Posts tagged: latina
“Why am I compelled to write?… Because the world I create in the writing compensates for what the real world does not give me. By writing I put order in the world, give it a handle so I can grasp it. I write because life does not appease my appetites and anger… To become more intimate with myself and you. To discover myself, to preserve myself, to make myself, to achieve self-autonomy. To dispell the myths that I am a mad prophet or a poor suffering soul. To convince myself that I am worthy and that what I have to say is not a pile of shit… Finally I write because I’m scared of writing, but I’m more scared of not writing.”
—Gloria Anzaldúa, “Speaking in Tongues: A Letter to Third World Women Writers.”
“In this country, lesbianism is a poverty-as is being brown, as is being a woman, as is being just plain poor. The danger lies in ranking the oppressions. The danger lies in failing to acknowledge the specificity of the oppression. The danger lies in attempting to deal with oppression purely from a theoretical base. Without an emotional, heartfelt grappling with the source of our own oppression, without naming the enemy within ourselves and outside of us, no authentic, non-hierarchical connection among oppressed groups can take place.”
—Cherríe Moraga, “La Güera” in This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color
LUPE ONTIVEROS (1942-2012)
¡Actriz, Activista, Gritona!
Querida Lupe, we thank you for the time you spent with us. We thank you for the gift you shared with us. But above all we thank you for sharing your truth with the world, always speaking truth to power and never shying away from the fact that you were typecast as the Latina/Chicana maid over 150 times! Your bravery and example inspires us.
Didn’t get a chance to see the Queer Latin@ Monologues (cuz I live in TX), but I wanted to share yet another example of Queer Latin@s doing it for ourselves and getting our stories out there in whatever format, vehicle, and medium we can!
This production was a collaboration between DeColores Queer Orange County and Breath of Fire Latina Theater Ensemble. Props to them for doing their thing!
Since 2006, the rate of being diagnosed with AIDS 12 months or less after testing HIV+ is 3 TIMES GREATER FOR LATIN@S COMPARED TO WHITE PEOPLE.
Also since 2006, the death rate for individuals diagnosed with HIV/AIDS is 3 TIMES GREATER FOR LATIN@S COMPARED TO WHITE PEOPLE.
Most folks focus the overall disparities in HIV transmission between white folks and people of color, especially black people and Latin@s. To me, what is even more startling is the relatively short time between when many Latin@s test HIV+ and then receive an AIDS diagnosis. On top of that, the death rate for Latin@s living with HIV/AIDS is 300% higher than whites. This just emphasizes the fact that our communities lack access to both HIV prevention services and health care to manage the virus once transmitted (in general, our communities lack access to health care whether we are talking about HIV/AIDS or not). As of 2008 (since 1986 when data was first collected), over 111,000 Latin@s have died because of HIV/AIDS. We are dying for this and many other reasons. Our lives are of equal value to any other human being, this is an absolute, universal (meta)physical fact; question is: when will folks in power get clue and act in accordance with this fact.
**These facts were gained from the Latino Commission on AIDS
Yesterday the 19th Annual International AIDS Conference started in Washington, D.C. (the first time it is being held in the U.S.). Let’s take a moment and acknowledge the work of some, and so many others, who work in our communities to educate all of us about the truth and reality of HIV/AIDS. Here I would like acknowledge 3 folks in particular:
Pedro Zamora - a cubano who appeared on the 3rd season of Real World (San Francisco); professionally and through the show, Pedro was an HIV/AIDS educator. He passed away from HIV/AIDS complications on November 11, 1994, the day after the final episode of his Real World season aired.
Pedro Julio Serrano - a human rights and HIV/AIDS activist who helped found Puerto Rico para Tod@s.
Andres Duque - a colombiano, who is an HIV/AIDS educator who helped found the Colombian Lesbian and Gay Association (COLEGA) in New York City in 1996. Has a popular blog called Blabbeando.
If you re-blog this, please let us know anyone else we should know about who is working on HIV/AIDS in our communities.
Gloria Anzaldúa (1942-2004)
feminista, escritora, chicana, lesbiana, luchadora, humana compleja (feminist, writer, chicana, lesbian, fighter, complex human).
I miss her. We miss her. Thank you for the vision you shared. Gracias por la visión que compartió con nosotros.
Sometimes dropping out of school is an act of self-love and liberation when all school represents is a place of constant fear, torment, and pain! I’m just saying, things are never as simple and clear cut as they seem.
