Paso a paso se va muy lejos

i recognize and acknowledge all my ancestors as I open the circle to deliver the Presidential Address at the 2021 American Folklore Society (AFS) annual meeting with an open heart and a deep connection to those who came before me and to those who will follow. I dedicate this talk to the many mentors and role models, folklorists whose life paths intersected with mine either at AFS or on my way to AFS, and to those who have passed on, especially Bess Lomax Hawes, Judith McCulloch, and most recently, Frank de Caro, Leonard Primiano, Enedina Vásquez, and Pang Xiong Sirirathasuk Sikoun. I also dedicate it to the younger folklorists out there who are embarking on a career or on an education path toward a career in folklore: you are our future.I trust you've had as good an annual meeting as I have. Since the virtual welcome session on Monday and the many virtual gatherings—actually from pre-conference section meetings and convenings and right up until now, I have sensed a strong affirmation, secure in the future of AFS and of our field. We have survived. We will survive. I am reminded of Sarita Liendo, an elder tradition bearer who for her entire life worked with the folk Catholic tradition of matachines–in her community, it was Los Matachines de la Santa Cruz. Doña Sarita and her community honored the Holy Cross, the object of devotion for the folk Catholic dance tradition in a poor working-class barrio on the banks of the Rio Grande River in Laredo, Texas. “Con o sin dinero, los matachines bailan,” she told me once. For 2 years now, the matachines have clandestinely danced on May 3, albeit without the usual 3-day fiesta, without the large, shared community meal, and without the procession to the church or the mass of thanksgiving. But they have danced. And so, as the matachines must dance with or without money, with or without a city permit, with or without the usual elements, so, too, must we carry on with or without the usual accoutrements of our annual gathering—and this year particularly, we gather both virtually and in person in a format we have never before tried. We go forward con o sin. . . . The lesson is clear, with or without . . . we must persist.My deepest gratitude to the membership of AFS for allowing me to serve as your president. As anyone who has had the privilege of serving will tell you, the time goes by in the proverbial blink of an eye, and “with COVID time,” well, it's been even more challenging. I am still having trouble figuring out the day of the week, and when I say last year, I usually mean 2 years ago. When I began my presidency on January 1, 2020, the world was a different place. Time is only one thing that seems to have shifted. As I mentioned in my welcome remarks on Monday, we can never go back to the status quo that existed before the pandemic, before COVID-19 wreaked havoc within our lives. We cannot return to the “normal” that is rooted in the conditions that led us to the problems in the first place. The world is different. The Black Lives Matter movement, the #MeToo movement, the January 6 insurrection, the end of our military intervention in Afghanistan, the images of thousands of Haitians in Del Rio, Texas—these and the thousands of small daily events in our own lives, professional and personal, add up to major shifts, systemic changes, and paradigmatic changes.When I joined AFS almost 40 years ago, AFS was a different organization. I distinctly remember telling Pat Jasper, who was encouraging me to join, that if I did, I would be an active member, and it would not be to just add one more organization to my CV. I joined and then faced my Chicane Studies colleagues who were questioning my choice to join what they perceived to be a racist and outdated organization; some even accused me of going to the dark side, for, indeed, working on folklore was deemed a betrayal. In my view, and in defending my choice, I knew and still know that the field of folkloristics may have pretty negative baggage. However, unless we get into the exclusionary spaces, we are in a way complicit in the continued marginalizing: we allow others to tell our story, to study our culture, and to, in effect, teach us who we are. Perhaps my goal was to be a working member of the society precisely to change the negative view others have of our field. When I first served on the Executive Board, or as co-chair of the Cultural Diversity Committee (CDC), or as convener for a section, or in so many other roles within AFS, I kept that goal front and center—to create the society that I felt responded to the higher charge that I could defend to those who would call it the enemy. Facing our history is a step toward building a society that allows us to be the best that we can be. Despite the fact that I was teaching and “doing folklore” in my scholarly work at the time, I didn't necessarily call myself a folklorist. Once I became a member of AFS, I felt that I could claim to be a folklorist. After all, I was working at the National Endowment for the Arts Folk and Traditional Arts program, had been integrating folkloristics into my English classes for a number of years, and had written a dissertation on a folk play. But the label “folklorist” didn't seem to fit, even then. I suppose some kind of impostor syndrome nestled in my heart—after all, I had never taken a class specifically called “Folklore.” By the way, if you are interested in how I came to call myself a folklorist, I refer you to my AFS origin story online in our AFS website under the Resources section as a Case Study—Thanks, Tom Mould, for the invitation to contribute to that lively space.2 And by the way, if you have not yet visited the new website, please do so—browse the various tabs, and let us know if you find any problems or if you have ideas for us to make it even better.3In my address, this afternoon, I do refer to our history, but I will also talk about the present, signaling and highlighting the extraordinary times we are living in and the challenges such a reality poses for our work, for AFS, and for society in general. Finally, I wish to focus on the path ahead for AFS, with some imaginings and dreams of what awaits and where we can go in the future. Grounding my remarks on my own path and with references to various folk traditions, I challenge AFS to go forth and “do work that matters”4 in the world.I anchor my talk on the Gloria E. Anzaldúan concept of nepantla, the idea that we are always in flux and going from one space or time to the next, and that it is in that in-betweenness that change happens. Nepantla rooted in Nahuatl thought is a useful term to describe what in the The story goes that when a an who had to about devotion to both the and am in In other was and all in that that that that Gloria E. allows our field to the us that in this an space Nepantla and living in this in a of even We either as a or we I am an and we but it will not be will be and it will be has been so in the But we have for almost years, and we must change to be to in the future. can we as folklorists go forward with our work in the of so many that to be more more is one of the my Chicane colleagues when my in this the open the I from a to about I am and not out there the in Del Rio or Laredo, or even just working for in some and am I not a am I not out in the I am in my own way and this is to I to on our where we and where we go as an organization and as folklorists those in our and those in our future. I to my of in a that seems to never end and my of how I our field as to forward to a new an to find a new way of with one a new way of folklorists in the In a way, it is my call for a from the a of where we are and where we to am not the first AFS to a talk the that at the the present, and the future. In for I by and in that others had also remarks present, future The of my is not a I it of the I in my a the de de in the last to our path as the on this I will not necessarily a for my For I in the of I also we can a that may to be and but in it is the way most at in my how they the of on the path by my those who have the AFS and with I must tell you how in I am when I back to my AFS meetings about years And how we have to the I would and what it I and it's a in some told me it was the to written that to the As we on our AFS too, I our I go back to my colleagues who folklore as a field in they as they to me from the of my that I not the of our field and the the and the and of even to I one who served as of our society and who in in life is with was a military and yet in the for a number of years, into are a of But of so as to get the and the in the that was of what was as as that We have own to as about how some of the were had been and going into I am I am to have for on but also of how my of we have folklorists of origin in the first of the in folklore and it in and and to whose work on the folklore of the is for a and it they to be so as to Perhaps the that and had or to in a new way of also it is that folklorists were at all, we have to that they were for a of many who and who at best were and at in the in the of the some object of study and any but the and that the object of study as the term is still in the I was not by the movement, the that as it became by the under the that came into in We can in the of and American by folklorists in the as some have the is a then is a with that we can and with our we can then the of the more In AFS, I suppose I was to do what of that challenge within but the I But do we the kind of change that is and that is in the of the to be I am us a into our history as I but we must also of where we are and our let us at the We to where we are at and what it is we are to the change to not in the and in the and I know that the change will but only if we work toward it I am reminded of idea that are that the of they let us the of with that in We can find in the fact that we acknowledge our with all for that is the first I am we can all a time when we were with a and us to just do what we just it a day at a has been especially the times in we are but even was a I even when I was my at a time, a are but it may just work that by one step at a time, we will get one of is an the society is in an to the of folklorists of from our The by and was first at the AFS in as an it as a virtual with images and on the AFS The first in the of are but the of the that to those who have been or who may not be for work on of the first to be was a at a time when a she a at the of and worked Frank served as of the Folklore Society and and also at in she her a that is rooted in the folklore of Texas. I am also to also as in the to be to the of American in and yet she last I the and have has to have various to the of Perhaps some of you are of this of is a to do the is of and the session to do we with and de on the on where we are and how do we focus is on the we the we to talk about the work we do and how it can who do not the or that many of us have. We are in the questioning and the years have us it is that have But then I always knew the at in and . . . just field can the of and of thing that came up in that is how and carry the of that are good and allows for us to from the of and For of the more a that may not be the one that that the have to be the term the where it on the that have to We must remember that and carry the a call for the of work in For to community we may to our work from a different banks are where could community and by and for I to a for, in my view, such are in how we can forward folklorists that The at the session of a in that could be to the and various that the community could In this the all and a for a as to or that a for what you that have connection to and can not to that it may not the for to in that and community meeting the goal of and the us by and also and is the I am the of a allows for for our work and the best of all I will this concept a more I will from a of my on that we can our and with our and acknowledge the that we are and how we will go I became AFS ago, we have and from the of we have been by and The on the that in the of January and the continued that is our have taken a on our way of I the with the we the of a world that at times seems We our without the of to the that are on that or the many of from Monday who in or out without a way of with May her be of my a in Laredo, has shared with me the that are have as has my in and in Texas. We have with the of the reality with the of to As I told you on Monday, I am I am many of you are not just the online teaching and the virtual meetings but the that when we are with with that As we the of we cannot our own as an have also an and a future. we must of society will in fact it I that this is not the AFS I I am others have the I that change is what we to if we we will not survive. is also our way of the and the future. The of on the that history in the also a The idea allows for a of the and a into the future that both with the we that have and we a But we have to change in to is to so many just by our field with ideas for a rooted in our history but also to AFS The American Folklore Society as an must as it to be in the with the as we change con with of our role and our in the of as we the new as we create to the future. the of the I other of this I have the Cultural Diversity Committee from a to a and that within AFS and with the charge of the Executive to create for I am a to do more of the but in a more systemic and the organization. We will a I the and work at a different within the organization to us the will return to the a but for now, I will to a on the de years ago, I on the de in from de in to de in In this path the to the end of the was before the began to the of the that are in the end up the story goes that when the and was by the to and a But was called back to where was was then and on a on the of or to is the in who in the story in the the that on the The the story of how the of are taken by to for a to the and a to not but to going and the in go to what is But too, they are and in the they and return to time, she to a for the in a But she has and when they get to the they are by a we a in this they have the of and with the of the on side, they the they have to with that have been the last is the one most For a time, they a to the time, extraordinary having the they and she allows to the story on a The for about is not until the that a a in the and and there is the the with the of the knew that was in the but one had one had as they were for years with the many and of daily story me of that field from the in the with the of to the When the goes to the the and the of the the in that it is the whose have been As the of the and the the of the began to By the the had taken and it in in of in forward to when I am on a in the of a folk from the of and Laredo, is to the object of my The to the de to of But I am a poor and on a to get the and myself from the section of the the fact that I had about the from may in who began on the that time, I was not to make the for By the way, passed in of is one I am to my on the to I would to say was a and a on that of and all of of the the also a of But I . . . When I in I was a that I had been for a in my would teach when I was for to I it was only I was to the with a that I the is an even one for a of the folklore the the the the and the with the not to the folk and the I will talk about of my specifically and what the can teach us more the a the in the right in it is a that to I to focus on the it is a to the and was in to a When was the in a in the a had the history of the and written on the When the felt called to as they way to from a of the way by on or on any other at a a and a get with thousands of have been the of this there is The story goes that a the on a and if they could some of the did, and that is what I have the path most recently, I almost of that path this in for the from is on and my in the of I many from this When I teach the history and folklore of the de I some of with my other such as the one to of in on the of for the and to folk in I focus on the de I a for in AFS has a path with and has not been a but a path that some claim has had and As with the path to that may be a at other almost a but not a AFS has paths that have led us to where we are but we are not there We will never or I say that we are always We are in nepantla, that of is a in The that is COVID-19 is not yet I that one that led me do folklore and to call myself a folklorist, I will to about and about the and most of the work we do and we do I mentioned is a that from the from the has in education and other as an that challenges the I it to you as a for as I it working with of and that is and to the and the world the scholarly this is the we as we the challenges by and change to COVID-19 and the at the folkloristics not or the of our but and a that and allows it to to the all with a and I will talk about that have been and are also this the by and Folklore from the and As the on the back of the The of living in conditions for or has in The in Folklore from the and for how to in the study of folklore with By on of and and and and a of and In so, they the of Folklore and and in at the and The is to the for our field to into the of that at and also in and of the that within as as of our that the the a of and a of In my view, that our field in this is by and E. from at the of American at in the and in and The can folklorists contribute to Since the of folkloristics can it others such as and in different of in Folklore by in a way us a of the of our field by can you do with a folklore folklorists We get the of the to our the on the back of the As one of the in the and in folklore has always been with and the as this the career of a in folklore are for and and serving in working as or or in teaching and a career in or even a I would or an of folklore and and us a way of the of the field to even if the work of in the folklore and a to and of Folklore and I remember the back in the about the of having folklore in education be an of the field. as I and of have that there is not only a folklore for but that education is a of The in our the of American the of Folklore and with AFS and many all of are the that is had to about the of having worked with and in and to also in my work in the and in but my time and I do to talk about the do we for our and I will my and some for all, as us in in the world unless it first in the images in our I you to the AFS of a years from our annual meeting will of the of the and the of the as a to how our and into a where our with the of and us to a world where the are not just an as but of and all in a world of a We will have all of this the work of folklorists whose and of as years ago, when folkloristics would a field in we in the of the are the as we the of many folklore may be that folklorists of the future will be what we do is a object of it is and The may be that on that both from and the are to working conditions and that and are not by the and in some will be the that be on of and of and from of and in a future. Perhaps the de will have from the that will deliver who to and the of a also the and of such an can I to and As we contribute to that future with our present, let us not that we are that as we the society and to by the way, I am not for change as I would have a years change is COVID-19 has to For our society has change in the annual meeting this year both in virtual and not by choice but by the that COVID-19 I am that are the get me I still in for it is the to I that the future is and I to the of who are our field and and us into that future. However, we must remember that the future may be and we must in our and our for all The folklorists of the future are I wish for and to As we our we must focus on the the way, the path for those who We must open and allow to be as I was with the of the Santa also called AFS path May we all our paths with

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