Reflection
Aaron Flores
For our final project, I teamed up with Saleen De La Cruz to create an art piece and a video about resistance against recent gentrification through prideful Latinidad in The Bronx and East Los Angeles. To create our art piece, we explored our respective neighborhoods (The Bronx for me and East LA for Saleen) and took numerous pictures. We captured images of the ongoing gentrification while also documenting instances of Latinidad, including murals, art installations, businesses, and more. We then printed the images related to Latinidad, cut them out, and pasted them onto large block letters in a collage style to spell out ‘L-A-T-I-N-I-D-A-D.’ We complemented our art piece with a collaborative video that showcases our experiences in our communities and outlines the process involved in creating our project. The video also features additional images of Latinidad that were not included in the art pieces, along with visuals depicting gentrification in our neighborhoods and its effects.
Our project aligns with the concept of perseverance in new environments discussed in class. Inspired by the stories of Cuban endurance in Miami and Puerto Rican endurance in New York City, I sought to explore how these narratives could resonate with the present-day challenges in my South Bronx neighborhood. With an uptick in gentrification in the last 5 years, regions of the South Bronx are beginning to look like downtown Manhattan. Nevertheless, amidst these changes and the influx of new faces, Latino pride has never been stronger in The Bronx. Residents are steadfastly maintaining their lifestyles in the face of newcomers, with an increasing number of Hispanic restaurants and businesses emerging in the heart of our community to continue showcasing our pride. This also connects to various readings assigned in class, particularly those centered on Latino culture and cultural preservation.