Saturday, December 11, 2010

Latino Threat Lecture

Last week I spent several hours editing an hour and a half lecture I attended by Leo Chavez on immigration and then my computer crashed. Luckly, I had also saved the videos on my friend's computer so I was able to retrieve them. My computer is being repaired and I got a loaner but it doesn't have the programs required to make a video, not even Microsoft PowerPoint. I think this is very relevant to the issues we must deal with when working with technology. Today, having a plan B is really a necessity to be able to operate with technology, which actually makes us more responsible and strategic than we had to be before. I am very interested in the evolutionary changes we face as a species today. Constant change forces us to adapt and foresee hypothetical situations we didn't have to before.
I really want to show the importance of the points raised by Leo Chavez pertaining the racism embedded in the construction of the Latino image as invader through immigration. I was finally able to edit the clips from the lecture and produce a ten minute version of Dr. Chavez's lecture. I put the video on youtube and I hope that people who watch it go out and buy his book to learn more about this complex and controversial topic. A strength of Chavez's lecture (and book) is the ethics and moral issues pertaining to a population which has been part of this country for many years, even before this country was formed. This population has had numerous contributions to the status we enjoy, yet the xenophobia and racism persist and have been accentuated with the conditions of the economy. The production of a fear factory in which we operate are design to disguise the real reasons for the downfall of our economy and has resulted in the scapegoating of one of the hardest working population in this country.
Throughout this semester, I have learned that one of the best contributions of digital media is the ability to give voice to the voiceless and provide access to many various narratives.
This class has really changed my perspective on Digital Media and has taught me how to use my creativity to produce more. I have learned so much from all of you this semester, thank you and I hope we stay in touch.

2 comments:

  1. This is very interesting I had never thought about the myth of Latinos being thought of as people who conquering the United States by rapid fertility. This fear that immigrants are coming to the country just to have children is outlandish. Believing and dispersing the myth that all Latinos can do is procreating in order to conquer or take over to provoke feelings of anxiety and anger amongst American citizens is unreasonable and offensive.

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  2. I reflected on another classmate's project) Marina, that moving information and framing it becomes the activist role of the expert in relation to digital storytelling as you demonstrate through editing and posting.

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