mechista humor
10.15.04 // 1:51 p.m.

I don't really write about it here much, but being a member of MEChA throughout my undergraduate years and then working for the organization after I graduated has had an immeasurable impact on my life. I know the organization is not perfect, but there is no doubt in my mind that I would be a completely different person if I had never gone to that first meeting during my first year in college. If anything, I gained more knowledge about myself and leadership skills... along with dozens of friends. It's good.

Okay, so MEChA is one of my "friends" on myspace.com (if you want to make me your friend, go ahead). Posted to the blog section were some hilarious lists. I don't know who wrote them (actually, I probably do), but the fact that I've been around MEChA since 1998 shows since I get most of the jokes.

You know you�re an old school MEChista if...
1. You forget whats being boycotted this week.
2. You don�t go to workshops, you teach them.
3. You still think Oregon is part of the Pacific Northwest region
4. You can name someone from every MEChA region.
5. You list protesting as one of your hobbies.
6. You can talk shit about almost every famous Chicano activist or educator
7. You have continuing nightmares involving the Roberts Rules of Order.
8. If you remember when learning Cal� was cooler than learning Nahuatl
9. Your MEChA shirts are homemade.
10. You�re asked to be a keynote speaker at a MEChA event
11. You think Aztlan is only contained within the borders of the southwest.
12. You�re paranoid of everyone and everything.
13. You�ve ever accused someone of being an infiltrator
14. You know why there isn�t a Michigan Chapter
15. You already own every Chicano Style shirt sold at the conferences so you decide it�s easier to just complain how they are commercializing the culture
16. You complain about how the new MEChistas are fucking everything up.
17. You end all your emails with Nahuatl salutations like Naxka, Ica No Yollo, Mexica Tiahui.
18. You get up for the sunrise ceremony, not go to bed after the ceremony.
19. You feel more comfortable around the advisors at conferences than the students.
20. Your homegirls and homeboys are now Chicano studies professors
21. You�re still sexist.
22. You Remember Ralph and Pookie from their Community College days.
23. You remember when the big debate in MEChA was �Chicano or Xicano�
24. Your email contains a Nauhatl name like [email protected] or [email protected]
25. Oscar was still at PCC... oh wait he still is.
26. You collected Homies t-shirts before the figurines even came out.
27. Having a mullet in MEChA was ok.
28. You have a position paper against you
29. You still remember MEChA before the Zapatista days
30. You remember MEChA conferences having carne asada burritos instead of Vegetarian meals
31. You know who Warrior Woman is
32. You still remember when UC Berkeley just had one MEChA
33. You remember when the MEChA constitution only consisted of one page
34. You were there when the MEChA Philosophy papers were drafted in San Francisco at San Francisco State University
35. You were there when El Plan De Santa Barbara was drafted at UC Santa Barbara
36. You are still a nationalistic Mexican

So, according to that list, I might be an "old school Mechista" because numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 13, 14, 16, 20, 22 (I know who Ralph and Pookie are!), 24, 25, 30, 31, and 32 apply to me. Well, a lot of them are because I've heard stories.

What Type Of MEChistA Are You?
1. Indigenismo/a MEChista (speaks Nahuatl, keeps hair in a trensa, usually in a danzante)
2. Socialist MEChista (usually wears a Che t-shirt and know everything about the Cuban revolution)
3. Poet MEChista (you see them at all the spoken word gigs)
4. Hip Hop MEChista (always trying to bling bling)
5. Underground Hip Hop MEChista (Think they are the third member of Dead Prez or battlin' at Project Blow)
6. Punk Rock MEChista (wear a lot of black and Dead Kennedys stuff)
7. Straight Out of the Pinta MEChista (think they are the Chicano version of Malcolm X)
8. Feminista MEChista (These "Womyn" are quick at breaking a man down)
9. Viva Mexico MEChista (think we should just give Aztlan back to Mexico)
10. Rockabilly MEChista (Guys look like Elvis, girls look like Betty Page)
11. Computer geek MEChista (usually the webmaster for the chapter)
12. Chola/o MEChista (You can take the Chicana/o out of the barrio but you can't take the barrio out of the Chicana/o)
13. Liberal white person MEChista (practicing for their work in Honduras after they graduate)
14. Georgie MEChista (always writing on their arms, wears a lot of black clothes, and does not like white people... or cops)
15. First Meeting MEChista (usually still calls themselves hispanic)
16. Infiltrator MEChista (usually wired and has a lot of police and military stuff at home)
17. Central American MEChista (they usually like the goals of MEChA but not convinced that Chicana/o encompasses them yet)
18. Mixed Blood MEChista (most gung ho and have been Raza for about five years now)
19. Power Hungery MEChista (runs for Chair every year)
20. Hopelessly Romantic MEChista (Always asks "what about the Mujer?" but tries to hook up with all of them in the chapter)
21. Anti-Semetic MEChista (gets his news from La Voz de Aztlan)
22. Artsy MEChista (Really into Frida Kahlo and usually is caring her art work with her)
23. Viejito MEChista (usually in his 40's or 50's and is finally going back to school)
24. Lifetime MEChista (in his 10th year in MEChA)
25. GED MEChista (he sounds hella down but is not well read)
26. High School MEChistas ("What about us high schoolers?!!")
27. Roberts Rules of Order MEChistas (thinks organizing is being able to move a motion)
28. Rebel MEChista (rebel without a clue)
29. Ghetto MEChistas (think that only down Raza are from the hood)
30. Wannabe Ghetto MEChistas (middle class raza that are still in denial)
31. Vendor MEChistas (want to make alot of MEChA products)
32. Multicultural MEChistas (want us to get along with everyone)
33. Pocho MEChista (their spanish usually really sucks)
34. Really Big MEChista (are at least 6'3 and do all the security at MEChA events)
35. Conference MEChistas (are only around when a conference is coming up)
36. In The Closet MEChista (we all know and we are cool with it)
37. Agitator MEChista (always has to disagree with everything, especially National MEChA)
38. Clubber MEChista (usually comes too dressed up for the meetings)
39. Greek MEChista (tries to play both sides of the field but doesn't realize the contridiction)
40. Zapatista MEChista (packed and ready just waiting for Subcomandante Marcos to call him into action)
41. Always Offended MEChista (if this email offended you, guess which one you are)
42. R Kelly MEChista (dates the high schoolers and is usually a 2nd year college senior)
43. Rock en Espa�ol MEChista (thinks he knows all the lyrics to all Rock ed Espa�ol songs)
44. Drama Queen MEChista (life is a big soap opera)
45. Bubble Gum MEChista (dresses really cute and innocent y loves Justin Timberlake)
46. MEChisme MEChistas (up to date with all the chisme)
47. Spearhead MEChista (usually appoints themselves as the leader of event organizing)
48. Trench Coat Mafia MEChista (is seen wearing a Trench Coat and talking about conspiracies with everyone within a 1 mile radius)
49. Madre MEChista (has to always pick up after everyone)
50. Campus MEChista (has no clue MEChA exists outside of campus)
51. Boycott MEChista (knowns everything being boycotted before anyone else)
52. Xicano with an X MEXistA (uses the letter X instead of Ch syllable because X represents the Red Road)
53. Workshop MEChistas (known to provide the same workshop at all conferences)
54. Paranoid MEChistas (known to trip about everything. Seen walking around wondering if everything they say is being heard by the FBI. All meetings are held at a secure location!!)
55. Procrastinator MEChista (known to do things until 5 mins or less to the deadline. Known to hand in papers 2 yrs later)

I think I know a Mechista who fits almost everyone of those types. Me? Well, I'm a combination between 30, 32, 43 and 55: a procrastinator-multicultural-rockera-middle class but in denial Mechista.

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Me siento: good, that proposal is in!
Escuchando: the wave... it's what's on in the office

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