Looking young and the Naughty Step aka Outfit # 25

All remixed except scarf
Tank: Target
Dress: Volcom
Leggings: H&M
Sandals: Target
Earrings: Kohl's
Bangle: H&M
Scarf: Vintage - thrifted

Oooh, y'all! FIVE outfits left before I can dip back into my closet. I'm pretty excited about that.
I feel like today's outfit looks really young, but I'm only going to Bible study, tonight, so it's okay to look like I'm sixteen (I flatter myself).


It may not be my most professional look, but I will say that this has been super comfortable for this hot day.


Anyway, on to the Naughty Step. Iris of 260 Days, No Repeats tagged me yesterday, and I had to think long and hard about this, because the first person that popped into my mind is a political figure, and I try to avoid getting too political on this blog.


But I'm doing it anyway, y'all.


image found here.
I'm putting SB 1070 and laws like it on the Naughty Step. Why?, you ask. Because I was first called an "immigrant" like it was a bad thing when I was eight (four years after moving to the US), and "illegal immigrant" when I was twelve. Mind you, I'm Puerto Rican, which means I'm a born US citizen, but why should people be bothered by such silly details when I'm clearly brown and a Spanish speaker?


Also, I lived for years in Prince William County, VA, home of a similar law (that then had to be REPEALED because of its effect on the economy and the local police). There's a documentary about this law and how it affected the community before and after being passed which I highly recommend. You can find it here.


Anyway, racial profiling is a real thing, and it's one that I, and many others, have lived with our whole lives, and to try to legalize it is just unpardonable. I understand the reasons behind the anti-immigrant sentiment, I really do, but there's so much more to the situation than the fear mongering that seems to be most popular among the law's supporters.



And then today's news about parts of it being blocked? I won't lie, I cried.

I'm supposed to tag someone, so if you're interested, consider yourself tagged...

And as long as I'm on a political bent, I'll share one of my favorite songs on the topic. It's a little old, but the lyrics are just so spot on when it comes to describing immigration (and migration, in my own case).

Fashion, politics, and religion aka Outfit #10

All remixed except earrings
Blouson top: Target
Jeans: Banana Republic
Gladiators: Chinese Laundry
Stone bracelet: gift
Quetzal earrings: gift from a friend in Guatemala

Nothing terribly exciting for today, but I like this look anyway. I've got an exciting day of laundry, reading, cooking, and small group, so I figured I could wear jeans. Besides, it's actually cool enough that I won't be baking in them all day long.


Yesterday and Monday, there was some discussion of "slogan tees" over on academichic and it's spilled over into today. I thought it was pretty interesting. I feel the same way about slogan tees and bumper stickers: I like to read them, but I'm not putting them on. I mean, yeah, I sleep in my Obama tees, and B. and I have this sticker on our fridge, but these are statements I make inside my house, because the people who come here know me and can get more than the message on a shirt or a sticker.


I was raised in a house where we had political opinions, where we watched the news every night in English and in Spanish, where foreign policy affected my family in a real and tangible way. I'm not shy about my opinions, but they are complicated. I'm a Christian. I'm a Latina who was raised primarily in the US. I lean left, politically speaking. I'm middle class. The years abroad have given me a healthy dose of skepticism when it comes to the media, and yet I am an NPR junkie. I've lived in wealthy areas and in poor areas. I teach.
All these things shape my view of the world, and they just don't make a shirt for that. Even so, my clothing and my body say things about my beliefs and convictions. They speak to the issues that are important to me.


As I've thought about this slogan tee thing, though, I thought about one of the ways that I've made a statement about my beliefs and politics.


My tattoo. I knew I wanted one from the time I was thirteen, and it took me only twelve more years to actually go through with it. I thought long and hard about what it would be (five years of thinking), and decided on this: "Bendito Dios por Encontrarme" - Blessed be God for finding me. I was fully aware of what it meant to me as far as my faith. I really do believe that God met me and rescued me at just the right time, as cheesy as that sounds. And while I am not one of those Christians who will tell you that Jesus makes your life easy, I will say that my life is exponentially better because of Him, even when things really suck.

And there's a testament to my ethnicity in there, too. I chose a message in Spanish because it's my first language, it's the language of my home and my church, the language in which I can best express strong emotion. Spanish is a big part of my Latina identity, and that's a huge part of who I am.


But as I've been thinking about the things we express with our clothes and our bodies, I'm starting to see the politics behind my tattoo as well. I am passionate about the importance of Spanish to the Latino community. I am passionate about the importance of ethnic and cultural identity for healthy development among adolescents - and adults, too, since I've met many, many adults who feel a bit adrift when it comes to this issue. I don't believe in the "great American melting pot" I feel like the cultural things - deep cultural things from generations back - are so ingrained that we can't even recognize them for what they are until we come up against something that really challenges these norms. We keep elements of who we are as members of something bigger, and meld them with elements of what we are becoming, but these things don't cancel each other out - we're like swirl soft serve, in a way. And this tattoo in Spanish on a woman who's grown up in the US is a way of preserving that cultural and spiritual identity, passing it on.


Does it make people uncomfortable? Perhaps. Is it on par with a pithy saying on a t-shirt? Maybe, and that's tough for me to admit. Is everything I wear saying something about who I am and who I am not? I'm not sure yet.