EL SUENO: Ofrenda to our Ancestors

At the event, there was a large quote on display that really resonated with me: "First Generation Americans are the flowers that bloom after generations of Harvest" - Alicia Mullikin. I thought this represented the installation's beautiful ofrenda to generations of ancestors and loved ones that made it possible for Mexican-Americans, like me, to have the privilege of being where we are. I am so grateful to my own family and their sacrifices for allowing me to live the life I lead and study at UW. Alicia told us about the significance of her dance company's logo, which I posted as my chosen event photo. She reimagined the image of Virgin Mary as both a badass woman and nurturing. This was exactly the topic of my midterm paper, the reimagination of Virgin Mary to change the narrative of Latinas and represent them according to the values they were passionate about. Alicia told us she thought of her mother as both nurturing, yet daring, which reminded her of the tough chola figures she saw a lot of growing up. Because this was an ofrenda to the bad-ass, caring women in her life, and all the ancestors that made it possible for her to be a recipient of the "American dream", she used this reimagination of Virgin Mary to pay tribute to their sacrifices. As my paper discusses, reimaginations of La Virgen beautifully tie together important cultural symbols with new values and acknowledge the complexity of women past the typical "suffering" virgin.  This is also a beautiful resilience practice as it establishes the power of past latino generations. Alicia encouraged us to think about every sacrifice made for us to experience the privilege we experience as we made the flowers. I thought a lot about my mother leaving her family and stability behind in Mexico so my brother and I could live out the "American dream". Collectively making all these flowers also felt powerful as it was truly a community tribute that showed these values and ofrenda making is important since so many people took the time to do this.