Six of Spades
Gloria Anzaldúa, PhD
Dr. Gloria Anzaldua is one of the first openly lesbian Chicana writers and an excellent inspiration for authors, students, and scholars. Her work was critical for Feminist, Women, gender studies, Chincanaism, and LGBTQIA culture.
Early Life:
Gloria has born in Raymondville Texas to Urbano and Amalia Anzaluda. She attended high School at Edinburg Highschool. Early in her life was diagnosed with a rare condition that created an imbalance of her hormones causing an early onset of puberty. In an interview with Ana Louise Keating Dr. Anzaldua describes this condition as being in constant pain and having no sexual identity because of it, this pain continued until she received a hysterotomy. Dr. Anzaluda identifies as lesbian but did cite a love for men and women, claiming a Gender Queer identity as well.
Education:
Dr. Anzaldua obtained her Bachelor of Arts in English, Art, and Secondary Education from the University of Texas-Pan American. Afterward, she worked as a schoolteacher and worked toward her master's degree in Education and English. In 1972 she obtained her master's degree and moved to Indiana to work as a liaison between the school system and Spanish-speaking families. Dr. Anzaldua moved on from there and decided that her current position didn’t provide her with the necessary work around advocacy and nourishing her passion for creative writing. Dr. Anzaldua decided to leave her position as a school teacher and pursued her Ph.D. in comparative literature. She initially enrolled in the program at UT, but later relocated to California and Massachusetts. All along this journey, she began to write the transcript of her now-famous book Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza, She completed her Ph.D. from the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Further in her career, she completed many other works including, Light in the Dark, Prietita and the Ghost Woman/Prietita y la Llorona, and Interviews/Entrevistas. Dr. Anzaldua passed away on May 15, 2003, from complications with diabetes. Since then, her works have inspired young writers, scholars, and members of the LGBTQIA community alike. At her alma mater, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Library, Edinburg, TX created a literary Landmark to honor Dr. Gloria E Anzaldua.
Works:
Borderlands La Frontera ( Aunt Lute Books, 1987)
Making Face, Making Soul Haciendo Caras ( Aunt Lute Books, 1995)
Friends from the other side Amigos Del Otro Lado (Children's Book Press, 1997)
Preietita and The Ghost Woman Prietita y la Llorona(Children's Book Press, 2001)
Links to Articles & Videos
Links to articles:
https://msmagazine.com/2011/10/04/queer-history-month-remembering-gloria-anzaldua/
https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/caaas/news/view-the-altar-for-gloria-anzaldua-today
https://qspirit.net/gloria-anzaldua-queer-spiritual-activism/
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