A Xicana Maestra on Politics, Education, y mas
By Irene SanchezXicana Ph.D. When I began teaching Latino studies, I wasn’t surprised when I picked up a U.S. history textbook to see how many times Latinos were mentioned in the book. That school year, the U.S. history books were brand new in our district and as I combed through it to see if there … Continue reading New Report Shows Latino History is Left Out of U.S. History Textbooks
By Irene Sanchez During the East LA walkouts that took place in early March 1968, thousands of students from five East LA high schools demanded classes that focused on their culture, Latino teachers and administrators, use of the restroom during lunch and other demands they presented to the Los Angeles Unified School District’s school board. … Continue reading The Struggle to Learn Our Histories in U.S. Schools 55 years after the East LA Walkouts
By Xicana Ph.D. Irene Sanchez If our schools are not safe, where are the places we can walk with safety? Our schools are not safe. At least that is what my students told me one morning when they were asked to take a survey. One student said a survey question out loud, “Do you feel … Continue reading C/S: With Safety
By Irene M. Sanchez Xicana Ph.D. What’s really sad. Representation is important. I see that as a Chicano/Latino Studies teacher everyday. Representation is important, but it is not enough if all our idea of representation does is reinforce tired stereotypes that mock the most powerless within a certain culture/community. I get satire and its importance … Continue reading What’s Really Sad
By Irene Sanchez Today marks the 75th anniversary of the ruling that desegregated schools in the state of California. While Mendez is talked about a little more now than when I was a younger person, it is not talked about enough. The Mendez case was the precursor to the landmark supreme court case of Brown … Continue reading 75 Years After the Mendez Case: Our Children Still Need Us to Fight for Equal Education
Refusing to DisappearBy Irene SanchezXicana Ph.D. How many of us have heard these sayings in the U.S.? “America is a melting pot…” “The national fabric is a diverse tapestry...”“America is united as one…”People who offer assimilationist snippets of what they believe "America" is fail to say that the dominant Euro American group often demands that “others” … Continue reading Refusing to Disappear
When my father told me about the events on August 29th, 1970, it was one of the few times I have seen my father cry. I was in middle school when he began to tell stories about growing up in East LA. I know it had something to do with the release of the PBS … Continue reading Through My Father’s Tears: Remembering the Chicano Moratorium and My First Lessons in Chicano History
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 Dirt-Jeanine Cummins, has reminded me about the injustices that Chicano/Latino communities still face in … Continue reading The Real American Dirt: How Targeting Mexicans Led to Banned Chicano/Latino Books and Classes
Xicana Ph.D. 