Land & Resistance
Who was Reies López Tijerina and what was he fighting for?
He was a Chicano activist who fought to reclaim Mexican land grants promised in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.
Who led the Pueblo Revolt and what did it accomplish?
Popé led the 1680 revolt that united Pueblo peoples to drive out the Spanish for over a decade, defending Indigenous culture and land.
What is oppression according to Audre Lorde?
Oppression is when prejudice is combined with institutional power to deeply harm one group for the benefit of another.
What does Walter Benjamin say about how we should view history?
He said history isn’t a straight line and must be told with empathy from the view of the oppressed to understand today’s struggles.
What is political bias in a cartoon?
When a cartoon clearly favors one side of an issue or political belief.
What was the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo supposed to protect?
It was supposed to protect land and citizenship rights of Mexicans after the U.S.-Mexico War, but those promises were mostly broken.
What did Cajemé fight for, and how does it connect to Fanon’s ideas?
Cajemé fought for Yaqui sovereignty and used guerrilla warfare. Fanon believed in resisting colonizers to reclaim identity and land...just like Cajemé.
What is the Panopticon and how does it relate to schools or prisons today?
It’s a prison design where people don’t know if they’re being watched, so they self-discipline. Schools use cameras and open layouts in similar ways.
What does “historical materialism” mean?
It’s the idea that economic systems and labor shape society more than ideas—developed by Karl Marx.
What clues should you look for when analyzing a cartoon?
Look at symbols, facial expressions, exaggeration, captions, and the context of the time.
What happened during the Tierra Amarilla Courthouse Raid?
Tijerina and his group tried to arrest a district attorney for ignoring land rights; they stormed the courthouse to bring attention to treaty violations.
What caused the Cananea Strike of 1906?
Mexican workers in U.S.-owned copper mines protested unsafe conditions and low pay; the strike was crushed violently, showing U.S. power in Mexico.
How did the prison system reinforce racial and gender inequality?
It targeted Black and Brown people disproportionately and assigned women to unpaid domestic labor with no mobility.
How did Toni Morrison use storytelling to fight erasure?
She used fiction to center Black voices, explore memory, and uncover truths that were erased by dominant narratives.
How can political cartoons be used as a form of resistance?
Artists use political cartoons to criticize injustice, call out those in power, and raise awareness about marginalized communities. They become a visual way to resist dominant narratives and spark dialogue.
How does Juan Rulfo’s writing relate to land, loss, and memory?
His stories use magical realism to show how land loss and silence shape people’s identity, especially for rural and Indigenous Mexicans.
What did enslaved people and poor workers do to resist early American punishment?
They refused work, escaped, and organized rebellions, even though they risked brutal punishment or imprisonment.
What is economic imperialism and how did it affect Mexico?
It’s when countries control others through money, not war. The U.S. invested in Mexican mines and railroads, controlling their economy without ruling them.
How does Hayden White challenge traditional ideas of history?
He said history is also storytelling; how we frame events (with emotion, plot, tone) changes how we understand them.
Why is analyzing cartoons important in ethnic studies?
Because they reveal which stories get told, and who gets mocked or erased; they help us spot dominant vs. counter narratives.
Compare Tijerina and Ruiz de Burton’s resistance to land theft.
Tijerina used direct action and protest, while Ruiz de Burton used writing and satire to expose U.S. hypocrisy and land grabs. Both resisted settler colonialism.
How did Mexican Americans experience both resistance and exclusion in Tucson history?
They protested discrimination but also faced forced repatriation, land loss, and were sometimes pressured to support white narratives of progress.
How have colonial systems like the encomienda shaped inequality in Arizona today?
Spanish systems forced Indigenous labor and shaped land ownership; today, Indigenous groups still fight for land, water, and cultural recognition.
How do historians like Jen Manion challenge power through research and writing?
They tell stories of marginalized people—like in Liberty’s Prisoners—and show how systems like prisons were built to control, not help.
How do political cartoons reflect dominant vs. counter narratives?
They often support dominant ideas like nationalism or capitalism, but they can also be tools to challenge injustice when made by critical artists.