Something to think about today, especially for mestizo Latinx, is how colonization shaped our existence and thinking. How are we overreaching? How are we ignoring what's around us? We have to stop the colonizer in our minds.

Machismo and enforcement of gender roles came from somewhere, and I suspect it was not from our respective ancestral tribes. (Not to say there weren't problematic views within pre-contact Mesoamerican society, but Spanish influence certainly didn't help matters.)

By the same token, unless we have cultural ties to our ancestral tribes, *don't* try to claim a random tribe the Raza Cósmica crap either -- it's all echoes of Spanish racism.

To the white people reading this thread: I encourage you to also examine how you reenact colonial behavior and have a colonizing mindset. Don't just rag on Columbus. Acknowledge how you are part of this, and see what steps you can take.