Blog Post #6

How did Martínez’s position as a participant-observer shape the ways that he reported the stories of migrants who traveled across Mexico toward the border?

Throughout Martinez’s style of writing, he actively engaged with the migrants and went through their experiences with him. With his writing, he can give accurate descriptions of things that have taken place.

Martinez’s writing gives him a very unique perspective. The stories are captured in detail and you can feel the empathy through the writing. By putting himself in the shoes of the migrants, he is able to relate to their struggles and the risks that they take throughout their journey to the United States.

Overall, Martinez’s position gives him an accurate, empathetic story.

What does he see his purpose to be in writing these stories?

I believe that Martinez writes these stories to give the voiceless, a voice. The migrants do not have the same access to getting their stories out, so Martinez is able to give them a chance to tell their stories.

Martinez works to show the injustices within the system and the government on both sides of the border. He works to show the extremely harsh living conditions the migrants are living through and hopes to show why they would want to take the chance to try to escape. By documenting the stories, Martinez hopes to gain empathy for these migrants from the readers. He encourages them to see the actual reasoning for wanting to leave their country.

What dimension do they add to our studies of the US-Mexico borderlands?

Martinez’s writing adds a very unique perspective to our studies of the borderlands. By using his perspective, he is able to humanize migration. He challenges his readers to adopt a different perspective on migration and the reasoning behind it. By using his own perspective, he hopes to limit the stereotype of “the migrant”.

Martinez also uses his writing to advocate for changes to be made. Awareness is a big part of change. With these stories being published, readers are made aware of a lot of things that we may not have been aware of previously. Systematic reforms are greatly needed, and Martinez makes that known within his writing.