Torres, Stephany

Hi everyone! My name is Stephany Torres and I am a 4th year majoring in Sociology and minoring in Labor Studies. My preferred pronouns are she/her/hers. I am a first-generation college student and I was born and raised in South Central, LA. I do not identify as Chicanx as I am a daughter of Guatemalan immigrants. I chose to enroll in this class because it really intrigued me as I have always loved to express myself through different forms of art and learn about artistic forms of activism. I write spoken word poetry on my free time and sometimes create visual art pieces to go along with them. I have not had the chance to take part in research yet, but I am interested in researching the gentrification currently taking place in my hometown through different lenses. I want to research how universities, like USC, play a role in displacing folks and causing systemic violence towards locals. My family recently experienced having to move due to an extreme rent increase and it was rough to say the least. Thus, I would also like to research the effect that gentrification has on the holistic health of low-income WOC in South Central.

For this week's readings, I really enjoyed "There's No Place Like Atzlan," by Alicia Gaspar De Alba. The analysis between nationality and being "beyond identity" with Dorothy as the example was very thorough. One part that stood out to me was the fact that the analysis said Dorothy resisted hegemony and had agency over where she wanted to be -- but that is not the reality for many Chicanx/Latinx folk. I agree that identity if beyond the place of origin, and should be analyzed beyond a physical location or place where an individual is connected to.