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.
We have so much talent in Texas. I'm happy to share these images and story by and about Dr. Santa Barraza, respectively, that appear in the Javelina Today, the Magazine of Texas A & M University-Kingsville.
She is the quintessential Tejana artist and teacher, widely respected for her many contributions, most especially her artistic representations of indigenous, pre-Columbian icons, themes, and folklore.
To these, I add a photo I took of one of her pieces in a colleague's home in California that graces her living room wall.
Thank you, Santa, for your inspirational work that continues to enrich, deepen, and nourish our sense of selves as people native to this continent, to these very lands that we have inhabited for literally hundreds of years.
I hope that someday UNESCO will recognize the unparalleled strength, beauty, and power of your work as a World Heritage contribution to humanity.
The late Alex Haley’s Rootstelevision series is now airing on the A&E network and History Channel. It is a re-make of the original series that came out in 1977 when I was a student in high school. Here are a few thoughts that come to mind at the moment. I agree that Roots should be mandatory viewing for our youth, millennials especially as they might otherwise ignore it, not sensing or seeing off the bat how it all connects to today. All should also read Alex Haley's book by that same title—and also Haley's other classic text, The Autobiography of Malcolm X: As Told to Alex Haley.
For us college professors and high school teachers, many of us need to find the time and space in our teaching to share these and other important texts in our classrooms. Another excellent volume that comes to mind is Dr. Theresa Perry's Teaching Malcolm X: Popular Culture and Literacy.
It has been 40 years since the original movie came out and it had a lasting impact on me. I feel confident that Rootswill positively impact a new generation in terms of the development of their critical consciousness of which knowing about one's roots as an individual and as a nation are a crucial part. Another suggestion. Check out the hashtags #Roots, #KuntaKinte and #RootsSeries to see how folks on Twitter are reacting, with moving, poignant and profound commentary. Arizona State University Associate Professor Matthew Delmont, authored a book titled, Making Roots: A Nation Captivated(due out on August 2016) is also blogging on this. What an awesome opportunity to write a book on the making of the movie. Dr. Erica Armstrong Dunbar's reflections on the remake appear on this American History Blog (see below) that you may wish to continue visiting. We didn't have Twitter, Facebook, or blogs back in 1977 and so we didn't have the benefit of grasping people's sentiments in real time. It's different today and although there is a lot of hating and hatred in the Twittersphere on #Roots, I am seeing an awful lot of thoughtful, important commentary that you can see for yourselves. There is no reason why our children should be kept in the dark about the truth of slavery and all other forms of war, genocide, and atrocities that are an outflow of the myth of white supremacy and that finds regular expression today in the form of white privilege—as well as other forms like class, gender, documented status, skin color, andheterosexual privilege.
My final recommendation this evening is a Vimeo titled, Deconstructing White Privilege with Dr. Robin Di Angelo. Dr. Di Angelo does one of the best jobs I have come across in explaining exactly what White Privilege is. Lastly, do watch the series. It's outstanding. Hope folks find this helpful. Angela Valenzuela
Erica Armstrong Dunbar is the Blue and Gold Professor of Black
Studies and History at the University of Delaware, and she directs the
program in African American history at the Library Company of
Philadelphia. She is also an OAH Distinguished Lecturer. Her forthcoming book, Never Caught: Ona Judge, the Washingtons’ Runaway Slave, will be published early next year.
Hollywood is onto something.
Historians, including myself, don’t usually make this kind of
comment. Typically we tear Hollywood apart, calling out the historical
inaccuracies of television shows and flailing against overdramatized
films. But tonight, America was reintroduced to a television phenomenon
that restored a bit of my faith in the film industry. On May 30, a new
version of the epic television series Roots began airing on the
History channel, A&E network, and those of us who study the
institution of slavery in America, well, we were captivated.
At the recent conference, “The Future of the African American Past,”
the renowned historian and legal scholar Annette Gordon-Reed prompted
everyone in the room to think about the influence of recent events on
the way we write history. The killings in places like Sanford, Florida;
Ferguson, Missouri; and Charleston, South Carolina have had a deep and
profound impact on historians, writers, and, so it seems, directors and
producers. Older narratives about African American history are no rdnger
acceptable to a younger generation of viewers and readers. Fortunately
for them, we have more than forty years of groundbreaking scholarship
that has changed everything. A new era of film and television now
presents shows like Underground, Roots, and soon The Birth of a Nation. The terms have been reset for how we interpret and represent the lives of the enslaved.
The first episode of Roots begins on the Middle Passage, the
journey that took untold numbers of kidnapped Africans to early and
demonic deaths in the sugar cane and coffee fields of the Caribbean. A
young Kunta Kinte from Juffureh, West Africa, appears chained, fearful,
and ferociously angry. Just like millions of other Africans, Kinte was
the victim of an African internal slave trade that spiraled out of
control with the involvement of Europeans. The barbarity of his
kidnapping, abuse, and branding with the infamous stamp of the
Lloyd’s of London offer gut-wrenching attention to Africa’s internal
warfare. Scholars such as Stephanie Smallwood, Daina Ramey Berry, Edna
Greene Medford, and Lucy Duran steered the series’ directors and
producers in the right direction, correcting many historical
inaccuracies while adding depth to the lives of West Africans. The first
episode clearly demonstrates how increasingly difficult it was to hold
onto freedom when it was perched precariously next to enslavement. I
imagine that this will be a theme that is touched on throughout the
series.
What I found most powerful in the first episode was its attention to
slave resistance. Kunta Kinte’s training as a Mandinka warrior could not
overpower the might of European slavery, but it prepared him to fight
slavery at every turn. He constantly tries to escape and to fight his
captors, and he is unafraid to use deadly force. The new Kinte reminds
viewers of the strength and courage of African people, appropriately
challenging the stereotypes of docile and timid slaves. No matter how
degrading the situation, the enslaved did not lack humanity, nor were
they traumatized beyond dignity—a dated myth that is eviscerated in the
first episode. Kinte is reminded of this during his horrific Atlantic
crossing when a countryman declares, “The shame is not ours!” The blame
of slavery is placed squarely on greed and white racism.
I can’t wait for tomorrow night. Erica Armstrong Dunbar’s comments on each episode will appear following the East Coast broadcast each night. Dunbar and colleagues Kellie Carter Jackson, Daina Berry, and Jessica Millward will also participate in an AMA (“Ask Me Anything”) at Reddit’s AskHistorians forum on Friday,
June 3, aiming to field questions about the history of American
slavery, the slave trade, and the representations of slavery.
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.
