Some inspiration:
Spaniard Pablo Picasso:
Mexican artist Diego Rivera
Ecuadorian artist Endara Crow
1) Ethnic Identity: 100% Latino, though a mutt to my own Hispanic people.
- Father's side: Mexico City, Mexico.
- Mother's side: Quito, Ecuador.
2) Religious Identity:
- Family: Roman Catholic
- Myself: Agnostic (i.e. I'm sure a God exists, but organized religion is a giant farce to me)
3) Holidays Celebrated:
- Family: 3 King's Day, Easter, Christmas, other church stuff; Thanksgiving, July 4th.
- Myself: None. Don't need holidays to remind me of the horrors of history.
4) My identification with said traditions:
- See previous answer. If I don't feel it inside, then why should I fake the funk?
5) Harassment for being Latino in South Florida and Illinois:
- A big fat YES.
I've been called SPIC (and other terms) in a derogatory manner throughout my life.
I've seen numerous occasions where "Mexican" was used in an insulting way.
I've witnessed racial hatred among Latinos (not "brown" enough or 100% Mexican, etc.).
As a kid, I was thrown in classes with kids who didn't speak English - even though I did.
I could go on, but does it matter? I've been numbed by such things at this time in my life.
6) Identification with other cultures:
- Not really. I'm just a Hispanic-American trying to live a drama-free life.
7) Friends of different cultures.
- I've been friends with many cultures and tend to identify more with minorities of any type.
ex. Blacks, Italians, Jews, Filipinos, Greeks, Czechs, Taiwanese, etc.
Race or religion seriously is a total non-factor to me.
- If anything, I'd say I don't mingle much with people of a lot of money.
Maybe it's because I've always been around people that hustled to live.
Or maybe it's because rich folk tend to fall in these categories to me:
a) Arrogant, nose-in-the air "I'm better than you" types.
b) Naive, babied, stuck in a bubbel types that squirm at the sight of poverty.
c) Knucklehead wannabe-ganster wiggers types that have never held a real gun.
That said, I do have rich friends - but you wouldn't know it unless you asked.
That's the type of folk I like: less talk, more action.
- Don't mind alcoholics, potheads, gamblers, and other "substance"-abusers at all.
Everyone's got a vice, makes no sense to harp/preach on someone's else's.
One day, life catches up to you.
Lost a lot of my close friends already to bad habits, bound to lose more.
Oh, a R.I.P. to Whitney Houston. Sad shit.
- Gender wise, I hang with all types of folk - men, women, dogs, cats, plants. Don't matter.
Although I will say I come off a bit abrasive or serious to some.
Once you know me, you'll see I'm a regular cat with a sense of humor.
So don't take it personal if I don't say what's up every time I see you.
8) Tension:
- I've always been amazed at the lack of historical knowledge among folks.
Meaning - there's this passive attitude and lack of care when it comes to our roots.
For instance, I've been raised to love our "Madre Patria" - Spain.
And I do - great food, beautiful women, and so on.
But let's not forget what these Europeans did to the natives of America.
ex. Cortez's murdering/raping of Mexicans for the love of the Church.
They say history is written by the victors, and that's deep to me.
Now, I'm not a Latino-verison of Black Panthers or some wild extreme shit.
I'm just not ignorant - so embrace your identity, read books and think.
- The issue of immigration has become a focal point in the Latin-American community.
I have family that ride with the illegals on the grounds that they're part of us.
But other family members vouch against them, b/c of the cost they paid already.
In the end, I could care less.
However, it would be ignorant for me to say that...
As people treat me like trash because of it.
Politics as usual.
- Just as sad is the drug cartels ripping apart Mexico and South America.
Fox or CNN doesn't show it to us, but believe me - it's a war past the border.
People cry about all that Middle East/9-11 shit, but don't see the local violence.
Kids dying in horrific manners, kidnappings and the such.
Who cares, right? I'll just throw on some iTunes/Nerflix and drink a beer.
9) Structure:
- Most likely integrative, this time around. I did geometric last time. Deconstruction... eh.
Maybe something like an illustrated booklet in the vein of the McLuhan-Fiore books.
As you can see, being a minority gives me ample resources.
Ideally, I'd like to cover a bit of everything - but we will see.
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