MAS Texas Talk
Lecture Notes: The Ultimate "Bless Me, Ultimate."
by Tony D on 06/16/14
MAS Lecture Notes: Film: The Ultimate "Bless Me, Ultimate."
Created and conducted by Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante.
Bless Me, Ultima. Director: Carl Franklin. Writers: Rudolfo Anaya
(novel), Carl Franklin (written for the screen by). (2013) (Classroom clock: 106 mins.)
This is based on a book banned in Arizona when Mexican American Studies was prohibited.
Also, there are partial notes. I'll post my complete notes in time for the launch of the MAS Tool Kit, July 31, 2014.
We had the honor and pleasure of visiting Rudolfo Anaya's houston the Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle banned books back into Arizona.
We'll provide academic material. However, here are some pictures of that adventure in the mean time.
Real Women Have Curves.
by Tony D on 06/16/14
MAS Lecture Notes: Film: The Real "Real Women Have Curves."
Created and conducted by Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante.
Real Women Have Curves. Director: Patricia Cardoso. Writers: Josefina
Lopez (play), George LaVoo (teleplay), Josefina Lopez (teleplay). (2002) (Classroom
clock: 90 mins.)
Also, there are partial notes. I'll post my complete notes in time for the launch of the MAS Tool Kit, July 31, 2014.
Preview: Josefina Lopez workshopped and performed versions of the play REAL WOMEN HAVE CURVES at Talento Bilingue de Houston, as well as throughout the southwest.
MAS Lecture Notes: Film: The Longoria Affair.
by Tony D on 06/16/14
MAS Lecture Notes: Film: The Longoria Affair.
The Longoria Affair. Producer/Writer/Director:
John J. Valadez. Co-producer: Pamela Aguilar. (2011)
Created and conducted by Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante.
Note:
I'll be using my own lesson plans/lecture notes at first because I have
tested them in the class room. Also, it's easier to get permission to
use them from
myself. Once we get permission from other professors and teachers to
use their notes or lesson plans, we will post those as well.
Also, there are partial notes. I'll
post my complete notes in time for the launch of the MAS Tool Kit, July 31, 2014.
I love
using the film "The Longoria Affair" in class because of the Texas connection. The story takes place in Three Rivers, Texas.
Also, the book HECHO EN TEJAS: An Anthology of Texas Mexican Writers edited by Dagoberto Gilb provides a great background and context for the film. HECHO contains some of the actual telegraphs exchanged between Dr. Garcia, Private Longorias family, and the U.S. government.
The film also touches on the contributions of Mexican Americans during World War II.
Also, the film maker John Valadez tours actively. We are going to look for post some of our interview with him on our radio show Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say.
More to come July 31, 2014.
MAS Lecture Notes: Film: A Class Apart.
by Tony D on 06/16/14
MAS Lecture Notes: Film: A Class Apart.
Created and conducted by Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante.
A Class Apart. Directors: Peter Miller, Carlos Sandoval. Writer: Carlos Sandoval. (2009) (Classroom clock: 60 mins.)
Also, there are partial notes. I'll post my complete notes in time for the launch of the MAS Tool Kit, July 31, 2014.
I love using the film "A Class Apart" in class because of its Texas connections, and the civil rights precedent established by the team of Tejano lawyers. Also, the lead lawyer, Gus Garcia, is a tragic hero.
There are many Houston connections.
Judge De Anda, another of the lawyers on the case, lived and practiced law in Houston. There are many living community leaders who knew Garcia and De Anda. They can also speak of the work they did and what they accomplished.
Judge Lupe Salinas is a noted legal scholar who teaches at Texas Southern University.
Judge Salinas is a very active member in the Mexican American Bar Association of Houston (MABAH). Current members of MABAH as well as the Hispanic Bar Association of Houston knew De Anda and Garcia.
One of the leading books on the case was written by Houstonian Michael A. Olivas. It's titled “Colored Men And Hombres Aquí”: Hernandez v. Texas and the Emergence of Mexican-American Lawyering. Published by Arte Público Press in 2006.
This leads to several other Houston connections as Olivas is the William B. Bates Distinguished Chair of Law Director; Institute of Higher Education Law & Governance at The University of Houston Law Center.
Also, Arte Público Press is also based in Houston at the University of Houston.
This leads to many possibilities for contemporary tie-ins to the film, which I will expound upon in an update. However, one of example of this was the:
Conference on Hernandez v. Texas at Fifty. Sponsored by University of Houston Law Center and Arte Publico Press
http://www.law.uh.edu/Hernandez50/
The conference notes provide a wealth of articles and primary material about the case.
PBS provided teachers resources:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/teachers-resources/class-teachers-guide/
PBS list of related books and websites:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/further-reading/class-further-reading/
Find out more about Gus Garcia Day in Texas.
Read the essay: Mexicans Ain't White: The Gus Garcia Story by Tony Diaz.
http://digital.houstonlibrary.org/oral-history/john-herrera1.php
Website created by Community Historian and LULAC Member David Contreras:
http://www.jfklulac.com/gus-garcia---hernandez-vs-texas.html
More to come July 31, 2014.
M.A.S. Movies for Your School Library.
by Tony D on 06/05/14
I visited the Lone Star College-North Harris Library to find films for my Mexican American Literature Course. They had 2 that I want to use. This reminded me that we need to ask folks once again for their top ten list of Chicano Films to include in Mexican American Studies Courses or to have in stock for Hispanic Heritage Month. This will also become part of the MAS Texas Took Kit we are developing for teachers, which will also include lesson plans.
So, I'll start the list with:
This is the top ten list so far . . . and then some . . .
(We have forsaken grammar for speed. We want the list first.)
UPDATE: (Friday, June 6, 2014) Thanks for your responses!! Based on your suggestions, I've created a top ten list of Chicano Movies to accompany my Mexican American Literature course, which is college level and can also be a dual credit course for high school. As such, there has to be some kind of link to a book. Regarding lesson plans, I'll post my syllabus for the college level version, and then I'll also post lesson plan info for some of the individual films, for a college or high school setting. This can also be used in our Librotraficante Under Ground Library workshops.
I'm also listing some of the great issues to debate that have come up. And I'll keep tweaking and finessing this.
1. Zoot Suite by Luis Valdez.
2. A Class Apart.
3. The Longoria Affair by Jeff Valadez.
4. And the earth did not swallow him (1994).
5. Luis Valdez's 1969 short "I am Joaquin" (Yo Soy Joaquin)
6. Bless Me, Ultima.
7. Chicano!
8. Real Women Have Curves (2002)
9. Walk Out
10. Cesar Chavez
And yes, I'll have to do some explaning, but first let's discuss number 11 and beyond:
11. Blood in Blood Out: Bound by Honor
More films . . .
Stand and Deliver
The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez
The Milagro Beanfield War
La Bamba
MY FAMILY,
As Long as I Remember: American Veteranos
Salt of the Earth (1954)
The Chicano Movement series by pbs.
American Me
Quinceanera
Mi Vida Loca
Mosquita y Mari
The Sixth Section (Alex Rivera, 2003)
Precious Knowledge (Ari Palos, 2011)
The Rain God and Migrant Souls by the late Arturo Islas
SELENA
LIKE WATER FOR CHOCOLATE
El Norte
El Mariachi
Fear and Learning at Hoover Elementary
Hable con Ella
The Lemon Grove Incident
"Also not a #chocanofilm but "American Family" on #pbs was important"
La Mission
@yayayarndiva: @Librotraficante How about "Day without a Mexican?"
@MarissaRodz: .@Librotraficante "Mi Vida Loca" & "American Me". Also not a #chocanofilm but "American Family" on #pbs was important
#ChicanoFilms “@anneperez: @Librotraficante The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit. Machete.” @officialDannyT @MacheteKills
Anamaría Flores "bread and roses"
Daniel Garcia Ordaz Dare I say . . . ?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114887/?ref_=ttpl_pl_tt
MJ Robledo La misma luna, A Better Life, The Other Side of Immigration, Canela,
Daniel Garcia Ordaz http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039668/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2
Jose Garcia Sleep Dealer. http://youtu.be/CCZJ5mSF3Wc
Gabriel Itzcoatl Luera Casa De mi padre
Daniel Garcia Ordaz ALTAR: Cruzando Fronteras/Building Bridges.
Barbara Renaud Gonzalez Roosters
Daniel Garcia Ordaz http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/chavezravine/cr.html
Samantha Rae López Amor Chicano es Para Siempre
Kathleen Alcala Border Radio, Solamente Una Vez. At least one movie from the 40s that features an actor like Rita Hayward or John Gilbert.
Samuel Ornelas The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, Narco Cultura, Colors, Voces Inocentes, El Infierno, Traffic, The other side of immigration, G-Dog.
Nathalie Paravicini The most striking movie I have seen that tells the story of immigrants is La Ciudad. Four vignettes on the undocumented immigrant reality, acted by actual migrants and a handful of professionals. I remember it was released with a curriculum and discussion points. I just saw the DVD was released in 2005.
Carlos A. Martinez Havest of Empire
gmerchant
?@lgmerchant A Crushing Love: Sylvia Morales. Excellent film on Chicana activists!
Kathleen Alcala Footage of the Mexican Revolution by Sergei Eisenstein.
Viva Samuel Ramirez Interesting
mentions of movies here.. But I see lots of immigrant-centric films
(which could be , but aren't necessarily Chicano films) ... And then
there's the off-the-rack cultural garbage like Blood in blood out or mi
vida loca.
I'll
submit ZOOT SUIT, Selena , la Bamba , and Elysium. The first three for
obvious reasons . And Elysium because it was the most widely viewed
Chicano film of its year.
Daniel Garcia Ordaz I love that in the Oscar-winning film, Crash, the Chicano is the only one who is NOT racist!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0375679/
Does Sin Nombre count?
"Grapes of wrath"....i know, i know, but still.
Timoteo ?
I wud say 'mi vida Loca' y 'American Me'but those just kind of feed in2 the typical Chicano stereotype.Go outside the box.
Do we include: Born in East L.A.?
Nacho Libre?
What is your top ten list?
I'll post an update in time for our radio show next Tuesday, June 10, 2014, and we'll talk about on the air. www.nuestrapalabra.org
Regards,
Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante
Tune into Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say
Tuesdays 6p-7p 90.1 FM KPFT
Houston, TX
www.kpft.org
This is a shortened link to this blog post for your multimedia convenience:
http://bit.ly/1p3O7aG
