Receta del Testimonio Mole: A Value-Rich Recipe for Folklórico Resilience Testimonio

Abstract

This testimonio explores the story of three hermanas and their connections to comunidad, familia, and self-esteem through Mexican folklórico. Each testimonio is positioned within a Latin Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) framework and further explored through Yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth framework. The stories within this paper allow each hermana’s Truth to take shape in a way that is authentic to their experience through the voice, structure, and tone of each testimonio. In this way, testimonio is used as methodology in radical storytelling (Cruz, 2012). The hermanas explore their relationship to ethnic identity and cultural heritage as Mexicanos who have a relationship to traditional Mexican folklórico. Within their stories, each of the hermanas testimonialistas discuss the unique ways in which their ethnicity intersects with other aspects of their identities, including gender, sexuality, and nationality. These stories are examples of testimonio as both a product and a process. More importantly, these testimonios illustrate the ways in which marginalized communities make sense of the world around them in a way that empowers and uplifts the MindBodySpirit.