2012 – 2018
Pictured above, sitting on the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian stage, Chema, Carmen, and Carlos discuss the work of Unlocking Silent Histories (USH). Its conception began in Lake Atitlan and Highlands regions of Guatemala, with these leaders working through and determining the first iteration of the program materialized as a nonprofit. USH exists because of their participation, knowledge, and insights. Below are videos that highlight some ot their ideas that set the foundations and structure of USH in Guatemala.
Program leader
José María (Chema) Vásquez
Chema participated as a student, a program leader, and a visionary. Here, he shares teachers’ important role in ensuring their students’ authentic engagement.
Carmen Tzoc Portillo
Carmen is a natural teacher and leader. One of the first apprentices as program leader, she offered insights into how learning becomes a natural process.
Program leader
Carlos Agustín Vásquez Mendoza
Carlos was an insightful and dynamic leader who often discussed the fluid roles of teacher, learner, and leader, as well as how USH is different than school. We recently lost Carlos to a brave battle with cancer. He is dearly missed.
Key Insigths.
Co-Constructig Learning Spaces
Prioritizing Reflective Leadership Practices
Integrating Cultural Knowledge into Leadership Models
Select Films.
Lake Creation, Resilience, Medicine, History
Writings.
Designing Critical and Creative Learning with Indigenous Youth: A Personal Journey, outlines the initial phase of Unlocking Silent Histories (USH), particularly in the context of fostering critical and creative educational spaces in Guatemala. Each chapter spotlights the experiences and perspectives of Indigenous youth in Guatemala, revealing both the power and complexity of their voices.
Their stories bring to light the importance of co-constructing learning environments where Indigenous youth are not only participants but co-creators of knowledge. This construct mirrors the participatory video ethnography approach of USH, where storytelling becomes a tool for personal and community agency as well as cultural reclamation. By engaging in participatory video ethnography, USH amplifies narratives that challenge colonial representations, reclaim cultural identities, and reimagine the role of education in fostering decolonial futures.
One of the key insights from the text is the necessity of positioning Indigenous youth as holders of knowledge rather than mere recipients of education. By valuing their lived experiences and perspectives, educational practices can disrupt colonial hierarchies and affirm Indigenous ways of knowing and being. The personal journey documented in the book also highlights the transformative power of relationships, trust-building, and humility in decolonial educational practices- principles that are central to the USH mission.
Through projects like USH, youth not only document their lived realities but also assert their agency in shaping narratives that influence their communities and the broader world.