Mexican Independence Day

Photo credit: Conde Nast Traveler

It's a very common misconception that Cinco de Mayo is a celebration of Mexican Independence. However, Mexican Independence Day is actually today, September 16th.

Also known as "El Grito de Dolores" or "El Grito", the independence celebration begins on the eve of September 15th and goes until September 16th. It is the most important national celebration and up to half a million people gather in Mexico City to celebrate Mexico's independence from Spain.

A little back story:

The Spaniards went on a conquering spree and Mexico was far from spared. After hundreds of years of having Mexican cultures literally thrown away and burned, Priest Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla became fed up. He began hosting private meetings regarding a Mexican revolution and on September 15th, 1810, he received word that the Spaniards had heard of his plans. In immediate response, Hidalgo rang the church bells to rally a small group of 600 poor farmers and townsmen. They had poorly armed themselves with rocks and sticks, and on the morning of the 16th they marched into battle full of determination--- beginning the War of Mexican Independence.

In remembrance, the Mexican President chants this National anthem:

English

Mexicans!

Long live the heroes that gave us the Fatherland (and liberty)!

Long live Hidalgo!

Long live Morelos!

Long live Josefa Ortiz de Dominguez!

Long live Allende!

Long live Galena and the Bravos!

Long live Aldama and Matamoros!

Long live National Independence!

Long Live Mexico! Long Live mexico! Long Live Mexico!

Spanish

¡Mexicanos!

¡Vivan los héroes que nos dieron la patria y libertad!

¡Viva Hidalgo!

¡Viva Morelos!

¡Viva Josefa Ortíz de Dominguez!

¡Viva Allende!

¡Viva Galena y los Bravos!

¡Viva Aldama y Matamoros!

¡Viva la Independencia Nacional!

¡Viva México! ¡Viva México! ¡Viva México!

So, next time you hear someone exclaim that they're downing their Cinco de Mayo cervezas in celebration of Mexican Independence, you can let them know what's up.

Five Demands

If you haven't already, please watch this video prior to reading my post.

On July 8th, 2013, 30,000 prisoners across California began their hunger strike in pursuit of five demands, they want: the end of long term confinement, the end of group punishment and administrative abuse, to abolish the debriefing policy and modify gang status criteria, to be provided adequate and nutritious food, and to create and expand constructive programming. The hunger strike is indefinite and there are men who are willing to give their lives in sacrifice of basic human rights. 

Real Talk.

I was talking to a fella about how I rarely walk alone at night and he pretty much scoffed at me. At first I was really annoyed by his insensitivity, but after collecting my thoughts for this post, I thought, "it must be nice to walk down the street without being harassed or without fear of being sexually attacked." Maybe he just has no idea.

I'm not sure if it's the fact that I've watched way too many Law & Order: SVU episodes, or it's that I've been receiving unwanted male attention on a daily basis since I was practically a child, but either way, it has made me become terrified of being attacked and very alert of possible predators.

On a recent trip to a 24-hour grocery store, a man made me extremely uncomfortable with his leering. I was done with my shopping around midnight and while I was in the check-out line, I noticed him blatantly staring. I tried to meet his gaze with my angry 'don't mess with me' face, but he was either oblivious or he just didn't care. Since he finished and left before me, I was very cautious when walking to my car. I scanned the parking lot and was totally thrown off when I spotted him (making eye contact with me) standing next to his giant white, windowless van. He was parked two rows down from me and close to the exit of the parking lot. After I was better aware of my surroundings, I swiftly walked over to my car and began unloading my cart full of groceries as fast as I could. About midway through my basket, the man turned on his car, backed up, and started heading toward me - the opposite way of the exit. I threw everything into the passenger side of my car, left the basket, ran to get into the car, and locked the doors. The man slowed down, looked at me, and continued on.

It was terrifying, but after I settled down, I found myself wondering, "..was it all in my head? Was this just a man trying to get some late night groceries? Am I paranoid?" After reflecting and studying statistics of women who are attacked annually in the US, I came up with, "hell no I'm not paranoid." According to RAINN, 1 in 6 Americans will be sexually assaulted, 9 out of 10 people will be women, 18.8% have been black women and 24.4% "mixed race" women (*see note at the bottom). With those statistics, the chances of me being attacked are way higher than I'd like them to be.

After some extensive research, I've decided that I want to be better prepared to defend myself. It's not that I live in constant fear of being attacked, but it is a very real thing that I keep in the back of my mind. It devastates me that it is something that I feel I must worry about.

Here are some resources that I found to be helpful:

1. 7 Self-Defense Tips for Women: How to Fight Back if You're Attacked (Savvy Miss). While searching for lists of tips, I was outraged to find so many that basically said, "don't look like a victim" (i.e. don't wear short skirts and tank tops ... really? eff that noise).

2. Pepper Spray. It's only $10. If you decide to buy it, make sure not to accidentally get some residue on your fingers and then rub your eyes. It's very, very painful --or so I've heard. ;)

3. Safety Tips (She Knows) - I don't love everything on this list, but there are some good pointers.

Unfortunately my grocery shopping experience wasn't the first time I had been made to feel very uncomfortable when I was by myself at night. I've been followed, stalked, verbally harassed, cornered, asked "how much" I cost -- even recently, I was walking down a parking lot with WC contributor Michelle and we were followed and harassed by a man who would hardly take 'no' for an answer. 

I've found myself to be more confident when I'm feeling alert and aware of my surroundings. Do you have any safety tips? Have you had any similar uncomfortable experiences -- if so, how did you handle them?


 *I'm weary of fact sheets produced by the government, but while looking for statistics of sexual assaults on Latinas, I found that many undocumented Mexican women living in the US feel as though they can't report their assaults. I also was sad to read that on their journey to the US, many Mexican women take birth control because they expect to be sexually assaulted while crossing the Mexico-US border and don't want to become pregnant.

BC

Last summer, someone who is very important to me miscarried her baby. She was 28 years old and it would have been her sixth child. I brought her to the post-miscarriage follow-up appointment and sat beside her while she gave the details of what happened. It saddened me so deeply to hear how it was so emotionally and physically painful, but I can't lie and say that I wasn't a little heartbroken to hear that she had been trying to conceive. Her partner was not a nice person and he treated her like crap, hence me being the one in that doctor's office with her. While I was there, I asked the doctor to talk about birth control options -- maybe that wasn't my place, but I really felt like I absolutely had to. Her response to the question, "has anyone ever talked to you about your birth control options" almost made me fall out of my chair and onto the floor. No one had.

I was present when her first child was born. I cut the umbilical cord and it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life. She was only 16, and I keep wondering, if someone had talked to her about birth control then ... what would her life be like now? It's a sensitive subject for me because it's this giant vicious cycle in the community I've been raised in where there are so many babies having babies. Often times, children are brought up in over-worked, single-parent households, or have absent biological parents with other family members raising the baby. It was a similar case of how I was raised, how the gal in my story was raised and how her children will be raised. 

In my opinion, it seems that my culture (mostly referring to Catholic and Mexican) has made it more acceptable to have a baby at a young age (or just unprepared)  than to promote safe sex. My parents are really conservative, more traditional, Mexican-Catholics. However, since they were both very, very young when they had children and knew how hard it was to raise a child, work, go to school, etc ... they always stressed the importance of knowing my options when it came to birth control. For educating me without judgement, and for overcoming their Catholic beliefs for my sexual safety-- I am eternally grateful. 

I've done a little bit of research, in case you or someone you know would like more information and birth control resources:

The Affordable Care Act (from National Women's Law Center)

Birth Control Options (from Planned Parenthood)

Get Tested! (from Planned Parenthood)
If you're in the Northern, CAfor area (Women's Health Specialists)
Help women Globally (Global Fund for Women)

I have Kaiser through my work and was pleasantly surprised to find that fees and co-pays for STD exams, pap smears, birth control, female sterilization services, family planning counseling and other women's health services are waived. If you have health care insurance, it might be beneficial to check it again after the Affordable Care Act has passed.

As a quick parting note, I wish more more WoC in the media spotlight would promote the importance of safe sex. I remember being really young and watching Left Eye wearing a condom on her face and thinking that the statement was so badass. I've watched a few interviews of TLC and their fashion statement and I didn't like how they had to preface their message with, "we're not promoting sex" (although, I think that was to cover themselves against critics), but I did appreciate them saying that they wanted to stop the shame of wanting to protect your body from disease and unwanted pregnancy.  

If you have any resources or tips or advice to add, please let me know. Also, I'd be interested in knowing how the issue of safe sex is handled in your culture.