Notes from the underworld

While working at the University of San Francisco’s Religion and Immigration Project (funded by the Pew Foundation), I spent a year doing first hand research with transgender sex workers in the seedy and run-down residential occupancy hotels in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District and the brothels of Guadalajara, Mexico to find out the role of religion in their lives. I learned about their “underworld” faith to the Santisimma Muerte (Holy Death), a popular street saint in Mexico that appeals to prostitutes, drug dealers, police and all people who lead risky lives. The prostitutes mix their traditional Mexican Catholicism (praying to the Virgen of Guadeloupe and to St. Jude Thaddeus) with their worship of the Santisimma Muerte.

Two academic articles about my research will be printed in a book, On the Corner of Bliss and Nirvana: the intersection of religion, politics and identity in new migrant communities, by Duke University Press and in an article in Latin American Perspectives.

Here are the non-academic, easy to read articles about my work:

(Short version): LINK TO Finding Salvation

(Long version): LINK to Religious Devotions

I acted as a “fixer” for, Rick Nahmias, a photographer who was doing a photography project about marginalized religious groups in California. His photo exhibit at the Fullerton Museum in LA highlighted photos of the women I introduced him to and helped him interview.

Rick Nahmias’ show was at the museum was highlighted by the Los Angeles Times, the Los Angeles Public Broadcasting Station and on the radio.

Photos: http://www.goldenstatesofgrace.com/gallery.html

1. LA Times: http://www.topix.net/content/trb/3646491669011781917022333725842662470166

2. KCET TV (Los Angeles PBS): http://www.kcet.org/lifeandtimes/blog/?p=119

3. KPFK-FM Radio, http://www.goldenstatesofgrace.com/press.html

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While doing my research in Mexico, I also wrote essays about my adventures and insights into faith. (Comedic highlights: my tailor made clothes in a brothel, risk of being arrested, and getting sick.)

Links to Essays