BY CURTIS MAREZProfessor of ethnic studies at the University of California, San Diego Even before Donald Trump promised to build one, U.S. popular culture was preoccupied with walls—most famously the Wall in Game of Thrones that protects the Seven Kingdoms from the wildlings. Contemporary depictions of zombies are set amid fences and fortifications that recall … More Of walls and robots: The future of immigration
Lance Wyman, designer, Mexico ’68 logo, 1968 BY LUIS M. CASTAÑEDAAssistant professor of art history at Syracuse University A recent analysis of financial data provided by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) attempted to quantify how much the Olympic brand is worth today. The analysis, in many ways a problematic one, found it to be worth … More The continuing influence of the Mexico ’68 Olympics brand
View of Gamboa de Baixo, a neighborhood in the Brazilian city of Salvador, Bahia, which is known for its Afro-Brazilian culture and street carnival. It is also known as Brazil’s “capital of happiness.” BY KEISHA-KHAN Y. PERRYAssistant professor of Africana studies at Brown University Gamboa de Baixo is a neighborhoodin the northeastern Brazilian cityof Salvador, … More “People are born here and only leave here when they die": On forced land eviction in Salvador, Brazil.
… and other forms of racial capitalism in Breaking Bad, by Drug Wars author Curtis Marez writing for Critical Inquiry. In preparation for his showdown with Tuco and his posse, Walter shaves his head, making him resemble the Latino gangsters he confronts . . . For the remainder of the series Walter’s shaved head, combined … More On the significance of Walter White’s shaved head
Shona Jackson is the author of Creole Indigeneity, an investigation of how colonial descendants of colonial Guyana, collectively called Creoles, have remade themselves as Guyana’s new natives, displacing indigenous peoples in the Caribbean through an extension of colonial attitudes and policies. Here, Jackson reveals her personal connection to the content. Guyana, where Jackson was born. … More Shona Jackson: Belonging and Native Caribbean Identity
Courtyard of the Pan American Union, Washington, DC, 1943. Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, FSA-OWI Collection (LC-USW36-734). Photograph by John Collier. Among the buildings on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., only the Pan American Union (PAU) houses an international organization. The first of many anticipated “peace palaces”constructed in the early twentieth century, … More Archival analysis and cold war Pan Americanism
Sometimes the act of not listening can chart new territories for Chicano borderlands music. BY DEBORAH VARGASAssociate professor of ethnic studies at the University of California, Riverside The recent unexpected passing of singer Jenni Rivera—born Jenny Dolores Rivera Saavedra in 1969 in Long Beach, California—once again placed the spotlight on histories and experiences of Mexican-American … More Selena, Jenni Rivera, Eva Garza—meditations on an author’s soundtrack.
We are happy to report that UMP’s A Ver Series has taken both first and second place in the Best Arts Book category at the 12th annual International Latino Book Awards. María Brito, by Juan A. Martínez, received first place and was designated a “Triple Crown Winner” — which means it was a unanimous vote … More A Ver Series gets top honors at International Latino Book Awards
Professor, author and “ecofashionista” Regina Root has not only been selected to serve as president ad honorem of Latin America’s largest fashion congress, Ixel Moda. This College of William and Mary professor has also pioneered a new “Ethical Fashion” course that promotes knowledge about fair-trade apparel and discusses topics related to the global fashion industry. … More Ecofashion link round-up: Ethical Fashion Show promotes awareness of what we wear.
Author Regina Root was interviewed this month by Página/12, one of Argentina’s most prominent newspapers, about the ultimate symbol of female independence in postcolonial Argentina: the comb. Root tells the paper: “This accessory, whose popularity lasted nearly two decades, became an emblem. There is no doubt that women with combs were seen as participants in … More In postcolonial Argentina, this fashionable hairstyle had the last word.
