Author: Shine Trabucco

As I was looking for inspiration for my next blog, I found it in the most peculiar of places, “Netflix”.  I was truly in a slump due to the dreary “Winter is coming!” weather so decided to see if there was anything new and interesting for me to watch and dissect with whoever was willing to put up with me that moment.  That is when I found John Leguizamo’s “Latin History for Morons” comedy.  Let me just say this.  WOW just WOW.  Satirical comedy and hard truth all rolled into one and wonderfully executed.  His dramatic portrayals reminded me a bit of Dave Chappelle, a satirical image of preconceived ideas while highlighting the ignorance of stereotypes.

Leguizamo tells the story of his son’s struggles that his history teacher assigned and the lack of representation of the Latinx community in the classroom.  His goes on to joke, but not really, about Latinos bearing the unfaced trauma of colonization and that’s why they are always emotional and angry.  He speaks about the Colombus’s colonization (please watch on Netflix what he calls him lol) and the colonization of the Incans in South America and that somehow Latinxs today carry these burdens.  He explains this is why he is struggling as a father to help his struggling son.

This is why we have Public History.  This is why we need to decolonize ourselves, our classrooms, our museums, our TV shows.  We need more of this.  It is so real and helps fill in the space of the empathy deficits that so many spaces face today.  Public History provides the tools to help do all of these things.  It provides a voice to those have been suppressed into being voiceless.  It revives the dead with social memories. It creates space for the histories that did not have a place once before.  Breaking down these barriers is SO IMPORTANT for those carry the burdens of oppression.  We work together to take off some of the weight of others.  We have a certain responsibility to act as agents of change with our positions of privilege to encourage a shift in our culture.

Even though older generations think of the millennials as the cry-babies and then gimme-gimmes.  We offer so much more than just being social media influencers, photographers by the dozen, and snowflakes.

We are the thinkers. We are the up and coming. We are the Revolutionaries. We are being taught that some change is definitely for the better.  We are creating the shift for others to learn from, for others to be released from the thousands of year old trauma.

Leguizamo ends his Netflix with the anecdote of his son’s eighth-grade graduation speech, “But the biggest thing that I  learned while I was failing outta school this year was, as one of my fellow classmates once said to me,  “You’re thing king of nothing.” But if the Mayans invented the concept of zero then nothing is not nothing. And if they can make something out of nothing then my hero is me.”

“But if the Mayans invented the concept of zero then nothing is not nothing and if they can make something out of nothing then my hero is me.”

This. Speaks. Levels.

 What histories have been told over time that has left out the histories of others?

There are histories that have been left out and not told because the voices have been oppressed for hundreds of years.  Why are there histories that are remembered and not remembered?  Every history is multifaceted, trust me, if you don’t think it is, you just haven’t come across that history yet.  One local history that is familiar to almost all in Texas is, “The Battle of the Alamo.”

“Why Should I Remember the Alamo”

The well-known cry to “Remember The Alamo” is not just something local San Antonians and Texans remember but something that is held in the memories of people all over the world.  But why? And why does everyone remember the Alamo? What are we remembering?

When I ask the question, “Why should I remember the Alamo?”, it is one of two things. First, it is an honest question. I’m not trying to say I forget a piece of local history that shaped San Antonio.  As a student of Public History, I think it is important to know histories from all perspectives to gain better insight and personal experiences.  Second, I am not necessarily just asking the question.  I am leading a collection of questions I have within the original question.   It is to turn the gears in the brain to think deeper, to think on multiple layers.  The collection of questions are:

What am I remembering?

Most people that come and visit the Alamo do not understand that it did not just serve in the Texas Rebellion/Revolution.  The Alamo was controlled by the Spanish and then Mexicans.  It has a history of teaching the Catholic faith to others and supporting a city that has referred to as “The Buc-cee’s of the 17th and 18th century.  Many people, even me, do not retain that information about that portion of history because it is not where the yee-haw Texan identity is.

Why do you remember it?

I’m always being told to remember but why? Why should I? Historical Amnesia? Social memory? Why? Why? Why? Ah, maybe one point of view weighs more in the memories of Texans but maybe it is time to break down barriers.  To help revive the memory of what the Alamo was before 1836.  Maybe, it is time to apply that pressure now that the new museum is on its way.

Who am I remembering?

San Antonio has a very long history.  Yes, the city of San Antonio is 300 years old but people have been in this area for a very long time. The indigenous groups that lived here prior colonization have their histories almost forgotten in San Antonio because of the Alamo.  Then the history of the Alamo has some bits and pieces missing from social memory.  The history of the Alamo has become muddy waters becoming mixed with legends and myths.  Funny the war has a way of doing that to history, we are always looking for “heroes”.

“There is that great proverb — that until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter.” – Chinua Achebe, “Paris Review” Interview 

I encourage others to add to the list, take away, do what they need to understand what is being taught and what is forgotten.

I was sitting in the living with my little sister binge-watching, “Girl Meets World” one afternoon.  For those who may be unfamiliar with this tv show, it is a spin-off of the main characters fictional children from, “Boy Meets World.”  Both of these tv shows were/are known to touch on controversial and political topics, such as the episode my sister and I were watching.  This episode was about identity and family history.

The students in the show were assigned to do research about their family history to find out “who they are.”  The teacher leaves it open for interpretation and the plot line goes on.  One of the main characters acts very somberly about the family history, and at the end of the episode, we find out his great-grandfather was Jewish and was the only one to survive because another family adopted him when he ran away.

My little sister and I began talking about the family histories that we know of — the history of my great-great-grandfather making his way to the United States for the first time, my grandfather running away from Peru because the mafia was after him or that my great-great grandmother lived to be past 100 yearsold and played the Piano at her church in Peru.  Some of these we know are elaborated, but some tell the children of the hardships it took to make it in the United States and to remember what our ancestors did for us.  My mom would jump in every now and then on the conversation reminiscing on the stories being told or when she first heard them.  With a family member recently passing, it felt bittersweet to reflect on these memories but empowering knowing that memory is what is keeping them alive still.

TV shows don’t always hit the nail. However, I think this episode did a beautiful job to show children, pre-teens/teens, and adults that family histories can be very important.  The weight of family histories doesn’t always resonate with people, especially those living in one place for a long time.  The generations failed to pass down stories of old family members or memories of when times were very different.  Sometimes families’ stories are taken away through colonization or death.   Social memory of events that occurred can also die or thrive through family histories. Public History can open doors to help teach people ways to preserve their history because from family, to local, to national and global, all these histories connect.  Family histories not only tell the stories of a specific family’s past but also guide the listener to what the political, social and economic times were like for that group of people during a certain time.  All histories are intertwined and dependent on one another.

Public historians have the privilege with access to this knowledge so I think it is important that we also apply this to our family histories.  It is important to ask questions about your family background to have a deeper appreciation and connection with family histories.  One can say, “Oh, my family has been here forever. We don’t have a history.” But I would argue, look around you, look at what shapes you and influences what you do, then ask yourself why? You can do all the DNA testing we want on ourselves but our true identity lies within the culture that is familiar to us, that raised us, that fed us.

I will leave some pointers for families to preserve these forms of knowledge and conduct your own oral histories!:

• Interview your elderly family members. There are journals that can be purchased that have interview questions in them to help guide you or you can come up with your own. Make sure the handwriting is neat if written down
• Ask if they have photographs, journals, newspapers etc. These are important because these are primary sources that can help for future research
• Ask you parents questions! Interviewing your parents and asking questions about recipes or traditions they practiced as a child can help maintain a sense of identity.
• MAKE FOOD FROM FAMILY RECIPES! I constantly argue that cooking helps maintain oral traditions because the smells and recipes can bring back memories and stories of older times.

To start off this blog, I would like to thank the writer, Gloria Anzaldúa, for the idea of the name of this blog.  Anzaldúa had many great ideas for her time that often went unrecognized until recently.  She writes about the seven stages of higher conciousness or processing information, which is called, “The Seven Stages of Conocimiento”.   The Coatlicue State is a process where one faces thier opression and fears often through “higher conciousness”.  This state of being calls me to reflect on some events that occur when working with public history.

Hemisfare Park is an example that comes to mind when thinking of histories going through the Stages of Conocimiento.  The history of Hemisfare Park carries has many burdens in it’s history.

Hemisfare Park has an interesting history that I did not know until attending the “Save Texas History Symposium”  last weekend.  Dr. Laura Hernández-Ehrisman had a presentation about Hemisfare park and the US Commission of Civil Rights.  The Institute of Texan Cultures has an exhibit celebrating the 50th annviersary of Hemisfare Park but Dr. Hernández-Ehrisman offers a different lense to look through.  She shared the history of the neighborhood that was once there before filled with immigrants from all different backgrounds.  Although the city tried to preserve some of the older homes by relocating the houses to a different piece of land however, hundreds of people were displaced and relocated.  As people can recollect fond memories of the opening of Hemisfare, others have a confused and mixed-emotion feeling.  Although it may seem too late for the city of San Antonio to reconcile, forgiveness can take many forms.  The recognition of the neighborhood that once thrived where the land plot of Hemisfare Park helps the city confront what took place and the lack of consideration that politicians and city planners had.  It also brings stories and histories of the old neighborhood to light, exposing a untold past that has been hidden for too long.

The irony of the Institute of Texan Cultures being on top of an old immigrant neighborhood is still mind blowing to me however, in the exhibit “Viva Hemisfare”, they is a photo and brief history about what was on the land before Hemisfare.  And the fact that a scholar presented the story and scholars listened is the first step of acknowledging the destruction of a neighborhood.

One may read the story of the example I gave and think okay but how is the city of San Antonio or some of the building owner acknowledging the 1600 people who were displaced, besides an exhibit or a symposium where most attendees were in positions of privilege.  I would argue that, this is the first step to transitioning into the Coatlicue State and people are beginning to acknowledge a history that has been literally destroyed.  I believe that Public Historians can take on the emotional and physical labor of acknowledging the oppression and troubles because we have been given the tools to research and share the histories that we find and work with communities who need allies to help share their voice.

Here’s a link for a photo exhibit courtsey of San Antonio Conservation Society Foundation 

Historia de un hombre 

A young vaquero from Mexico wanted a better life for himself and his brother and youngest sister.  With the recent passing of their father, the family was left with next to nothing. The two brothers began their voyage to Texas to start their American Dream. The brothers took a cart, a boat and eventually a long train ride to the city of San Antonio, where they were dropped off and, walked with all their possessions for a few blocks to a boarding house on the Westside.  They found jobs to help bring their sister over from Mexico. One enlisted to fight in World War I.  As the story goes, he came back from the war, he met a woman and the rest is, well, history, my history.

These are the facts but the real stories are the stories that are not passed down on paper but the stories remembered and told over time.  Facts are easy to translate throughout time, but the emotions and the struggles shape the people, which then shape the families that make our communities.

Historia local: The importance of storytelling

The Rinconcito de Esperanza portrays the importance of storytelling of local family histories.  The Rinconcito de Esperanza tells the local stories because these are in fact tied to the local history of San Antonio.  From the old houses, which if only the walls could speak to stories of local elders. From the photos of nos abuelitos to the art para MujerArtes.  These are ways of Public History being put into action of the local histories of the Westside.

Walking through the main house and important figures and buildings from the Westside and never hearing of these left a strong impression on me personally and as a public historian.  Seeing all of the pictures on the fences and the timeline really stroke a chord in my heart porque people are able to remember family members and friends; it is esque to El Día de Los Muertos.  The physical people may no longer be present however they get a second life through the retelling of local histories.  I did not know such stories existed, just the stories of “Oh mija, make sure you lock your doors and use your Spanish when you go to that area.” and the other profiling images told over time about the West side.

…y la dieta?

Graciela Sanchez showed us the adobe house in back, which is the MujerArtes Studio.  MujerArtes Studio is a place that is led by women and helps women who are workers, the head of households and marginalized. Sanchez said that these women come in and say they do not know what to do or make and she tells them, “Tell your story, tell a story through the art.”  Looking at all the different work, I could tell that this is exactly what they were doing. From pottery with scenes for La Curandera to sculptures their family tree and traditional dishes.  What stuck out to me the most was the sculptures of traditional foods like empanadas and pan muertos.  Food and storytelling go hand in hand in traditional Latinx homes. When holidays are around the corner from Día de Los Muertos to Three Kings Day, food is HIGHLY important (ask about me dieta lol). Generations of families gather around the kitchen escuchar a chisme, to tell family stories (embellished or not who knows or cares) and to be taught the recipes that have been passed down for generations but never written. I remember when being told about my great grandfather and his wife, an indigenous woman born on land that was before colonization. This woman, Grandma Bella, is who taught my mom the tamale recipe that has been in our family for centuries.  When food is being cooked in abuelita’s kitchen, histories of many generations are being told by word-of-mouth and it is always important to listen.  I have never realized that food and storytelling were so interlinked especially in my own personal experiences.  The stories that are told during tamaladas have much more meaning because they are stories of family and local histories that teach the younger generations how to better the future.