NACCS Tejas Foco

Chican@ Studies ¡Ahora!

Community Based Pedagogies, Scholarship, and Activism

NACCS TEJAS FOCO

University of Texas—Pan American

Edinburg, Texas

February 21-23, 2013

Call for Proposals

Recent attacks on Chican@ and Ethnic Studies programs are reminders of the need for spaces to produce knowledge in, about, and for our communities. This conference provides an environment to encounter and engage recent work by those who situate their teaching, research, writing, creative activities, and advocacy on and beyond an academic campus. This call for proposals centers on the ways in which academic research, creative activities, and pedagogy can directly affect and become embedded in these communities.

The conference seeks to bring together scholars, teachers, artists, activists, and other individuals or groups dedicated to Chican@ Studies and Latin@ Studies. With a trans-/extra-disciplinary approach, the 2013 annual conference will represent areas of concern in Chican@, Latin@, Ethnic, Gender, and Critical Race Studies, History, Philosophy, Art, Literature, Social Psychology, Education, Anthropology, Sociology, Political Science, Economics, and other approaches concerned with social justice. Proposals on the methods and outcomes of participatory or action research are particularly encouraged. The program will feature panels on Human Rights, Critical Pedagogies and Epistemologies, Native Issues, Decolonization / Democratization, Gender and LGBTQ Issues, Race and Racialization, Politics, Language, Transnationalism and Immigration. Those with experience as students, teachers, activists, scholars, artists, and other community members are invited to submit the following types of proposals: panels, papers, performances, posters/exhibits, creative activities, testimonios, round tables, film screenings, workshops, and other innovative presentations.

Professional development workshops related to the conference theme will be offered as part of pre-conference activities on Thursday, February 21.

Submit proposals by December 1, 2012 to mas@utpa.edu . In your proposal, include the type of presentation, title, an abstract of 150-120 words, your full contact information, and any audiovisual requests. Proposals and presentations need not be in English.

For additional information: www.utpa.edu/mas

--

Dr. Marci R. McMahon
Assistant Professor, Department of English
Graduate Certificate Coordinator, Mexican American Studies
University of Texas-Pan American
1201 West University Drive
Edinburg, Texas 78539
(956) 665-8782 <%28956%29%20665-8782>(office)
mcmahonmr@utpa.edu
www.utpa.edu/mas

Chicana writer credits immigrant women with crucial leadership

Chicana writer credits immigrant women with crucial leadership

Raised in a barrio of Phoenix, author Christina López learned about racial bigotry when strangers would tell at her to go back to Mexico -- despite the fact her family has roots in the Southwest that predate U.S. borders. Her mother encouraged her to stand up, be proud of her heritage and always fight for what's right.

Taking these words to heart, López began a lifetime of community organizing. As part of MEChA, a Chicana/o student group, she campaigned against the passage of a racist English-only law in Arizona. In 2005, López became the president of Seattle Radical Women, a socialist feminist organization, where she helped lead the chapter in defense of immigrant rights, union campaigns, and reproductive justice, and in opposition to police brutality, U.S. wars, and budget cuts targeting the most vulnerable. López is currently the U.S. vice-presidential candidate on the Freedom Socialist Party slate. She is also the author of a newly published work on the struggles of immigrant women.

Pairing careful research with personal passion, Estamos en la Lucha: Immigrant Women Light the Fires of Resistance examines the fighting spirit that immigrant women bring to social movements despite formidable barriers.

The 40-page, highly readable pamphlet offers a poignant look at the specific conditions faced by both documented and undocumented immigrant women. It explores the role of xenophobia, economic reliance on immigrants, the military-industrial-prison-border complex, and how female militancy impacts the labor movement.

Estamos en la Lucha also addresses roadblocks to an effective defense of immigrant rights, including what López calls a "go slow, aim low…recipe for limited gains," "dead-end" reliance on the Democratic or Republican parties, and sexism.

López offers concrete examples of women "actively creating dynamic strategies of resistance and solidarity" between Latina/o immigrants, newcomers from other regions of the world, and U.S. residents of all races. According to López, "Immigrant women have the power and need to form a united multi-issue movement to confront xenophobia, violence, labor abuses and free trade."

"Ultimately," says the author, "the issue of immigrant rights is a problem of ethnic, racial and gender justice for the world's most oppressed workers. Foreign-born and native-born workers share a common class interest."

Estamos en la Lucha: Immigrant Women Light the Fires of Resistance can be purchased from RadicalWomen.org or from Amazon.com.

# # #

Estamos en la Lucha: Immigrant Women Light the Fires of Resistance

By Christina López

Publication date: March 30, 2012 * Radical Women Publications * http://www.radicalwomen.org/  

$5.00 * 40 pages

ISBN: 978-0-9725403-9-1

For a review copy or to arrange an interview with Christina López call 206-722-6057 <206-722-6057>or email RadicalWomenUS@gmail.com .

From: Radical Women, 5018 Rainier Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98118

206-722-6057 <206-722-6057>* RadicalWomenUS@gmail.com * www.RadicalWomen.org

Noche de Poesia

San Anto Cultural Arts Presents

NOCHE de POESIA

An evening of poetry, performance and community

MAY 26, 2012

6 pm – 8 pm

Gallista Gallery

1913 South Flores

San Anto, 78204

San Anto Cultural Arts (SACA) is a community-based, cultural arts organization located in the heart of the "Westside" community near the Alazan-Apache Housing Projects, in the middle of a cluster of barrios known as La Tripa, El Con, and Ghost Town.

Though SACA strives to cultivate and empower people of all ages throughout San Antonio, the programs especially target Westside youth.

Through arts and mentorship, SACA’s programs afford youth the opportunity to belong to a creative community, build life skills, and obtain technical and marketable job skills that open doors to higher education and employment opportunities, as an alternative solution to the negative influences (truancy, substance abuse, teen pregnancy) that are present in the Westside of San Antonio.

San Anto Cultural Arts serves the dozens of school-aged students (elementary through high school) and their parent(s) that come through San Anto Cultural Arts’ door every week. SACA is located in the San Antonio Independent School District (SAISD) with area schools including DeZavala Elementary School, Barkley-Ruiz Elementary, Tafolla Middle School, and Lanier High School. While SACA is located in SAISD, participants come from all over town, and attend schools in Northside ISD, South San Antonio ISD, and Edgewood ISD.

Wednesday Event; Voices de la Luna

Voices de la Luna

A Quartely Poetry & Arts Magazine

http://www.voicesdelaluna.com/

Presents

Monthly Literary Evening

Wednesday, May 23

Workshop on Writing Poetry--6 p.m.

Mo H Saidi

Featured Author--7 p.m.

Debra Pena

Debra Pena is a doctoral student in the English Department at UTSA where she also teaches Literature and Creative Writing. She currently serves as Associate Editor for Voices de la Luna. Her work has appeared in the Floresville Chronicle, the Arkansas Review, and Voices de la Luna

Open Mic to follow

Barnes and Noble at the Shops at La Cantera

15900 La Cantera Parkway

San Antonio, Tx 78256

Save Ethnic Studies

AZsocial responsibility


http://www.teacheractivistgroups.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/NoHistoryIsIllegal.pdf

Teacher Activist Groups
Downloaded 2/12/2012

Background

In 2010, Arizona made history by passing Arizona Senate Bill 1070, one of the most restrictive laws in the US criminalizing undocumented immigrants. People from all over the country have stood in solidarity with the immigrant populations and people of Color being targeted. A less well- known detail of Arizona’s attack on people of Color, and Mexican Americans in particular, is Arizona’s House Bill 2281, also signed into law in 2010, which was designed to ban ethnic studies programs in public schools.


This law represents former state superintendent of public instruction and current state attorney general Tom Horne’s crusade to end the Tucson Unified School District’s Mexican American Studies Program (MAS).

In January 2011, Tucson’s MAS program was declared in violation of HB 2281. The New York Times ran an article about Horne’s attack and students’ and educators’ struggle to maintain a program of study that focuses on Chican@ history, literature, and culture, and includes examining the history of oppression Chican@ populations have faced in the US. The struggle over Tucson’s ethnic studies program has continued for the past year. On January 10, 2012, the TUSD’s school board voted 4-1 to cease all Mexican American (but not other) ethnic studies classes for fear of losing state funding.

Support “Save Ethnic Studies”:

In the meantime, under the banner of Save Ethnic Studies, students and teachers have pursued a federal court case to declare the law criminalizing TUSD’s MAS classes unconstitutional. While the teachers’ lawsuit was dismissed in January, the students’ case is still standing. Thus, Save Ethnic Studies is moving forward in hopes that they can still overturn this law. It is important, now more than ever, to visit their website to donate to their legal fund. It is more important than ever to support our sisters and brothers in Tucson. It is ever more urgent that we all express our solidarity in recognition that “we are all Arizona.”

http://video.pbs.org/video/1699634973/

Do classes in ethnic studies teach divisiveness or tolerance?

PBS: A 9-minute video that seeks to present opposing sides of MAS, and

includes interviews with teachers and students as well as classroom footage.

Program: Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly

Episode: Ethnic Studies in Arizona

A new state law could shut down the city of Tucson's high school ethnic studies program. The state superintendent says ethnic studies divides students by race. Supporters say it teaches mutual respect and fosters a commitment to democracy.

Let’s take a look for ourselves...

Here is an actual assignment of Curtis Acosta’s based on Ana Castillo’s novel, So Far From God.

Use the questions that follow to see if you believe the assignment lives up to the concerns the authorities put forth.

Do you think you can figure out how Mr. Acosta had to change it now that the MAS program is considered illegal?

Actual MAS Assignment

• Writers often use the narrative voice to frame the reader’s perspective of the novel. This can be done through ethnicity, age, gender, or other specific details that the narrator reveals about themselves. In a well-conceived formal essay, analyze the narrative voice that is presented in So Far From God and the impact the voice has upon the reader’s experiences with the story. Remember to use direct citations from the novel to support your ideas and theories.

• {Chicano playwright Luis Valdez once stated that his art was meant to “inspire the audience to social action. Illuminate specific points about social problems. Satirize the opposition. Show or hint at a solution. Express what people are feeling.” The novel So Far From God presents many moments of social and political commentary.}

Select an issue that you believe Ana Castillo was attempting to illuminate for her audience, and write a literary analysis of how that theme is explored in the novel. Remember to use direct citations from the novel to support your ideas and theories.

• {Culture can play a significant role within a work of fiction. For generations in this country, the literature studied in English or literature classes rarely represented the lives and history of Mexican-Americans.} In a formal literary analysis, discuss what makes So Far From God a Chican@ novel and how this might influence the experience of the reader. Remember to use direct citations from the novel to support your ideas and theories.

• Magical realism is a literary movement that combines fantastic or dreamlike elements with realism. In a formal literary analysis, select a few magical scenes from the novel So Far From God and discuss why the author chose those moments in the plot to insert magical moments.

• So Far From God is a novel centered on the Xikana experience through the five female characters. In a well- conceived essay, discuss how this can be categorized as a Xikana novel.

Here is what authorities say is the problem:

• Arizona's Superintendent of Public Instruction, John Huppenthal, has said that the MAS program "promot(s) resentment toward a race or class of people." • He has said that the curriculum is "indoctrination." • The previous superintendent, Tom Horne, said that "They teach kids that they are oppressed, that the United States is dominated by a white, racist, imperialist power structure that wants to oppress them."

• The law that both Huppenthal and Horne support, known as House Bill 2281, has four provisions: Classes in Arizona may not be“designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group”; teach political views that encourage “overthrow of the U.S. government”; or “promote resentment toward a race or class of people”; and advocate “ethnic solidarity.”

Voyeur

Amigos;


Tengo el gusto de participarles la publicacion de mi libro de cuentos, Voyeur. Publicado con la asistencia y diseno de Contacto Latino Libros de Ani Palacios, con quien ha sido un placer trabajar en este proyecto. El libro se encuentra a la venta en el sitio web de Amazon en versiones impresa y electronica para Kindle. En los proximos dias hare una presentacion del mismo, a la que, por supuesto espero contar con su presencia.

Saludos, y espero verles pronto.
Alfredo

http://www.amazon.com/Voyeur-Spanish-Edition-Alfredo-Avalos/dp/1475196032/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1336520338&sr=1-7 

http://www.amazon.com/Voyeur-Spanish-Edition-ebook/dp/B00819XZFO/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1336525393&sr=1-1

Monday's SLHW Meeting

Invitation for next Monday's discussion and book signing with Eduardo Jimenez Mayo at the SHLW Meeting:


Barnes and Noble, San Pedro Crossing
Date: Monday, May 14 at 7:30 pm

Type: Author Event


Name: Three Messages and a Warning: Contemporary Mexican Short Stories of the Fantastic

Description: By turns creepy and engagingly inventive, these 34 stories selected by translator-scholar Eduardo Jimenez Mayo and writer-critic Chris Brown offer some excellent and ghastly surprises. Join us for a discussion, Q&A and book signing with Dr. Mayo.

Free! Open to the public!

This huge anthology of more than thirty all-original Mexican science fiction and fantasy features ghost stories, supernatural folktales, alien incursions, and apocalyptic narratives, as well as science-based chronicles of highly unusual mental states in which the borders of fantasy and reality reach unprecedented levels of ambiguity. Stereotypes of Mexican identity are explored and transcended by the thoroughly cosmopolitan consciousnesses underlying these works. It is a landmark of contemporary North American fiction that deserves a wide readership.

Tejano Conjunto Festival

From Juan Tejeda:

Camaradas: This is the countdown to the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center's 31st Annual Tejano Conjunto Festival en San Antonio 2012 which opens this coming Tuesday, May 15 with the Free Seniors Conjunto Dance featuring the music of The Conjunto Kingz de Flavio Longoria with Rachel Longoria (see attached complete schedule with band names and performance times). This year we have 39 distinct musical presentations with some of the very best bands in Conjunto Music performing, plus a special accordion jam on Sunday with 5-time Grammy Award winner Flaco Jimenez, Santiago Jimenez Jr., Mingo Saldivar, Bene Medina, David Farias, Dwayne Verheyden from Montford, Netherlands, y mas. Plus, for the first time in about 20 years, we're having a New Directions in Conjunto Music Night featuring Grammy nominated La Santa Cecilia from L.A., Pinata Protest, and Nick Gaitan and The Umbrella Man (check out attached Tattoo Boy's poster design). Other highlights of the festival include the Conjunto Music Hall of Fame Dinner & Baile; a special platica and excerpts from the documentary film-in-the-making, Juanito's Lab, about Juanito Castillo, the amazing blind accordionist and multi-instrumentalist from San Antonio; accordion and bajo sexto workshops; conjunto student recitals; food and beverage booths, plenty of dancing and more.


On Saturday, May 19 only, it's KEDA Radio Day (1540 AM). Tell the person at the gate at Rosedale Park that you heard the Conjunto Festival announcement on KEDA and that "Conjunto Love Is Forever," and two people get in for the price of one. Saturday, May 19 only.

We hope you and your familia and friends can join us next week at the 31st Annual Tejano Conjunto Festival en San Antonio 2012. For ticket information and discounts, go to www.guadalupeculturalarts.org Por favor, spread the palabra, schedule and posters. Gracias, y nos vemos en el festival. Juan

GUADALUPE CULTURAL ARTS CENTER

PRESENTS THE 31ST ANNUAL

TEJANO CONJUNTO FESTIVAL EN SAN ANTONIO 2012

Tentative Schedule


Tuesday, May 15/Guadalupe Theatre/10am-12pm/Free for Seniors

Seniors Conjunto Dance
Los Conjunto Kingz de Flavio Longoria with Rachel Longoria


Tuesday, May 15/Guadalupe Theatre/7pm/Free Admission
The Making of Juanito’s Lab


Producers/Directors Guillermina Zabala and Enrique Lopetegui discuss the making of Juanito’s Lab, a new documentary film about Juanito Castillo, the 22-year-old blind button accordionist and musical wiz-kid konjunto jazz loko karnal de San Anto. Some footage from the still-in-the-making documentary will be shown.


Wednesday, May 16/Guadalupe Theatre/7-11pm/$10 pre-sale $15 at the door

New Directions in Conjunto Music

7:30 Nick Gaitán and The Umbrella Man (Houston)
8:30 Piñata Protest (San Antonio)
9:30 La Santa Cecilia (Los Ángeles)


Thursday, May 17/Guadalupe Theatre/6:30-10pm/$65 & $100**

Special 31st Annual Gala Celebration Dinner & Baile
Honoring the Inductees into the Conjunto Music Hall of Fame
Best of the 30th Annual Tejano Conjunto Festival 2011 CD Release Party

8:15 Rick De la Rosa y Los D Boyz
9:00 Bernardo y sus Compadres


Friday, May 18/Rosedale Park/5:30pm-12am/$15 per person*

5:30 Opening Ceremonies/Poster Contest Exhibit & Awards
Puro Conjunto Pesado: Dos de Houston, Corpitos y el Valle

6:00 La Naturaleza (Jourdanton)
7:00 Los Tremendos Cinco (Corpus Christi)
8:00 Los Monarcas de Pete y Mario Díaz (Houston)
9:00 Los Fantasmas del Valle (Mercedes)
10:00 Boni Mauricio y Los Máximos (Corpus Christi)
11:00 Los Dos Gilbertos (Edinburg)


Saturday, May 19/Rosedale Park/12:30pm-12am/$18 per person*

Puro Conjunto Pesado: Hecho en Tejas

12:30 Student Showcase: Conjunto Juan Seguín/Teatro de Artes de Juan Seguín *
Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center * Conjunto Heritage Taller * Conjunto Palo Alto/Palo Alto College * Estrellas de Acordeón/Houston Accordion Performers * Palmview High School/La Joya Independent School District

3:00 La Familia Mauricio (Corpus Christi)
3:30 Crystal n The Crew (Pasadena)
4:10 Los Conjunto Kidz (Victoria)
5:00 Susan Torres y Conjunto Clemencia (Austin)
6:00 Conjunto Prestigio (Dallas)
7:00 Edgar Vásquez y sus Muchachos (Laredo)
8:00 Rubén De la Cruz y su Conjunto (Edcouch)
9:00 Joel Guzmán Sarah Fox y Conjuntazzo (Austin)
10:00 Rio Jordán featuring Juanito Castillo (San Antonio)
11:00 Albert Zamora (Corpus Christi)


Sunday, May 20/Rosedale Park/1-11pm/$18 per person*

Puro Conjunto Pesado: Así se baila en San Anto

1:00 Los Padrinos
1:40 Los Hermanos De León
2:40 Eddie “Lalo” Torres y Anita Paiz y su Conjunto special presentation by Salvador García y Los Pavos Reales

3:40 Lobo IV
4:40 Eva Ybarra y su Conjunto
5:40 Max Baca y Los Texmaniacs special presentation by Dwayne Verheyden
6:40 Santiago Jiménez Jr. y su Conjunto
7:40 Bene Medina y el Conjunto Águila
special presentation by Nick Villarreal
8:40 Mingo Saldívar y sus Tremendos Cuatro Espadas
9:40 Flaco Jiménez y su Conjunto
10:30 Accordion Conjunto Jam


WORKSHOPS

Saturday, May 19/Guadalupe Theatre/9-10:30am/$40

Accordion Tuning, Maintenance & Repair Workshop

Tim Schofield, Hohner Accordion Repair and Parts Supervisor, will teach you how to tune the reeds of your accordion and maintain it in tip-top playing shape. Accordion tuning kits will be available for purchase. For registration, call 210.271.3151.


Saturday, May 19/Guadalupe Theatre/10:30am-12:30pm/$40

Button Accordion & Bajo Sexto Workshops

Master Button Accordion and Bajo Sexto maestros Joel Guzmán and Max Baca will conduct this concurrent two-hour workshop. Basic chords and scales will be explored, along with the playing and
accompaniment of different conjunto rhythms. The two workshops will come together at the end for an impromptu performance and conjunto jam.

For registration, call 210.271.3151.




* 3-Day Rosedale All-Events Pass
$35 GCAC Members
$40 Non-Members



** $65 Conjunto Music Hall of Fame Dinner & Baile, plus, a Best of the Tejano Conjunto Festival CD and TCF 2012 Magazine

$100 Conjunto Music Hall of Fame Dinner & Baile, plus, a 3-Day Rosedale All-Events Pass,

a Best of the Tejano Conjunto Festival CD and a TCF 2012 Magazine

For reservations call 210.271.3151. Limited Seating


For info, 210.271.3151

http://www.guadalupeculturalarts.org/

Monday's SLHW Meeting

Invitation for next Monday's discussion and book signing with Eduardo Jimenez Mayo at the SHLW Meeting:

Barnes and Noble, San Pedro Crossing


Date: Monday, May 14 at 7:30 pm

Type: Author Event

Name: Three Messages and a Warning: Contemporary Mexican Short Stories of the Fantastic

Description: By turns creepy and engagingly inventive, these 34 stories selected by translator-scholar Eduardo Jimenez Mayo and writer-critic Chris Brown offer some excellent and ghastly surprises. Join us for a discussion, Q&A and book signing with Dr. Mayo.

Free! Open to the public!

Sneak Peek--The Boy Made of Lightning

Lightning Strikes Bihl Haus!
Preview of "The Boy Made of Lightning: The Willie Velasquez Story" on National Teacher's Day: Tuesday, May 8, 6-8 pm

Come celebrate San Antonio Teachers and the legacy of voting rights activist Willie Velasquez at the public preview of original illustrations by artist Deborah Kuetzpal Vasquez for the new children's pop-up book for Apple iPad "The Boy Made of Lightning: The Willie Velasquez Story," an interactive journey through a child's lens about how a boy sets out to change the world. Author Barbara Renaud Gonzalez will also read from the book, and guests will be treated to a sneak-peek of the book's amazing NEW technology. Food and libations provided at this family friendly event. Please consider making a donation to this important children's book.

Texas Spanish in Texas Schools

http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/tlc/events/23039


Texas Spanish in Texas Schools: Do you speak your students' language?

Sponsored by: Texas Language Center (TLC), Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning (COERLL)

University of Texas at Austin
Saturday, June 23
10 a.m.
CBA 3.306