The Borderlands and Ethnic Studies Research Center at New Mexico State University has launched a new podcast.
"Jaggie Sounds" centers storytelling and histories from peoples in the borderlands' region. The podcast aims to uplift voices and peoples' experiences from colonias, barrios, borders and classrooms. The podcast's name honors the borderlands' majestic, native jaguar and blends it with NMSU's beloved agricultural/Aggie identity.
Anita Lara, facilitator of the Borderlands and Ethnic Studies' Oral Histories Project, hosts the podcast in a studio housed in the BEST Research Center, part of the College of Health, Education and Social Transformation.
"Jaggie Sounds" was created as an actionable response to a historic moment in New Mexico's educational journey: the 2018 Martinez/Yazzie vs. State of New Mexico court decision, which demanded that public education become culturally and linguistically responsive for all students. Through audio and sometimes video storytelling, "Jaggie Sounds" will be a creative content platform and educational tool, crafted in solidarity with New Mexican students, educators and families. It is a collective, community table built around justice, wellness and place-based ways of knowing and learning.
Centered in community knowledge and cultural memory, "Jaggie Sounds" will share stories of adversity, survival, joy, love, dignity, beauty and strength, as told by the people who live them – the borderlands BEST friends. These are the reflections of land-based communities rooted along the life-giving Rio Grande, where Tlahtolli – the sacred breath of oral tradition – lives in homies on the block, tías in the salons and abuelos tending cemeteries. The podcast is the platform of symbolism of the sacred words, the life-breathing winds that carry the historias of the valleys and mountains.
"The spirit of the Jaguar – Jaggie – is a central symbol of the podcast and its message. The Jaguar may move quietly, but there is strength in that," said Ruben Leyva, Gila Apache, a BEST visiting faculty member in the Native American Studies Program. "We (Indigenous peoples) have always been here. And now, through this podcast, we are re-entering the conversation. Indigeneity is multisensory. It's not just something of the past. It's about us being here now –how we look, how we sound, how we're making an impact today. I feel the presence of the Jaguar returning. And we're making that happen with this podcast."
Support for this podcast studio and the podcast production comes from private and federal sources to record and embed oral histories from peoples' lived experiences into new curricula for New Mexico's learners and communities. The pilot episode of "Jaggie Sounds" is now available on Spotify. To listen and learn more, follow @best_nmsu on Instagram.
The full article can be seen at https://newsroom.nmsu.edu/news/nmsu-s--jaggie-sounds--podcast-amplifies-borderlands-oral-histories/s/c8a7dfe1-a16b-4b28-bb85-60f6bd857049
