I published this awhile back in the Rio Grande Guardian and can no longer find it on their website. So I am re-publishing it here. It speaks to the elder epistemology that informs our work in Academia Cuauhtli, and in Ethnic Studies, in general.
-Angela
A Reflection on Age and Generation: Last Weekend’s Raza Unida Party Reunion in Austin
July 14, 2012
I had the wonderful opportunity of being able to attend the
40-year anniversary of the Raza Unida Party at a reunion in Austin last
weekend. I have been reflecting on a
comment made by a young person attending the reunion: “You older folks need to make
way for the younger generation.” “In
whose way are they standing?” I thought to myself. Mal
educado, ese muchacho. Poor
manners. What a silly thing for a young
person to say, generally, but particularly at a Raza Unida Party reunion
attended by activists.
Just prior to the conference, one of our elders, the
renowned Martha Cotera, shared this dicho
with me in the context of a conversation that we were having about our
political identities and nurturing the next generation: "Al que a buen árbol se arrima, buena
sombra le cobija." ("If we get close to a good tree, a good shade
covers us.") This is a statement
about mentorship. We shouldn’t bask in
someone’s shadow, but rather in their shade.
Mentorship experiences should be that nurturing and fulfilling.
We need our elders. They offer much wisdom, knowledge, and
experience that the younger generation can still benefit from. As I spoke to members of this earlier
generation before and during the conference, what became evident is how the
movement energy lit an unquenchable fire for social justice, with many holding
leadership positions and positions of high esteem within our communities to
this very day. Martha Cotera is a great
example of one of them.
This was and remains a formidable generation that has left
our community and the world with a continuing and enduring legacy in the
righteous struggle for civil and human rights.
This was a generation that decided that being Mexican and speaking
Spanish was not only a private identity, but a public one, as well.
This generation used arguments about history and identity to
lay claim to their charter member status, not as immigrants but as natives to
this land of the Southwest.
This generation talked back to oppression and said: “We didn't cross the border; the border
crossed us."
Like Gloria Anzaldua says in her landmark text, BORDERLANDS/LA
FRONTERA, there isn’t a Tejano or a Tejana alive who doesn’t know that the
lands were taken away.
A lot of these persons—if not most—have continued to be civically
engaged in one way or another. And many
of them are now retired and with more time on their hands. They were young activists forty years ago;
they are young, retiring Baby Boomers today. This was and remains and exceptional
generation regardless of their age and we need them now more than ever.
Note: If you would like to cite this piece, here is how I have cited it:
Valenzuela, A. (2012)
Reflection on age and generation: Last weekend’s Raza Unida Party reunion in
Austin. Rio Grande Guardian. Retrieved
October 31, 2014 from http://www.riograndeguardian.com/archives_results.asp
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