Huellas Vol. 2: Inertia
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Inertia can be both passive experience and acute reality. There will always be larger forces at work—this is a law of nature. Ultimately, how we interpret and interact with these forces is, per the theme of this issue, an opportunity to bring underlying tensions to the forefront, much in the way the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted systemic inequality, state violence, and the death cult of capitalism.
In the story of a Walmart employee from Panama, for example, it is the memory of austerity and solidarity with her immigrant co-workers that problematizes the notion of “essential worker.” Chris Kubik, her son, confronts the fear of contagion without denying his mother’s agency. A more sentimental narrative by Nico Vera also explores the immigrant experience. Assimilation and Peruvian heritage clash over the course of several lifetimes for a family that leaves a poor neighborhood in Lima for the Dominican Republic and later, Canada. Deepening this exploration of diasporic identity, Yvette Ramirez contributes a personal ethnography of Bolivian migrant songs, beginning with her father, a street musician in New York City. Also featured in this issue are stories of quarantine, such as Pedro Molina’s tribute to his grandmother, a rudely endearing, chain-smoking Argentine woman who survived decades of chronic illness only to fall victim to COVID-19. Celina Arreseygor, in turn, documents a trip from Argentina to Uruguay during lockdown and relationship to place. And in Renata Caines’ personal essay, the lessons of quarantine are rooted in care and the intergenerational conflict among several Dominican women living in the northeast United States. Tensions both comical and absurd also undergird a story by Pablo Aristizábal about a farm in Colombia overrun with feral roosters. Lastly, we have a conversation between Dali Adekunle and Fernanda Senger. The piece itself attempts to negotiate the inertia of criticism focusing on the legacy of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. By combining historical context, cultural criticism, and analysis of a contemporary, Brazilian artist Tarsila do Amaral, we hope to present a more nuanced critique of cultural appropriation, white feminism, and the unsteady foundation of latinidad.
When selecting the theme of inertia for this second issue, each one of us in the small editorial team understood it differently and we imagined the responses would be just as varied. What we hadn’t foreseen was how much the pace of the pandemic would influence us and the contributors after pitches were selected. Beyond inertia, the creativity and collaboration captured in this volume are marked by various stages of the pandemic, like a time capsule of sorts. Were we to begin this process now, the contributions might look vastly different, less introspective, less personal. The pandemic forced many to look inward, to be vulnerable. That essence was key throughout the editorial process.
It must also be said that producing the second issue of the magazine––and probably this is true for all new collaborative processes spanning multiple time zones and born out of a desire to create something despite the financial and logistical odds––has been subject to inertia. To produce long-form is to hold space and guide contributors through a process that can be overwhelming. Which is why we are thankful to each of the authors in this issue for their commitment. To our readers, we hope this issue will help you to consider the forces at work in your own lives and how you might combat them or to find comfort in the inevitable coexistence of fate and circumstance.
“When Under Lockdown, One Dreams of Immensity” by Celina Arreseygor
“Preserving Peruvianism in the Quinto Suyo” by Nico Vera
“Tatá” by Pedro Molina
“The Songbook of the Bolivian Diaspora: Narratives of Migration and Return” by Yvette Ramírez
“A Caregiver’s Burden” by Renata Caines
“The Roosters of La Corona” by Pablo Aristizábal Castrillón
“The Absolute Present: An Interview with Alia Trabucco Zerán” by Lily Philpott
“Vieques: To Live, To Be, To Stay” by Diana Ramos-Gutiérrez
