AmericaLatina

 My grandparents have lived on 27^th Street in Milwaukee for four decades.  Besides watching their children grow up, watching the station wagons and Skylarks turn into mini vans and SUVs, watching people walk to the mailbox to mail letters become people chatting away on cell phones, my grandparents have had a front row seat witnessing the explosion of Latinos in Milwaukee.  Frequently visiting Grandma and Grandpa, I have noticed this too.  The ice cream cart that used to come around on hot summer days selling Klondike bars now serves paletas and dulces.  Today’s Latino population in Milwaukee is over 100,000!  Between 1990 and 2000, the number of Latinos living in Milwaukee more than doubled.  I decided to really explore the impact Latinos had in Milwaukee, and the best place to start was at the very beginning. 

My journey started at the Milwaukee Public Museum.  After climbing up to the third floor, I found myself in “Middle America.”  The first half of this exhibit was dominated by Guatemala.  Next came a taste of Mexico, and when I saw a llama and mountains behind the glass, I knew Peru was now being displayed.  When I saw a small staircase, I hopped upstairs to see what Latino treasures could be hiding there.  Between two small rooms almost all I could see were clay figures, so naturally, I was attracted to the display case with a skull and bodies.  “Those mummies aren’t preserved with any chemicals at all, the dry climate of Peru allows them to stay so intact,” a deep voice said behind me.  It was a museum docent, an archaeologist who has spent a lot of time studying the ancient cultures of Mexico, Guatemala, and Peru.  It was as if he was waiting to be my personal tour guide.   As I was led around the exhibits, the docent taught me a lot about the Maya and the Incas.  Much of the information I had learned already in History 342: History of Colonial Latin America, but I also learned some really cool facts and some fun knowledge too-like when I go to Peru this May, I will get the chance to eat local favorites-llama and guinea pig!  After getting a list of great websites about Middle and South American history (listed below) I decided to fast forward a couple hundred years and find today’s Latinos.

My destination was Latinos Arts, Inc. on 9^th Street off of National Avenue.  The farther east I headed down National the more signs were printed in Spanish.  All the churches listed a time for the English Mass and the Spanish misa.   The outside of the building that Latino Arts is located in (which is also an elementary school) is a colorful mural interweaving Milwaukee landmarks with Latin American landmarks (like the Domes and the giant Olmec head).  In the entrance is a poem by Gloria Anzaldúa that reads:

“Yo soy un puente tendido

Del mundo gabacho al del mojado

Lo pasado me estirá pa’trás

Y lo presente pá delante

Que la Virgen de Guadalupe me cuide

Ay ay ay, soy mexicana de este lado.”

“I am the laid out bridge

Of the foreign world to that of the illegal immigrant

The past is stretched behind me

And the present ahead

That the Virgin of Guadalupe takes care of me,

Oh oh oh, I am a Mexican of this side.”

Latino Arts is the place to learn the cultural arts of the Hispanics.  They have a gallery for art and a stage for music.  Upcoming events include “Cuban Artists’ Books and Prints: 1985-2008” and “Chuchito Valdés’ Afro-Cuban Quartet.” 

Now as I drive past El Rey supermarket, and the panaderia (mmm pan dulce!) I wonder, why did Latinos choose to come to Milwaukee in the first place?  According to Joseph A. Rodriguez and Walter Sava, authors of “Latinos In Milwaukee” the 1920s is when the city’s “Colonia Mexicana” first developed.  Mexicans were recruited to work in the city’s tanneries.  Other Mexicans moved up from Texas to work in the fields.  Puerto Ricans started coming in waves during the 1950s and today Latinos account for 15% of Milwaukee’s population.  That’s the highest percentage of race/ethnicity after Whites and Blacks.

There seems to be no slowing down the Latinos in Milwaukee.  The once little “Colonia Mexicana” now stretches miles rather than blocks and is home to not only Mexicans but Latinos of all descents.  It will be interesting to see if the population continues to grow exponentially in future, and if the Latinos will continue to guard their language and traditions.  As for me, I think it’s time to dig into some chimichangas!

Pre-Columbian Resources: www.famsi.org, http://mayaruins.com/, www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/sites/meso.html

Latino Arts, Inc. website: www.latinoartsinc.org

Ever wondered where you can get the best guacamole or learn to dance salsa?  Check out all the best places in Milwaukee: http://www.aquimilwaukee.com/_content/coverstory/story_4611.aspx

My sister had a viewing of the movie Herod’s Law at her university for extra credit. The movie makes fun of the PRI, the political party that held control in Mexico for almost 50 years. The party had no real opposition and was often referred to as the perfect dictatorship being as it was in power for around 50 years.

            The story follows a young man who becomes governor of a small, remote town in Mexico. He starts out being a simple attendant of a dump but gets called in by one of his friends to be a governor of a small town. He has high hopes for the village and since the old governor was run out of town because of corruption, he feels that he will bring peace back to the village and reconnect it with Mexico City. Immediately however, he runs into problems. The only person in the village with any power is the priest. The way that the priest runs is through bribes and is able to connect with anyone in the village, for a price of course. The only doctor in the town sides against Juan, the main character, saying that he will bring just as much corruption to the town as the previous governor did. The only person in the town that sides with Juan is his secretary—who is also in charge of the jail.

            Things go smoothly for Juan at first but he soon encounters a problem with a brothel that is being run in the town. He tries enforcing the law peacefully but the old lady running it simply tries to buy him off. Other attempts to close it down through other mediums (such as the priest) prove fruitless so he returns to Mexico City to ask his boss (the governor) advice on what to do. The governor tells Juan to “enforce the law with any means necessary” and gives him a revolver. Naturally, power quickly goes to his head. Juan realizes that he can manipulate people and raise taxes with his new found power. He begins to take more money for taxes, even though the people have no money as it is, close down stores, and threaten the citizens of the town. By the middle of the movie, he is stealing more and more money out of the village coffers and has gotten himself into more trouble with the village. His wife is happy she is getting a lot of nice new clothes but has no idea where all the money is coming from (money, mind you, that is there for building schools and connecting this small town to the outside world.)

            While traveling to Mexico City, Juan’s car breaks down and a gringo (literally the name he is credited with) stops and helps him fix his car. Juan tells the gringo to come to his town and he will repay him there. Since Juan is getting really corrupt, he decides not to pay the gringo and the gringo just ends up staying with Juan and gets comfortable with his wife. As the movie winds down, we see the face of corruption with Juan stealing so much money and taxing the villagers so much that they cannot afford even the simplest items. We see Juan coming home in a drunken rage one night with his revolver and his wife leaving a note saying she went with the gringo. We then see Juan being chased out of town by the villagers, chasing him with pitchforks while he clings a box of money. Juan ends up back at the dump but with no wife and no self dignity. The final scene of the movie sees a new governor coming to the town and promising he can do better (even though he is still from the same party).

            I thought that it was a really interesting movie. A lot of it shows that nothing really changes even after 50 or so years of rule. Every governor that has come into that small town (or many small towns) ultimately regressed to the same evils their predecessors did. No matter how noble the intentions, they fell to corruption and power. The villagers all saw this and were just waiting for a new way to be pushed around by a different governor promising the world and delivering nothing. The wife running away with the gringo showed American Imperialism in Mexico, as the American comes to the country and seemingly takes everything from the Mexican. The rest of the movie, however, was a stab at a political system that never really changed in its 50 years of power over Mexico—how they changed leaders, made their platforms seem different, but at the same time, they were vying for the same goals they had been for their entire time in office. Nothing really changes it seems, just a new face with the same politics.

For my event I choose to go to the Milwaukee Public Museum and focus on the Latin America exhibit. The Milwaukee Public Museum Latin America exhibit was fascinating and very interesting. The exhibit expressed great detail with loads of information.

When you first walk into the exhibit you first see a market place in Guatemala with many women, and some men dressed in traditional clothing. In the market place you see many foods grown locally, such as peppers, bananas, and many other fruits and vegetables. Also in the market there are craftsmen selling their arts and crafts such as cooking pots, clothing, and decorative vases.

Moving on in the exhibit, you see many displays of the clothing worn by locals. Such as the Mixtec with their very colorful and heavy clothing with many reds and whites. Also the Yalalag clothing that was very light and loses with mostly white fabrics.

Moving on you come across the musical instruments of the peoples of the Spanish Main. The Spanish Main was the coastline of what is now Florida, Mexico, and Central America. The instruments were used for both religious reasons and just for fun.

In the exhibit was a model of a home in the lowlands of the Maya. The home was built on poles way above the ground, sometimes up to 30 feet off the ground. The reason why homes were built so high off the ground were for several of reasons, the main reason being during the wet season the house would not get flooded out, another reason being the safety from creatures such as jaguars. The house was very open with bamboo leafs for the roof, mainly for the house to be able to vent and not store heat.

Moving along, you come across a shirtless indigenous man wearing a dress with a necklace. The necklace however is now considered illegal if you or I were to have one, since the necklace is an actual shrunken head. The process of shrunken heads is for ritual and trophy reasons. There were only a few people known to perform the art, the Shuar, Achuar, Huambisa and Aguaruna. Currently, for obvious reasons, the art is illegal and one has to have special permission to have procession of a shrunken head. The exhibit on shrunken heads displays four actual shrunken heads that came from Peru.

Also displayed in the Latin America exhibit shows of the highlands of Guatemala. Displayed you see a native man in traditional clothing (a parka) with is lama and the mountains in the background.

There is also a model of the Great Ball Court at Chichen Itza, Yucatan for playing the great Mesoamerican ballgame. The scale model shows the largest and architecturally most impressive ball court in Middle America as it must have looked in pre-Columbian times. Its outside dimensions are 75 by 180 yards, and was most like built in the tenth century A.D.

The trip was very well worth it. I learned a great deal and hope to go again very soon. It helped that I was a little knowledgeable about Middle and South America, but anyone going to see the Latin America exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum will appreciate the very educational, detailed, and exciting exhibit.

Sin NombreFor this project, I watched a movie called “Sin Nombre” directed by Cary Fukunaga. This is one of the movies mentioned in class that would be appropriate for this project.

I just finished watching this movie and I’m stunned by how desperate the people are trying to escape their tragic lives in Mexico and Honduras – the gang members in Mexico, Casper, Smiley the little boy, and even Martha; in Honduras it was Sayra, her father and her uncle. In Mexico, the gang was so violent and had no regard for human life, but that was the life they chose. Casper/Willy was not as bad as the gang members but was stuck in the gang and couldn’t get out. Smiley joined the gang because he thought his life would be better and he would become somebody important. And Martha was from the good part of town but gets mixed up with a boy from the bad part of town and dies because of her love for Casper. In Honduras, Sayra’s father risked his life and left his family in New Jersey to go back to Honduras and take her and her uncle to the United States. But Sayra jumps off the train, leaving her father and uncle. Sadly her father dies and her uncle gets deported back to Honduras. Finally, Sayra gave up her father and uncle to be with Casper. I find all of this so sad to take in. I think I’m so caught up in the story between Casper and Sayra, which is only two people, but what I should be really sad about is that they represent thousands of Mexicans and Hondurans who are trying to get out of their miserable lives and come to America.

I had so many questions watching this movie. Why did Sayra leave her father and uncle to jump off the train and follow Casper? Did Casper know that his gang members would be waiting for him when he took Sayra to the border, but he did it anyway? Did he think that he could still escape or did he know that he would be killed? Why is this movie called “Sin Nombre”? I looked up the meaning of Sin Nombre and it means “without a name” or “nameless”. I think that this title represents the thousands of people in Mexico and Honduras trying to escape their horrible lives to come to America. But we never hear their personal stories, so they remain nameless people trying to immigrate to America illegally. I think that the director is using this story about two people – Casper and Sayra-to tell the bigger story of the thousands of illegal immigrants who want to come to America. I think this worked because I can relate to the sad story of Casper and Sayra, and that helps me understand why so many people are so desperate to make a better life for themselves in America.

In class, we’ve learned about life in Latin American countries. We have never discussed the terrible poverty that exists in Mexico and Honduras and how the people cope with it and what they will do to escape it. This movie shows me that poverty is horrific and people will do anything and everything to get away from it. I don’t know if I would have had the courage to escape like Casper and Sayra did. This movie makes me want to find a way to help immigrants come to America legally to make a better life for themselves. I’m still crying.

For my event, I went to Edgewood College in Madison and saw an art show.  The name of the art show was “Celebrating Friendship”.  There were two artists that were being displayed.  They were Orestes Larios Zaak and Gregorio Perez Escobar.

Orestes was born on April 15 in 1953.  He studied at the National School of Art in Havana, Cuba.  He graduated from Instituo Superior Pedagogico, with a Masters Degree of Art.  He is known for his use of nature.  He tries to emphasize the honesty, kindness and integrity that nature offers to humanity.  His work gives of a great sense of peace and calmness.  On of my favorite works of art by Orestes was a painting called “Crepusculo” (Twilight).  It was a blending of deep greens with small, white flowers and a few bees hovering them (Unfortunately I could not find a picture of it online).  The pictures at the show were all related with each other in many ways.  The main comparison was the focus of nature.  Some other similarities were grass, flowers (mainly white ones), bees, lizards and sand.

Orestes Larios Zaak

Orestes Larios Zaak

Gregorio’s work focused on universal paradoxes.  He, as well as Orestes, liked to tie nature into his work.  That is one of his reasons for using wood.  He says that it helps the spectator to relate his work to nature almost immediately.  He also says that his ultimate goal is that humanity realizes their problems and fixes them.  I have a few favorite pieces of art.  They are, “Communication” which is a children’s slide, but the slide is a person’s tongue and the ladder of the slide is broken and missing rungs, and “Gone” which is a pistol. I couldn’t find any personal information on Gregorio.

Gregorio Perez Escobar

Communication

Overall, I really enjoyed the art show.  These two men are very talented.  This relates to our class very well.  We just got through the unit of art and learned how important it was to the Latin culture.  Political topics are well like in the Latin art.  Some say it is not art unless it shows a political view, but some don’t agree.  These two artists didn’t show a political view at all.  Instead they focused on nature and tried to bring in actions that humankind is doing to the world that aren’t necessarily right.  They try to think critically and bring that into their art.

Sources Used:

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.radiosantacruz.icrt.cu/seccion/personalidades_cubanas/orestes-larios-zaak-larios-datos-biograficos.htm&ei=nqkSS8XqE4u0lAfG_PWOBA&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CCkQ7gEwCA&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dorestes%2Blarios%2Bzaak%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://pics.livejournal.com/cubarte/pic/00019pf7/s320x240&imgrefurl=http://cubarte.livejournal.com/&usg=__pQFPjmU66kIcnfOOdFPhTiSGVyA=&h=237&w=320&sz=42&hl=en&start=7&um=1&tbnid=6KuDQvoVwM9QMM:&tbnh=87&tbnw=118&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dorestes%2Blarios%2Bzaak%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26um%3D1

The Holiday Folk Fair International is an event for all ages!  The event always has a theme and this year the theme is to celebrate the weavings of culture.  Cultures all over the world are brought together in this wonderful event for us to explore the customs and traditions of the world’s diverse culture.  Food stands are set up so that you can walk around to see and hopefully try samples of traditional dishes from various countries.    As you sit to eat you can watch events of the Ballet Folklo’rico Huehuecoyotl dancers or even the Filipino youth dance.  They even have a music pavilion for you to relax and watch. I was able to listen to Trío Los Jinetes a Mexican mariachi and romantic band that play for weddings, Quince Años and baptisms. You can even walk around to see what kind of handicraft artifacts may be found world-wide.  They even offer various craft demonstrations where you can see wood carving demonstrations, lace making and much more.  The one thing that you should not forget to do is stop by heritage lane and get your “passport” stamped as you walk through the different walks of life and learn a little about each.    

This event has been a family tradition for me.  We used to go every year as I grew up until about 6 years ago and have decided to begin going again to enrich our children with the cultural diversities that we were given.  It always amazes me to see many people of different backgrounds coming together and learn about one another.  I questioned whether or not my niece would try the variety of food since the only food that she will eat is chicken nuggets or macaroni and cheese.  This is not even an exaggeration.  For the first time I was able to see her enjoy other food.  We ate chicken fried rice form the Chinese booth, Honey puffs and Gyros from the Greek booth and if we hadn’t had enough from our own heritage we sampled Churros and tamales from the Mexican booth. 

However for the class I began to wonder about what other Latin American foods they had to sample and needless to say I found a Filipino booth where they served adobo with rice, Pansit, Mami, Siopao, Leche flan, Cassava, Turon and Nagaraya Nuts and Salabat.  I tried the Adobo with rice and it was very tasteful.  I began to question what Adobo meant so I went on line to find this Filipino cuisine and learned that Adobo refers to a common and very popular cooking process indigenous to the Philippeans.  It involves stewing with vinegar, which they then referred to as “adobo”.  This word is actually Spanish and it means seasoning or marinade.  Usually a pork or chicken, maybe even both, is slowly cooked in soy sauce, crushed garlic, vinegar, bay leaf and black peppercorns.  It is then pan fried or cooked in an oven to get the crisped edges.  If this sounds delicious to you come and check it out next near for the 2010 Holiday Folk Fair International.  You could even be like me and walk out with a Mexican flute that only costs $1.

David Samuels, a University of Minnesota professor of Political Science will speak on “The Evolution of the Workers’ Party: Implications for Understanding Brazilian Politics and Society” on Tuesday, Dec. 1 at noon at UW-Madison.

The talk is part of a series of lunchtime lectures sponsored by the campus Latin American and Caribbean and Iberian Studies Program. The event, which includes a light lunch, will take place in room 206 of Ingraham Hall.

Haitian writer Edwidge Danticat

Edwidge Danticat will deliver a lecture on Nov. 23 at the Wisconsin Room of the UW-Milwaukee student union at 7 p.m.

The award-winning author is a Haitian-born author whose written several books including her latest, Brother, I’m Dying, which won the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2007. She won a Granta Regional Award for the Best Young American Novelists for her first book, Breath, Eyes, Memory, which was a selection in Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club. Danticat’s writing has appeared in the New Yorker and other anthologies. Named “One of 20 people in their twenties who will make a difference” by Harper’s Bazaar, and featured in New York Times Magazine as one of “30 Under 30” creative people to watch, Danticat has also taught at New York University and University of Miami.

Tickets are $8 for students with ID.

A film by a young Argentine director is among the upcoming offerings by the Union Theater in — surprise! – the student union on the campus of UWM.

The film, “The Headless Woman” or “La mujer sin cabeza” is by Lucrecia Martel of Argentina. It will be shown Nov. 20-22 at 7 p.m. It is in Spanish with English subtitles and lasts 87 minutes.

Here is the description from the Union-Theater series schedule:

The Headless Woman is an elliptical, subtle and unnerving third feature film from Lucrecia Martel (director of La ciénaga and The Holy Girl).

Vero (Maria Onetto), an affluent dentist, is driving alone on a dirt road, becomes distracted and runs over something. In the days following this jarring incident, she is dazed and emotionally disconnected from the people and events in her life. She becomes obsessed with the possibility that she may have killed someone. The police confirm that there were no accidents reported in the area and everything returns to normal until a gruesome discovery is made.

Scene from "The Headless Woman"

"Yesoterapia" The artist was encased in a body cast for five days

The Guatemalan artist Regina José Galindo is compared to Iowa’s Ana Mendieta or Serbian Marina Abramovic for the audacity of her body-based work and the attention it directs toward themes of women and politics.

Her first solo show in New York is up this month at the gallery Exit Art.