Learning about Jose Celso Barbosa in class really inspired me to choose the topic of “Afro-Latinx students on campus”. I really couldn’t believe that such an influential person hadn’t been documented in the record, and I wanted to know more about the race politics brought up in Miriam Jimenez Roman’s piece. I wanted to dive into the complex life of Barbosa, and understand what it meant to be Afro-Latinx. I was also really inspired by working with Minty, and when she talked about her experiences or simply ideas for the project, I was propelled further into being interested in the subject. Reflecting back on this initial interest, I can say that I had no idea what fun I would have researching into the Barbosa family. It came as a surprise when I first got to handle the records in the Bentley because I was having so much fun! Leafing through cards filled out by the actual person I was researching was exhilarating, and felt like real tangible history.
Thus, the research process in the Bentley was probably my favorite part of this whole project. Handling and reading old records gave me insights into the past that I didn’t know were possible. Through this process I learned that I love the mystery of looking into old records, and putting together the puzzles of people’s lives. It made me feel all the more connected to the work I was doing and the history I was learning. In this age of finding everything on the computer, I saw how much can’t be stored on the web. The personalized letters, meeting minutes, posters, and rallying cries for boycotts were all things that I knew I couldn’t search google for. It felt as though I was in a museum, but I was able to touch and experience first hand the history and history making this class allowed us to experience. I learned so much in depth history about Michigan, but in a different way then I ever expected. I learned about the constant struggle Latinx groups had to go through to get recognized by faculty and administrators. I read email chains and memos requesting meeting after meeting and being denied access. I saw countless referendums, with detailed lists of how to increase Chicano enrollment, yet very little action from the university. And while it is now cliche to say in this class, I saw intense and saddening similarities to our current times, dating back to the early 1900s. There is so much of this struggle and fight in the records that exists under our very noses. There are so many inspiring stories in the record, but we don’t know they are there so they stay hidden.
Throughout this process I have also learned so much about myself. I have learned that I love and find power in looking back in history. This is a proclamation that I could not have made a year ago, and I am so happy that I now have this figured out. I have also learned that research is not as easy as I thought it was! History and researching history entail intense and meticulous documentation, something that I learned was important a bit too late in this class. Thus, my documenting on Clowder and the spreadsheet were difficult for me, but through the process I learned the importance of this work. And now, I can leave this class knowing that someone else will be able to use my research to find out new things about this university, and themselves.