During winter term 2016, two OSU student activists Mai Xee Yang and Nicthé Verdugo worked with Charlene Martinez, Associate Director of Integrated Learning for Social Change within Diversity & Cultural Engagement, on a project entitled Voices Without Borders for their Arts and Social Justice Practicum course. For more information, see the OMA blog: http://wpmu.library.oregonstate.edu/oregon-multicultural-archives/2016/03/19/voiceswithoutborders/, Interview Summary: Part 1 of the interview begins with project participant introductions and with Verdugo explaining the interview purpose and structure. The purpose is to bring together the Hmong and Latino/Chicano communities to speak about the stories behind their families coming to the United States. The interview structure is for each person to have four minutes to share their story, followed by an opportunity for artistic expression, and closing with a reconvening to reflect on the stories shared and artwork created. The participants Alejandra Mendoza, Lorena Ambriz, Guadalupe Garcia, Warren Wang, Gina Chang, and Nitché Verdugo then share their parents’ immigration stories, their connections to their race/ethnicity, and reflections upon their own identities. In Part 2 Mai Xee Yang and Natalia Fernández share their family immigration stories and how they have shaped their lives. Audio file available via MediaSpace: https://media.oregonstate.edu/media/t/0_8rt11i4v, Project Participant Bios: Alejandra Mendoza was born in Fresno, CA and raised in Boardman, OR, and is majoring in Mathematics; Lorena Ambriz was born in Mexico, raised in Eastern Oregon, and is majoring in Sociology; Guadalupe “Lupe” Garcia is from Salem, OR, and is majoring in Human Development and Family Sciences; Warren Wang is from Portland, OR, and is majoring in Biochemistry/Biophysics; Gina Chang is from Portland, OR, and is majoring in Psychology; Nitché Verdugo is from Southern California and Mexico and is majoring in Ethnic Studies with a focus on Chicanx/Latinx Studies; Mai Xee Yang is from Portland, OR, and is earning a Bachelors in Fine Arts. Natalia Fernández is from Tucson, AZ, and is an archivist. Mendoza, Ambriz, Garcia, Verdugo, and Yang are members of M.E.Ch.A. (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlán). Wang and Chang are members of the OSU Hmong Club.
The Fred Milton family interview begins with Loretta Milton, Fred Milton’s widow, sharing her experiences while attending Oregon State University during the 1969 Black Student Union (BSU) Walkout, her relationship with Fred Milton, including their struggles as an interracial marriage, and their lives in Utah, Montreal, Canada, and eventually Portland, Oregon. Loretta describes Fred’s dissatisfaction with the Canadian football team and his subsequent jobs in Portland as a community liaison for the police, his employment at IBM, and his work for the city government. Zalika Gardner, Loretta and Fred’s first child, then shares some recollections of her father including: his wisdom, sensitivity, and sense of humor; his love to share stories; his talent as an athlete; his very humble personality; and his values. Gardner then describes her grandfather, a sharecropper who worked in Arkansas and then moved with his family to the West and worked on the railroad; his personality and influence on Fred’s life. The conversation then returns to Loretta who describes in more detail the circumstances and events of the BSU Walkout at OSU in 1969, the students who led the Walkout, and the campus reaction. Isaiah Adams, Loretta and Fred’s grandson and Zalika Gardner’s son, shares his perspective on his relationship with his grandfather, his admiration for his grandparents, and the values that he learned from Milton. The interview turns back to Loretta who describes some of the personal aspects of her marriage with Fred including his talent for letter writing, the evolution of their relationship with her parents, and his integrity. Loretta then shares her knowledge regarding the relationship between Fred Milton and football coach Dee Andros including their time while Fred attended OSU and their reconciliation during Fred’s candidacy for Portland County Commissioner. Both Loretta and Zalika describe Fred’s intellect and love of learning and the environment in addition to his athletic abilities, and Isaiah shares how those characteristics within his grandfather affected him. The family recollects on Milton’s many talents as an athlete and his passion for coaching. They conclude the interview by reflecting upon the positive impact that Milton had on the OSU campus and the significance of his story and legacy.Audio File via MediaSpace:https://media.oregonstate.edu/media/t/0_5uih38tw, Milton Family: Loretta Milton grew up in Roseburg, Oregon, and attended OSU in the late 1960s. She met her husband, Fred Milton, at OSU. They married in 1969 and moved to Utah where she worked as a teacher’s aide at the Edith Bowen Lab School while Fred completed his degree at Utah State University. For a short time, while Fred Milton played for the Montreal Alouettes, a Canadian football team, Loretta worked as a waitress. Loretta and Fred moved to Portland, Oregon, in the early 1970s, had several children, and were married until his death in 2011. Zalika Gardner, born 1973 in Portland, Oregon, is daughter to Fred and Loretta Milton. Isaiah Adams is Zalika Gardner’s son and Fred and Loretta Milton’s grandson.
Latino OSU: “Ideologías Lingüistas en los Estados Unidos” is divided into several segments all connected to the topic of linguistic ideologies or “ideologías lingüistas’ in Spanish. The students interviewed professors, students, and local professionals to discuss topics such as how linguistic ideologies are related to languages perceived as prestigious, how people speak differently depending on their social environments, how perspectives on language differs in an international context as well as how it is perceived in the United States, especially the idea of an “official language,” how language is taught in schools, how peoples’ identities are shaped by the language(s) they speak, and finally, perspectives on Spanish-language music., Audio: https://media.oregonstate.edu/media/t/0_80rhd5tk
