Contributions and Work Samples
   

Gloria Anzaldúa was a famous Chicana lesbian writer, poet, and huge influence to the Chicana community with redefining contemporary Chicana and lesbian/queer identities through her short stories, poems, children’s books, autobiographical narratives, interviews, essays, and multigenre anthologies.  Anzaldua was an inspirational woman through many of her writings but she also played a vital role in developing an inclusionary feminist movement.  She has opened new ways of thinking about femininism through her Chicana and Queer theories.  She invented new words that helped pave the way for women, Chicanas/os, lesbians, and queers to think about themselves and their culture. She introduced the word mestizaje and the concept of the “New Mestiza” identity, which basically is as she describes “as an individual aware of her conflicting and meshing identities and uses these “new angles of vision” to challenge binary thinking in the Western world.”  The "new mestiza" way of thinking is breaking down the barriers and borders that control each and every one us on a daily basis. 

One of Anzaldúa’s best piece of work is her book Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza.  This book is written and presented in half poetry and half essay. She purposely does this to give her personal narratives and to express her anger, her distinct language and unique choice of words, and her immersion of the reader into her world of many cultural issues about sexuality, religion, and immigration to name a few.  Anzaldua wrote many great essays and poems in her book Borderlands/La Frontera and honestly it was difficult to narrow it down when it came to choosing one my favorites pieces by her but it was her poem “To live in the  Borderlands means you” that I felt most inspired.  The poem is about what it means and what comes along with living in the border but it was her ending that inspired me most.  She ended her poem with:

          To survive the Borderlands

              you must live sin fronteras

              be a crossroads.

I believe Borderlands/La Frontera is a reality check to all readers, of every race, on cultural barriers and introspection to find one's true identity.