Muslim Student Association

The Muslim Student Association (MSA) at UWM seeks to educate, support, and bring awareness to social issues regarding the Muslim community. Additionally, their goal is to inform UWM students of Islamic culture. https://uwm.presence.io/organization/muslim-student-association-2 (link to the MSA UWM page)

During this semester, we've been working towards the goal of understanding cultural and/or ethnic identity. I believe this group perfectly depicts those ideas. The MSA proudly represents their culture through the events they hold. For example, they've had a multitude of events (depicted below) that give the org the ability to interact with and listen to guest speakers with important stories to tell, from all cultures.

(Instagram, 11/2023)

(Instagram, 11/2023)

Additionally, I think there is a close tie between the MSA and the article from the NYT titled “Race Remixed: Black? White? Asian? More Young Americans Choose All of the Above.” (Santora, 2016) This article focuses on the influx of interracial marriages over the last few decades and the increasing number of multiracial people. Additionally, there was a focus on student organizations that allowed those of a mixed race to feel welcome and heard. From my understanding of MSA, their org is very similar to the one in the article. MSA hosts events that are welcome to the public, they have conversations that expand the knowledge of the Muslim community, and they work at promoting an understanding of Muslim culture. This idea fits into the thoughts of the article, showing that being proud of one's identity doesn't have to be shared amongst those who are part of that identity, but by anyone interested in learning and expanding their horizons.

From the NYTimes website, "From left: Shannon Palmer, Japanese/Irish; Vasco Mateus, Portuguese/African-American/Haitian; Laura Wood, black/white.Credit...Stephen Crowley/The New York Times" (Santora, 2016)

The MSA's work also promotes cultural identity. One of the reasons for student organizations is to allow people to interact with others like them. There is a feeling of safety and ease when people of a similar group, be it race, culture, religion, or otherwise, are with other people of that ideology. In that way, the MSA does a great job of including those in the Muslim faith and culture to share in the pride of their culture and expand the knowledge of both to those willing to learn.

(Facebook)

(Facebook)

Citations:

Saulny, S. (2013, February 5). More young Americans identify as mixed race. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/us/30mixed.html

Instagram. (n.d.). https://www.instagram.com/p/C0NYv2HsVn_/

Facebook. (n.d.). https://www.facebook.com/msauwm/

Muslim Student Association. (n.d.). Panther Presence | University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. https://uwm.presence.io/organization/muslim-student-association-2

Encanto

I chose Encanto which is a relatively new movie musical following 15-year-old Mirabel Madrigal and her family in a Colombian village. The Madrigal family possesses unique magical abilities, sometimes they help the village. For example, Mirabel's mother Julieta has the ability to heal people with food. However, Mirabel is not given a gift, instead she has to watch as all her family has special powers, while she just "gets in the way". Additionally, her Abuela doesn't seem to care for Mirabel since learning she won't possess a gift.

At the beginning of the semester, we took a look at Suken and Cartwright's work, "Practices of Looking An Introduction to Visual Culture" which explored how pieces of art, specifically photography can be looked at through various lenses. Additionally the goal was to understand photographic terms like "framing" and "focus". I feel this movie highlights many of those terms, starting with representation (Sturken & Cartwright, 2017). More importantly, the ideas that are represented throughout this two-hour movie like cultural and ethnic identities.

For starters, there is a direct relationship between how the family is portrayed and the way Colombian families live. It is somewhat commonly known that in many cultures, Colombia included, many homes include multigenerational families. The movie showcases this same idea when Julieta and her sister, Pepa, choose to raise their own families in the same house as their mother, Abuela Alma.

Additionally, their cultural identity can be exhibited by the artwork, the decorations, and the music. Encanto can be described as movie-musical because it incorporates a story with music to express what simple dialogue cannot. It was very important to the writers and music producers that this movie was relevant to Colombian history and the soundtrack even includes two successful and famous Colombian singers. Lin Manuel Miranda wrote eight original songs for this movie and with each one, he was trying to encompass all of Colombia: the traditions, the culture, and the specific music style (DisneyMusicVEVO, 2021a). The ties that this movie has to the authenticity of Colombian culture is one of the many reasons why this Disney movie was a major success.

Although this show was animated, the term "focus" fits nicely into the style that the movie was filmed in. In many shots, the focus brought to life many of the background characters. For example, Mirabel's older sister Isabela is considered the golden child. She's always perfect and is always living up to the standards that are set for her. In one of the musical numbers, the focus turns to Isabella with Mirabel in the background looking annoyed. Isabela being the focal point explores an unspoken hatred that Mirabel has for her sister, knowing she will never be like her. On the other hand, it indirectly depicts Isabella's unhappiness of being the perfect child. Therefore this use of focal points give the audience the ability to "read between the lines" and see characters from many perspectives.

Lastly, as I stated earlier, there is a lot of authenticity added to the movie. The behind-the-scenes is even cooler. The movie producers and writers wanted the show to be as authentic as possible that they even traveled to Colombia for a bit of time to understand the culture. Isabela had the gift of flowers, so while reading this book on Encanto I learned that they even researched the different types of Colombian flowers to add to the movie. The architecture that was drawn was inspired by real Colombian architecture. Plus, the idea of "familia" came from the Latinx employees at Walt Disney (Disney, 2021).

This movie shows the essence of what the Disney family hopes to inspire. Culture is very unique and personal. Disney used their knowledge, and acquired new knowledge, to ensure their movie hit home with all types of audience members. If it wasn't directly related to a child's culture, it taught them about the culture and vice versa. I believe this movie is a great representation of this course. Cultural identity is crucial to understand and for a child-friendly brand like Disney to explore culture other than Americanized versions of it, means they're focus is on pursuing change and encouraging diversity. Which is exactly what this class was about.

Citations:

Sturken, M., & Cartwright, L. (2017). Practices of looking: An Introduction to Visual Culture. Oxford University Press, USA.

Disney. (2021). Art of Encanto.

The art of Encanto. (n.d.). https://disney-studios-awards.s3.amazonaws.com/encanto/books/flipJSi56TV4ke/index.html

DisneyMusicVEVO. (2021, December 17). Carlos Vives - Colombia, Mi Encanto (From “Encanto”) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOL2KS5BgM0

https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/encanto-at-the-hollywood-bowl/7CUSfUjGHZW3

DisneyMusicVEVO. (2021a, December 2). The music of Encanto [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46eAjHm77_Q

DisneyMusicVEVO. (2022, January 14). Diane Guerrero, Stephanie Beatriz - What else can I do? (From “Encanto”) [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBeZSuHI4Qc

On My Block

On My Block is a coming-of-age story that works through the battles that come from living in the hood. Jamal, Monse, Reuben, and Cesar are a crew, best friends from before the show began. They’re each from different backgrounds, Monse having grown up without a mom, Jamal who has been living a lie to make his parents proud, Reuben (Ruby) who is too smart for his own good, and Cesar whose family is part of the local gang and in turn, force him into that lifestyle. This story relates to the screenings and readings by establishing a unique perspective with diversity at its core. 

From top to bottom: Ruby Martinez, Cesar Diaz, Jamal Turner, and Monse Finnie.

The characters throughout the show focus on their ability to be friends against hardships. The first season focuses on Cesar and his life inside the gang. The crew knows that this life isn't for Cesar and they do everything to help him. This type of life they live all relates to a cultural identity: a shared home, language, and even cultural barriers. Cesar, Jamal, Ruby, and Monse would do everything to protect one another, even if it meant danger for themselves. I think that speaks to their ability to adapt to their rough environment which can be attributed to the stereotypes that come with being Hispanic and Black.

Although this show focuses on four main characters, one character, Monse stands out among the rest. Monse identifies as multiracial: she’s Black, Latinx, and White. This weekly reading is about multiracial and mixed-persons. Being mixed in this country has many connotations and the article addresses how many students struggle with their cultural identity because they are multiracial. For example, in the NYTimes article written by Susan Saulny she writes, “..But, he continued, “I don’t even like to identify myself as a race anymore. My family has been pulling me in two directions about what I am. I just want to be a person.”.” (Saulny, 2011) It can be hard not knowing as well, Monse didn’t grow up knowing her mom or her heritage, but learning about that side also gave her a new perspective. She got to appreciate both sides, which is very similar to the reactions the students got when they realized they could celebrate themselves, not based on what they identify as, but just because they are there. UWM’s own Professor Gregory Jay once stated, ““Race,” then, can be socially constructed by marginalized groups as a vehicle for self-understanding, political resistance, and cultural affirmation.” (Jay, NA) Professor Jay means that groups like Monse’s can view race as a common ground rather than a diverging point.

GIF: Cesar (the one with the gun) was threatened (by the guy in the jacket) in a drive-by. The one in the jacket pulled a gun on him. Cesar's brother determined Cesar's best bet at living would be killing the other guy first. This isn't what Cesar wants. This scene depicts what I think can be seen in real life. I've never experienced it, but drive-bys and gang violence are real. They happen, and this scene shows what can occur if someone doesn't really want to participate but is at risk if they don't.

This next scene (shortened on YouTube), is an honorable mention for me. When it comes to racial identity or ethnic identity, this show doesn't explicitly touch on those topics. It's a given when the show features an entirely diverse main cast. However, this scene specifically plays into the intersectionality that was explored in this course. Socioeconomic status is always a topic that arises when dealing with racial disparity and identity. The Halloween scene is the first time the audience sees the characters outside the hood. They go to Brentwood, the preppy, rich neighborhood. The people in this neighborhood are almost entirely white and of a higher socioeconomic status than the main characters. As the scene will show, there's hostility between the poor and the rich kids based mainly on where they grew up and how they lived. I mentally noted this scene specifically as being one that screams importance regarding racial identity and status.

Citations:

Saulny, S. (2013, February 5). More young Americans identify as mixed race. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/30/us/30mixed.html

"Terms for Multicultural Studies: Defining "Race", "Ethnicity", and "Nationality" - Prof. Gregory Jay