jotxs y recuerdos: Recent Episodes
jotxs y recuerdos
A podcast that documents queer stories from the frontera. Created by Alexandra Nichole Salazar-Vasquez
In this episode, Alexandra Salazar talks with Angela Garza, a Chicana dyke from Mcallen, TX who shaped the Rio Grande Valley punk scene. She was in bands such as Angela & the X's, Inkbag, Dykes Interrupted, and The Follies. In this conversation, they discuss cunt rock, queer valley history, and the heartache that comes from losing loved ones.
Back from hiatus to discuss the ongoing genocide in Palestine. Join us for an urgent and critical conversation with Joy Youwakim where we discuss settler colonialism in The Rio Grande Valley and Palestine.
Joy Youwakim (she/her) is a queer farmer and soil scientist who organizes for collective liberation. Texas born with roots in Palestine and Lebanon, she is able to draw connections between the need for land sovereignty and lack of access to freedom of movement. Joy lived in the RGV between 2018-2021, completing an M.Sc. in Agroecology from UTRGV. Most recently, Joy has been an active organizer with the Viva Palestina Orchestra (linktr.ee/vivapalestinaorchestra), playing Palestinian resistance music in the face of the ongoing genocide. She farms in upstate NY and runs her own soap business which started in Edinburg in 2020 (@saboonmaazeh), supporting humanitarian relief efforts in Palestine and Lebanon.
To support families fleeing Gaza, click here:
https://linktr.ee/fundsforgaza https://linktr.ee/jotxsyrecuerdos
Rubén Garza is a Non-Binary Trans Poet and artivist from Edinburg, TX. Tune in to hear their Valley manifesto!
Meet Hilda and Tee, a lesbian couple who have been married for 29 years and counting. Hilda is originally from Louisiana and Tee is from Detroit but they met in California while working for an Aerospace company. Tune in to hear their story.
For our first episode of 2021, we interviewed Danielle Small, a non-binary writer from Jamaica. Join us as they talk to us about their intersecting identities, fashion, and creative projects. @qtpoccreatives bonus ep
For this episode, we interview Eddie Piña, your favorite gay Tio. Join us as he talks to us about his farmworker experience, the Valley club scene in the 2000s, HIV, and veganism.
Episode Edited by A. Ramirez
In this episode, we interview Adrian Melgar, an organizer and teacher from the RGV. Join us as he talks to us about being trans in the borderlands, creating resources for the community, and teaching during a pandemic/hurricane hit.
If you would like to support RGV families and students directly you can donate to Adrian's classroom wishlist, venmo, or cashapp.Link: https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/2QK07A0ZXNTD0?ref_=wl_share Venmo: @adrianwaddy
Cashapp: $AdrianWaddy Listen to his full story on all podcast platforms.
Join Jotxs y Recuerdos & UTRGV Center for Mexican American Studies for a live podcast (via: Cafecito y Charla) about Black history, the Black lives matter movement, and fighting anti-Blackness in the RGV. All tip jar money will go to the brilliant panelists:
Judy R. Pryor-Ramirez, Aimaloghi Eromosele, and Alexandra Hughes
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Venmo: @jotxsyrecuerdos
Cashapp: $jotxsyrecuerdos
Paypal: paypal.me/jotxsyrecuerdos
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First Episode of 2020
Join us for our Bonus Episode where we explore Nepantla, Borderlands, and Queerness with Vickie Vértiz, a Queer Chicana Poet and Professor from California.
"Vickie Vértiz was born and raised in Bell Gardens, a city in southeast Los Angeles County.
Her writing is featured in the New York Times magazine, the San Francisco Chronicle, Huizache, Nepantla, the Los Angeles Review of Books, KCET Departures, and the anthologies: Open the Door (from McSweeney’s and the Poetry Foundation), and The Coiled Serpent (from Tia Chucha Press), among many others.
Vértiz’s first full collection of poetry, Palm Frond with Its Throat Cut, published in the Camino del Sol Series by The University of Arizona Press won a 2018 PEN America literary prize. Get a copy here.
Vickie is a proud member of Colectivo Miresa, a feminist cooperative speaker’s bureau, her first poetry collection, Swallows, is available from Finishing Line Press. She teaches at the University of California, Santa Barbara."
Fish Fiorucci, a non-binary supermodel from Brownsville, TX who modeled in Lady Gaga's Haus Laboratories Makeup Campaign, shares their story with us.
TW: Depression, Suicide, and Anorexia.
In this episode we interviewed Anel Flores, a butch tejana/chicana/mexicana writer and artist whose home is the Valley, San Antonio, and everything in-between. Listen to her share her coming out story, her experience as a mother, and the time she took a writing workshop from Gloria Anzaldúa.
In this episode, we interviewed George Longoria, a Latinx/Brujx. They are a non-binary pansexual who believes that chisme saves lives!
We connected with Gume Laurel III, a gay Latino writer from Weslaco, TX. In this episode, we talk about chosen family, Valley representation in Literature, and machismo. You can purchase his books online!
For PRIDE month we interviewed Alonzo Amaya, a gender-fluid makeup artist from Pharr, TX. Listen to Alonzo talk about gender, depression, and the importance of practicing safe sex.
In this episode, we interviewed Nancy Gonzalez-Cruz, a queer tejana who was born in Mcallen, but raised in Pharr, TX. She spoke to us about what it was like raising two kids in a border town.
Listen to her story in the link above.
In this episode, Eduardo Martinez talks about Queer Cinema, the Pharr Riots, Aqui Estamos, Fuerza Del Valle, and Valley history. Listen to his story and about his community organizing.
In this episode, Rey Vasquez, a trans man from Mission, TX talks to us about being a farm worker, a part of the circus, and coming out. Rey says "the Valley doesn't let you forget where you came from." Listen to his story in the link below.
In this episode, we interviewed Elizabeth Michelle Salinas, a former bartender from P B D's Lounge, a gay bar in Mcallen, TX. She shared what it was like to be a part of H.U.G.S (Helping Unite Gays and Straights), a now-defunct organization at Nikki Rowe High School, about the gay club scene along the border, and being a parent. Listen to her story.
FIRST EPISODE OF 2019 In this episode we interview Yvonne S. Marquez, a queer chicana writer from Mission, Texas who shares her story with us.
Yvonne S. Marquez is a writer and editor living in Dallas, Texas. She's a former senior editor at Autostraddle, a forward-thinking, feminist online magazine for queer and trans women and non-binary people. Yvonne writes about social justice, politics, activism, and other things dear to her heart like Selena and tacos. Since graduating from the University of Texas Austin with a degree in journalism, Yvonne has dedicated her career to telling the stories important to LGBTQ+ people. She was born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley.
Listen to her story.