COVER STORY | Tracing the Growth of a Community
La Vida
Painting by Elsa Treffeisen
PAID SUPPLEMENT OF THE DAILY PENNSYLVANIAN | Friday, April 6th, 2012
INSIDE LA VIDA Letter from the Editor ................................................................................................................... 2 La marca de un lenguaje ................................................................................................................ 3 Mecedora .......................................................................................................................................... 3 Editor-in-Chief Acquisitions Editor Business Manager Design Editor Design Editor Cipactli Liaison Marketing Manager
KARELI LIZARRAGA Aida vega TIFFANY GOMEZ CYNTHIA IP ADAN JUAREZ CLAUDIA HENRIQUEZ Yessenia Gutierrez
Staff Editors:
Carolina Angel Erica Cervantes ANGEL CONTRERA Karla Molina Sheila Quintana Isamar Ramirez
Treyvon Martin ................................................................................................................................ 4 God on My Mind ............................................................................................................................. 5 Mt. Olympus ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Tracing the Growth of a Community ............................................................................................ 6 Dejando Huellas at Penn ................................................................................................................ 8 I am not Gloria ............................................................................................................................... 8 La Hermandad: Un legado de cambio .......................................................................................... 9 Global Brigades .............................................................................................................................. 10 Huellas Invisibles .......................................................................................................................... 11 Palabras que marcan: An Interview with Reina Maria Rodriguez ............................................ 11 Scarecrow ...................................................................................................................................... 12
Special thanks to:
La casa latina THE latino Coalition STUDENT ACTIVITIES COUNCIL Painting by Allison Zuckerman
We asked our staffers: What tattoo would you get? Kareli: I would get the word
“petrichor” because it reminds me of one of my favorite smells.
Tiffany: I would get the phrase “distinclty beautiful”.
Adan: “veni, vidi, vici” Carolina: I love the image of a cherry blossom branch.
Karla: a small phoenix because it’s a constant rmeinder to keep my head up and rise from the ashes.
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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
Dejando Huellas Leaving our Mark We live in a world where it is far too easy to find reasons to become disappointed. A 17-year-old boy was killed and his murderer faces no consequences, reproductive rights for women have become contested again, and thousands of talented students face barriers for higher education due to their immigration status. It appears that the monumental strides made in the past, huellas hechas en el asfalto por gigantes, were really placed on sand which is slowly eroding. We are urged once again to uptake the same battles that generations before us fought. However, my faith is reinvigorated by the actions of bravery, sacrifice, and true leadership of my peers. Adan Juarez, along with hundreds of other Penn students, attended a vigil to show support and demand justice for Trayvon Martin. Tania Chairez was willing to face arrest and even deportation to renew the voice of undocumented students who have been silenced in the shadows. Poet Cortney Charleston created images that cause us to question the conditions we have come to accept as unchangeable in our society. I am inspired, uplifted, and most of all provoked by them to act rather than just rant. Decades ago, a few individuals had the courage to take the actions necessary to create a more inclusive and welcoming institution. Latinos and minorities in the University of Pennsylvania were
regarded as a small population, simply lumped in the sidelines. It was only through the contributions of those that came before us that there is a vibrant and welcoming community. Today, the presence and strength of Latinos and Latinas of all backgrounds are undeniable. As Karen Aquino emphasizes in the cover story, “Tracing the Growth of a Community”, we have made notable strides but it is up to us to continue fighting with the passing of time to ensure we move forward. Cristina, the television hostess most of us grew up watching every Monday night on Univision often ended with a phrase that has stuck with me;“Pa’lante. Pa’tras, ni pa’ agarrar impulso” (“Don’t turn back, not even to gain momentum.”) As students that today pass through Locust Walk, it is our responsibility to leave our immutable marks of excellence and ensure that the work of those that came before us is not forgotten.
Kareli Lizarraga is currently a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences majoring in Political Science. Contact her at lavidaupenn@gmail.com.
Favela Rocinha by Rebecka Zavaleta
La marca de un lenguaje BY ADAN JUAREZ According to the Ethnologue of World Languages, Spanish is the second most spoken language by native speakers. The Spanish language has about 429 million native speakers and another 70 million secondary speakers for a total of nearly 500 million speakers worldwide. This is about a 29% increase from The Ethnologue’s 1999 Summer Institute of Linguistics Survey (SIL), which reported that only 332 million native speakers speak Spanish. As for secondary speakers, the SIL shows that 20 million people spoke Spanish as a second language in 1999; which means that since then, there has been a 250% increase. So why the sudden interest in the Castilian language? The evolution of Spanish is much like that of the other Romance languages ,which have all derived from Latin. The common Latin, tended to be reserved for the lower classes, began to blend with the regional languages of the people of the Iberian Peninsula. After years of borrowing from the regional languages, the common Latin evolved into what is today known as Spanish. As the years passed, Spanish underwent changes in spelling and pronunciation , shaped largely by Arabic influences until its arrival in the New World. The Spanish conquistadores forced the language upon what would later become Latin America, with the exception of Brazil; thus, Latinos speak Spanish. This accounts for the 429 million native speakers, but what about the 70 million secondary speakers? It seems that the rise of Latinos in the media has surged interest in the Spanish language. From the adorable Chihuahua barking, “Yo quiero Taco Bell” to Gloria’s (Sofía Vergara from Modern Family) “Gloria-isms”, Spanish has become a popular choice as a second language. These images on television glamorize Spanish and enthrall non-Spanish speakers with its exotic r’s and soft syllables. Spanish
flows as smoothly as William Levy’s moves on Dancing with the Stars. Latin music has been rising in popularity among nonSpanish speakers as well. Its rhythmic beats and catchy tunes entice everyone to shake their hips just like Shakira. People yearn to learn what these artists are singing about and take an interest in the language. Furthermore, the delectable food that represents this language blows taste buds out of proportion and leaves everyone wanting to reproduce the sabor they intake. It is no wonder that many aspire to learn Spanish and discover this attractive culture. Here at Penn, Spanish is among the most popular foreign language courses. Courses range from the elementary to the advanced levels, including courses in Spanish for specific professions. College sophomore Mariam Mahbob explains that learning Spanish expands her own personal universe and allows her to communicate with many more people, both of which are especially useful considering the fact that we live in an interdependent and international society. Vanessa Romero, a College senior, finds that, despite the lack of Spanish spoken in her home, studying the language makes her feel more connected with her family’s history. Spanish is one concrete way in which Latinos are leaving their mark at Penn and around the world. Colloquial phrases such as “pero like” and “ay no” resonate throughout campus as Latinos turn to Spanish to express emotions that English might not be able to fully convey. Through Spanish, Latinos become ambassadors who bridge the gaps between the community and the rest of Penn. The language unites Latinos and so they can take action in the face of injustices and expand their influence in University affairs. Thus, they spread this beautiful language, one that has been a part of their collective identity before it was popular.
Painting by Natalia Juncadella
Mecedora BY Janina Lagemann-Doné
“For the mother! A mecedora!” The wooden seat with curved feet is another celebration: “Let us greet a generation!” Abuelo lifts his coke-with-lime. He makes promises because the problem is distance and time. These are his gifts. A rocking chair for mother and child. To meet, sit, or rest– to cry and weep to smile and share a long swaying sleep. “Remember: this chair. It is there, keeping us más juntos.” “Together,” he said phone to his head, hand on his chest, “That’s always best.” In the short while between announcement and birth, he looked and assessed. After many a test of wood and of style Abuelo would say
“This one’s right,” seal it tight and send it away. So they were flown overseas in cases from the DR to known, and far address-less places. Handed over and on from Tia Juana to Tio John, chairs went in luggage, or tied up in bags, lacking tags, a passed-along package, from sister to brother it arrived to to the home of my very own expectant mother. It’s true: my chair remains scratching floors in my room. This heirloom snores. It speaks with its squeaks. It maintains with its swing: the promise that love is this old rocking thing.
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Photograph by Kaila Bridgeman
Trayvon Martin “I am…Trayvon Martin!” “I am…NOT suspicious!” On Monday, March 26, the voices of a united community boomed as approximately two hundred students in hoodies made their way to Love Park in Philadelphia. At 5 pm, I gathered with my peers as we stood outside of DuBois College House in protest of the injustice that has swept the nation. Trayvon Martin was a 17-year-old black man from Sanford, Florida. On February 26, he was shot by George Zimmerman and died on the scene. At first glance, it appears that this case would be an open and shut murder case; a man is found with a weapon standing over the dead body of a teenager whose only weapon was a pack of Skittles and can of Arizona Iced Tea. However, the great controversy lies in the fact that Zimmerman was neither detained nor taken in for interrogation. Before shooting Treyvon, Zimmerman called the police and described the boy as “real suspicious”. When the police arrived at the scene of the crime, Zimmerman claimed self-defense and was immediately granted protection under the “Stand your Ground” Florida law that allows the use of deadly force by a citizen if he feels threatened. The police took Zimmerman’s statement as truth and proceeded
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to move on. After listening to the 911 calls that were made during the incident, I am appalled at the police’s blatant disregard of the evidence as well as lack of procedure. This is why I joined the 2.2-mile march. As I made my way from Locust Walk and we finally arrived at Love Park, I could not help but feel empowered and scared at the same time. As College Junior Vanessa Marsh puts it, “Trayvon could have been any one of us.” Indeed this is true; it could have been me, an avid hoodie lover, who could have been walking down the street with my hands in my pockets. It could have been me who Zimmerman deemed “suspicious.” I could be who now lays slain and is “resting in peace”. And under what justification? The color of my skin? The fact that I was walking alone in a neighborhood that I didn’t seem to belong to? Was it because I was wearing a hoodie? No matter how Zimmerman’s advocates spin it, this is an issue of race. Zimmerman was explicitly told not to pursue Trayvon, but he did so anyway on the basis of “suspicion.” Furthermore Zimmerman’s slurs do not help prove his innocence but rather reinforce his internalized racism. For all of these reasons, the Penn community came together with the greater
BY Adan Juarez
Philadelphia community for this march. We were demanding justice and equality. As Marsh goes on to comment, “these outdated laws need to go. Racism needs to go. Equality needs to stand up.” Standing up for what I believe in through my support of this march is a way in which I hope to make a difference. Trayvon’s death, if left unprosecuted will leave an ugly blood-stained mark on our nation. As I joined in the chanting, I felt like I was fighting for all of the times I have witnessed or experienced blatant acts of discrimination. Unfortunately, this is something that is not new or easily reversible. March organizer Aya Saed, College junior, exclaims, “this is not a one time act of protest. Trayvon was not just a Black boy. It is sad that we had to wait until this happened to do something about it. This event needs to catalyze the intersectionality of all minority communities.” I felt that I was at the right place at the right time supporting a true cause, and I am proud to have had my fellow Penn students join me in doing so. There is no justification for this type of murder. I will continue to wear my hoodie in solidarity and speak out about these injustices. Let my voice remain in the minds of many, echoing “NO JUSTICE! NO PEACE!”
Photograph by Aida Vega
Mt. Olympus BY Cortney Charleston
God on My Mind BY KARLA MOLINA
Lately, I’ve been thinking about God and spirituality. As a senior, this topic has not crossed my mind for the past four years, but this last semester has really made me think about God and my ongoing relationship with this lady. I was raised in a Latino household, where God has always been present through baptisms, confirmations, Sunday school, puffy, pink dresses and long sermons. God was present through the portraits of Jesus hung on the walls of my house and even during that awkward sex talk I had with my parents years ago. Somewhere between my twelfth and seventeenth birthdays, my mother became an incredibly religious woman, deeply involved with the Catholic Church. And while she tried incessantly to instill her own idea of God upon me, I chose to create my own. It’s strange – I never stopped believing in God but I did stop believing in her God. This did not happen out of spite or teenage rebellion, but because I refused to believe that God could be… so stupid! Let me explain myself. My mom’s church demanded that in order for you to be a good person in God’s eyes, you had to fulfill very specific requirements; you had to be pro-life, speak in tongues, remain pure for marriage, and force your beliefs onto others. Out of respect for my mom, I agreed to go to a three-day youth retreat when I was fifteen… but I was kicked out within the first two hours. Why? I didn’t understand how everyone had to be pro-life in order to be a good person. I thought that God wanted us to be happy with ourselves, but how can we be happy when we are denied the freedom to choose what happens to our own bodies?
In a herculean effort, someone climbed that mountain and found absolutely nothing there. That, my friend, is how religion becomes myth. A divinity held within arm’s reach of humankind is not worth anything.
Throughout the rest of high school, believing in God became especially tough. I won’t go into details, but for the most part, God and I stopped being buddies. I stopped going to church, I stopped believing in miracles, and I simply started to think spirituality was overrated. It was only once I started college that God and I started to mend our broken relationship. I ended up living in a dorm where four other people went to church on Sundays and I decided that it would be fun to go again. However, since freshman year I’ve come to realize that God doesn’t just leave her mark on us during mass, but that she really leaves huellas on us: imprints that last a lifetime. These huellas are the little miracles that follow circumstances and events that don’t turn out the way we plan and that can initially cause us great tragedy and sadness. I’ve come to realize that these huellas help us create our own personal version of God. A God without a preconceived set of rules, a God that can be female or male or both, a God that doesn’t discriminate about who we choose to love, a God in our own image.
We all get to create our own God, because that’s just how cool she is. After the different and unexpected changes that my life has taken this semester, I have had to think more about these huellas in my own life. Until this semester, I always believed I would be pursuing a certain program next year, but I am not. And honestly, I couldn’t be more excited for what I am doing instead because it is the perfect fit for who I am today. Until a week ago I honestly believed in the immortality of my grandmother but as I’m typing this, she is thousands of miles away, passing on to a place where she can see, walk, and use her own hands again. Also until recently, I had always wanted to follow a career in law and therefore genuinely believed in the prevailing justice of the law. However, Trayvon Martin’s murder tested my belief in the justice system. Yet at the same time, it has shown that while this nation has a lot more work to do, we are still capable of coming together to demand justice. This reminded me about the beauty of law and its purpose to create change. It is because of these changes and tests in my faith that I have come to accept God and faith as a dynamic and changing concept rather than something rigid and static. What I mean to say is that God is not an entity with a set of rules. God is your own type of faith, God is a spirit, a miracle, a smile, an action, a movement, something in humanity that binds us together and moves us forward. This might be a childish outlook, but I refuse to believe that miracles don’t exist when they seem so obviously apparent to me. Maybe I am the only one who sees these miracles and the huellas they leave, but I’d like to believe that I am not alone.
Painting by Elsa Treffeisen Without the work of dedicated students throughout the years, however, the growth of the Latino community at Penn could have progressed differently. The development of the Latino community at Penn has engendered two different types of activism— one, directly centered around on-campus issues, and the other, focused on issues outside of the Penn community. In both, however, students have distinguished themselves by their demonstrated ability to affect social change.
anniversaries this year - the Cipactli Latino Honor Society and La Vida Magazine celebrate their tenth while MEChA de Penn celebrates its fortieth. Festival Latino, the Latino Coalition’s celebration of Latino culture on campus, ushers in its thirtieth anniversary this year.
BY KAREN AQUINO 6
Establishing the framework for a Latino community
Background: The growth of a Latino community at Penn
1957 saw the creation of ACELA—La Asociación Cultural de Estudiantes Latinoamericanos—Penn’s first Latino student organization. The group sought to “create a community for Latinos within Penn and to educate the Penn community about Latino culture and all its diversity,” according to its mission statement.
Even though the first Latino to be awarded a Penn degree — Joseph Urquiola, who was Cuban — graduated with an M.D. in 1829, the growth of the Latino community and presence on campus has been a work in progress.
These efforts received a boost in 1962, when Connaissance and the Latin American Graduate Student Association hosted a six-week lecture series titled “Connaissance 1962: Spotlighting Latin America,” according to the University Archives.
In 1910, George Nitzsche, the University’s publicity director at the time, published an information pamphlet written completely in Spanish, which was then circulated in various Latin American countries to raise Penn’s public profile.
While there was evidence of the growth of a Latino presence on campus, it remained low. In 1967, Penn officially adopted the “Admissions Policy for the Undergraduate Schools at the University of Pennsylvania,” a 49-page document that urged the diversification of the student body admitted into the University.
The 50-page booklet featured course descriptions, details about facilities and dorms and an outline of the costs of attending Penn. The student life section, which outlined the various opportunities available to Penn students, made no mention of any organizations aimed directly at Latino students.
Some of Penn’s most active Latino groups celebrate
Such steps, while still small in scale, paved the way for the expansion of the Latino community and presence in the latter half of the century— which would be ushered in by waves of student activism and involvement.
Indeed, the pamphlet’s opening sentence acknowledged the difficulty of transitioning to Penn from abroad: “Taking into account the difficulties that foreign students face when arriving at Penn from foreign countries, the University of Pennsylvania has named a faculty member to pay special attention to them,” the pamphlet reads in Spanish. Latin American students were urged to speak with the assigned faculty member immediately upon their arrival to Philadelphia, who would then counsel them regarding social and academic life at Penn. In 1927, the Graduate School of the University—which would later be renamed the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences—established research work relating to Latin-American history.
The committee that created the policy subscribed to “the notion that a major part of the total educational experience of a university student is found in the interchange of ideas with other students and the mingling of cultures represented within the student body,” according to the document. In order to promote such experiences, the document affirmed that “diversity of student background is a positive educational value and should be actively pursued, even at the expense of other desirable attributes… the social, economic, and cultural homogeneity of the present student body is a source of some concern to the Committee.” Throughout the 60s, Latino students were being recruited to Penn; one particular subset of Latino students, Mexican-Americans, reached a critical mass in 1972. This was the year in which MEChA de Penn was founded. Some of the Mexican-American students already on campus came from faraway states like Texas and
New Mexico; MEChA was created in an effort to create a support system for similar students. With two highly active Latino student groups on campus, Latinos at Penn had a heightened voice and visibility. This became evident in 1978, the year of the founding of the United Minorities Council. 1978 was a turbulent year at Penn; the school was in financial difficulties, which threatened the funding accorded to various student groups. The Annenberg Center for Performing Arts faced closing, and various athletic programs were threatened with having to shut down as well. In light of this, students organized a rally to protest the budget reductions and to call for the resignation of the then-University President Martin Meyerson. On March 2nd, 1978, the rally was held outside on College Green. After the rally was over, a group of students rushed into College Hall and staged a sit-in, which lasted four days and eventually grew to include 800 students. The sit-in was “the perfect opportunity to try to get something really done for minority students,”1979 alumnus David de Clue told The Daily Pennsylvanian in a 2008 interview. During the sit-in—which was originally meant to protest the budget cuts but eventually grew to address minority student concerns with the University—the United Minorities Council was born. Latino student groups were founding members of the UMC. Some of the main demands this group presented to the university President include the increased recruitment of minority students and the establishment of a minority resource center. Increased growth and visibility The 1980s ushered in a decade of gains for the Latino community at Penn. The Greenfield Intercultural Center opened in 1984, signaling the presence of a permanent resource center for minorities on campus. Festival Latino, Latino Heritage Month and the Latin American Residential Program were all started in the 1980s. This decade also saw the birth of organizations like the
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers and the inception of the Latin American & Latino Studies program. Continued advocacy and activism on the part of the Latino students at the time allowed these ideas to a become reality. Recruiting more Latinos to come to Penn remained a central concern. The 1992 “Report on Minority Permanence” issued by the University stated that “for more than 20 years the University has recognized a special responsibility for enhancing the permanence of U.S. minorities (African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans) on its campus ... Notable—but not sufficient—progress has been achieved.” Indeed, the class of students that matriculated that year (to graduate in 1996) was comprised of 5.1% Latino students. Seeking to address Latino-specific concerns regarding the number of Latino faculty and students on campus, the Latino Coalition was formed in 1995, on the heels of the formation of the Latino Faculty and Staff Association. This marked the first time that the various Latino groups formally came together to focus on Latino-centric issues. In 1998, ACELA and MEChA — the only two Latino groups part of the UMC at the time — withdrew from the umbrella organization during a general body meeting in April 1998, citing that the UMC no longer appropriately addressed Latino student concerns. After reading a statement announcing the formal withdrawal at the meeting, all the Latino members of the UMC walked out in unison. 1999 College graduate Tania Castro, who had recently been elected as the UMC’s vice-chairperson, resigned her post at that meeting. “We as Latinos are the best representatives of Latino issues,” 2000 College graduate Jonathan Cantu told The Daily Pennsylvanian in a 1998 interview. “By remaining in the UMC, we were allowing the administration to see all minority issues as a big lump instead of coming to us directly to address our specific issues.” Latino students continued to push their efforts for increased resources through the Latino Coalition, which partnered with the Latino Faculty
and Staff Association in the summer of 1998 to propose and design a permanent resource center geared towards Latinos at Penn. Their efforts became a victory in September of 1999, when thenUniversity President Judith Rodin inaugurated the Center for Hispanic Excellence: La Casa Latina, initially headquartered at 37th and Chestnut Street until its relocation to the ARCH Building in 2000. The new millennium saw the continued growth and diversification of the Latino community at Penn. The creation of central groups like Grupo Quisqueyano and the Latino Dialogue Institute, both established in 2003, followed the trend of an increasing number of specific Latino student organizations. Present-day student activism Following 2006, the year that saw myriad protests advocating for immigration reform, students dedicated support to the immigrant movement, participating in protests and initiatives in Philadelphia destined to show support for undocumented immigrants in the United States. In recent years, Latinos have campaigned for a number of issues — from working to obtain Penn President Amy Gutmann’s pledged support for the DREAM Act in 2010, to advocating for more Latino faculty and student recruitment, to working to increase support for undocumented students on campus. Tania Chairez, a Wharton sophomore who publicly declared herself an undocumented student in a column in The Daily Pennsylvanian in 2011, has gained widespread recognition for her recent efforts to bring awareness to the complex issues undocumented students face at Penn and around the country. Rosie Brown, a College senior who arrived at Penn in the fall of 2008 and immediately became involved in the Student Labor Action Project, believes that students have the unique power to organize and affect change. “If students are unhappy with something and make a big deal out of it, college administrations have to take notice — there’s no other option for them,” she said.
Chloe Sigal, a College freshman who has been heavily involved with the Alta Gracia Campaign — a campaign to get the school bookstore to stock merchandise made in a living-wage, union-led factory in the Dominican Republic — echoed Brown’s sentiments. “Activism is a great way to change the things you’re frustrated with,” she said. “When you’re a college student, you pay the tuition, it’s your college; you can affect the way things work. Students are the ones that have the power, although it might not seem like it… when you organize, students are the ones that are calling the shots, because it’s our university,” Sigal said. Sigal, whose family is Argentinean, credits her Latina heritage as helping her connect with the workers at the Alta Gracia factory when she visited. For people working in sweatshops, it is “common practice to lock the workers in overnight, to get more work out of them,” Sigal said. One particular woman she spoke to during her time in the Dominican Republic didn’t have a babysitter for her kids when she was locked in. In an effort to escape to her kids, she “beat up the security guard, climbed walls, and had to escape that way… she was fired the next day,” Sigal said. Even though such stories take place thousands of miles away from Penn, students’ efforts have brought the issue back to Philadelphia. By advocating for both on and offcampus issues, Latino students continue to address a variety of societal concerns. College students are in a unique position, Patricia Menéndez-Cambó said. Menéndez-Cambo, a high-profile lawyer who serves as the Chair of Greenberg Traurig’s Global Practice Group, added that “college campuses have a lot of idealism, a lot of hope and a lot of expectations. Even though that can die out over time, it’s very important to foster it — democracy is a privilege, a right and an obligation, and it’s up to students to take advantage of it.”
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Festival Latino: Dejando Huellas at Penn By the Latino Coalition This year, the Latino Coalition celebrates its 30th Annual Festival Latino. Festival is a week-long event featuring lectures, talented musicians, delicious Latin food, engaging film screenings and other events that foster Latino culture and legacy on campus. The events are open to the entire Penn community and those interested in learning about a vibrant culture.. In the past few years, the Latino Coalition has made it a priority to educate the Penn community about Latino diversity both in and out of the classroom. With a 43% increase in Latino population in the United States over the past decade, it is imperative to promote the agenda of our Latino students on campus. The Latino community is not one defined by a certain set of standards but rather characterized by multi-faceted and dynamic individuals. As our Chair Angel Contrera has stated, “Despite our differences and diversity, we come together because we share similar goals.” This year’s Festival Latino theme is “Dejando Huellas” (Leaving our Mark) which reflects and commemorates Latino presence and influence both in the University of Pennsylvania and the world
brought us Gina Brillon, a brilliant and engaging stand-up comedian that provided us with a room full of laughs. The week continues with music discussions, a film screening, a free Zumba class, a food celebration, and a World Cup soccer tournament. Furthermore, this year we are proud to incorporate a downtown event in which all are invited to continue enjoying the festivities to the beat of the Latin music we all love.
at large. While Latinos may be a minority within Penn’s campus, our presence is felt throughout. We kick off the week with our traditional Sancocho dinner in which all our constituent groups and guests join to celebrate Latino culture and food. Sancocho was a definite success. We were ecstatic to host more people than expected, including both Latinos and non-Latinos. Needless to say, the food was delicious. Moreover, our spoken word artists were engaging: their pieces were altogether moving, funny and enthralling. On Monday, we were proud to host Grupo Quisqueyano’s event in collaboration with Sigma Lambda Upsilon/ Señoritas Latinas Unidas Sorority, Inc. They
Festival Latino 2012 and its impact are of particular importance and interest to the Latino Coalition. Especially as the ARCH building is under construction and La Casa Latina faces displacement, it is the Latino Coalition’s goal to ensure the strong presence of Latinos in the Penn community. La Casa Latina as a cultural center is the Latino community’s home base. Even without this physical location for which for many of us has become a second home, we will maintain a vibrant and connected interconnection among all of our constituents. Festival this year will make it beyond clear that now, more than ever, Latino students in the University of Pennsylvania are represented and supported in all aspects of college life.
I am not Gloria By KARLA RIVERA
I will admit that I do like Modern Family My friends always point out both of our accents Do I have an accent? Oh, the never-ending cycle of stereotypes
I do not wear sombreros as Pope Benedict I beat teen pregnancy I can try to cook even though I’m not good at it No, I am not submissive I am not your “mamacita” I am not a “hot tamale” I am not Gloria No más, por favor. Paiting by Allison Zuckerman
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Photographs submitted by Karla Rivera
I do not have D-cups or siblings I make my grandmother angry because I am not religious The absence of male company does not make me any less of a woman
Caporales de Bolivia by Rebecka Zavaleta National Raíces Week, a theme-based week-long series of events that examines our role as Latinas. Previous themes have included marianismo and a redefinition of the female role, Latino colorism, literacy, and body image within the Latino culture.
La Hermandad: Un Legado de Cambio BY SASHA LAGOMBRA Unfortunately, it seems that many students enter college with the same negative preconceived perceptions of Greek life: raging frat parties, ditzy blonde Sorority girls, and lots of alcohol. Admittedly, I was one of those students as well. I had seen enough movies, and episodes of Greek to know that sorority life was not for me. However, here I stand today: a proud Hermana of Sigma Lambda Upsilon/Señoritas Latinas Unidas Sorority, Inc., a Latina-based sorority founded at Binghamton University in 1987. So, why did I join a sorority despite my preconceived notions of Greek life? Por su legado. A legacy of tradition and excellence. The Gamma Chapter of Sigma Lambda Upsilon/ Señoritas Latinas Unidas Sorority, Inc. was founded at the University of Pennsylvania on April 12, 1990, and was the first Latina-based Sorority founded in the city of Philadelphia. At the time, the four Chapter founders, Carmen Marie Maldonado, Lorena Pulido Ramirez, Mary Elizabeth Cedillo, and Ileana Garcia-Jacolow, felt disconnected from their Latino culture. Coming from a predominately Latino high school in Dallas, Cedillo felt that she “needed something to make [her] feel comfortable not just [academically], but also culturally.” Then president of Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (MEChA), Pulido Ramirez felt that the organization was also important because it created unity among various Latino student groups. “We went into this as strangers…we came out as sisters,” Pulido Ramirez said. No less than two years after the Chapter was established, the Hermanas already began to mold
and shape the environment around them. On October,1991, the Hermanas put together the First Annual Latino Awareness Week, strategically placed to coincide with Latino Heritage Month, in the “hope that a foundation be set for future celebrations of the Latino tradition.” The week featured three major speakers from the Penn, Philadelphia, and New York communities. Important topics were highlighted, varying from the Latino presence at the undergraduate level to Christopher Columbus’s role in defining the Spanish identity. Today, La Casa Latina works hard throughout the summer and the first two months of the semester to put together events that honor and display our cultures to the Penn community. Over the years, the Annual Latino Awareness Week transformed into our sorority’s
After joining our organization, Hermanas like Pamela Urueta and Elizabeth Melendez continued to maintain leadership positions on campus. Urueta served as Chairperson of the United Minorities Council (UMC). During her term, the UMC successfully fought for the creation of a Latino Studies minor, formed the Latino Coalition as a caucus under the UMC, and helped build unity and cooperation within the Latino community. Having served as MEChA’s UMC representative and Vice-President, as well as UMC Social Planning and Events Committee (SPEC) representative, Melendez was elected Chairperson of the UMC in the spring of 1994, as a junior. As the UMC representative for MEChA, she also helped organize the Latino Coalition, along with members of La Asociacíon Cultural de Estudiantes Latino Americanos (ACELA). Melendez led a more political agenda, allowing the UMC to take part in picking the next Undergraduate Assembly (UA) chair, and pushing for a seat on the University Council. Though the UMC was not granted a seat under her tenure, Melendez started the campaign for what would eventually result in the UMC’s permanent seat on the University Council. From Raices Week, to the organization of the Latino Coalition, the Gamma Chapter has had a significant role in shaping the Penn community for current Latino students. While those are changes are significant, they are not the greatest legacy that the Chapter has left behind. The most beautiful legacy is survived through each newly inducted Hermana, who becomes equipped with the perseverance, passion, and confidence to create more change in the future. Leaving a mark is great, but leaving a trail is transcendental.
Photograph submitted by Sasha Lagombra
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Painting by Elsa Treffeisen
Global Brigades
Initially, I was apprehensive of spending my spring break this way; after all, this time next year I will inevitably be stressed out, trying to keep up with my friends and their senior schedules while simultaneously studying for my Dental Admissions Test. Yet I still chose Global Brigades over trips to California and Florida with my friends. Truthfully, before the trip I predicted that I would later find myself regretting this final decision. Many of you might share my first thoughts, that breaks should be spent fully embracing our Mister Hyde alter-ego to our serious Dr. Jekyll personalities at school. It should be a time of adequate amounts of sleep and home-cooked meals where textbooks and alarm clocks don’t exist. I mean, we go to Penn…obviously, we deserve to treasure these rare, precious moments that make it acceptable for us to be a complete waste of space. The irony is that after a week without Internet, phone, and hot water, I have come to a conclusion: this trip was by far the most enjoyable and rewarding experience of my life! During this time, I was part of the Penn Dental chapter of the Global Brigades program.
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Global Brigades (GB) is the world’s largest student-led global health and sustainable development organization. In addition to the medical and dental aspects/ programs, they have programs focused around architecture, business, environment, law, microfinance, public health and water. Members of our dental and medical chapters at Penn spent a total of six days providing medical and dental care to members of impoverished communities. As the only Spanish-speaking member on the trip, I feel that I gained the most from our six days. Not only was I an asset in terms of translating and understanding, but I also had the opportunity to be a more active volunteer with my role as leader of the children’s “Charla” or speaking activity. In this Charla, a group of Penn students held an informational skit for the children of the community while their parents attended a an adult Charla led by community members who had undergone GB training. The goal of these activities was to emphasize the importance of dental and general hygiene, nutrition, and exercise. We incorporated a variety of posters, puppets, and physical activities into our interactive lesson plans. Before administering fluoride treatments, we gave the children toothbrushes, floss, and toothpaste—all of which were donated to our organization. The children loved the Charla so much that many of them tried to come back again and again. It actually broke my heart to tell them that they could only participate once, since multiple fluoride treatments are bad for the stomach.
Photograph submitted by Stephanie Vargas
I’ve done my research (…on Facebook), and it seems that the majority of us spent Spring Break 2012 in one of various tropical locations, sipping on drinks on the beach, going to EDM concerts, and indulging in some much needed R&R. I am proud to say that I was part of a group of 22 pre-medical and pre-dental students that sacrificed the beach and booze to volunteer our time in Honduras.
by Stephanie Vargas
Not only the enthusiasm but also the gratitude of the people we helped was extraordinarily profound. In the time I spent assisting the Honduran dentists, I noticed that no one ever complained. After working as a dental assistant during the summers, this was definitely the first time that I encountered so many people who were actually happy to be at the dentist. Clearly, this form of care is something that we, as Americans, take for granted. I heard more honest “gracias” in the six days I spent in Honduras than I have heard “thank you” over the years I spent assisting in the U.S. The holistic aspect of Global Brigades fosters an experience where both volunteers and community members have something to gain. In the utmost climactic manner, this concept unveiled itself on our final day. In order to expose us to other facets of GB, we were able to partake in a Public Health brigade.
I was fortunate enough to work on a building project from start to finish: an eco-friendly stove. In an effort to eliminate health hazards such as smoke, fume inhalation, burns, and radiation, two other men and I built a brick and cement stove, with a chimney, completely from scratch. For the first time in my life, I felt as though my time spent volunteering truly made a difference. Far too often I find myself volunteering at places that don’t necessarily need me to be there at all. It is almost as if they have the capacity to do the work they are giving me but allow me to be there because they know I need the hours for one reason or another. At the end of the week, I had gained so much more than just an attractive addition to my resume. I now understand what it’s like to have a genuine, lasting, positive influence on a person’s life and on an entire community.
Palabras que marcan
by Kareli Lizarraga
An Interview with Reina María Rodriguez From a country where individuality is often negated and its importance reduced, Cuban poet Reina María Rodriguez’s poetry reverberates with images that are painfully personal. On March 22, la poetisa was brought to Penn thanks to the efforts of on-campus student groups ACELA, CAUSA, Grupo Quisqueyano, La Casa Latina, MAPS, SPEC and Latin American and Latino Studies Professor Rachel Ellis Neyra. Rodriguez delivered a series of poems that were viscerally charged - lovers and friends that leave a country that is no longer home, rafters in roofs decaying from unceasing time, and dreams and possibilities that have soured in futility. As always, the shadow of el estado is ever-present, as it keeps a watchful eye over los cubanos. Following her performance, La Vida Magazine had the privilege of speaking with this enigmatic woman about everything, from her reasons for staying in Cuba to her hopes for the future. Born in La Habana in 1952, a mere decade before the start of the Cuban Revolution, Reina’s work ineveitably references the political environment of her island. She is immersed in a world where political agendas and personal life intersect regularly.“The ideology of the individual is very different there. Writing in Cuba is very different. You are a being of society. But my wish was to create a sense of ‘I’ that would encompass all of the good and the bad. We have a constant and morbid curiosity of knowing more about the individual that has been created within this social experiment.” In the Cuba of Reina, there is no rigid separation of the personal and the political but rather a permeable layer that makes it impossible for the individual to be insulated completely from the government. Yet at the same time, Reina María was able to create an intimate space, in the roof of her home, “la azotea de Reina,” where many Cuban artists, writers, and thinkers are a part of this intellectually eclectic enclave. Built using leftover planks from carnival floats and mismatched pieces of tile, the artist’s humble construction of la azotea hides the grandness of the ideas welcomed inside. “Comíamos lo que había. Con la escasez que estábamos pasando, nosotros comíamos lenguaje. Teníamos otra digestión que era de libros que nosotros pasábamos de mano en mano.”( “We ate what was available. With the scarcity we were facing, we devoured language. We found another source of nourishment in the books we shared and passed from person to person.”) In 1991, Cuba’s main ally, the USSR, collapsed and left the island’s economy in a fragile state. Full bellies were a rarity, yet Reina alludes to the greater satisfaction found in free thoughts and
ideas. La azotea at this time, was a vital place that encouraged these thinkers, or as Reina warmly refers to them, los iluminados. La azotea is still her home. It is the reason she has not left even after her children and friends have laid roots abroad. It is Reina’s personal haven, a shelter from a place where her ideas are subject to being appropriated by the state, “Para ellos (gobierno cubano) todo es representativo y yo estoy representando la isla.(” For them everything is representative and I am representing the island.”) Rodriguez is far from becoming a puppet of doctrines and ideologies. Instead, the most admirable part of her verses are the subtle reflections of daily life under these imposed conditions. Mundane activities take on a new light, as she describes the luxury of buying an expensive apple imported from California in her poem, “Manzana de California.” A line from the poem describes her feelings of impotence as even this small action required the permission of the government, “Sin remedios contra esta enfermedad/ (política) de comer cuando nos sea permitido.” She alludes to the empty promises and endless restrictions made in Cuba, that turn apples into a privilege most cannot afford. Items that were contraband because of their representation of imperialismo, are now being coveted.
Reina’s poems reverberate with this central theme of Cuba’s unique situation as a society of contradictions, where the sound of the tambores is combined with the sadness of being trapped in time. Because of this temporal limbo, Reina responds to questions about the future with wise hesitation, remarking, “We have always been a country that has lived in ‘the future’ and that today is the truth I have come to realize. I have never thought of what I will do or become. Instead, what you come to learn here is of what you don’t want to be.” Full of honesty, Reina’s words reflect the continual introspection of a woman who has managed to evoke truth despite the lies that surround her. A living legend of contemporary Cuban poetry, Reina admirably conserves her humility and claims her proudest legacy is not so much within her poems, but in the personal relationships she has formed throughout her life. “Hoy estoy recogiendo leña para los que vienen después. Yo quiero sobrevivir en el otro, no en los textos.” (“Today, I am gathering firewood for those who will come after me. I want to live forever within their souls, not in my own texts.”) Through her words but especially through her spirit, Reina has left her mark in the world and in the University of Pennsylvania. Her poems and presence are surely the firewood that will set ablaze the inspiration of countless writers to come.
Huellas Invisibles BY Viviana Vallin
Tu escoges la huella que dejas detrás y adelante Un hombre con piel dura y café trabaja en el sol Otros pasan y dicen palabras que critican a los inmigrantes Mientras que un joven de piel clara finalmente les dice algo Los insultadores paran por un momento y se van callados. Una joven de piel café esta sentada en una clase Callada normalmente, ahora tiene su mano en el aire para responder La maestra ha usado el término “ilegal” para describir un grupo de personas Un joven de piel clara escucha sentado a su lado. Una hija se prepara para viajar lejos de su hogar Con dos maletas y tan solo sueños de compañía En busca de una mejor oportunidad para el futuro Mientras que sus papas trabajan. Un hombre de piel café da pie en una tierra nueva Con pasos pesados y el corazón ligero Promesas para el futuro de una familia prosperosa Sus pasos son cubiertos rápidamente por el viento del desierto. Pero las huellas invisibles que dejo en el camino nunca se borran Y empiezan a girar eventos que cambiaran el futuro del mundo.
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Painting by Allison Zuckerman
The prototype of a dreamer is a scarecrow crucified in a cornfield full of deaf ears. A literal straw man refuted by the hearts of cynics that still manages to stand for something. While sleeping, I find that field off the side of a dirt road kissed with the bare feet of revered idealists. From the footprints sun-baked into the mud, it seems each of them once stood there, watching the scarecrow stand for something, and drew inspiration from the moment like blood to make their ideals come alive. Every worthy idol has passed by this field, offering thanks to this invention of mankind for doing what most men struggle to, which is stand for something. I remove my shoes and socks then search for a place to set my mark, in time pinpointing an opening between an Indian attorney and a Baptist preacher from Atlanta. Although I print my sole atop the soil, it does not stick, blown away by a gust of wind substituting as a judge of character. My eyes dart skyward where I count zero rainclouds that can assist in making my stand here a memorial that persists after the mud dries. Because I have not weathered a storm on the journey here, the ground will not be so generous as to capture the form of my foot. Impressions are earned. It seems even in slumber, this law of merit, unlike those of physics, cannot be suspended by the elasticity of imagination. No matter how many times I visit this field, the sky never changes, as I have yet to bring change forth. Thereafter, I wake to the violent anonymity of the city in my window with a conviction as steely as the beams that make its skeleton. Vow quietly to myself that I will make my name sound like an ideal when read off a grave marker by some person who never shook my hand. Symbolism is one rung below divinity but one rung above humanity, and I am a church boy taught to get closer to heaven however I could.
By the time road meets ocean, I hope I will have lived with enough focus to embody a single word in the mouth of an old man stooped on his front porch in a black, middle-class neighborhood. His skin folded around bone like a map to the past, he will tell schoolchildren passing by that I paved them a sidewalk without cracks to lose themselves between. Maybe he will say I built a school of thought or brick or both. Bred a flock of doves then donated the nest to families in Jerusalem and Gaza to keep as pets. Ran for office and kept my promise of not making promises that I could not keep. But maybe he will just say that I lived an honest man. Spoke as softly as the hands I used to hold children because there was nothing I loved more in life than youth and holding onto it. That I stood for the very act of dreaming against the crowing of critics. Accordingly, one can often find me near the looking glass of a room. Leaning on the wall like an ideology, posed like a question, pupils peeking through, learning the motions of a world moving too quickly to be partial to those wanting to make it better. It was in this posturing an epiphany came over me like the raincloud I had been anticipating, telling that I am taking on the role of a scarecrow. Standing. Watching. Absorbing knowledge amongst a field of people lost in the maze of mortality and deaf to their collective potential. I bide patiently for their ears to come open on harvest day. I know it will come, since I saw the feet of men and women huddled at the base of a symbol somewhere off the side of a winding dirt road in a dream I had. A road traveled by idealists in order to gather inspiration. Barter idea for know-how with a sage who does not speak until the season says he has to. A scarecrow: prototype for those of my heart’s ilk, who doubt their aptitude to walk but never to stand for something needing a vote of confidence.
Scarecrow By Cortney Charleston