"EZTLI TONANTZIN’S NAME CEREMONY"(Los Angeles, 2007) In this photograph, I am in the arms of my mother, and we had just finished my name ceremony. This ceremony was to welcome me into the community, be blessed by the elders, connect with my ancestors, and be given my Náhuatl name, Eztli Tonantzin. This photo always reminds me why my name is beautiful and why I am proud to be given my name. I wasn’t always fond of it growing up, I wondered why I wasn’t given a more common name and feared being judged by the other kids when introducing myself. But, as I grew older and began to stop caring about the opinions of others, I was able to understand how lucky I am to carry this name. My first name, Eztli, means “blood of” and my middle name, Tonantzin, means “our Mother Earth”. So you could say that in full, my name means "Blood of Mother Earth” which is beautiful to me. It connects me to Mother Earth and my ancestors watching over me. I can’t imagine being given a different name because it is a big factor that shapes my identity and I wouldn’t wish to be anybody else.
Alma Delia De Jesús, Angel De Jesús Ramirez, Yuriria De Jesús
This photograph includes five of the closet women in my life. On the far left is my Madrina Maria Tello who was my mother’s best friend throughout high school and college and later become my godmother. I am always reminded of her whenever I see butterflies. Next to her is my grandmother Lorena Ramirez who helped raise me and holds so much love in her heart. In the middle is my amazing mother, Alma De Jesús. The person I get my inspiration from and can be found in fragments on my face. Sitting on the floor in from of her is my tia Yuriria De Jesús, someone who continued pushing through all the obstacles thrown at her and bounces back stronger than before. Above her on the right is my tia Alma Catalan (my dad’s sister) who continues working hard.
I was visiting my grandmother Lorena and asked if she had any old photographs of her youth. She came back to me with these two small photos and a smile while she told me that she’s held onto these for over 30 years. “Mira, es tu abuelito Santos” she told me, and I held them in my hand. I had never seen a photo of my grandparents so young and clear. Seeing these portraits I couldn’t help but notice reflections of myself, my mother and her siblings, and my cousins. We carry a piece of our family in ourselves as well.
GUERRERO, MEXICO (1989)Micaela Ramirez (“Micha”), Onésimo Ramirez (“Necho”) “One of the few memories I have from Mexico is the moment this image was taken. This was the last year I saw my grandparents before immigrating to the U.S. My grandparents were always so happy and loved to dance, my grandpa would always making us laugh because he was so silly, and my grandmother’s name was Micaela. There was a cumbia called “Micaela” and anytime the radio would play that song, my grandpa would run to my grandma and dance with her. It didn’t matter where they were or what they were doing, he’d always make her dance with him if that song was on. I remember in this photo, we were getting ready for dinner and the song started playing. My grandpa started dancing with Michaela and everyone paused what they were doing to watch them on the dance floor. We were all laughing together and it was a very joyful moment. That is how I remember them both.” -Alma De Jesus
Fluvano Catalan(1862-2009) My grandpa Fluvano passed away when I was 4 years old, I don’t have as many memories of him as I wish I did but I know he was a joyous, kind-hearted person and cared for me. His nickname for me was, “La Chikis” after a cartoon character because of my chubby cheeks and the triangle-shaped baby hairs on my head. I hope to help keep his memory alive for as long as possible. My dad was the photographer of these photographs: “Well my dad, your abuelito, he loved to go fishing. It was one of those days and we invited your tío Saul to join us. Usually we’d all go for 3 or 4 hours, and you can see the fish he’s holding is a pretty small one…but your abuelito was happy and I told him ‘’let’s take a picture’ and he’s holding up his fish like a little trophy. He loved the outdoors, camping, hunting, fishing, and nature. He liked to drive his big truck and liked to work. I think he was a happy person all the time and he enjoyed being around people, it made him happy. That’s why he loved carne asadas. When we would go hunting it was like a big camping trip for us. We would pack everything, camping tents, barbecue, meats. They would stay up all night telling jokes and stories about growing up in Mexico, then would wake up early to go hunt. I remember he wanted to go back to Mexico to buy a house and live there.” -Alejandro Catalan
holding our memories close to our heart.
THROUGH THE GENERATIONS (the De Jesus family)
LORENA RAMIREZ:“A todo el mundo la quiere ayudar.”
Me and the grandmother who raised me and sacrificed so much for our family. She is one of the kindest, strongest women I know; my inspiration to be the best I can. Gracias abuelita Lorena. “Te amo” “Yo también mi hija, eres una bendición.”
