Making Michigan Home - 9780252046889

University of Illinois Press

Making Michigan HomeMexican Americans Bridging the Rural-Urban Experience\nAuthor(s): Brett Olmsted\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: University of Illinois Press, United States\nImprint: University of Illinois Press\nISBN-13: 9780252046889, 978-0252046889\nSynopsis\nShaping a distinctive Midwestern form of Mexicano identity Mexicanos in Michigan and across the Midwest share a common experience: living as largely invisible outsiders as they struggled to build vibrant communities in places that wanted their labor but not their presence. Brett Olmsted ranges from the 1920s to the 1970s as he analyzes how Mexicanos sought to transcend social, cultural, economic, and political exclusion. Never numerous in any one area, Mexican Americans pursued inclusion via leisure spaces and labor unionism. Activities like celebrations, sports, movies, and music encouraged Mexicanos to claim physical and social space, connect with Michigan's other Mexicano communities, and construct their own sense of id.