Lunes Libro : Mi Barrio by Robert Renteria

10:21 am By Maegan La Mala · Books|literature|youth

4 Jul 2011

Note : This review will be translated into Spanish in a separate post and my hija, 13 year old Mapu, will also be posting her own review since she is the target audience for this comic.

This review was supposed to come out last week and I didn’t want to write it. I struggled with it, holding the following dicho/saying in my head, “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.”. That dicho goes just as well with the graphic novel, Mi Barrio, by Robert Rentería, published by Smarter Comics.

Renteria’s story is a common meme : boy grows up in the barrio/hood surrounded by unsavory people, does some unsavory things himself, and escapes through the military and good old fashioned capitalist hard work, becoming rich and successful and even buying his mami a car so she doesn’t have to take the awful Los Angeles bus.

The sub-title for the book is : “Don’t let where you Came From Dictate who you are, but let it be part of who you become”. In the book, where Renteria came from, East Los Angeles in the 1960′s, there apparently was not one good person, one positive role model, nothing happening except gangs, drugs, alcoholism, violence, and poverty. The men are all abusive addicts and the women are “victims” of the welfare state. Where he came from was where he had to escape from – that being offered as the way to to deal with negative conditions in the hood. No where is there an analysis as to why the barrio is/was the way it is and no suggestions are offered how to fix it because Renteria doesn’t go back.

The take away message, and I am especially concerned that this is being used in schools in barrios, is that the way to make it is to leave and focus on individual success. There is no attempt to look at the root causes of anything, but rather the message is that upward mobility will make our communities better.

As an activist, as a radical educator, as a mami raising kids in the barrio/hood: messages of leaving your community behind as a measure of success are not what I want to teach. I want to teach about the how we got to where we are together and how we will grow together. I get that the attempt/intention by Renteria to highlight his own life as an example, as an alternative to some of the negativity that does exist in our neighborhoods. I think we need examples, positive stories but why does it feel like this lesson comes at the expense of others?

In mi barrio no one gets left behind.

Tags: From the Barrio to the Board Room, Lunes Libro, Mi Barrio, Robert Renteria

7 Responses to Lunes Libro : Mi Barrio by Robert Renteria

Aaminah

July 4th, 2011 at 10:31 am

Ugg… I so feel you on this. I attended a lecture by a very prominent Native American writer a few years ago (there was A LOT of fail, and I think I’ve told you about it before), and a young adult asked a question: What would the most important piece of advice be that you would give to young Natives? The response was: Get off the rez, get as far away from it as you can, and never look back. Which, was a ridiculous answer considering that he was speaking to an urban audience at a college where most of the young people attending were there as part of their class work, and the closest rez is three hours across the state. But was also terrifically offensive and erasing of “where we come from”. It particularly disturbs me to see authors who are making their living – getting their upward mobility – specifically by constantly referencing where they came from and building up their “authenticity” as a voice due to where they came from, while saying “get away from where you came from & don’t go back”. Plus, like you said, don’t do anything about the injustices that are part of where you came from. Don’t fix anything, just walk away. It’s such a selfish “American dream” bootstraps bullshit piece of advice.

Maegan La Mala

July 4th, 2011 at 10:47 am

Hi Aaminah and huge ass hugs for you. Yeah, I remember that and it’s such a shame because these are the messages that are held as example for our young people, our children, our future.

The issue of authenticity is really interesting and important because it is these “success stories” that get the funding, the support to be the “role models” and the people doing the hard work inside the community get no play, no love, no respect.

I want to cut the fucking bootstraps

Aaminah

July 4th, 2011 at 11:18 am

Yeah… this same author responded to my question “What would your advice to young Natives who want to write be” with “Don’t. Get a real job.” Uh huh… Apparently, the only way to get & maintain “authenticity” is to sqaush and potential “competition”.

Karen

July 4th, 2011 at 1:40 pm

Re: “I want to cut the fucking bootstraps”

You’re a lot scarier than I thought.

People have the right to live any kind of life they want,
including escaping from the ghetto/barrio and never looking back. Your idea of success is everybody holding hands on a sinking ship.
You would probably call that “resistance.”

OB the other hand, people in poor neighborhoods need to organize, but that doesn’t mean never leaving if you have the opportunity.

Maegan La Mala

July 5th, 2011 at 6:52 am

I don’t think of myself as scary.

I also don’t see our neighborhoods as sinking ships. I am very clear though as to how the canon balls were shot at us and who shot them.

Please Karen don’t define things for me. I use my words, generally speaking, quite carefully and say what I mean/mean what I say.

I’m not saying people cannot leave or shouldn’t leave. What I am saying is that framing that as empowerment is dangerous

Robert Renteria

July 5th, 2011 at 5:13 pm

Okay, thank you for your comments. I have closed my business to take a blind leap of faith to serve a higher purpose. We have created curriculums that cost thousands to complete and deliver with impact which we gift to schools and organizations to help our kids around the world at NO cost, it’s gifted.

I have personally also donated over 10,000 books to those who could not afford the books.

There are many things happening across the country that we are involved in that you are not aware of to make un-informed negative comments.

I have made hundreds of speaches at no cost going back into the armpit of where I came from both in the barrio’s and ghetto’s. This is not about selling which by the way if it was only about money I would never have walked away from my business.

These books are tools that are helping our teens and mis-guided youth to make better choices! Bottom line, we have an opportunity together to reach out and lift our children up, not sit back and play Monday morning quarterback.

Leaders lead by example not mistaking motion for action. If you want to be voices that really matter then get involved. My message is not about age, race or economic back-ground, it’s about 1 race the human race.

United we stand, or not…thats all up to you. Either way, we continue on with the Barrio Movement!

http://www.fromthebarrio.com

VivirLatino

Lunes Libro : Mi Barrio by Robert Renteria

7 Responses to Lunes Libro : Mi Barrio by Robert Renteria

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