What's going on…

The Xicana/o Graduate Council evolved out of the Mexican American Studies Graduate Associated Students.  Created in the fall of 2009, the graduate group meets regularly to foster community within the department and among alumni.  This first newsletter explains more of their mission and purpose, and highlights the experience of those students who attended the 37th Annual National Association for Chicana and Chicano Studies Conference in Seattle, Washington in April.  It includes articles by Ana Angel y Juan Pablo Mercado, Victor Vasquez, Berta Jimenez, Ricardo Agredano, Juan Pablo Mercado, Robert Unzueta, and Elisa Ocegueda.

Read the newsletter here (pdf)

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Resource Center (LGBTRC), Fall 2010

Position Available:

Graduate Assistantship in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Resource Center.

Responsibilities

* Serve on University-wide community specific committees as needed

* Work on special projects as assigned; possible projects could be (but not limited to):

• Safe Zone Training
• Peer-Mentor Program
• Speaker/Performance Series
• National Coming Out Week
• LGBT History Celebration
• PRIDE Celebration
• Speakers Bureau* Attend weekly staff meetings

* Assist in the staffing of the office during business hours [Read more →]

We are happy to announce that our very own Women’s Studies professor, Victoria Rue,  is directing the Pulitzer prize winning play [07'] , Rabbit Hole, at the Santa Cruz Actors’  Theatre.   Details follow….

Santa Cruz Actors’ Theatre, the longest running theater in Santa Cruz, is proud to announce it’s play to close our twenty-fifth season. Actors’ Theatre will bring to life David Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer Prize winning drama “Rabbit Hole,” running May 14 to June 6, 2010, at the Santa Cruz Actor’s Theatre, 1001 Center Street, Santa Cruz, CA.

Lindsay-Abaire’s play, which garnered five Tony nominations and won the Pulitzer for drama in 2007, tells the story of Becca and Howie, a married couple whose 4-year-old son, Danny, was killed by a car eight months earlier. Struggling to cope and unable to reconcile their different ways of grieving, their relationship has begun to unravel: Becca is trying to forget the pain, Howie is holding onto his fading memories, and other family members are complicating the situation. Hope is reignited when Jason, the teenage boy driving the car that killed Danny, comes into their lives. Despite its heavy subject matter, Lindsay-Abaire’s play is a balance of comedic moments with serious themes.

The production is directed by theatre titan Victoria Rue. Dr. Rue’s work as a theatre director and playwright has been seen in Los Angeles at the Mark Taper Forum, San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theatre and New York’s Shakespeare Festival, among other theaters.

“This is a play about compassion,” said Victoria Rue. “Grief and rage and love rise up. We also laugh. We recognize this as our human condition.”

A quietly moving play, the story explores the reconnection of relationships and the possibilities of hope after tragedy. Rabbit Hole, is a beautifully observed and heartfelt look into the grief and healing one family experiences dealing with a death in the family. Meticulously mapped, Lindsay-Abaire never indulges with sentiment.

“Lindsay-Abaire’s story is about how grief is often held so tightly to the chest that it is difficult for our arms to embrace the present.” said Victoria Rue.

“Rabbit Hole” is Lindsay-Abaire’s first naturalistic work, a departure from his trademark style of dark comedy seen in previous plays such as “Fuddy Meers” and “Kimberly Akimbo.” Despite the differences, Lindsay-Abaire said all his plays deal with the same underlying dilemma: “… it’s about characters finding themselves in an upside-down world and trying to find clarity in a world that doesn’t make any sense.”

The cast includes Kristin Brownstone as Becca; Steven Capasso as Howie; Nan Dejarlais as Becca’s mother, Nat; MarNae Taylor as Becca’s sister, Izzy; and Taylor Closs as Jason.

Dates for “Rabbit Hole” are: Friday, May. 14 (Opening), and closing Sunday, June 6.

Performances are Friday through Saturday at 8PM and Sundays at 3PM.

All performances at Actors’ Theatre, 1001 Center St., Santa Cruz

Tickets are $16 general; $13 students/seniors. Buy tickets at the theatre box office one hour before show times.

To make a reservation, call 831.425.PLAY (831.425.7529). You can also purchase tickets at www.brownpapertickets.com or Visit Actors’ Theatre website at www.santacruzactorstheatre.org

http://www.santacruzactorstheatre.org/

Writing Contest for Women’s Studies Students

 Is there a woman in your life whose made a difference for a reason, a season, a lifetime? If so, enter this writing contest and share with others your story.

If you are enrolled in a Women’s Study program at any accredited college or university in the United States, you are eligible to enter The Godmothers Writing Contest:  Here are the rules:

• Write and submit a 300-500 word story on a woman in your life who made a difference in your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.
• Deadline: June 1, 2010
• Three winners will be chosen from the entries and announced on or before September 1, 2010.  In addition to being published by The Godmothers Club, winners will receive:
  • 1^st Prize: $250 — $125 Donated to a Charity of Your Choice and a $125 American Express Gift Certificate for you
  • 2^nd Prize: $100 — $50 Donated to a Charity of Your Choice and a $50 American Express Gift Certificate for you
  • 3^rd Prize: $50 — $25 Donated to a Charity of Your Choice and a $25 American Express Gift Certificate for you
• Three honorable mentions will also be published
• Each winner and honorable mention will receive a Certificate of Honor
• Entries and winners will be judged and selected by Editor
• Winners will be contacted via email
• One entry per person
• Story and entry information must be emailed to me through Facebook
• Contest void where prohibited by law
• Provide the following information along with your story:
  • Name
  • Age
  • City and State of home residence
  • Email Address
  • College/University

http://www.thegodmothersclub.com/godmother-notes/2010/04/writing-contest-for-womens-studies-students.html

Angela Davis Comes to SJSU

Wednesday, April 21, 2010
6:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Morris Dailey Auditorium

$15 general admission
$5 for students

SJSU students:
Present your SJSU ID and visit any of these locations to receive a $3 coupon

Cesar Chavez Community Action Center
Building BB, #105
One Washington Sq.
San Jose, CA 95192-0265
(408) 924-4144
Email: cccac@as.sjsu.edu

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center (LGBT)
Building BB, Room 101B
One Washington Square
San Jose, CA 95192-0161
(408) 924-6157
sjsulgbtrc@gmail.com

MOSAIC Cross Cultural Center
Student Union, 3rd floor
One Washington Square
San Jose, CA 95192-0238
(408) 924-6255
mosaic@sjsu.edu

I’d like to share here an interview and discussion that the Social Science 195 Spring class did with Dr. Angela Valenzuela, Professor of Education and Director of the Texas Center for Educational Policy at the University of Texas, Austin.

Dr. Valenzuela spoke with us about the concept of “subtractive schooling,” a critique that traditional schooling divests Mexican and Mexican-American youth of “important social and cultural resources, leaving them progressively vulnerable to academic failure.”  She goes on to discuss several new projects, including the National Latino Education Research & Policy Project (NELRAP) that seek to address these kinds of consistent inequalities in American education.

Click here to see the interview on the SJSU server (or click image)

Some excerpts:

On Mexican identity: “We have been traumatized in this society, and we continue to be traumatized, harmed, because of the languages we speak, the identities that we hold….virulent campaigns that don’t ever seem to stop, against Mexican immigrants, and Mexicans in general, by association….”

“Where is that common discourse, within the mass of silent people, where is that discourse that is really trying to reach out for fairness within this system?”

Demographics: “What people need to know and understand, lead on, is that the way that Texas looks now demographically is the way the whole nation will look in 2050.”

The next step: “A systems approach, a systems analysis. We have many piecemeal programs…we have the intellectual knowhow. We really don’t need another study that shows us bilingual education works if it’s well-funded, well-trained, well-staffed. Now it’s about leadership, critical, respectful partnerships…. We need to work together to change systems….”

See the interview here

Are you man enough to walk a mile in her shoes?
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
4:00pm – 7:00pm
Plaza de Cesar Chavez, Downtown San Jose

See young men walk a mile in heels to raise awareness about Sexual Assault!  The YWCA of Silicon Valley hosts this unique event during Sexual Assault Awareness Month to call attention to these statistics:  one-in-three women and one-in-five men, regardless of socio-economic status, will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime.

This event is a light-hearted approach to a very serious subject and is also a fundraiser for our local YWCA’s  local rape crisis center. Donations are not required to walk, but every little bit helps.

Registration for the event begins at 4PM. The walk will start at 5:00. Shoes WILL be provided, but show up early. The walk route parades through downtown San Jose, culminating at the California Theatre on First Street. There will be a reception to follow.

Also, don’t forget, AfricanAmerican scholar/activist Angela Davis will be speaking the same evening at Morris Daily Auditorium!

If that’s not enough to pique your interest, here’s a few more facts why you should walk, and ladies don’t worry. Only the guys need to wear heels. ;) [Read more →]

March 24 – Liz Burke,  “Classism: How it Effects Our Lives at MOSAIC: Cross Cultural Center  at 5 p.m.

April 7 – Andrew House,White Privilege:  Identifying & Understanding at MOSAIC: Cross Cultural Center.

This article from the Racewire blog draws attention both to First Lady Michelle Obama’s campaign to reform the American diet.  She does this both by modeling the importance of eating fresh fruits and vegetables and using organic gardening methods, but also advocates structural change by working with America’s food manufacturers to reduce fat and sodium content in their food.  Go Michelle!

As Michelle Obama turns up the heat on food manufacturers, PolicyLink and The Food Trust have released a report that maps America’s “food deserts” and looks at their lasting effects in rural areas and low-income communities of color.

The report culls research from more than 100 previous studies to bring together the best data available on food access. The findings won’t shock anyone living in one of America’s many food deserts, but they prove Obama’s childhood obesity campaign can’t stop with telling parents to feed their kids better:

• 23.5 million Americans lived over a mile away from the nearest supermarket in 2009;
• African Americans were nearly four times as likely to live a food desert as whites;
• 80 percent of nonwhite residents in Albany, N.Y., can’t find low-fat milk or high-fiber bread sold in their neighborhoods;
• More than 70 percent of families eligible for food stamps in Mississippi travel at least 30 miles to reach a supermarket.

Racewire blog article continues here

Report from PolicyLink & The Food Trust here

Tune in to hear bell hooks interviewed on 99.5 FM WBAI Pacifica Radio Thursday, March 18 at 12 noon to 1pm EST. She’ll be promoting her newest book, Teaching Critical Thinking (Routledge, 2010).  WBAI is New York’s Pacifica radio station, accessible online.