Lucero, Dulce (Week 3)

 The Virgin of Guadalupe has been a prominent figure in my family for as long as I can remember. My mother has always taught my siblings and me to praise her and place our faith in her because she will show up to guide us and protect us. No matter what situation we might find ourselves in she serves as a symbol of hope. Even in the most desperate and frustrating of times, we must find it in ourselves to be patient with her and trust that she will illuminate our path. The Virgin of Guadalupe is a divine second mother to me and many others, she is my comfort when nothing else seems right or when I feel lost. There are so many reasons to find faith in her she is the refuge of many Chicanx households.

Every year on the twelfth of December we celebrate her, it's tradition to pray the rosary in her image and thank her for all that she's done for us. We all unite at our aunt's house where there is a statue of her and every year someone has the honor of purchasing a dress that is placed on her before we pray to her. On that same day we there is a pilgrimage from the City of Palm Springs to the downtown area of the City of Coachella where the church is located. This is over a 20-mile walk that hundreds and hundreds of people attend to signify the walk taken by Juan Diego when he encountered the Virgin of Guadalupe. My sisters and I took part in this walk to demonstrate our gratitude for a year of blessings and ask for guidance in the following year.

The Virgin of Guadalupe will always be a symbol of hope for me even in the worst of times.

Annie Lopez

 1. Annie Lopez

2. Marion C. Martinez

3. Luz Maria Sanchez 

Lucero, Dulce

Hello everyone! My name is Dulce Lucero, my pronouns are she/her/hers. I am a fourth-year undergraduate student, first-generation, majoring in Communication Studies. I come from a family of ten and surprisingly enough I am the youngest child. We settled in the beautiful desert in the City of Coachella, known more famously for the music and arts festival. 

After undergrad, I am hoping to start a nonprofit to help students in my hometown pursue higher education, whether that is with financial help, finding resources, help with applications, anything that involves an interest in higher education. I am a strong believer that our community deserves to reach those opportunities that are displaced because of the marginality that we experience. There is a large number of immigrants in the City of Coachella, there is always a need to help others and open doors to opportunities that they might feel are unattainable.  For this reason, I want to go beyond helping students and also help parents as well. I want to hold seminars to provide information on how to prioritize, budget, invest, and save. I would also like to have resources to point them in the right direction if they are experiencing housing or food insecurity. I know that growing up it would have meant the world for my family and me to have someone or a place to go to for resources. I want to be able to provide that for my community. It is for these reasons and many others that I am interested in researching how people of color have been displaced in various ways. Combined with my interest in art especially because of how to predominate it is in the City of Coachella I would like to gain some knowledge from this class about the impact of Chicanx artists and how they have informed us about issues in our community through art.