By Irene SanchezXicana Ph.D. The first time I heard the song "Not Like Us" by Kendrick Lamar, the lines that stood out to me the most were the ones in the title of this blog post "No, you not a colleague, you a fuckin' colonizer". I heard the song around the time I was going … Continue reading “No, You Not a Colleague, You a … Colonizer”
Tag: latina
New Report Shows Latino History is Left Out of U.S. History Textbooks
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
We Are Not Settling Anymore
By Xicana Ph.D. Irene M. Sanchez We are not settling anymore. Not for crumbs. Not for exposure. Not for the possibility of a future opportunity. Not for your comfort. Not in exchange for our silence. No more. We are not settling. We are getting what we are fairly owed. Compensation for our time and labor … Continue reading We Are Not Settling Anymore
Memory as an Act of Defiance: Latinx Pride All Year Long
“Identity is our way of reminding ourselves that we are beautiful in a society that doesn’t validate us or often makes us feel as if we don’t belong.” By Irene Sanchez Note: A previous version of this article was originally published on Sept. 19, 2016 and republished on Sept. 27, 2017. While in grad school … Continue reading Memory as an Act of Defiance: Latinx Pride All Year Long
Learning Loss for Generations: Segregated Mexican Schools and the 1918 Flu Pandemic
“With so many Mexicans in the grammar schools this would greatly interfere with class work, as the excluded students, who are always the slowest in the classes, would fall still farther behind, making the present task of completing a year’s work before next summer nearly impossible”. This denial of education for Mexican students during the 1918 flu pandemic, which was the same “logic” that established separate Mexican schools, was rooted in white supremacy and racism in the ideas that Mexican students were dirty, unclean, inferior in intelligence, and likely wouldn’t catch up with school work anyway.
75 Years After the Mendez Case: Our Children Still Need Us to Fight for Equal Education
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
Most New Teachers Leave Within 5 Years
This is my 5th year of teaching high school. Although I’ve also taught and currently teach college, teaching high school students students and teaching the subject I teach has been one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life, but at the same time this path has been extremely difficult due to the often hostile … Continue reading Most New Teachers Leave Within 5 Years
“Why Not Us?” Leslie Altamirano Candidate for District 4 Jurupa Valley City Council
“Why Not Us?” By Irene Sanchez Xicana Ph.D. Leslie Altamirano Candidate for District 4 Jurupa Valley City Council Leslie Altamirano is 36 years old and running for Jurupa Valley City Council to represent District 4 which includes a long neglected area of the city (where the author went to high school): Rubidoux, CA. If you … Continue reading “Why Not Us?” Leslie Altamirano Candidate for District 4 Jurupa Valley City Council






