Fuck Yeah Chicana Writers
-Gabriela Arredondo, Chicana Feminisms
*all material belongs to its respective authors*
this blog only seeks to educate, create dialogue, and share the amazing work chicana writers have contributed to feminism and social justice
Submissions welcomed!!!
looking for moderators!
With the virtual uses and changing of language online it’s important we note how we are using the @ symbol in our name and in the things we are creating and writing. For many of you this is “common knowledge,” but the reality is that some folks have not ever really thought about why this symbol is important.
We think the @ symbol is important because it represents gender neutrality, gender inclusion, and disrupts the misogynistic ways language privileges men, masculinity, and things that are considered “male.”As many Latin@ scholars have stated and argued, especially Anzaldua, “Language is a male discourse” (p. 54, Borderlands/La Frontera). In the Spanish language, grammatically, if there is one man present in a room or area filled with women (a man of any age, a boy, a child, etc.) instead of using the “feminine” form of the language often using an “a” (i.e. una or nosotras) a masculine “o” is used (i.e. nosotros or the absence of the “a” such as un).
Utilizing the @ in this way challenges these grammatical “rules” that are embedded in a legacy of privileging men, masculinity and maleness. It is also part of a legacy that includes and recognizes our gender queer and trans* community members versus erasing them by constantly using a language embedded in a gender binary/dichotomy.
The @ is useful not only in discussing Latinidad, but also discussing how Blackness and African identity intersects as well. Often when we see terms discussing LatiNegr@s in various ways and using other self-identifiers they are still using a masculine version of “Afro” such as “Afro-Latin@”. This is a preference by some, and I’d like to argue this is also a way of privileging men and masculinity in the English language. Afr@Latin@ is a valid term and form to use when discussing our identities as well. Just as AfraLatina is valid. Why must the African in us also remain masculine?
The questions still exist of how to actually speak the @ sign and this has yet to really be resolved. How have others negotiated this?
(written by Bianca)
(via damnitdisney)
(via mujer-encabronada)
The Mexican spitfire in me.
The raw navajas, glint and passion in me.
The raise Cain and dance with the rooster-footed devil in me.
The spangled sequin in me.
The eagle and serpent in me.
The mariachi trumpets of the blood in me.
The Aztec love of war in me.
The fierce obsidian of the tongue in me.
The berrinchuda, bien-cabrona in me.
(via chicana)
So I (Angie) recently joined a feminist collective based off the South Bay in La (Carson, Wilmington, San Pedro, Harbor City, etc).
We are just starting, but I thought I would give us a shout out because we need some shameless promotion.
Find us at ellascollective.tumblr.com and facebook.com/ellascollective
This is a call out to all my Latin@s!
Can we take back the tags?
Fuck this exoticizing, hypersexualization and objectifying bullshit.
I’d rather NOT keep seeing fetishizing porn as the bulk of the tags.
let’s do this!
LULZ
(via la-princesa-originales)
As I take the position of slayer of contorted histories I discover myself in the position of the slayed. To re-shape my heart, I must change the subject, while collecting myself as the object. I am the pivot for transformation, the axis of what I choose as the end and what I choose as the beginning. But help me, sisters. Al fin, somos todos Chicanas.
-Susan M. Guerra
Nepantla spirituality does not exist merely to make us feel good. It is spirituality concerned with recovering ancestral ways rendered silent so that contemporary struggles for justice can be heard.
—From Nepantla Spirituality: Negotiating Multiple Identities, Faiths and Practices
by Lara Medina
We are ready for change
Let us link hands and hearts
Together find a path through the dark woods
Step through the doorways between worlds
Leaving huellas for others to follow,
Build bridges, cross them with grace, and claim these puentes our “home”
Sí se puede, que así sea, estamos listas, vámonos.
Now let us shift.
-Gloria Anzaldua
(submission: autohistoriamestiza)
In October 2011, thanks to the amazing work of DREAM activist in California, Gov. Jerry Brown signed the CA DREAM Act. The law grants undocumented students greatly needed financial aid, and as of yesterday applications have gone live at the California Student Aid Commission’s website! DISTRIBUTE WIDELY! REBLOG
(Flickr: CSUF Photos)
via LA Weekly
###
It’s here! The day Republicans have been dreading and undocumented California students have been fighting for since 2001.
College kids without U.S. citizenship can now apply for “conditional permanent residency” via the official DREAM Act application, which will allow them access to state financial-aid funds.
“Good news” …
… Tweeted the California Dream Network. “California AB 540 students (DREAMers) can now apply for CA financial aid through the CA #Dream Act.”
Indeed! The application appears to have gone live on the California Student Aid Commission’s government website.
Applicants are reminded that this is not a FAFSA application, and will merely “determine eligibility for California student financial aid.”
Students must meet the following criteria to apply:
Please pass this along to any California student you know who may need it.
(via beautydistorted)
