Sociology 194: Social Change And Migration in Latin America, Professor Heidy Sarabia
Spring 2021, Sacramento State, Professor Heidy Sarabia
Digital collages, drawings, and reflections by students on the Mexican Revolution (1910), Cuban Revolution (1959), and Nicaraguan Revolution (1979).
This class assignment required students to reflect on how three revolutions in Latin American (Mexico, Cuba, and Nicaragua) were motivated ...and addressed the unequal freedoms in the region and locally. Students illustrated these revolutions in the form of collages and original art.
Mariana Reyna
Words, Images and Sounds of the Revolution, by Chris Castañeda, Professor of History, Sacramento State
When we focus our attention on social change, we often think about making life better especially for those who are struggling to survive, if not to simply have a decent life. When this struggle becomes a shared struggle among large numbers of people, especially the poor, the landless, and the oppressed, thoughts of revolution can emerge. Revolution means big and long-lasting change – social, economic, and political for sure - but it also suggests that we have to keep trying to make positive change on a daily basis, it’s an ongoing process.
When I watched and listened to the student presentation from Dr. Heidy Sarabia’s class, Sociology 194: Social Change and Migration in Latin America, I was struck by its beauty, the harmony of the music, the power of the images, and the students’ powerful messages. With the background of Son Jarocho (traditional rural music from Veracruz, a Mexican state on the Gulf of Mexico), I envisioned a world of good people working and living their daily lives with dignity while fighting for freedom and equality. The song begins: Cuando me voy a bañar (when I go to bathe), and the music bathes the listener in this feeling of hope and strength as the presentation continues.
Students prepared slides with images and messages relating to migration and social change, inspired by the revolutions in Mexico (1910), Cuba (1959), and Nicaragua (1979). All of the students’ messages, artwork, and images showed how revolutions seek to free people from oppressive governments, powerful external political and economic forces, as well as social systems structured on inequality and inequity. Many messages also reflected on the continuing struggle of women to attain gender equality in Latin America.
This is a moving student work that speaks to the dignity of good people living their lives while hoping for a better world, sometimes against seemingly insurmountable odds. Revolution and the struggle against inequality of all kinds continues; music and art accompany us along the way, cleansing us and providing light in the darkness: “Cuando me voy a bañar, estando la luna llena.” Thank you Dr. Sarabia, your students, and musicians for your wonderful presentation!