The Power of Difference

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents vii
3. Acknowledgments xvii
4. Introduction. Women of the Texas-Mexican Earth 1
5. I. Enterrando ombligos/Burying the Umbilical Cord: Tejanas in a Texas Land
6. Introduction 19
7. Border arte. Nepantla, el lugar de la frontera 23
8. To Your Shadow Beast. In Memoriam 33
9. The Equation of a Circle 36
10. Holiday 39
11. Man without a Pen 44
12. Hija del mesquite 46
13. That’s Tejana 50
14. Santiago 55
15. Growing Up in Laredo 58
16. Harbor 60
17. South Texas in July, 2014 62
18. Alzheimer’s Aubade 63
19. ¿Y qué nos pasó, Amá? 65
20. Fall into the Fig 67
21. Reflections of la Madre Tierra 70
22. Chicana 76
23. Repair 80
24. My mother’s thimble 81
25. Growing up a Texas-Mexican Woman 83
26. Sinvergüenza on the Banks of the Water 88
27. El Paso~El Valle 95
28. River of Lost Dreams 98
29. The Pyramid I Call Home 100
30. Red Dirt, Atascosa County, Texas 104
31. Amorosamente les saludo / Lovingly, I Greet You 106
32. A River of Women 108
33. II. Dolores profundos y la gracia de la vida/ Deep Hurts and the Grace of Life
34. Introduction 111
35. Between Manifest Destiny and Women’s Rights. Decolonizing Chicana History 115
36. “If a woman stands at the door you can’t go in” Jovita’s Story, April 1914 126
37. The Ballad of Emma Tenayuca 132
38. Para Manuela Solis Sager 135
39. La mentira, or How I Got Through Texas History 137
40. Casas grandes 141
41. No me quites mi español / Don’t Take Away My Spanish 143
42. Idioma/Language 145
43. My Mother Used to Read to Me 147
44. Summertime Blues 149
45. Brown Trenzas Are for Mensas 151
46. Memories of West Texas 154
47. Anticipating a New Life 157
48. The Immigrant’s Lament 164
49. Not the Last Pretender 166
50. Aquí en San Anto/Here in San Anto 167
51. Something Severed 169
52. Amber Waves of Grain 170
53. San Antonio sin Marías 185
54. It Is Possible 188
55. El conquistador 190
56. The Power of Difference 192
57. I Wanted Mexican, But I Got H.E.B. Instead 198
58. La Elliott (1935–1970) 200
59. Brown Mother Full of Stars 203
60. Daughters of Burning Sun 205
61. III. Arte y semblanza: Tejana Artivists
62. Introduction 213
63. Santa Barraza 215
64. Nora Chapa Mendoza 223
65. Celeste De Luna 229
66. Carmen Lomas Garza 234
67. Verónica Ortegón 241
68. María Teresa García Pedroche 248
69. Kathy Vargas 255
70. Terry Ybañez 262
71. Conclusion 264
72. IV. All Our Relations: Our Connections to Land, Family, Friends
73. Introduction 267
74. (Re)Forming A Chicana Feminist: Transfrontera Memorias 271
75. Tía 281
76. En trozos/in pieces 284
77. Skyway Dreams 287
78. Ábreme la puerta 290
79. We, the Obsessed 292
80. Amorcito corazón 293
81. A Chilanga Tejana Writer: Notes on the Geography of Shame 294
82. She/Woman/Man 302
83. An Understanding 303
84. No More Trenzas 304
85. Role Model 306
86. Bad Hair Day 307
87. Nocturne: cuando el destino 310
88. Moustache 313
89. At the VA Telemetry Ward 315
90. Longing for Tejas Blues 317
91. My Mother’s Cuartito 319
92. Dinner with Dad 322
93. Mothering I 324
94. Sueños argentinos/Argentine Dreams 326
95. Argentine Dreams 329
96. Woman and Pain 331
97. The Garden 333
98. Forgiving Stephen F. Austin and the old three hundred 336
99. Viva la libertad: Mensaje a las mujeres / Long Live Liberty: A Message to Women 337
100. Let Us Hold Hands 339
101. Tierra incógnita 341
102. Ghosts of a Mexican Past (excerpt) 343
103. Asking for Pears: A Limpia Not Just a Love Poem 349
104. V. (Auto)compromisos y comunidad: Gifts of Powerful, Conscious Loving
105. Introduction 357
106. La Dormilona Dreamt of Home from the Shore of Erie 361
107. Hoy detengo el curso de los ríos 363
108. Today I Stop the River in Its Tracks 366
109. Ya lo verás 369
110. Chicanas Never Feared 371
111. Con todo respeto para la raza más apreciada, los chicanos/With All My Respect for My Dearest People, the Chicanos 373
112. In Finite F Light 377
113. Body I 378
114. Tejana Tongues/Lenguas tejanas 379
115. Canto a la tierra 381
116. Reina de copas 383
117. In Memory of My Departed Grandmother: Juanita Pérez Mejía 08/25/03–03/11/93 388
118. Ofrenda for Lobo: November 2, 1993 390
119. Feliz Navidad, Daddy 392
120. One dream of so many 395
121. Sóplame la vida 397
122. Plegaria milenaria / Millenial Prayer 398
123. One-sided conversations with my mother 400
124. Luchando por libertad / Struggling for Freedom 404
125. Picture Postcard from a Painter 406
126. An Omen 408
127. Cuando tú me besas/When You Kiss Me 409
128. My Woman and Her Bird 411
129. Trozos de amor a la vida/Pieces of Love to Life 412
130. Because faith has called me out 416
131. El silencio 418
132. Healing a Culture, AD 2000 420
133. Epilogue. ¡Adelante y con ganas!, by Norma Elia Cantú 425
134. Notes 433
135. Works Cited 437
136. Further Reading 441
137. Contributors 459