Remembering our Ancestors through Convivienza, Pláticas, y Testimonios

The grave is the final resting place for our physical remains, yet in our culture, we continue to visit the grave to be reminded of our ancestors' spirits. Coco, Encanto, and The Book of Life stand as examples of how our customs and rituals have been exploited in mass media for the world to consume and misuse its aesthetics. This reflection is not about a particular holiday, but how our Xicanx Texanx ancestors passed down knowledge from generation to generation, keeping our stories alive, and shaping our future—it is autohistoria-teoria in praxis (Arfuso 2021). In three broad approaches we explore and explicate our constructions of value in the context of our borderland experiences (Anzaldúa 1987): Convivienza, Platícas, y Testimonios.