2/24/18 Session #10

This morning we ground ourselves with the reminder from Juliet our Brown In Chicago project director that, “to study is a revolutionary duty, and we ain’t just doing this for an A+ within a capitalistic society!” We each took turns sharing what topics we want to research for the duration of the Brown In Chicago Fellowship up until May. Within the next two months we will work within groups to conduct our own research projects on a topic of interest related to previous lessons. The following are topic ideas presented by each fellow and answers these questions: What I hope to learn/research more? What have I learned so far? What are ways I plan to learn more?

Emma: I used to think Latino culture and identity was more or less the same and I want to know more about what doesn’t make them monolithic. I’m interested in learning more about my indigenous background. I would love to find out how it’s still alive today in multiple cultures in Latin America. I’ve done limited research on this topic so far but I’ve been able to read small articles about different cultures in Latin America. Now that I have more concrete data about my DNA and what it’s made up of I can go from there. The first step in my plan is to conduct more research using all the resources that have been provided to me. I would also like to interview people to see if they have any input or information that I might not be able to find.

Austin: I want to deepen my own familial experience and to get to the root of acculturation and assimilation. How can internalized racism become so defining, despite it not being an explicitly overt/conscious action? I’ve found a couple of great resources on the topic and have been able to put my own experiences and the experiences of others into perspective. While I do want to use academic sources and back up what I say, I want this piece to be more personal. I will keep on finding more resources! Talk with more individuals about their experiences and work on formatting the whole piece.

Lucas: Understanding how we are developing or ascribed to the way we are today? Perhaps looking into epigenetics? Where did Mexicans get culture from that made it it’s own in terms of music food and appearances? How different are we to even say we are different from one another if I look more Puerto Rican than Mexican to others? What I have learned so far is that nothing past being born on a different plot of land and our skin color and adaptation occurring making from scratch what they had that later carried itself into the twenty first century. The way I plan to learn more is by investigating the lands and tribes/groups of people I am blood related to and see how much I relate to them in my personality, looks or how I am in my everyday life.

Arely : Last year my Mexican identity was deconstructed and I felt shook. I am proud of the diversity I see in Mexico similarly to the U.S. I want to know how to claim my indigeneity and access it. But, by doing so this means to reject my family’s Catholicism which upsets them. My research question is, What does it mean to be Mexican? Who are we as culture? I’ve learned that there is colorism and that it’s very similar to the U.S. we come from different backgrounds and are treated accordingly. But we are also one at the same time, being Mexican means being the colonizer and colonized at the same time for me. I plan to make more trips to Mexico and keep learning about the history of Mexico and learn how the people interact with the different dimensions Mexican culture.

Anaiza: How can POC students take education into our own hands? Why are we still struggling with dropout rates if our ancestors fought so hard to win us the fight to go to school?

Brittany: Why isn’t Latino history taught in school? Or just the option for it, having it available would be nice. Even when I was in grammar school in Puerto Rico for a little, we spent a little time learning about Tainos but more focus on Mayans groups. Meeting a Taino man on the isla who was proud of his culture inspired me that the culture isn’t dead. When we learn about Latin American in U.S schools, it is still Eurocentric and focuses on economic development and influences of colonialism is viewed as “mixing” which is just whitewashing. I am learning that more about more types of indigenous groups, challenging in school why don’t we learn more about Latin American History, about historical challenges against education/institutions to include more ethnic studies in our schools. I’m Interested in creating curriculum that is accessible Ethnic Studies and Integrating personal narratives.I want to explore how music, dance, and other mediums can challenge racism?

Ashley:  I want to begin to Heal from Catholicism. By shifting religious affiliation and practice I want to see someone like me when I pray to God. While exploring and practicing Yoruba culture and spirituality I want to embrace natural and holistic forms of healing. Not depending on one person like God and to better feel supported by multiple orishas instead. This is a life changing process that will take time for me to better understand my familial indigeneity abuelita knowledge. I wish to know more about their traditions and our history?

Merari: I want to learn more about ending cycles of generational trauma, understanding my own healing, and learning more about my family’s battle with mental illness history.

Of the eight research topics and questions discussed above from the students in attendance I narrowed their topics into three main research groups based on their interests:

1) What is the history of the U.S Education Systems and importance of implementing Ethnic Studies?

2) Exploring what is Latinx identity, Nationalism, and internalized prejudice?

3) What Generational Trauma and decolonized healing?

Within these next two month we will continue to work on our research projects and continue to find creative ways to present our projects and share them within various upcoming community events which are planned or in the planning process still. One upcoming event that was co-planned with a B.I.C Fellow with a relationship with ICIRR: Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights will take place at on March 10th at the Immigrant Youth Conference at Northeastern Illinois University – El Centro Campus from 9 am – 2 pm. As a response to the attacks on immigrants and our youth, ICIRR and partners are creating a safe space for immigrant youth and provide resources, workshops, and an opportunity to meet other immigrant youth across Illinois.

Evelyn, a B.I.C fellow collaborated to design an hour long workshop for this conference called, WE ARE ENOUGH:  I don’t need your papers to be whole, I am already whole, I am already enough. While it’s so important to fight back and arm ourselves with information, it’s also important to recognize our need to heal from being an immigrant in this nation at this time. In this workshop we will introduce the concept of healing justice, create art that affirms who we are regardless of this status and create a safe space to share our stories.

This workshop is just one example and community engagement opportunity that was inspired by the Brown In Chicago project and am excited to see the other projects grow into fruition this upcoming spring 2018!

 

1/13/18 Session #7

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Our opening question this morning was adopted from Xicana activist-artist Melanie Cervantes from California. We took turns answering,“What message do you want to share with your future ancestor?” Whether a few of us want to have children or not it was very important to us to have our memory and message of empowerment to our future ancestors.

We then, split up into two working groups, one to focus on developing our research questions from the previous session and group to catch up with the previous workshop.

Below are more topics and themes we are interested in researching and questions to ask our own families:

Internalized Racism: “My grandfather distanced himself from Latinx identifiers, assimilation and growing up in a white neighborhood.

Conflict with Catholicism and finding a new religion (decolonization) Finding a religion that better caters to my experience and allows me to have agency and power with my connection to spirituality in an autonomous way. I wanted to praise someone who looks like me, a strong woman like Yemaya is more practical for my daily life and spiritual practice.

Colombian:  Repression of Colombian  identity? Wanting to know my Colombian family more.

Religious Syncretism- How can we deepen our spirituality?

Dad’s father: Mexican, grandmother (Guatemalan) came thru Mexico interviewing “tita”

Mental Illness:  Understanding a traumatic family history, my own healing, ending cycles of violence, empathy for history of family violence.

Formalized Education:  Education in the US and POC, how did we get to the dropout rate crisis? *Most educated population are black women. Taking education in our own hands.

Grandparents lives: Grandfather was a POW WII and wanting to learn more about his own experience. Grandmother was she “Texan” or “Mexican” (or Cuban or Spanish) she was a sex worker? First child was kidnapped and could be a Gypsy?

Wanting to return home: Understanding more deeply where my family is from and what legacies have Taino culture has left behind? What can I do to help the island after hurricane Maria?

10/7/17 Session #1

Hands/minds, they are carving out
A sanctuary. Use these weapons
Against them. Use your given gifts
—they are not stone

              —Luis Rodriguez

Our first meeting of Brown in Chicago 2.0 invited new and a few returning youth leaders and students from within our community of Logan Square, Humboldt Park and Hermosa neighborhoods. These folx range from ages 16-25 years old and hold a wealth of knowledge and experiences of their own. We began with checking in with our full names with an emphasis to honor our family’s name with respect and full enunciation. Many of us have experienced “whitewashing”our names in school or to others in order to make it more palatable and easier for others to say comfortably . We want to honor names and take the time to say them as they were intended because we believe there is power within holding our own names with integrity.

Next, we opened our discussion and asked to share what was calling them to learn more about yourself and your ancestors? A few of the responses included feeling sad about seeing the degrees of separation from their ancestors’ culture through each generation that slowly neglects, forgets, or hide parts of those memories and traditions. A few students expressed how “messy” their backgrounds felt because they either didn’t know much about the cultures or how to connect. We read a poem called The Calling- Luis Rodriguez that depicts the reflections of a young political prisoner who was wrongfully jailed and used that experience as a catalyst to change his life.

We then unpacked further what our own identities mean to us and teased out the differences between, race, ethnicity and what other roles and identifiers are important to us. Around the room we had sheets of paper with a word printed to represent an identifier and instructed youth to stand next to the racial &/or cultural identities you relate to (Boricua, Latina/o, Latinx, Spanish people, Chicana/o, Black, White, African American, Person of Color, Mixed, etc.) Here are a few of the reflections the youth reported:

Latinx

• “Is inclusive of individuals, I identify as a queer Latinx and that I have both Masculine and Femme aspects about myself.
• “It’s a mess but a little bit of everything.”

Black

• “I don’t know Spanish, only a little, and I have accepted its not bad to be where you are from”

Boricua

• “Grew up with this identity more, I connect more to this side of my family.”  

Indigena

• “I am half Colombian and half Ecuadorian, growing up I learned spanish and Quechua at the same time. I remember a girl in the 4th grade told me I didn’t speak Spanish right. Later in life I appreciate the Quechua dialect when I speak Spanish because it makes me feel closer to my grandparents.”

Chicanx

• “Learning about chicanismo lead me to find chicano underground hip-hop.
• “When I was younger I used to be teased by my cousins for my English accent when I spoke Spanish to them. I feel like I  am living between two worlds and Chicanismo embraces who I am.”

Mexican

• “ I feel like I am living in between two worlds, I am not Mexican enough to have confidence with my Spanish. Our grandparents that migrated here had to embrace our cultures (U.S Culture). I recognize now that we had to assimilate in order to adjust living here. I haven’t been back to Mexico in 15 years and I wonder if I am still tied to that culture?
• “I identify as Mexican American (my mom is Texan) but have heard varied definition of what a Mexican American means.”
• “Sometimes I feel so Americanized and that I should be more Hispanic. I don’t connect with my culture because I wasn’t educated enough to engage with it.”

Mixed

• “I was born and raised in Chicago. I identify mostly with being Puerto Rican from my mom’s side of my family. My dad left us when I was younger and his family is from the Dominican Republic so I never had a chance to learn that culture (or have an interest in that side of my family since he left us when we were so young. But now that I am older I can’t deny that part of myself.”

We ended our session with a check out to see what was coming up for students. Many reactions ranged from excitement to gratitude for having a unique space to learn more about our family history and ourselves. Some of the shared responses explained that,  “This group feels welcoming, never had a setting to talk about our families, stories, or even history.  What I learn here is going to be great for my future.” Or, “School is draining physically and mentally. This project is important for me to feel supported.” There is power that comes from connecting and reflecting deeply within ourselves as we navigate through our communities and politics that are quickly shifting. The U.S was built at the expense of people of color, immigrants and those who do not benefit from privilege. Over many centuries of reinforcing these ideas that uphold capitalism, patriarchy and racism has taught our families and ancestors to feel shame and less power for not holding these values. Being able to discover the truth of our family’s stories and struggles while taking it a step further to vocalize and share these pieces of history allows us to explore parts of our inherited wisdom and power that is waiting to become awoken.