Research

Culture, Identity, and Latinidad in the United States

My research focuses on the socio-emotional, communal, and individual impact of living in the United States with a third cultural identity. I use an ethnographic approach in my research because I noted how quantitative methodology does not explore the complexity of an individual in relation to their community and culture. There are numerous unanswered questions in quantitative research because surveys and measures cannot capture the totality of a person. With qualitative methodology this complexity is further investigated. In my research, I center the stories of the interview participants and create space for them to tell their stories with their own words. This allows for them to be in control of what is told in the research.

Research Study

Made by Jessy Desantis. Personal photo taken at La Casa de la Cultura.

For Us, By Us: An Ethnographic Study of Baltimore City's Latine Community Creating Meaning and Sense of Self Through Community Events and Place

This research study explores how the Latine community in Baltimore City is intentionally creating spaces to foster their cultural identity and self. It asks how Latines in Baltimore City understand and express their cultural identity through their engagement with community events. Using an ethnographic approach supported by a Chicana feminist theoretical framework and an attention to placemaking and meanmaking, I conducted participant observation at ten local Latine events and eight in-depth interviews with event participants, all centered on the Highlandtown neighborhood. In coding for key themes that emerged from this data, I identified six themes “It’s a Party,” “Nest making,” “Porque Son Nuestras Raíces,” “Representation,” “Americanización,” and “We Feel the Truest Version in Our Spaces”. “It’s a Party” describes the overall energy and sentiment attached to the local events organized by the Latine community. “Nest making” explores how Latines build their current home and community in Baltimore City as they remember parts of their culture and heritage. “Porque Son Nuestras Raíces” explains the importances of maintaining one’s roots while also allowing for a critical analysis of what cultural roots should be maintained. “Representation” examines the Latine community’s continuous efforts to represent the diversity of the Latine community in the events which includes its historical and colonized past. “Americanización” examines the awareness the Latine community has of the potential consequences of assimilating to American culture–loss. “We Feel the Trusts Versions in Our Spaces” discusses why Latines feel truly connected to themselves in spaces that are created for and by them. The analysis of the themes shows that spaces created by and for the Latine community serve as a way to preserve their cultural self and identity while living in Baltimore City. The spaces themselves transform into places that hold meaning as the Latine community members continuously interact with and within the spaces through community events and performances, interactions which form their own versions of Latinidad and self, specific to Baltimore City. What these findings demonstrate is that Latines actively carve out places for themselves to resist assimilating to American culture, countering the perception that Latines forget about their home country and motherland when immigrating to the United States. Instead, the research study reinforces the concept that Latines consciously search for, perform, and remake community in ways that resonate with who they are on an individual and cultural level.

All names changed for confidentiality purposes

Key Themes within Research Study

It's a Party

The Latine community celebrating at La Casa de la Cultura. Person photo taken at La Casa de la Cultura

"The main main main goal was to bring the sense of Mexican Independence Day. In Mexico, our biggest day would be that. Its independence. That’s our day, for us. You don’t get to feel that either, because we are on this side of the country. But bringing that event makes them feel that sense of partying…just having that sense of having that day for them. Instead of going to Mexico to get that feeling because you cannot have it here, we bring it here, that sense of pride of independence of feeling Mexican. You bring that to them. That event was essential for that, for giving them a space where they can come and they feel like, now I have a space that is similar to Mexico. Let me do the grito."

-Pancracio, community organizer

Nestmaking

“An Offering”, Digital photography, 20x24 inches, 2014. Photo taken by Christina Delgado. Photo displayed at Casa de la Cultura’s art exhibit

“You know where you come from, you know how colorful your land is…. So you’re bringing that home here back where you are.”

-Jackie, local artist

Porque son Nuestras Raíces

Personal photo taken at Fiesta Baltimore. Youth waiting for the Fiesta Baltimore parade to officially begin. The face is blurred to maintain the youth's privacy.

"Because that’s how we pass down our history, too. Songs are not just music. In our culture, songs are — we tell the story — it’s very similar to the Black community, to the Black culture; we pass our history down by dress, by dancing, every dance that you see, every dress that you see has a meaning behind it….When you see it you don’t only just hear those stories you see it before you. So it’s a passing down, not just of dances and outfits to wear, but of our own history, of our own resilience, our own obstacles and violence that has been placed against the people from their Indigenous roots."

-Clarissa, local Pastor

Representation

Personal photo taken at Fiesta Baltimore. People participating in the Fiesta Baltimore parade hold flags representing the different countries in Latin America.

"You know there is young people of Latin American descent that are going to see this. That are going to see representation. That are going to see artist that look like them…. Why does that mean a lot? Because I didn’t see that growing up at all."

-Jackie, local artist

Americanización

Personal photo taken at Mexican Independence Festival. Huaraches of La Virgen de Guadalupe

“Sometime in my youth I rejected my own culture – at some point I spoke less Spanish to be able to be more favorable”.

-Clarissa, local Pastor

We Feel the Truest Versions in Our Spaces

Photo by Nuestras Raíces Inc. Taken at Casa de la Culturas' Día de los Muertos event

"Porque entro aquí y la gente habla más español, verdad? Hablamos más español, veo el gente más, como que la reconozco, reconozco mi gente, no. A mi gente latina, sí la reconozco. Pues claro claro, me siento más cómodo porque hablo mi idioma….me siento más cómoda, más confident, más relajada, no."

Because I enter here and the people speak more Spanish, right? We speak more Spanish, I see more people, more people I recognized, I see my people. My latino people, yes I see them. Well of course of course, I feel more comfortable because I see my language…I feel more comfortable more confident, more relaxed.

Elena, local artesana

Full research study

Research Projects

Cross-cultural Identity Formation in Relation to the Conceptualization of Taboo within Latine Culture

There are topics unspoken in the Latine community. However, does this change if we are in an entirely different environment like the United States? To explore whether the United States influences which topics Latines speak about among themselves I conducted a research project asking the following questions, "How do first generation Latines navigates conversation spaces that are considered taboo?" , "How does the way first-generation Latines navigate these topics affect them and their interactions with their peers?", and "How does the way first-generation Latinos navigate these topics affect how they perceive the outside world?" I used a phenomenology approach to capture the essence of what is taboo in Latine culture in conjunction to the United States. I incorporated Gloria Anzaldúas's borderland theory, Du Bois' tradition of meta research on culture, and adopted the Historical Trauma (HT) paradigm as it allowed for a more in-depth analysis to be conducted of the findings. Through conducting 8 in-depth interviews with Latines who identified themselves as first generation Latines, I found 6 main themes with 5 sub-categories (below text). The themes demonstrate that first-generations Latines understand Latine cultural taboos but choose to not follow with the cultural norms because they recognize the inaccessibility it causes on a social and communal level to the Latine community. The United States does influence how first-generation Latines understand taboos and how they approach addressing speaking about taboos within and outside the Latine community. The research project showed that first-generation Latines connect to their culture while also recognize the dangers aspects of their culture may cause.

Four Existentalisms Within the Research Project

Themes From the Research Study

Due to IRB restrictions, the full research project cannot be shared

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