Xicano Studies

There is a severe lack of representation of Mexican American artists in important American institutions. This, coupled with the hindrance of identity politics and a resistance to diversity, have made the art market for Mexican Americans practically non-existent. In 1994, the Smithsonian Institution created a Latino Task Force and recognized 148 years of neglect. Raul Yzaguirre, the Chican@ activist and chair for the task force explains, “when it came to the presentation of the culture and achievements…we simply do not exist.” Not only did the exclusion of Latin@ artists and curators alienate audiences of Mexican descent, but also Mexican American artists because they could not “see [themselves] as contributors to this nation.”

Considering the influence the Mexican muralists had on American modernism in the 1920s-1940s, the omission is surprising. Currently the US population includes close to 55 million people of Latin@ descent — Mexican Americans account for more than half of this number at 64 percent — shifting the majority in areas of the American Southwest. Although the artists of the Chican@ Rights Movement of the 1960s and 1970s challenged the status quo and began to forge their way into the mainstream art world, this task is left incomplete, in large part because they are missing a supporting art ecology of dedicated historians, curators, museum directors, gallery owners, and collectors.   

This paper is largely informed by the research of art historians George Vargas and Adriana Zavala, who tie the status of the art market of Mexican Americans to a lack of education on the topic. In her comprehensive 2013 study titled “Trajectories in Academic Discourse: Absenting the Latino in the so-called ‘Latin Boom,” Zavala found that in a ten year period between 2002-2012 there was a 400% growth in the number of doctoral dissertations produced focusing on Latin American topics. However, when focusing on the Latin@ art subgroup, research did not exist, which she attributes to “the difficulty of finding encouragement and mentorship within departments of art history.” In conclusion, recommendations are made for teachers, museum educators, and galleries to employ research and educational methods that would reposition Mexican American art and help grow its market and collectorship.

"“The University [MSU] has advanced beyond any campus in the Big Ten to establish educational programs and opportunities for students to learn about the role and importance of Latinos nationwide.” - Memo from Dr. Lee June, vice president of student affairs to members of MSU MEXA in 1998 outlining the steps taken by the university in regards to their demands.

During the 1990s as an undergraduate student at Michigan State University it was my privilege to witness and participate in the Xicano history incompletely related in these pages. This story is about those students, my comrades, their struggle to organize and fight against “the state’s attempts to embed complacency inside of them” finding voice within their demand for Xicano Studies. It is important to remember that it wasn’t until the 1990s the Chicano/Latino population at MSU reached sufficient numbers to carry out the type of direct action needed to build enough pressure on the university to force agreement. This political boost through numbers allowed Xicano/Latino students to begin thinking about self-determinative solutions and organizing around direct action to make those solutions a reality."

In this episode of The Reality Dysfunction Dr. Ernesto Mireles and Oscar Medina a recent Ph.D. student in Sustainable Education and a high school teacher in Tucson, AZ., talk about their own educational journey and how bringing Indigenous epistemologies to Raza students is helping to heal the inter-generational trauma of settler colonialism.

https://waroftheflea.podbean.com/e/oscar-medina-raza-educator-bringing-indigenous-perspectives-to-the-classroom/

Nick Panlibuton is a Social Justice Community Organizing masters student here at Prescott College originally from the Washington D.C. area. In this episode Nick talks with Prof. Ernesto Mireles about his experiences working for the Painters International union this summer as an apprentice. How that experience expanded his ideas about social justice and brought home the necessity of theory in labor struggles. Nick is starting his first semester as a SJCO student and is currently involved in local immigration campaigns, and working with harm reduction organizations in the state of Arizona. Nick is Filipino, with a rich family history in activism. His fathers father emigrated to San Francisco in the 1930s. His family was part of the International Hotel eviction struggle in the 1970s, which brought students from the newly created Ethnic studies programs at San Francisco State University to aid in the fight.

https://waroftheflea.podbean.com/e/nick-panlibuton-working-into-theory-bridging-the-gap-between-grad-school-and-the-union-movement/

Dr. Anita Fernandez is the director of the Prescott College Tucson Center, located on the campus of Changemaker High School. Dr. Fernandez has been critical here in the state of Arizona in defending Mexican American Studies in the public schools and has helped to found the Xicanx Insitute for Teaching and Organizing (XITO) a professional development institute for teachers that is working with school districts across the country.

In this conversation we cove a wide range of topics about the attacks on ethnic studies in the past 10 years, the victories not only in Tucson but across the country and how it is more important now that ever for dedicated RAZA educators, artists, organizers and parents to get deeply involved who will be responsible for bringing ethnic studies to our K - 12 schools.

https://waroftheflea.podbean.com/e/dr-anita-fernandez-xicanx-institute-for-teaching-and-organizing-and-the-fight-for-culturally-sustaining-curriculum/

Milta Ortiz is smart, passionate about her community and showcases her commitment through the arts. Ortiz is a bilingual, bi cultural playwright, poet, and performer born in El Salvador. She moved to the United States at the age of eight and was raised in Northern California. She currently a director of the Borderlands Theater Company in Tucson, AZ., where she lives with her family. I had some trouble with the recording so the first couple of sentences are a little garbled but its fine after that. Here is the Wikipedia page for Milta.

https://waroftheflea.podbean.com/e/milta-ortiz-salvadoran-playwright-bridging-indigenous-realities-for-the-21st-century/

Adriana Abundis is a rising star in the Xicanx educational world. Working as a teacher in San Antonio, Tx., for the past eight year Abundis has immersed herself in the life and culture of that city. She is an emerging muralist who is creating visual resistance and opportunities for her students to immerse themselves in the history and cultury of their Xicanx community. She has led and created 3 inspirational murals on the West Side of San Antonio that stretch over 3,000 square feet and continues to create artistic symbols of indigeneity, identity and pride with her art network: Arte de Lush. Please listen in on the future of Xicanx education in the Occupied Territories. Brave New Voices for a New Century.

https://waroftheflea.podbean.com/e/adriana-abundis-bringing-cultural-relevant-curriculum-to-xicanx-students-through-math-and-murals-in-san-antonio/

In this episode we speak with Kurly Tlapoyawa. Author and activist for Mexikayotl and the Xicano movement. Kurly is a founder of the Mexica Eagle Society and author of three books: We will Rise, Slipper Earth and Totacho: Our Way of Speaking. Kurly is a professional stuntman with an impressive list of movie and television appearances, directed his own horror movie and recently graduated the University of New Mexico with a degree in Anthropology. Among other sites Kurly maintains Mexika.org, which is a destination site for us with excellent information.

During this free ranging conversation we talk about Xicano identity, the role of archeology in helping understand the world and the importance of maintaining Xicano indigenous identity.

https://waroftheflea.podbean.com/e/kurly-tlapoyawa-mexikayotl-and-the-war-on-the-word-xicano/