Over the last three years there have been a spate of “reunion†and “commemoration†gatherings around major moments in the Chicano movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. This past summer I attended two such gatherings in Texas, one in Austin and one in El Paso organized by raza in each place to reflect … Read more
“César Chávez gave a voice to poor and disenfranchised workers everywhere,†said President Obama. “La Paz was at the center of some of the most significant civil rights moments in our nation’s history, and by designating it a national monument, Chávez’ legacy will be preserved and shared to inspire generations to come.â€
I deliberated over the topic of my first blog for Mujeres Talk this fall 2012. I wanted to pick something big—both central to the upcoming election and to our lives as Chicanas and Latinas. After hearing and reading about rumors of a Monica Lewinsky tell-all book, I realized that a critique of Clinton at this moment in … Read more
The inaugural Women of Color in the Academy (WCA) Conference will be held on April 3-5, 2013, hosted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The conference will focus on Issues of Politics and Scholarship, and will feature keynotes by Professor bell hooks; Vice President and Chancellor Phyllis M. Wise; President MarÃa Hernández Ferrier; and Professor … Read more
Many in California are disappointed at Governor Jerry Brown for his veto of two labor rights bills, including the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights (AB889) and the Trust Act. The Trust Act would have  provided the state’s undocumented immigrants some protection from the federal Secure Communities program by prohibiting local authorities from honoring federal detention requests … Read more
So a group of 24 linguistic scholars have joined the effort to remove the term “illegal” immigrant from our national vocabulary.  The progressive magazine ColorLines launched a campaign late last year to “Drop the I Word” after a series of articles showed that in recent years there has been a steady increase in language that frames … Read more
In September 2012, I and my research partners from Arizona State University hosted a Community Forum in South Phoenix to report back to this community the preliminary results of our research. The room at the community center was almost full. A few people were still serving themselves dinner from the taco bar set up by a … Read more