This blog on Texas education contains posts on higher education, as well as preK-12 policy accountability, testing, bilingual education, immigration, school finance, race, class, and gender issues at both the state and national level. It also represents my digital footprint, of life and career, as a community-engaged scholar in Texas.
This is a really excellent, critical piece that unmasks the historic, ideological agenda for Texas leaders to market and socialize a view of Texas that is not only a systemic, structured, and ideological embellishment, but that is also so at the expense of Mexicans and the Mexican American community that is native either to Texas, the continent, or both, Texas and the continent. It's worth reading it in its entirety, but this quote by TCU History Professor Robert Cantrell to some extent sums it all up:
“I don’t want to oversimplify any interpretive theme but I really
subscribe to the idea that the notion of Texas as a Western state, when
you really boil it down to its essence, it’s really been part and parcel
of what is now a hundred-years-and-running effort to escape what C.
Vann Woodward called ‘the burden of Southern history,’” says Cantrell.
This piece should get read in tandem with the excellent reflection by Texas Monthly writer Cecilia Ballí who wrote a thoughtful reflection on the day of the unveiling of the Tejano Monument on the Texas state capitol grounds on March 29, 2012. It is a valorizing, affirming, inclusive narrative (or counter-narrative). She quotes historian Dr. Andrés Tijerina who has written many books on Tejano history and who expressed the following sentiment at the actual unveiling:
We need to hear Tejano history. We need to hear Tejano history at the state Capitol.” The audience cheered, and a few people yelled, “Woo!”
Ballí accomplishes what Cantrell similarly attempts to do in this piece. Both take on the mythic dimensions of Texas history in ways that valorize—that add positive value—to the presence of Mexicans in Texas.
And it doesn't end here. Out of this initiative came the Tejano Monument Curriculum Project directed by Dr. Emilio Zamora with online access here. -Angela
It’s that time of year again, that time when old-school, mainly Anglo Texans celebrate, commemorate—and in some extreme cases—reenact
the fall of the Alamo, the massacre at Goliad, and the decisive victory
at San Jacinto. William Barrett Travis’s letter from the Alamo is
dusted off and forwarded around the Internet, along with Davy Crockett’s
zinger about where you all could go (Hell) and where he was going
(Texas).
Meanwhile, here in Houston, Go Texan Day has just come and gone,
which found office workers nervously hoping that they could still
squeeze into last year’s gingham dress or tight-fittin’ Wranglers, and
schoolkids of every race, color, and creed clomping around their school
halls in cowboy boots most will never wear again. Roads normally clogged
with motorized traffic were instead all a-clop with the hooves of
hundreds horses, as the spur-janglin’ trail riders and trundling
chuckwagons finally arriving at their Memorial Park campsite after many
miles of hard riding on paved roads. Go Texan Day kicks of the Houston
Livestock Show and Rodeo, 20 days and nights of cattle auctions,
bull-riding and barrel-racing, and (mostly) country music concerts, all
in honor of Houston’s venerable heritage as one of the America’s great
Western cowtowns.
The trouble is, the whole thing is built on a big fat historical
fiction. Houston was never a cowtown, at least not in any meaningful
sense, and it never even pretended to be for the first century of its
existence. The same goes for Dallas, which, while only 32 miles from
Fort Worth, the real Cowtown and situated on the very edge of what we
have come to see as the American West, was always, like Houston, much
more about cotton than cattle—at least until Spindletop blew in.
Check out this fantastic story on us in the Austin American Statesman by Anjanette Gautier titled, "Program will teach Hispanic Students about their Roots" http://tinyurl.com/oj64myq Here are all the pertinent links:
• Center for Mexican American Studies, University of Texas at Austin
• Austin Area Association for Bilingual Education
• Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, University of Texas at Austin
• Tejano History Curriculum Project
• Texas Center for Education Policy
• National Latino/a Education Research and Policy Project
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT*
We are happy to announce the inauguration of Academia Cuauhtli / Cuauhtli Academy—a language and culture revitalization project—at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center (ESBMACC). Students from three nearby east Austin elementary schools—Metz, Sanchez, and Zavala—get taught in Spanish a Mexican American and Tejano history curriculum on Saturdays throughout the Spring, 2015 semester. We are very grateful to our partipcating principals, Ms. Azucena Garcia (Sanchez Elementary School), Ms. Martha Castillo (Metz Elementary), and Mr. Sean Fox (Zavala Elementary) and their parent liaisons and support specialists for agreeing to do this.
This effort is born out of a partnership involving Nuestro Grupo (our community based organization organized by the Texas Center for Education Policy and the Tejano History Curriculum Initiative [that grew out of the Tejano Monument inititive], both at the University of Texas at Austin and NLERAP, our fiscal agent), the Austin Independent School District (AISD), and the City of Austin Parks and Recreation ESBMACC. (Note: We are not a charter school.)
University faculty have been invested in this effort for some time now, including Dr. Cinthia Salinas and former UT Professor and current University of Utah College of Education Dean Dr. María Franquiz when they—together with UT History Department Dr. Emilio Zamora—focused on curriculum development with a grant that Dr. Zamora secured from WalMart that was in turn related to the development of curriculum as part of the unveiling of the Tejano Monument itself on Texas State Capitol grounds. Thanks to the efforts of this collective effort, called the "Tejano History Curriculum Project," curricula are already accessible at this website: http://ows.edb.utexas.edu/site/tejano-history-curriculum-project
With a new grant from Humanities Texas, the curriculum will expand from it current focus on civil rights, migration and local history to indigenous heritage, women, and the cultural arts. Even if so many of us individually—or as small families or collectivities—similarly held just such a dream, the expressed dream for a Saturday academy in the Austin community—according to its originating documents—goes back to the years leading up to the founding of the ESBMACC(see http://tinyurl.com/qx5jcx8).
Thanks, as well, to the fantastic AISD team of curriculum writers as part of the Curriculum Writers Cadre, and most especially to our committed AISD dual language teachers who because of their efforts, the curriculum is TEKS-aligned (i.e., adapted to state standards) and is currently available in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 11 district wide. Also worthy of mention is that this has involved the participation of faculty from the following five universities: The University of Texas at Austin, Huston Tillotson University, St. Edwards University, South University, and Texas State University.
AISD's Chief Academic Officer Dr. Pauline Dow and ESB-MACC staff, especially Tiffany Moreno, and Laura Esparza from the Parks and Recreation Department have been awesome partners, as well.
This has been a labor of love. Our team is so talented and passionate about the whole initiative. It is quite a beautiful thing. Here is who we are: Dr. Angela Valenzuela, Dr. Pauline Dow, Martha Cotera, Oralia Garza de Cortes, Dr. Emilio Zamora, Brenda Rubio, Laura Esparza, Tiffany Moreno, Brenda Ayala, Noreen Rodriguez, Martha Sanchez, Olivia C. Hernandez, Dr. Isabel A. Millán, Larissa Davila, Alonzo René Mendoza, Anthony Martinez, Modesta Trevino, Dr. Christopher Milk, Gina Tillis, Patricia Núñez, Dr. Manuel Xavier Zamarripa, Jessica Ochoa Zamarripa, Julia Hernandez, Kristina Gutierrez, Jesse Gainer, Nancy Valdez-Gainer, Randy Bell, Juan Ramirez, Dr. Ramon Martinez, Dr. Luis Urrieta, Dr. Arcelia Hernandez, Belinda Jiménez, Manuel Martinez, Luis Ramirez, Julia Hernandez, Yvette Cardenas, Fernando Rios, Joanna Sanchez, Juan Oyervides, Kathy Mariscal, Maria Vaso, Dr. Beatriz Gutierrez, Dr. Deb Palmer, Dr. Delia Montecinos, Paola Ferate, Dr. Haydee Rodriguez, A.J. Hope, Jennifer Ross, Beatriz Hernandez, and Clarissa Riojas.
Our Academia Cuauhtli (Cuauhtli Academy) inauguration takes place at the new AISD Performing Arts Center located at 1500 Barbara Jordan Blvd., Austin, TX 78723 (see map here) on Saturday, January 17, 2015 from 11:00AM-3:15PM. Tamales and pan dulce will be served with performances by Tejano music master Joel Guzman, McCallum High School Ballet Folklórico, Crockett High School Mariachi, Martin Middle School Ballet Folklórico, Bedichek Middle School Mariachi, and El Grupo de Danza Mexica Xochipilli.
All are welcome to attend this joyful and historic celebration of a broad-based community effort that is also a dream come true here in Austin, Texas!
Sinceramente,
Dr. Angela Valenzuela *Do
note that this event was originally scheduled for January 10th but was
postponed until the 17th because of a bad weather forecast.
What started as a dream 40 years ago will finally become a reality: The Emma
S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center on Saturday will launch
Cuauhtli Academy, weekly sessions on Mexican-American and Tejano history
for Austin elementary school students.
The program offers free language, cultural, history and art instruction to fourth-graders. It
was first proposed in 1974 as a way to celebrate and preserve local Hispanic culture and historical roots.
+
Cuauhtli Academy committee members: Standing, from left,
are Larissa Dávila, Olivia Hernández, Refugio Orozco, Tiffany Moreno,
Brenda Rubio, Cristina Gutiérrez, Julia ... read more
“We envisioned a space and programming for children to learn about
their roots and language,” said Martha Cotera, one of the organizers of
the academy.
Cuauhtli means eagle in Náhuatl, the language of
central Mexico’s indigenous Aztecs, and organizers say it reflects the
spirit and mission of the project. Nuestro Grupo, the primary organizer
of this effort, was started by members of the Texas Center for Education
Policy and the Tejano Monument Curriculum Initiative, both based at the
University of Texas.
Cuauhtli “connotes strength, grace and spirituality, as well as a mental and physical capacity,” said co-founder and UT professor Ángela Valenzuela. Cuauhtli seeks to “honor our community’s cultural heritage, foster a social justice consciousness and reclaim our collective identities in pursuit of educational freedom.”
UT professor Emilio Zamora, an organizer of the Tejano
History Curriculum Project and Valenzuela’s husband, devised the
program’s curriculum. With help from Austin school district
administrators and language teachers, Zamora aligned it with the Texas
curriculum standards, so it could be easily replicated by other groups
in other school districts, Cotera said.
“This has been a true community effort,” said Larissa Dávila, a volunteer who will be teaching parents in parallel courses.
“The Austin school district has even made buses available, so we can take
the children on field trips to learn about the history of their
ancestors in Texas,” Cotera said. The district also will provide
teachers and administrative assistance for the program.
The academy begins with 35 students nominated by dual language teachers from
Metz, Sanchez and Zavala elementary schools. They will participate for
three hours every Saturday until May. Classes will be in Spanish and
will include topics not often taught in depth at the elementary level,
such as the various indigenous groups of Texas, the role of Tejanos in
the Texas revolution, the Chicano art movement, and the traditions and
cultural heritage of their ancestors.
“We want them to understand their mestizaje,” said Cotera, referring to the process in which
indigenous and Western cultures and people mixed to produce what many
now refer to as Mexican-American, Chicano or Tejano culture.
The idea, organizers say, is for students to develop a strong vision of where they come from and where they are headed.
If you go … The Cuauhtli Academy’s inauguration ceremony is open to the public. It will be from 11 a.m. to 2:15 p.m. Saturday at the Austin school district’s Performing Arts Center, 1500 Barbara Jordan Blvd. It will include performances by accordionist Joel Guzmán, Mariachi and Ballet Folklórico groups from Austin schools, and a Mexica ceremony by the Grupo de Danza Mexica Xochipilli. Tamales, pan dulce and hot chocolate will be available. For more information, call Larissa Dávila at 512-636-6381 or visit www.facebook.com/AcademiaCuauhtli.
Home to Academia Cuauhtli Saturday School, pictured is the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Culture Center located at 600 River St., Austin, Texas
Students, Friends and Colleagues: It
is with great satisfaction and great pride that we inaugurate our Saturday school, Academia
Cuauhtli (Eagle Academy)—a language and culture revitalization
project—at the Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center. Students get taught in Spanish a Mexican American Studies / Tejano
Studies curriculum in grade 4, targeting three nearby east Austin
elementary schools—Metz, Sanchez, and Zavala.
Consider liking us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AcademiaCuauhtli We are very grateful to our event sponsors - The University of Texas Center for Mexican American Studies, the Austin Independent School District, the University of Texas Division of Diversity and Community Engagement, the University of Texas Tejano Monument Curriculum Initiative, the University of Texas Center for Education Policy, and the Austin Area Association for Bilingual Education.
This involves a
partnership involving Nuestro Grupo (our community based organization
organized by the Texas Center for Education Policy and the Tejano
Monument Curriculum Initiative, both at the University of Texas at
Austin and the National Latino/a Education Research and Policy Project [NLERAP], its fiscal agent and national nonprofit
organization), the Austin Independent School District, the City of
Austin Parks and Recreation Department and within it, the Emma S.
Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center where the Saturday academy will take place. This has been a
labor of love. Our team is so talented and passionate about the whole
initiative. It is quite a beautiful thing. Our inauguration takes place
on Saturday, January 10, 2015, from 11:00AM-3:15PM at 600 River St. in
central Austin. We will be serving tamales, pan dulce, and chocolate. We
will have performances by our district's mariachi and ballet folklorico
students. There will be Mexica dancers with copal and they will explain
the meaning of the dances. Come celebrate with us if you can.
Mil gracias, thanks for all involved (hope I got everybody) as follows:
Dr. Angela Valenzuela, Dr. Pauline Dow, Martha Cotera, Oralia Garza de
Cortes, Dr. Emilio Zamora, Brenda Rubio, Laura Esparza, Tiffany Moreno,
Brenda Ayala, Noreen Rodriguez, Martha Sanchez, Olivia C. Hernandez, Dr.
Isabel A. Millán, Larissa Davila, Alonzo René Mendoza, Anthony
Martinez, Modesta Trevino, Dr. Christopher Milk, Gina Tillis, Patricia
Núñez, Dr. Manuel Xavier Zamarripa, Jessica Ochoa Zamarripa, Julia
Hernandez, Kristina Gutierrez, Jesse Gainer, Nancy Valdez-Gainer, Randy
Bell, Juan Ramirez, Dr. Ramon Martinez, Dr. Luis Urrieta, Dr. Arcelia
Hernandez, Belinda Jiménez, Manuel Martinez, Luis Ramirez, Julia Hernandez, Yvette
Cardenas, Fernando Rios, Joanna Sanchez, Juan Oyervides, Kathy Mariscal,
Maria Vaso, Dr. Beatriz Gutierrez, Dr. Deb Palmer, Dr. Delia
Montecinos, Paola Ferate, Dr. Haydee Rodriguez, A.J. Hope, Jennifer
Ross, Beatriz Hernandez, Clarissa Riojas. Special thanks, in
particular, to our resident historian, Dr. Emilio Zamora, who inspired
this curriculum that grew out of the Tejano Monument Curriculum Initiative. Here is a story about the Tejano Monument Curriculum Project: http://ows.edb.utexas.edu/site/tejano-history-curriculum-project. The monument itself is located on the southeast side of the Texas State Capitol.
Thanks as well to the fantastic AISD team of curriculum writers as part
of the Curriculum Writers Cadre, and most especially to our committed
AISD dual language teachers who because of their efforts, the curriculum
is TEKS-aligned (i.e., adapted to state standards) and is currently
available in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 11. We have all become one big
family!
AISD's Chief Academic Officer Dr. Pauline Dow and
ESB-MACC staff, especially Tiffany Moreno, and Laura Esparza from the
Parks and Recreation Department have been awesome partners, as well.
With a new grant from Humanities Texas, the curriculum will expand to indigenous heritage, women, and the cultural arts.
Also worthy of mention is that this has involved the participation of faculty from the following five universities located in Austin, Texas:
The University of Texas at Austin
Huston Tillotson
St. Edwards University
South University
Texas State University
It takes a village, indeed! Our bad weather/rainy day site will be
Sanchez Elementary, same time, from 11:00AM-3:15 PM on Saturday, January 10, 2015 but
are otherwise meeting in the zocalo of the ESB-MACC. All are welcome to
attend this joyful celebration of a broad-based, public, community effort!
