MUJERES TALK: Y las mexicanas migrantes, ¿cuándo?
We are pleased to offer the second post in our new series, Mujeres Talk: Mujeres & Migration. In this entry, Gloria González-López reflects on the unique social contexts and circumstances surrounding Mexican immigrant’s women journeys.
“Compañera, tenga cuidado, what you are suggesting has the risk of dividing our immigrant communities and families.”
The above comment is my paraphrase of the concerned voice of a highly committed community activist, a Mexican man I met more than a decade ago as I completed my doctoral studies in Los Angeles. Back then I was trying to engage in a conversation with him and other activist men about my ongoing research with immigrant women. In these dialogues, I was sharing information about my dissertation project and the ways in which these women were teaching me about their unique experiences of migration to the United States. More and more, this was becoming crystal clear to me: Mexican immigrant women experience their immigration journeys in very particular ways, very differently when compared to men migrating from their same locations and regions, including the men in their families.
Please visit the Mujeres Talk blog and share your thoughts in the comments section….
Filed under Mujeres Talk | Comment (0)JOB: Director of CLS, U Missouri Kansas City
Details in this pdf or go to http://www.umkc.edu/jobs/
Filed under Jobs and fellowships | Comment (0)MALCSista Gabriella represents U.S. in India’s Poetry Fest
So proud of our Gabriella Gutierrez y Muhs!
Filed under Congratulations!, General News | Comments (4)She pulled the book from her shelf and humbly agreed to read. And when she spoke, she did so in a poet’s voice, with conviction, passion and life.
“…I remember asking you if you had too much to deal with and you turned around and said to me in perfect Spanish: Nunca sabemos donde va a romperse la tela profesora. (We never know where the cloth will rip, professor).”The poetry of professor Gabriella Gutierrez y Muhs not only spans multiple languages but multiple continents as well. Recently, Gutierrez y Muhs was selected to be the featured American poet at this year’s International Festival of Poetry, known as Kritya 2011, held in Nagpur, India.
To be nominated to such a position, a poet must be recommended by several other poets. Gutierrez y Muhs felt particularly honored when she found out that Alicia Partnoy, the chair of Spanish at Loyola Marymount, a poet, and social justice activist, was just one of the many people who submitted Gutierrez y Muhs’ name.
“It was particularly important because [Partnoy] is so incredible,” said Gutierrez y Muhs. “She’s done marvelous work in every way, [and it's] invaluable that such a human being would recommend me.”
But Gutierrez y Muhs shines in her own way. In this day and age where issues involving identity and race are slowly building up in our country, Gutierrez y Muhs sees it as a wonderful opportunity to be the featured American poet. This is because she feels that she is not only the representative of America, but she is the face of America as well.
“I am Latina, but I’m also a Chicana, I’m also Mexican, I’m also American. I’m all those subjectivities,” Gutierrez y Muhs said. “So I find it particularly ironic and marvelously wonderful that I would be [nominated].”
Continue reading »
Putting the MOVEMENT back into civil rights teaching
Some terrific articles and resources here
s.
As one of the most commonly taught stories of people’s struggles for social justice, the Civil Rights Movement has the capacity to help students develop a critical analysis of United States history and strategies for change. However, the empowering potential is often lost in a trivial pursuit of names and dates. Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching, published by Teaching for Change and PRRAC, provides lessons and articles for K-12 educators on how to go beyond a heroes approach to the Civil Rights Movement.
This website provides information about Putting the Movement Back into Civil Rights Teaching and many more resources for teaching about the Civil Rights Movement.
See the site at http://www.civilrightsteaching.org/
Filed under New Publications, Random creativity | Comment (0)New blog series: MUJERES TALK
Dear Members and Friends of MALCS,
MALCS has launched a new blog space for public dialogue about current events titled MUJERES TALK. We invite everyone to submit, and to respond to other submissions. Visit the new site at: http://www.malcs.org/mujeres-talk/
The first topic we’re taking up is MUJERES AND MIGRATION, and we are pleased to feature our first post by C. Alejandra Elenes, titled “Mujeres, Migration & Arizona’s SB1070: Codifying Patriarchy and White Privilege.”
Filed under General News | Comment (0)There should be no doubt that patriarchal and white supremacy and privilege are the ideological underpinnings of anti-immigrant legislation and policy in Arizona. The anti-immigrant climate in Arizona is not new, it is an intrinsic part of its history. Indeed at this historical juncture in the continuum of anti-immigrant legislation SB 1070 is taking center stage and has placed Arizona as the model for anti-immigrant legislation at the national level as other states are introducing similar pieces of legislation. As feminists we should pay attention to the link between public policy, power, nationalism, systemic oppression, and social and gender inequality. Laws such as SB 1070, not only create a hostile environment for Latinas/os in Arizona but are part of a national narrative of race and gender in the U.S. resulting from demographic changes and fears about the “browning” of America. In this climate, the female brown body is particularly targeted and objectified.
Inaugural post: On the Uniqueness of MALCS
Webjefa’s note: We are honored to re-launch our new blog and website with this thoughtful inaugural post by former Chicana/Latina Studies editor KarenMary Davalos. Initially presented informally at our General Meeting last November in San Antonio, KarenMary offers her personal insight about what makes MALCS a unique organization.
Why MALCS is an important and unique professional organization
by KarenMary Davalos
While I served as the lead editor of Chicana/Latina Studies: The Journal of MALCS, readers and contributors consistently asked me to articulate why our organization is important and what makes it unique. I offer this brief reflection based on my experiences and observations to stimulate discussion about the significance and contribution of MALCS. Each item represents a vision and practice, and I admit, MALCS is on the path and in the process of our own nepantla. MALCS may not get it right every time, but the organization continues to return to the mission and vision it has for social transformation. In the words of Josie Mendez-Negrete, “MALCS is being careful not to reproduce the injuries that the academy has done to us,” and it creates spaces to guarantee that it grows and develops as an organization and with its membership. Thus, I hope that our collective voices will become the material for a more formal statement about MALCS that can be utilized in fundraising campaigns, membership drives, chapter development, and promotion and tenure. Additionally, if our voices can suggest ways to further operationalize these principles and practices that make MALCS unique and important, then we will also create a work plan for us and others to duplicate and share in these troubled times.
1) MALCS is a visionary organization because mentorship is one of its core principles.
Mentorship is one of the founding objectives of MALCS. It is not simply that we mentor through MALCS; it is the content of our consejos. MALCS does not try to reproduce the power structures that wounded our predecessors or our communities. Continue reading »
Filed under General News, Random creativity | Comments (2)Welcome to the new MALCS website!
Yay! Please come check out the new MALCS website that combines our regular website with the more-frequently-updated blog. Both are located at our new domain, http://malcs.org. The new site is a central exchange point that includes membership info, notes about our leadership, history, summer institute, and journal, as well as the blog. (the old address of malcs.net will automatically forward you to the new site).
The blog will continue to feature current news and events from and about our membership, beginning with an inaugural post by former Chicana/Latina Studies editor KarenMary Davalos about what makes MALCS such a unique professional organization. We will also begin a new series called Mujeres Talk, as “a public space from which we can make our voices heard, exchange ideas, disseminate information, collaborate and participate in social change.” Thanks to MALCSista Theresa Delgadillo for initiating Mujeres Talk; our first topic is Mujeres & Migration, to be posted later this week. We especially encourage all members to contribute to Mujeres Talk (email Theresa@malcs.org), but we welcome any and all blog submissions at chicanas@malcs.org. We also want to encourage you to use the Comments section to let us know what you think!
So please, have a look around and make yourself at home. Read up, and leave a comment or two. Remember: malcs.org is all you need to know to access all these great resources. And if you haven’t renewed your membership yet, please go here
And Happy Martin Luther King Day everyone!
Susana Gallardo
MALCS Webjefa
