Unblocking tapones and finding pleasant places

Education Review ◽

10.14507/er.v28.3243 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 28 ◽

Author(s):

Ofelia Garcia

Keyword(s):

Puerto Rico ◽

Alejo Carpentier ◽

Smooth Transition ◽

Traffic Jams ◽

Communities Of Color ◽

Poor Communities

Tapón is the word that comes to mind when I think about this piece. The tapón of my bathtub in Cuba when I was a child that prevented the water from streaming out. The tapón of the traffic jams in Puerto Rico, leaving my mother-in-law´s house to go anywhere, as the traffic stopped flowing. And the tapón I feel today, in NYC, in the midst of a pandemic that has hit poor communities of color the hardest, and as a smooth transition to a new president has been slowed down by lies and innuendos of fraud. I have written many academic articles, but never have I struggled with the tapón I have felt in writing this piece that urged me to take a “viaje a la semilla,” the title of a book by Alejo Carpentier, a Cuban author. Taking a trip ‘to the seed of it all’ is painful, and I have resisted lifting the tapón that has kept me from looking inward, linking my today with my past. I thank Sonia Nieto, a beacon and inspiration to all Latinas and all educators, for asking me to unclog memories of who I am, and how my who is related to the work in which I have engaged. In so doing, I recognize those who have been with me in the streams of my life as a woman, a student, a mother, a wife, a grandmother, a teacher, an academic. As I have done so, I have realized more than ever that as Psalm 16 says: “The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places,” and it has been my family, teachers, colleagues and students who have given me more than I deserve. [Download the PDF to read more about Dr. Garcia's journey and wisdom]

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How Crisis Journalists Can Magnify the Voices of Poor, Marginalized Communities of Color

International Journal of Crisis Communication ◽

10.31907/2617-121x.2017.01.01.01 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 2-8

Author(s):

Cassandra D. Chaney ◽

Keyword(s):

Law Enforcement ◽

Social Inequity ◽

Marginalized Communities ◽

Communities Of Color ◽

Social Inequities ◽

Contextual Understanding ◽

The Many ◽

Poor Communities

In light of the historical animus that exists between poor, marginalized communities of color and members of law enforcement, this manuscript will focus on the role of crisis journalists in helping bridge this divide. Research abounds regarding the many physical, psychological, financial, legal, and social inequities between poor, marginalized communities of color, and as such, members of this group have come to accept that: (1) no one wants to hear about their experiences; (2) no one cares about their experiences; or (3) no change will come from voicing their experiences. Given these realities, I will provide specific ways that crisis journalists can encourage members of this group to share their experiences, why it would be advantageous for crisis journalists to offer their findings to law enforcement and members of the judiciary to provide a deeper (gives a contextual understanding of the lives of poor, marginalized communities of color). Furthermore, I discuss how crisis journalists can work with other professionals (researchers, practitioners) to create a Community of Care. Keywords: Community of Care, Crisis Journalists, Law Enforcement, Poor Communities, Practitioners, Qualitative, Researchers, Social Inequity.

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Oedipus-Inspired Pintos: The Plague of Prisons in Two Chicano Takes on the Prototypical Myth of Crisis

Revista Canaria de Estudios Ingleses ◽

10.25145/j.recaesin.2020.81.06 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 79-95

Author(s):

Aikaterini Delikonstantinidou ◽

Keyword(s):

Mass Incarceration ◽

The Self ◽

Communities Of Color ◽

The Us ◽

One Year ◽

The Impact ◽

Shed Light ◽

American Prison ◽

As If ◽

Poor Communities

This article discusses two revisions of the tragic myth of Oedipus in the light of recent studies on the American prison crisis. In 2010, Luis Alfaro’s “Oedipus el Rey,” a play that draws on Sophocles’ Oedipus Tyrannus, addressed the national prison crisis which has encroached on barrio life with dreadful repercussions. One year later, Ernest Drucker employed the term “plague of prisons” to describe the phenomenon of mass incarceration in the US and shed light on its effects on poor communities of color, such as barrio communities. As if responding to Drucker’s study and Alfaro’s play, Law Chavez’s “Señora de la Pinta,” presented in 2012, gets its inspiration from the myth of Oedipus to dramatize US prison experience as a plague threatening the self and the barrio. The two plays are examined for what they reveal about the impact of the prison crisis on Chicano barrio life and Chicanidad.

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