Chicanas Through my Lens
When
I first considered adding this course, I was quite intimidated by the basic
course description- Chicana? Oral history? I have taken quite a few Women’s
Studies courses here at the University of Michigan, but I am quite embarrassed
to say that I have no “formal” educational background on any type of Latin@
studies, and everything I know about history has been bestowed upon me by the
average, American K-12 public school system. I believe what brought me to
overcome any apprehension I had was the sheer intersectional framework of the
course. Up until this point, I have taken many Women’s Studies course where
thinking intersectionally is urged, but yet, it’s not the primary focus of the
course. This idea that I may get to learn more about feminism through a lens I
have yet to explore convinced me to bite the bullet and be part of this historical
journey.
Entering
the field of the Chicana movement is both daunting and exciting. Daunting
because although I identify as Latin@, this is a movement that has
Mexican-Americans at its center and I believe I have limited personal
experience with what it means to be part of this culturally rich group.
Although in my own past, I have experienced people clumping up all Latin@’s
into one big group, I am aware that my mixture of a American, Peruvian, and El
Salvadorian experience is different in many ways to the Mexican-American’s
experience here in the United States. I am excited, however, because in the
past, I have let this division in understanding distance myself from learning
more about these types of movements. I am eager to allow myself to understand a
different version of what it means to be Latin@ in the United States in the
context of the Chicana movement.
As
far as archiving and history goes, I never really gave much though to what it
means to archive or what it means to access an archive. Most archives have been
so readily available to me, that I have truly been blinded by my privilege as a
student here at this university. Although it may seem obvious that I have
access to information that some may not even know exists, I am truly stunned by
the thought that some people may never learn about certain histories. The
reason may be that these histories are yet to exist in an easily accessible way
or that some people just do not have the privilege to access these histories
even if they wanted to. That’s what makes the project so amazing; it is almost unbelievable
to think that we are making unknown histories known, archived, and then available
to the worldwide web. Although I am not personally the object of focus in these
projects, I will still be playing an integral role because these women are
relying on the students of this course to make their experiences known and to
do their experiences justice. My biggest hope is that the women we interview
and that we help digitally upload their archives will get a great deal out of
this experience. At the end of the day, I want to keep these women at the
center of this project and I can only hope that they are truly happy with the
end results of our labor.
I like how you acknowledge the importance of remembering that the work we are doing is intended not just to broaden the historical record but also to honor the women whose lives and legacies we are documenting. Keeping "these women at the center of this project" as you put it, is so important. That's what makes this class different from others, I think. Centering the lives of real women, through acts of critical witness, involves a kind of rejection of the norm in the classroom (which usually centers the learning of students). Its not that we WON'T learn, far from it, but when the ultimate aim of the class is beyond classroom, we disrupt traditional relationships that structure hierarchies in the space of the classroom (and the university). Its kind of a cliche, but nevertheless very true, that when we do work in the service of others (or some larger goal), it grows us in unexpected ways. I always feel like I GROW in this work, and I hope that you all do too.
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