How did you become interested in Chicanismo?
I'm Chicana, I'm from southeast LA. But even growing up in predominantly Chicano communities, I didn't get to learn much about Chicano history in school. It was also rarely talked about outside of school too. Thankfully, my dad knows quite a bit about Chicano history, and he's very passionate about it. I grew up being proud of being brown. And I guess that's what sparked my interest. I would find ways to learn about it on my own; learn more about my history and my people's history and finding ways to share that too.
How did you go about learning and sharing your heratige and culture?
Since there's not a lot of educational materials about Chicano history, I would do things like watch YouTube videos, and talk to people who were very much involved in Chicano activism.
For instance, I would talk to the Brown Berets, an organization that was started in the early 70s during the Chicano movement. I got to know some members from a chapter in San Bernardino, which is in southern California. I eventually ended up joining the chapter and I feel like they've taught me a lot about indigeneity within Chicanismo, and also a lot about like the activist history behind the term Chicano.
As for culture, I feel like my entire life I was kind of just raised in that. Like I said, my dad was really big on that and would show me Chicano art. Sometimes there would be some museums with Mexican and Chicano art, and we attended those. We would also go to other community events, like low rider car shows.
Now that I'm in college, I've tried to take that further and take a more formal approach. I enroll in classes that are focused on Latino Studies and Latino culture. And while that's not equivalent to Chicanismo, I think a lot of times they do have content from Mexican authors and Chicano authors.
You said that you would go to art shows and low-rider events with your family, How do you think these events helped you connect with your culture?
I think that our culture is very unique and it's very focused on the family. And typically, events like that are family spaces. People will get together and elotes y carne asada. It's a time to be with family and really connect.
I also think seeing a bunch of other Chicanos at those type of events helped me to be able to recognize the beauty in our culture. It's it's a very safe space where you see people being happy all around you. If you were to just hear about our culture from the outside, I feel like I've heard stuff said about certain things being ghetto or whatever, but I guess you can really see the truth behind those traditions when you're really in them.
How has learning about Chicanismo influenced your creative projects?
I've always liked to do artsy stuff. Over the years, I've tried a bunch of different things. I like to draw, I like dancing, recently I've really liked paininting. I look to a lot of Chicano art for inspiration. That's what a lot of my drawings are based off of.
As for dancing, I think that is something very important in Mexican culture. I had done Dance Azteca for a bit, but unfortunately I had to go to college just after I had started. Every once in a while, I try to practice what I have learned.
A little over a year ago, I started beading earrings, which is also a Mexican tradition that I'm trying to keep alive. I've also gotten into writing poetry, that has all been very focused on my identity as a Chicana.
So really most of my art is centered around my Mexican and Chicana identity, or at least that's been a big inspiration for me starting different projects.
How did you learn how to do all those things? Besides just seeing them around you growing up, who or what introduced you to them?
I honestly just try stuff and learn from other Chicanos. When I started to make earrings, I would watch youTube videos from other indigenous people. Other things I picked up a lot from my friends and family. My dad really likes to draw, so I grew up drawing with him. For Dance Azteca, I was actually in a dance group that I found through the Brown Berets, so they taught me. For other forms of dancing, I learned a lot from my mom and friends. When I really started to get into poetry, it was because of two of my friends, Jared and Nubia. They're really great poets and they've shown me some of their work. I felt inspired. They didn't really tell me 'This is how you do poetry,' but after hearing their stuff, I was inspired to make my own.
What advice would you give to other Chicanas who are trying to connect more with their culture?
I think it's a good place to start learning about our history through books. Theres a lot of authors who have recently starting more about our history. There's one book by Rodolfo Acuña, and he writes an extensive history about what Chicanos are now by starting back with indigenous groups from before Colubus.
It's also important to recognize that our culture is something that is writing on paper. It's something that real people experience.So making friends or meeting people who are Chicano and Mexican andlearning about the traditions from them. Not every Chicano or every Mexican is the same, but there are a lot of traditions that are similar, so learning from community members and getting that experience for yourself is a great way to become more connected to your roots.
What are your goals going forward in terms of how you connect with your roots?
Something I've been wanting to do for a while is learn Nahuatl, which is an indigenous language of Latin America, specifically for what are known as the Aztecs. But it was also the ligua-franca of Latin America for a long time and there are a lot of speakers. But it's really difficult to learn because I haven't had other people who I can practice with, but I hope I can do that in the near future.
And then also, I want to continue to practice the art forms I have already done and keep learning more about Chicano history. I know some stuff, but because we've been systematically left out of history, purposefully erased, it's really hard to keep learning. But I would definitely like to do more research into that, wether it be looking through different books or talking to community members.
You can see some of Rosangela's art here.