Río Bravo: A Journal of the Borderlands
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“Mi Hija Va a Ser Maestra” Overview of the Auto-Ethnography
Get PDFThe educator who takes on the task of the principal leader of a campus must be staunchly in touch with the inner self, the source from which they will draw foundational decisions at the most critical of times, when it is imperative that speech and action be aligned with ideals and beliefs (Marzano, Waters, and McNulty, 2005). My doctoral dissertation, an autoethnography that is an illustrative introspective exercise for instructional leaders, is a critical self-reflection that identifies the factors that informed me as a life-long educator and a campus administrator. This article is a window to the content of that dissertation.The manuscript provides legitimacy to testimonio and the concept of story to build relative context and meaning (Ellis, 2004; Guajardo and Guajardo, 2013) between my marginalized childhood in a small Central Texas town and my successful adulthood in the field of educational leadership. The methodology included critical interpretations of the literary selections, utilizing analytical frameworks to derive meaning from the stories. In order to make “personal experience meaningful and cultural experience engaging” (Ellis, Adams and Bochner, 2011, p. 277), I chose to share my story, thus giving agency to critical self-reflection as a discipline in leadership effectiveness
“Wild Tongue: A New Record of Rio Grande Valley Expression”
Get PDFFor thirty years now, Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La Frontera has helped scores of people discover themselves through care and contradiction—through art that is culturally specific, vulnerable, opaque, and hybrid, reliant on intersecting forms, layered genres, multiple languages, and clashing registers. The present anniversary of Anzaldúa’s book, arriving amidst absurdist headlines and daily heartbreaks, has spurred many to reflect on the increasingly surreal realities of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands: increased militarization and denigrating media coverage, increased displacement and hostile policies, routine dehumanizations and offensive caricatures, neglectful representatives and still-ailing constituencies. Our present tense is an unequal distribution of fear, its realities at once new and inherited, unforeseen and unsurprising: the gnarled legacy of colonial expansion. And as much as this present continues to overwhelm, it also, as Wild Tongue attests, is spurring many Valley natives to respond with forward-looking, reparative art
The Horror in Gloria Anzaldúa: Reclaiming the Monstrous
Get PDFI grew up hearing stories of la Llorona and el Cucuy, believing that la Mujer de Blanco was waiting outside of the bedroom window by the rosales to take me away. Today, like numerous scholars, artists and storytellers, I return to monsters of my youth. Inspired by Gloria Anzaldúa’s work, I ponder what tools we can use to understand and survive in geographies built on violence, death, and conquest. Specifically, in this essay I argue that embracing the figure of the monstrous and the horrific provide one avenue for survival by helping create new homes and new familial structures
A Chicano’s Poetic Exploration: Usando mi autohistoria-teoría para ver los lobos, correr con los coyotes, y vivir como el zorro
Get PDFMy epic poem provides a realization of a Chicano experience in higher education. It is both humanizing and validates a different ontology, epistemology, and axiology (Brayboy, 2005; Kaomea, 2009; Kitchen, Cherubini, Trudeau, & Hodson, 2010). It is a means by which to displace Western Eurocentric ideologies and connect us, storyteller and listener, by privileging the relationship that exists between us rather than the information that is exchanged (Bishop, 2011; Smith, 2012). I am an academic and I am a Chicano, they are not mutually exclusive, and I exist in more than one place and more than one time (Cooper, 1987; De La Torre & Zúñiga, 2013; Ortiz, 1983; Willis & Murphy-Shingematsu, 2009)
And Then They Smiled
Get PDFDuring the 2016-2017 academic year, our local school district initiated investigation into the development and implementation of a dual language program. The program would begin in first grades and over the course of a few years, phase out what in name was a late-exit bilingual model, but in practice was an early transition one. This investigative year marked my first full year serving as Community and Attendance Liaison for the district. With new sights set on the development of a dual language program, and the recent change in attendance policies that moved mandates away from court referrals to prevention and intervention, both the program and my position were, in a sense, under (re)construction. This afforded us the ability to explore the community aspects of my job description and partner with the director of bilingual education to cross traditional borders of program development within public schools
Cultural Narratives and Counterstories: Examining Representation in “Prietita y la Llorona”
Get PDFStories can be a powerful medium through which to simultaneously reinforce and counter oppressive discourse. This article examines Gloria Anzaldúa’s children’s book, Prietita y La Llorona, as a counterstory method within the larger genre of Latinx children’s literature. Counterstories are a powerful method used by Critical Race and feminist theorists to center the delegitimized experiences of marginalized communities. Drawing on theories around discourse, representation, and intersectionality, the article explores the ways in which Anzaldúa counters cultural narratives that diminish community cultural wealth and women’s positions as agents of knowledge through the characters of Doña Lola and La Llorona
THE NEW ARAVESADOS: TECH WORKERS IN THE DIGITAL BORDERLANDS
Get PDFDuring his presidential campaign, Donald Trump ran on a platform that blamed immigrants for taking jobs from American citizens. In his first month in office, the President pursued actions to limit the entry of aliens to study and work in the United States. Fulfilling his campaign promises, he began by obstructing the H-1B visa program
Leadership Development through the Study of the Lived Experience
Get PDFReflection of the lived experience occurs in the solitude of leadership and it is through reflection that educational leaders acquire knowledge. A deep dive into the reflections of the lived experience leads to discernment and it is at this intersect that leadership finds wisdom. The rich data of the lived experience can serve as a valuable resource in leadership development but maximizing the value of the analysis of the lived experience necessitates sharing the findings in a manner that builds capacity in the next generation of leaders. The vehicle used to share the findings is as important as the data we draw from experiences that shape our lives and character
¿Cómo nos une el nopal a los hispanos que vivimos en el Valle del Río Grande de Texas? Teresa Feria Arroyo
Get PDF“Le falta un grado para ser carne” solía decir mi papá cuando estábamos comiendo nopal. Innumerables los platillos que mis abuelas cocinaban con él. Tradición culinaria y medicinal que data de tiempos prehispánicos y que aún se pasa de generación en generación en la cultura mexicana. Con sus grandiosas adaptaciones ecológicas, propiedades medicinales, sabores y colores, el nopal es más que una planta—representa tradiciones, cultura, religión, y en una sola palabra, a toda una nación, pues es uno de los símbolos más importantes en México: ¡se encuentra al centro de nuestra bandera nacional! Tan fuerte es la influencia del nopal en la cultura mexicana, que en cualquier lugar geográfico en donde haya un mexicano, habrá una historia que contar acerca del nopal
Nuestra Gloria The Center for Mexican American Studies at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Celebrates the 30th Anniversary of the Publication of Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza
Get PDF2017 was a significant year in Chicanx, queer, feminist, and American literary history, as it marked the 30th anniversary of the publication of Gloria Anzaldúa’s Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza. One of the most influential books of the twentieth century, Borderlands brings forth nuanced concepts of borders and the importance of the identities shaped by them—physical, cultural, or otherwise. The book has paved the way for exploration and healing for many Chicanxs, people of color, individuals of all gender identities and sexual preferences, and everyone who has proximity to any type of border. Recognizing how Borderlands grounds a wide range of people, the Center for Mexican American Studies (CMAS) at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) saw it fitting to celebrate the life and work of Gloria Anzaldúa in a special way. Annually, CMAS holds a celebration of Anzaldúa, El Retorno, organized by Professor of Creative Writing and Associate Director of CMAS Emmy Pérez. However, CMAS dedicated the entire academic school year of 2017-2018 to Anzaldúa—specifically to Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, for the campus and larger Rio Grande Valley community—with a series we titled “Nuestra Gloria: CMAS Celebrates the 30th Anniversary of the Publication of Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza.