Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social

Chair Keta Miranda writes:

As MALCS defended immigrant rights, ethnic studies and domestic partners benefits in Arizona by cancelling our 2010 Institute in league with thousands of voices for justice, at the same time we committed our organization to support the incredible efforts of our Arizona colleagues. They have continued to focus on human rights and re-tooled their work to hold a MALCS Arizona State Conference illustrating the basic ideals of MALCS of bridging letras and cambio social.

Info for the State Conference that will be held from July 22 ­ 24, 2010 in Phoenix, Az is at their website (http://malcs.newcollege.asu.edu/) provides details of the agenda and workshops.

To enhance support to our Arizona compañeras, the conference will be on webcast! Additionally, the technology will allow for questions from a national audience to the presenters through real time on email. The Court hearing on the legality of SB 1070 underscores the urgency of the moment. The technological platform provides MALCS with the connections to mobilize support.

Stephanie Mendez adds:
the link for the Arizona MALCS Institute webcast page for national participants to join in the panel sessions. The website is http://live.asu.edu/2010/07/new-college-of-interdisciplinary-arts-sciences/.

“Digging Up (More) Dirt” A Writing Workshop — All Genres. All welcome.

Saturday, June 26

Breath of Fire Theater. Santa Ana, CA

This is a rare Southern California opportunity where the Bay Area poet, author and playwright, Cherríe Moraga, assisted by Adelina Anthony, to create an environment of intimate and authentic exploration of the writer’s craft and creative impulse. Writing exercises will involve a variety of writing approaches that can be applied to creative non-fiction and fiction, playwriting (especially character work), writing for performance, and poetry.

Some themes to be explored include: · The Beginner Mind. · The Mundane as Metaphor. · The (W)rite to Remember. · The Body of Desire.

Students registering for the full day’s workshop will have the opportunity to discuss with Moraga and Anthony personal and professional questions regarding developing and maintaining a writing practice, making one’s work public and more. Limited Space.

Full Day Intensive: 10am to 5pm Cost: $150.00*

Morning Workshop: 10am to 1pm Cost: $75.00*

* This workshop is being offered to help support the production of “Digging Up the Dirt,” a new play by Cherríe Moraga, produced by Breath of Fire Theater and See-what Productions.

For more information and for registration forms for the workshop, email: info@beathoffire.org; also visit: www.cherriemoraga.com

Dear MALCSistas,

The past few weeks have been critical moments for our organization. With this letter I am hoping to provide you with both an idea of how we came to develop each of our statements and final position —to honor the targeted boycott by cancelling our national institute and to support our Arizona colleagues by holding a MALCS Arizona State Conference. Hopefully, by examining the two positions we can draw out what we need to do in the following months. By honoring the boycott, we recognize that any decision requires us to understand its impact and to find ways of putting into operation new forms of organizing and mobilizing, of finding ways of materially expressing solidarity. (more…)

An ad-hoc working group comprised of representatives from over a dozen leading professional and academic associations has issued a joint statement condemning Arizona’s immigration law (SB 1070) and related state policies such as the prohibition against Ethnic Studies programs (HB 2281), calling for these laws to be rescinded. The “Consortium of Professional and Academic Associations” believes that these laws are inherently unjust, and that their application threatens to inflame anti-immigrant sentiments and undermine constructive solutions to the challenges faced by communities in Arizona and across the nation. We call upon the governor, legislators, and people of Arizona to work diligently and swiftly to repeal these laws. (more…)

Chicana/Latina Studies: The Journal of Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social will still hold Writing Workshops in July 2010 via web-conferencing.

To maintain the journal’s momentum and it’s vital status as the only interdisciplinary Chicano or Latino studies journal of a professional organization, the editors have decided to hold the Writing Workshops in virtual space or via telephone conferencing.

We encourage applications from writers at all professional levels, including tenured or mid-career professors. Facilitators are mid-career scholars with robust publication records and nearly a decade in editorial work.

Two Writing Workshops are offered this summer:
1) Creative Writing, a workshop facilitated by Dr. Tiffany Ana Lopez, editor of creative writing
and
2) Scholarly Article, a workshop by facilitator Dr. Karen Mary Davalos, former editor of Chicana/Latina Studies. Lead Editor, Josie Méndez-Negrete will join the virtual discuss during the second session. (more…)

Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social (MALCS) condemns Arizona’s SB 1070, “Immigration; law enforcement; safe neighborhoods,” signed into law by Governor Jan Brewer on April 23, 2010. We join with the many academic, research, and activist organizations that have called for a targeted boycott of Arizona as a protest to this repressive and unconstitutional piece of legislation.

For the first time in its 24-year history, the MALCS Summer Institute was to be held in Arizona. It was scheduled for July 21-24 and organized by Arizona State University. After deliberating about the implications of the law with our members and receiving an appropriate response from them, we have decided the following.

MALCS joins the targeted boycott of Arizona and will not hold the 2010 MALCS Summer Institute as planned.

Instead, conference planners at ASU will proceed with a statewide conference to address the significant issues of human, women’s, LGBT rights violations, repression, and harassment facing Chicana, Latina, and Native people in Arizona.

The national organization will seek an alternative date and site for its next institute.

The national organization encourages all to take concrete action in support of the activists, academics, and artists in Arizona resisting SB 1070 and work to prevent similar legislation in other states. (more…)

Asserting our presence and our voice as a form of protest, Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social—an organization of Chicana/Latina scholars, professionals and activists from across the nation—will hold its 2010 Summer Institute in Phoenix, Arizona. We take this stance in opposition to the hate-filled law that targets our collective community. This law is a direct attack on our quality of life and the safety of our communities.

On April 23, 2010, Governor Jan Brewer signed SB 1070 into law, making Arizona the first state in the nation to consider undocumented immigrants as criminals. Under the guise of “reasonable suspicion” state workers have the authority to police individuals “suspected” of being undocumented, as well as to verify status. This all-encompassing law mandates that state government agencies and employees “police” any person that law enforcement officers “believe” to be here without documents. Additionally, it authorizes to arrest, “without warrant.” Moreover, SB 1070 opens up the floodgates for capricious lawsuits against police departments by those who believe legal authorities are neglecting to enforce the law.

Mujeres Activas en Letras y Cambio Social protests the inhumane treatment of the un-documented. Additionally, we protest SB 1070 as a back door maneuver that erodes basic democratic principles that protect us from becoming a police state.

What:  MALCS 2010 Summer Institute
Where:  Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ
When: July 21-24
Theme: “Derechos Humanos: (Re)Claiming Our Dreams
Across Contested Terrains.”

My name is Katharine Caldwell, a PhD student in Clinical Psychology.  I am currently recruiting participants for a qualitative interview study on the transition to fatherhood, it is a cross-cultural study.

I am specifically looking for Mexican American fathers and would greatly appreciate learning about any resources for meeting new dads.   Please pass on the attached recruitment flyer if you know anyone who might meet the criteria.  I can also send printed copies if you provide an address.

Participants: Mexican-American first time fathers that meet the following requirements -

• first time father
• 25 – 40 years of age
• child is under 7 months old
• married and heterosexual
• Have attended some college courses or have an undergraduate degree
• describe ethnicity as Mexican American

Participation will involve one, confidential interview, about 1 hour in length.  Thank you for participation = $25 Gift Card!
(510) 214-0666 x 717
fatherhood2009@hotmail.com
Thank you for any help with this!
Katharine Caldwell
Clinical Psychology PhD Student, CSPP
415.999.2003

Dr. Eun-Ok Im is conducting an Internet study on the physical activity attitudes among diverse ethnic groups of middle-aged women (40-60 Y/O). Since your organization is mainly aimed at Hispanic communities, we believe that Hispanic women who are in your organization will benefit from participating in this study. Hispanic women’s participation in our study will give us a more complete data sample; furthermore, Hispanic women’s opinions and experiences are very imperative and cannot be neglected because the Hispanic population is expanding very quickly in America. (more…)