Native Country of the Heart

Posted on 23 March 2018 by Cherríe L. Moraga

From the celebrated editor of This Bridge Called My Back, Cherr e Moraga charts her own coming of age alongside her mother s decline, and also tells the larger story of the Mexican American diaspora Native Country of the Heart A Memoir is, at its core, a mother daughter story The mother, Elvira, was hired out as a child, along with her siblings, by their own father to pick cotton in California s Imperial Valley The daughter, Cherr e Moraga, is a brilliant, pioneering, queer Latina feminist The story of these two women, and of their people, is woven together in an intimate memoir of critical reflection and deep personal revelation.As a young woman, Elvira left California to work as a cigarette girl in glamorous late 1920s Tijuana, where an ambiguous relationship with a wealthy white man taught her life lessons about power, sex, and opportunity As Moraga charts her mother s journey from impressionable young girl to battle tested matriarch to, later on, an old woman suffering under the yoke of Alzheimer s she traces her own self discovery of her gender queer body and Lesbian identity, as well as her passion for activism and the history of her pueblo As her mother s memory fails, Moraga is driven to unearth forgotten remnants of a U.S Mexican diaspora, its indigenous origins, and an American story of cultural loss.Poetically wrought and filled with insight into intergenerational trauma, Native Country of the Heart is a reckoning with white American history and a piercing love letter from a fearless daughter to the mother she will never lose. Read Native Country of the Heart Author Cherríe L. Moraga – kino-fada.fr This was an interesting memoir about growing up in a Mexican American family in the US with a strong mother Elvira, also called Vera Elvira tells of being hired out with her siblings by their father as a child to pick cotton in California in Imperial Valley A mother daughter story where the mother has quite a history as the backbone of the family for decades in both Mexico and America It also tells of the author, Cherrie Moraga s, journey as a lesbian in that culture as she found her voice an This was an interesting memoir about growing up in a Mexican American family in the US with a strong mother Elvira, also called Vera Elvira tells of being hired out with her siblings by their father as a child to pick cotton in California in Imperial Valley A mother daughter story where the mother has quite a history as the backbone of the family for decades in both Mexico and America It also tells of the author, Cherrie Moraga s, journey as a lesbian in that culture as she found her voice and began speaking out and getting involved in different issues Then there are some problems many have as their parents age but perhaps handled in her mother s unusual fashion at first I found it to be an involving enough read and learned enough on a number of topics to make it worthwhile, figuring that others would like it...Very touching, tears, smiles, thoughts and remembered feelings of my own Mother, stirs up many emotions, mostly Love New insight into Alzheimer s and what families suffer I thank my son for the gift of this book, it truly was a gift.Gorgeous and so very sad.Bendita sea Maestra Moraga A beautiful story of familia, colonialism, and journeys home.This moving memoir tells the story of Elvira Moraga from the point of view of her daughter, Cherr e Moraga, the famous queer Chicana writer and activist probably best known for her role as co editor of the seminal anthology This Bridge Called My Back Writings by Radical Women of Color, first published in 1983 Here, she leads the reader on a narrative through her mother s life that reads much like life itself is quick and energetic at first long and slow at the end The story is told in Che This moving memoir tells the story of Elvira Moraga from the point of view of her daughter, Cherr e Moraga, the famous queer Chicana writer and activist probably best known for her role as co editor of the seminal anthology This Bridge Called My Back Writings by Radical Women of Color, first published in 1983 Here, she leads the reader on a narrative through her mother s life that reads much like life itself is quick and energetic at first long and slow at the end The story is told in Cherr e s voice she doesn t assume her mother s In this way, we get a kind of biography that s adjacent to an autobiography Cherr e s own life is secondary to, yet inextricably entwined with, that of Elvira the mother to whom she had, like all mothers and daughters, a fraught but crucial relationship ...This beautiful memoir of Cherr e Moraga tracks her relationship with her mother Elvira, not only through the changes that she undergoes in her heart but through the history of our collective Native soul Unflinchingly personal in its examination of the raw wounds that we measure family by, Cherr e recounts the long troubled life of Elvira as she struggles to find her independence in a world of conflicting loyalties and allegiances She s a stern parent, sometimes a violent parent, a warrior copi This beautiful memoir of Cherr e Moraga tracks her relationship with her mother Elvira, not only through the changes that she undergoes in her heart but through the history of our collective Native soul Unflinchingly personal in its examination of the raw wounds that we measure family by, Cherr e recounts the long troubled life of Elvira as she struggles to find her independence in a world of conflicting loyalties and allegiances She s a stern parent, sometimes a violent parent, a warrior coping with the collective amnesia of our indigenous past And still there s love This book drips with so much love Even when she depicts the agonizing and debilitating effects of Alzheimer s Disease as it wreaks its havoc on her beloved mother and the collateral damage brought on all her family , Cherr e expresses the devout and conflicted love she has for her This memoir was an education for me, teaching me how to view the choices of our Mexican Mother, our Matriarc... Native Country of the Heart by Cherr e L Moraga is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in early April.Despite its seemingly wishy washy title this is from someone who just read a book called A Song for the Stars, mind , opening this book and poring over it was like visiting and being around my maternal grandparents, as well as reading the book Borderlands by Gloria E Anzald a in college However, this is a memoir shared between the author and her mother Elvira, both in the border area between Native Country of the Heart by Cherr e L Moraga is a free NetGalley ebook that I read in early April.Despite its seemingly wishy washy title this is from someone who just read a book called A Song for the Stars, mind , opening this book and poring over it was like visiting and being around my maternal grandparents, as well as reading the book Borderlands by Gloria E Anzald a in college However, this is a memoir shared between the author and her mother Elvira, both in the border area between California Mexico and in South Pasadena L.A And, oi, it really rang true to me when Moraga described a kind of DNA denial of being distantly related to Mexican slavery and poring over the shade of your skin to cue you into being Mayan or Aztec royalty, rather than subservience, figuring out gossip held grudges by mentally translating the mix of Spanish and English that her mother speaks I m totally with ya there, sister , and believing she is committ...I didn t know what to expect with this book and what I got was truly a gift Moraga s memoir of life with her mother is so heartfelt and touching that I criedoften than probably intended There is true love within the pages of the books, along with struggles with reconciling what was and what is.As someone who has followed Moraga s career, I can t help but feel honored that she continues to write and share from her perspective as an elder, able to put into context some of the aspects of he I didn t know what to expect with this book and what I got was truly a gift Moraga s memoir of life with her mother is so heartfelt and touching that I criedoften than probably intended There is true love within the pages of the books, along with struggles with reconciling what was and what is.As someone who has followed Moraga s career, I can t help but feel honored that she continues to w...A memoir mostly pertaining to her mother, but Moraga interspersed some of her life in it as well It was very interesting to read the span of her mother s life and snippets from her father s family Most of the book is devoted to her mother s eventual decline and struggles with Alzheimer s and how it impacted the entire family It s a touching telling of a woman whose life spanned many decades and who grapples with just the daily task of living I love the cover picture Thanks to NetGalley for A memoir mostly pertaining to her mother, but Moraga interspersed some of her life in it as well It was very interesting to read the span of her mother s life and snippets from her father s family Most of the book is devoted to her mother s eventual decline and struggles with Alzheimer s and how it impacted the entire family It s a touching telling of a woman whose life spanned many decades and who grapples with just the daily task of living I love the cover picture Thanks t...This book was good, but something about it felt lacking Maybe I was expecting to hearabout cherrie s childhood and less about her mothers decline Nonetheless, it was wonderful to read about such an influential woman like cherrie.

23 March 2018

Cherríe L. Moraga