Comments on: Mujeres

By: Rich Yanez

Rich Yanez — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 04:56:33 +0000

Otras! Inspiring books by Mujeres!
IN AN ANGRY SEASON by Lisa Chavez
THE DEVIL’S WORKSHOP by Demetria Martinez
HOW LONG SHE’LL LAST IN THIS WORLD by Maria Melendez
AQUA SANTA by Pat Mora
THE KEEPSAKE STORM by Gina Franco
THIS SIDE OF SKIN by Deborah Paredez
… y todavia mas y mas…

By: Rich Villar

Rich Villar — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 01:52:39 +0000

Vaya Rigoberto, and Barbara. I echo your sentiments here…and I’ll point out that while I have a LOT of fun in various Latino echo chambers here and elsewhere, I certainly didn’t mean to drown out the point of Emily’s post.
I turn to the Nuyorican voice a lot while I ponder my own poetic project…with the full knowledge that the original Nuyorican Poetry anthology (1975) had a grand total of six women in it; and that our very own Julia de Burgos was buried in a potters’ field. That shames me as a Puerto Rican poet, and it’s a legacy that needs to be examined and remedied. (de Burgos’ work in SONG OF THE SIMPLE TRUTH, edited by Jack Agueros, goes a long way to do that.)
I’m glad that Cashman’s 1999 essay on bilingualism centered on LATINA narrative. And Lisa Sanchez-Gonzalez’ book, BORICUA LITERATURE, points out that the first/original feminist and (somewhat) modernist Boricua writer was Luisa Capetillo. And here’s to more critical studies on Sandra Maria Esteves, Nicholasa Mohr, Magdalena Gomez. And to all the research and reading yet to come.

By: oscar

oscar — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 01:20:08 +0000

rigoberto,
thank you for keeping the conversation moving forward and for examining the issue at hand from a variety of angles.

By: Sheryl

Sheryl — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 20:14:49 +0000

Excuse the fragment sentence. I meant so many talented Chicanas/Latinas are writing and in a sense the frustration I myself have felt at a sense of marginalization is silenced.

By: Sheryl

Sheryl — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 20:02:00 +0000

Rigoberto!
What a terrific post. So many talented Chicanas/Latinas are writing and in a sense the frustration I myself have felt at a sense of marginalization. I appreciate greatly your desire to listen to the voices of women and that is a crucial step. I appreciate your shout outs of Latinas like the one you did about Brenda Cardenas earlier.
I think sometimes excessive self-promoting Latinos who mean well drown out a lot of poets, many of them women who are less visible, with less cash and less time on their hands. And this is why I appreciate your steadfast support of Latina poets.

By: barbara jane

barbara jane — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 19:35:53 +0000

Rigoberto, Thanks for this post, for bringing up the fact that race and gender are not mutually exclusive categories, Those of us who are women and of color are kind of falling through the cracks or being largely ignored or rendered invisible, precisely because folks can’t perceive of this “third” category, and/or have no place for us on their literary road maps.
As I type this I think of how even using the term “third” is problematic.

By: Reb Livingston

Reb Livingston — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 16:25:21 +0000

“I do know the following: that when I speak up politically, my arguments, complex as they may be, are reduced to “he’s accusing us of racism.” I already see the same thing happening here: a woman speaks up and “she’s accusing us of sexism.” How facile a tactic to not listen, not to examine the issues as closely as they’re being examined by those who point out the issues in the first place.”
Very true. Quite difficult to have a discussion with someone whose response consists only of personal defense. What exactly is being protected by dismissing these kinds of arguments from the get-go?