University of Texas at El Paso ScholarWorks@UTEP Open Access Theses & Dissertations 2020-01-01 Towards A New Cholx Consciousness: The Visual Rhetorics Of Cholx Artistas As A Method For Social Justice Movements Elvira Carrizal-Dukes University of Texas at El Paso Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.utep.edu/open_etd Part of the Epistemology Commons, Ethnic Studies Commons, and the Rhetoric Commons Recommended Citation Carrizal-Dukes, Elvira, "Towards A New Cholx Consciousness: The Visual Rhetorics Of Cholx Artistas As A Method For Social Justice Movements" (2020). Open Access Theses & Dissertations. 3085. https://scholarworks.utep.edu/open_etd/3085 This is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UTEP. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Theses & Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks@UTEP. For more information, please contact [email protected]. TOWARDS A NEW CHOLX CONSCIOUSNESS: THE VISUAL RHETORICS OF CHOLX ARTISTAS AS A METHOD FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE MOVEMENTS ELVIRA CARRIZAL-DUKES Doctoral Program in Rhetoric and Composition APPROVED: Kate Mangelsdorf, Ph.D., Chair Beth Brunk-Chavez, Ph.D. Dennis Bixler-Márquez, Ph.D. Guillermina Gina Núñez-Mchiri, Ph.D. Stephen L. Crites, Jr., Ph.D. Dean of the Graduate School Copyright © by Elvira Carrizal-Dukes 2020 Dedication To my husband Ronnie Dukes and my golden retriever Ody Dukes for their constant love, support, and inspiration. To the Cholos, Cholas, and Cholx throughout my life for always being there. To my parents and grandparents, tíos y tías, primas y primos, my siblings, especially my little brothers, and nieces and nephews – I love you all. TOWARDS A NEW CHOLX CONSCIOUSNESS: THE VISUAL RHETORICS OF CHOLX ARTISTAS AS A METHOD FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE MOVEMENTS by ELVIRA CARRIZAL-DUKES, M.F.A. DISSERTATION Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at El Paso in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of English THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT EL PASO August 2020 Acknowledgements It has been a satisfying academic journey to earning a Ph.D. I’m taking this opportunity to recognize the barrios that helped me along the way. Most importantly, to our ancestors who fought, died, and laid the groundwork. To my parents Alicia and Sonny for taking care of me, encouraging my creative talents at an early age, and for watching over me. Maria Dominguez my guidance counselor at Gadsden HS encouraged me to go to college. Professors and mentors at the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities gave me great support—Rusty Barceló, the late Guillermo Rojas, Dennis Valdes, and Melody Gilbert. At Columbia University in the City of New York, I received mentoring and support from Jamal Joseph, the late Lewis Cole and Milena Jelinek, and Richard Peña. I also received love and support from my Harlem family—New Heritage Theatre Group, Harlem Arts Alliance, and IMPACT Repertory Theatre. Head nod to Darryl T. Downing. To my committee—Kate Mangelsdorf, Beth Brunk-Chavez, Dennis Bixler- Márquez and Guillermina Gina Núñez-Mchiri: Thank you for teaching me to be a scholar in all my disciplinary fields of interest. I’m honored to be under your guidance. Thank you to my classmates who dialogued with me at UTEP, especially Maria Isela Maier, Kwadwo Jantuah, Ruby Wadee, Patcha Lum Sidouan, Chowaing Chagra Belekeh, Isaac Ceniceros, Shuv Raj Rana Bhat, Tetyana Zhyvotovska, Ashok Bhusal, Suresh Lohani, and Brita Arrington. Thank you to Lucía Durá and Isabel Baca who served as advisors and gave me writing, publishing, and community involvement opportunities. Huge thanks to the Graduate School for the workshops, dissertation studios, and the 3MT challenge; Claudia Rivers, Joy Urbina, and UTEP Librarians for research support; and Steve Varela and the Creative Studios crew and my TeachTech cohort for helping to expand my technological knowledge. I’m grateful for fellowships and grants that supported my research along the way – Les and Harriet Dodson, Juergen & Phyllis Hunter v Strauss, Baker Hernandez, Knight Foundation, Cindy and Dickie Selfe DMAC Fellow, National Consortium of Environmental Rhetoric & Writing Writer-in-Residence, and UTEP Multilingual User-Experience Research Center. I’m grateful to my employer since 2009, Chicana/o Studies at UTEP, for giving me opportunities to grow professionally, to create new courses, to serve as an adviser, and to attend Latino Arts Now! Thank you to the El Paso Museum of Art, Museum of History, and Alzheimer’s Association West Texas Chapter and David Hernandez for supporting my creative work and community efforts. I especially want to thank the Artistas and Cholos, Cholas, and Cholx who gave me the opportunity to interview them and welcomed me. I’m grateful to the late Patrick Shaw Cable for introducing me to the extraordinary Paola Rascón. Gracias, Paola y Pepe y familia. In Paola’s city of Chihuahua I met members of the Movimiento Hermandad Raul, Micke, Paul, Cristian, Casco, Dinamita, Spider, Shecko, Carmen, Danny, Daniel, Kecko, Shegar, Black, Carlos, Gerardo, and Carlos. Thank you to Frederick Aldama for the invite to SÕL-CON and CXC as a comic book author during this doctoral journey where I met badass Vicko Alvarez Vega. She introduced me to Luz, Skeemer, and Zeye, the community of Pilsen, Lester Rey, and the Heart of Pilsen Barbershop. Thank you, Ellie and David for your support in Chicago. Thank you, Tey Marianna Nunn and Jadira Gurulé from NHCC Art Museum in ALBQ for discussing with me the Qué Chola exhibit. I’m grateful for my cuñada Dalilah for connecting me to Tonio and Claudia, and in El Paso, huge thanks to the O.G. Familia and the Cholo called Jay. Also, thanks to friends and colleagues Penelope Espinoza, Claudia Ley, Juan Sandoval, Dulcinea Lara, and James Diego Vigil for giving me the time to discuss my research with them. To my greatest blessing of all, my husband and creative partner for support and encouragement during this intense graduate school experience. I could not have accomplished any of this without you, Ronnie Dukes. 私はあなたを心から愛しています. vi Abstract My dissertation study examines the Cholx subculture through the artwork of Chola artistas Paola Rascón and Vicko Alvarez Vega. Growing up, I interacted easily with Cholos and Cholas, but I also knew that in society there was an overall negative idea of Cholos and Cholas. My research advances Cholx consciousness as a method for social movements through the examination of the visual and written rhetorics by Chola artistas. For my dissertation study, I have drawn on theoretical frameworks from Chicana Feminism, Latino Critical Theory, and Social Justice Rhetorics as discussed by Dolores Delgado Bernal, Kendall Leon, Tara Yosso, Daniel Solórzano, Victor Villanueva, Asao Inoue, and Gloria Anzaldúa. My research is qualitative, combining video interviews and participant observation research. I also examine art and writing produced by my research participants as cultural artifacts that provide evidence of the key themes they explore and present in their artforms. I also reflect on my own autoethnographic experiences as a Xicana scholar and author of comic books, plays, and films. I’m from a small colonia outside of El Paso, Texas, called Chaparral. I grew up in Cholo and Chola communities. I’m first-generation college in my large blended family. My mom emigrated from Chihuahua and my dad grew up in El Paso. As a scholar, I want to examine my own community to better understand my lived experiences. My research connects with the growing global interest of Cholx identity, arts, and culture. My goal is to put forth Cholx counter-storytelling as a method for Social Justice Rhetorics. I want to make salient the images and stories of the Cholx subculture in order to disrupt the oppressive systems and ideologies that have kept them racially and economically disadvantaged. vii Table of Contents Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ..........................................................................................................................v Abstract ......................................................................................................................................... vii Table of Contents ......................................................................................................................... viii List of Tables ................................................................................................................................ xii List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. xiii List of Illustrations ....................................................................................................................... xiv Chapter 1: Introduction – Becoming Cholx .....................................................................................1 Positionality ..........................................................................................................................12 Cholas and Cholos ................................................................................................................20 Cholx in Hollywood ..............................................................................................................22 Decolonizing Stereotypes .....................................................................................................27