The work below was previously submitted to a Central American Studies 115 – Approaches to University Writing course at CSUN.
18111 Nordhoff Street,
Northridge, CA 91330
Los Angeles, CA
September 26, 2024
Dear Mary Isabel,
My name is Leslie Garay, and I am learning about Central American Studies. I wanted to share some interesting information I had the opportunity to learn recently with you. One of the texts I have read recently is “Visibly Hidden: Language, Culture and Identity of Central Americans in Los Angeles” by Magaly Lavadenz. In this text, Lavadenz explores how the children of Central American immigrants may feel disconnected from their culture and identity, how language helps shape experiences, and how features of Central American tradition changed over time in Los Angeles. Lavandenz also writes about how “guerilla warfare resulted in the destruction of hundreds of villages, the displacement of between half a million and one million people, and estimates of deaths exceeding in the hundreds of thousands,” displaying the tremendous impact of this clash on communities.
Another text I read recently is “Caged Children,” by Carolina Rivera Escamilla. In “Caged Children,” Escamilla writes about children being put in cages at detention centers. She mentions the massacres in El Mozote and Sumpul and examines the similarities of these tragedies. She compares past massacres with children being “locked in cages to which in this full 21st century they call Detention Center. Not the massacred ones on that December night of 1981.” By linking these events, Escamilla highlights the continuing legacy of abuse, trauma, and violence.
In “Yo También Soy América… From Australia with Love,” Mario Bencastro writes about a Salvadoran woman, Rosa, living in Australia’s plan to marry a countryman, Ramón, she met on the Internet until she discloses a secret she kept hidden for a long time. Rosa recalls her childhood memories and how her “wounds have healed but, every now and then, she feels the sharp sting of her memories from that terrible massacre she miraculously survived,” demonstrating the lasting emotional trauma a survivor may experience in spite of physical wounds having healed.
The connections between the texts include how they help readers understand the enduring impact of historical trauma on individuals and communities and encourage them to examine how the present day is influenced and shaped by the past.
Sincerely,
Leslie Garay