SHOW NOTES:

Every generation of Latinas has paved the way for future generations to start their path without the weight and stigma that our sisters had to bear.

In today's episode of Ellas, we talk with Chicanita scholar and storyteller, Aneliza Ruiz, who shares the stories of fantastic L.A. girl gangs that paved the way for our generation: Pachucas and Cholas.

Aneliza Ruiz is a Barnard College graduate that wrote her thesis: Girls, Gangs, y Chingonas: Women, Art, and Home-work in Los Angeles.

This vital thesis centers on our Pachuca and Chola sisters and how they've rewritten traditional Mexican traditions and found their own voice and agency through fashion, beauty, and art.

She also shares how her upbringing in East L.A. has shaped her identity which ultimately inspired her to research, interview, and share the stories of these women.

We deep dive into Aneliza's thesis, talk about her educational experience in an Ivy League, and the support system she created with her fellow community of women of color.

In the last minutes of this episode, Brenda Deshazer makes an important announcement, so stick to the end to listen!

In this episode, we talk about…

0:32 - Meet scholar and storyteller, Aneliza Ruiz

1:52 - Discover how Aneliza's community of East L.A. has shaped her identity and academic career

5:33 - "You're from a marginalized community - you need to go to college if you're going to live."

7:04 - Aneliza shares how she felt she wasn't well represented in her classes, but she had the leverage to inspire and drive her to tell a different story of her community

9:52 - Imposter syndrome was hard, but Aneliza was saved and encouraged by her fellow community of women of color

13:01 - "This is not the story I wanted to tell. I wanted to write for my community, instead, I wrote for you guys."

15:01 - There's a certain thing that happens when you call attention to race in a room full of white people and they feel uncomfortable

18:52 - Aneliza shares how her research work was very solitary and how her girl gang encouraged her to write her thesis

21:12 - Learn the difference between homemaking and home-work

25:57 - Find out how Pachucas and Pachucos emerged in the U.S.

26:48 - Discover how Pachucas rewrote their home-work with their stylish and opulent Zoot Suit

30:23 - Did you know that there are two different Chola aesthetics? Find out the difference between Norteñas & Sureñas

35:21 - One pencil for a badass makeup look

37:17 - Find out how Chicanas have rewritten home-work in art

41:27 - Pachucas, Cholas, Chicanas, Latinas - we're all CHINGONAS

43:56 - Aneliza's path is just beginning, find out how she's continuing to rewrite her own home-work

46:34 - Aneliza's shares advice to the next generation of chingonas

48:25 - Listen to Brenda Deshazer's important announcement

Relevant Links

Barnard College

Columbia University

Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies

Cholas

Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship

UCLA

Juan Gabriel

Mexican and Mexican Mass Deportation During the 30's & 40's

Pachucas

The Great Depression

The Pachuca Zoot Suit

Los Angeles Library

Pachucas in a police lineup

Norma Mendoza-Denton

Maybelline

Aqua Net

Originals Magazine

Scalar

Oprah

Ellen DeGeneres

Want more?

Follow Ellas: @ellasthepodcast

Follow Us: @bee.andi & @bren_jai

Follow Aneliza's Project: @home_workforchingonas

Produced and Edited by: Devell Deshazer II

Song by: Sro CC by SA