My Story

My undergraduate experience at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) was where I reclaimed space as a first-generation college student. My mother and her brothers existed in this university environment back in the 80s-90s. My uncle Danny went to high school near the university to escape gang violence in La Villita, Chicago. My uncle Jaime, who was an undergrad at the time (who also housed Danny), became an activist and was part of the 1992 protest wherein students of all backgrounds (predominantly led by Latino students—especially Latinas) took over a university building in protest of the lack of resources and representation for Latina/o/a/e/x students. Unfortunately, my uncle Jaime did not finish his degree following the death of his father because he had to help take care of his mom and his siblings (including my mother) back in La Villita, Chicago. It is vital to recognize that, even after the 1992 protest, progress in resources for Latina/o/e/x students was slow. Therefore, my mother, Gloria, who attended UIUC after the 1992 protest, was not able to complete even one college course there because the adjustment proved too difficult. My mother and her brothers returned to Chicago, and I feel they left a piece of themselves at UIUC because whenever I bring it up, there is a sense of defeat and self-blame for not finishing.  

As I began to process my family's experiences through my Latina/Latino studies degree, I was also witnessing a historical moment. About 10 years before my family attended the university, a Puerto Rican undergraduate student, Oscar Martinez (along with help), painted a mural (around 1974) at the cultural house for Latino/a/e/x students at UIUC. The mural was painted as a protest against the lack of resources and representation for Latino/a/e/x students. This mural existed during my family’s time at UIUC, and almost 50 years later, it was being re-territorialized on campus grounds as I started college. It was a catalyst for conversations and unveiled a history of Latine presence on campus that felt long forgotten. Like my family, the mural made its return journey to Chicago, where it was being conserved thanks to student activism pushing for its restoration after the original Latino cultural house was demolished.

As I began researching the mural's journey and impact for my undergraduate thesis, I realized I was piecing together the puzzle of my family’s journey. I saw myself and my family in that mural. Unpacking the attached identities and iconographies only left me with more questions. As a Chicana growing up in the Midwest, in the inner-city of Chicago, I felt deprived of my cultural history— I felt lost. This is a sentiment shared by the subjects I interviewed who were impacted by or involved with Martinez’s mural. The journey of a mural—the deterritorialization, reterritorialization, the indoor/outdoor, public/private, legality, etc.—has been deeply studied by scholars, but I am more concerned with these elements as they relate to Latine murals. The Midwest's context complicates the notion of Chicano art, but it is this complication that spurs solidarity. 

An inner-city kid who went from living near skyscrapers to cornfields in southern Illinois, it only seemed right for me to continue traveling and challenging myself in different spaces/locations. Now, amidst a new giant (the mountains), I face my next feat to accomplish (an M.A.) I feel thoroughly outside my comfort zone, yet at the same time, never more at home. My background is in print/digital journalism, with community reporting and arts/culture/art criticism. Through a multimedia approach, I hope to combine my passions of academia and journalism to bring forth stories/histories not told or not told enough in more nuanced ways; it is this type of thorough research/reporting/archival work that I aim to participate in, especially regarding the Midwest Latine experience.

 My research currently explores contemporary Latine murals/muralists in Chicago. The University of Arizona's unique Bilingual Journalism program is what attracted me to this college compared to other Spanish-language strict journalism programs. As a grandchild of immigrant grandparents (third-generation Mexican-American/Chicana), I know the importance of place/context when reporting and understanding where you are and who you can/should inform. This program will help me focus more deeply on journalism across its facets, perspectives, and languages. As a Chicana woman who grew up in Chicago, I feel I am a necessary voice in this research, especially considering the male domination in this field and in the mural scene itself. I also feel there is a lack of research on the US-Latino/o/e/x experience and their role in the mural art scene, especially regarding their presence in the Midwest.