Pizano, Rogelio (Roy)

My name is Rogelio Pizano, but I also go by Roy. I’m currently a second-year who is majoring in Sociology and Chicano/a Studies. I’m from Ontario, California, which just happens to be a 50-minute drive from Los Angeles. Despite my dedication to my studies within the academy, I’d like to say that the term “student” is not a word that fully encapsulates who I am. I’m a firm believer in the idea that you can build your own empire by putting your creativity to the test. Investing in myself―by submerging my spirit into the arts―has always been at the pinnacle of my priorities. Not only does the artistic realm expand the portals of life, but it also molds tomorrow’s agents of change. With that being said, I’d like to wrap-up my personal introduction with some of the words I live by, words that a gentleman by the name of Rakim Mayers gracefully told me: “Wealth is in the mind, not the pocket.”

To continue on, Sybil Venegas’ “Conditions for Producing Chicana Art” was a reading that contextualized the effort put forth by Chicanas in order to overcome racial and male-dominated boundaries within the domain of art―a field that has always been predominantly white. Within her short essay, Venegas underlines the idea that the Chicana women face more obstacles in terms of recognition and support, in comparison to a white woman or a Chicano counterpart. The implication is that the Chicana archetype of yesterday and contemporary times is one that goes contrary to white establishments that aim to preserve the status quo. Alongside the paving of a new consciousness within an American society, Chicanas today are dismantling the stigmatizations that have hindered their autonomy. In modest fashion, Venegas successfully argues that Chicana art is a testament to the significant change propagated by Chicanas within their respective communities and the artistic realm.