Every Day is Magic: Ada Limón

In her 2015 collection, Bright Dead Things, a National Book Award finalist for poetry, Ada Limón writes of moving to Kentucky: “Confession: I did not want to live here.” It’s perhaps not a surprising sentiment coming from a coastally oriented person who was raised in Northern California, attended college in Seattle, and then spent over a decade in New York City.

 

But Limón and her husband, Lucas, have been in Lexington for seven years now and the effects of settling into this place are noticeable in her new book, The Carrying (Milkweed, Aug.). It’s a phenomenally lively and attentive collection replete with the trappings of living a little closer to nature. While Bright Dead Things is marked by a preponderance of light, such as images of fireflies and neon signs, The Carrying features numerous appearances by various trees, birds, and beetles. Limón also demonstrates a greater willingness to be explicit in naming colors, particularly green. “It’s crazy green, the whole book,” she says. “Lexington is the greenest place I’ve ever lived.” Similarly, where in Bright Dead Things, Limón tells a lot of stories and anecdotes, in The Carrying she is very present in her thoughts and experiences.

As it turns out, these shifts in focus have another, altogether unexpected source. While putting Bright Dead Things together, Limón was diagnosed with chronic vestibular neuronitis, which can cause bouts of vertigo. “If I’m really having vertigo, it’s pretty intense and I really have to focus,”
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Psychology

Spirituality and Resilience Among Mexican American IPV Survivors

A Iván, T Barnett-Queen, M Messick, M Gurrola – Journal of interpersonal violence, 2015
… Spirituality and Resilience Among Mexican American IPV Survivors. … This study examined the
correlation between spirituality, resilience, and intimate partner violence using a cross-sectional
survey of 54 Mexican American women living along the US–Mexico border. …
Link to abstract

Tejanos in College: How Texas Born Mexican-American Students Navigate Ethnoracial Identity i al I de n t it y

… often called it a tostada. Another way that I felt different from my Mexican-American Page 14.
4 … My Tejano identity formation was as a young professional who had the opportunity to reflect …
My conversations had all been with graduate students and professionals. Page 15. 5 …
Link to dissertation

Machismo in The United States

The word Latino will be used in this paper because of its inclusivity. It has
been used in the United States by people of Hispanic and Latin decent as a means
of legitimacy in politics, humanities and literature. To avoid any uncertainty, Latino,
according to the Royal Academy of Spanish Language, is used to reference both
males and females (Torres-Rivera 26). In the United States, Latinos are younger
than the general population on average. About 60% of the US population is 39 years
or younger, while over ¾ of the Latino population falls in this quotient. 21% of Latino
homes fall below the poverty line. Almost 15% of all those jailed in the United States
are Latino and 23% of these are drug related (27). Therefore, it is highly probable
that any counselor or clinician working with Latino clients will encounter addiction
and substance use or abuse…
Link to preview

Mexican American Children and Families: Multidisciplinary Perspectives

MOB Caughy, L Franzini – Mexican American Children and Families: …, 2014
… Policy makers and public health professionals must recognize the heterogeneity within and among …
Selected measures of health status for Mexican-American, mainland Puerto Rican, and Cuban …
Child Maltreatment: Journal of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of …
Link to preview of book

Images of Latinos in U.S. culture to be examined in 1-night lecture, exhibit at UT El Paso

The UTEP Department of Communication and the Chicano Studies program presents a lecture and exhibit by Dr. William Anthony Nericcio that examines American visual culture reflecting images and stereotypes of Latinas/os. The event, Mextasy: Seductive Hallucinations of Latina/o Mannequins Prowling the American Unconscious , will be at 5:30 pm, Wednesday, Oct. 15 in Quinn Hall Room 212 at the University of Texas at El Paso.
Mextasy is a traveling art…
Link to article

Unraveling the Yarn: Self-Reflection, Critical Incidents, and Missteps Leading to Continued Growth as a Culturally Sensitive Art Educator

Teacher reflection has been shown to have a positive influence on educators’ professional growth. This article features the author’s autobiographical reflection on his eight years working at an elementary school within a predominantly migrant Mexican AmerTeacher reflection has been shown to have a positive influence on educators’ professional growth. This article features the author’s autobiographical reflection on his eight years working at an elementary school within a predominantly migrant Mexican American community, with specific attention paid to his mistakes while implementing a lesson on the indigenous Huichol culture of Mexico. Through the author’s critical self-reflection, a number of common missteps in multicultural instruction are discussed, including the selection of lessons that call for shallow reproductions of cultural artifacts, the error of false assumptions of cultural homogeneity, and the culturally-insensitive practiceican community, with specific attention paid to his mistakes while implementing a lesson on the indigenous Huichol culture of Mexico. Through the author’s critical self-reflection, a number of common missteps in multicultural instruction are discussed, including the selection of lessons that call for shallow reproductions of cultural artifacts, the error of false assumptions of cultural homogeneity, and the culturally-insensitive practice…
Link to abstract and PDF copy

Mexican-American Boys’ Positive Outcomes and Resilience: Importance of Social Support and Individual Attributes

LA Chapin – Journal of Child and Family Studies
… Published online: 27 May 2014. Abstract. Qualitative interviews with 12 Mexican-American
adolescent boys and two adult professionals contributed to … 1. How do Mexican-American boys
define positive outcomes? … Vito. 18. Grad. Mechanical engineer and professional boxer. …
Link to article

Curanderismo: A Complementary and Alternative Approach to Mexican American Health Psychology

JN Valdez – Multicultural Approaches to Health and Wellness in …, 2014
… On the other hand, these views of curanderos as professional medical providers move on … uses
herbs to help others”(9). Comparisons to biomedical professionals or common … However, to
accurately define Mexican/Mexican American curanderas/os, the range of curanderismo’s …
Link to chapter

Health of Elderly Mexican American Adults and Family Caregiver Distress

Using newly available data on family caregivers from a large epidemiological study of elderly Mexican-origin adults (Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly [HEPESE], 2010/2011), we identify which types of impairment (functional, psychological, and cognitive) in the elderly individual are associated with family caregiver depressive symptoms. Results from ordinary least squares regressions using 626 caregiver–care recipient dyads demonstrate…
Link to abstract

Experiences with Violence in Mexican American and European American High School Dating Relationships

Violence in adolescent dating relationships has become increasingly normative in the United States, with the severity of the consequences increasing into adulthood. Minority youths are at an increased risk for experiencing moderate to severe forms of physical dating violence, yet they are less likely to seek professional services. This comparative study of Mexican American (MA) and European American (EA) youths…
Link to abstract

Ruben Salazar questioned his own Chicano identity

By Zita Arocha

During a television interview shortly before newsman Ruben Salazar was killed by cops during a 1970 Chicano Anti-War march in Los Angeles, the now legendary Mexican-American journalist asked: “Why do I always have to apologize to Americans for Mexicans and to Mexicans for Americans?”
Link to article

Gender across family generations: change in Mexican American masculinities and femininities

How do conceptions of gender – attitudes, expectations, and behaviours – change from generation to generation in Mexican American families? The notion of gender as socially constructed allows for the possibility of change, yet existing studies documenting change provide insight into why gender changes occur but…
Link to abstract

The Formation of Identity in High-Achieving, Mexican- American Professional Women

Esmeralda de los Santos
University of the Incarnate Word
Abstract: This study examines how ten, high-achieving, professional Mexican-American
women negotiate the Mexican-American and Anglo cultures and identifies what impact this negotiation
has on their sense of identity. The women’s early socialization determines whether they
acculturate to the dominant culture; irritate it; adapt to it; or reject it.
Link to paper

Early Childrearing Practices and Their Relationship to Academic Performance in Mexican American Children

Arevalo, Amanda PT, DSc, PCS; Kolobe, Thubi H.A. PT, PhD, FAPTA; Arnold, Sandra PT, PhD; DeGrace, Beth PhD, OTR/L
Purpose:
To examine whether parenting behaviors and child rearing practices in the first 3 years of life among Mexican American (MA) families predict children’s academic performance at school age
Link to abstract

Academic Invulnerability Among Mexican-American Students: The Importance of Protective Resources and Appraisals

Sylvia Alatorre Alva
California State University, Fullerton

This study examined the characteristics of a cohort of Mexican-American tenth-grade students to determine why some Mexican-American students are academically successful and others are not, despite sharing a similar sociocultural background. Based on current work on invulnerable children, the purpose of this study was to examine the role of protective…
Link to abstract

Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists

MAES was founded in Los Angeles in 1974 to increase the number of Mexican Americans and other Hispanics in the technical and scientific fields.

The idea to establish a professional society for Mexican American engineers originated with Robert Von Hatten, an aerospace electronics engineer with TRW Defense Space Systems in Redondo Beach, California. Mr. Von Hatten had for several years served as volunteer for programs directed at combating the alarming number of high school dropouts. He envisioned a national organization that would serve as a source for role models, address of the needs of its members, and become a resource for industry
Link to article


  

Poem
“…And would it have been worth it, after all,
Would it have been worth while,
After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor—
And this, and so much more?—
It is impossible to say just what I mean!
But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen:
Would it have been worth while…”

T.S. Eliot
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Mexican American Proarchive Annual Report for 2022

The American Community Survey is an annual survey administered by the federal government to help local officials and community leaders and businesses understand the changes that take place in their communities. It includes percentages of our population’s graduate school attainment and the employment of Mexican Americans in various occupations.  These important factors influence the allocation of federal resources. Mexican American Proarchives uses the data provided by the American Community Survey to better understand how Mexican Americans compare to the general population.

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