Ana Castillo Essays - Chicana Feminists, Ana Castillo,

Ana Castillo Chicana poet and writer Ana Castillo was born and raised in Chicago, but has spent most of her writing career studying her Mestiza heritage. In her first novel, The Mixquiahuala Letters (1986), Castillo explores the relationship between two women who travel to Mexico in search of a better understanding of their place in both the U.S. and Mexican societies. The novel, written in the form of letters between the two women, is considered the landmark novel that made Castillo a leading Chicana feminista writer, winning the American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation. Castillo's interest in race and gender issues can be traced through her writing career, culminating in Massacre of the Dreamers: Essays on Xicanisma, published in 1994. In this collection of essays, Castillo explores the notion of Xicanisma, a term she herself created in order to give name to the struggles of Brown women in the racially polarized U.S. In the U.S., much debate of racism becomes constructed in a Black-White paradigm, leaving little room for others. In Massacre of the Dreamers, Castillo explores the Chicana feminist movement of the 70's and where that movement is headed. Castillo notes that U.S. history, especially, seems to neglect the struggles of Mexico and the indigenous peoples who became involuntary migrants into what is now the Southwestern U.S. By exploring the history of Mexico and Central America, Castillo hopes to integrate ideas about the patriarchy and oppression of these societies with that of the United States, looking at how Brown women must cope in both societies. Castillo was schooled in Chicago for the most part, attending the Chicago City College for two years before entering Northwestern Illinois University. Here, she received her B.A. in art. After receiving her degree in 1975, Castillo moved to Sonoma County, California to teach. In 1977 she moved back to Chicago and earned an M.A. in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of Chicago. Throughout this period of time, Castillo was not only writing, but was also an activist -- something she still continues to be. In 1986 Castillo moved back to California and taught at various colleges. She eventually found herself at the University of Bremen in Germany where she earned her Ph.D. in American Studies. Not only is Castillo a noted poet and novelist, she has edited many works with other Chicana-Latina writers including Cherrie Moraga and Norma Alarcon. It was with Alarcon and others that Castillo co-founded Third Woman, a literary magazine, for which she is a contributing editor. Her most recent publication, La Diosa de las Americas/Goddess of the Americas, is an anthology about the Virgin of Guadalupe with Castillo as editor. Castillo proclaims herself a "devotee" of the Virgin of Guadalupe who is considered the Mother Goddess in Mexican, Mestizo, and Mexican-Indian societies, but largely ignored by the patriarchal Catholic church. It is the Catholic church and patriarch that led Castillo to incorporate sexuality as one of the main themes in her writing. Because the Catholic church does not condone sex unless it is for the sole purpose of having a child, many women in Catholic cultures, including much of Latin America, lose a segment of their "self" by being denied their sexuality. Castillo believes that women have lost their sense of self on many levels, including psychologically, physically, and spiritually, and need to reclaim themselves. Castillo herself does this through her writing and activism.

Free Essays on Ufo

The 50th anniversary of the alleged crash at Roswell is nigh upon us and there's a spate of books on the Roswell Incident and UFOs in general. Coincidence? We think not. Here are capsule reviews of some books done by the top-secret three-member "Grand Unified Conspiracy and UFO Retrieval Committee of the Order of Men in Tweed." "Beyond Roswell" (Marlowe and Co., $24.95) by Michael Hesemann and Philip Mantle. In one of the few books that sheds any new light on the subject, the authors make a game attempt to fit all the "facts" of the Roswell crash into a new scenario. Backed by government documents and eyewitness interviews, they claim the military actually responded to three different saucer crashes in 1947, from May 31 to Aug. 13 one near Socorro, one near Roswell, and one near Flagstaff, Ariz. Much material will be new except to fanatics. Its weakness, like most of this genre, is that it sometimes relies on discredited accounts or materials. () "The UFO Invasion" (Prometheus Books, $25.95) edited by Kendrick Frazier, Barry Karr and Joe Nickell. This could have been the book that made a convincing case for UFO debunkers, but it falls short. Based mostly on reprints of articles from the Skeptical Inquirer, it jumps all over the place, and the lack of coherence hurts as does the choice of some obscure cases. It also contains a large dose of the smugness and close-mindedness not associated with "scientific" inquiry. ()... Free Essays on Ufo Free Essays on Ufo The Roswell Incident Essay written by Unknown The people of the world have always had a mysterious belief that Earth wasn't the only planet in the universe that supported life. This belief dates back to ancient times when heavenly and demonic stories were told of gods who strode across the skies on their golden chariots. Tales as far fetched as Zeus who threw lightening bolts from his fingertips to stories as credible as the American Indian's Cachinas, who supposedly taught them to farm and saved them from numerous disasters. The Egyptians, who built their mammoth pyramids with only the use of man power, used hieroglyphics. These same hieroglyphics have been unofficially documented as being similar to symbols found on unidentified aircraft wreckage found in several incidences over the past fifty years (Montgomery 225-32, 236-37). Are these stories all mere coincidence? Some researchers think not and have continued to unveil new evidence that is believably true. Recently, new facts have been brought up on the most documented UFO (unidentified flying object) sighting of all time: the Roswell Incident. The Roswell Incident is a UFO crash that occurred at 11:30 p.m. on July 4th, 1947 in Roswell, New Mexico (Randal 10). Mac Brazel, a local New Mexico rancher, discovered a considerable amount of unusual debris while riding out on horseback early in the morning to check his sheep after a night of intense thunderstorms. He reported to Sheriff George Wilcox after driving into Roswell, that the aircraft had created a shallow gouge several hundred feet long and was scattered over a large area. Sheriff Wilcox then notified authorities at the Roswell Army Air Field and with the assistance of his deputies, proceeded to investigate the matter. Shortly after the 509th Bomb Group arrived from their station 35 miles away (Walker 38), they closed off the area for a number of days and retrieved the wreckage. The debris was initially taken to Roswell A... Free Essays on UFO The 50th anniversary of the alleged crash at Roswell is nigh upon us and there's a spate of books on the Roswell Incident and UFOs in general. Coincidence? We think not. Here are capsule reviews of some books done by the top-secret three-member "Grand Unified Conspiracy and UFO Retrieval Committee of the Order of Men in Tweed." "Beyond Roswell" (Marlowe and Co., $24.95) by Michael Hesemann and Philip Mantle. In one of the few books that sheds any new light on the subject, the authors make a game attempt to fit all the "facts" of the Roswell crash into a new scenario. Backed by government documents and eyewitness interviews, they claim the military actually responded to three different saucer crashes in 1947, from May 31 to Aug. 13 one near Socorro, one near Roswell, and one near Flagstaff, Ariz. Much material will be new except to fanatics. Its weakness, like most of this genre, is that it sometimes relies on discredited accounts or materials. () "The UFO Invasion" (Prometheus Books, $25.95) edited by Kendrick Frazier, Barry Karr and Joe Nickell. This could have been the book that made a convincing case for UFO debunkers, but it falls short. Based mostly on reprints of articles from the Skeptical Inquirer, it jumps all over the place, and the lack of coherence hurts as does the choice of some obscure cases. It also contains a large dose of the smugness and close-mindedness not associated with "scientific" inquiry. ()...