Plascencia, Raul (Raul)

 

Hello all, I am Raul Plascencia. My preferred pronouns are He/She/They. I am a third-year Sociology major with a minor in Chicanx and Central American Studies. I grew up in the city of Compton, California, a city not too far from the UCLA campus but is rather the complete opposite of the West Los Angeles area. Going to school as a kid in this area was rather hard in the sense that it lacked public funding and had scarce resources.Textbooks were torn-apart and not up to date, and classes were filled to capacity with students. This further inspired me to pursue the field of sociology in order to help combat this failing education system within my community but other lower-socioeconomic communities as well. 

My interests in this class definitely developed a few months back once I had visited the Jeffrey Deitch art exhibition out in Los Angeles which showcased and highlighted the works of Black and Brown artists. This trip to the art exhibition was monumental in the sense that I had never once in my life felt represented or reflected in the Eurocentric art forms that are praised and shown in American museums. Multiple pieces throughout the Jeffrey Deitch exhibition depicted queerness and Chicanx pride that I had for once in my life resonated with. Upon creating my schedule for this fall quarter, I found this class. This was only a sign to further enrich my knowledge with more Chicana art and artists. 

(The picture I chose was also of me in front of my favorite piece at the Jeffrey Deitch exhibit. It reminded me of the mercados located around my old neighborhood.)