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About The Movement

The Vision

Latinx Parenting believes passionately in shifting the paradigm of raising children towards creating a trauma-informed, healing centered, nonviolent and cultural sustaining approach where Latinx familias can nurture connection in their homes and culture in ways that support individual, family and intergenerational collective healing.

“THE MOVEMENT TO END CHANCLA CULTURE IS ABOUT HEALING AND RECLAMATION”

How will we unfold our vision?

By ending chancla culture

Chancla culture survives through the use of oppressive strategies—including corporal punishment, shame, and fear—to manipulate children into behaving to please adults.

We know, from research and memory for some, that the ongoing oppression of children causes significant harm to a child’s development and emotional development.

La Chancla is in reference to a sandal or flip-flop, and in Latinx culture, it is frequently referenced as having been used by our immigrant or Latina mothers to get children to change behavior by either threatening or actively using it to physically hurt us as children.

La Chancla and oppressive views of children, including our own inner children, is not actually part of our culture— it is what keeps our culture back. In Latinx media, there are countless videos and memes that are intended to be funny, but when you look at it from a child development and children’s rights perspective, they are normalizing violence against children. Chancla Culture thrives off of this normalization.
End Chancla Culture
“I JUST WANT MI GENTE TO HEAL”
Dr. Manuel Zamarripa of the Institute of Chicana/Chicano Psychology, a teacher and someone I consider an elder in this personal and professional work of decolonizing our familias, has affirmed that many Indigenous communities believe children hold innate wisdom that needs to be honored. When we talk about decolonizing our families, we talk about returning to this understanding and treating children as whole and complete beings with many gifts and capacities.

Did you know that…

By the year 2050, 1 In 3 children will be Latinx. (U.S. Census Bureau)
Latinx children are at risk for more mental health outcomes five times more than their white counterparts. (McGuire & Miranda, 2014)
Thoughts of suicide are 8x higher for Latinx students who feel less connected and less communicated with within their families. (cibhs.org)
Frequent use of corporal punishment reduces risk of upward social mobility. (brookings.edu, 2014)
Latino mom hugging her son and a traditional doll

WE CAN DO BETTER.

For those of us that grew up on the receiving end of corporal punishment and experiencing the effects of Chancla Culture, this may bring up some feelings that we may or may not have dealt with before we became parents. This has been so normalized, that it makes sense that Latino comedians joke about it to thousands of people, that on Mother’s Day you’ll find brand new illustrations created in reverence of La Chancla.

Laughing at chancla memes and videos may give some of us Latinx people a sense of feeling seen and relating to that experience. It may be difficult to acknowledge that growing up in chancla culture caused harm, because so many of us have been raised not to question or “disrespect” our parents by challenging their choices.

Respect is an important value in our familias, and in our culture, the need to be respected and to provide guidance is often confused with the urge to create fear through punishment. However, by acknowledging that our parents didn’t have alternate tools or adequate information and resources, we are not disrespecting them. We are simply naming that it caused harm, and we are invited to reflect on whether or not we want to cause that for our children. There’s quite a bit of compassion we can hold for our parents once we understand where Chancla Culture comes from, and that their choices were usually not intended to harm, though the fact is that they often did.
Mom and daugther hugging covered with a rebozo

This is a huge paradigm shift and takes ganas.

Our mission is to offer Latinx communities and its allies, family education that encompasses the cultural, socio-political and diverse needs of each family. We are transforming the culture of child-raising by educating, advocating, envisioning and inspiring families to end the cycle of violence towards themselves and their children through the practice of nonviolence, reparenting, connection, and community wellness towards liberation and thriving.

When we commit to our healing, whether it be for ourselves or for our families, we begin to understand that things don’t have to be either or, we live on intersectional planes, dualities are valid, complexities are the norm. ⁣⁣

This is liberating because it frees us from thinking that acknowledging our own pain and trauma means betraying our parents. Boundaries, whether concrete or just energetic, are gifts to ourselves and to those who we are setting them with. ⁣⁣
There’s no shame in holding dualities. In fact, there’s a distinct freedom we can experience as we embrace them and embrace the vastness and richness of our experiences and healing process. ⁣⁣

This movement is not just for Latinx Parents.
It is just as much for Latinx children, those that
still live within us, and those we are raising.

There was a señora, we’ll call her Doña Lopez, in the 16-week Reparenting series that I just completed for a long-term community partner. Doña López could WRITE.

In multiple sessions, she would read something she wrote in between our times together. On the final night, which was Tuesday, she asked the group if she could read a four page letter that she had written to her mother, and intended to translate it for her daughter.

She emailed it to me this morning, all four pages and in ink, signed by her. I recorded the audio (without identifiers) and I want to play it for the community with her permission at some point. She mentioned to the group that she had found the letter, but as I heard her read it and as she shed tears (and we all did), I knew they were her words.

They were poetic words, poignant and beautifully painted on the page. I know good writers because I am one (or try hard to be one lol😅)

Randomly, this screen shot from April 2022 came up in my memories on my phone, and it made me think about Doña Lopez, mother of three, immigrant, service worker, healing inner niña, and natural born ESCRITORA.

I felt so proud and honored to be shared her writing. I didn’t even assign a final project! But I did weave in writings throughout that were meant to inspire some kind of creativity.

Access to our artistry is liberatory. We continue to fight systems of oppression so that we can choose art. We deserve access to the parts of our brain that are not survival-ridden. Our comunidad especially is one FULL of brilliant minds. Doña López is just one or them.

Now, go practice resistance by resting in an art practice. Mine is writing and dance.

What is yours? What about your parents?

Remember that I love you. ❤️

#LatinxParenting #EndChanclaCulture #RaisingFutureAncestors #DecolonizeOurFamilias #IJustWantMiGenteToHeal #TheCycleStopsConmigo
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[English Caption in Comments] Comunidad, una de las formas en que podemos honrar a las víctimas de la violencia armada es luchar por el control de armas para que ninguna otra familia o comunidad tenga que pasar por otra tragedia inimaginable.

Nuestra voz es nuestro poder y no podemos darnos el lujo de permanecer en silencio por más tiempo. La violencia armada continúa siendo la principal causa de muerte en los niños y es hora de que le pongamos fin.

La semana pasada hablé con Patricia Paduy-Oliver, quien perdió a su hijo Joaquín en el tiroteo de Parkland y fue una conversación que no olvidaré. Ninguna madre o familia merece perder a su hijo o ser querido por la violencia armada.

Mientras recordamos a Uvalde hoy, únete a nuestra lucha junto con @mamasconpoder y @changetheref para exigir que el Congreso tome medidas contra la violencia armada de una vez por todas.

1. Firme la petición para que el Congreso sepa que es hora de prohibir los rifles de asalto militar AHORA.

2. Manténgase actualizado con @mamasconpoder enviando un mensaje de texto al 747464

3. Visite www.myfirstschoolshooting.org (http://www.myfirstschoolshooting.org/) para leer Mi primer tiroteo en la escuela por Patricia Oliver y @changetheref y envíelo a sus funcionarios electos.

Cambiemos la realidad en la que vivimos y luchemos para asegurar un futuro en el qu
e nuestras familias y comunidades se sientan seguras contra la violencia armada.

#EndGunViolence #ViolenciaDeArmas #GunViolence #ParklandStrong #UvaldeStrong #stonemandouglas #uvalde #uvaldetexas #parklandshooting
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🎨: @tinamariaelena | “Shout out to the mothers who are healing their own childhood trauma.

The mothers who are healing emotionally and spiritually.

The mamas making the effort to break generational curses.

And the mamas who are putting their children’s mental, emotional, and spiritual needs first.

You are Superwoman without the cape, making sure you are raising emotionally intelligent children.

I see you and I honor you.” —Toshia Shaw

P.S. Our Healing the Madre Wound Introductory Workshop: Re-mothering the Latinx/Chicanx Mother is always accepting enrollees! Our workshop will not only support you in healing your Madre Wound, but help you in navigating your relationship with your mom, and setting boundaries when needed so you can thrive in your healing journey.

Remember, when you sign up for ANY of our Escuelita offerings, you get an invitation into our ✨special community✨ with other alumni who have taken the workshop so you can connect & grow with others who are also healing their Madre Wounds.

Visit our Escuelita in our L i n k i n B i o 🔗

www.latinxparenting.org/Escuelita

#LatinxParenting #EndChanclaCulture #RaisingFutureAncestors #DecolonizeOurFamilias #IJustWantMiGenteToHeal #TheCycleStopsConmigo #MadreWound #Mothering
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Reclaiming our Familias.
Reclaiming Ourselves.
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