Shifra M. Goldman Essay Response

"The Iconography of Chicano Self-Determination: Race, Ethnicity, and Class" by Shifra M. Goldman provides a look into the beginning of Chicano and Chicana art depicting their self-identity including race, ethnicity, and class. In terms of race, Goldman explains how Mexicans have been looked down upon, even after the Spanish conquest because of the Spaniards contact with the Moors. Chicanos/as would create art that depicting their pre-Columbian cultures to disassociate themselves from their European background. Goldman also distinguishes between ethnicity and nationality, pointing out that ethnicity is related to nationality. In addition, while discussing class, Goldman explains several aspects of labor are incorporated into chicano art such as “garment-industry sweatshops of Los Angeles, and the Mexican maids…” (172).

I selected Yolanda M. Lopez’s Margaret F. Stewart: Our Lady of Guadalupe as an example of her Chicana self-determination. Lopez’s mother, Margaret F. Stewart, is the one depicted on the image, but she has been immensely influential on Lopez’s self-determination. The image exemplifies the intersectionality Margaret faced because of her race, ethnicity, and gender. Margaret F. Stewart: Our Lady of Guadalupe really stood out to me because it paralleled my mother’s life who has always shown self-determination. Like Margaret did for her daughter Yolanda, my mother would sew clothes and costumes for me. This image really portrayed self-determination in my eyes because even though sewing machine operators are sometimes looked down upon, the majority if not all being women of color, continue working to take care of their families. After my mother ways laid off, she bought a machine with her own savings and would work at home tailoring clothes for friends and family, eventually strangers too all while looking for work and as a second job after she found work.