A Chicano Visits the Rez

A few years back I was the News Director at a radio station near the Arizona San Carlos Apache Rez. During my time there I met many of the local Apache leaders.

One of my favorite discussions was with Ola Cassadore Davis. She was quite vocal on Apache issues and traveled internationally. In one conversation I was elaborating about border issue between Mexico and the USA. She responded, "You are both theives!"

I covered many meetings and events in Arizona during my tenure at the radio station. When I tried to cover a Rez council meeting, the leadership would immediately cancel the session. My experience dealing with Rez NDNs was confrontational to say the least. 

I met several San Carlos Apache Rez leaders who had large ranches and all the material trappings. Others who were just on the dole. My time in the region taught me a lot. One is that being a Chicano doesn't gain me entre into the nations. Many prefer that you stay far away. That you stay apart. #apache #SanCarlosApache #rezlife

Judge Says Chicano Studies Program Violates Arizona Law

Article from the Latin American Herald Tribune [Click header to go to original article.]
Cartoon by Lalo Alcaraz

Less than a week before classes are set to resume after the Christmas break, the future of Tucson’s Mexican-American studies program has been cast into doubt by a judge’s finding that it violates Arizona law.

The Tucson Unified School District could lose up to $15 million in state funding annually unless it drops or substantially modifies the program.

“This decision was not a surprise for us; in a way, we expected it,” school board member Adelita Grijalva told Efe Wednesday.

The board – itself divided on the issue of Chicano studies – must now decide how to respond to Tuesday’s finding by state administrative law Judge Lewis D. Kowal.

Tucson’s program violates a new Arizona law barring ethnic studies courses that promote “the overthrow of the United States government” or “resentment toward a race or class of people,” Kowal concluded.

That law likewise excludes curricula “designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group” or that seek to “advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.”

The judge rendered his opinion in the form of a non-binding recommendation to the Arizona education department, which has 30 days to decide whether to pursue legal action against the TUSD if it refuses to bring its program into compliance.

State education superintendent John Huppenthal, who launched the initial challenge to the Chicano studies program, welcomed Kowal’s finding.

“I made a decision based on the totality of the information and facts gathered during my investigation – a decision that I felt was best for all students in the Tucson Unified School District. The judge’s decision confirms that it was the right decision,” Huppenthal said in a statement.

Eleven TUSD teachers filed suit in federal court to challenge the Arizona law as unconstitutional, but the case is still pending.

The attorney representing those plaintiffs, Richard M. Martinez, told Efe he was surprised that Kowal did not even address the constitutional aspect of the law.

The federal lawsuit contends the Arizona measure is discriminatory toward the Hispanic community and that it violates the right to freedom of expression.

Defenders of the Tucson program say it informs students about the history and contributions of Latinos in Arizona and the United States.

The program is more than 40 years old.

Hispanics (Chicanos) make up 61.4 percent of the TUSD’s 51,866 students.

Critics of the new say it was specifically crafted to end the TUSD’s ethnic studies programs, long a target of former Arizona education superintendent Tom Horne, now the state’s attorney general. EFE

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Tucson MEChA comes under scrutiny

Back in the early seventies while a student at San Jose State University, I was a member of MEChA. Today, this proud organization has come under attack. I found the article below written by Loretta Hunnicut of the Tuscon Citizen as yet another example of xenophobia coming out of Arizona.

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TUSD’s schools have MEChA chapters and not even the district’s Superintendent knows if they are sanctioned by the district. If you don’t know what MEChA is, you are among hundreds of thousands of Tucsonans, including this author, who didn’t know and didn’t care.

The group Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán came under scrutiny as a result of the Tucson Unified School District’s appeal of the finding by Superintendent of Public Instruction (SOPI) that TUSD’s Mexican American Studies classes violate state law. In violation of state law, the classes are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group, promote resentment towards a race or class of people, and advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals.

Not until the district’s superintendent testified at the hearing as to an email he received from Assistant Superintendent Dr. Lupita Cavazos-Garcia was much attention paid to the TUSD group in and out of the district. In the email, Dr. Garcia expressed her concerns regarding MEChA’s efforts to recruit students for an “occupied peoples” conference at which Palestinian and TUSD students would be sharing their experiences living in “occupied” territories.

Dr. Garcia wrote that at the time of Pedicone’s hiring she had expressed to him, “my deep concern” about MEChA at TUSD. She pointed out the organization’s “anti-Semitic tone and tenor on our campuses.” She went on to state that the some of the district’s students have little emotional support and “our Raza students are ripe for this kind of influence.” MEChA was originally founded for college students and is found on many college campuses, however it is only found in four high schools in the country; two in Arizona, one in New Mexico, and one in California.

Concerns arose about the conference in the district when word went out that Homeland Security would be in attendance. Some of the more responsible adults in the district questioned the wisdom of allowing TUSD students to be put in a situation in which they might innocently come under scrutiny, suspicion, or harm.

In the past MEChA has been linked to the anti-Semitic website/publication, La Voz de Aztlan which the Southern Poverty Law Center has identified as a hate group. According to Dr. Rudolpho Acuna, who is the subject of interviews with principles of La Voz de Aztlan and author of Occupied America, he has disavowed any connections to that group. There is some evidence that MEChA has also disavowed that organization, however others very familiar with the organization claim that La Voz de Aztlan is a conduit for information for MEChA members.

Local Raza propagandist the Three Sonorans, otherwise known as David Abie Morales, writes that some of Tucson most prominent leaders were formerly members of MEChA. He list among them controversial Congressman Raul Grijalva, who was instrumental in the Mexican American/Raza Studies class development when he was on the TUSD Governing Board. His daughter is Adelita Grijalva, who currently sits on the TUSD Governing Board. City Council member Regina Romero, who finds herself in a very close primary this year against local Tucson businessman and anti-Grijalva establishment democrat Jose Flores, and her highly controversial husband Ruben Reyes, who is a staff member of the elder Grijalva’s congressional staff, among others. It is unknown whether vocal supporter, County Supervisor Richard Elias was ever a member of MEChA, due to the fact that the private schools he attended as a young student did not offer MEChA on their campuses.

So, who is MEChA? In their own words, from their website…..

“Essentially, we are a Chicana and Chicano student movement directly linked to Aztlán. As Chicanas and Chicanos of Aztlán, we are a nationalist movement of Indigenous Gente that lay claim to the land that is ours by birthright. As a nationalist movement we seek to free our people from the exploitation of an oppressive society that occupies our land. Thus, the principle of nationalism serves to preserve the cultural traditions of La Familia de La Raza and promotes our identity as a Chicana/Chicano Gente.”

“In March of 1969, at Denver, Colorado the Crusade for Justice organized the first National Chicano Youth Liberation Conference that drafted the basic premises for the Chicana/Chicano Movement in El Plan de Aztlán.”

“The following month, in April of 1969, over 100 Chicanas/Chicanos came together at University of California, Santa Barbara to formulate a plan for higher education: El Plan de Santa Barbara. With this document they were successful in the development of two very important contributions to the Chicano Movement: Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA) and Chicano Studies.”

“The adoption of the name Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan signaled a new level of political consciousness among student activists. It was the final stage in the transformation of what had been loosely organized, local student groups, into a single structure and a unified student movement.”

“Adamant rejection of the label “Mexican-American” meant rejection of the assimilation and accommodationist melting pot ideology that had guided earlier generations of activists. Chicanismo involves a crucial distinction in a political consciousness between a Mexican-American (Hispanic) and a Chicana/o mentality. El Plan de Santa Barbara speaks to such issues of identity politics by asserting:

“The Mexican-American (Hispanic) is a person who lacks respect for his/her cultural and ethnic heritage. Unsure of her/himself, she/he seeks assimilation as a way out of her/his “degraded” social status. Consequently, she/he remains politically ineffective. In contrast, Chicanismo reflects self-respect and pride on one’s ethnic and cultural background. Thus, the Chicana/o acts with confidence and with a range of alternatives in the political world. She/he is capable of developing an effective ideology through action” (El Plan de Santa Barbara).

“MEChA played an important role in the creation and implementation of Chicana/o Studies and support services programs on campus. Chicana/o Studies programs would be a relevant alternative to established curricula. Most important, the Chicana/o Studies program would be the foundation of MEChA’s political power base. Today many Chicana/os Studies Programs would have difficulty operating if it were not for the enthusiasm and dedication of Mechistas to Chicana/o Studies.”

“We, as Mechistas, see the process of Chicanismo as evolutionary. We recognize that no one is born politically Chicana or Chicano. Chicanismo results from a decision based on a political consciousness for our Raza, to dedicate oneself to building a Chicana/Chicano Nation. Chicanismo is a concept that integrates self-awareness with cultural identity, a necessary step in developing political consciousness. Therefore the term Chicano is grounded in a philosophy, not a nationality. Chicanismo does not exclude anyone, rather it includes those who acknowledge and work toward the betterment of La Raza.”

“Chicanismo involves a personal decision to reject assimilation and work towards the preservation of our cultural heritage. Recognizing that all people are potential Chicanas and Chicanos, we encourage those interested in developing a total commitment to our movement for self-determination for the people of Aztlán to join Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán.”

“Finally, as Mechistas, we vow to work for the liberation of Aztlán, leading to socioeconomic and political justice for our Gente. MEChA then, is more than a name; it is a spirit of unity by comadrismo/carnalismo, and a resolution to undertake a struggle for liberation! Tierra y Libertad!”

MEChA chapters are at Tucson High School and Pueblo High School. The following is a list of chapters:

Alta Califas Norte

California State University, Chico
California State University, Sacramento
California State University, Sonoma
Chabot College
San Jose State University
Santa Rosa Junior College
Stanford University
University of California, Berkeley

Alta Califas Sur

California Polytechnic University, Pomona
California State University, Fullerton
California State Univeristy, Los Angeles
California State University, Northridge
California State University, San Marcos
Central de Los Angeles County
Central de San Diego
Cerritos College
Chapman University
Cypress College
La Jolla High School
Mt. San Antonio College (Mt. SAC)
Pasadena City College
Rio Hondo College
San Diego State University
Santa Ana College
University of California, Irvine
University of Southern California
Sur Calpulli Montañas de Norte

Colorado College
University of Colorado, Boulder
University of Colorado, Denver
Centro Aztlan

Arizona State University
Central Arizona College
Northern Arizona University
Pueblo High School
Rio Grande High School
Tucson High School
University of Arizona
University of New Mexico
University of Texas, El Paso
Centro Califas

Bakersfield College
California State University, Hayward
California State University, Monterey Bay
Modesto Junior College
Sequoia College
University of California, Santa Barbara
West Hills College, Kings County
Este

Brown University
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
Georgetown University
Pennsylvania State University
University of Pennsylvania
Vassar College
Yale University
Massachusetts Institue of Technology (LUChA)
Mitlampa Cihuatlampa

Eastern Washington University
Seattle University
University of Washington
MidWest

St. Cloud State University
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
University of Illinois, Chicago (MeSA)
Pacific NorthWest

Oregon State University
Pasco High School
Portland University
University of Oregon
Western Oregon University
SouthEast Tejaztlan

University of Texas, Austin
University of Houston
University of Texas, Pan American

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Arizona's Next Scandal? Tea Party State Official Says Ethnic Studies Violates Ban

[Click on header to check out the rest of the story at the Huffington Post website.]

Arizona could have a new Ethnic Studies scandal on its hands, though not with the students or teachers.

Nearly one year ago, extremist Tea Party state senator John Huppenthal ran for Arizona's superintendent of education post with an inflammatory campaign to "stop la raza" and terminate Tucson's acclaimed Ethnic Studies/Mexican American Studies (MAS) Program.

At one of the most Orwellian press conferences in recent memory, Huppenthal kept his political campaign promise on Wednesday, June 15, at the Arizona Department of Education in Phoenix, declaring the Ethnic Studies/MAS Program to be out of compliance with the state's controversial ban. Huppenthal introduced a long-awaited and costly audit as proof that the MAS Program promoted resentment towards a race, was designed primarily for a particular ethnic race, and advocated ethnic solidarity. Within a few minutes, Huppenthal and his associate superintendent hastily exited the press conference for other engagements.

Just one glitch: On closer review, the audit -- which admittedly visited only 37% of the classes in the affected Tucson schools for a single 30-minute inspection -- contradicts most of Huppenthal's illusive claims and ultimately finds the MAS Program to be in compliance.

Not that the facts appear to bother the Tea Party politician, a featured speaker at Tea Party rallies that have catcalled President Obama as a "Communist" and "Nazi," or echoed Huppenthal's rants on the Senate floor that undocumented immigrants "nuclear-bombed" parts of Arizona's neighborhoods.

"This decision is not about politics, it is about education," Huppenthal read nervously from a printed statement. He proclaimed his "responsibility to uphold the law and a professional imperative to ensure every student has access to an excellent education."

In truth, the audit questions Huppenthal's own judgment: According to the audit, students in the MAS high school program "graduate in the very least at a rate of 5 percent more than their counterparts in 2005, and at the most, a rate of 11 percent more in 2010." The audit added:MASD programs are designed to improve student achievement based on the audit team's finding of valuable course descriptions aligned with state standards, commendable curricular unit and lesson plan design, engaging instruction practices, and collective inquiry strategies through Approved State Standards.

[Click on header to check out the rest of the story at the Huffington Post website.]

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Save Ethnic Studies, Inc.

Dear Colleagues and Supporters:

On January 1, 2011, HB 2281 became effective in Arizona, a law passed in April 2010 that attacks La Raza Studies. The law's supporters claim that we are unpatriotic and unAmerican, a statement that we take great exception to. Books such as Occupied America and Pedagogy of the Oppressed are cited as proof of their opinions. At present the future looks grim. The Board of Education that was supposed to defend the program has bailed out. The teachers of Raza Studies have filed a suit defending the right of the program to teach the history of our people.

We feel that if the xenophobes are successful, the entire area of Ethnic Studies is threatened. It enables similar attacks on programs outside of Arizona and sanctions censorship. We feel that we must stand together and are appealing to you for support. It takes money to mount a legal challenge. The pool of available money is small in the Tucson area. It is a poor community and the hundreds of thousands of dollars that this suit will take is beyond our means.

The discovery process alone will run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is the political core of the case that will show the motivation of the framers of this legislation and point to who is financing this libelous campaign.

Please take time to view

1- http://vimeo.com/15062646 (Precious Knowledge Trailer)
2- http://www.saveethnicstudies.org/index.shtml (Tucson campaign)
3- http://www.saveethnicstudies.org/news.shtml
4- http://www.saveethnicstudies.org/meet_us.shtml

Would you please help by sending a donation? You can also help arrange fundraisers in your area. We need transportation costs and would greatly appreciate honorariums. Concerts and the like featuring local artists, musicians and poets are a fantastic way of getting people together.

Please go online to donate and for more information:

http://www.saveethnicstudies.org/save_ethnic_studies.shtml.
Deyanina Nevarez is the point person. You can reach her at (520) 975-1485 or via email at info@saveethnicstudies.org.

Make payable to: Save Ethnic Studies Defense Fund Mail to:

Save Ethnic Studies
307 S. Convent Ave
Tucson, AZ 85701

Or donate by Credit Card: http://www.saveethnicstudies.org/donate.shtml
Venceremos,

Save Ethnic Studies Defense Committee

Save Ethnic Studies is filed with the Arizona Corporation Commission as a non-profit corporation. We are seeking recognition of exemption from the IRS under section 501 (c) 4. Contributions to Save Ethnic Studies are non-tax deductible as a charitable contribution. Please contact your tax advisor for further information. Printed In-House Labor Donated.

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Dolores Huerta: Let’s Violate Arizona’s Ethnic Studies Ban

[Click header for more detail and full-audio interview from Pacifica Radio]

Chicano movement icon and United Farm Workers Union co-founder Dolores Huerta was on Flashpoints, a local Bay Area news magazine on KPFA on Friday, and spoke about the recent shootings in Tucson, as well as HB 2281, Arizona’s new ethnic studies ban.

Huerta said that much of the ignorance today was a product of young people being deprived of a comprehensive history of the United States. Huerta said that people in other states had to defend ethnic studies by expanding it where they could and taking it ‘down to the grammar school level.” “[Ethnic studies] is how we are able to start the fight against discrimination,” Huerta said, and then offered her own ideas for how to support students in Arizona:

I was thinking about Arizona, what I’m suggesting to my friends over there. Just like during the ’60s we had the Freedom Schools. They’ve got to start Freedom Schools and violate the law. Teach ethnic studies out there. I know very good friends of mine, Robert Rodriguez, who’s over at the University of Arizona at Tucson, and many of my really good friends out there. Okay we’re just going to teach ethnic studies and violate the law, get people in jail.

I think I’ll just have to go back to Arizona and do another lecture over there and have them get me arrested and let’s appeal the case all the way up to the Supreme Court in terms of just a first-amendment rights.

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Profiling's enabler: High court ruling underpins Arizona immigration law

By Gabriel J. Chin and Kevin R. Johnson

Washington Post

In its challenge to Arizona's controversial immigration law last week, the Justice Department argues that the state law conflicts with federal law, intruding on federal power and ability to regulate immigration. For many Americans, however, the lawsuit is needed because of concerns that Arizona's legislation, S.B. 1070, will lead to police harassment of people, particularly those of color, who cannot prove they are in this country legally. Yet for all the controversy over those concerns, few are talking about the real legal issue underlying the law.

Supporters and opponents of S.B. 1070 assume that racial profiling is unconstitutional, largely because many Americans believe that it ought to be. In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court has approved the racial profiling permitted -- indeed encouraged -- by S.B. 1070.

In a 1975 case regarding the Border Patrol's power to stop vehicles near the U.S.-Mexico border and question the occupants about their citizenship and immigration status, United States v. Brignoni-Ponce, the high court ruled that the "likelihood that any given person of Mexican ancestry is an alien is high enough to make Mexican appearance a relevant factor." In 1982the Arizona Supreme Court agreed, ruling in State v. Graciano that "enforcement of immigration laws often involves a relevant consideration of ethnic factors."

Arizona's immigration law states that a "law enforcement official or agency . . . may not consider race, color or national origin in implementing the requirements of this subsection except to the extent permitted by the United States or Arizona constitution." Although supporters of the law, including Gov. Jan Brewer (R) and other state officials, have said repeatedly that racial profiling is prohibited in its enforcement and that those charged with carrying out the law will be trained to avoid it, the fact that the legislature included this careful exception is significant.

Lawmakers took care to embrace the reliance on race permitted by cases such asBrignoni-Ponce. This choice deserves acknowledgment and discussion, just like that received by the rest of the law.

Brignoni-Ponce has resulted in immigration enforcement that many contend is race-based and in violation of the U.S. Constitution. In case after case, in states including Florida, Iowa and New York, defendants arguing that Border Patrol stops constituted unlawful searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment have encountered claims by the U.S. government -- including the current administration -- that "Mexican" or "Hispanic" appearance, along with other factors, justified an immigration stop. Border enforcement officers regularly admit in court that "Hispanic appearance" is one reason for an immigration stop.

Racial profiling results from the perceived statistical association of particular races or nationalities with undocumented immigration -- the idea, in other words, that many undocumented immigrants are from Mexico. This rationale ignores the fact that the law generally requires individual suspicion to justify criminal investigation; that a "Mexican appearance" is a vague and ambiguous description and that people from Mexico bear an array of appearances.

We suspect that Brignoni-Ponce and its incorporation into S.B. 1070 have escaped the notice of many Americans because of the ways in which racial sensibilities have evolved since the 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. Modern American values and most of modern constitutional law are simply inconsistent with the equation of race and suspicion authorized and encouraged by Brignoni-Ponce. Today, being subject to questioning by law enforcement for no other reason than that others of your race, religion or national origin are supposed to commit more of a particular type of crime is nothing short of un-American.

The federal lawsuit raises a number of questions. We think the government's claim of federal preemption is likely to prevail: There is room for one immigration law, not a 50-state patchwork of immigration laws. But the discussion should not stop there. Perhaps that is why last Friday the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) filed another challenge focusing on S.B. 1070's potential for racial profiling. For the Arizona officials who enacted S.B. 1070, the next step is to repeal the part of the law that authorizes racial profiling. As for the legal system as a whole: Brignoni-Ponce has been exceptional and out of the constitutional mainstream since it was decided. The U.S. and Arizona Supreme Courts should reconsider the endorsement of race-based law enforcement, which is contrary to modern notions of equality in America, and conform constitutional law to the principles held dear by most Americans.

Gabriel J. Chin is a professor at the University of Arizona Rogers College of Law. Kevin R. Johnson is dean and a professor of public interest law and Chicana/o studies at the University of California Davis School of Law.

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Computer-aided Chicano Artist Ignacio Farías

If art isn’t free, then what is it, asks local artist Ignacio Farías.

By Shannon O'Connor
The Zonie Report

Farías, 61, is a self-taught Chicano artist who creates abstract works using digital composition with acrylics and paints. His sole intention for his work is only to be beautiful, and he makes no bones about being called a “wall decorator” or using a computer to help create his works.

Born and raised in Mexico City, Farías began drawing things as a child. He said he was always in trouble at school for drawing caricatures of teachers and doodling in class.

He moved to Arizona in 1983 with his first wife, a native Arizonan, and their children. His techniques and unique styles come from experimentation and his only standard is to rarely, if ever, use a paintbrush.

“(In the beginning), I felt reluctant to use brushes,” Farías says. “Everyone uses brushes so I had to find another way.”

Instead, he uses a variation of tools that ranges from kitchen and carving utensils to spatulas, ice picks, combs and syringes. The only consistent marking that can be found on his works that were made with a brush is his signature, which he said enabled him to sign his name in a unique, Asian-looking style.

But it was his other hobbies, such as photography and advertising, that led to the use of digital composition in his artwork.

These tools of the 21st Century are the reason that Farías refers to his work as the product of “extreme mix media.” He says he’s a PC guy who uses a Velocity and plenty of Adobe software to bring his artistic visions to life.

Although the use of a computer may help with artistic effects, it doesn’t necessarily make the process go faster, Farías says. Much of the process involves the subconscious mind.

“Inspiration is not related,” Farías says. “Art is like a blessed area where the most beautiful things can happen. Never mind what is outside.”

Farías’ works are often created as a series, such as “The Eyes of a Woman,” which has about 80 different versions.

“No two women have the same eyes,” Farías said. “(They are) like fingerprints.”

Each displays the different types of women in the world. However, a few of them have an animal name that identifies the type of woman it depicts according to the Mesoamerican culture of Mexico. For example, the painting called “Eagle Woman Eyes” is a depiction of the “executive woman.”

Some of his other works are depicted on multiple canvases, such as “A Fascinating City,” which was done as an ode to Paris. This work is a display of five separate canvases that are displayed inches apart from one another but are connected by the flow of the elongated picture that they depict.

Link to Ignacio Farías website: http://www.ignaciofarias.com/
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Arizona May Ban Chicana/o Studies If Senator Has His Way

by Rodolfo F. Acuña
Ph.D. Chicana/o Studies
California State University at Northridge

Unlike many of the present day squatters in Arizona, I have deep feelings for Arizona. My mother’s family, the Elíases lived there for centuries.

But recently I have been swimming in a sea of emails alerting me to Rep. Russell Pearce, R-Mesa, amendments to Senate Bill 1108 that would permit Arizona to confiscate books, ban Chicano studies and exclude the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanos de Aztlan (MEChA) from Arizona’s campuses.

I am 75-years young and have lived through the McCarthy era and read about similar thought control crusades which history has exposed as idiotic. In the 1920s the words to the pledge of alliance were changed from “my flag” to the “flag of the United States” so aliens would not cross their fingers and salute a foreign flag. The present proposal ranks along side these kinds of idiocies.

If Pearce has his way, Arizona schools would ban courses “denigrate American values and the teachings of Western civilization” and would teaching practices that “overtly encourage dissent” from those values, including democracy, capitalism, pluralism and religious tolerance. Rep. Pearce who is not the sharpest knife in the box then would then be allowed to define patriotism and bar public schools, community colleges and universities from allowing organizations to operate on campus if they are “based in whole or in part on race-based criteria.” Among the books designated for burning is my book Occupied America: A History of Chicanos, a recipient of the Gustavus Myers Award for an Outstanding Book on Race Relations in North America.

I am personally offended by Pearce’s labeling my book as seditious. Unlike Pearce, I served in the armed forces and did not claim deferments. I was a full time student in good standing at the University of Southern California during the Korean War but I volunteered for the draft. Pearce and many of the thought control cadets took a more opportunistic route. Moreover, many of the statements Pearce attributes to Occupied America were in quotation marks. Having taught well prepared students from the University of Phoenix, I know that Phoenix teaches its students what quotation marks mean.

For Pearce’s information, history is probative. It builds. That is why the content of U.S. history courses changes from elementary through high school. University courses which Pearce should are much more complex.

What I am more concerned about are Pearce’s attempts to smear MEChA. Adolph Hitler was a proponent of the use of the Big Lie as a viable propaganda technique. Hitler said that the bigger the lie the more adapt people were to believe it.

Pearce implies that MEChA excludes other races and promotes racism, which is just not true. For Pearce’s information, MEChA organizations on every campus are chartered by student affairs. In order to be chartered, the organization has to be open to all students regardless of their race, ethnicity or religion. Every campus differs. I have visited hundreds of campuses throughout the country and have found that on some campuses the majority of the members were non-Mexican American.

I entered education because I wanted to give gang kids an alternative – I loved the kids but hated gangs. Many former gang members are today lawyers, medical doctors and teachers because of Chicano studies and MEChA. Indeed, in California 85 to 95 percent of all Latino elected officials are alumni of this organization. Frankly, people like Pearce relish in the portrayal of Mexican Americans as gang members rather than university graduates because they can step on us.

The Big Lie strategy of Pearce and company is effective because most people become paralyzed in the face of the Big Lie. During World War II, most Americans turned a deaf ear to the herding of over 100,000 Japanese Americans into concentration camps. As a Mexican American I am proud of 16-year old Ralph Lazo from Belmont High in Los Angeles who said that this is not right and declared himself of Japanese decent and went to Manzanar with his friends. That story is documented in Occupied America.

Mexican Americans should realize that these attacks are today directed at them because Pearce looks at us as weak. He has not yet taken on the Hillel or the Newman Clubs on college campuses who like MEChA do fine work and incidentally have Jewish Americans and Catholics as their core members.

Hopefully, Arizonians will wake up and people like Pearce will suffer the same fate as the Pete Wilsons did in California. His attacks are race specific and based on the Big Lie. And history will unfortunately judge Arizonians who do not speak out.

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Globe, AZ Photography Reception

[Photo: At the reception; University of Redlands President Stuart Dorsey, his wife Michelle and Dr. Ann Marie Leimer. Click on image to enlarge. Photo copyright 2007 Jesús Manuel Mena Garza. All rights reserved.]

I hope you made it to my Globe, AZ photography reception at the University of Redlands' Peppers Art Gallery on Jan. 17. It was a great success. Art lovers from throughout the Inland Empire enjoyed my documentary photographs. Please note that the exhibition ends on February 11, 2007. Feel free to contact me should you have any questions about my series. Click here to view Globe, AZ Series Photographs

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2007 Globe, AZ Show

You're invited to my upcoming documentary photography exhibition, Globe, AZ. The show will take place at the University of Redlands (Redlands, California USA) at the Peppers Art Gallery, January 16 to February 11, 2007.

The reception is on January 17, 4:30 to 6 p.m. Come on down and enjoy the photos, free drinks (wine, beer and sodas) and plenty of snacks. I look forward to meeting you. Please tell all your friends. For more information about the show click on the header of this article or go to my website: http://www.jmmgarza.com.

You can also contact:

Ann Marie Leimer, Ph.D.
University of Redlands
1200 East Colton Avenue
Redlands, CA 92373-0999
(909) 748-8505
ann_leimer@redlands.edu

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Globe, AZ Photo Series

Like the sun-baked buildings that dot the desert landscape, the inhabitants of Globe and Miami, Arizona, survive gracefully, showing their age. The two cities live next to each other huddled in the hills. The heat that punishes Phoenix spares the high desert. In the Hill Country of Central Arizona, residents find themselves at a crossroads between national trends and their desire to control and define their community. Taken during the summer of 1995, these photographs reveal an America still rural and conservative.

This area came into existence when the San Carlos Apache Nation ceded valuable portions of its reservation to powerful mining interests. Crushed, fired, and processed, the copper extracted from the red and green rock created wealth for multinational corporations for more than a hundred years. The white sticky powder heaped high along the highway is part of the regions legacy. Arizona's Cobre (Copper) Valley would be a mecca for tourists, if not for the scarred hills.

My photographs evoke nostalgia for Americana, remnants you still find scattered in remote and untouched parts of our country. When I first came to Globe, I was struck by the eerie silence at night. There were no sirens or gunfire from the barrio to awaken me. The stars sparkled brightly, the air smelled clean, and, like the 50s in California, you could purchase leaded gas because no smog regulations exist. With so few people in such a large area, pollution laws were lax. Los Angelinos can be envious of some things in the Cobre Valley.

During the process of taking these photographs, I recalled my youth in San José, California. I remembered fondly how San José once had a downtown with small friendly theaters, department stores, and a sense of community. I remembered when prune orchards lined Main Street and Intel, Apple, and Silicon Graphics were fantasy. Everything changed with the invention of the integrated circuit. That is when San José was radically and forever transformed into Silicon Valley, the center of high technology. My hometown has since grown ponderous and fruit orchards have given way to bland warehouses and suburban strip malls.

Even though my hometown has evolved into a big city, I find solace knowing that small communities like Globe and Miami remain the same. My images of these communities document not only the environment, but also reveal its beauty by abstracting the details. I focus on the texture of a building, emphasizing the elements of the photograph that translate into the subtle but essential tonal values.

I rejoice in photographing sun-baked buildings with peeling paint; they give evidence to history's passing. The faded coffee shop sign and Gibson's Clothing Store remind me of a bygone era, before the new Wal-Mart took away their customers. My work documents a precarious rural America whose sites have become curios to be immortalized on photographic paper, their value increasing with every new mall erected in Seattle, Austin, and Cleveland. This vanishing America gains value by remaining the same.
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The images in this series were shot on a Hasselblad 500CM/150 T*. The negatives were scanned on a Scitex Leaf Scanner.

Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions about my pictures or text. I look forward to hearing from you.

The photogrphic series is located on my web site: http://www.jmmgarza.com/html/Gibsons.html

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