La Raza de Colorado El Movimiento 

In the El Movimiento video it emphasizes the importance of how Mexican American people needed to come together and demand change. With the forces of oppression making their lives so difficult, the only way to keep their families safe was to assimilate. Speaking Spanish is a way for them to cherish their culture, and that should be celebrated and supported. According to Lalo Delgado, “culture has been siphoned through language, and if you lose the language, you lose the culture.” I thought that this was very powerful, I still hear today after generations of people who were born and lived here, they decided to keep their language. But you still get those few who have the audacity to say, “go back to Mexico,” when in reality they were born right here in Colorado, they are home. I think that leaders like Corky Gonzales were essential to a moment like this. Demanding a crusade and leading people to no be afraid anymore and to fight back made a difference. Not only do they have to fight for basic human rights, they had to fight for their right to learn and live on their native lands. The video mentions that all this change and fight took so long to see results, but there were small victories here and there. My personal hope with this Santa Fe, plaque project is to help continue the celebration of the Mexican-American culture. If our plaques help to educate the community on the past hardships and victories that all those brave Chicano and Chicana activists worked for, we will be able to keep their memory alive. 

Kara O’Dell

8/26/2019

La Raza de Colorado – La Historia 

The La Raza video emphasizes the importance of understanding how far Mexican American heritage goes. Far past the arrival of the settlers, the native Mexicans were thriving in their own culture. The white settlers brought change and forced the natives to give up their lands and their culture to accept the rule of the white man. According to the video, prior to the Spanish arriving and laying claim to the land and its people, “within one century, 95% of the Native were dead.” The Spanish tried to assimilate the Mexican culture, to the effect that they were actually wiping out the ancient Native peoples. Instead of celebrating and accepting their differences they labeled them as “others.” Creating the justification that they are lesser people and they should be treated as such. I think that it is very important to remember how oppressed people were treated and what happed as a consequence. In an effort to not be deported many Mexicans were telling the authorities that they were Spanish. I found this to be very true, my grandparents did the same thing. They refused to keep speaking Spanish, and tried to hide their Mexican culture just to stay safe. The blame that Mexicans are responsible for the loss of jobs and the Great Depression, eerily reminds me of a current leader who speaks about that same false idea today. With this Santa Fe arts project we will celebrate the Mexican-American heritage, and remember how they have been treated and still treated. We cannot forget how important every culture is. They make Colorado diverse and beautiful. 

1. Title: Doors Open Denver Plaques 

2. Project Participants: Sara, Pauline, Jamilla, 

3. General Introduction: 

 – Doors Open Denver is locally based 

 – The project requires a collection of plaques to be designed that will include unique typography and cohesive visual elements to bring them together.

 – The scope of this project is 12 anticipated sites that will showcase their unique plaque. 

4. Problem Identification:

 -The service we are designing for is to educate and communicate to the public about historical and cultural awareness. 

 – Some issues to overcome are researching the local Latinx culture to insure sensitivity and respect. Creating groups of designers to contribute to each plaque and agreed upon design. The cohesion aspect will need to be quickly agreed upon due to the shorten timeline in which we have to work. The typeface is an additional unit that will need to be designed and agreed upon by all designers. 

 -The single message that should be communicated is the message of historical and cultural awareness and appreciation of the local Latinx community. 

 -The emotions that the plaques should evoke is, nostalgia, proud, unified community voice. 

5.  Client Product/Service Analysis:

 -The client’s goals are to create a self guided tour in the local Santa Fe arts district, showcasing historical photos of the 1960’s Latinx community. 

History 

Culture

Art

Respect 

Celebration

Appreciation 

Remembrance 

Community

Unity

Nostalgia

The impact that this service will make is the celebration and appreciation that will be marking the landscape with moments of cultural remembrance of the Latinx community. 

6. Audience Considerations: The audience will be the local community, the participants in the Santa Fe arts district galleries and the general population that enjoys historical cultural arts. 

7. World View, Historical and Social Contexts: This outcome or solution to this project will inform the public of the history of the district that they live in. These types of events help to educate the public of the original culture that built the city that is growing and changing rapidly today. 

8. Positioning and Communication Strategy: The purpose of this project is to educate and advocate for the historical and cultural community that has laid the foundation for what the arts district has become today. The client wants to accomplish a visual tour in the form of plaques that will be pasted to the exterior of the buildings around the area of the arts district. The photo plaques will highlight cultural value that should be celebrated and remembered. 

9. Pragmatic Issues: The location of the plaques may have noise competition, both visually and auditorily. The competition will be the existing art work that may be on the walls of the chosen buildings. The time constraints will be short on this project due to the approval process of each piece.