Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social

My name is Lourdes Serrano and I am the promoter of MeChicano Films. I am currently in charge of a very interesting and educational project,

A Forgotten Injustice is Vicente Serrano’s opera prima, and the first documentary that uncovers the story of almost two million Mexican Americans and U.S. citizens, who were forced out of the United States during the Great Depression in the 1930s. These people were forced to leave because of one reason: They were of Mexican descent. In order to avoid making the same mistakes in our efforts to find a solution to today’s immigration problem, we have to look back and learn from A Forgotten Injustice.

A Forgotten Injustice is the result of an extensive investigation headed by journalist Vicente Serrano. Serrano traveled across the country and Mexico to capture the experiences of these men and women, many still living in extreme poverty in rural areas in Mexico. Some of the survivors are coming back to the U.S almost 80 years later. “They should apologize for what they have done to us before we die and before the government commits the same mistakes,” exclaimed Emilia Castañeda who was born in Los Angeles and forced to leave the U.S with her family in the 30s.

A Forgotten Injustice includes interviews with historians, politicians and survivors. Among them, Former California State Senator Joseph Dunn, John Coatsworth, Dean, School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, Hilda Solis, US Representative, Raymond Rodriguez, Professor of History, emeritus, Long Beach City College, Francisco Balderrama, co-author of Decade of Betrayal, Ernesto Nava Villa, Son of Pancho Villa, and John Eastman, Dean, Chapman University School of Law.

Sincerely,
Lourdes Serrano
MeChicano Films
lourdesmechicanofilms@gmail.com

Speaking from the Body:  Latinas on Health and Culture
Edited by Angie Chabram-Dernersesian; Adela de la Torre
Forthcoming from University of Arizona press

In compelling first-person accounts, Latinas speak freely about dealing with serious health episodes as patients, family caregivers, or friends. They show how the complex interweaving of gender, class, and race impacts the health status of Latinas—and how family, spirituality, and culture affect the experience of illness.

Here are stories of Latinas living with conditions common to many: hypertension, breast cancer, obesity, diabetes, depression, osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, dementia, Parkinson’s, lupus, and hyper/hypothyroidism. By bringing these narratives out from the shadows of private lives, they demonstrate how such ailments form part of the larger whole of Latina lives that encompasses family, community, the medical profession, and society. They show how personal identity and community intersect to affect the interpretation of illness, compliance with treatment, and the utilization of allopathic medicine, alternative therapies, and traditional healing practices. The book also includes a retrospective analysis of the narratives and a discussion of Latina health issues and policy recommendations.

These Latina cultural narratives illustrate important aspects of the social contexts and real-world family relationships crucial to understanding illness.  Speaking from the Body is a trailblazing collection of personal testimonies that integrates professional and personal perspectives and shows that our understanding of health remains incomplete if Latina cultural narratives are not included.

Speaking from the Body:  Latinas on Health and Culture
Edited by Angie Chabram-Dernersesian; Adela de la Torre
University of Arizona Press / 264 pp. / 6.0 x 9.0 / 2008
Paper (978-0-8165-2664-2) [s]

CALL FOR PAPERS!  Presumed Incompetent:
The Intersections of Race and Class for Women in Academia

Edited by: Grace Chang, Carmen G. González, Mary Romero, Yolanda Flores Niemann,
Angela Harris, and Gabriella Gutiérrez y Muhs

We are soliciting academic papers written by academic women of color examining issues of racism, class bias, tokenism, and sexism. All contributions should explicitly address the question of socio-economic status/social class (both class privilege and class-based obstacles) and its intersections with race and gender. We welcome first person narratives and analytical papers that examine the underlying structural factors that perpetuate bias and exclusion as well as recommendations on how academic institutions might address these issues. Pseudonyms for authors are acceptable.

Submission Guidelines: Deadline for abstracts: August 1, 2008 (more…)

CALL FOR PAPERS

Demeter Press is seeking submissions for an edited collection on
Latina/Chicana Mothering
Publication Date: Fall 2010
Editors: Dorsía Smith Silva and Janine Santiago

We are very excited to edit an interdisciplinary book on mothering in the Latina and Chicana communities.  We seek papers that examine the narratives, histories, practices, and theories of Latina and Chicana mothering as they reflect the realities and complexities of diverse perspectives.  Latina and Chicana mothering is a rich experience, which engenders a sense of identity, multiple viewpoints, and cultural orientations.  Here, the Latina/Chicana mothering experience seeks to provide a site for inquiry of those life histories and legacies, which have been marked by undergoing childbirth, raising children, or becoming mothers, as well as transatlantic mothers.  One of the main goals of this text will be to examine the complex representations of Latina and Chicana mothering and to address the space where Latina and Chicana perspectives are in many cases rendered invisible. (more…)

The Program in American Culture at the University of Michigan invites applications for a non-tenure-track lecturer or visiting faculty to teach one course in Latina/o history. The appointment is for one semester, beginning January 1, 2009. (more…)

Memorias del Silencio: Footprints of the Borderlands –

El objetivo del proyecto era ofrecer talleres de creación literaria a clases de GED (equivalencia de preparatoria) para trabajadores del campo y sus familias, con la idea de mejorar sus técnicas de escritura y de lectura. Este libro contiene historias que hablan del trabajo en los campos de Estados Unidos, y de la condición de los emigrantes en éste país. Fue muy bien recibido por el público, y después de que los fondos proporcionados por la ciudad de El Paso terminaran, BorderSenses y El Paso Community College, Community Education Program decidieron continuar con el proyecto para la publicación del Segundo Volumen de Memorias del Silencio: Footprints of the Borderland en 2006.

The objective of the project was to bring creative writing workshops to GED courses for migrant farm workers and their families, with the idea of improving their writing and written skills. This book contains stories that speak of the work in the fields of the United States, and of the condition of the immigrants in this country. It was very well received by the public, and after the funding ended, BorderSenses and El Paso Community College, Community Education Program decided to continue the project for the publication of the Second Volume of Memorias del Silencio: Footprints of the Borderland on 2006.