Welcome to our first issue of 2022. As is customary, we combine the publication of research on important topics in Mexican studies from different disciplines with essays that address timely issues that resonate with contemporary public discussions. In this vein, the first part of this volume includes four essays ranging from Afrodescent royal tributes during Spanish colonial times to disputes about the Colorado River water resources along the US-Mexico border, the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, and literature production by and about “narco-bandits” in contemporary times. The second part contains a thematic section about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Mexican workers in agriculture and low-income service occupations in the United States and Canada.
In the first essay, historian Norah L. A. Gharala unveils the ways in which women of African descent navigated the colonial taxation system in New Spain to lessen payments of royal tribute. As we...
University of California Press