First Reflections

As our work for Chicana Por Mi Raza is about to commence, I’m excited to be part of such a monumental project documenting a history that has often been excluded. There are a number of things that I have learned prior to this class, but most things I have learned after doing the reading.  Chicana feminism as a part of Women of Color feminist theories are often at odds with women’s liberation and the broader feminist theories since much of it is considered applicable only to middle-class white women. Prior to colonization of the Americas, Indigenous women were often esteemed and held highly-valued positions in their cultures. In fact, decolonization often plays a large part in Chicana and Indigenous feminist theory. Chicana women have joined their men in fighting for social and economic justice for many years. However, Chicana feminists broke with the brown power movement due to sexism within the movement. This happened with many of the People of Color revolutionary movements. I’m not familiar with many of the women who spearheaded Chicana feminism in the 1960’s or whose activism began I later years, although I am sure that I will learn more about these women in the upcoming weeks. I am also curious to learn how the men of the Brown Berets acted when the women resigned from the organization and how supportive Chicana men are now.

            I’ve long been aligned with feminism but have often been concerned with the lack of information on Women of Color feminist theory, especially those theories formed by groups of a much smaller demographic.

In my first Women’s Studies class, I was disappointed to note that Indigenous feminist theory was not included in the Women of Color lectures. However, I see this project as a way to glean skills that may one day make Indigenous feminist theory more available One of my greatest hopes is that I can learn the methodologies of oral history so that I can make a contribution to this great project and apply these skills in the future in creating an archive for my community. I hope to learn more about organizing and activism so that I can be a contributing member to my community. I also hope this project will inspire me to work even harder to absorb the stories and histories in my family and my community before it is too late to utilize firsthand sources. Initially, I was concerned about my lack of Spanish-speaking ability, and my inability to trill, but that is no longer a concern. However, I am concerned that I won’t have good questions on which to follow up. I find that I’m often so absorbed in what people are saying that I usually don’t have questions until much later. I am also concerned that if faced with a large archive, I will have a difficult time discerning what to include and what to omit.