Aztlán Reads

amerikkkan-stories:

An Open Letter to the Denver Public Library Commission: I am writing in response to the so-called “ire” that was reported in the Denver Post regarding th

I wrote ‘An Open Letter to the Denver Public Library Commission’ re: Corky Gonzales. Please read & share! :)

Also! Write your own letter and let the DPL know that it’s time for  Corky to be recognized!

amerikkkan-stories:

During my recent book tour in Los Angeles I announced a new book, Lowriting: Shots, Rides & Stories from the Chicano Soul. This book will feature the photography of Los Angeles based photograph…

Here is the official call for submissions for ‘Lowriting: Shots, Rides & Stories from the Chicano Soul’. I have included the details, rules and deadline on the site! 

Please share this in your literary circles and with people you think might be interested in submitting work! Again, competition is elite, so no hard feelings etc. This is the real deal. 

Good luck! I look forward to your submissions! 

amerikkkan-stories:

Fear and Loathing in L.A. is tonight at Cypress Park Library! Don’t miss this show! Luis J. Rodriguez, Lalo Alcaraz, myself and mucho mas! I’ll be selling/signing all 3 copies of my book! Come out and join the revolution! 

amerikkkan-stories:

“A few years back, there was some upheaval in my department, so undergrad and grad students were coming together in order to organize and strategize. Attending those meetings was inspirational, seeing students actively seeking to have their voice heard over injustices they felt were being perpetrated by their department. I hadn’t seen anything like this in some time, possibly since the 4th grade when some students wrote up a petition to get their teacher Mr. Ezekiel removed from school, because from what I understood at the time, he was a douche. Of course the 4th graders petition was ignored, Mr. Ezekiel was kept, and his students didn’t have to see him a year later when we took off to junior high.

Anyhow, now there was another contingent of students, the core was made up of current and former MEChistas and another Chicano/Latino based organization. As they sat around trying to come up with a plan of action, it was suggested by a grad student and former MEChista, that we do a sit-in at the Dean’s office.

Another MEChista spoke up though, and asked, “A sit-in? … Isn’t that too radical?”

At that moment, the meeting room in the basement of that campus building began crumbling around me. A nuclear bomb mushroomed behind me. It was like an outer body experience, I could see myself as the whites of my eyes turned yellow and mixed with the red veins, I could feel my heart slowing down, and my left arm going numb. I tried to talk myself down from going into something resembling an epileptic seizure. I couldn’t believe what I had just heard come out of this MECHista’s mouth. I replayed it in slow motion, just to be sure, “Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ssssssssssssssssssssssssiiittt-iiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnn ? … . Iiisssssssssssssssssssssnnnnnnnnnnnnn’ttttt thhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatt tooooooooooooo rrrraaaaadddiiiiiiicccaaaallllllllllll ?” “

“Criticism is always personal. Admittedly, my criticism of the present generation of Chicana/o scholars is personal. I criticize them for what I consider their lack of mentorship of MEChA and Chicana/o students. I criticize them for not building Chicana/o studies.

Many Chicanas/os sacrificed their scholarly ambitions to establish Chicana/o studies – which was not accepted in 1969. They did it because they wanted to create a pedagogy that would motivate students from inferior schools to learn. The intention was never to build a field of study so Chicanas/os scholars could have employment opportunities.”