Mexican American Identity & History
Description: Mexican American identity has a long and complicated history. Mexican American Identity is not static nor monolithic; there exist various versions of Mexican-American and Chicana/o/x/@/e identities. Despite the variation, it is commonly understood that Mexican-Americans experience a perpetual state of “nepantla” which is a Nahuatl term that translates to "existing in-between" spaces, never fully here nor there. Specifically, nepantla is used to describe how Chicanas/os/x tend to feel rejected by both the United States and Mexican society. This liminal space is what Gloria Anzaldua referred to as the “borderlands,” where possibilities to develop something new rise out of the convergence. This is but one interpretation of the complicated sutures that make up the fabric of Mexican-American Identity.
Books
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- Chicana Movidas: New Narratives of Activism and Feminism in the Movement
- Occupied America
- City of Promise: Race & Historical Change in Los Angeles
- Latino Los Angeles: Transformations, Communities, and Activism
- The Mexican American Opportunity Foundation: The Transcendent History of Resistance, Self-help, and Identity