The Realist Latina: The Underground Exchange

18 June 2010

The Underground Exchange

I recently came across a photo essay on the web site foreignpolicy.com by a Mexican immigrant: Dulce Pinzon. The essay seeks to showcase the very underground nature of Latin American immigrants working in NYC. She intentionally asked these workers about their remittances back to their families in Latin America. Despite how poignant their truths are, it is the theme behind the photo essay that is remarkable. Pinzon had the workers dress up as superheroes against the backdrop of their everyday lives. The outcome is special. Please take the time to visit this amazing photo essay:

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/05/28/the_magnificent_migrants

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: Those were AMAZING.; June 24, 2010 at 10:15 AM

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Definitions

For a greater understanding of this blog and my outlook on fashion, culture, and politics, a few definitions are necessary:

Chicana/o: Various scholars have defined Chicano/as as Mexican-Americans who view themselves as non-Anglo, proud of their indigenous culture, and politically active. For the sake of this blog, Chicano/as will be used to mean any Americans with Mexican decent.

Chicanismo: This term will be used to denote the political activism, cultural identity, and the connection to the indigenous heritage of the Aztec Empire by Chicano/as.

Latina/o: While used in the US to describe anyone of Latin American decent or citizenship, for this blog, Latino/a will encompass anyone who defines themselves as Latino/a. It does not matter whether they are US citizens or Latin Americans or Spanish, but live and contribute to US popular culture, politics and fashion.

Hispanic: WILL NEVER BE USED IN THIS BLOG! This term was a term given to individuals of Latin American decent by the US government in an effort to classify these individuals as a monolithic group for the Census.

Gendered Spellings: In the Spanish language, most nouns must have a gendered spelling. In order to avoid misrepresenting anyone or any group, I will use the following: "Latina/o" or "Latin@" to mean both men and women within a particular group. When just talking about women, you will see "Latinas" or "Latina".

Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that because of my own cultural identity, my knowledge of the histories of various Latin American groups in the US is limited. I apologize in advance if I have omitted important histories of my fellow herman@s. Feel free to add histories and individuals who you think fit within the contents of this blog.