The Daily Angeles

Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies This post is a review of anthropologist and physician Seth Holmes' Fresh Fruit, Broken Bodies , published in 2013 by the University of California Press. This book is where Holmes recounts his experiences in his fieldwork in Mexico, and the hardships he and his friends had encountered while crossing the border, their experiences at the Border Patrol jail, and the trials and difficulties of migrant workers in the United States. Holmes' expos é sheds light on the suffering that Mexican migrants endure in order to make a living. The hard work of Mexican migrants in fields and farms is crucial to our food system and Holmes attempts to persuade his audience that these migrants deserve better, in terms of healthcare, living conditions, wages, and respect, among other things. Holmes connects the structural violence that is ingrained in the US migrant labor system to the social processes by which this gets normalized. This audience is not exclusive to anthropo

Today I listened to an audio story on Latino USA called " The Fight for Abortion Rights in The Dominican Republic " which aired on June 29th, 2021. The host of the show is Maria Hinojosa and the guest speaker is journalist Amanda Alc ántara. I learned that anti-abortion laws in The Dominican Republic are very strict. I learned that civil rights for women in regards to pro-reproductive rights is minimal to none. Hinojosa mentions, "The Dominican Republic has one of the harshest anti-abortion laws in the Americas. Abortion isn't allowed under any circumstances. Only 5 other countries in the continent have such harsh restrictions on ending a pregnancy legally. That's Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, Jamaica, and El Salvador" (Latino 1:20 - 1:42). I liked that the guest speaker,  Amanda Alc ántara, gave the audience some background information.  Alc ántara sheds light on the consequences of having an abortion in The Dominican Republic. The fight for "tres causal

Popol Vuh: The Sacred Book of the Maya  tells the Maya genesis. The text is translated by Allen J. Christenson. The translator's preface states, "The Popol Vuh is the most important example of Precolumbian Maya literature to have survived the Spanish conquest. Its significance may be seen in the numerous versions of the text that have been published. In the past three hundred years, the Popol Vuh has been translated approximately thirty times into seven languages. Unfortunately, most of these translations were not based on the original Quich é -Maya Text, but rather on various Spanish versions derived from it" (Christenson 24). Some of the key characters in Popol Vuh are the Hero Twins (Hunahpu and Xbalanque), their grandmother Xmucane, their brothers One Batz and One Chouhen, their father One Hunahpu, and their uncle Seven Hunahpu, and the different Lords of Xibalba.  Hero Twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque Since the beginning of their lives, The Hero Twins lived their life

     Tod ay I read an article by Rebecca Gonz á lez L auck, titled " La Venta " from  Archaeology of Ancient Mexico and Central America: An Encyclopedia . The article mainly focuses on La Venta and its location, climate, weather, architecture, sculptures, and socio-political organizations. The article states that La Venta's monumental architecture and sculpture "define it as one of the most important cities of the Olmec civilization, and one of the clearest examples of complex societies in Middle America during the first millennium before the common era" (Gonz á lez Lauck 92). I also watched Kingdom of the Jaguar , an episode from the program  Lost Kingdoms of Central America . The video is conveniently uploaded on Youtube but usually shown on BBC. The show's host is Dr. Jago Cooper , a British archaeologist who specializes in the archaeology of the Americas. In the episode, Dr. Cooper journeys to San Lorenzo, La Venta, Chalcatzingo, Juxtlahuaca, Xalapa Muse

American flag on a cannabis leaf Image by  Gordon Johnson Today I listened to the audio story, " Decriminalizing The War On Drugs, " on Latino USA, hosted by Maria Hinojosa, which aired on January 29, 2021. The guest speaker of the segment is Maritza Perez, Director of The Office of National Affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance in Washington, D.C. The segment talks about systemic racism in America acting as a catalyst in creating anti-drug policies that specifically target people of color. Let's not forget the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986, where a vast disparity existed between federal penalties for crack cocaine and powder cocaine ( United States, Congress). It was a racially driven law because crack cocaine was mainly found and used in urbanized areas where people of color lived. I did learn several things from this segment. I learned from Perez that in November 2020, Oregon voters passed Measure 110, which decriminalizes the personal possession of illegal drugs. In the s