La Chicana Pamela Ponce

Gwen Araujo Gwen is sad story of transphobia. According to Merriam-Webster, Transphobia is described as " :  irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against  transgender  people". Gwen Araujo was a transgender woman who was brutally murdered in 2002 at the young age of 17. However, Gwen was not just a transgender woman. Gwen was also a Latina, a loving sister, a daughter, and a friend. Although this story is heartbreaking, it is even more heartbreaking to know that Gwen is not the only victim of brutal transphobia. According to Stonewall.org/uk,  "Two in five trans people have experienced a hate crime or incident because of their gender identity in the last 12 months",  "Nearly half (42 per cent) of trans people are not living permanently in their preferred gender role stated they are prevented from doing so because they fear it might threaten their employment status"  resulting in " Nearly half (48 per cent) of trans people under 26 s...

Our Visit to Chicano Park, Lincoln Park For our midterm, we were instructed to take a field day at Lincoln Park where we would discuss the murals that reside there. These murals are some that I see in my daily commute,  but I never made the time to stop and admire them in all their glory. During our class, I had the opportunity to walk around the park and take pictures of the murals. After coming home and doing some research on the murals, I learned that the park celebrated its 15 year anniversary in September and that unfortunately, because of the city construction, 15 murals had to be demolished and 30 still remain. While we were at the park, I kept seeing the author's name in the murals and when I came home I wanted to learn more about him. Gabriel S. Gaytan, a famed Chicano Visionary Artist, is the father of many of the murals at Lincoln Park.  Mr. Gaytan poured his heart and culture into these paintings and it shows. Although each mural has its own story, i...