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 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
The same year my son began kindergarten was the same year I started teaching high school. After completing a Ph.D. in Education in 2015, instead of working in higher education as I anticipated, I was called to teach Ethnic Studies in high school classrooms to be in schools that sometimes feel like the “Mexican Schools” I teach about from the 1940s. As Teaching Tolerance has documented in these Mexican Schools, “Many Anglo educators did not expect, or encourage, Chicano students to advance beyond the eighth grade. Instead, the curriculum at the Mexican schools was designed, as one district superintendent put it, “to help these children take their place in society.”
"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.
When Ethnic Studies is Under Attack... By Irene Sanchez Xicana Ph.D. When Ethnic Studies is under attack, you remember we've been here many times before. You carry the lessons of the past to act with the wisdom that has been passed down. This is not the time to turn away from our elders or dismiss … Continue reading When Ethnic Studies is Under Attack…
You the Educators... By Irene Sanchez After Corky Gonzales You the Xicana/o/x educators... We have the responsibility of educating our young people and setting an example not just to them, but to each other, our families, and our communities. We need to know and realize that the young people are always watching. That begins at … Continue reading You the Educators…
Why we still need Chicanx/Latinx Studies By Irene Sanchez A student last year in my Latinx Studies class wrote, "If I am not myself, who will I be?" I asked myself when I read it: Who would I be? Would I be bowed head, eyes lowered, and ashamed? Would I be neither here nor there? … Continue reading Why We Still Need Chicano/Latino Studies
How We Survive By Xicana Ph.D. I am here. This is a meditation and prayer. This was the first sentence of my dissertation. It is an affirmation that as long as I am still breathing there is work to be done. This is how I not only "made it" through my Ph.D., but how I … Continue reading How We Survive
