MinerAlert
MinerAlert
In a multi-disciplinary conversation and performance, local artist-scholar-activists Nancy Lorenza Green and Dr. Yolanda Chávez Leyva, along with monuments historian Rebecca Muñoz, considered the histories and politics of public monuments. Drawing from their creative practices, research, and longstanding participation in civic life, they each engaged with the sculptures of Jessica Kairé (then on view at the Rubin Center) from a local, borderlands perspective. Through poetry, music, and dynamic conversation, they discussed the Equestrian Monument and its complicated legacy, while reflecting on the role of public engagement in shaping how history is written. This plática was part of an ongoing series of exhibitions and events dedicated to Central America and its deep connections to our region.
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Dr. Yolanda Chavez Leyva is a Chicana/ fronteriza historian and writer who was born and raised on the border. She is of Rarámuri descent and honors her grandmother Canuta Ruacho. She is the Director of the Institute of Oral History and Associate Professor in the Department of History. She is also the lead historian for the first-ever Bracero Museum (funded by the Mellon Foundation) slated to open in Socorro, Texas in 2024. She has spent her life listening to and now documenting the lives of people who live on la frontera. Professor Leyva specializes in border history, public history, and Chicana history.
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Nancy Lorenza Green, M.Ed. is a bilingual Afro-Chicana writer/musician/photographer born in El Paso, TX and raised in Cd. Juárez, Chihuahua. A priestess of Oya in the Yoruba religion, she writes from a perspective guided by spiritual healing energy. Nancy is the author of the poetry collections Crucified River/Rio Crucificado and Reflections of Time. Her poetry has been included in the following anthologies published in New York, Arizona, California, and Texas : Latinas: An anthology of Struggles and Protests in 21st Century USA, Sowing the Seeds: Our Spirit…Our Reality, Mujeres de Maiz Zines 5 & 6, Mezcla: Art and Writing from the Tumblewords Project, Chrysalis and Bordersenses. Aura is her latest collection of original music. |
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Rebecca Munoz is a Ph.D. student in the Rhetoric and Writing Studies Program at ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø. Her research is rooted in visual rhetoric and is concerned with how communities remember shared, often contested, histories in public spaces. Specifically, her research has been focused on the study of Confederate and Colonial monuments and memorials and rhetorics surrounding the social movements to remove them from public spaces. |