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Kimberle By Achy Obejas

The reason I chose this song to be in the playlist for this reading is the fact that it has to due with suicide and the lyrics say “one last pic and i’ll be gone make it count put the flash on”. Which implies suicide. A big influence throughout this excerpt is the suicide and her friend wanting to commit suicide and she says “She was asking me to keep her from killing
herself.” However the artist also says “take me home its the one place i can rest in peace” which also relates to the reading considering Kimberle brought her home and that ended up being her peace.

This song has to due with killing and it connects to the killer that is annually killing girls which is another big influence. The artist Necro says “Its a cycle and nuff’ humans are addicted to the thrill
So now that your f**kin’ dead, we need someone new to kill” which relates to the annual killer that they have be wary of throughout the reading. I like this song to connect to it because it says it’s a cycle which relates to the killer who is in a cycle of killing once a year.

“Before long Kimberle was driving my hand inside the woman, who barely moved as she begged us to kiss, to please kiss for her.”

This song relates to the one part of the excerpt of them making love with one another. The title Un Beso translates to one kiss and it discusses the love of a girl and describes the kiss of a girl. Which relates to the quote of the sex scene. It also talks about the touching of her skin which describes sexual tension.

” ‘Kimberle, don’t you ever think about what we’re doing—about us?’ ‘Us? There is no us.’ “

This song is called Alma Enamorada and it is about a man who is hurt by the lack of love. This relates to this quote because it shows that she thought of Kimberle as more than just a friend and it seems as if Kimberle did not think anything of them. Which is why she states there is no us. In this song Chalino Sanchez says if the person will love him he will be there for them waiting for them.

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La Guera

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Pandora’s box

https://www.usnews.com/news/the-report/articles/2017-09-29/transgender-americans-face-daily-struggles

The reason I chose this article is because it depicts all the hardships that the transgender community have to go through on a day to day basis. The reading Pandora’s box shows Juan one day waking up a women. From there on we see examples of what the transgender community have to go through on a daily basis. Some examples being constant harassment, relatives disassociating themselves from you, and even discrimination. The reading states that “Men treat me as If I have no life of my own” and proceeds to state she has a degree in museology and for Juanita not to act like a man and belittle her. Which shows the constant battle women go through because men oppress them and try to belittle them. A quote that stuck with me was “I have learned to put up with PMS, a feeling of powerlessness, fear of men, not being listened to, having to help everyone all the time without being helped myself, impotent and all powerful at the same time…” because it shows the effects of men to women. It creates this notion of depreciation upon women.

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Photo Comparison

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I am comparing these two pictures because they both give off very empowering Latino emotions to them. The first picture tells me a story of a hardworking man dressed as chapulín and although it does not imply it, I feel as though he works as hard as he does and strives for success for his family and that is why he does such physically demanding work. The second picture from Graciela Iturbide is a picture from Mexico and empowers the culture and heritage. The way they relate is Chapulín being Mexican and the picture of the women dancing is from Mexico creates this notion of strength and pride within the Mexican culture. On a more personal note, I love these pictures and what they depict of Mexicans because I relate to it. The second picture also reminds me of my mother and the culture of Mexico and how they dance with the traditional dress on.

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Porcupine Love

When I get home I weigh out my options. I can stay here and proceed with this dull life, anxious for some adventure to burrow its way into my existence. The life I live is safe, but is safe what I want? I can dip into my savings in order to see her, my antenna. Fuck it. I am tired of living my life safe. 14 years without her is pure agony. I don’t even wait I call up my boss and I cut off all bridges. No turning back. “Fuck this job and fuck you I QUIT” I exclaimed, adrenaline running through my veins. I don’t contact my therapist because this is the one thing I am sure about. I book my flight, the next flight out 6 a.m. tomorrow.

My bags are packed and I’m on the plane right now. The most exciting my life has been for the past 14 years. She told me what town she was living within New Zealand and I was able to narrow down where she lives through that information. When my plane arrives I call a taxi to take me to her. A 27 minute drive seems like an eternity when you are lusting for love. I finally arrive and walk up the steps and ring the doorbell. A brief moment goes by and I hear movement within the house. She cracks open the door, just enough to poke her head out her smile goes from ear to ear, her eyes glistening ever so gracefully. “I made it” I say as I fight back my tears from joy. We kiss. Flashbacks of all the adventures we used to go on raced through my mind. We kissed. All my worries seemed to wash away. We kissed.

Mexican Heaven

“i’m just kidding there are no white people in heaven”

I include this line because the title of it is Mexican Heaven. In this case that means what Mexicans worship and what is their safe haven. White people historically have been oppressors to Mexicans and have been keeping them from a better life in order to benefit themselves. The white people only want Mexicans when it is beneficial for them other than that they do not care. Oppressors do not get into heaven.

I chose this movie because although it is satire and is a comedy and fantasy there is some truth to the fact without Mexicans the United States of America will go south. In the last decade U.S. latinos launched 86 percent of all new businesses and contribute to the ever growing GDP of the United States increasing it to 2.3 trillion dollars. Latin Americans are the foundation for the U.S. economy and without them the United States of America is futile.

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What did I learn Convo

Group 5

The Lust for Gold Exterminated the Native Race of Latin America
In the book, Open Veins of Latin America, by Eduardo Galiano, part 1, The Sign of the Cross on the Hilt of The Sword, talks about how Columbus came to American, and what the consequences of him arriving there. Columbus “discovered” America during one of his expeditions, when he was trying to get to Asia. During his journey, he accidentally landed in America, this caused a series of events that resulted in the extinction of many of the natives that were living in America. The text talks about how the excursion started because Europe was in need of spices, and metals, like silver. They decided to finance Columbus’ expedition to Asia, to get direct access to
these goods. During these expeditions, Columbus accidentally landed in America, thinking it was Asia. While he thought he was in Asia, Columbus, and the other people that were with him, decided to explode and slave all the natives, so they forcefully do the work of extracting the goods from the land. They decided they did not care about the lives of these people, they did not bother to learn about their culture or language. They forced their religion, culture, and language onto them, and forced them to do work for free. This work was so exploitative, that they collapsed and died. All these work only benefited Europe’s economy, and nothing else. Columbus wrote about all the wonderful things he saw on these Latin American lands, this
causes many others to want to travel there to get the same goods as Columbus. These people who followed after Columbus were just people wanting to be rich and nothing else. They continued the horrors of colonization and helped exterminate the native race, just for personal gain. The Europeans colonized the land, and exterminated their population, all to stop their hunger and lust for gold and silver. They claimed the stolen land as their own and continued to exploit its resources. Many natives decided they did not want to serve the Europeans, they gave up, and
instead of fighting back, or working for the Europeans, they committed suicide. They could not bear the idea of working for those who stole their land and gave them the goods they did not work for. Thanks to colonization, all of these native tribes disappeared, colonization exterminated all of these people, just for material goods. This text talks about all of the horrible things the natives had to go through while colonization was happening in Latin America. It shows the relative of colonization, and the real impact it had, not only on the European countries involved in it, but also the Latin American countries that were colonized, and the most affected. This text shows the real cruelty of the Europeans towards the natives of the lands in Latin America. It shows how careless they were, and how all they wanted was to become richer from these expeditions. This text shows how Europe’s obsession with material goods resulted in the extinction of a whole race.

Images explanation:

 These photos depict the truth about Christopher Columbus by showing the true horror. The first picture shows men chained up like animals and being enslaved by Christopher Columbus and shows them barely clothed and dirty showing the mistreatment of these men. The second picture shows the beauty of said Native American that has a strong sense of the Native American culture however there is a skull face drawn over her face because of Christopher Columbus killing and enslaving the Native American people.

Audiovisual explanation: 

This video is very relevant to the article because it adds to the truth of Christopher Columbus. It speaks of the horrors that really occurred when Columbus “discovered” America. He aided to the upcoming popularity of the international slave trade that was just beginning. He was greedy and ignorant. The natives were very hospitable upon Columbus’ arrival, and he instead, upon first glance looked at them as naive and decided to exploit these Natives. He brought diseases, raped their women, and overall did many unspeakable things. When he returned to Spain, everyone saw him as a horrible man, and he was tried for all of the treason he committed in the Americas. Although these charges were dropped, the Spanish still never looked at Columbus as a hero. But somewhere in history this was all forgotten, and now people try to make him seem like a hospitable savior when that was not the true story at all.

Group 5

Our group focused on analyzing and looking into the “Lower East Side” poem, by Miguel Pinero.  

The Lower East side is located in manhattan and the words mean nothing to someone who had not lived there. However to Miguel Pinero it was a way of life and his home. The description in the poem does not depict the neighborhood as a beautiful and safe one however it talks about the truth such as the criminals and imperfections. The reiteration of spreading his ashes throughout the Lower East side shows how much he means it and his love for the neighborhood. There he fits in with others and he is with his community. I find this poem relatable because I used to live in Sunset however I moved to Flatbush at the age of 11. I feel out of place here, on the other hand in the sunset I feel with my people. In flatbush I feel alienated and not as comfortable as I did with sunset although, just like Miguel Pinero, had gangs and drugs flowing throughout my neighborhood. Miguel Pinero was a co-founder of the Nuyorican literary movement which is empowering for Latino’s as a whole. Miguel Pinero was also part of the young lords who shook the world and even held meetings in the Lower East Side. This neighborhood is bigger than just a home; it is also a piece of history and a reminder that we are strong together. The young lords not only gave food to the needy and created hospitals in order to help out other minorities protested in ways that affected the city so that they were not to be ignored and it was so empowering to all hispanics. The Nuyorican put the beliefs of struggling latinos into words and the young lords put it into action and I think it is one of the greatest things I have ever learned about in both of my PRLS classes.