Using Retablos to learn about Culture through individual tales

Using Retablos to learn about Culture through individual tales Before we begin, note a few big events, turning points, or definitive moments from your life. Please write them down. As we look at some examples of Retablos, note common threads, tie them to what’s going on in that ‘where’ and ‘when’…

http://www.downtownaustin.com/news/thisweek/?1210143600 http://www.vanderbilt.edu/clas/in_the_news RETABLOS – The Story of Migration through religious folk art http://www.historia-antiques.com/new_gallery_page.php?web_cat=Retablos

A dónde se fueron: http://migracion.jornada.com.mx/migracion Migration Policy Institute http://www.migrationinformation.org/datahub/whoswhere.cfm RETABLOS – The Story of Migration through religious folk art

Mexican Retablos – • Few forms of religious folk art are as • abundant or expressive • Commonly found in western Mexico • Small, colorful paintings on sheets of tin • dedicated to Christ or the Virgin and • left in shrines as tokens of thanks • Stories of delivery from threatening • events through holy intervention Retablos – Migration Gallery: http://mmp.opr.princeton.edu/expressions/gallery-en.aspx

Retablos – the Early Years – 1900-1940 Retablos – the Bracero Years – 1940s Retablos – the Later Bracero Years – 1950-64 Retablos – the Growth Years – 1965-80 Retablos – the Modern Era – 1980-90s RETABLOS – The Story of Migration through religious folk art Retablos – Migration Gallery: http://mmp.opr.princeton.edu/expressions/gallery-en.aspx

Retablos – the Early Years – 1900-1940 • The “Early Years” coincided with: • World War I http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade10.html and • http://www.lonesentry.com/unithistory/23rd-infantry/index.html • Prohibition http://www.winecommonsewer.com/the_wine_commonsewer/2008/12/repeal-day.html • FDRhttp://www-tc.pbs.org/newshour/extra/images/medium/jan-june09/fdr_lg.jpg • The Roaring Twenties • The Great Depression • The Dust Bowlhttp://www.csub.edu/library/special/dustbowl/dustbowl.shtml

Retablos – the Early Years – 1900-1940 Retablos – Migration Gallery: http://mmp.opr.princeton.edu/expressions/gallery-en.aspx

Retablos – the Bracero Years – 1940s to 1964 • The “Bracero Years” coincided with: • The Zoot Suit Riots http://unitproj.library.ucla.edu/special/sleepylagoon/sldc11.htm and http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/zoot/eng_timeline/index.html • The Bracero Program(2M workers for field labor)http://www.pbs.org/kpbs/theborder/images/ and http://fairimmigration.wordpress.com/2009/03/17/ • Mass deportation of Mexicans 500,000+ (Depression), 1M in 1954 w/ “Operation Wetback”… 3M doc and undoc deported ’39-’54 by INS http://www.fundthedream.org/en/articles/exposing-self-evident-truths • Rise of the Civil Rights Movement

Retablos – the Bracero Years – 1940s Retablos – Migration Gallery: http://mmp.opr.princeton.edu/expressions/gallery-en.aspx

Retablos – the Later Bracero Years – 1950-64 Retablos – Migration Gallery: http://mmp.opr.princeton.edu/expressions/gallery-en.aspx

A common patron saint for many Retablos: Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos • La Virgen de San Juan de los Lagos • San Juan is Located in Jalisco, 76 mi • NE of Guadalajara • Second most visited pilgrimage shrine • in Mexico (second to Basilica de • Guadalupe in Mexico City) • 1542 – Spanish Priest brought statue of • Virgin of Immaculate Conception to town; • 1623 – peasant girl ill, parents prayed • for health, miraculous recovery… • Statue has been venerated since. http://www.virgendesanjuan.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_San_Juan_de_los_Lagos

Retablos – the Growth Years – 1965-80 • The “Growth Years” coincided with: • Population Boom in Mexico http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=386 • Civil Rights Movements http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade60.html • Chicano Movementhttp://books.google.com/books?id=_62IjQ-XQScC&pg=PA151&lpg=PA151&dq=1965-1980+-+Mexican+Migration&source=bl&ots=WM8JstkvLT&sig=lMtQ5HbYd0BlVzWAN52SqK7sGug&hl=en&ei=WsZKSr2xMJLilAeB_qQL&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7 p153 • Women’s Movementhttp://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade70.html • Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta • Vietnam (escalation, end) • MLK LBJ Cold WarPolitics http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade60.html • Immigration and Nationality Amendment http://www.fundthedream.org/en/articles/exposing-self-evident-truths

Retablos – the Growth Years – 1965-80 Retablos – Migration Gallery: http://mmp.opr.princeton.edu/expressions/gallery-en.aspx

Retablos – the Modern Era – 1980-90s • The “Modern Era” includes: • The 1980s • Reaganomics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Official_Portrait_of_President_Reagan_1981.jpg • Rise of the Sun Belt http://www.hks.harvard.edu/taubmancenter/pdfs/sunbelt.pdf. • The end of the Cold War/Berlin Wall http://history1900s.about.com/library/time/bltime1980.htm and swoosh22.com/berlin/details/009.html • The L.A. Riots http://www.emergency.com/la-riots.htm and http://www.paranormalknowledge.com/articles/tag/white-americans • NAFTA/TLC http://www.fas.usda.gov/itp/Policy/nafta/nafta.asp

Retablos – the Modern Era – 1980-90s Retablos – Migration Gallery: http://mmp.opr.princeton.edu/expressions/gallery-en.aspx

If you were to create your very own Retablo, what would it look like? Tell YOUR story! RETABLOS – The Story of Migration through folk art What can we learn from Retablos? How can your classroom use Retablos? How can you help your students make cultural connections, synthesize and create?

Refer back to the few big events turning points, or definitive moments from your life that you wrote down… …and now create a Retablo to tell YOUR story and give thanks for success at a definitive moment…

Here are a few ideas on how to • use Retablos in the classroom*… • Please share other ideas! • Students adopt a historic figure • and create a Retablo for them • Students create a Retablo for a • current social activist/leader • Create Retablos to practice • certain grammar points (pret/imp) *See NOTE next slide…

*Note – We as educators must recognize that students come from different faiths, and some don’t follow any religious system. Recommend that students go with whatever belief system works for them (Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, Jewish, none at all)… but to express thanks in a way that is respectful and appropriate to their beliefs. Whatever backgrounds students come from, they should be encouraged to celebrate them.

Great resources to learn and do more: • Mexican Migration Project • http://mmp.opr.princeton.edu/home-en.aspx • Latin American Migration Project • http://lamp.opr.princeton.edu/home-en.htm • National Institute for Migration (Mex) • http://www.inm.gob.mx/ or in English: http://www.inm.gob.mx/EN/index.php • Migration Information Source • http://www.migrationinformation.org/index.cfm • Thinkfinity www.thinkfinity.org – type ‘migrant’ into ‘search’ • America on the Move • http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/themes/story_51_3.html • Sin Fronteras http://www.sinfronteras.org.mx/ • La Jornada http://migracion.jornada.com.mx/migracion

Using Retablos to learn about Culture through individual tales