César E. Chávez Art and Essay Contest

This month young readers in PUSD will learn about the Chávez family and their journey from Arizona store owners to migrant farmworkers in California. They can learn about how he and Dolores Huerta eventually became co-founders of the United Farm Workers and their success as organizers, in the field and at boycotts.

Students in Middle and High School will learn about his work and will be asked to reflect on how Cesar might have responded to the Dream Act. They will be asked to include how the Dream Act ties in to Chavez's goals and legacy.

All of this is being shared via a packet that was put together by the PUSD Language and Development Department. Latino Heritage helped to set guidelines and questions and will be coordinating the judging of the district wide art and essay contest.

Our children will get a chance to learn about a person whose life, in some ways, was not that different from their own. There are challenging that we all face and times when we deal with bias. How others have responded to bias is a lesson worth learning. How we respond can be learned from that lesson.

Guadalupanas at Our Lady of Guadalupe Mission Church

This Friday, March 4th, our exhibit "Latinas at Work and Play: Pasadena Stories" will be ready for viewing. This exhibit will share the changing roles of Latinas in Pasadena in the 1940s through the 1960s.

We'll have photos, textiles, and personal items that will reflect the range of experiences of the three generations pictured here.

Las Guadalupanas, those devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe and pictured here, performed the work necessary for the upkeep of the church and kept sense of order, structure, and tradition in the community.

The prayers, remedios, and even the language spoken by the eldest kept families connected with their heritage. Their daughters were a bridge generation, sometimes with a foot in the country of the parents birth and sometimes solidly in the land of their birth.

A special thanks to Ed and Rita Almanza, generous and marvelous photographers as well as Liz Espinoza for putting together the exhibit. The exhibit will up through March 31st.

Orfeu Negro

March is going to be a very busy month for Latino Heritage. Two events will be taking place this week.

There will be an exhibit that will be opening mid-week at the Pasadena Central Library. "Latinas at Work and Play: Pasadena Stories" will focus on experiences of Latinas during the 40s and 50s. We'll share images once the exhibit is in place.

On Friday we are partnering with the Pasadean Senior Center and their screening of Orfeu Negro, Black Orpheus in English, won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1960. It is a retelling of the tragedy of Orpheus and Euridice set in favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at Carnaval. The weaving of the Greek myth, African roots, and Latino culture produce a film that is haunting. Close captioning will be provided for those of us who are not fluent in Portuguese.

It will be shown at the Pasadena Senior Center Friday, March 4th. Reservations are not neceassary. Candy, popcorn, and bottled water will be on sale for $1 each.

http://www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org/

A Telling of the Story of the Americas After Columbus

Thanks to Council member Jacque Robinson for coming to the screening. Kathie, Gerda, and she had a great time last night at KPCC.
The video was thought provoking and the conversation between Ruben and Adolfo was stimulating. Lots of ideas were shared in the documentary and concepts were explored in their conversation. They are both interested in doing something more with us in the future.

Thanks to Cherry Blossom Festival, NAACP (Altadena, Pasadena), and YWCA Racial Justice Committee for helping to spread the word. The auditorium was standing room only.
Next up: Photo and ephemera exhibit in the Pasadena Central Library. (3/1 - 4/1)

Partners in work and in history

Cherry Blossom Festival Southern California is one of the organizations with which we regularly partner. If it were possible for groups to be friends, they would be one of Latino Heritage's Best Org Friends. We have been doing things together supporting each other's missions for close to a decade.

Executive Director Wendy Fujihara Anderson has helped us with the jamaica. She is a gifted producer, who is talented in many ways, and has used her skills to help us with everything from exhibitors to press releases. We have helped as we can, and been happy for doing so.

We have valued the similarities of the Latino and Japanes American experience. Folks of my generation who self identified as Chicano/Mexican American have often experienced being neither here nor there; our identities are often set by being a part of the United States and a part of our Mother Country. Individuals and segments of our community sometimes have to think hard about what that means to each of us on a day to day basis. Mestizo, hapa, mulatto - all ways of defining where we come from and who has helped us define who we are.

Adolfo Guzmán-López shares similar thoughts in the link below.

http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/commentary/movie-miento/mix.html

In the Crawford Family Forum

Lucky us.

KPCC/SPCR's mission is to "strengthen the civic and cultural bonds that unite Southern California's diverse communities. So they host events that engage an audience as part of programming through community engagement and building cultural awareness".

So when we approached them about a screening of "When Worlds Collide", co-written and narrated by Rubén Martínez, they were not only open to the idea - they were most enthusiastic.

The documentary is focused on the latino experience but many of the topics covered in the documentary are issues that folks from any heritage can relate to with some ease.

Because of this groups like the Cherry Blossom Festival, NAACP and YWCA join us as outreach partners. As Cherry Blossom's Wendy Fujihara Anderson shares "When you step back you that our cultures may be different, but historically we've dealt with many of the same issues.

Again- lucky us.

KPCC reporter Adolfo Guzmán-López will join Rubén Martínez in a conversation after the screening. I don't know what tack they may take with the conversation but do know that it will be insightful and that it will contain ideas that will have audience members thinking about identity in ways that may be new and exciting.

Latino Heritage is proud to be one of the hosts of this event.

Lucky us.

Friday, January 21st, 2011 - When Worlds Collide screening

On January 21, come watch your Friday night film – admission-fee free, with complimentary munchies and water besides – at The Crawford Family Forum. The Crawford Family Forum is located at 474 South Raymond Avenue,
Pasadena, CA 91105

Latino Heritage, in partnership with Cherry Blossom Festival, the NAACP Pasadena and Altadena Branches, and the YWCA Pasadena-Foothills Valley, and 89.3 KPCC’s Crawford Family Forum presents a screening of When Worlds Collide: The Untold Story of the Americas After Columbus.

When Worlds Collide is a vivid exploration of the first century after the “Old World” encountered the “New World”. Beginning on the streets of Los Angeles in 2010, this 90-minute documentary travels back to Spain and Latin America in the 16th century, when contact between Spanish conquistadors and native peoples first occurred.

The most important consequence of that era – the development of an entirely new "mestizo" or mixed culture, which is a significant part of the heritage of 30+ million Latinos in the U.S. today – was a radical change experienced by both worlds. When Worlds Collide presents an extraordinary and unexpected account of the foundation of modern Latino culture.

6:30pm – Doors Open
7:00pm – Film Screening
8:30pm – Q&A

A post-reading Q&A will be moderated by KPCC’s Adolfo Guzmán-López and will feature Rubén Martínez, co-writer and narrator of When Worlds Collide.

Admission is FREE, but RSVPs are required.

Reservations will begin on Friday, January 7th.

Call Phone: 626.583.5215 or click on the following link to secure your seat(s):

http://www.scpr.org/events/2011/01/21/when-worlds-collide/

You are more than welcome to forward this message to family, friends, and/or colleagues who may be interested in joining us for this screening and discussion.