On June 20 and 25, our graduating and students will present their , the culmination of their work here at 天美视频. Until then, we鈥檒l be spotlighting a handful of the presenting students as they reflect on their work鈥攍ike on his project about American incarceration. Here, we talk with Cecelia Romero about her art project, Mujerista: The New Wave.
What鈥檚 your Integrative Project all about?
I鈥檝e spent a lot of time trying to sort out my theological beliefs. I grew up with a very specific and robust New Mexican Catholic-type of spirituality, only to have it dismantled in my early twenties in favor of a more homogenous, evangelical faith. I wrestled with the shame of losing what felt like a vital part of my identity in order to try to fit into a place where I really didn鈥檛 belong.
Much of my work at 天美视频 has been around racial inclusion and hospitality to the stranger. I have sought to make sense of my own experience as a Millennial Latina woman, considering ways in which I have assimilated to the American culture and also considering specific Latin American cultural nuances, which will always be a part of me.
My Integrative Project is broken into two parts: a series of paintings in which I re-imagine certain women from the Bible through my own cultural and theological lens, and a paper titled 鈥淢ujerista: The New Wave鈥� in which I write about the ways in which Mujerista theology has empowered and given voice to millennial Latino and Latina Americans like myself, but also where it has fallen just short of our experience as second, third, fourth generation Americans who feel a sense of displacement and exile within American culture, primarily theologically. Though the project is titled 鈥淢ujerista,鈥� it is not focused solely on the experiences of Latina women, but also Latino men, making it more an example of Latino/a theology. I chose the title as a reflection of my personal experience and self-identification.
Painting by Cecilia Romero.
Why is this project so important to you personally?
This work comes out of my self-reflection, trying to figure out who I am鈥攚hich is the work of this school. It鈥檚 also important to me because it feels like something outside of myself. The Latino/a theological voice, as well as the voices from other racial groups, is still very much on the fringes. But as the demographics of our country are changing, these theologies can鈥檛 be on the fringes anymore, not if we want the church to be a place that reflects the diversity of the Kingdom.
Personally, I want young Latino/a theologians to have something to engage with. I thought about my brother a lot while working on this project. He鈥檚 nine years younger than me and just starting at a Christian college. I want him to have something familiar鈥攕omething that I felt like I was missing at that age.
What are some of the challenges you faced developing your work?
I felt like I needed to cover all the bases鈥攔acism, immigration, assimilation. They all influence the way I am in the world and how people see me, but that wasn鈥檛 the heart of the project. I鈥檓 third generation American; my family is both assimilated and not. We鈥檙e not one thing or the other. I have different values than someone in Mexico, but they鈥檙e also different from the perceived 鈥渟tandard American family.鈥�
That sounds like a lonely place to be.
It鈥檚 not that I don鈥檛 belong anywhere. It鈥檚 that there鈥檚 this third category that we, I mean Latino/as from backgrounds similar to my own, are not considering. We feel displaced. We don鈥檛 know where we belong. We still experience racism and oppression, but we also feel disconnected from our roots鈥攎any of us have lost our language, our faith communities, our traditions, etc.鈥攁nd there鈥檚 a lot of shame attached to that. But because of our American heritage and privilege, we also have power to fight for people who don鈥檛 have advocates. This project is something of a call. This is who we are, particularly millennial Latino/as. We need to name that, own it, and do what we can with it.
How was the process of trying to express all this through your project?
It鈥檚 been long. As students are writing the Integrative Projects, we look back over all our time here. I鈥檝e been writing these papers since my first year, and none of it is tidy鈥擨鈥檝e been all over the map. But knowing that God cares about diversity has driven me and inspired me. That seems like such a simple idea, but it鈥檚 something we don鈥檛 really talk about: Diversity is a reflection of God and we need it to have a space as disciples. The art piece has been really helpful in that. As I鈥檝e reflected on these women鈥擬ary, the woman caught in adultery, and 鈥渢alitha cum鈥濃�攖hrough my mujerista lens, it鈥檚 helped me to ground my project theologically.
If you鈥檙e intrigued by what you read, we invite you to join us for this year鈥檚 presentations, and .