NACCS Pasadena

National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies XXXVIII, Pasadena, California, March 30-April 2, 2011

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Going to NACCS? March 5th is the final day for Pre-registration.

http://www.naccs.org/Registration

Presenters: remember that membership and registration are both required. Complete Membership first before Registeration. www.naccs.org/Membership

Haven't booked a hotel room? March 10th will be the last day to get the conference discount rate.

http://www.naccs.org/naccs/Hotel_EN.asp Book online.

Still undecided if you want to attend? Let's help convience you. We have one of our most packed conferences ever! Here is just a very, very small sampling of panels scheduled/events happening at the conference.

Wednesday Night

Welcome Reception

Thursday

NACCS Plenary: Sites of Education for Social Justice

Daniel Solorzano, UCLA. "Critical Race Theory and the Role of Education in the Struggle for Social Justice."
Jorge Huerta, NACCS Scholar 1997. "Teatro Chicana/o: Performing Social Justice Beyond the Classroom."
Rhonda Rios Kravitz, Sacramento City College. "Removing the Veil: Maintaining 'Open Access' for the Privileged."

Panel: The State of Exception and the Right of Resistance

Tezozomoc. South Central Farmers Feeding Families. “States of Exception and the Limits of Identity Politics.”

Peña, Devon. University of Washington. “The Strategy of Refusal and the State of Exception.”

Gonzalez, Rosalee. Arizona State University. “Militant Women and Resistance to the State of Exception.”

Discussant: Diaz, David R. California State University, Los Angeles

Panel: Chicana Art as Site of Critical Education

López, Tiffany Ana. University of California, Riverside. “Chicana Art as Public Pedagogy: Motherhood and the Curriculum of Defiance in the Work of Barbara Carrasco.”

Leimer, Ann Marie. University of Redlands. “Quilting Knowledge, Weaving Justice: Sites of Struggle and Survival in the Work of Consuelo Jiménez Underwood.”

Davalos, Karen Mary. Loyola Marymount University. “Art as Education for Social Justice: The Indigenous Spirituality of Linda Vallejo.”

Chair: Davalos, Karen Mary. Loyola Marymount University.

Friday

NACCS Luncheon

NACCS Scholar: Norma Alarcon, University of California, Berkeley.

Cervantes Recipients:

Israel Pastrana. University of California, San Diego. Graduate.

Arnold Farias. California State University, Northridge. Undergraduate.

Book Award: Richard T. Rodriguez. Next of Kin: the family in Chicano/a cultural politics. Duke University Press, 2009.

Panel: Performing the Latin@ Borderlands: Towards a Decolonial Performatics.

Pérez, Daniel Enrique. University of Nevada, Reno-Spanish/Latina Studies. “(Re)Examining the Latin Lover: Screening Chicano/Latino Sexualities.”

Sandoval, Chela. University of California, Santa Barbara. “Towards a Decolonial Performatics.”

Garcia, Peter J. California State University, Northridge. “Te Amo, Te Amo, Te Amo”: Lorenzo Antonio and Sparx Performing Nuevo Mexico music.”

Aldama, Arturo J. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder. “No Somos Criminales: Border Musics talk back to Nativist Racism and Sexism.”

Panel: The Classroom and Community as Sites for Social Justice

Calderon, Jose. Pitzer College. "Building the Future as It Emerges in the Classroom and in the Community.”

Sanbrano, Angela. Pomona Habla and Latina/o Roundtable of the San Ga. "Pushing Back Immigration Enforcement on a Local Level.”

Cadena, Gilbert. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. "University Service Learning for Social Justice.”

Roundtable: Tejan@ Rocks!: Examining Cultural Sites of Social and Political Praxis

Miranda, Marie “Keta”. University of Texas, San Antonio.

Habell-Pallan, Michelle. University of Washington, Seattle.

Cervantes, Marco. University of Texas, San Antonio.

Urquijo-Ruiz, Rita. Trinity University.

Cardenas, Jaime. Seattle Central Community College.

Panel: The Arts as Sites of Education for Social Justice

Carlos Manuel, Bellarmine University. "Theatre for Social Change and Awareness: Funny About Serious Matters."

Alma Lopez, Independent Artist. "Controversial Art."

Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano, Poet. "Tragedies, Codices & Joterías: Poetic Artifacts at the Junctures of Desire, Survival and Envisagement."

Film: Danza Folklorica Escénica: El Sello Artístico de Rafael Zamarripa(Mexican Folkloric Dance: Rafael Zamarripa's Artistic Trademark). 50 min.

Presenter: Olga Najera-Ramirez, University of California, Santa Cruz.

Saturday

Panel: Marching Students: Chicana/o Activism in Education, 1968 to the Present

Revilla, Anita. University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “Las Vegas Activist Crew and the Im/migrant Rights Movement: How We Collaboratively Transformed 'Sin City'."

Berta Avila, Margarita. Sacramento State University. “Educational Justice and Access: Conversations from Chicana/o Teachers Teaching in La Academia del Barrio Telpochcalli.”

Solorzano, Daniel. UCLA. “Racism, White Supremacy, and Racial Hierarchies: A Case Study of African American and Latina/o High School Student Activism.”

Covarrubias, Alejandro. UCLA. “Latino Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) and Agencies of Transformational Resistance.”

Lopez Figueroa, Julie. Sacramento State University. “Marching Students: Chicana/o Activism in Education, 1968 to the Present.”

Panel/Discussion: U.S. Birthright Citizenship & Arizona's SB1070 and other Anit-Immigrant 'Copy Cat' State Laws

Thomas A. Saenz, President and General Counsel of MALDEF

Eva Longoria, activist and MALDEF Board Member

Panel: Adaljiza Sosa-Riddell: scholar, intellectual, mentor, activist and friend

Gradilla, Alexandro Jose. California State University, Fullerton. “Towards a critical cultural competency and bioethics:

Adaljiza Sosa-Riddell' social justice perspective on health politics.”

Facio, Elisa. CU Boulder. “Honoring Dr. Adaljiza Sosa Riddell: “Naci para ser Rebelde

Davalos, Karen Mary. Loyola Marymount University. “Publishing as Transformative Education: the legacy of Adaljiza Sosa-Riddell.”

Casillas, Dolores Ines. UC Santa Barbara.

Roundtable: Battle of the Virgins: A Presentation of the Book, OUR LADY OF CONTROVERSY: ALMA LOPEZ'S “IRREVERENT APPARITION” (featuring Knockout Performers Monica Palacios as la Virgen de Guadalupe and Adelina Anthony as Our Lady of Controversy)

Gaspar de Alba, Alicia. UCLA. “Announcing Our Knockout Performance...”

Lopez, Alma. Independent Artist. “Alma Lopez's ‘Nican Mopuha’.”

Gonzalez, Deena. ACE Fellow/University of California at Irvine. “Making Privates Public: It's not about the Virgen of the Conquest, it's about the Conquest of the Virgen.”

Perez, Emma. University of Colorado, Boulder. “The De-Colonial Virgin in a Colonial Site.”

Roman-Odio, Clara. Kenyon College. “Queering the Sacred: Love as Oppositional Consciousness in Alma Lopez's Visual Art.”

Save Ethnic Studies Fundraiser

Exhibits:

University of Texas Press

Arizona University Press

Bilingual Review Press

University of Nevada Press

Ethnic Studies Library, UCB

Chicano Studies Research Center, UCLA

Crafts by Amistad

art2graf creations

Chicana & Chicano Studies, UCSB

Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social

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The Quiet Tale of the Campus Mural

Bruna Nessif
Pasadena City College Courier

Photo by Chi Hong Wong

As students scurry up and down the stairs on the south side of C Building (Pasadena City College), they rarely take the time to acknowledge their surroundings.

But had they taken a glance up, right before turning toward the stairs in the break of the second and third floor, they would have seen a work of art from 1973 by former student Guillermo Martinez, whose appreciation was lost along with its meaning.

When the mural catches one's eye, it has a strong attraction. It almost demands attention. It depicts a lot of emotion, whether its of accomplishment or struggle, one cannot be fully certain. Its interpretation is not limited. The piece offers clues as to what it could mean, but ultimately the viewer makes his or her own conclusion.

Students, who take the time to examine the artwork, came up with their own ideas about what the artist was trying to convey.

"It seems like the man in the middle is a combination of different races and everyone branching off is a part of him, like we're not just one kind, we're a mix of many. It represents Mexican culture and diversity," said 20-year-old liberal arts major Kate Krag.

Many images in the mural symbolize and illustrate Mexican culture, exemplifying Chicano pride. When observing the work in detail, you can find somewhat hidden messages, like the phrase "Viva La Raza," which can be closely translated as "long live the people" (or race) in Spanish, illustrated on the bottom of the mural. This motto can make one believe that the historic event of the Chicano resistance is the concept of the painting.

The colors are vivid and loud, yet they complement each other well. It's a very detailed work, which once caught by the eye requires a good amount of time to fully observe and admire. The meticulous aspect of the art makes it a bit busy. There's so much going on that you're not sure what to look at first or how to connect each image. But it's so enticing you want to try anyway. Other students noted on the physical characteristics of the work, despite not knowing its purpose.

"It looks like the artist has a lot to say. It's an interesting concept. It has a nice medium, very fluid, but no idea what it means," said 18-year-old theater major Giselle Gilbert.

"It reminds me of L.A. art, something I would see while I'm on the 101," said 28-year-old liberal arts major Armando Lacayo.

The mural's location is random. It's in the rear of C Building, in between two floors. Some may feel it's out of place, but it is right where it should be. The piece is Chicano work that is displayed in the building where numerous students pass by multiple times a day, and some, learning Chicano Studies.

"The location's obscure, but the C Building is mostly for literature so its good," said 45-year-old music major Pablo Baza.

Some feel that the random location of the artwork gives the campus a sense of spontaneity.

"It's at an unexpected place, but that makes you feel like you never know where you'll run into something at PCC," Lacayo said.

The sad part is that few people know about the mural. They vaguely recall seeing it, but when asked, cannot identify it. Students running up and down those stairs are too busy to notice the art that surrounds their daily life or the work someone put in to convey a message.

The record of the painting on campus is not available. The only information found by Visual Arts and Media Studies Dean Alex Kritselis and the department was that Martinez was awarded a scholarship to UCLA, but refused to go because the Mexican movement spoke against giving in to the system. Martinez took his life to the streets and dedicated himself to doing street art. No one has heard from him since.

With the loss of it's meaning, the public might never know its message. At one point, an artist devoted himself to a canvas, indulging in his art utensils to portray an important time in the history of his culture, and yet it goes unnoticed and undocumented.

The meaning will always be ambiguous. It's lost art, whose history is gone. It will remain a mystery instead of a tool of remembrance and depend on the viewer to carry its significance.

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