A Day Without a Mexican

A Day Without a Mexican exposed many stereotypical and racists positions held by many Americans in our society today. I really appreciated the film in many ways because of the issues that were addressed about our society and our own culture. It is especially important to me that the issues of racism and discrimination are addressed in the ways in which many people relate, movies. This film, although it was a little cheesy in my opinion, gave the most basic understanding of what it is like being a minority in America.

The movie poses the question of what would happen to the United States if all of the Latino/a population vanished or no longer were here. The fact that many important jobs that benefit life for Americans are held by Latin cultured people. The fact that Latino's contribute close to ninety billion dollars and only receives about three billion back in government assistance, shows how important this particular culture is in our society. These are examples in the movie where we really get to see the importance of race relations in the U.S. We realize that many of our ancestors came here to find a better life for themselves. The issue of immigration in our society is a major issue that this film addresses.

The most important part of this movie, for me, was Lyla in the hospital and disappears with the other Latino's. Only to find out that she is really Armenian but was raised Mexican, is a great signifier that people can be one thing, and identify as something else. She states that her heart is Mexican; this statement says that she identifies with the culture and that no matter what people label you as, you are who you want to be! Overall the movie, A Day Without a Mexican was very refreshing and greatly appreciated.

P.S. The in-class assignment about being prejudice was very interesting Ann. I want to put on record that I really do not hold any racist or prejudices in my heart... Everyone has an opportunity to become a friend of God and myself.

Bless Me, Ultima

I found this book to have lots of hidden messages and it dealt with major issues in the lives of many people that are significant in maturing as a person. The way in which Anaya has portrayed the three brothers in Antonio's life, suffering from post-traumatic stress from the war, being irresponsible, ultimately gave Antonio a sense of individualism. He learned how to be on his own, without guidance from his family. The family theme that Anaya has given us is a major in the plot of the story. The families fighting over what Antonio should do with his own life is significant. I also love the way that the author/narrator has combined religion and magic to make this story much more fun and intriguing. These two elements are on the opposite ends of the religion spectrum and for them to be immersed in one another was very fascinating and significant in many areas.
I am also very happy with the some of the other issues that Antonio faces in this book. I could easily relate them to my own experiences through my life right now. I too have struggled with knowing who I am, what I want to be, my beliefs about religions and trying new things. Many people are going through the same things, I believe it's just apart of growing up and trying to become a better person. For Antonio, he saw his moments of tragedy and these experiences had given him both a loss of faith in God, but a greater faith all at the same time. I think he didn't realize it, but after seeing the guy killed in the street, he became more faithful because he started questioning God, and in order to do that, you must have some sort of faith that you will get answers. Overall, I think the book has given me a sense of stronger faith in knowing that whether its fiction of reality, many people suffer from the same issues and the ways that they deal with them gives you a sense of what growing up is about. That's what I took from the novel.

Sor Juana Indes de la Cruz!

Sor Juana was undoubtedly one of the greatest female thinkers and poets of Colonial 17th century Mexico. However, this was not a good thing at the time. The Archbishop exercised tremendous abuse on church of then, especially to Juana, being discriminative toward her because she was a woman. The window that opened for me after seeing this film, came out of a cultural aspect. I have never seen treatment like that of intelligent women ever in any culture. It was surprising to see that women who were well read, poetic, intelligent were not upheld, but torn down, why was this happening then. As of today, education and the striving for excellence is taught to everyone. Women are allowed many opportunities, some more than men, to embrace the institution of religion, education and marriage. These things were definitely held back from them in colonial times in Mexico for some reason, I can not explain.
Growing up in the church, pentecostal background, I was exposed to women pastors and preachers that had knowledge of the church, how it functions and was designated by God to tell about these things. I questioned whether my own religion had the same background as that of Sor Juana de la Cruz. I started asking around, my father being the first to be quizzed, he tells me that in the past, even in my church, women pastors or preachers were looked down upon or simply overlooked. It shocked to that first of all, I had a mirrored experience with this movie, and had not realized it, also, that this was happening not just in Mexico, but in the rest of the world as well.
Another mirror that came about was the idea of identity. I was forced to think about what makes a person that person they are? Is it one specific thing? Is it what others have made them out to be? How do we come about our own Identity? These were some questions that arose in my thoughts as I watched the movie. Juana says she is nothing without her books, or she does not exist without her books. This was interesting to me because, no matter what they did to her, took her books away and burned them, sold all her possessions and made her give up her writings, they still could not take her identity because she was already known for those things. How could she have overcome these things, would she leave the church to carry on with the things of her life that she loved so much?
Overall these questions, the answers I received while watching the movie, gave me better understand of what colonial Mexico would have been like then, and if I lived in that time, knowing what I know as of today, I must say I would have invested a lot in Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz!

My Name

My name is Daniel Butler II, this name was given to me by my father and mother. Most people think that if a person is named after someone, that they are supposed to live a similar life as that person. I on the other hand have no interest in becoming my father by any means. A name is something given to an Individual, to become whoever they want to be in life based off their own decisions and experiences. My name means great things to me as far as it goes. My name is biblical and means God is is my judge which is a very important thing to me because I want to live my life in the eyes of God. I think a name is something that we  give ourselves as well. Paul Bloom's article on the person plural would suggest that we create our name and experiences through a multi-personality. We have more than one person within us and these many dimensions within ourselves are displayed at any given situation. With this, a name for me would be given by others and what I bring out of others perceptions of me. Take for instance a "nickname", which is given to you by friends and family or people in general who have had some experience with you or through you. You as a person and people in general would label (name) you for a self you have portrayed or displayed at  any given time in a situation. A name, a person plural and windows and mirrors all play a role in creating a self.

Latino Literature

It seems as though this class will be a very interesting and helpful class for me. I am already learning about myself and the Latino culture, which is somewhat closely related in some ways. The discussion groups and class participation will ensure that most of the issues and ideas will have been touched on and will help all of us understand whats going on.