Chicana writer receives first Cara Award for inspiring workGroups honor unknown artists to boost awa

Friday, February 26, 1999

Chicana writer receives first Cara Award for inspiring
workGroups honor unknown artists to boost awareness in
community

EDUCATOR: Groups honor unknown artists to boost awareness in
community

By Sarah Krupp

Daily Bruin Contributor

Van Gogh sold few paintings during his lifetime. Refusing to
compromise his artistic integrity for the mainstream, he died a
pauper. Of course, he was also crazy.

"Selling out" tempts many artists, especially when their pockets
and refrigerators are empty. But author Cherrie Moraga overtly
addresses the issues that matter to her as a Chicana and a lesbian,
and has attained recognition by doing so.

In recognition of Moraga’s achievements, the Chicano Studies
Research Center and Raza Colectiva, a graduate student
organization, presented her with the first ever Cara Award.

By honoring a Chicano or Latino artist, these UCLA organizations
hope to bolster public awareness of talented writers within the
Chicano community.

"We have a few icons that the media focuses on who have become
spokespeople for the entire community. What most people don’t
realize is that there are many different voices in a community,"
said Richard Castaniero, a Raza Colectiva organizer.

"We wanted to create an award to celebrate those that are not
famous, to recognize the many faces of the Americas," he added.

Tuesday evening, Moraga addressed an audience of students and
members of the Los Angeles community at the UCLA Visitors Center.
Keeping in sync with the focus of UCLA’s Semana de La Raza, the
central issue of her speech was education.

Moraga expressed the importance of "coming home," or giving back
to the community, after completing university and graduate
studies.

"The reason why we are getting degrees is so that we can take
them back to the community," said Josefina Lopez, a graduate
student in the School of Theater, Film and Television. "But so many
buy into the American dream – settle, buy a nice house and car,
have huge mortgages – and never go back. They get stuck in that way
of life," she added.

As a writer and an activist, Moraga practices the advice she
gave to the audience to "build within the barrio." Her works are
socially and politically conscious.

By accepting the Cara Award, Moraga is continuing to commit
herself to activism. The award comes with a contingency – she must
conduct a three-day creative writing workshop at UCLA. Moraga
selected the participants, 10 UCLA students and three from the
community, judging them by their writing ability and their vision
of how to shape their communities.

Beneath the fundamental purpose of helping participants improve
their writing is an ulterior motive: allowing young writers freedom
of expression.

According to Moraga, Chicano students at a university must
"whitewash" their speech in order to succeed. In order to please
their professors, Chicanos must conform to an academic style that
is foreign to their natural way of speaking.

"My writing voice is seen as slang; the colloquial way we speak
is perceived as wrong. But I want to write so that the masses can
understand me," said Felicia Montes, a fourth-year world arts and
cultures student.

Moraga admits she has dual voices. In formal essays and
dissertations she thinks and writes in English, but her creative
voice is in Spanish.

In both her literary works and her speech, Moraga slips
frequently between Spanish and English. Even though as a child she
mainly spoke English, she made a "commitment" to learn to speak
Spanish fluently.

"We are told that there is no room for that language as a
writer. But to produce good art it can’t be written in
translation," Moraga said.

Moraga has found liberation from mainstream constraints through
writing plays. By writing for alternative theatres, she has the
freedom to mix Spanish and English to portray her life experiences
.

"I express my people better through theatre. It allows me to
speak through character and use different voices … I use a lot
more Spanish," Moraga said.

Despite initial criticism, Moraga refuses to suppress one
identity for another. She openly addresses lesbianism, feminism and
motherhood as well as issues pertaining specifically to Mexican
Americans. When she published her first collection of works in
1983, she said it was very "taboo."

"There was a lot of pressure of having to choose between being a
lesbian writer or a Chicana writer," said Moraga. "They were
telling me you couldn’t be both," she added.

As an emerging writer, she was initially invited to speak at the
events of white feminist groups. But now, she finds herself
speaking before more Latino and Chicano audiences. According to
Moraga, the reversal indicates an improvement of Chicanos’
perception of gays. But, she hesitates to conclude that there has
been a complete acceptance of homosexuality within the Chicano
community.

"It may not indicate a fundamental transformation, but they feel
enlightened – it’s a start," said Moraga.

Changing the economic, social and political circumstances of a
people happens slowly, according to Moraga. While encouraging
radical thought, she warned against trying to revolutionize a whole
system in a day.

"If we build an entire infrastructure without building the
supports, the whole thing will collapse," said Moraga. "Start with
something really small that will succeed."

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