Hilda Solis and Susana Martinez

Unstoppable Change
Things have changed.  Mama and Papa have long retired, and when Mama’s not helping look after the grandchildren she’s planning how to get Papa to go on that South American cruise <>  she’s always dreamed of.  She sees how well her sons and daughters are doing, and she expects her grandchildren will do even better, or at least they will if she has her way; and when she watches the television news it’s evident to her that not only have Latino men begun to take their proper place in the mainstream of American society, but that Latina women are in step with them.  They no longer need a man’s voice to speak the words, and to legitimize their ideas, because they are now more than capable of speaking for themselves, and translating their ideas into action.  She sees Latina women involved in all aspects of business and civic life, and perhaps most importantly for her grandchildren’s future, she sees them becoming increasingly involved in politics on both sides of the aisle, and in trying to shape what American society should look like.

Hilda Solis
Perhaps most prominent amongst them in the past few years has been Hilda Solis, who joined President Obama’s cabinet as Secretary when he came to office in 2009.  Not that she was unknown before that, having served two years as a California assemblywoman, before serving six as a State Senator, being the first Latina woman elected to that office.  In 2000 she moved into national view when she took the trip to Washington as Congresswoman for California’s 31st congressional, and remained in the House until the call came from the President–Elect in 2008.

Recently Solis has been front and center in promoting Obama’s proposed Jobs Act which aims to improve employment prospects by reducing payroll tax for small businesses and 160 million workers, and give tax credits for employing veterans; maintain numbers in teaching, police and for fire fighters; invest in infrastructure projects, and reform and extend unemployment insurance.  Unsurprisingly in an election year, the proposals are a matter of contention between Democrats and Republicans, but Solis has been notable in her advocacy for the Jobs Act and for the benefits she believes it will bring to business as well as job seekers and essential public sector workers.

Solis has drawn much flack over the years from her conservative opponents, but has skilfully ignored most of it.  At only fifty four years of age it seems unlikely that a woman with so many achievements behind her is likely to stop soon, and she perhaps has even greater ambitions for her future political career.

Susana Martinez
In that if nothing else she has something in common with Republican Susana Martinez, Governor of New Mexico, who has faced equally hostile criticism from liberals, particularly over her stand on illegal immigration.  Elected as Governor in 2010, she is not only the first female occupant of that office in her state, but the first Latina woman to win a gubernatorial election for either party in the whole of the United States.

As the granddaughter of ‘illegal’ immigrants, Martinez stance on the subject is perhaps unexpected, but she has been consistent in arguing that they have no rights to remain and no place in American life.  Since becoming Governor she has signed an executive order requiring police and state officials to check the immigration status of criminal suspects, and made unsuccessful efforts to repeal legislation that allows undocumented immigrants to acquire the same driving license as citizens in the state.

In a state that is considered strongly Democrat, and which gave a 15 point advantage to Obama in the last Presidential election, some argue that Martinez won the race to be Governor not because of her own efforts, but largely because her Democratic opponent was tainted by his association with former Governor Bill Richardson, who was under investigation for improper business dealings.  However, since her election her polling figures have remained impressive.  As late as last December it was reported that as well as the near universal support of Republicans in the state, she also elicited a positive reaction with 32% of Democratic voters and had a 48/38 lead amongst independents.  Although New Mexico only carries five Electoral College votes, with the Martinez’s ability to capture wide spread appeal it is perhaps not surprising that she is being spoken of as a potential Vice-Presidential candidate for 2012.

Making Mama Proud
Certainly these are two Latina politicians to watch out for in the future, but there are many others already snapping at their heels.  Meanwhile Mama continues to keep one keen eye on the cruise brochures and the other on the progress of the next generation of Latina women.

Rose window at Chartres Cathedral

by Yoly Zentella–

About 200 children, nine tightly robbed, black habited nuns, eight bright but austere classrooms divided in half, separating the sexes, and at each desk, a bottle of blue-black fountain pen ink: this was the stage of the urban New York City working class Roman Catholic school, circa 1960s, I attended.

Our nuns, stern and stoic as they were , with only one among them being known to smile, were custodians of this small, immaculate, marble floored, parochial school occupying two stories. Children – Irish, Italian, and a sprinkling of assorted Latinos – ages 6-14 attended daily, quietly, so that only the black, swaying, rosary beads, hanging from the nun’s belted waist to her ankle, could be heard as she glided down the hall.
There was one classroom for each grade. In those days there were no special services; every student worked hard in class. If you didn’t pass you repeated the grade. There were rarely behavior problems.

We received a simple but well-rounded education, prayer book Latin, Gregorian chant – sung at High Mass and special feast days – catechism theology and Catholic art lessons on Roman, Medieval and Renaissance church symbolism. How we would astonish the upper classes at the out-of-our-league Metropolitan Art Museum when we would stand before the paintings during a class trip or on brief, unsupervised juvenile jaunts, analyzing aloud the symbolism in the Flemish or Italian triptychs! Working class children should be prepared for work in the factories, industry, service, not to view paintings as if they were art connoisseurs on holiday on the south of France. The upper classes bought expensive art books to learn that a palm in the hand of St. Lucy meant martyrdom. They attended museum lectures to learn what the dedicated but often impatient and perpetually annoyed looking nuns, grand-daughters of Irish immigrants, taught us.

The school was small, and I knew every inch of it by heart, with each inch being much like the other. But there was one corner of the school, tucked away in the tiny principal’s office, that was special. It housed a cardboard box, a parallel to the box that the cabaret, scantily clad, cigarette girl carried, securely held by a band around her neck. She would  coquettishly ask the tuxedoed men drinking cocktails, “cigars, cigarettes?” A pretty standard scene in black and white movies, circa 1940s!  Instead, the box in the office kept antidotes to sin, the weapons of repentance – religious articles for sale, among which were a variety of crisp, new, often gold-edged Holy Pictures. My contrasting  boxes would most likely be considered by the nuns to be sacrilegious, sinful, or both. Better to keep my observations private!

Weekly, a well-behaved student was picked to take the box from classroom to classroom, silently hawking, among other objects, beautiful 2 x 4 replicas of scenes from the past – joy, ecstasy, insight, conversion, eyes looking to heaven, and martyrdom. I was never chosen for this task; the nuns knew better. I might have taken the opportunity to flirt with a boy or two, or give away rosaries, the plastic ones, at least. Charity! While I didn’t really want to be a hawker, I did relish being near the pictures that didn’t speak, that begged to be accepted in their frozen state. I was intrigued by their fragmented stories,  much as I was by the mural that spanned three of the inside walls of the main church, the mother of the Catholic school.

It was a mural of larger than life saints, a parade of doctors of the church, martyrs, preachers, mystics, all crowned with halos except one, and curiously all White, except one, a female, Native American, Blessed Kateri. I always thought she and I resembled each other. The saints were separated by gender, males to the left, females to the right, each animated, theatrically posed, each holding a symbol in their hands or against their breasts -a prayer book, a palm, a wheel, a crucifix, roses – depending on their particular roles in the story of the church and the century.
The figures were splendid oil paintings – prominent above the sanctuary – soft colors and gold-edged halos, all in procession toward the absolving Lamb of God. They also were not offering any clues about themselves, not even of the nuances of their spirituality, the frailty of their convictions, or their personal perceptions of the potential conflict between church and state. They revealed only what we had learned during religious instruction, which was standard and shallow at best.

As Catholic school children we learned a more simplified version of the lives of the saints, most likely based on Jacobus’ hagiographical accounts. But one also had to have spent summers pouring over library books of myths and legends to connect the saints to archetypes. Perhaps this was my fascination with that pious parade that I could not keep my eyes off of when we, the class, were in the mother church for special feast days or  for confession. I so wanted to have that mural in my bedroom where I could scrutinize the saints for signs of private thoughts.
As I could not have the mural, the Holy Pictures would have to do. I became a young, working class collector, storing them in my daily missal, thinking of the saints’ significant moments, during mass – the holy remembrance of the last supper which had been reduced to a series of clicks by the nuns – signaling to us when to kneel, stand or sit.  Catholic conditioning! As absolute silence was demanded, I reviewed my growing collection and fantasized.

Saint Lucy by Domenico Beccafumi

The saints had taken my adolescent interest, much as the archetypal fairy tale characters had as a child. I had been fortunate that the local public library, eight blocks away, had a good collection of  world fairy tales which I poured over during the summer, when you could check out  ten books at a time. Such immersion had become a pastime in my solitary room, unless I was at my paternal grandmother’s, whose penchant was for Mayan myths and Strauss waltzes played on her ancient piano.

Fairy tales, myths, hagiography, later the symbolism of the Tarot, Jung’s work on dreams, an interest in Medieval and Renaissance history, costume, music, and Mexican spirituality with its particular concept of death, created a mix that sometimes collided, but slowly transformed into an identifiable potpourri of persistent underlying thought.

One category of sainthood appeared prominent in the Catholic school setting – the martyr. Used as a teaching tool in discussions of faith and loyalty to the Roman Catholic Church, martyrdom  appeared as the juxtaposition to the eternal torment of hell, where death was not even a possibility. Martyrdom carried with it the badge of courage and holiness, of modesty and virtuous faith. Yet, through these stories, we, the children, were also exposed to horrific tortures and death, glossed over by the romantic triumph of death and canonization. Looking back at these descriptions one could say that the nuns were unknowingly preparing us to cope with the real world – of Southern lynchings, of historical anecdotes on mob violence toward Mexicans and Chinese in the 19th century  and reports on 21st century human rights abuses in Iraq. Tales of martyrdom pierced the protective coating of innocence that children came into the world with. By age 12, if we lived in a state of family violence, such accounts reinforced the idea of  physical punishment by parents and nuns, standardizing discipline for many during this era, like David Copperfield’s harsh treatment by both step-father and schoolmaster.

Christo Crucificado by Diego Velazquez

The pain of others appears to be a consistent subject of curiosity. The British spectacle of brutal executions from early times to the 19th century, spanned from the carefully designed execution of royal traitors, with members of the council, the clergy, and servants-in-waiting attending, to the public scenes of mayhem as traitors of lesser social status were drawn and quartered, to the burning of  heretic Catholics and Jesuits. Even during the age of Humanism in England, Thomas Moore, author of Utopia, portrayed as kindly and just, in A Man for All Seasons, relentlessly pursued heretics. For Catholics, the Roman centuries of early faith were backdrops for martyrs, descendants of the crucified  Christ, whose death pallor was caught so well by Velazquez’ in his Christ on the Cross (1632).

Churches in Mexico and Central America, territories that have sustained centuries of conquest, uprisings, and repression with gross violations of human rights have incorporated their historical and collective suffering to those of the crucified Christ, with statues often displaying signs of torture and finally death. Such portrayals are unlike the Euro-American and European Christ figures that seem relatively unharmed while crucified, perhaps displaying a quiet, private reserved suffering, very different from the Mexican and Central American public display of emotion and pain, reflections of a brutal cultural birth and history.

In this part of the world, the figures of Christ, the Virgin, and saints are dressed in native made clothing and cloaks. These life-like statues exist quietly in their niches, surrounded by flowers, candles, tiny rolled up petitions, and copper symbols of parts of the body that need healing, some perhaps already healed. Some figures are rumored to have nocturnal lives, slipping out to perform miracles, and returning to their places, soiled and torn.

In earlier European centuries, to a lesser degree today, the church had become the instrument of the monarchy and the state. During the English Middle Ages and even into the Renaissance, the abbeys kept the faith alive through their vast, sometimes questionable, relic collection, while the suffering of the martyrs continued to be a reminder that such a state, as in the case of the common man, was a path to heaven. Were these ideas usurped by the authorities to control the population?

Martyrdom, as depicted by holy pictures and embedded in relics, has existed within the spectrum of victimization, occupying an earlier space in time, contrasted by  a more contemporary one, within this disturbing continuum. Within the latter component were the sacrificed lives of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, regarded by some as Cold War martyrs;  their execution described as a “legal lynching” by John-Paul Sartre (Reinholz, 2009).   Different times, similar challenges to authority.

Extreme suffering, and often death, is the price that one pays for challenging and resisting authority, any authority – the tribe, government, the church, parents. History and literature are replete with examples – religious, political and historical figures -  archetypes for ideas and causes. There exist newspaper reports of child abuse and infanticide cases – because a child asked too many questions, cried incessantly, required attention, or otherwise overwhelmed an already emotionally distraught mother – the child should have known better. History tells us of the ambitious Thomas Wyatt, who opted for rebellion at a time of perilous, pre-Elizabethan plots. Wyatt should have known the price for treason; he should have treaded lightly, waiting for better times.

Christ and the martyrs, so closely connected to politics and treason, took part in the war of ideas, pushing and pulling on the dilemma – the survival of the idea or of the believer. This was the stuff of history, of my history that began in the still fresh shadow of World War II.
During the 1950s, NYC was home to refugees and survivors of the European holocaust. Riverside Drive Park, a favorite haunt of my father and I, had one memorial plaque to those who died at the hands of the Nazis. One day we, I about age 8, went on one of our park walks, during which time we contemplated the river and watched the barges slowly drift south on the Hudson. That day we engaged on a discussion of survival when coming to that familiar memorial plaque, and reading it again, my dad may have remarked, to perhaps my comments or questions with, “ I would have lied about my race to save my skin.”  I remember my indignation, arguing with him, questioning his reasoning.  The naiveté of my sweet, quiet dad. Did he really think it would be so easy to lie and remain safe? He underestimated the Nazis, their finely tuned policy of extermination, the requirement of papers, birth certificates, of documents tracing back for several generations, hunting for any trace of Jewishness – a meticulousness underlined by a German psychological fear of engulfment and annihilation, of starvation and humiliation by the Versailles Treaty of 1919, essentially designed to bring Germany to its knees. A desperate grasp at survival.

My thoughts at the time about his remark have remained with me: “What a coward, lying about his roots in order to survive – to save himself.”  A war of ideas between father and daughter!  Decades later, having studied and witnessed the historical and political process of social movements – religious and secular, right and left, I can appreciate his reasoning – not about the realities of fascism because, speaking respectfully,  he lacked a historical foundation, but about survival – the universal human preoccupation with escaping, resisting, attacking, manipulating, lying low, strategies for physical and ideological longevity. Each of us picks our own battles according to values and needs. As a Mexican man with a family his goal was to protect himself and us, in this way preserving his culture. I learned so much from him. I am so much my father’s daughter!

And my dad was a survivor. He had survived poverty, migration from Mexico, a perhaps distant mother, the alcoholism of his father; emotional abuse. He had lived in  Louisiana as an adolescent when Jim Crow was still part of everyday life, lived through New York union strikes – to join or not to join – the Depression, McCarthyism, The Cold War, an unfinished education, a monotonous factory job, the deaths of his parents and brother, and a marriage to a beautiful but emotionally challenging woman. He had been deemed exempt from WW II.  He survived it all, with bearing and serenity; he had been speaking from experience and personal strategy.  He died at age 96.

Holocausts have not only had martyrs; but also those who fought back, fled, lied, and hid.  My father was neither a hero nor a martyr, but one who lived a quiet, retiring, resigned existence, reading his books and waiting with patience for the story of life to pass. Who was the naive and innocent regarding survival? The father or the daughter ? I have refined his strategy.

St. Stephen by Giotto

It is a Catholic school, a hot, sweltering May afternoon. We had been assigned to write and present a composition, in our best script, on our favorite saint. Most of the students in the class picked a martyr. There were as many portrayals of St. Lucy as there were stories about her martyrdom in the 4th century AD.  I chose St. Stephen , stoned to death around 35 AD. I got an A for my efforts; I suspect the high grade was a reward by our Sister for being the only one in the class to have chosen the official forerunner of martyrdom, after Christ. As I waited my turn to present, sweating from the heat – we girls were made to wear our plaid woolen uniforms throughout the school year, to the end of June – I thought how much fun it would be to act out these martyr lives and deaths in a school play, much like the passion plays in the Middle Ages, usually taken from the liturgy, and very popular with the illiterate crowds.  I thought, perhaps I should suggest it. My turn came and went. The play was only a fantasy.  Decades later, I read that the Golden Legend had been stunningly adopted by choreographer Christopher Williams, into a 3 hour dance composition -  performed in May of 2009 in Chelsea – portraying the lives of a number of male saints.  This was a counterpart to the 11 female saint stories, Ursula and the 11,000 Virgins, also created by Williams and performed in 2005.

The key to the success of these performances seems to be Williams’ skill for the fantastic – reminiscent of Medieval drama, for dance movement, for the use of Church symbolism, and for staging saintly, sometimes naked figures, coming alive on the stage in “short dance – plays” . Perhaps here, in these creations, decades after my Holy Picture fascination, one could catch a glimpse of, perhaps interpret, the thoughts of some of those frozen-in-expression mural figures. Williams’ portrayal of St. Laurence suggests that “he alone didn’t believe it [his death for the faith] could happen to him.” Was this a glimpse of an optimistic personality, of a thought-out plan for survival, or a personal perspective of politics at that time?

Martyrdom continues to attract our attention. Even for the non-believer, the concept of religious and political martyrs, archetypes of victimization, perhaps of perpetrators, past and present, is a point from which ideas and debates radiate – ethics, morality, loyalty, patriotism, law, justice, revenge, faith, survival. Controversy begins with officially approved or leaked reports on atrocities, newspaper features of child abuse, and innocent holy pictures airbrushed free of bloodstains.  For me, it took a modest neighborhood library, a working class Catholic school and a conversation with a quiet father to cultivate a personal narrative on suffering and survival, to understand the manner in which faith in the unseen and ancestral experiences can emerge from a mix of disparate elements. Perhaps now, the saints and martyrs will share with me what they once would not.

By Felisha Flores–

Paco was rummaging through the old dresser to clean everything out.  Lipsticks, clothes, magazines, even an empty can of spray paint were among its contents.  Most peculiar was a folded piece of paper that fell out from in between the pages of one of his old Lowrider magazines.  It was addressed to Roja in Lisa’s writing:

Mi Amiga, Mi Amor, Roja,

I am writing this letter to you because you are gone, and I miss you.  I know you will be back soon, but I realized this is the first time in our lives, since the first day of kindergarten when we met, that we have been away from each other.  Except for the day you missed school back in fourth grade to go to your tio’s funeral.  I pretended like I was sick and went to the nurse’s office first thing in the morning.

She sent me back after an hour because nothing was wrong with me, but I went back on my own again during lunch.  I had to, I had no one else to sit with or talk to.  I never told you that because I wanted you to think I was like Laura; tough.  Well I’m not like my sister at all.  She leaves people and never looks back.  She doesn’t even care about me or my brothers anymore.

Speaking of brothers, Paco misses you more than I do. I didn’t think it was possible but all he does is mope around the house and clean his stupid truck.  There are a lot of things I’ve never told you.  So I’ll go ahead and tell you some now since I’m never going to give you this letter anyway.

Remember when I first saw you?  I wanted to be you.  You looked so clean in your dress and braided hair.  You were so pretty even then, even for a five year old.  I wanted to claim you first as my friend before anybody else did.  I knew you were going to be something great.  Something everyone else would want, and I’d be able to say you were mine.

Remember when we got into that fight at the car show and you dented Paco’s fender trying to protect me from the other Cholas?  I never told you I saw him rubbing the dent the next day and shaking his head while smiling.  At that moment I knew that no matter what you did, Paco would never be angry with you…
Paco didn’t finish reading the rest of the letter.  His eyes were blurred from the water starting to surface in them.  That last sentence stung.  It hurt to think about the way he treated Roja last time he saw her.  If Lisa was there to witness it, she would have taken back those words and Paco would probably have a black eye from her or something worse.

Paco realized Lisa must have written the letter when Roja was in Europe with her grandparents a few summers back.  Because Lisa was right, they were never apart.  He laughed inside himself wondering how she did it.  How could she remain a constant fixture at Lisa’s side yet a devoted girlfriend to him?  Brother and sister living in the same house must have helped out.

Yet nobody became jealous of the other or demanded anything of one another.  Except for the time Laura came back for Lisa’s quinceanera and was obviously jealous that everyone else lived their lives harmoniously without her.

“Paco!  Tienes hambre?”

He heard Laura shouting from the kitchen at him.  “No!”  He answered back quickly before she came to find him.  He quickly put the letter in the back pocket of his jeans, knowing it would end up in between the pages of another magazine, hidden somewhere in one of his old drawers.  Maybe one day he’d find the courage to read the rest of it.

Heidy Goercke’s grandfather was a merchant in Ecuador and her mother had a jewelry store in Germany. So it’s no surprise that she would follow in her family’s footsteps by opening up her own business in Chicago.

Her boutique, the “Zaraz Collection,” in Wicker Park has neatly decorated tables and displays of silver and fashion jewelry, tote bags, clutches, sun glasses, hats and scarves.The boutique’s décor is made up of frames creatively sustaining purses and necklaces on the walls.

Goercke describes her boutique as “simple and elegant” and what makes it different from other boutiques, she said, is that they tailor towards the customer’s needs.

“My mom is very skillful. A lot of merchandise she recreates. For example, some people don’t have their ears pierced so she adds a clip to the long earrings or if we buy an accessory she adds or takes stuff from it to make it look better,” Goercke said.

”Heidi is a great business woman and she always goes above and beyond to please her customers,” said Toni Pullen, a customer at Zaraz Collection of almost two years. Pullen said she has made comparisons at other boutiques and has determined that Goercke’s pieces are unique and affordable.

What also makes Zaraz unique, Goercke said, is her Hispanic and European culture. She said her culture has influenced, to a certain extent, the type of accessories they choose and how she interacts with customers.

Goercke was born in Cuenca, Ecuador to an Ecuadorian mother and half Ecuadorian and German father, but she was mostly raised in Munich, Germany. She said the boutique was named after her mother Sara and opened in December 2009.

“My brother Johannes really liked my mom’s name Sara therefore, we decided to call it Saras but he thought it sounded boring so we named it Zaraz,” Goercke said. Zaraz emerged years after a trip Goercke made to Chicago in 2002 to visit her brothers. Goercke said that trip brought her unexpected opportunities that made her decide to live here.

She said her brothers were business owners and offered her a position as manager of approximately seven accessory stores. Goercke said she also fell in love with the man who is now her husband, Roland.

But in 2009, Goercke said, her brothers decided to sell almost all their stores to move back to Ecuador and that’s when she decided to open her own boutique.

According to Goercke, her store exhibits two different styles of accessories: one that reflects her mother’s style and one that reflects hers.

“My mom likes accessories to be more colorful and things [accessories] that are made of wood, leather, or that look indigenous. I like more modern and slick looks,” Goercke said.

“But I’m warm with customers and I think that comes from the Hispanic side,” Goercke said. So Goercke and her mother have given Zaraz a Hispanic touch in their own way.

Goercke also said she is aware of the current economic situation and that people are currently more cautious about what they spend but she still wanted to open her boutique.

“I am really enjoying this [being the owner of the boutique] because it’s been challenging. The rent in this neighborhood is not cheap. If the economy was better we would be doing even better but we are doing well,” Goercke said.

“If you have a good product for a good price, not necessarily cheap, but good quality, people will buy it. With accessories you can do a lot of things and not always have to buy a new item of clothing” she said.

Griselda Lopez, Goercke’s friend of almost 10 years, said Zaraz has accessories for people of all ages and they have a variety of prices.

“They have high-end stuff and cheap stuff. And, if you’re running around and want something quick then you can find something inexpensive,” Lopez said.

Lopez also said Goercke has a good attitude and personality which is good for her business. She said Goercke has been a great friend and has pushed or steered her in the right direction when she has limited herself in her career as a make-up artist.

“If it wasn’t for Heidy introducing me to some people I would probably not be doing make-up now,” Lopez said.

Goercke said if you follow your heart and are willing to accept new opportunities and challenges you can accomplish your goals and be happy.

UPDATE:

“Zaraz Collection” will be closing at its current location on January 31st, but Goercke said she will continue to sell accessories at her kiosk store “Iguana” at Orland Square Mall. Goercke said she is expecting her second child and would likely experience a time constraint maintaining two businesses and a family. Since there has also been a raise in rent, Goercke said that if she finds an ideal location, she’ll open Zaraz again.

Goercke will continue to sell accessories at her kiosk store “Iguana” at 1000 Orland Square Drive in Orland Square Mall.

Maria, 42 and Esmeralda, 35 are both undocumented women facing mental health challenges.

Maria has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and depression. She has been hospitalized four times as a result of suicide attempts and post-partum depression. She is currently receiving treatment for herself and previously sought help for her family to deal with the upheavals of her illness.

Esmeralda was recently diagnosed with lupus and she is also facing a serious bout of depression.  Her inability to find work is affecting her sense of self worth and while she is medically addressing the physical effects of lupus, she feels resources to help her with her mental health issues are difficult to find.

“When I started to get sick, the depression came from not being able to dance because my feet hurt too much,” she said. “You learn to live with that, but it’s not fair that because you don’t have papers, you live with depression.”

Their last names have been withheld to protect them and their families from discrimination and legal complications they may face as a result of revealing their status and illness.

Mental health worsened by fear

Maria’s schizophrenia creates a debilitating fear of people that she contends with daily and which has been worsened by fears over her immigration status. Her fears initially kept her from seeking treatment earlier.

“When I got here, I didn’t look for help from anyone for anything, not even for my daughters. People would say that immigration was coming, that they were going to take me,” she said.

She reports having felt intense anxiety at the thought of leaving her children alone after an immigration raid at the bakery where she worked in the early 1990’s. Her shift had just ended and she was not arrested, but she said the terror she felt has never left her.

After the raid, Maria said she would regularly cry before going to work. Her worries over what would happen to her children if she were taken away kept her from sleeping and caused her to have nightmares about immigration.

Maria’s first depression symptoms started in Mexico, where she said the stigma against mental illness meant that her actions were seen as stemming from a character flaw rather than as symptoms of a disorder.  She came to the United States in 1989 thinking that it would help her escape depression, but instead, it got worse.

Isolated from the family she left in Mexico, including a 3-year-old son she saw as her reason for fighting her illness, she said she began to create “things that weren’t there.”

Although Maria was briefly hospitalized for post-partum depression, it wasn’t until her daughters started having problems of their own that she seriously began to get treatment.

While Maria presented with symptoms of schizophrenia before her arrival from Mexico, Esmeralda believes her symptoms only developed over the course of her 14 years in the United States.

This is not uncommon according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, (NAMI). The organization stated there “are higher rates of mental illness among U.S. born and long-term residents than in newly arrived Latino immigrants.”

Furthermore, NAMI concluded “that long-term residence in the United States significantly increased rates in mental disorders.”

“Mental illness, if it goes untreated, doesn’t get better by itself,” said Dr. Nayeli Chavez of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, home of the Center for Latino Mental Health.

It can lead to further impairment and have a negative impact on the family. “When Latina women are not well, the family is not well,” Dr. Chavez said.

The fear undocumented women live with also affects their children, Dr. Chavez said. She said that in her work with the children of undocumented parents, she sees many kids who live in constant fear that “even though they were born in this country and they are U.S. citizens…their parents may be deported.”

Social Stigma surrounding depression

Esmeralda left Mexico with her daughter after divorcing an abusive husband and came to the United States looking to make progress in her life. After getting her G.E.D. and successfully working in sales for a few years, she said she is at a point in her life where she has the skills and experience to get a good job, but is unable to because of her immigration status.

“It’s frustrating, that moment when you say to yourself, ‘Why do they treat me as less because of a paper? I’ve already overcome so many things. I’ve worked so hard. I’m a single mother, I take care of my own costs,” she said.

Esmeralda’s daughter is also undocumented and telling her about her immigration status has been another hardship. Esmeralda said she is determined to make sure that her daughter will have a better future. She said that although she may face injustice and be discriminated against, she doesn’t want to give up.

“I want to be in this country that has given me opportunity. I want to be in this country because this is what my daughter knows. She thinks of it as her country, even if she doesn’t have papers,” she said.

Esmeralda said that many immigrants who come to the United States already bear the burden of leaving behind their family and way of life. She said she feels that the challenges they face, like discrimination of status or race, serve to make that burden heavier.

Still, she reports having felt angry and saddened by the most recent incident of racism she dealt with in the waiting room at her doctor’s office. She said a woman was screaming, that “because of so many Mexicans there, she couldn’t get in earlier.” It upset Esmeralda that although there were many different people in the waiting room, the woman was targeting Mexicans.

The Road to Recovery

Maria and Esmeralda say that a greater availability of mental health resources would help them better their situation, in addition to immigration reform.

Maria is taking regular medication and attending programs at Mujeres Latinas en Acción, which has helped her build a support network. “I’ve never been a burden, I’ve paid for my own insurance…If people like me could get help and be treated like human beings, everything would be so much easier,” she said.

Esmeralda said she plans to seek help for her depression, although she realizes it may be challenging because of financial reasons. Her advice to undocumented women facing mental illness is to remember that if “we’ve already left half our lives wherever we’re from, so that we can make progress in this country, we have to keep going…Know that you can do it. I know I can.”

This story was reported by Latina-Voices.com in partnership with Mujeres Latinas en Accion mujereslatinasenaccion.org. They received a Local Reporting Award from Community News Matters, a program of The Chicago Community Trust.

Tatiana Mendez

Christmas Eve morning 2009, Giovanna Mendez received the phone call no parent should ever receive. Repeated unanswered calls made from her daughter Tatiana’s cell phone and one missed call from the police department caused Giovanna to panic. When the police arrived to Giovanna’s home, she learned her only daughter hanged herself in the middle of the night.

“You would never know she had depression. She’d keep things to herself,” Giovanna explained. “She had a lot of dreams; she was a good daughter.”

Tatiana, 20, was smart, determined and focused. She was in a romantic relationship her parents found troubling. After moving out with her boyfriend, she moved home for a time but then went back to him.

Tatiana left a suicide note apologizing to her family and asking that they take care of her niece, whom she adored.

Tatiana’s death is only part of a growing national crisis: 11 percent of young Latinas ages 13-21 across nationwide admitted a suicide attempt according to a report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The disparities between Latina teens attempting suicide and their peers is startling: the CDC reported in 2009 that nearly 15 percent of Latina teens surveyed had attempted suicide the year before compared to 10 percent of all high school girls.

The idea of Latina teen suicide is perplexing to many because Latino families are known for their close ties and cohesiveness, two known deterrents of teen suicide. But suicide attempts by Latina teens are increasing.

However, the number of Latinas who die by suicide is very small said Samantha Gray, epidemiologist with Cook County Department of Public Health. Gray notes there were fewer than five suicides among Latinas aged 13 to 19 since 2000 in suburban Cook County. But one in six Latina teens have considered attempting suicide, according to the Youth Risk Behavior Survey for Suburban Cook County in 2010. The survey was completed by 1,718 students in 20 public high schools during the fall of 2010.

Bi-Cultural Effect

What is happening to these young women? Some experts point to the culture shock experienced from immigrant Latina teens trying to fit in. There is a disconnect between some immigrant mothers and their U.S. born daughters on how to adapt to American culture while still retaining root cultural values, experts said.

While it is often not just a singular issue that may be troubling teens, the struggle over ethnic identity can be particularly challenging for Latina teens, said Dr. Virginia Quiñonez, faculty chair of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology.

“There’s a conflict between ‘I want to be independent and I want to be interdependent; I want to feel comfortable in the safety by my family,’” Quiñonez said. “And that is not supported in their peer groups.”

Latinas face the pull to be close to family and strike out on their own, Quiñonez said.

“What it means to be a woman in this country may be different than what they bring as Latinas,” Quiñonez said. “If one parent or both are not available, it makes it that much more of a critical issue.”

Cultural Stigma

Other experts cite a taboo against counseling in immigrant Latino communities is preventing many troubled teens and stressed parents from getting the help they need.

For many teens, it is comfortable to talk about mental health issues but not with their parents, said Mayra Chacon, coordinator of Latino Mental Health Providers Network, which offers support to area mental health providers.

Chacon ran focus groups with teenagers and young adults 14-21 to discuss their thoughts about the mental health system.

“A girl who recently attempted suicide said, ‘Even when I was in the bed and the hospital and I was trying to explain to my mom and dad why, they would not listen,’ ” Chacon said.

The stigma in Latino culture against therapy runs deeps, Chacon said.

“[Teens have] heard it at home from their family, ‘You’re going to a counselor? Estás loco.’ Kids born and raised here in Chicago, but what they heard from their parents impacted them,” Chacon said.

Surviving a Suicide

There is no simple explanation for why her daughter committed suicide.

“They look like they don’t have problems at all,” Giovanna said wiping her tears. “It’s hard to see those signs especially when that person is smiling and not complaining.”

Giovanna’s faith in God has carried her through such a devastating loss.

“I gave myself to God. I was going to church every single day,” Giovanna said tearfully.

Giovanna also started attending support groups for survivors of suicide.

“It’s what keeps me strong; I have met beautiful, wonderful people who have given so much support,” Giovanna said. “But I’ve met a lot of women who don’t want to go through that [counseling]. They don’t go on with their lives.”

Photos of Tatiana, a beautiful young woman with long, brown hair and constant smile, are scattered all over their living room.

“I know that through talking [about her], I feel closer to her,” Giovanna said solemnly. “I just pray every day for her. I light a candle for her every day.”

This story was reported by Latina-Voices.com in partnership with Mujeres Latinas en Accion mujereslatinasenaccion.org. They received a Local Reporting Award from Community News Matters, a program of The Chicago Community Trust. This article also was published at Extra bilingual newspaper.

Christiane "Cyborg" Santos

Both tough in the ring and during interviews this 25-year-old Latina is currently ranked by the Unified Women’s MMA Rankings as the #1 female fighter of the world.  Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos, born in Curibita, Brazil was discovered during one of her handball matches while still in high-school.  She was invited to a trial Muay Tai class and according to her translator, “is where fell in love.”

After falling in love, she began to train at Chute Boxe gym and was introduced to mixed martial arts.  Just four months after joining, Santos competed in her first MMA match and decided that “this was what she wanted to do.” Since then, Santos has won three World MMA Awards including the title of Strikeforce Women’s Middleweight Champion in 2009.

When Latina Voices was finally able conduct  a phone interview with Santos, the first words out of her translator’s mouth were, “Let’s get started…we have ten interviews lined up and we can only give you 10 minutes.” Ding! The pressure was on.  Using my speed against her excellent striking and aggressive nature, I threw as many questions as I could within my given time frame.

Q: Which fighter-man or woman- do you look up to?

A: Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko; he is a Russian Heavyweight mixed martial artist.

Q: At what age did you decide that fighting is what you wanted to do and why?

A: “She decided at the age of 19 that this is what he wanted to do,” her translator replied.  ”Cristiane was always competitive and aggressive,” her translator explained.  “Because fighting is an individual sport and she likes to rely on herself she felt that this was right for her.”

Q: You have chosen a non-traditional career especially within the Latin community, how did your family feel about this?

A: “Cristane did not tell her family that she started fighting until she started making money… her mother didn’t even believe that handball was something that her daughter could make any money in.  She started supporting her when she realized that her daughter was made for fighting.”

With a near perfect record, her only loss against Erica Paes in 2005; Santos has proven that fighting is for her. Although she could not confirm when her next fight was during the time of our interview she did tell us that she plans to continue to be heavily involved and get more women into fighting.

Talks about Cristiane becoming a part of the Word Wrestling Entertainment have been rumored but nothing has been confirmed. Santos is still under contract with Strikeforce and is currently residing in California with husband Evangelista Santos who also happens to be an MMA fighter.

Natalia Avilez is a writer based in Chicago.

If you’ve been working out to slim down and win the heart of some galán, then you’ve been doing it for the wrong reasons. If you are the kind of girl that needs a goal to hit the gym or the yoga mat, then working out to get yourself in shape for your own heart is the best of all reasons.

Don’t believe me? Let’s ask an expert.

On top of being an expert in cardiovascular health,

Dr. Cristina Rabadán-Diehl

Dr.-Cristina-Rabadán-DiehlT.jpg, Ph.D., M.P.H. is also the deputy director of the Office of Global Health for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) at the National Institutes of Health. As a spokesperson for The Heart Truth, a campaign to raise awareness for women about heart disease,  she has to wake us up with some scary statistics. The first of which is that while many women think breast cancer is the biggest risk to women’s health “almost eight times more women die of heart disease than breast cancer.”

As you’re reading this article, you may be thinking to yourself that you’re too young to worry about heart disease or that it’s something that affects more men than women. According to Dr. Rabadán-Diehl, the notion that heart disease is a bigger problem for men is a myth that most likely arose because studies on heart disease were done primarily in men earlier. But for women, she assures us, the risk factors are the same. As for being too young, Dr. Rabadán-Diehl reports that 35 percent of U.S. women on the whole ages 20 and over are obese.

The prevalence of risk factors increases if you are a young Latina.

Current statistics focus on Mexican-American women, but the NHLBI is currently conducting an in depth study of heart disease risks of Latinos in the U.S. which focuses on the role of cultural adaptation and encompasses various nationalities. Still, the statistics for Mexican-American women are shocking.

According to Dr. Rabadán-Diehl among Mexican-American women ages 20 and older, 75 percent are overweight, 25 percent have hypertension, 45 percent have high cholesterol, and 13 percent have diabetes. Furthermore, among Hispanic women, 52 percent are physically inactive. All of these are factors that signal an increased risk of heart disease, she said.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that heart disease can be avoided. The Heart Truth campaign is in essence an empowerment campaign for women.

“We often put ourselves at the bottom of our priority list. We have to realize our health is very important and heart disease can be prevented,” says Dr. Rabadán-Diehl.

Her major recommendations for decreasing your risk of heart disease are a balanced diet and an increase in the level of activity. At minimum, she suggests getting off the bus stop earlier or parking your car further so that you walk more.

With regards to nutrition, Dr. Rabadán-Diehl realizes that the recession may be limiting access to fresh fruits and vegetables. She suggests frozen alternatives that are healthier than canned and encourages us to look at saturated fats and salt contents. Furthermore, she assures us that the idea that fast food restaurants are cheaper than a grocery store is a misconception. For heart healthy meals, she urges a decrease in the consumption of pre-prepared meals because they have a lot of preservatives and are high in fats.

Maybe you’re thinking that all of the above is great advice, but you just don’t have the time to take these steps. That is not uncommon. Dr. Rabadán-Diehl says that one-third of women still underestimate the threat of heart disease and cite barriers like “family demands, caregiving, not enough money, and lack of insurance.”

All things considered, NOT taking care of yourself and ending up sick will be worse for you and your family in the long run, she said. To this effect, Dr. Rabadán-Diehl points out that taking care of our health is “the way we can ensure that we can be there” for our loved ones.

If you still find that it’s difficult to motivate yourself to improve your health, perhaps you can use the caretaking, family oriented nature that’s often built into our Latina psyches to your heart healthy advantage. Raising awareness of heart disease can become a family event, including motivating one another to prepare healthier meals and exercise regularly.

For the little ones, Dr. Rabadán-Diehl says that it is important to “start prevention from childhood.” And if your old school relatives are reluctant to give up their culturally rich and fatty foods like chicharrones, don’t despair. Dr. Rabadán-Diehl suggests that you “don’t dismiss their heritage. Enrich their knowledge instead.” You can download Spanish language pamphlets about heart disease from the NHLBI website.

But don’t go overboard stressing out about your health either—stress is one of the contributing factors that increase your risks of heart disease. It is important to attempt to reduce your overall stress level, but if you can’t eliminate all stress factors, you can try to work on how you perceive and internalize those stresses. Dr. Rabadán-Diehl recommends finding ways and time to unwind. Why not take a relaxing (and hearth healthy) walk to relax?

But what if you or a loved one have already developed heart disease? Dr. Rabadán-Diehl emphasizes the importance of keeping in close communication with your healthcare physicians and maintaining the same health patterns prescribed for preventing heart disease. She also points out the importance of continuing to take medication given to control risk factors even if you start to feel better.

If side effects resulting from medication are difficult to deal with, she reminds us that it is important for you and your provider to discuss problems to find alternative health solutions.

As a last piece of wisdom, Dr. Rabadán-Diehl reminds us that “every woman must take her risk for heart disease very personally and very seriously.”

Empowering yourself and your loved ones to recognize the importance of cardiac health starts with becoming aware of your risk factors and how to eliminate them. It’s your job to make sure that you take advice about cardiac health to heart.

Jennifer Patiño is a writer based in Chicago.

Patricia Neri, wife and mother of three children, said high property taxes forced her family to move from the east end of Pilsen in Chicago to a suburb, Berwyn, about five years ago. She said they could not afford to live in a small apartment and pay over $1,000 for rent with her income being approximately $11,000 a year and her husband made a little more as a truck driver. Her rent was $750 plus bills and it was going to be raised to $1200 or $1300 plus bills, Neri said.

Since 2000 the south expansion of the University of Illinois at Chicago has caused property tax increases and along with that the displacement of long-term Pilsen residents who have been replaced by new more affluent residents, community residents and activists charged. Property tax increases go hand in hand with the rise of property value and ultimately higher rent amounts get passed on to renters, they said.

“Maybe you can find something economical but they are not pleasant places to live in. They are usually apartments located on the backside of buildings, third floors, or basements that are too cold and humid or that may get flooded,” Neri said.

Neri said she is happy living in Berwyn but misses Pilsen’s friendly environment. “Here in Berwyn you know your neighbor because you go outside to heat up your car and your neighbor does the same. Sometimes they say good morning sometimes they don’t. Whereas, Pilsen is a bit warmer, you know your neighbors more and often times you may see someone walking by or sweeping their sidewalk that says hi to you,” she said.

Pilsen is a predominately Hispanic neighborhood located approximately three miles southwest of the Loop, or downtown Chicago. It has a total population of 92,472 residents of which 57,999 are Hispanic, according to the 2000 Census. The neighborhood has architecture comprised mostly of three- to four-flat buildings with the majority of its structures built in the 1930’s.  There are 7,717 property owners and 17,164 renters in Pilsen, according to the 2000 Census.

Neri said she went to a non-profit organization in Pilsen, which she preferred not to name, to obtain information to see if she qualified for rental assistance or an affordable unit but she said she didn’t qualify because her income was too low. After that Neri was determined to move away from Pilsen and did not seek the help of other non-profit organizations.

Pilsen Alliance’s executive director Alejandra Ibanez said the “majority of non-profit developers, community development corporations, use Federal HUD guidelines of affordability, which are not based on the local [Pilsen neighborhood] median income but typically on citywide, countywide or even regional median incomes.” She said Pilsen has a median income much lower than Chicago’s median income. Therefore, many Pilsen residents don’t make enough to afford even those supposedly affordable units. The median income of Pilsen residents is $28,026, and Chicago’s is $38,625, according to the 2000 Census.

Pilsen Alliance, a non-profit organization, at 1831 S. Racine Ave. was established in 1998 after community leaders, residents, and organizations came together to establish a plan to preserve the Pilsen community after the university expanded southward and the city created the Pilsen Industrial Tax increment Financing District (TIF), according to the organization’s history.

But even though Neri and her family were affected by the property tax increases she says there are pros and cons to raising property taxes.

“I think on one hand it’s good that rents were raised because that way people look for better jobs to afford to pay for all those things [expenses that arise from increased property taxes]” while at the same time their socioeconomic status may change because they get better jobs and live in a better neighborhood, she said.

But on the other hand, she said, there are many people who work in factories who may not be able to get better jobs and they are not going to get paid more because they live in Pilsen.

Winifred Curran, a geography professor at DePaul University, said Pilsen Alliance asked for research consisting of a building inventory project that her geography students completed in Pilsen. The project consisted of information on building permits, property taxes, assessed values, property sales and ownership.

According to “The Pilsen Inventory Project” by Winifred Curran and Euan Hague with data collected from fall 2004 to spring 2006, in Pilsen 43 percent of properties experienced a 25 to 49 percent increase in assessed value, 23 percent experienced a 50 to 74 percent increase in assessed value, and 24 properties experienced an increase of more than 125 percent in assessed value.

In an effort to stop gentrification, in 2006 a down zoning referendum, lead by Pilsen Alliance, that limits the height or number of units in a development was passed in Pilsen with 75 percent of vote approval but Ald. Daniel Solis (25^th) didn’t enact the measure.

Down zoning could limit development because developers would be restricted to building condos or buildings of a certain height, consequently preventing rapid development and further gentrification.

Stephen Stults, legislative assistant to Ald. Daniel Solis (25^th), explained that the alderman didn’t enact the measure because by down zoning because “you may be in the position to affect someone’s market value. The one [a property] with higher density zoning would have a higher market value than the one with the down zoning.”

“Many residents felt it was a lost cause,” Ibanez said.

The battle against further development and gentrification has been fought with little or no support from the alderman, they said.

“It wasn’t Danny Solis. It wasn’t him. It was the community that stopped the expansion [UIC’s south expansion],” said Alfredo Hernandez a former Pilsen resident who lived there for about 20 years and moved a few years ago after getting married.

“We couldn’t compete with their [developers] money, resources and political connections,” Ibanez said, noting the fight was spiritually and physically exhausting.

But Pilsen Alliance didn’t give up on their mission to fight against gentrification. Ibanez said they realized they needed to take a different approach and explained that’s why her group is creating a curriculum to teach people why there is gentrification and globalization. “We can’t go after every single developer who is greedy [or] we are going to burn ourselves down, so we are focusing on educating people,” she said.

Kristine Menas from Ald. Daniel Solis’s office said in an email response the “variety of size and type of housing in neighborhoods provides for a healthy mix of residents. This allows for low-income, moderate-income to higher-income families to live in proximity to one another. Studies have shown that isolating low-income residents has proven to be a failed strategy for relieving poverty.”

Menas defended the alderman.

“Alderman Solis is a proponent of preservation- maintaining a neighborhood’s historic fabric as well as cultural history. He doesn’t want to see one economic level is displaced by another,” she added.

Professor Curran said there will be further gentrification in Pilsen but it’s “paused” now because of the depressed housing market. She said the current market enables real estate to “scoop” buy property for a lower price and hold on to it until the economy is in better shape and sell the property for more money later.

Neri said she doesn’t regret moving from Pilsen.

“Pilsen does look cleaner and more peaceful now but at the same time it’s a hard situation for some people because they need two or three jobs so they can afford to pay for things,” she said.

Popo and Ixta

In Mexican folklore, Aztec icons Popcapetl and Princess Ixtaccihuatl are remnants of a culture destroyed by Spanish conquistadors during the early 16th century.

According to legend, Popo wanted to marry the princess but first have to prove himself a warrior.  He returns triumphant but only to find that his love, believing he died in battle, has killed herself.  Popo takes her limp body to the highest mountain in hopes that the show would revive her, but she never awakens.  The two remain frozen silhouettes on two snow-covered mountains in Mexico.

Artist Jesus Helguera’s painting of this image was reproduced in a series of calendars in 1940.  Now this iconic scene is as ubiquitous in Mexican-American homes all over the United States as crucifixes and figures of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

But for Chicagoland photographer Robert C. Buitrón, they became an opportunity to speak to larger issues of identity and political disfranchisement.  Buitrón, 57, created his own series of calendars from 1990-1992 turning the image on its head.

Ixta Ponders Leverage Buyout

In his series, The Legend of Ixta and Popo, Buitrón places the Aztecs in modern-day scenes.  His art takes a satirical tone addressing cultural and political issues.

“I identify as Chicano; I grew up with these calendars,” explained Buitrón.  “I wanted to contemporize it and address issues Chicanos are experiencing.”

While he says the series was well-received overall, not everyone understood his message.

“The National Museum of Mexican Art (in Chicago) didn’t care for the calendar; the bookstore didn’t want to carry it,” said Buitrón, pausing to ponder.  “My interpretation was that it didn’t fit with constituents in Chicago; many of the people in the community might have just crossed the border and might find it offensive.”

Displacement, invisibility and assimilation are all parts of the Mexican migration story that remains buried for some.  Instead of  filing away this painful part of our history, Buitrón uses it to convey larger messages about who Mexican-Americans are and where we are going.

“One thing I encountered is that you have to be informed about U.S.-Mexican history, Chicano history,” stressed Buitrón.  “I wanted to treat it in a humorous way like [Stephen0 Colbert and [Jon] Stewart are doing—making a point in a different way.”

Malinche y Pocahontas

Deeply entrenched in the Chicano political movement in Arizona during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, he spent his childhood a world away in East Chicago, IN.  Buitrón moved to Arizona when he was 18 and called the western state his home for more than 20 years.  It was in Arizona where he developed as an artist.

“I loved it,” Buitrón  said.  “I never saw a cactus, except in movies.”

Photography wasn’t his first love, however.  He was a musician first and only unexpectedly gravitated toward visual art.

“The reason I got into photography is because I wanted to become a tourist.  That had a lot to do with my family traveling to Texas and Mexico,” explained Buitrón.  “We’d pull over to the designated scenic area, and I saw all of these people with these big, giant lenses.  They looked like they were doing important things.”

At age 12, he won his first Instamatic camera as a newspaper delivery boy.  Buitrón admits his skills needed work.

“I was really lousy at it,” Buitrón said.  “I had a camera that didn’t have a functioning light meter; I didn’t understand exposure concepts.”

Identity Surfing

His skills improved, and he earned his bachelor’s degree in fine arts photograph at Arizona State University in 1980 and a master’s in fine arts at the University of Illinois-Chicago in 1996.  Buitrón has been an exhibition curator and currently teaches photography at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn and Chicago State University.

Admiring the work of Ansel Adams and Edward Weston, Buitrón humbly describes himself as competent but determined to do his best work.  That work closely examines issues of Mexican-American cultural identity, gender identity and racial discrimination.

Pancho Asks Tonto If He's mas indio que espanol

In Pancho Asks Tonto If He’s Mas Indio Que Espanol, Buitrón tackles an issue of prejudice hidden deep with Mexican-American psyches.

“In terms of internal prejudices; my own personal experience encountering discrimination did influence what came out in these pictures.”

Buitrón draws parallels between the racial segregation of African-Americans and that of Mexican-Americans.

“We weren’t slaves, but we were discriminated against,” Buitrón said.  “We had separate water fountains, and that part of history is not acknowledged.

Los Angeles-based artist Henry Gamboa Jr. met Buitrón in 1983 in Phoenix during his time with the MARS Gallery, an alternative art space.

“Robert’s impressive photography,” Gamboa Jr. explained, “Utilizes social satire and commentary as it incorporates documentary works to create a vision that strengthens the Latino community’s view of its relationship to others.

Fellow photographer and curator Celia Alvarez Muñoz notes that Buitrón’s work can make people laugh, think and questions ideas that we, especially as Mexican-Americans, have been taught to accept.

“No words are necessary in his photographs,” said Alvarez Muñoz.  “I know Robert’s work paved the way to/for the bolder and more absurdly political artistic statements of succeeding Chicano/Mexicano performance artists and photographers.”

Buitrón’s work is not something to be merely glimpsed or quickly scanned, Alvarez Muñoz said, it needs to be absorbed to be fully understood.

Ixta Dates a Nazi Skinhead

“You have to look at his images, individually and collectively, very carefully for he packs a wallop!” Alvarez Muñoz enthusiastically explained.

Buitrón’s latest project came to him while caring for his in-laws who are suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.  He had to take time away from other projects to focus on what he describes as a “challenging” and “enlightening” experience.

He decided to photograph his in-laws.  He doesn’t know what the photos will end up being nor whether his own emotions and struggles will become a part of the series.

“When you want to do something you’re passionate about and have less time to devote to it, it becomes very frustrating,” Buitrón explained.  “Will my frustration/personal experience become part of the project?  It could reflect my own challenges as well.”

Buitrón doesn’t want to take himself too seriously and sees satire as the most effective way to get the point across.

“Humor is the highest form of communicating,” Buitrón said.  “It’s a teachable moment, an enlightening moment without hitting someone over the head with a hammer.”

A special thanks goes to the West Chicago City Museum and Curator Sally DeFauw for helping to make this feature story possible.

Angelica Jimenez earned her Master’s degree in Journalism from Columbia College in December 2010.  She continues to be a freelance writer and is on the staff of a Chicago-based advocacy coalition.