Bolo

My 2021 Books in Review I personally am not much of a reader, and so the only two books I have read this year were the Popol Vuh  and Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies . I have never been much of a reader, other than cartoon books or children's books I read when I was little. I did really like the two books we read in our class this year though, as they were very interesting, and very informational about my culture. Christenson, Allen J. Popol Vuh: Sacred Book of the Ancient Maya . Brigham Young University, 2007. As I read this book this year, I was very intrigued. The Popol Vuh is basically the Mayan book about the creation of the Hero Twins and their victory over the lords of the underworld. It includes the ideas behind the origin of everything that is what it is today.  Most of it people consider Mayan myths, but to me the book was interesting. I have always been into only fictional books, as they seem so new and not normal to this boring world. Just imagine, having Hero Twins that wo

Arte, Mujer, Y Memoria: Arpilleras from Chile The artwork created by Gabriela Martinez, to illustrate the people of Chile fighting back for justice After viewing an electronic piece of art, through Molaa.org's online museum , I found this very colorful and meaningful piece of art. The artist, Gabriela Martinez, the Director of Education at MOLAA, made the work to illustrate Chile in around 1990, when the Chilean citizens lived throughout the brutal seventeen year Pinochet regime. The artwork was not specifically made for anyone, but instead to show what has happened in Chile for many years now.  Martinez's work shows Chile and how traumatizing the era of Pinochet was for them. Officials at the time even tried to hide or deny the human rights abuses conducted under his administration. The art is very colorful, with bright-colored buildings, colorful brown mountains, and a shining sun in the top left corner. All of these deviate from Pinochet and what truly happened at the time i

The Influence of Our Past into Music      On the most recent segment of Latino USA, titled "How I Made It: Las Cafeteras," host Maria Hinojas sits down with some members of the band. Las Cafeteras are a band out of East LA that met while doing community services. As they began playing at a cafe, they discovered Son Jarocho, which is a traditional Afro-Mexican genre of music from Veracruz. "Las Cafeteras made a name for themselves with their politically charged lyrics," speaking out against the "realities they see everyday in their communities" (Latino USA 2:30-2:50).  The Las Cafeteras band members      I really enjoyed how they explained that "the music [they] create is influenced by the way [they] grew up." (Latino USA 4:50-4:55). I personally love to make music, and expressing myself into beats and music is something I can relate to doing daily. Music as a Language      After reading a separate article about the impact of Steven Loza on Latino