Month: October 2020

This week we discussed a series of meanings for the expression “rapping Latinas:” a) young women seeking a life of significant impact of their talent, and making inroads of spaces traditionally considered male domains (like rap and hip-hop); b) young single mothers trying to provide for their children; c) women of all ages in the barrio joining the ministry to expand religion and religiosity from “other world” business and soul-redeeming-only endeavors to social justice and help out of poverty. How does shifting religious identity constitute ‘rapping’? How does social justice and rap relate to making a religious life come to life? What other meanings do you find for “rapping Latinas”?

Post a comment addressing one or more of these questions. Please, note that this post does NOT have a deadline, since most of you are concentrating on your proposals. These last few posts will come without a deadline, so you can write about them and post at your own pace. Hang in there, semester is almost over!

Last week we discussed ways in which Latina bodies recover and how religion (faith, devotion, conscience of presence-absence and its importance, materials such as images or icons, etc) help in that recovery.

We did not post last week. If your final project or your research interest relates to this topic, please feel free to post a comment about one or more of these questions; otherwise, this is an optional post.

On Monday we discussed the various relations of presence/absence (in the case of the Virgin from the life of Jesus, in the case of a mother from the life of a child, as we saw last week) and of violence, and the role of church leaders in the happening of domestic violence.

Take one point from the discussion, and relate it to one of the websites or videos I asked you to watch or browse on Wednesday.

Please, note that the link for “Existe ayuda / Help exists” is broken. This is the live one:

https://www.nsvrc.org/publications/existe-ayuda-help-exists-toolkit#:~:text=The%20Existe%20Ayuda%20Toolkit%20provides,competence%20and%20accessibility%20of%20services.

Please, post your reflection by Sunday at noon.

This week we have discussed different aspects that matter to better understand the adjective ‘transnational.’ We focused on two readings regarding transnational motherhood, which related to previous discussions we held on fertility, devotion, abnegation, family, gender roles, and faith; faith in divine figures, in oneself, in the community around one, in the State, in the Nation, in the changing of a national setting.

Draft a comment on one of these questions: a) your understanding of transnational motherhood, and its correspondences with transnational daughterhood / sonhood; b) the importance of considering transnational fatherhood a significant element of immigration and international relations; c) the bearing of poverty, hope, and walking away from poverty in the matter of transnational parenting.

Try to post your comment / meditation by Saturday at 8PM.

This week we devoted Monday to discuss connections between home, homeland, and homeland security. Travels through borders, life journeys, and transits between the original home, the homeland, and the new home, that one where for Latinas the Department of Homeland Security awaits and changes all border lines. We considered how religion, faith, devotion, spirituality, and religiosity travel through borders. Reverend Martel guided us through the dysfunctional GPS travels of her return to her homeland to find that time, space, and other parameters of her Evangelical religion did not work as they do in the mainland. Borrego and Menjívar laid out important definitions of legal violence at the border, and we considered how those interacted with motherhood, that event related to the same, and not, fertility that we have discussed for some of the sacred female figures about whom we have read.

On Wednesday, those present in class bravely shared their thoughts on the final research project. Bravo! Mega brownie points to those of you there, who spoke out. We also learned about resources, and the Research Guide that Phil MacLeod has kindly and generously put together especially for our seminar. Call on him, please.

For this week, please write a reflection on one of these two days: one, on the issue of home-homeland-homeland security; or two, on your final research project. Questions, concerns, ideas, musings.

Given how late I got to posting this, I am not going to impose a deadline on you. My apologies for this delay, know that time of delivery of your post for this week will be at your own pace. If you already drafted your post and were just waiting for the prompter, post as soon as you can. Otherwise, think about this and post whenever it is possible for you, knowing that in the next few weeks you will have other postings coming up. Happy posting!