On Latinx Futurism(s) (self-selected text)
Lately, my mind is circling back and forth with ideas for this thesis... it doesn't let me sleep, and when I'm not doing anything else that needs my total attention, I'm thinking of writing for this blog (maybe it has something to do with living with chronic anxiety, perhaps...)
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Something that keeps bothering me is the fear of presenting a portrayal of Latinness or talk about Latinx identities following the Western gaze of a minority as a victim that suffers and needs your help to be saved. Even if I'm talking from my position as Latinx newcomer to Canada, I do not seek to represent the multiplicity and complexity of Latinx identities as a whole, as if it was a monolith, which is not.
An opportunity to overcome this fear is offered by using the Latinx Futurism lens.
I came across this concept doing a research on Mestizaje for my Advanced Drawing class with Derek Liddington, who introduced a reading on Mestizo Art History that bothered me and opened a lot of discussions with him about mestizaje and the political and cultural significance that has for the Latinx communities, and cannot be oversimplified and miscommunicated as I perceived in the reading.
In my efforts to research on this topic, I came across an article on Futurism and Latinidad, specifically in the U.S context of Latinx Hip-Hop by T. J. Taylor (2020).
Summary
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In their essay, Taylor explores the Latinx futurism art genre rising in Latinx hip-hop as a medium of re-imagining a future for Latinx communities and cultures. They argue that Latinx Futurist hip-hop has become the space for Latinx artists to construct a unifying, ideal vision of Latinidad(es), using science fiction as a tool to decolonize cultural ideologies, within an imaginary, impossible narrative of utopian Latinness.
Engaging with Afro- and Indigenous futurisms, Latinx futurism in hip-hop enables artists to challenge exclusionary narratives and craft a decolonized, nuanced Latinx identity, in the possibility of unifying Latinxs of all backgrounds. The genre mainly resists Anglo-centered narratives of Latinx identity in the United States, including the whitening of Latinxs in pop culture and the colorism in Latin America that erases Native/African ancestry. By intentionally excluding English, identities are unified in their resistance to Anglo and Western assimilation. Essentially, Latinx hip-hop presents a decolonial future that celebrates Afro and Indigenous Latinidad, allowing Latinxs to reappropriate precolonial self-conceptions.
Most importantly, this genre recognizes the current colonial and settler state structures in Latin America, as well as in the Global North, which is necessary to reimagine a collective future. In this sense, Latinx Futurism is produced as a means of active survival and resistance within cultural and physical borderlands. As Taylor presents the impossibility of a singular Latinx identity, they argue Latinx hip-hop makes it possible by asserting a unified Latinx identity that doesn't exist outside their music, which could be understood as the guide to create alternative universes.
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This approach to my thesis project sounds ideal to create a space for Latinx identities and experiences to exist in a more collective way and under a more hopeful and liberatory perspective, while acknowledging the current barriers and marginalization. Still, it feels daunting to think of a way of portraying a unified future for Latinidad(es), when we are so many and so different.
My takeaways from this article are:
- Through my art, I can seek to approach my theme of Latinx identities and Latinidade(s), thinking of re-appropriating pre-colonial self-conceptions (indigeneity and ancestral heritage -> in-betweeness) for the reimagination of a collective future
- Why Latinx Futurism? This genre is produced as a means of active survival and resistance of our borderlands; it is liberatory and also comes from this "politic born of necessity" (concept from "This Bridge Called My Back")
- Research on Latinx Futurism artworks or written pieces that could inform my project
- (Monday, Sep/23) Read "This Must Be the Place" about the Latinx pioneers of a New Conceptualism informed by Migrant Experiences in NYC 60-70s.
- Look into Latinx Futurism perspectives in the Magical realism of 100YOS. I've been very inspired by this book my whole life, and I've understood many things about Colombia and LatAm through Gabo's concepts of circularity, politics and family dynamics, central to our survival and historical contexts of the region. Maybe this book has elements of this genre or serves as a purpose directing us into a Latinx utopia (and what does that look like? -> is there an ideal for all Latinxs?)
Bibliography
Taylor, T. J. (2020). Latinxs Unidos: Futurism and Latinidad in United States Latinx Hip-Hop. Extrapolation, 61(1–2), 29–52. https://doi.org/10.3828/extr.2020.4
Moraga, Cherríe, and Gloria Anzaldúa, eds. This Bridge Called My Back : Writings by Radical Women of Color. Fortieth anniversary edition. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781438488295.
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