Abstract
This study aims to deconstruct racialized hetero-normative narratives of the outdoors and “hold space” (Cairo, 2021) for Latine stories and perspectives. Environmentalism and social structures are deeply intertwined; therefore, addressing racial disparities for communities of color is crucial for attaining justice for our natural world and the people within (Ybarra, 2016). The purpose of this study is to explore how the natural world influences Chicana/o families’ sense of belonging within their communities. This study uses testimonios (Silva et al., 2021) as a methodology coupled with a LatCrit (Solorzano & Yosso, 2001a) theoretical framework to develop Chicana/o counterstories that intervene against colonial and white supremacist constructions of “Nature.” Data generation included intergenerational family interviews (garnering testimonios) around sense of belonging through nature. Results include curated excerpts that reflect core ideas of belonging, connection to the land, and experiences of injustice among Latine families participating in outdoor youth activities. These testimonios reflected experiences of both societal belonging and exclusion within the context of Latine engagement with natural spaces in the United States. The testimonios end with consejos: words of wisdom for future generations. The study concludes with reflexive poems comprised of the testimonios shared using antropoesía.
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Notes
For families adapting to a new environment (including social environment), spending time in the natural world can develop a sense of welcome in their host country. At the same time, spending time in Nature can “spark comparison and often nostalgic feelings towards the environment of the home they left behind” (Peters et al., 2016).
Landscapes transform knowledge and wisdom from one generation to another and reflect how people and Nature are intrinsically linked (Grincheva, 2013).
Human smugglers.
“By giving the land a spirit with which they connect, [Mexican-American] writers reject the colonial objectification of the Amerindian, the mestizo, and the natural environment” (Ybarra, 2016, p. 70).
“Communication [dialogue] is intrinsic to the process of co-creation and re-creation of one’s cultural identity” (Yep, 1998, pg. 79).
English Learners are often denied opportunities by teachers to use their language to make meaning (Garza, 2020).
“Knowledge or wisdom is generated inside the communities through individual experiences in relation to particular geographic localities which legitimize the past and serve as the main historical evidence for the truthfulness of the stories happened in these places” (Grincheva, 2013, p. 156).
[Chicanas and Chicanos] know that our culture maintains a unique relationship with, not dominance over, Nature. More radical than reclaiming lost title to lands, these writers [Gloria Anzaldua and Arturo Longoria] declare that our communion with Nature ranks higher than any legal document, even if we are the only ones who recognize it” (Ybarra, 2016, p. 117).
Slang for the border patrol.
Literal translation: the dog kennel; Slang for jail.
Ybarra (2016) argues “migrant farmworker literature shows this community’s rejection of capital’s attempt to alienate them from the land”. Beyond romanticization, “when the farmworker appreciates natural beauty, he or she does so from the knowledge gained from daily effort and relationship, rather than from a trite imitation of a long dead poet or philosopher” (p. 122).
“El pájaro herido” by Francisco Isernia.
Ybarra (2016) writes on Moraga’s (Chicana) poetic piece “War Cry” in The Last Generation (1993): “…the colonized body never really lost its connection to the natural environment…. tierra completes the circle—for upon death, we are interred and eventually become one with the Earth” (p. 146-147).
“Creative practices and behaviors oriented towards rethinking relations with others and the landscape produced a change in the embodiments… [people are] more likely to articulate themselves in relation to the landscapes of their childhood and present, more likely to see relationships in general as constitutive of their being” (Holmes, 2016, p. 16).
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Orozco, J.P., Schultz, C.S. & De La Garza, A. “Parece Que Están Dándote Una Bienvenida”: Testimonios of Chicana/o Families Sense of Belonging Through Nature. Int J Sociol Leis (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s41978-024-00151-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41978-024-00151-7