AlmaVision: Cultura Y Más (Cleveland, Ohio)
Hecho en CLE is a play on the Hecho en Mexico economic trademark, the official distinctive sign used to identify products made in Mexico. An individual who is born and raised in Mexico may playfully identify themselves as being “Hecho en Mexico.”
Images and text are from the exhibition Hecho en CLE.
All images courtesy AlmaVision: Cultura Y Más.
Dr. Delia V. Galvan, Ph.D.
La doctora Galvan es originaria de la Ciudad de México. En su primera carrera hizo trabajo corporativo en el área de comunicaciones para General Electric en ese país. En los Estados Unidos obtuvo su doctorado en Filología Hispana en la Universidad de Cincinnati. Fue profesora por cuatro años en John Carroll University a partir de 1987, y después en Cleveland State University, de donde se jubiló en 2017. Le gusta la historia y la cultura de los países de habla hispana, los cuales ha visitado en su mayoría por razones de estudio, profesionales o de turismo. Ha pertenecido a varios grupos culturales locales. Le gustan las actividades relacionadas con la música. Recientemente se unió a la organización Alma Vision: Cultura y más, donde aprende música con jarana jarocha.
Jose Garcia
I am a first-generation Mexican American, born to parents whose life was in Mexico (Mexicali Baja California and Ameca Jalisco, respectively). They both came to the States to pursue a better life for themselves and their families back home. My parents worked to support us and their extended families back in Mexico. This picture is particularly special because it shows the start of our story in the US, the start of what would make me who I am today. They both taught me the values of hard work and dedication to achieve goals and break barriers. I grew up in the Southwest for the most significant part of my life, where I also attended college and began my professional career in higher education. I was thriving in the Southwest, but ultimately began my next venture in life by looking for a partner in crime. In doing so, I happened to find someone from Ohio, meaning they still lived in Ohio at the time. Long distance was not something that ever appealed to me, but the connection was just too strong to ignore. That person ultimately moved to the Southwest for a few years before we decided to move to Ohio. Ohio has offered us so much in terms of growth and stability, but little did I know it would also offer me a place where I would fully feel at home. From Toledo to Geneva, Ohio offers so many different niches and communities that allow me to explore and find something new every day. I fell in love with the landscape, the lake, and the fall most of all! I keep finding communities and businesses that fill comforts from home, although not as readily available, that I didn’t know would be here. I’ve learned to thrive and continue to grow here. There’s a famous movie and saying in Mexico, “Ni de aqui, ni de allá,” meaning “not from here or from there.” I feel that many of us sometimes feel like this when we don’t feel we are enough, but ultimately, we have to remember that we are more. We remember by celebrating our traditions, heritage, and upbringings, as well as recognizing others. Ohio has many opportunities to immerse oneself in more than one culture while celebrating one’s own. This is why Ohio has become my home.
Ana Magaña
Yo nací y fui criada en Guadalajara. Cuando llegué a Cleveland era simplemente en plan vacacional, y encantada por todas sus estaciones del año que se pueden apreciar en todo su esplendor, además conocí a mi esposo que curiosamente es Mexicano, que con lucha, perseverancia y ganas de seguir, tenemos 28 años de casados y a través de todo este tiempo, hemos formado una bonita familia, siempre tratando de conservar la mayoría de nuestras tradiciones, cultura, sin nunca olvidar de dónde venimos.
Diego Gonzalez: Cleveland Son Jarocho
When Diego Gonzalez came to Cleveland in November of 2021, he brought with him one of his passions: Son Jarocho. Son Jarocho is a genre of music that extends through a region composed of the southern coastal state of Veracruz and parts of Oaxaca, Mexico. Diego started playing Son Jarocho at local parks in Cleveland and invited others who wanted to learn. When AlmaVision heard about what Diego was doing, we contacted him and a partnership was formed.
A Son Jarocho workshop was announced at the start of 2024. The goal? To teach the participants about the history and current practice of this genre of music. Participants learned how to play the jarana, the sones, and zapateado.
Diego is originally from the town of Gonzales in the Salinas Valley in northern California. “I’ve always loved the music of Mexico, and was exposed to many different genres through the prevalent Mexican community and culture present in California. I think I may have first heard Son Jarocho and Huasteco through the Teatro Campesino’s plays and my dad’s Los Folkloristas records.” Diego has played with the Son Jarocho collective Son Cosita Seria and participated in Son La Lucha’s workshops. He has also participated in other collectives in cities like Philadelphia, Miami, New York, and others on the West Coast, as well as in many active communities in Veracruz, Mexico. There, together, they played at protests and vigils, and planned large fandangos where they were able to host people from all over the country.
“I’d like to turn people on to the Son Jarocho movement, both to foster community in Cleveland through music, and to expose people to the large network of talleres/collectives in the US and Mexico.”
