Arizona: Indian Removal or Modern-Day Reducciones?

Arizona: Indian Removal or Modern-Day Reducciones?

By Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez

Special-length column

An Open Letter to Arizona’s Tom Horne, John Huppenthal, Russell Pearce, Joe Arpaio and Jan Brewer:

An Appeal to Your Conscience and Your Humanity

Some people say that as Arizona’s top leaders, you are actively engaged in an unprecedented ethnic cleansing campaign against the red-brown peoples of this state.

No doubt you not only disagree, but you take umbrage because you perhaps consider yourself part of a movement that is concerned primarily with national security, with sealing the porous U.S./Mexico border, with mounting campaigns against illegal immigration, and lastly, with promoting the virtues of U.S. culture, a culture that you fear is being eroded daily by invading and uncontrolled hordes from south of the border. On top of this, you most likely believe that this invasion is bankrupting the nation, financially, culturally and spiritually.

And yet, I’m sure you are aware that on Dec 31, one of you, outgoing state schools superintendant of schools, Tom Horne, is set to declare Tucson’s K-12 Mexican American Studies program to be out of compliance with HB 2281, Arizona’s anti-ethnic studies law that goes into effect the very next day.

Despite this, you cannot see how this can be interpreted as being part of an ethnic cleansing campaign? Let me offer each of you a pair of huaraches or mocatzin. This might permit you to understand why many of us believe this is so. You have no interest in wearing huaraches or mocassins? That’s OK. Keep your boots on while I offer an explanation.

Part of the problem in debating these issues is that we utilize different vocabularies and we also live different realities. Yet the problem is actually beyond language. You need to walk in our shoes or you need to have the experience of being singled out because of our red-brown skin to be able to understand why we view the world differently and why we interpret your movement to be inimical to our very existence.

Let me offer alternative terminology for what you are doing. I would argue that what you are engaged in is not so much ethnic cleansing, but a continuation of the colonial policies of reducciones – a project carried out by the Spanish empire in the Americas during the 1500s-1800s. This included the region that is today called the U.S. Southwest.

Never heard of it? They were akin to this nation’s Indian Removal policies of the 19^th century. Tied to them were the Indian Boarding Schools. Indian Removal either constituted outright genocide or forced migrations. This resulted in land loss and the de-rooting of peoples that had been living in what is today the United States for many thousands of years. The philosophical foundation for the boarding schools was: “kill the Indian, save the man.” Translated, it amounted to both Christianization and Americanization. It was predicated on the idea that American Indians were savage and godless and needed saving.

The policy of reducciones was something similar: “Kill the Indian; create a Christian.”

This project was also predicated on the idea that Indigenous peoples were savage, godless… and demonic. A debate raged throughout the1500s as to whether Indigenous peoples had souls, whether they were actually human and whether they were entitled to full human rights. Not coincidentally, the debate is reminiscent of the one we hear today about “illegal aliens.” The stark difference was that then, most Europeans taking part in it were convinced that the culture(s) of the peoples of the Americas were literally derived from the devil.

Along with genocide and land theft, the primary objective of the reducciones was to generally wipe out all vestiges of Indigenous culture, history and memory and convert the people into Christians. This included physically destroying temples, schools, murals, libraries etc. It also included massive book burnings – because books, along with knowledge of the calendars (math, science and astronomy), plants and foods, were thought to be “things of the devil.”

From this sordid history came a system of European jurisprudence that determined what was legal/legitimate, what constituted knowledge, who was human (even who/what was beautiful) and who was entitled to full human rights. Despite rosy accounts written by Europeans, the same or similar dynamic has been in play on this continent for these past 518 years, involving: who is entitled to full human rights and who is welcome. At different times, the answer has been Christians, Europeans, Caucasians, human beings, the civilized, the pure bred, those with reason/intelligence, literate peoples and nowadays, citizens. Those cast outside of this net have been: Indigenous peoples, so-called pagans, savages and mongrels, non-Europeans, the uncivilized, the racially, culturally and spiritually impure, the “illiterate” and always the “foreigners.” It is these peoples whom have historically been denied their basic human rights and freedoms.

Unlike those who think that what has been happening in Arizona is an aberration, it is actually in line with the history of the continent over the past 500 years.

Racial profiling? That is the history of this continent. Denial of history and culture? That too is the norm.

Embedded in the memory of Mexican Americans (Central and South Americans also) is always the continual need to prove our humanity. In the eyes of the law, we have never been human enough. Not American enough. Not loyal enough. Not pure enough. Not legal enough. Not legitimate enough. Even in the realm of language, neither our English or Spanish have ever been good enough.

And how can we forget; despite our color, and despite our 7,000-year maiz-based culture that can be traced to this very continent, we neither are Indigenous enough.

So when you enact laws that require us to prove our citizenship, when you enact laws that forbid us from learning our thousands-of-year cultures from this very continent, then you give us but one clear message: the need to once again prove our humanity. You also send out another message: not welcome. But you seem not content with sending that message either. Next is the Arizona nullification of birthright citizenship and the 14^th amendment. And subsequently, you now want children to also turn in their own parents.

You question our humanity? Step back and examine what it is you are doing. Your attacks are relentless, but very much in line with what we are accustomed to. You want our souls? You can’t have them. You seem to be obsessed with completing that imperial project begun some 518 years ago. But not even a thousand laws can wipe out our memories and no amount of demonization and no amount of misinformation or miseducation can sever our connection to this land. And thus we see the frustration in your faces and hear your message about trying to get rid of us many of us as possible and about keeping our history and culture at home.

We already did that for many hundreds of years. What is it about knowledge that you fear? Do you fear another narrative – a narrative much older than the Pilgrim story? Why do you fear us and our ancient Indigenous knowledge?

Do you fear the maiz-based philosophical concepts of In Lak Ech, Panche Be and Hunab Ku?

Do you actually fear that we teach our kids to see themselves in everyone else – a philosophy that promotes love, justice and equality, not hate and inequality? Do you actually fear that we teach kids to pursue the truth – critical thinking – as opposed to blind acceptance of oft-repeated myths about this continent and this country? And do you fear that we teach our children that they are no less or no better than anyone else – that we are all created equal – as opposed to teaching them that they have savage and demonic roots?

Why indeed do you fear this program? Because it graduates 97.5% of all of its students? Do you fear that if this success is replicated nationwide, that there will be no one left to pick the crops? You seem to want us in a permanent state of subservience, if you want us at all. You seem to want us to lose our memories and to lose our identities and our connection to this land as the price of admission to this society. You seem to want us, fear us and despise us all at the same time. And still, we love this land. Does this puzzle you?

I appeal to your conscience and your own humanity: Why not welcome us as peoples with open arms. And why not embrace this program; it creates top-notch students and beautiful human beings. Is that not the purpose of education?

Rodriguez, a professor at the University of Arizona, is a member of the Mexican American Studies-TUSD Community Advisory board and can be reached at: XColumn@gmail.com

Speaking/Running against Hate, Censorship and Forbidden Curriculums

 

 By Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez

Special Length Column

On a crisp Tucson morning, we gather at A Mountain. Indigenous teachers from Chihuahua to Chiapas and from Jalisco to the Yucatan go into the crater. It is Sat. Dec 4. They are joined by Yaqui, Hopi, Dine, Apache, Tewa, Tlamanalcah, Mexica and Raza runners from Tucson and from throughout the United States. From elders to young children. On this morning, between 60-80 of us run from the base of the mountain through Menlo Park and Barrio Hollywood on this ceremonial six-mile run, led by Calpolli Teoxicalli.

The run is in defense of Ethnic/Raza/Indigenous Studies. And it is no accident that it ends at the historic El Rio Neighborhood Center – created 40 years ago when grandmothers and other barrio residents climbed the fences of an elite golf course, taking it over while setting in motion the creation of the city’s first community center.

Once again, we spoke with our feet. We left footprints. We created a path. And we celebrated. And for the rest of the day, the community of Tucson is treated – via a floricanto at El Rio – to the powerful voices of the likes of Cherrie Moraga, Francisco Alarcon, Leslie Marmon Silko, Elias Serna, Felicia Montes, Marge Pellegrino, Teatro Izkalli, El Vuh, and Xilan and CozmoBrown (Metate) with DJ Lingos.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. This is the third day of an international conference examining hate, censorship and forbidden curriculums. While nationally recognized scholars come to share their knowledge and wisdom, it is also a time when 4^th and 5^th grade students from Tucson’s Raza Studies Program (Ochoa and Buskirk) showcase their critical thinking skills, challenging state officials to visit their threatened-with-extinction classrooms.

The conference is convened because we are but days – Dec 31 – from when the state is supposed to rule TUSD’s highly successful Mexican American Studies program to be “out-of-compliance.” Only in Arizona would a program, that graduates 97.5% of its high school students and sends more than 70% to college, would be facing the threat of elimination. This at a time when dropout rates for Mexican Americans can reach as high as 60% (Students recently jam-packed a TUSD school board meeting, demanding that the board stand firmly behind the program. They did so with a night vigil and a symbolic protest).

Several weeks before, high school Raza Studies students organized a 13-mile walk between Palo Verde  and Cholla high schools. When the anti-Ethnic Studies legislation was signed this past May, it was hundreds upon hundreds of middle and high school students who laid siege to first, the TUSD headquarters, and then the state building. It resulted in the detention of 15 (eight are still on trial for criminal trespass). The threatened elimination of Raza Studies is no small matter. The new state school superintendent also now has vowed to eliminate Ethnic Studies at the University level.

This is the context for this conference. On this first day, undergraduates and graduate students examine the legislative attacks in the realm of immigration (sb 1070) and education (hb 2281). In reality, they are attacks on our physical bodies (the racial profiling is Indigenous) and on our spirits (they want our souls, but they can't have them). More attacks are on their way (one forthcoming legislative proposal would nullify the 14^th Amendment on Arizona and another would require children to identify the immigration status of their parents) and these are but the opening salvos for copycat statewide legislation nationwide. Graduate students examine the works of Paolo Freire (Pedagogy of the Oppressed) and Rodolfo Acuña (Occupied America); works that have been singled out by the states’ school superintendent as being un-American because they purportedly call for the violent overthrow of the U.S. government and lead to “segregation.” (Yes, this is Arizona… where this superintendent is now the state attorney general). 

Scholars Andrea Romero, Ana Ochoa O’Leary, Auggie Romero and Randall Amster, provide the data and prove the success of Raza Studies and contextualize the attacks against it within the politics of dehumanization. The conference on forbidden curriculums is also contextualized relative to the Tlatelolco massacre in Mexico City (Professor Celeste Bustamante) and the National Chicano Moratorium (Ramses Noriega) in Los Angeles, along with two Tucson HS students, Ashley Bustamante (one of the organizers of the 13-mile walk) and Carmen Orozco -- who comment on the significance of the 1970 death of journalist, Ruben Salazar.

Photo by Raul Ruiz

In the evening, students again speak for themselves, leaders from Tucson, Pueblo and Sunnyside high schools and Pima Community College and the University of Arizona. Raza Studies educators – including several of the 11 plaintiffs who have filed a lawsuit against the state in defense of Raza Studies – update the participants. This includes Sean Arce, Alzira Duncan, Lorenzo Lopez, Rene Martinez, Jose Gonzalez and Norma Gonzalez. One highlight includes the ceremonial presentation of El Coraje Newspaper from the 2010 editors (Karina Salazar, Gerardo Villalobos and Lizeth Grijalva) to the 1960s editors (Guadalupe Castillo, Salomon Baldenegro, Ceci Cruz and Frank de la Cruz). An exhibit on the same topic was unveiled at the beginning of the conference. Another highlight is the presentation of a trailer for the forthcoming, Precious Knowledge, a PBS documentary by Ari Palos and Eren McGinnis,  that tells the Raza Studies story. Capping the evening is the powerful voice of elder Raquel Rubio Goldsmith.

Day 2 is of a historic nature, beginning with a session by teacher Armando Cauich from the Yucatan, on the topic of J’meen – a Maya concept of knowledge. This is the proper context; it is Indigenous or maiz-based knowledge that undergirds the Raza Studies program. It is this knowledge that has been prohibited or discouraged for many centuries, including now, when the state superintendent is claiming that this knowledge is “Un-American.”

The context of day two is decolonization and liberation – from understanding the role of the media, to understanding the importance of organizing. Amid this talk, or at the end of these morning sessions, in walk a classroom of pre-K students from Ochoa Elementary. They recite In Lak Ech:

Tú eres mi otro yo. Si te hago daño a ti, Me hago daño a mí mismo. Sí te amo y respeto, Me amo y respeto yo. You are my other me. If I do harm to you, I do harm to myself. If I love and respect you, I love and respect myself.  

A lot of eyes well up. We all understand theory and the importance of analysis, but in these 4-year olds, we concretely understand what’s at stake. It is humbling, particularly for scholars that have traveled great distances to understand this insane asylum we call Arizona. Most scholars already know about the extremists, who work primarily at the state capitol; what they perhaps did not know about were these 4-year-olds… the elementary, middle and high school students and the college and university students, who both defend their program and who organize resistance and who powerfully represent and speak for themselves.

In effect, the rest of the afternoon and evening are anti-climactic, yet it continues to build into a crescendo (see program: http://drcintli.blogspot.com/). It includes sessions on historical trauma for Indigenous peoples (Tommy Begay), and the Latino threat narrative (Teresa Carrillo) and it includes talks and responses from movement veterans, such as Carlos Montes and Rosalio Muñoz. It also includes special words from elder and ASU professor and writer, Simon Ortiz.

Key to the conference is understanding Arizona voices. Tupac Enrique Acosta and Carlos Garcia of Tonatierra and Puente, respectively, give participants not simply an update regarding the resistance in Phoenix, but more appropriately, contextualize it as both as part of a continental movement and local organizing. From Tonatierra, we get the proclamation that: “We can never be immigrants on our own Continent” and the understanding that the Arizona legislation of the past few years has not produced [legitimate] laws. While perhaps people came to hear the specifics of the lawsuit – and they did – they were not disappointed. Richard Martinez, the pro-bono attorney that is representing the 11 plaintiffs spoke to the legal significance of the lawsuit. In effect, it is the equivalent of the Monkey Scopes Trial. This lawsuit will settle once and for all, the legality, the legitimacy and the propriety of teaching Ethnic Studies and it will challenge notions of what is Ethnic vs what is American, and thus, what is “UnAmerican” (Saveethnicstudies.org).

What is perhaps unexpected are the voices of Sandy Soto, Raul Al-qaraz Ochoa and Celia Rodriguez. They break down for the audience the intersection between Arizona hate and homophobia. More than brilliant analyzes, they speak to the notions of that you cannot speak of liberation while silencing the voices of the LGBT community. Similarly, speakers from the O’odham Solidarity Across Borders Collective, those that took over the Tucson Border Patrol station in June, remind us that the Arizona laws in question are assaults not just on [Indigenous] migrants, but against Indigenous peoples, such as the O’otham, along the border region. Conversely, the resistance is also coming from not just the migrant sectors, but also from Indigenous peoples of this region also (Incidentally, the trials for those from this collective for criminal trespass are now scheduled for February: http://oodhamsolidarity.blogspot.com/).

After Dolores Huerta speaks – and her importance to Arizona and the Raza Studies struggle was recently highlighted in: http://latinola.com/story.php?story=9089 – the evening ends with three powerful Arizona voices: Michelle Rascon, Leilani Clark and Isabel Garcia. Each embody the purpose of the conference. Michelle, aside from being a Raza Studies graduate and phenomenal poet, was recently in the news because her father was picked up by the FBI, under false pretenses, and turned over to ICE agents. Her father is now facing the possibility of many years in prison. Since 2006, Leilani has perhaps best represented the youth voice in the struggle to defend Ethnic/Raza Studies. Isabel – much maligned by the right wing, including Sheriff Joe Arpaio – symbolically represents the voice of Tucson – the voice of Arizona. She is who reminds us that it is not for us to compromise on anyone’s human rights.

In effect, that was the purpose of the entire conference; to expose the nation to the resistance-creation culture that is developing here in the panza of the beast. We can learn from others, but also, others can also learn from us.

On the third day, that’s where we met at the base of the crater – not to hear each other per se, but to partake in ceremony. And we did. We spoke with our feet. We left footprints. We created a path. And we celebrated.

·      This is but a glimpse of the conference. Fortunately, virtually the entire conference was recorded and documented and will soon be made available, along with a conference report. For photos of the conference, go to: http://chicanamagazine.blogspot.com/2010/12/missed-conference.html

* All participants who asked for housing and transportation were accomodated, thus the imprint on the state economy was minimal -- this while supporting and collaborating with Arizona Movement educators, organizers and activists.

·      Contributions are still being accepted to cover the costs of both the conference and its documentation. Go to: http://drcintli.blogspot.com/ 

* Photos by Chris Summitt

Rodriguez, a professor at the University of Arizona, can be reached at: XColumn@gmail.com

Conference Combatting Hate Censorship, and Forbidden Curricula Schedule

 CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

THURSDAY DEC 2 - UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

7:30 –8:am Opening Ceremony-Outside Old Main – CALPOLLI TEOXICALLI

8– 9:45 am Opening Platica CALPOLLI TEOXICALLI- Old Main Auditorium

Chucho Ruiz,  Maria Molina, Norma Gonzalez, Jose Gonzalez and Zotero Citlacoatl

An Indigenous Education

10 am TOUR OF EXHIBIT - Main Library 10-10-50am  10am Community Organizing Panel Cesar Chavez Bldg #205 Corazón de Tucson

Tucson Childcare Collective

Tierra y Libertad

Yo Soy Testigo 

Fred Highton, MoveOn.Org

11-4 pm Sessions at The KIVA-UA Student Union

11-11:50 am - SESSION  - The KIVA-UA Student Union

Raza Studies K-6 Immigration/Education Dialogue Opening: In Lak Ech: 4-5 year olds - Ms Paula's Dreams Room, Ochoa Elem.

Raza Studies K-6 Dialogue Ochoa and Van Buskirk Elementary Schools

Moderated by Norma Gonzalez

NOON-12:50 pm - SESSION

LESSONS OF TLATELOLCO (1968) and THE 1970 NATIONAL CHICANO MORATORIUM

Celeste Bustamante, UA-School of Journalism - Tlatelolco in the Curriculum Ramses Noriega,  Co-founder, National Chicano Moratrorium Ashley Bustamante, Tucson HS student, Ruben Salazar and The Moratorium Carmen Orozco, Tucson HS student, Ruben Salazar and The Moratorium    1-1:50 pm -SESSION MAS GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS Lizette Opio, Courtney Lower, Adrian Mendoza, Arlene Provencio, Aaron Enrique Almada Moderator: Rosario Carrillo, PhD, MAS-University of Arizona

2-2:50 pm ANALYSIS OF ANTI-ETHNIC/RAZA STUDIES HB2281-KIVA Student Union

Anna Ochoa O'Leary, Andrea Romero, Randall Amster and Auggie Romero

3-3:50 pm GRADUATE STUDENT SESSION

FREIRE-TUHIWAI SMITH-ACUNA DIALOGUE Courtney Waters, Erin MacKinney, Cash Conner, Yousseff Toure Moderated by Jose Gonzalez, Raza Studies Teacher, TUSD 

OLD MAIN AUDITORIUM (GROUND FLOOR)

3-4:45 pm MECHA-YOUTH CITYWIDE/REGIONAL DIALOGUE  EVENING PROGRAM

YWCA 5-10pm EVE RECEPTION - 525 N. Bonita Ave TUCSON AZ 85745

5:-5:30 pm FOOD/RECEPTION

Opening Alianza Indigena

Nuestra Voz-YWCA Youth Presentation

Sarah Gonzales YWCA host

5:45:-6:30 pm EL CORAJE STUDENT/ELDERS PRESENTATION

Student presentation of  El Coraje Magazine To Founders of El Coraje Newspaper

Elders: Salomon Baldenegro Sr., Ceci Cruz, Guadalupe Castillo and Frank de la Cruz

Students: Karina Salazar, Lalo Villalobos,  Marissa Martinez and Lizeth Norma Grijalva

6:35- 7:15 pm TUSD-RAZA/ETHNIC STUDIES STUDENTS ALUMNI PANEL

Leilani Clark: Raza Studies Timeline Respondents: Alfonso Chavez, Pima CC

Jacob Robles Pima CC

Angelica Peñaran Tucson HS

Sarah Navarrette, Pueblo HS

Flor Burruel, Sunnyside HS

Dina Barajas - Side by Side by Zitkala-Sa

7:25-8 pm TUSD-RAZA/ETHNIC STUDIES EDUCATORS PANEL

Julio Camarota, Auggie Romero, Sean Arce, Alzira Duncan, Lorenzo Lopez, Rene Martinez, Jose Gonzalez and Norma Gonzalez   Raza Studies educators, and plaintiffs

8:05 PM - 8:20 pm Professor and Tucson elder, Raquel Rubio Goldsmith

8:20- 8:30 COURTNEY LOWER

Tribute to Rodolfo Acuña, CSUN Prof, author, Occupied America

8:30-8:50 pm Precious Knowledge Documentary, Dos Vatos Productions by Ari Palos and Eren McGinnis, Pricila Rodriguez, University of Arizona

8:50-9:30 pm RAZA/ETHNIC STUDIES DIALOGUE   Led By Kim Dominguez, Arturo Rodriguez and Jennifer Contreras

9:30-10 pm RECEPTION

FRIDAY DEC 3– UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

8 -9:50 am MAESTROS DE SEMILLA: INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE

Cesar Chavez # 205 and 209 (Breakfast)
teacher Armando Cauich, from Yucatan, on the topic of J’meen (Maya Indigenous Knowledge)

10-10: 45 Arizona's Neo-Apartheid Cesar Chavez # 205 and 209

Manuel Hernandez (ASU) 

Russell Pearce: the Death of the 1960s Gains in Civil Rights for Minorities in Arizona

and an Unfolding  National Consensus  for a Repeat of Operation Wetback   Jennifer James, Phoenix University

10:45-11:45am DECOLONIZING THE UNIVERSITY AS SOCIAL MOVEMENT

Cesar Chavez # 205 and 209

Samuel Bañales (UC Berkeley). "Challenging the Coloniality of Organizing with Activism from Below"

Mattie Harper (UC Berkeley). "We Are Still Here: Confronting Myths of the Vanishing Indian Within the

Western Academy"

Nelson Maldonado-Torres (Rutgers University). "Next Steps: A Latina/o Academy of Arts and Sciences."

nmt@berkeley.edu   Moderator: Damian Baca, University of Arizona

11am–NOON BOOK READING

Rosalia Solorzano and Francisca J. Hernandez – Chicana Studies Reader

Moderator: Bob Diaz UA - Main Library #A313

NOON-1pm UA MALL FRONT OF STUDENT UNION LUNCH, ENTERTAINMENT AND SPEAKERS

Grupo Folklorico Miztontli

de la Universidad de Arizona

ZARCO (TEATRO)

Raza Studies K-12 Dialogue 

1- 1:30 pm EXHIBIT MAIN LIBRARY

2 - 4:30 pm ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS – GALLAGHER THEATER

2 - 2:50 pm  HISTORICAL TRAUMA

Moderated and presentation by Teresa Carrillo, Phd, Director, Raza Studies, San Francisco State University - The Latino Threat Narrative

Lydia Zulema Martinez Vega and Luname Teoxihuitl Harrishawk

Tommy Begay UA, Historical Trauma  

2:55 - 3:35 pm  BEYOND ARIZONA

Carlos Montes – Los Angeles, Community Service Organization (CSO), Fight Back News, and S. Calif. Immigration Coalition

Nora Salas, Phd Candidate, Michigan State University

Todd Mireles - Phd Candidate, Michigan State University   Sara Provenzale: The Media and HB 2281

3:40-4:30 pm IN DEFENSE OF RAZA STUDIES: A SCIENCE OF THE PEOPLE

Pablo Aceves: Community Counselor, member of the Comite de Derechos Humanos Digna Ochoa (San Diego), and the Raza Press and Media Association (RPMA)

Ernesto Bustillos: Teacher, Member of the Raza Press and Media Association and the Association of Raza Educators (A.R.E.)-San Diego.

Cathy Espitia: Member of the Comite de Mujeres, Patricia Marin, coordinator of the Chicano Mexicano Prison Project (San Diego).

Francisco Romero, teacher and member of the Raza Rights Committee, Oxnard, Califaztlan

4:30 -5pm MEAL BREAK

EVENING PROGRAM GALLAGHER THEATER - UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA MC Elizabeth Soltero

5:15-6 pm REPORT FROM PHOENIX – BATTLE OVER SB 1070

Salvador Reza, Carlos Garcia,Tupac Enrique Acosta, Shannon Rivers

6-:6:35 pm DIALOGUE: ARIZONA HATE and HOMOPHOBIA

Cherrie Moraga, Celia Rodriguez Raúl Al-qaraz Ochoa

Moderator: Sandy Soto 

6:40-6:55 RAZA STUDIES V. STATE OF ARIZONA LAWSUIT ATTORNEY RICHARD MARTINEZ MC Lane Sanata Cruz

7-7:50 pm ALIANZA INDIGENA SIN FRONTERAS, O'ODHAM SOLIDARITY ACROSS BORDERS COLLECTIVE 

8:00-9:30 pm  DIALOGUE: THE STATE OF ARIZONA

Opening words: Mixelle Rascon  Dolores Huerta Simon Ortiz,  Isabel Garcia,

Moderator: Leilani Clark  

9:30 pm SAFOS THEATER  

SATURDAY DEC 3

7 am    Run/Walk from A MOUNTAIN to El Rio Community Center  Contact: Calpolli Teoxicalli - Teoxicalli@yahoo.com El Rio Neighborhood Center   1390 West Speedway Boulevard Tucson, AZ 85745-2324

10 am-11:30am PLATICA CALPOLLI TEOXICALLI Mazatzin AZTEKAYOLOKALLI: "The Ancient Mexika Chronological System": 

A Human Experience Towards Personal Transcendance, with Global Consequences. AMPHITHEATER EL RIO CC

Menudo Breakfast

Noon -7pm FLORICANTO ARTS/MUSIC FESTIVAL 2 stages Indoor and Outdoor stage

LESLIE MARMON SILKO – CHERRIE MORAGA - FRANCISCO ALARCON - ELENA DIAZ BJORKQUIST – MARIA RAMIREZ – LUKE SALCIDO - CIHUATL CE -  NICO-POETS DEL NORTE - FELICIA FE MONTES – MIXPE– ANDREA HOLM – RAUL ALCARAZ - HEDY TREVINO – ELIAS SERNA – ALEX SOTO – TOLTEKA - TEATRO IZKALLI – SARAH GONZALEZ – NUESTRA VOZ –YWCA - ZARCO – DULCE JUAREZ – SAFOS THEATER – MARGE PELLEGRINO – MIXELLE RASCON – MI’JAN MI’JAN CELIE – SONIA GUTIERREZ - PHOTOGRAPHERS: LAYLA MARIE HERNANDEZ, FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ – ANITA FERNANDEZ – CELESTINO FERNANDEZ – KEVAN CHUC - JOEL 'RAGE.ONE' GARCIA  - EL VUH (PARTIAL LIST)

INDOOR STAGE– poets/musicians/ and several arts/research presentations

MC/Coordinator Andrea Holm: ahholm@email.arizona.edu

The times below represent approximations. 

KEVAN CHUC

Auto de Fe 1562 RESEARCH PLUS IMPROV THEATER

12:00-12:30pm

JUDITH SALCIDO – the music of SANTANA

12:30-12:45 pm

ANITA FERNANDEZ: Prescott Mural Controversy:

12:45-1pm

CELESTINO FERNANDEZ: Sb 1070 Corridos and Multi Media Presentation

1-1:30

ZARCO (MASCARAS TEATRO)

1:30-1:50 pm

MARGE PELLEGRINO - Poet

1:50-2pm

CHERRIE MORAGA – essayist/writer

2-2:40

LESLIE MARMON SILKO - Poet

2:45-3:15pm

FRANCISCO ALARCON

3:15pm-3:45pm

HEDY TREVINO - Poet:

3:50-4pm

ELIAS SERNA: Research presentation/performance

4-4:30pm

MI’JAN MI’JAN CELIE: (415-425-6446) mijancelie@gmail.com

Documentary

4:30-5pm

FRANCISCO DOMINGUEZ: Photographer – Documention of Progressive Movements

5-5:20

SAFOS THEATER

5:20-5:30

SONIA GUTIERREZ – writer/poet

5:30-5:45

ELENA DIAZ BJORKQUIST - Poet

5:45-5:55

RAUL ALCARAZ – poetry-spoken word

6-6:10pm  

RAGING GRANNIES - songs

 6:10-6:20

ANDREA HOLM - poetry

6:20-6:30

TEATRO IZKALLI –Theater

6:30—7:15 MINUTES

CLOSING

OUTDOOR STAGE Coordinated/MC by: Westli Narro: wesley_1310@hotmail.com   

2:00 – 2:35pm (35mins) El Vuh

Like public enemy before them, El Vuh uses hip hop to move minds as well as bodies. Unleashing a blistering attack against the two headed beast of ignorance and bigotry, they reminds us that, among other things, xican@s were there long before Los Angeles was home to Hollywood or Arizona was patrolled by minute-men. Along the way in touring the US and Canada performing at student conferences and Universities, they challenge us to live up to our responsibilities to education, family and community.    

2:35 – 2:40pm (5mins) Setup/Intro

2:40 – 3:15pm (35mins) Cui Cui

Who is Irma Delia Pimienta Rangel.

She is also known as Cuicani (singer in Nahuatl) However, many people know her as Cui Cui. Cuicani comes to Tucson with the desire and sincerity to support the importance of this Summit with her love passion and healing energy through the use of her

music,song and dance. Cuicani hales from Los Angeles, California. She is a graduate of D.Q.University in Davis,CA. She has a Degree in Ethnic Studies (Sacramento State)

She was a member of the Royal Chicano Air Force, El Teatro Campesino and Danza Azteca. She has been teaching voice development and sharing her floricanto also as a peacemaker/lightworker for over 30 years. She continues on her journey in support of maintaining the balance for all humanity and our precious universe in the spirit of love and peace...for all my relations!  

3:15 – 3:20pm (5mins) Setup/Intro

3:20 – 3:35 (15mins) DJ Alias

3:35 – 3:40pm (5mins) Setup/Intro

3:40 – 4:05pm (25mins) Student poetry/Open Mic.

4:05 – 4:10pm (5mins) Setup/intro 

*4:10 – 4:40pm (30mins)

Xilan and CozmoBrown as Metate with DJ Lingos

4:40 – 4:45 (5mins) setup/intro

4:45 – 5:00pm (15mins) DJ Alias

5:00 – 5:30pm (30mins) Fe

Felicia Montes is a Xicana Indigenous artist, activist, academic, community/event organizer, and poet/performer/MC from the Los Angeles area.  She is co-founder and coordinating member of the groundbreaking creative’s collectives, Mujeres de Maiz and In Lak Ech and is a graduate of UCLA, CSUN soon Otis College of Art and Design.

5:30 – 5:35 (5mins) setup/intro

5:35 – 6:05pm (30mins) Cihualt-Ce

Cihuatl Ce (Xela, formerly of Cihuatl Tonali) Once a runway now a youth advocate/outreach worker. Her passion for social change is felt within the energy and urgency of her lyrics using music to reach people specifically inner city, ghetto youth. Xela brings it smart, raw, uncensored and unstoppable. Educating while empowering and uplifting, fusing hip hop with indigenous sounds in an effort to share some of the ancient teachings that remain after 515 years of colonization so that they may continue to be passed on, never to be forgotten.

6:05 – 6:10 Setup/Intro

**6:10 – 6:35pm Open mic

6:35 – 6:40 Setup/Intro

**6:40 – 7:10pm Open mic

* Special thanks to Dianne Delima, conference co-coordinator, Andrea Holm, floricanto stage, Westli Narro, hip-hop stage, Damian Baca, Sofia Romero, Lorena Howard (xicanita_2000@yahoo.com) and Lynda Cruz, volunteer coordinators, Veronica Peralta and Tom Gelsinon UA-Mexican American Studies ... and to all those who have volunteered to make this conference a success.