Category: Politics

Honoring Cesar Chavez Day During a Pandemic: Why “America” Needs to Learn About the Exploitative Conditions Farm Workers Still Face

I want to ensure that my students understand what Cesar Chavez did and how his legacy can inspire us right now because there is still much more that needs to be done to improve the lives of the people that grow our food and feed this country.  

The Real American Dirt: How Targeting Mexicans Led to Banned Chicano/Latino Books and Classes

The Real American Dirt: How Targeting Mexicans Led to Banned Chicano/Latino Books and Classes By Irene Sanchez Xicana Ph.D. The most recent discussion on NPR surrounding the novel American Dirt featuring Myriam Gurba- the Chicana author who was the first to critique the book, author Luis Alberto Urrea, author Sandra Cisneros and author of American … Continue reading The Real American Dirt: How Targeting Mexicans Led to Banned Chicano/Latino Books and Classes →

25 years after Prop 187: I was a middle schooler who walked out in protest of Prop 187, now I’m a high school teacher because of it.

"I was a middle school student who walked out in protest of CA Proposition 187, Looking back 25 years later I know I'm a high school Chicano/Latino Studies teacher because of it". By Irene Sanchez Irene Sanchez, Ph.D. is a high school teacher, writer, and poet. She is the author of the blog Xicana Ph.D. … Continue reading 25 years after Prop 187: I was a middle schooler who walked out in protest of Prop 187, now I’m a high school teacher because of it. →

You Can’t Call it What it is if You Don’t Know History: Anti-Mexican Violence in the Southwest

You Can’t Call it What it is if You Don’t Know History: Anti-Mexican Violence in the Southwest By Irene Sanchez There was a massacre yesterday in El Paso, Texas. There was a shooting motivated by hate in Gilroy, California last week.  They were both motivated by Anti-Mexican sentiment which has been present in the U.S. … Continue reading You Can’t Call it What it is if You Don’t Know History: Anti-Mexican Violence in the Southwest →

Stop reinforcing the status quo inside or outside academia

Stop reinforcing the status quo inside or outside academia By Xicana Ph.D. The ivory tower as a whole doesn’t uplift anything, but those who reinforce it. It reinforces existing power. The status quo. A lot of folks within it do too. A lot of people who preach social justice do it every single day. Let’s … Continue reading Stop reinforcing the status quo inside or outside academia →

Exceptionalism Can Never Be Radical: On use of sCHOLAr, and other things people think is ok.

Exceptionalism Can Never Be Radical: On use of sCHOLAr, and other things people think is ok. By Irene Sanchez (Xicana Ph.D.) Resistance is more than our existence. It is the constant challenging of the idea that somehow we got to where we are because we are the good ones, the ones who followed the rules, … Continue reading Exceptionalism Can Never Be Radical: On use of sCHOLAr, and other things people think is ok. →