What have I learned from this course?

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How do I relate to the short story La Guera by Cherrie Moraga?

What is the connection between my Spotify playlist and the short story Kimberle?

The short story Kimberle is about a friend who allows her suicidal friend Kimberle to stay at her house until she gets back on her feet. though Kimberle is extremely complicated person she deeply affects the narrator. The narrator is convinced Kimberle stole her books as they go missing throughout the story. However, Kimberly further complicates the relationship the tow haven by bringing woman for them to have a threesome with. The first song ” I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry deeply relates to the short story KImberle. The narrator mentions how she has recently broke up with her boyfriend due to her own problems. Later on in the book Kimberle allows for the narrator to be with a girl to which the narrator enjoys. The narrator states “I don’t know how or why but my mouth opened to the stranger’s breast, tasting her and the vague tobacco of Kimberle’s spit” ( Kimberle, page 20). This relates to the song I kissed a girl since Katy Perry states ” I kissed a girl and I liked it”. In both scenarios a girl is confused about her sexuality. The song What About us also relates to Kimberle. Upon the end of the story the narrator admits she has feelings towards Kimberle to which Kimberle turns her down. In the story it states “‘“Kimberle, don’t you ever think about what we’re doing—about us?’ Us, there is no us”‘ ( Kimberle, page 25-26). This relates to Whatabout us due to the fact P!NK sings about a relationship that deserved more to which she says ” what about all the broken happily ever afters”. Lastly, another song that relates to Kimberle is the song put your head on my shoulder. The narrator is Kimberle’s rock since she’s suppose to make sure Kimberle doesn’t commit suicide. the narrator states “She was asking me to keep her from killing herself” ( Kimberle, page 14). This relates to this song since the song is about the love and trust a man and a woman obtain for each other. Kimberle can simply put her head on the narrator’s shoulder due to the bond and trust they have for one another.

What is the connection between this newspaper article and the short story ” Pandora Box”?

The short story ” Pandora Box” is about a man who one days wakes up a female, transforming from Juan to Juanita. Upon this story Juanita learns what is like to be a woman. One of the main ideas in this story is how woman are objectify. Juanita admits when she was a man she was attracted to Pandora solely on her body that she forgot there was more to pandora than her looks, she had a mind. Even pandora admits that its hard for her to relate to someone when no ones sees her as a person. In the story she states ““’Men treat me as if I have no life of my own,’she said at one point of the long conversation, ‘but I do.”’This creates to this article because the article is about men viewing women has sex objects. This article admits then men view women as sex objects and its basically an instinct. Both readings show that men never see women as what they really are :people, but rather see women as just a body or an object.

How does Dulce Pinzón photo and Graciela Iturbide photography relate?

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How does José Olivarez:​ “Mexican Heaven”​ relate to an episode of “Big Mouth”?

Mexican Heaven
The Day My Little Brother Gets Accepted Into Grad School
I Tried to Be a Good Mexican Son
I Walk into Every Room & Yell Where the Mexicans At
Mexican American Obituary
White Folks Is Crazy
Mexican Heaven
I ask Jesus How I Got So White
Poem in Which I become Wolverine
When the Bill Collector Calls
& I Do Not Have the Heart to Answer
Mexican American Disambiguation

In Season 4 Episode 2 of ” Big Mouth”, Missy ( a tee who s half-white and half African-American), upon visiting her family in Atlanta finds ut that she has been white washed. When her cousins try to help her get in contact with her black side, she is oblivious to all the things that make her black , such as slang, hair, and ” Pumpkin vs. Sweet potato pie” . In the scene when she gets into an argument with her family she says ” You guys haven’t taught me anything about being Black”. this relates to José Olivarez:​ “Mexican Heaven”​. In Olivarez poem he talks about how he is being white-wash and slowly forgetting about his Mexican background. He states in the poem ” Mexican American Disambiguation”. In this line he is trying to say he doesn’t know what makes him Mexican America anymore. Throughout the poem he tries so hard to stay in contact with his Mexican side to which he asks Jesus why has he been white-washed. Both this scene and the poem relate due to the fact the characters are trying to reattach themselves to their ethnicity. Missy gets her hair done with braids in order to get in contact with her ” Black” side and Olivarez tries to assert himself with any Mexica he get in contact with. All in all both characters become white-wash and try to reverse the affects.

An Alternate Ending of ” Porcupine Love”:

I made up my mind. Upon sitting on the straw-mat I realized I couldn’t wait to see Antenita. I can’t believe it took me 14 years to realize. All those years she was there and I refused to acknowledge it, not anymore. I will welcome her love, her body, her laughter, her mind.But That small voice in my head is trying to convince me love is simply not for me. I allow the voice to have one last word to try to convince me otherwise.Because what if that voice is right and my toxic love doesn’t have room for her. I lay on my bed and dream; I dream about being with Antenita again in Bogotá, her lips pressing against my neck. I jolt up from my sleep, my mind is decided and the voice has disintegrated. Suddenly it is as if I only have a few days left to live, I must go to New Zealand. Before that voice can creep back into my mind I scream “Fuck the job, fuck porcupine love, I want and need Antenita”. I rush to my laptop and book a ticket to New Zealand. I don’t care if its $1,000, I just care about her. I pack in a breeze, and I lay awake counting the hours, the minutes, the seconds until I see her again. The excitement I bear just thinking about us, all the memories and all the future memories I will bear with her, the hours pass quickly.

Its 8 in the morning and I’m already halfway to the airport. My boss calls me asking me why I’m not at work yet and I simply said one word: Love. New Zealand, 2 continents, 3 oceans, 8,643 miles, and 31 airplane
hours away, a trip I’m willing to take to just breathe her air. I dreamt of you today, I’m so glad our connection Is still strong. I suddenly forgot how to breathe, just seeing her text affects my whole state. As the plane leaves I take those 31 hour happily just to dream of a life I will be having with her again. I finally get to New Zealand and the feelings im feeling is unbearable: Nervousness, anxiety, excitement, nausea, hot flashes,everything in one. It’s time, and with that I send a simple email to her: Pick me up at the airport. No response. The nervousness and anxiety overpower all my feelings. What if she doesn’t want to see me after all and it was all just a way to get back at me for all I put her through. I take it all back when I see her running towards me. I am stuck to the ground and the world stops as she is now in front of me. All I can say is ” Antenna I need to stop traveling Because all those trips were just detours. you are my final destination.” before I know it her lips are against mine and my world is now complete. New Zealand, 0 continents, 0 oceans, 0 miles, and 0 airplane hours away. All at once everything is different, now that I see her, now that I am with her, now that I’m breathing her air.” I love you” is all she says and the rest is history.

What have I learned from this course?

Throughout this course I have learned many things. One of the topics we’ve learned about in class that I really enjoyed learning about are Latino music artists such as Bad Bunny, Princess Nokia, and Selena Quintanilla since I am a big music lover. These are all people who shaped have Latino history, for example, I’ve learned that Bad Bunny and Princess Nokia break a lot of the gender stereotypes that are typically shamed in the Latino community. Videos like Yo Perreo Sola show Bad Bunny wearing a dress although the social norm is that “men aren’t supposed to be wearing feminine clothes”, so he challenged that statement. Even Selena, she broke those stereotypes by becoming a very successful woman in Tejano music that was mostly dominated by men at the time.  I have even inserted a video I took when we learned about Selena Quintanilla in class because I was so excited for the class discussion we were going to have on her since I am a fan of her and her music. 

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Response to La Guera, Cherrie Moraga

I related to this in a way because she talks about growing up with Spanish speaking parents while going to school where everyone speaks English and how she was basically responsible for helping her mother in which I did the same as well growing up. She even mentions not being properly taught Spanish she states “I picked up what I did learn from school and from over-heard snatches of conversation among my relatives and mother”, which was the same way I learned Spanish as well. Like Moraga’s mother, my mother is very hard-working as well and didn’t get the chance to go to college and just went straight to work. Moraga even mentions the internalized racism within the Latino community, that the lighter you are the better you are, which is something that still needs change today.

 

 

“Kimberle” Spotify Playlist

This photograph that I found on the Dulce Pinzon website depicts a woman with brightly colored pink hair wearing a dress with stuffed animals on it while holding a naked baby. >>>>>>>

<<<< This photograph that I found on the Graciela Iturbide website depicts a mother who seems to have breastfed her daughter to sleep. Both pictures symbolize the importance of a mother’s love and how important it is for their kids. It in a way shows that woman are strong because it takes a lot of strength to give birth let alone continuing to raise the child. They are both carrying and raising the future.

 

 

 

“Mexican Heaven”

I would include the poem in my blog because it talks about culture and how important ones culture, in this case the Mexican community. The quote I wanted to share on page 44 states “tamales, tacos, tostadas, tortas, pozole, sopes, huaraches, menudo, horchata, jamaica, limonada, agua.” These are foods that are very common in Latino community, specifically Mexicans. Based on title “Mexican Heaven”, it is safe to assume that the author these foods and drinks would be prepared in Heaven for Mexicans. This represents culture to me because food can represent culture. I think what he’s trying to say is that when they depart from earth, their culture will never change. In the video, this woman explains how she still keeps making same Mexican recipes from many years ago to keep their tradition and culture alive.

 

 

 

Porcupine Love

 

Finally, things are taking a turn for the better. I've decided to officially quit my lame job and finally move to New Zealand. After conversing with Don Juan and seeking help from spirits, everything is leading me to go back to my one true love, Antenita. This time I will not let her go. After a 31 hour plane ride, I'm here. I get a glimpse of her at the airport, she has now let her hair grown out. She looks as beautiful as ever. 
I run up to her and kiss her, next thing you know when I open my eyes we are at our wedding. We are as happy as ever.
I remember that time when I saw that sign at the coffee place that said "Loving Couple in Search of a Child to Adopt". Then it hit me, we're a loving married couple, why not have our own little bundle of joy. We came to an agreement and the next day we meet our little Emily. Once we laid eyes on her at the center, we knew she was the one. Although we can't have children of our own we love her just the same. I don't ever plan on leaving my girls.<3

What Did I learn?

To start this blog I will first show a diagram of what I have learned in this course:

These are all the things I have learned from this course. For this blog I am going to focus on the LGBTQ and the gender roles in Latin America.

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“Mexican Heaven”

I want to share the poem “Mexican Heaven” by Jose Olivarez, because it talks about gender roles, in Latin American society.

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Dulce Pinzon and Graciela Iturbide

In relation to breaking gender roles, I want to show these two pictures, by the artists Dulce Pinzon and Graciela Iturbide.

These two pictures, one by Dulce Pinzon and the other by Graciela Iturbide, both images show men. The difference is that Pinzon’s picture shows a man dressed in women’s clothes, and Itubide’s shows a man wearing traditional male clothing. I chose these pictures because of how different they are. Dulce Pizon’s image shows a man that is wearing clothes that are usually worn by women. The man in the picture is wearing makeup, and bodysuit, a pearl necklace, and a hat, while posing like traditionally women do. Graciela Iturbide’s image shows a man in a traditional male suit while posing like traditionally men do. I like to compare the two images because one of them is more socially accepted than the other, especially in Latin American countries, where these pictures were taken. Pinzon’s image is breaking traditional gender roles and stereotypes that are imposed by society. The way the man in that picture is dressed and posing, it is not completely accepted by society. On the other hand, Iturbide’s image shows how men are supposed to look and act according to the gender roles in our society. The way that man is dressed and acting in that photo is socially accepted. These two pictures show men acting and dressed whoever they like. The problem is that one of them is not widely accepted in our society, especially in Latin American, where men and women who do not fit their gender roles are still having to fight for their rights. Both of the men in the pictures should be allowed to dress however they want, without society interfering and judging their decisions.

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“Pandora’s Box”

Also concerning gender roles, I want to include an article which relates to the story, “Pandora’s box.” This also relates to the LGBTQ and the trans community in Latin America, and the struggles they have.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/oct/08/trans-women-in-colombia

The Story, “Pandora’s Box” by Arturo Arias talks about a Latin American man who was always admiring a woman, called Pandora, for her body. One day he becomes a woman, and throughout the reading, he learns how hard it is to be a woman. He also discovered he likes men too. The reading talks about the journey of the man that has become a woman, and how he accepts himself as a woman. He also learns to love and appreciate women for more than just their bodies. Even though this reading does this story does not explicitly depicts the man as transgender, it could be interpreted that way. I chose an article by The Guardian called, “The trans experience in Colombia: ‘This is where we work – and this is where we are killed’” because I believe it relates to the story. 

Even though “Pandora’s Box” does not talk about the struggles of being transgender in a Latin American country, it does talk about a man who became a woman and had to go through the struggles of being one. In the story even though the man had it easier being a man than a woman, he still accepted himself as a woman, because that is who she was. This relates to this article because trans women in Latin America go through a lot of issues and struggles, but they do not stop being who they are because of it, just like in the story. The article, written by Kate Lyons, talks about the hardships of being a trans woman in Colombia. It talks about how they are beaten, abused, and they struggle to find jobs, therefore many of them are forced to work as sex workers. There is a quote from the article that talks about the experience of a trans woman, it says, “Cáceres began taking hormones and, when her breasts started growing, she bound them so people wouldn’t notice. But they did. First, she lost her job, then the local rightwing militia sent her a note saying she had 24 hours to leave the town or they would kill her.”This showcases the dangers of being a trans person in a Latin American country. But it also shows how people put their lives in danger just to be who they are. Trans people just want to be themselves, but their lives are put at risk because of it. But they still accept themselves for who they are. A quote from Arias’ reading that connects to this is when the main character says, “I have also given up trying to become a boy again. Resplendent with happiness, 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.” This quote even though it does not talk about violence against trans women directly also shows the struggles of a man who became a woman, and how he was happy with their decision even though it was hard for them. Just like real trans people, in the story, the main character had to learn to accept themselves and be themselves even though it was harder for them this way. Trans people in Latin America still struggle to get rights, many people do not accept them, but they are still facing these struggles, and being themselves. This is because they recognize they matter and that they deserve to live just like everyone else. Just like in the story, they deal with all the struggles of being trans, but they still decide to be themselves. 

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“La Guera”

In relation to accepting and embracing yourself, even though it might be hard sometimes, I want to include my reflection on the story “La Guera,” by Cherrie Moraga. I will also talk about my personal experience with accepting myself.

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“Kimberle”

In relation to feeling out of place, and feeling like you don’t belong I want to include a Spotify playlist I created to match the story “Kimberle,” by Achy Obejas. This story talks about depression, which can be caused by you feeling like you don’t belong. This story also talks about the LGBTQ community in Latin America.

I created a Spotify playlist called “Kimberle,” to represent the short story of the same name by Achy Obejas. This reading talks about two Cuban women who live together. One of them is Kimberle, who is depressed and suicidal, and her friend has to take care of her. Her friend ends up falling in love with her, but Kimberle does not seem to reciprocate her love. For this playlist I included four songs, they are, “1-800-273-8255,” by Logic and Juanes, “Mujer Contra Mujer,” by Mecano, “Habana Blues”, by the artist Habana Blues, and “Fuimos Amor,” by Esteman. I chose these songs because I think they all relate to the story in some way.  

The first song “1-800-273-8255,” by Logic and Juanes, is a song that brings light to the issue of suicide and mental health. I chose this song because Kimberle, as said by the author, Obejas, was suicidal. There is a quote that says, “She was asking me to keep her from killing herself.” I felt this song goes with this quote because it is about preventing suicide and helping people overcome their depression, which is what the author was talking about. 

The second song I chose was Mujer Contra Mujer,” by Mecano. This song talks about normalizing lesbian and guy relationships. I chose this song because in the story Kimberle and her friend are part of the LGBTQ. The author let us know this by stating that Kimberle and her were having relationships with other women. I think this song fits the story because the story tries to normalize lesbian relationships, just like the song does. 

The third song I chose was “Habana Blues”, by the artist Habana Blues. This song talks about Cuba and the problems with it. The characters in this story are Cuban, the author let us know in this quote, “I don’t really know when I met Kimberle. It seemed she had always been there, from the very day we arrived from Cuba.” In this quote, she talks about how both of them are from Cuba. Even though in the story the author never talks about the problems in Cuba, the reason that many Cuban people move to the United States is that there is a lot of struggles in the country, and they want a better life. I infer that one of the reasons why those women move to the United States is because their families wanted to give them a better life. I chose this quote because it can be connected to their Cuban heritage and why they moved. 

The last song I chose is “Fuimos Amor,” by Esteman. This is also an LGBTQ song. This song talks about two men who were together but now are separated, and one of them cannot forget their love, but the other one is not going to get back together with them. I chose this song because it relates to the situation Kimberle’s friend was on. She liked Kimberle, but Kimberle did not like her back in the same way, even though they had good times together, which is similar to what the song is about. In the quote that says, “‘Kimberle, don’t you ever think about what we’re doing—about us?’ ‘Us? There is no us.’” It is shown how Kimberle does not love her friend, therefore their love is one-sided. This is similar to what the song talks about, and that is why I chose it.

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“Porcupine Love”

To finalize this blog post, I want to end with my alternative ending to the story, “Porcupine Love,” by Tatiana de la Tierra. This story also relates to the LGBTQ in Latin American society and unrequited love.

The reading “Porcupine Love,” by Tatiana de la Tierra, talks about a woman who is in love with another woman, who she calls Antenna. The problem is that her lover moves away from her and now she is not able to see her anymore. She has not seen her in fourteen years and she misses her. She acknowledges that she was not the best girlfriend and that she treated her lover badly, but she wants to change and see her again. In the end, she seeks help from Santeros and she becomes very spiritual, but she does not get to see her lover. Here is my alternative ending for this story: 

She cannot forget the love of Antenna, she is unhappy with her life, and she wants to change it. She cannot leave for New Zealand, because her jobs would not let her, and she does not have the money. But she cannot stand her life anymore. All she does is think of Antenna, which has made her become really depressed. She decides to email Antenna to see if she still has feelings for her and to see if she wants her back. When she receives a response back from her ex-lover, she is surprised to see how she still wants her, and how she is asking her to move to New Zealand with her. She cannot believe this, all this time she has felt like the worst person in the world, she thought Antenna resented her because of how she treated her during their relationship. But this was not the reality, Antenna still loved her. The next day she quitted her job, and she bought herself a one-way ticket to New Zealand. She packets all her belongings and while she wanted the day for her to leave to come, she would only fantasize about how amazing her life would be, once she was reunited with her lover. The day finally came and she was excited to see Antenna again for the first time in fourteen years. When she arrived, she saw Antenna waiting for her at the airport, she rushed to her to hug her and kiss her. After that, they went to Antennas house, which would become her new home. 

The first few weeks in New Zealand were amazing, she felt like she was happy again. She felt like she was now at home, and she did not want to leave. But shortly after, she started to act as she acted back when she and Antenna first started dating. She started to be cold towards Antenna, and to push her away. Antenna was not happy with this, she thought that in fourteen years her lover would have changed, but she had not. Antenna tried talking to her, to figure out what was wrong, but not even her lover knew what was wrong with her. She felt ashamed of the way she was treating Antennal, she wanted to stop, but she could not. She remembered what her therapist had said to her about why she acted this way, but she did not know how to stop her insecurities from controlling her. She did not want to let Antenna know that she was scared, that even though she loved her new life, she was still scared of letting her guard down. But Antenna did not want to give up trying, she really loved her, so she kept on trying to get her girlfriend to tell her what was wrong until eventually, she did. She told her that she was scared, and that is why she used anger to cope with her fears. Antenna decided that the best for them was to get therapy, so they did. They started taking therapy together, and like this, they became closer, and she was able to open up to Antenna and let her guard down. They were able to have a better relationship with each other, and they lived happily together, having adventures in New Zealand. 

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Throughout this blog, I focused on different experiences regarding the LGBTQ and the gender roles in the Latin American community.

Julio Cuatianquiz

An article that relates to Pandora’s Box by Arturo Arias is the article, “California Today: Transgender Surgery Comes to Major Southern California Hospital” by Jennifer Medina and it explains that many people in the west coast have people running into many obstacles to try to accomplish their wish of having the surgery they wanted. The way this relates to the story is that this man Juan isn’t too sure about becoming a woman and eventually he goes through with the surgery, he wakes up and realizes that he has fully been transformed into a woman and honestly it was one of the best decisions he has ever done, and it was a dream come true because he was always doubtful about being a man. After the surgery he explored his body, and he was just full of excitement and joy because everything just felt so right to him. The newspaper article relates to the story because the article supports these surgeries and are fighting for these surgeries to become legal. There is a doctor who accepts public insurance to undergo these surgeries and it honestly has made it easier for people in the State of California to do these surgeries because before a lot of people would reject them and will not do these surgeries because they felt like it was not right. Dr. Cedars was able to make all these peoples wishes would come true and has performed over 100 surgeries which relates to Juan because he was one the people whose wish came true. Not only are these surgeries for men looking to fulfill their wish of becoming a woman, but also for people like Pandora who wish to become a man. 

After cleansing myself with Don Juan he opened up my mind and helped me decide what I really wanted. I left Don Juan knowing exactly what I wanted to do. I got home packed everything I held value to and didn’t look back. The only thing that I was worried about is reuniting with the person I loved the most, Antenna. I’m tired of being afraid to love and be loved, it is time I faced my fear and just do things impulsively instead of overthinking all my decisions. I bought my ticket not caring about how much it was and I got on the first flight leaving to New Zealand.

Thirty hours later I finally arrived at New Zealand, and the first thing I did was email Antenna that I was here and needed to see her. She replied with disbelief and provided directions to her job because she didn’t want to leave work and see that it was a lie of me being here. Once I got to her job, I saw her gorgeous face and just dropped everything and gave her the tightest hug possible. Once I let go, she looked at me with a shocked face. I asked her what’s wrong, that why is she not excited to see me. She sat me down at the nearest table and told me that she didn’t think that there was ever going to be a relationship between them because she was not planning to leave New Zealand because she finally decided to settle down with someone and she thought that there were only going to have an email type of relationship. Hearing these devastating news I ran up and left back to the airport crying, wishing that I would have never came looking for love that was never there. 

The way these two images are related is because they both illustrate a sense of being trapped. In the first image, you see that there is a rope around the tree to symbolize that the tree is captured and has no escape and the same is illustrated in the second image because there are three animals that were captured and put into the same cage with no escape. The only difference between these two images is that even though the animals in the second image are trapped in a cage, they still have a sense of hope in being able to escape because they are living creatures that are able to move, meanwhile the tree is forced to suffer in place because unlike the animals, the tree is not able to move. Another similarity is that both pictures illustrate how humans are aware that they are stopping the growth of nature. At first it started by taking down trees, to help us produce more trees, which effects our oxygen. After they started capturing animals for our amusement and use their skin and fur to produce materials which helps us understand that humans are destroying nature and killing the homes of these animals. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1LMYWMYZTVcm1qRKZUcI_3f9sUkJlQ1cW/view?usp=sharing

The way the poem, “Mexican Heaven” by José Olivarez is related to the clip from Party of five is that in the poem it states, “Mexican woman (illegal) and Mexican man (illegal) have a Mexican (illegal)-American (citizen). is the baby more Mexican or American? Place the baby in the arms of the mother (illegal). If the mother holds the baby (citizen) too long, does the baby become illegal? The baby is a boy (citizen). He goes to school (citizen). His classmates are American (citizen). He is outcast (illegal)” (Olivarez, 3). The way this quote relates to the clip, is because the parents are illegal and they own a restaurant, meanwhile their oldest son and their daughter are in school. This relates to the part in the poem where it mentions how the boy is in school and has classmates that are American meanwhile, he is an outcast and illegal because his parents were born in Mexico and migrated to the United States meanwhile him and his sister were born in America which makes them legal. Additionally, in the clip you see how the mother is holding her baby who is just a couple months old before she gets handcuffed by ICE and this relates to the poem and how it mentions that if the mother holds the baby for too long, does the baby become illegal even though the baby is a full citizen of the United States. It is unfair to how even an innocent baby can be judged to whether they are illegal or legal just because the parents are not born in United States. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gZ26NfLp_fgE_yVkV8STqskmE_e56x45/view?usp=drivesdk

Tai Thi

Tai Thi,  Christopher Gonzalez, Jocelyn Gomez

The colonizers from Spain on Taino have brought nothing but pain and have left them behind education wise. From when Columbus had taken his first steps into the Taino territory, he took advantage of their abilities because of their bodies and appearances. Mostly taken advantage of
the colonizers had brought their own intentions into making the Taino people their slaves to do their labor. The indigenous community couldn’t really do nor say anything for themselves as they didn’t have a developed language and were still part of the Old world that has yet to gain
more knowledge of growing technology. Colonization brought many diseases that caused many deaths amongst their people thus living and working in such horrible conditions. The Taino community made it past while still keeping their heritage and traditions intact.

Colonizers came to the new world to do multiple things; take all the natural resources from the native people for their own benefit, spread disease and new ways of thinking. A lot of Natives died because of the disease the colonizers carried when voyaging and because native people have
never experienced those things a huge part of them died. Forcing Catholicism on the natives was also a negative impact. Natives had to hide their beliefs and culture because the new comers didn’t think that way and considered it as “savage”. The image above is a good way to represent
the forcing of a new religion. Colonizers believed that discovering the new world and forcing natives to be slaves was the calling of God. They justified the killing of millions of natives with their religion. Catholicism also influenced natives in the way they portrayed their Gods but it still
wasn’t the same. Not only did colonizers take what was valuable to them but they also took their lives and their culture

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.

The tone of this poem is very passionate and intense. He was raised in the Lower Eastside of New York and throughout the poem he talks about his accounts of what he went through and dealt with there. Miguel goes in depth about the environment he was raised in and is not bothered by it, but embraces it instead. For example, in the poem it states “So here I am, look at me I stand proud as you can see pleased to be from the Lower East a street fighting man a problem of this land”. He states that he has been a thief and a junkie and that he’s done bad things, he hints to being in some kind of gang. He talks about the environment being filled with ” run away child police shooting wild . . .mother’s futile wails . . . pushers making sales . . . dope wheelers & cocaine dealers . . . smoking pot.” Despite the fact that this might all sound “bad”, he loves where he was raised. He says several times in his poem that when he passes away his only wish is that his ashes be scattered through the Lower East Side.