Final Reflection for CPMR Project (Weinberg)

Part 1. Chicana Feminism
The following words from the last reading in our Latina Oral History class provide an important overarching theme for my knowledge of Chicana feminism:

"In this country, lesbianism is poverty- as is being brown, as is being a woman, as is being just plain poor. The danger lies in failing to acknowledge the specificity of the oppression. The danger lies in attempting to deal with oppression purely from a theoretical base. Without an emotional, heartfelt grappling with the source of our own oppression, without naming the enemy within ourselves and outside of us, no authentic, non-hierarchical connection among oppressed groups can take place" (26, This Bridge Called my Back)- Cherríe L. Moraga

Moraga's words encapsulate the complexities that Chicana feminists seem to have grappled with since the beginnings of the movement. Who should they include? Who should Chicanas separate from? What are the implications of lesbianism in the movement? Class differences? How could everyone's needs be addressed? The difficulties of who would be included as Chicana roots itself in early social forms of the 1940s, reached a peak in the 1970s and 1980s, and continues on today.

The Bracero Program (1942-1964) began after diplomats from Mexico and the United States recognized the need for employment and manual laborers during World War II. In addition, the program was created as a method for the two countries to create an alliance in wartime. However, this program was highly problematic toward bracero workers. Most were paid very little which helped growers to make unfair profits. In the 1950s, Braceros started protesting frequently, however, due to governmental mass deportations like Operation Wetback (1954),  workers were easily replaced and "undesirable" Chicanos could be legally removed from the United States. It was not just this program that brought immigrants from Mexico to the United States, but it was certainly an impetus for protest against the horrible treatment of braceros and other Chicanos in general.

Social movements against horrific structural and institutional barriers to Chicanos included the Brown Berets, United Farm Workers Organizing Committee, and top leaders like Cesar Chavez, Reies Lopez Tijerina and Corky Gonzalez. Though powerful, organized and political as we learned from the Chicano! movie series, women within the movements often faced danger and disrespect within their organizations. Women were sexually assaulted, expected to perform domestic tasks, and often seen as "Melinches" if they did not respect the authority of men in the movement. It was due to this pressure that Chicanas formally decided to separate themselves in the late 1960s.

This frustration acted as a springboard for Chicanas to take hold of their own, complex movement. It brings us back to the questions that Moraga's statement implies. During the 1970s and 1980s, the idea of intersectional politics, hierarchies or lack of hierarchies of oppression, and varied praxis for feminism came out. We know from our studies this semester that accounts of Chicanas are under-supported and hard to find. We have much from the Anglo feminist movement, radical environmentalists, and civil rights activists from the 1960s and 1970s but when we look for records of Chicanas, they are thin. Where are the pamphlets? The fliers? The buttons? The interviews? Mainstream media sources often denied access to Chicanas and focused on less intersectional, more conventional groups. I learned from the seminar aspect of this semester why conducting oral histories is important. Before the women who still maintain memories of the movement die and their records are lost, we need to form a more personal and likely more honest narratives of what happened. We need more of This Bridge Called my Back, but in the perspectives of all the kinds of Chicana feminists so that we can fill out a history that is usually cisman-focused, white-focused, or tokenized.

Part 2. Conducting Background Archival Research 
Before interviewing Elena Herrada, it was important for my partner and I to do preliminary research on her. There is a method to the difficulties that arise with searching through an inconsistent record. We spent several weeks of the class learning about different libraries that we could search in: The Bentley, Burton Historical Society, and the special collections unit here at U of M. It is important to remain open-minded about where to search and to put a significant amount of time aside for travel and spelunking. Luckily for Grace and me, we had a pretty well-known interviewee (see the Elena Herrada Biosketch for more information: http://cpmr-class.blogspot.com/2013/12/elena-herrada-bio-sketch.html) Background information is necessary in preparing for the actual interview. Without it, the interviewing team might not know where to start with the interviewee. For example, a large part of Elena's life included that Chicano-Boricua Studies Progam at Wayne State. Before conducting archival research, I didn't actually understand that the program was about, how it was experimental and the struggles that many students of the program had to go through in order to obtain a degree from it. Learning that information in advance created a solid base that our interview team could work on. However, I found that even with the amount of information I went into the interview with (including Elena's political career, her work with los Repatriados, etc.) I was not prepared for all of the storytelling I would hear.

Part 3. Conducting Oral Histories
I don't believe that reviewing exactly what happened with the interview would be the best use of space, as my partner and I chronicled it in another post (for more information: http://cpmr-class.blogspot.com/2013/11/elena-herradas-inspiring-narrative.html). However, I think it might be important to discuss how conducting oral histories is more a labor of the real world than it is one of academia. Even though Grace and I did not conduct the interview directly ourselves, we were certainly a part of the process of setting up, taking down, and absorbing the methods that Professor Cotera used to obtain the best information possible from Elena. I actually came to two separate interviews with two very separate purposes.

In the first interview, I would say the main lessons I learned were to remain flexible with scheduling, to always plan ahead for extra time, to find the balance between socializing and getting work done, and the importance of knowing how to use your equipment in advance. Moving spaces, learning to work in different lighting situations, and communicating silent movements during an interview all require a level of patience. Though Elena's house was lovely, the lighting situation that day was very difficult. It took some time for Jonathan and I to set it up perfectly, but maintaing a high standard was well worth it. In the same vein, Grace and I were able to communicate slowly but clearly through body movements and mouthing out words during the actual interview to decide when to start/stop the camera during strange noises or needs to change memory cards. Though it can be tedious, it was also worth taking our time to communicate effectively in a non-evasive way as to maintain the wonderful vibe between interviewer (Professor Cotera) and interviewee (Elena Herrada). Related to their great level of interaction, I am brought back to the point above about finding a balance between socializing and organizing. I found that Professor Cotera was able to obtain great information before the interview and create a comfortable environment with Elena by chatting with her while the technical parts of the interview were set up. As production manager, I had to find the best way to lead the two of them into the interview space once it was prepared. I chose to nudge at Elena and Professor Cotera repeatedly to get them into the space. I also asked Elena to come in so that we could check out lighting and sound before we started while Professor Cotera had a minute to collect everything she needed to get the interview started. Watching the two of them taught me how important rapport is to a successful interview session, but also how actually getting is started can be a challenge.

All in all, the real world involves openness to timing and accepting everything as a process. With that in mind, there is a lot to learn during an interview, as long as one opens up their heart and mind to it.

Part 4. Archival Collection
Like in interviewing, collecting new archival material involves a great level of patience- especially with someone who has a large amount of material combined with a rich historical memory.

During the second interview I attended, I mostly worked on collecting and scanning some important items from Elena's personal collection. Not only did Professor Cotera already bring back a large box of at least 500 items to scan, but also here we were in her home looking at more piles of papers, photographs, images and scrapbooks. At first it seemed overwhelming for me to sift through materials that I lacked context for. But then after asking several questions from both Elena and Professor Cotera, I was able to place some of the papers into filing folders and get started with scanning personal items that we wanted to leave behind for Elena to keep. I was scanning during Jasmine and Tina's interview session, so I also had to take special care to keep quiet. Though, I must mention that it was much easier to stay quiet having been in the house before. I had an idea of which boards creaked, where things I needed (like coffee or tape) were located, and I felt a better sense of comfort with the layout of the house in general. I think it would be important for future interviewers or participants in any courses to remain aware of spacial implications and the value of having the interviewee present when organizing and obtaining material archives. Without Elena, I might not have known how she wanted her story to be told. And to me, oral histories and archival collections done, especially with living subjects, should maintain agency for them.

Part 5. Learning About Myself
Being a part of this class has affirmed my quest for more complete, rounded, non-dominant histories. Participating in an oral history emphasized the importance of working in a group and not alone in these endeavors. It might sound cliché, however, when it comes to oral histories, there are so many variables that working in a team can help keep track of. For example, while one of us might be great with technology, another might be great with aesthetics, and another with the social aspects of the project. There truly is space for error and correction which leads to productive learning. I certainly obtained skills important for future work I might do in non-dominant historical research including both the technical and the abstract.

In the image of This Bridge Called My Back, I also think it is important to reflect in this space the ways I learned about myself as a person, as queer, as white, as who I am from all of my identity backgrounds. Like the Chicana feminists I studied, I too experience a complex intersection of identity where certain pieces of me are denied, accepted, venerated, or hated in difference spaces. I see today we have had some success in coalition building between varied constituencies of people. And some groups address intersectional identity. For example there are groups around campus and outside of universities that are specifically for queer women, or queer people of color, or Jewish queer people, etc. And I see these groups working together. However, I also see a separation of issues that cause difficulties in organizing. Like the feminist movement of the 1970s, Chicanas often separated by sexuality, white feminists had different goals than feminists of color, queer people separated from people of color, just to name a few. My life is not separate from other people working toward feminist goals, whether they are global like the Third World Women's Alliance, or local like the Z Collective in Detroit. I still see issues with varied gender inclusion, but I also see the roots of where my activism comes from and how it has the possibility to grow. By collecting these important histories, I can see activists of my generation learning important lessons about organizing across identity groups and within them. I see us learning how to work within and outside of systems of oppression. I see hope, and I see battles ahead.

Maybe future participants in the project might see the same thing, too.