MALCSista Gabriella represents U.S. in India’s Poetry Fest

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So proud of our Gabriella Gutierrez y Muhs!

She pulled the book from her shelf and humbly agreed to read. And when she spoke, she did so in a poet’s voice, with conviction, passion and life.
“…I remember asking you if you had too much to deal with and you turned around and said to me in perfect Spanish: Nunca sabemos donde va a romperse la tela profesora. (We never know where the cloth will rip, professor).”

The poetry of professor Gabriella Gutierrez y Muhs not only spans multiple languages but multiple continents as well.  Recently, Gutierrez y Muhs was selected to be the featured American poet at this year’s International Festival of Poetry, known as Kritya 2011, held in Nagpur, India.

To be nominated to such a position, a poet must be recommended by several other poets. Gutierrez y Muhs felt particularly honored when she found out that Alicia Partnoy, the chair of Spanish at Loyola Marymount, a poet, and social justice activist, was just one of the many people who submitted Gutierrez y Muhs’ name.

“It was particularly important because [Partnoy] is so incredible,” said Gutierrez y Muhs. “She’s done marvelous work in every way, [and it’s] invaluable that such a human being would recommend me.”

But Gutierrez y Muhs shines in her own way. In this day and age where issues involving identity and race are slowly building up in our country, Gutierrez y Muhs sees it as a wonderful opportunity to be the featured American poet. This is because she feels that she is not only the representative of America, but she is the face of America as well.

“I am Latina, but I’m also a Chicana, I’m also Mexican, I’m also American. I’m all those subjectivities,” Gutierrez y Muhs said. “So I find it particularly ironic and marvelously wonderful that I would be [nominated].”

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Putting the MOVEMENT back into civil rights teaching

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Some terrific articles and resources here s. As one of the most commonly taught stories of people’s struggles for social justice, the Civil Rights Movement has the capacity to help students develop a critical analysis of United States history and strategies for change. However, the empowering potential is often lost in a trivial pursuit of … Read more

New blog series: MUJERES TALK

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Dear Members and Friends of MALCS, MALCS has launched a new blog space for public dialogue about current events titled MUJERES TALK. We invite everyone to submit, and to respond to other submissions. Visit the new site at: https://dev.malcs.org/mujeres-talk/ The first topic we’re taking up is MUJERES AND MIGRATION, and we are pleased to feature … Read more

Inaugural post: On the Uniqueness of MALCS

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Webjefa’s note:  We are honored to re-launch our new blog and website with this thoughtful inaugural post by former Chicana/Latina Studies editor KarenMary Davalos.  Initially presented informally at our General Meeting last November in San Antonio, KarenMary offers her personal insight about what makes MALCS a unique organization.

Why MALCS is an important and unique professional organization
by KarenMary Davalos

While I served as the lead editor of Chicana/Latina Studies: The Journal of MALCS, readers and contributors consistently asked me to articulate why our organization is important and what makes it unique. I offer this brief reflection based on my experiences and observations to stimulate discussion about the significance and contribution of MALCS. Each item represents a vision and practice, and I admit, MALCS is on the path and in the process of our own nepantla. MALCS may not get it right every time, but the organization continues to return to the mission and vision it has for social transformation. In the words of Josie Mendez-Negrete, “MALCS is being careful not to reproduce the injuries that the academy has done to us,” and it creates spaces to guarantee that it grows and develops as an organization and with its membership. Thus, I hope that our collective voices will become the material for a more formal statement about MALCS that can be utilized in fundraising campaigns, membership drives, chapter development, and promotion and tenure. Additionally, if our voices can suggest ways to further operationalize these principles and practices that make MALCS unique and important, then we will also create a work plan for us and others to duplicate and share in these troubled times.

1) MALCS is a visionary organization because mentorship is one of its core principles.

Mentorship is one of the founding objectives of MALCS. It is not simply that we mentor through MALCS; it is the content of our consejos. MALCS does not try to reproduce the power structures that wounded our predecessors or our communities.  

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Welcome to the new MALCS website!

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Yay!  Please come check out the new MALCS website that combines our regular website with the more-frequently-updated blog. Both are located at our new domain, https://dev.malcs.org. The new site is a central exchange point that includes membership info, notes about our leadership, history, summer institute, and journal, as well as the blog.  (the old address … Read more

Mujeres Talk: Mujeres, Migration & Arizona’s SB1070

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By C. Alejandra Elenes There should be no doubt that patriarchy, white supremacy, and privilege are the ideological underpinnings of anti-immigrant legislation and policy in Arizona. The anti-immigrant climate in Arizona is not new, it is an intrinsic part of its history. Indeed at this historical juncture in the continuum of anti-immigrant legislation SB 1070 […]