Language And Cultural Practice Among Latina Youth Gangs By...

California has one of the largest Hispanic populations in the country alongside some of the wealthiest neighborhoods in the US and poorest immigrant neighborhoods, but overall the demographic is very diverse socioeconomically as well as racially. The this environment has bred a very specific immigrant experience for Latino and Latinas and from it a very unique Latinx-American youth culture has emerged. Like most immigrant communities in America, there is a merging of the culture of origin with the typical aspects of American culture. For these Latinx-American youth in California nearly every aspect of their life is a fusion of two perspectives and informed by two cultures. Being brought up in California, specifically South Central Los Angeles, I witnessed first-hand the lifestyle and culture of these Latinx-American youth. Many settings in the city I grew up in were predominated by Latino and Latinas, many being Mexican and often I was immersed in the culture, at some point even speaking Spanish with my friends and peers. I came across a book entitled Homegirls: Language and Cultural Practice among Latina Youth Gangs by Norma Mendoza-Denton (2008), which closely examined the very environment that I had seen so closely throughout my childhood and adolescence. Mendoza’s studies began in the mid-1990s, lasted for 2 years, and finished around 1998. Her subjects were the Latina and Latino students at Sor Juana High School in San Francisco Bay Area county of Northern California.