Jotxs y Recuerdos (JYR), is a podcast and archive that documents queer life from the Rio Grande Valley (RGV) and other borderlands, which are liminal regions that experience the tension of overlapping worlds. JYR is created and hosted by Alexandra Nichole Salazar, a queer Chicana from Pharr, a city in the RGV. 

Alexandra created Jotxs y Recuerdos in 2016 as a way to preserve her queer family history after rediscovering polaroid photos of her queer parents taken at 10th avenue, a historic gay bar that ran from 1987-2002, reading Gloria Anzaldúa’s book, Borderlands/La Frontera, Jose Esteban Muńoz’s book, Cruising Utopia, and Marga Gomez’s one woman show: Lovebirds. Her first two interviews are of her parents, Nancy Gonzalez, a hyper-femme Chicana and her dad, Rey Vasquez, a trans masc Chicano. 

Jotxs y Recuerdos is a rasquache/ DIY punk archive of oral histories and photos as well as a resource to los perdidos: people seeking home, healing, community, and a history of themselves.

You can listen to Jotxs y Recueros on all podcast streaming platforms or the episode tab.
Contact: jotosyrecuerdos@gmail.com

JYR has been featured on: Trucha RGV, People Español, HipLatina, Fierce by Mitú, Remezcla, Autostraddle, and Spectrum South.

More about the Creator/ Producer/ Host:

Alexandra is a queer Chicana storyteller, archivist, podcaster and PhD Candidate in the Mexican-American/Latinx Studies department at UT Austin. She loves cuddling with her four dogs and looking for hot lesbians in the archive.
Insta: @Puro_Pinche_956

Big three: Cancer sun, Aries moon, & Sagittarius rising.

Website Designer:

Lu Farrell is a queer Chicanx artist and designer based in their hometown of San Antonio, TX. Follow their work on Instagram @nonbinarypaints

Big three: Leo sun, Pisces moon, & Libra rising

Stephen Martinez is a trans photojournalist, barber, and angler from the Rio Grande Valley. Follow him @scumbxgsteph

Zodiac sign: Virgo sun

Special thanks to those who have helped creatively to this labor of love:

Raúl Xavier Ramos, Brandon Muñiz, Maritza Carolina Torres, Andrea Lira, Melinda Melo and Charlie Vela (Creator of the JYR theme song & outro).