Hola Y’all!
When Senator Barack Obama was running for president, people wondered whether he was “black enough” and political analysts pondered over this question so see how it would affect the outcome of the election. Like President OBama, those of us who live as Texicans sometimes need to ask ourselves the question “Are we Mexican Enough?” and most of the times we are afraid the answer leans more towards “not really”.
I had the pleasure of meeting the author of the book “Mexican Enough” last semester for my International Reporting class with Rosental Alves. Stephanie Elizondo Griest is a daugther of Mexican parents, born in Texas who ventured into Mexico after living all of her life in the US. She studied Journalism at UT in Austin and then decided he had to see the world for herself. She traveled abroad to write about Russia, China, Cuba and communism in her book “Around the Bloc” and also wrote “100 places every woman should go to” as part of her travel log. But “Mexican Enough”, her latest book, deals with her recent journey to Mexico to find her roots.
Stephanie gets involved in the fight for homosexual civil rights in Queretaro (central Mexico), in the plight of the Zapatistas and finds herself amidst massive teacher syndicate demonstrations in Oaxaca. Her reporting skills and investigative mind lead her in a fabulous journey to understand what being Mexican means for her, from learning the language to eating the food.
When she spoke to my class, Stephanie seemed static from writing the book. She said it helped her get to know who she is and she recommends any Texan-born Mexicans to venture into the lands of their forefathers to find what in their hearts it means to carry the proud heritage of the Mexica and the sombrero.
Mexican Enough is a book that explores cultural identity between borderlines.
