On Zarela’s Mind: My mission is to make my culture known

Zarela Martinez with her stepdaughter, Marissa Sanchez-Bastien, in about 1976. Marissa is wearing a traditional chiapaneca dress.

My mission in life is to make my culture known and understood not just to foreigners, but to non-Mexican Americans and 2nd and 3rd Mexican-Americans who are interested in learning about their roots. Many of my Facebook “friends” are Mexican-Americans between the ages of 18 to 35 who attend my lectures and presentations. Among the cultural classes I like are the mariachi schools for children popping up all over the country – and have waiting lists of several months. For me, it is thrilling to see the little boys and girls strutting around in their spectacular outfits, their polished instruments sparkling from the reflection of the sequined or silver-decorated outfits. One of the schools in New York City is run by Mano a Mano, an organization founded and run by Emily Socolov for many years with a fierce dedication, determination and generosity that has paid off and has found its niche. It offers several programs that educate non-Mexicans and reinforces the Mexicanidad of the Mexican population. Here is a description of the program in their words: Mano a Mano: Mexican Culture Without Borders provides programming in Mexican and Mexican-American music, dance, visual arts, verbal arts and ritual and culinary arts to schools, community groups, corporations, convention planners and private parties throughout New York City. Programs include school assemblies, corporate and convention cultivation events, workshops for adults and kids and private parties. There are many programs throughout the U.S. that teach traditional folkloric dances from different Mexican states. The little girls love it because they get to dress up, the boys love it too, and best of all they can perform and get recognition. The beat of the music gets into their soul, and dancing becomes part of their life.When I got married to a widower with three kids, I used to take my step-daughter, Marissa, to classes in Juarez, right across the border from El Paso, Texas, where we lived. In the picture above, she is wearing the traditional chiapaneca dress. Schools and museums also offer arts and craft classes around important holidays like the Day of the Dead when children learn to make sugar skulls and paper mache figurines, or Three Kings Day. I strongly feel these programs help them identify with their culture and make children feel proud of where they come from Mexican Cultural Institutes around the country offer a large selection of programs that promote both traditional and avant garde art, musical theater and dance performances that show the richness of our culture. In New York, Food is Art presented a tortilla-making class for children at Julian and Annie Medina’s Toloache restaurant.  Here is a picture of their daughter Olivia with her creation  An adult recently complained: “Why limit the class to children? I want to learn how to make tortillas, too!” See tortilla recipe in the recipe section. Zarela Martinez blogs at Zarela.com. You can also check out her how-to videos on YouTube.