companies across the world such as Royal Ballet Lon-don.

Company after company is hiring dancers from Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean. These dancers are extremely successful, quickly scaling the ranks from corps de ballet to principal dancers. This influx of dancers is bring-ing press back to the art of ballet, bringing the art of ballet to Latino culture, and en-couraging young Latinos to pick up ballet. Ballet rehearsals all over the country are becoming bilingual, as Latinos continue to be the up and coming force in American ballet.

Reviving the World of BalletARTE Y CULTURA

Los Angles à la Canada: Stereotypes Galore

TOP Lorna Feijoo principal for Boston Ballet. ABOVE: ABT principal dancer Jose Manuel Carreno.

Raquel Nieves/// LA Gente Staff Writer/// rnieves@media.ucla.edu

Priscilla Gonzalez/// LA Gente Staff Writer/// pgonzalez@media.ucla.edu

Alvin Ailey American Dance: A Mixed Repertory

Compañía Nacional de Danza Multiplicity: Forms of Silence and Emptiness

Venue: Orange County Performing Arts CenterWeb: www.ocpac.orgPhone: 714.556.ARTSH

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Canadian filmmaker Matthew Bissonnette’s new film “Passenger Side,” a dramedy about two Ca-nadian brothers living in Los Angeles, screened

to enthusiastic audiences at the 53rd Annual London Film Festival this past October. Through the experi-ence of Canadian migrants, the film takes on a fresh perspective to films about life in L.A. However, the film’s major flaw lies in its reliance on all too familiar Latino stereotypes.

The film opens in the typical set-in-L.A. way with images of recognizable murals, buildings, and parks. One aspect of the film was dead-on, however, and that is that most of L.A. was viewed from a car windshield.

The plot follows two brothers in an ambiguous quest in and around Los Angeles. Michael (Adam Scott) is awoken on his 37th birthday by a phone call from his estranged ex-junkie brother Tobey (Joel Bissonnette). Tobey is having car trouble and needs help getting around town to fulfill an unclear mission. Perceiving it as a day of errands and a job interview for Tobey, Mi-chael agrees. On their journey, the brothers encounter drug dealers, a transvestite prostitute, and a dangerous Latino mechanic. They even venture out into the desert

where they meet and help two Latino farm workers. Finally, the brothers end up at a bar where Tobey’s purpose is revealed (SPOIL-ER ALERT): he is determined to help his junkie girlfriend get sober.

It is an honest depiction of what a trans-planted Canadian might experience living in the city. It is certainly unfair to blame stereo-typical representations of Los Angeles on one filmmaker, considering that grossly ste-reotyping L.A. has become a common rite for creative types.

But what is truly upsetting about the film depicting life in L.A. is its diminutive por-trayal of Latinos: The Farmworker Sombrero Man, The Farm Worker Cholo Guy, and The Dangerous Mechanic. The most troublesome aspects arose from the narrative, which juxtaposes two educated, nonchalant, unrealistically articulate white characters against such crude stereotypes. For a con-scious viewer, the comedy might turn sour.

After the London screening on Oct. 25, filmmaker Bissonnette answered some questions from the audi-

ence. Bissonnette was sensitive about the topic of La-tino representation, demonstrating his concern while explaining that the film was not a documentary, but a portrayal of what Canadians might experience in L.A.

Perhaps it is time for us to pay closer attention to our Canadian neighbors; maybe we can show them a different side of L.A.

SOURCE: passengensidemovie.comJoel Bissonette as “Tobey” (left) and Adam Scott as “Michael” (right) in the films signature still.

Fall 2009

My mother, Carmen, built her own home, brick by brick. Too poor to get a piece of the “American Dream,” in 1985, while still

living in East Los Angeles’ Ramona Housing project, she decided to build her own home in Tijuana, Mexico.

When she told my siblings and me (all eight of us) of her plans, we all thought she had gone mad.

“What are you going to do over there all by her-self ?” I asked.

“Not too worry,” she told me in Spanish. “I’m going to build a room for each one of you.”

Our family, like many Mexicans, has a strong bond with Tijuana—a place where countless im-migrants first settle before making their arduous journey to el norte. My parents first migrated to this border city from Sajo Grande, a rancho in Michoa-can, in the early 1960s, fleeing a bloody family feud that claimed the life of my uncle, Pascual.

Like a so-called “good wife,” my mother relocated with my father and his siblings (all nine of them) to the hillsides of this poor, yet vibrant city. Unlike the U.S., the poor in Latin America, for the most part, live in the hillsides while the affluent reside in the city core.

Once settled in Tijuana, she managed to get a work visa in San Diego as a domestica (domestic worker), cleaning the homes of mainly white, mid-dle-class families, while she left her young children at home. In her absence, my older sisters took on the “mother” role by cleaning, cooking and caring for the younger ones.

Not one to conform, my mother, during her fifth pregnancy, arranged for me to be born in los estados unidos. Accessing her kinship networks in the U.S., I was born in Sacramento in the mid-1960s. Isn’t San Diego closer to the border? Despite this conundrum, having a U.S.-born child facilitated the process for my family to successfully apply for micas (green cards) in this country.

Once in the U.S., my mother continued to labor tirelessly as a domestica while my father earned minimum wage in dead-end jobs. Due to their lack of formal education and non-existent English skills, accompanied by low-occupational skills, my parents eventually applied for public housing assistance in East Los Angeles’ turbulent Ramona Gardens housing project.

Tired of the abject poverty, violence, drugs, gangs,

police abuse and bleak prospects associated with inner-city housing projects, my mother decided to return to the motherland, Mexico, as a refuge.

During my freshman year at UCLA in 1985, my mother phoned me about her plans: she bought a small empty lot in Tijuana to build her dream home. While initially shocked, I asked for an emergency student loan to help her with her reach her goal. If the financial

aide office would’ve asked me to justify the loan, I probably would say something like, “Help mother escape the projects.”

Not long after acquiring the land, my mother gave my siblings and me a tour of her new purchase. Like a recent architecture graduate from UCLA or UC Berke-ley embarking on a major design project, she created a visual image of her plans for us.

“This is where the kitchen will go and over there I’ll build the living room,” she said, as we surveyed the

uneven, dirt-filled lot. Without saying a word, we all looked at each other, wondering if she could pull it off.

In retrospect, we should’ve never doubted her. This is the same woman, who at 13-years-old hit a menacing man in the head with a rock, as he tried to kidnap her at the rancho. If he would’ve succeeded—abducting her for several days and then returning her home—she would’ve been forced to marry him to

“save her honor”—a barbaric practice that contin-ues to the present in many parts of the world. For-tunately for my siblings and I, she instead married a handsome man, my father, at the tender age of 14.

This is the same woman who worked as a do-mestica in the U.S. for over 40 years to provide for her family. She’s the one who forced my father to take my older brother and me, as lazy teenagers, to Malibu as jornaleros (day laborers) so that we could appreciate the importance of a college education.

“If you don’t take them to work,” she threat-ened my father, as he watched Bonanza re-runs on T.V., “then I’ll take them myself.”

During the next 24 years, my mother, with the help of the family, slowly built her dream house, brick by brick. First came the cement foundation, then the walls, followed by the roof. Then came the windows and doors. Not satisfied with a one-story house, she eventually built a two-story home, with a detached guest house in the back.

Defying the odds, she transformed an empty space, filled with rocks, used tires and glass into the most beautiful house on the block—probably in the entire colonia (colony). She hired and fired workers, fixed leaky faucets and remodeled, painted and repainted like there was no end. For us, this house became an obsession, but for my mother, it represented a dream come true.

This home symbolized the product of a long journey and she wasn’t going to let anyone derail

her vision. For the first time in her life, my mother cleaned and improved her own home; instead of those belonging to the privileged Americans she worked for all those years.

I only wish she could live one more day so that she could buy that bed comforter she was looking for when I last saw her walking away.

expresionesBrick by Brick: Ode to My Mexican Mother

12

Alvaro Huerta/// Contributor/// Ph.D. Student, UC Berkeley

YOUR AD HERE

Rates as low as $65

Advertise with LA Gente

For more information email lagente@media.ucla.edu

Carmen and Salomon Huerta in Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico circa 1954. Photo Courtesy of Alvaro Huerta.

Alvaro Huerta is a visiting scholar at UCLA’s Chicano Studies Research Center.

Fall 2009

La La never really understood what it meant to be conservative. Her tight supple body was always snuggled into a mini that made moth-

ers scream “valgame dios!” The boys would dare each other to strap mirrors to their shoes to see what treasures laid inside her cuevita.

Her eyes were a crazy cerulean blue. Her red lipstick contrasted against her pearly white skin and her long blonde hair always ran wild. But call her a gringa and she’d beat you down. That was La La for you. She didn’t care what others said

about her. Her affairs with men were always out in the open, even with the ones that had a little ring wrapped around their finger. She had them all wrapped around her little finger.

La La was my prima, my cousin, but I was forbid-den to acknowledge her existence in the streets. You see, she was christened Lourdes del Carmen, but when she was old enough to know what her image could do, she resolved to change her name. When the boys whistled and shouted “oooh la la!!!” during a water fight she baptized herself La La right then.

“Piruja! Go live in the streets where you belong!”, My uncle screamed at her one night, when she came home a little too late, a little too drunk and a little too undressed. La La didn’t care if her father changed the locks to the front door. She never had a real home anyway. She was a yo-yo brat, moving from her Ma’s place to her Pa’s every other week. When her Ma was tired of her and was preoccupied with her new enamo-rado, her lover, she’d throw her back to her dad. When he made a new family and was too busy trying to be the new man of the house, she was out the door again. He didn’t have time for his oldest daughter’s nonsense.

In everyone’s eyes, La La was a lost cause.

La La was only three years older than me, but by fifteen, she had more life-experience than most adults I knew. Her family insisted that she have a Quinceañera, a gigantic 15th birthday celebration that marks a young Latina’s coming out to ‘society’. Funny thing is that there was no doubt in anyone’s mind that La La was already a woman.

My aunt didn’t think most of La La’s friends would be suitable for her court, eran muy locas. My aunt thought I was well-behaved, so I was to be in La La’s court. Every weekend for a month, we practiced the waltz. Unfortunately for me, I was paired with Alex, who had two left-feet and and smelled of sweat and motor oil. I would hold my breath every time he would twirl me for fear that his sting would perma-nently be engulfed in my nostrils.

Every day, I was instructed to visit my grandmoth-er on my way home after practice. As usual, I did as I was told. I sat in her shabby little uncomfortable home and listened to her rant on and on with her comadres about everyone in the family. When La La’s name came up in conversation, she would scoff and say harshly “esa sin vergüenza” and quickly change the subject.

I knew what those words meant all too well. I heard sin vergüenza quite often when I would sit at my grandma’s dining room table when I was small. My grandma and her comadres yapped about how life was better in the old country, how today’s youth was cor-rupted, and how most women today were sin vergüen-zas, literally meaning ‘without shame’. They would mention how so-and-so was a sin vergüenza because she wore baby-tees or because so-and-so giggled at a married man.

For La La’s special night, my aunt had bought her an extravagant white gown. She would drop the

price tag on everyone’s ears. “It was only 600 dollars, made from the finest silk. Imported from Italia.” Only would’ve been the appropriate word if she wasn’t so up her neck in credit card debt that she had to pull a second mortgage. But then again, it was always about keeping ‘appear-ances’ and ‘reputations’. It was about those grown-up issues that my ma told me I would one day understand when I had my own home and children to look after. It was some-thing along those lines.

Quinceañera Day. After weeks of Alex stepping on my feet, of hearing my aunt and La La fight como perros y gatos about the quince preparations, the much anticipated event had arrived. I would finally free myself from Alex’s presence, La La and my aunt would have one less thing to fight about. But like everything that sur-rounded my prima’s life, this day would be nothing short of scandalous.

End of Part One

expresionesSin VergüenzaTanya Shirazi/// LA Gente Staff Writer

sigan luchando

I’m from a land of unknown, my history is forgotten whether it was burned in a temple, dropped in a riveror died on the lips of a forefather. But I will never be lost! Because I know what I am All I have to do is see my own reflection. My blood runs deep, And it shows.My skin is brown, my hair is blackMy voice is low like the whisper of the hummingbird, and whenbrought to anger it burst forth like the strike of the jaguar As my heart beats with the rhythm of the war drum,

years may pass, time forgottenBut still I walk with pride, my blood runs deep!And it shows. “I am Mexican.”Richard Garcia/// Calipatria State PrisonJuly 2009

My Blood Runs Deep

Ruben Castro/// Kern Valley State PrisonSeptember 2009

Attention: have old books or magazine subscriptions cluttering your bookshelf? We can help. Donate them to our in-prison literacy program. email us at lagente@media.ucla.edu

Comments, requests, appreciations?

Write to:LA Gente Newsmagazine118 Kerckhoff Hall308 Westwood PlazaLos Angeles, CA 90024

Let us know, we’d love to hear it!

13

Sometimes we don’t need someone elses ap-proval or acceptance. We just need to look in the ‘mirror’ to see and know who and what we are. ”

“

Story to be continued in our Winter 2010 Issue. To read the whole story now, visit www.lagente.org

-- Richard Garcia

TJ Tran/LA Gente Newsmagazine

Fall 200914

“Aztlán gave language to a nameless anhelo inside me. To me it was never a masculine notion.”

-Cherrie Moraga, The Last Generation

AZTLÁN

For non-Western peoples the historical line be-tween the “ancient” and the present and between “myth” and “history” is not clearly drawn and, as

such, linear constructions of history, that is history as constructed by the West, constricts what we understand about the history of our gente.

Notions of time, space and history are relevant be-cause it affects our understanding of Chican@ Move-ment politics and the re-emergence of Aztlán in the years since, and has left many, including many scholars, with a limited understanding of its historical, cultural, and political significance and as an act of defiance and resistance to Western domination.

Early scholars have informed our understanding of Aztlán as the place of origin of the Mexica (i.e. the Az-tecs) prior to their arrival in Tenochtitlan (modern day Mexico City) in what is estimated during the early 14th Century. While some scholars have dismissed Aztlán as being simply myth, others have debated Aztlán’s physi-cal location. A few have speculated Aztlán’s existence as just north of Mexico City in the states of Nayarit, Guanajuato, Jalisco, or Michoacan. Others have advo-cated locations, within what is now the geographical U.S., ranging across the southwestern states, while still

others, have considered less likely locales as far north as Aztalan, Wisconsin, where Mississippian mound build-ing peoples lived and are thought to have left the area around 1300 A.D.

For Chican@s, politically conscious and active during the 1960’s and 70’s, Aztlán was appropriated in various ways. For many, Aztlán referred to territories occupied by the U.S. since the Mexican American War of 1848 and represented a nation that had been robbed by “brutal gringo invasion,” according to El Plan de Es-piritual de Aztlán. For others, including artists, writers, students and Chican@s living outside the Southwest, Aztlán represented Chican@ political consciousness and epitomized their nationalist sentiment. Still for others, particularly those who made connections with Indigenous struggles in Latin America and the Ameri-can Indian Movement, Aztlán symbolized a reconfigu-ration of Chican@ identity that was rooted in a notion of mestizaje that privileged Indigenismo and Indigene-ity.

As historian Lorena Oropeza points out in her work, Chican@s sought to assert that “they were native to the continent, not immigrants…(and) adopted the ancient Aztec homeland, Aztlán, as their own imaginary

national space,” according to Lorena Oropeza, author of Raza Si! Guerra No! : Chicano Protest and Patrio-tism During the Viet Nam Era.

Today, scholars of various stripes have further ad-vanced research on Aztlán. Linguists have noted the linkages between the Uto-Aztecan languages that range geographically from the states of Oregon and Mon-tana down to the nations of El Salvador and Honduras. Community historians and Chican@ Studies scholars have also engaged in rich and thorough research map-ping and re-mapping possible sites of interest. In addi-tion, recent archeological findings coming out of Har-vard University led by Professor David Carrasco have suggested that Aztlán is perhaps more reality than myth.

However, regardless of one’s perspective or per-ception regarding Aztlán’s origins or symbolism, it is important to note is that the re-emergence of Aztlán roots us as Indigenous peoples who are part of a larger Indigenous community. Aztlán, therefore, speaks to an existence outside of boundaries and across borders that attempt to “immigrantize,” Europeanize, Latinize and thus, de-Indianize our history and our communi-ties. Perhaps it is in that vein where we may collectively realize it’s potential.

Milo Alvarez/// Contributor/// Ph.D Candidate UCLA Department of History

Aztlán: A Brief History

To me, Aztlán means to “remember your roots;” it means appreciate the lives of your parents and their parents, so that you

can understand and appreciate what is a part of you. Aztlán is a call to remember the past.

As a child, every now and then I would realize that my family only spoke Spanish to me because they were from a different country, and that my teachers didn’t understand that language. As a college student, I realized that my life had some of the “typical” experiences that Hispanics face when they immigrate to the United States.

My mother was a housekeeper. As a young girl, this simply meant that she had a job, a place to go to after she dropped me off from school. For me, there was no social significance behind it. However, it represented something bigger than just my life.

Being a housekeeper is a common way for an immigrant mother to make a living. I began to realize that there were other women who spoke Spanish that went to big houses and took care of other children, while they left their own children at home or at a daycare.

A barrier began to appear between every-one else and the people who shared my heritage, and this barrier gradually began to sharpen as I continued to observe my surroundings. Statistics about academic success, family values, place of

origin, and education all became a part of this barrier.

People told me that I had to have a college dream because that is what my parents suffered for. What were my big dreams that would repay their sacrifice? Did my parents suffer? All they told me was that I had to do well in school and to find something that would make me happy.

I never really interpreted my life as being the “typical Latino experience.” Those questions of “what am I?” only occurred in the context of the existential question of “who am I?” I was satisfied with being la hija de mis padres.

Now in college, there is push to have that appreciation for all those little things that make me Latina/Chicana/Hispanic/Mexican/Guate-malan in America. To some people I wasn’t Latina at all; I was a whitewashed first-generation young woman who didn’t appreciate her past.

These terms that are supposed to define and categorize me frustrate me. If these words only apply to those whose parents worked more than one job and live in a predominant Latino neighborhood with many obstacles to academic success—experiences I do not relate to—am I allowed to classify myself in those terms? I have come to ask myself this question as I surround myself with people who are passionate about these identities.

Helga Salinas/// LA Gente Staff Writer/// hsalinas@media.ucla.edu

What is Aztlán?“They called themselves the ‘the bar-barians of Aztlán,’ Chichimeca Azteca, and they had been living that kind of…life for a very long time…when the migration began.”

-Jacques Soustelle, The Daily Life of the Aztecs

“Aztlán belongs to those who plant the seeds, water the fields, and gather the crops and not to the foreign Europe-ans.”

-El Plan de Espiritual de Aztlán

WHEN WORD got out that this year we would continue printing without the inclusion of “de Aztlán” in the title, many felt a strong need to express themselves regarding the fact. What follows are different explorations of Aztlán from history to personal testimony. If you want to add to the dialogue email us at lagente@media.ucla.edu.

“Aztlán will save the world eventually.” -Aztlán Underground

Tidbits of Opinion

Fall 2009

Aztlán: the site of various contro-versies and struggles by people over various generations. But

rather than being just a physical place on a map, Aztlán represents the hopes and dreams of people no matter where it is they stand.

The concept of Aztlán was not born during the Chican@ Movement; rather it has existed ever since indig-enous people all over the Americas maintained their sovereignty. Although the word Aztlán is rooted in Nahuatl, the primary language spoken by indig-enous peoples in central Mexico, the concept of Aztlán does not only relate to people who are of Mexican origin.This is became clear even before the creation of the nation state of Mexico, Aztlán existed in the hearts and minds of indigenous people.

There are various definitions used regarding the concept of Aztlán; some see it as physical space and others as something more fluid that is tied to political consciousness and the creation

of counter culture. I believe in the second definition. Aztlán is not only a physical space; it is an ideology that calls for people to be conscious about their actions no matter where they are from. Aztlán is an idea that crosses borders that have been created by nations that impose Eurocentric, imperialistic hege-mony over all people it encounters and conquers.

During the Chican@ Movement, Chican@ activists used the concept of Aztlán to create a counter hegemonic ideology with which to confront those in power and to address the issues that were affecting their communi-ties. As Juan Gomez Quiñones states in his book “Chicano Politics: Reality and Promise 1940-1990,” “Chicano activism emerged as a challenge to the assumptions, politics, and principles of the established political and social order. The emphasis of Chicanismo was upon community autonomy, individual self worth, cultural pride, and politi-cal and economic equity.” Aztlán was a

key concept in creating the movement that challenged the existing powers to address the issues that were affecting people not only in the United States but all over the world.

If it were not for Aztlán and the Chican@ movement that it inspired, we would not have things such as a Chican@ Studies Department at UCLA or the existence of newsmagazines such as LA Gente.

Aztlán is not exclusive of anyone because its made up of the people. Aztlán is an ideology that has been alive in communities that have been denied equality and who are not afraid to chal-lenge the dominant paradigm that is imposed by those in power.

Today, Aztlán reminds us of the re-sistance that was born in the heart of in-digenous people who first encountered Europeans who forced their hegemony upon them, and how that resistance must continue today in order to address the issues that are still affecting our communities.

To deny the existence of such a term or to remove it from our language as college students is to give a slap in the face to those who came before us who fought and died to give us the op-portunity to improve our lives through struggles and sacrifices.

By forgetting about Aztlán we also forget that our responsibility as college students is to become educated in order to serve our communities and challenge the dominant paradigms that continue to keep them living under unequal conditions.

In the words of Salvador Allende, “To be a student and not a revolutionary is a contradiction.” Aztlán, the embodi-ment of this phrase, reminds us to keep on struggling in order to bring real change to our communities.

The remaining questions are, what kinds of strategies are we going to and need to use to bring about such change? And who is willing to challenge the in-stitutions that prevent this change from happening?

Adan Alvarez/// Contributor/// UCLA Chicano Studies Student, 4th year

In Defense of Aztlán

Cuando empecé este artículo, pensaba en hacer un análisis de la identidad hispana, latina, y chicana, y como yo me relacionaba, o más bien

me diferenciaba, de estos términos al considerarme 100% mexicana.

Pero después de hablar con profesores y otros estudiantes, me di cuenta de que es imposible analizar y definir o clasificar el origen e identidad de experiencias tan diversas con una sola palabra.

Entrevisté a varias personas con el intento de averiguar más acerca de la identidad chicana y latina pero más que una entrevista resulto ser un diálogo e intercambio de ideas. En vez de hacer un reportaje interconectado y fluido, presento los testimonios de distintas experiencias y opiniones:Pablo Contreras, estudiante de tercer año, vino de México hace cuatro años.

“Yo en lo personal nunca me había puesto a pensar en mi identidad hasta que vine a los Estados Unidos. Te fuerzan a tomar una identidad y a decir quién eres. Puedo decir que soy de México, o que soy hispano, que vivo en Latino América, pero no nos in-forman qué es lo que quieren decir con esos términos.”

Contreras dice que cuando estaba en México, él pensaba de los chicanos o méxico-americanos “como personas que mezclan el español con el inglés, que usan cachuchas y playeras grandes… el estereotipo.” Pero llegando a los Estados Unidos se dio cuenta de que es más complicado, es más que apariencias. “Me tuve que asimilar para poder ser parte de un grupo de latinos,” dice Contreras, “tenía problemas para identifi-carme con alguien de otro país de Latino América.” Yvette Saavedra, profesora del departamento de estu-dios chicanos de UCLA.

Saavedra dice que el chicanismo está conectado con una “conciencia política la cual enfatiza las diferen-cias culturales y étnicas.” Antes de los movimientos

civiles de los años sesenta, la corriente era asimilarse a la cultura anglo-americana. Pero el movimiento chicano abrazó la diferencia cultural mexicana, y esto trajo consigo una identidad más política con el término chican@.

“Pero hay que darnos cuenta que este término ha cambiado,” dice Saavedra. Por ejemplo, ahora no solo se utiliza chicano solamente, sino también chicana, removiendo el machismo de aquella época. Además, aunque este término continúa siendo pertinente a la identidad de un individuo, ya no es una lucha de la clase obrera, ahora muchos chican@s pertenecen a la clase media. Igualmente, este término ya no se aplica solamente a mexicoamericanos; ahora se extiende a orígenes diferentes. “Se trata de abrazar esta identidad política.

Principalmente, es fundamental descolonizar el marco histórico, dice Saavedra. En otras palabras, no podemos continuar utilizando el mismo patrón diseñado para excluir o marginalizar a otros grupos. La identidad chicana no se trata del origen étnico sino de adoptar la ideología. “Hay que reconocer la hibridez y diversidad que es parte de nuestra identidad… se su-pone que debemos derribar esos modelos restrictivos” dice Saavedra.Marissa Ramírez, estudiante de literatura comparada, nacida en E.E.U.U., padre de tercera generación mexico-americano, madre Navajo

“No siento ninguna conexión con mi raíz mexi-cana. “Mi papá no habla español y esta muy asimilado a la cultura estadounidense. Lo único hispano que tengo es mi apellido,” dice Ramírez, “Me siento más cerca a la cultura de mi madre. He asistido a eventos tradicionales Navajos y he visitado la reserva indígena.” Ramírez cuenta que no le gusta identificarse con un solo término. Hace la pregunta, “¿Por qué clasificar-nos? Los colonizadores hicieron eso con todos; yo no

voy a imponer mis pensamientos a otros.” Ramírez termina diciendo “cada día es un proceso de aprender quien eres… no me gusta ponerme limites porque esto me impide avanzar.” Yolanda Stephanie De Loera, estudiante de Ciencias Políticas y Estudios Chican@s de 2º año; nacida aquí, de padres mexicanos

“Soy una frijolera,” dice De Loera, refiriéndose a su orgullo de ser mexicana. “Y no me importa que me llamen así, siempre y cuando no lo hagan ofensiva-mente.”

Desde que entró a la universidad, De Loera ha es-tado involucrada en grupos para Latin@s. “Tomo muy en serio mi cultura,” dice ella. “La identidad chicana puede ser muy única para cada persona. Me siento orgullosa al decir que me identifico como mujer mexi-coamericana y a la vez chicana. La mujer mexicoameri-cana en mí es la que conoce su cultura y tradiciones, y la chicana es más una identidad política y social, la crisis personal de la raza, que sufrimos o hemos visto.”

De Loera acepta ser clasificada como chicana pero le desagrada grandemente el término “hispano,” ya que éste fue puesto como clasificación por el ex-presidente Nixon. “Puso a toda la raza junta, cuando en realidad no somos lo mismo. Traemos experiencias únicas a cada comunidad. Prefiero que me llamen frijo-lera que hispana,” afirma De Loera.

Después de haber hecho estas entrevistas se ha ampliado mi percepción y apreciación de las diferen-tes identidades.. Ahora me doy cuenta de que cada persona es un mundo diferente, por lo tanto debo mantener una mente abierta y tolerante a cada mundo. Siempre he tratado de relacionarme con personas de mi mismo origen y que le guste hablar español. Ahora comprendo que no debo ponerme límites, como nos lo ha impuesto la sociedad, sino abrazar la diversidad dentro de mi comunidad.

Carina Padilla/// LA Gente Staff Writer/// cpadilla@media.ucla.eduEn Búsqueda de una Categoria Unificadora

AZTLÁN

15

Fall 2009

The above is an image of the first LA Gente cover published on Feb. 16, 1971. The maga-zine was published solely as LA Gente until the subtitle, “Pueblos de Aztlán” was added in Feb-ruary 1972. In it’s 39 years of publication, the magazine has ammended it’s name to include or exclude subtitles with the word Aztlán 39 times.