Delci's Journey with Cesar Chavez

Coming Together to Remember
As a part of the Social Justice Advocates program, Eduardo Delci spoke about his "Journey with Cesar Chavez" this afternoon in the Cesar Chavez building, a great topic considering the recent issue in Texas education.

Growing up in a small farming community in Chandler, Arizona, Delci graduated from college, joined the Peace Corps in Ecuador, before returning to the U.S to work for what is now Americorp in New Mexico. His goal there was to work with farm workers to alleviate poverty by strengthening economic base through implementing community credit unions.

Delci worked with Maria Rufo, who connected with Chavez's wife Helen, who served as treasurer of the Farm Worker's Union, at a central valley California meeting for credit union organizers.
Delci explained that at the time, from 1958-1965, many agriculture laborers only earned $5-10/week, and the credit unions asked for $1.50 membership fee that went into a savings account. The money that the credit union accrued went towards loans of around $15o that went to home renovations, including the installation of indoor plumbing and refrigerators. An interesting aspect was that Chavez advocated for the build up of these credit unions in a faith-based manner, asking laborers to put in 10% of their earnings, which seemed to draw on the Catholic religious baseline that many migrants shared.
More than anything, Delci emphasized Chavez' nonviolent resistance--a strategy that is often overlooked given the amount of violence associated with the business practices of teamsters and union busters. Delci also pointed out the importance of understanding how large an organization that Chavez led farmer workers against--with California's economic power, it needs to be understood how much economic and social power the agriculture producers and industry possessed.

When Chavez endured his hunger strike of 25 days, he was protesting Arizona legislature that attempted to make peaceful protests illegal assemblies. The Arizona representative at the time, Jack Williams, was compared by Delci to Joe Arpaio.

U of Arizona Conversations in the Humanities

More Unsettling Certainties

From the website:

Sensual Productions: Pictures, Poems, and Performances

Presented by the College of Humanities in its New Series
Unsettling Certainties: Conversations in the Humanities

Tuesday, March 30, 6:00 – 7:30 pm
Helen S. Schaefer Building (UA Poetry Center), 1508 E Helen Street

This multimedia panel of feminist scholars and performance artists will explore visual, sonic, and embodied landscapes to consider the ways in which cultural productions can be understood as sites of knowledge production and contestation. The program, moderated by Adela C. Licona, will begin with a performance art piece by Denise Uyehara, excerpted from her interactive performance installation, the Senkotsu (Mis)Translation Project, which examines the U.S. occupation in Okinawa. Irène d'Almeida will talk about her work in searching out and collecting oral poetry produced by women among the Fon people, a major ethnic group in southern and central Benin. Sandra K. Soto will provide queer readings of some of the most provocative and surreal photographs taken by the internationally renowned Mexican photographer, Graciela Iturbide, widely known for her stunning black and white photographs of everyday life of indigenous peoples (mainly women) in rural areas, particularly of the Zapotecs in Juchitán, Oaxaca.

MOVIMIENTO OLLIN MOVEMENT

HUEHUETLAHTOKAN & IN XOCHITL IN CUICATL
ELDERS GATHERING & FLORICANTO
DEC 3-6 UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA & El RIO NBHD CENTER TUCSON AZ

Below is the announcement of a great event and the link to the pdf.

The Dec 3-6 events at the University of Arizona & El Rio Neighborhood
Center will be historic. It will bring together elders from throughout
the country, along with elders from AROMAS & Los Universitarios. This
gathering will permit my students in my Movimiento Ollin Movement
class (MAS 350) to present their research on Tucson’s/Arizona’s
Movimiento/Movement. They will present their work, both to elders and
to the public. Other students from the U of A and Raza Studies-Tucson
Unified School District students will also present. The idea behind
this is rooted in the idea of elder epistemology – that the knowledge
of our communities comes from elders and that students must return
that knowledge back to the elders and our communities.

Students will present on Dec 4 & 5, symposium-style, in front of
AROMAS or the abuelitos & abuelitas associated with the
Chicano/Hispano Centro on campus & Los Universitarios – a group active
on campus since the 1950s. Some will also present their research in
poetry, hip-hop, song and theater. Capping the event will be a 7:30 pm
rally on Sat. Dec 5 in support of Raza Studies – from kindergarten
through the proposed PhD at the U of A. Raza Studies remains under
attack nationwide, particularly in Arizona. Part of this rally will
include a concert by Aztlan Underground which has just released their
first CD in 8 years. Suggested donations are $10 students and $15 gen
adm. It will be $15 students at the door and $20 gen. adm. at the
door. See enclosed flyer for details.

All the transportation & housing has been covered for the invited out
of town elders. Quite a bit still needs to be raised to cover
honorariums, food, etc. Due to the economy, here is a creative way to
raise the needed funds. Please consider making a donation (from you or
your organization). Any amount is welcome. If you donate $50, Dr.
Patrisia Gonzales will make her book: The Mud People, available for
this donation. If you send $100, you will get The Mud People and a
historic book I wrote in 1984: Assault With a Deadly Weapon. It has
recently been reprinted. Whatever you can donate will help us put on
this historic event.

To contribute, make CHECK payable to: The UA Foundation, and mail it
to: Department of Mexican American & Raza Studies: Attn: Veronica
Peralta. Cesar Chavez Bldg., Room 208, PO BOX 210023 / Tucson, AZ
85721-0023. CREDIT CARD: Please send an email to Veronica Peralta at:
vperalta@email.arizona.edu for instructions. Pleas indicate if you
want the books.

All contributions are tax-deductible. For more info, write me at:
520-626-0824 or rodrigu7@email.arizona.edu

* If you would like tickets for the Dec 5 Raza Studies Rally-Aztlan
Underground Concert, please contact MEChA directly at: Jessica:
jfmejia@email.arizona.edu or Tiffany at: esc@email.arizona.edu.
Proceeds from the concert will go toward building the Dolores
Huerta-Cesar Chavez Arch, slated to be constructed in front of the
UA-Cesar Chavez building. My earlier books, The X in La Raza & Codex
Tamuanchan have been recently reprinted and have been donated to
UA-MEChA in their efforts to build the arch. Contact Jessica & Tiffany
above for further info.


Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez
Assistant professor
Mexican American & Raza Studies-UA

Reposted from Frente de Mexicanos en Canada by request of Roberto Rodriguez

The Science-Fiction of Assimilation

"You will be assimilated"
In a discussion with Dr. Damian Baca, I brought up the metaphor of the Borg, the cyborg enemy on Star Trek that assimilates other groups, stripping them of their culture and identity and forcing them to change their way of life. The trope is one that has been used in passing among colleagues, but it felt poignant in 'the classroom is a violent place' mode of thinking about how the university can have the effect of imposing its value system and beliefs in much the same way that dominant hegemonic ideologies cover over the cultures of those it assimilates.

Unsettling Certainties

Why Does Racism Persist in the United States of America?
This evening Carlos Gallego facilitated an open forum panel discussion at the University of Arizona Poetry Center with members of the Humanities faculty.


Dr. Gallego showed this clip from the show "Community":



Gallego pointed out that victims of racism can be racist at the same time because racism is a way of thinking, a way of making sense of the world.

Dr. Wendy Theodore answered the question about the existence of racism through the examination of conversation we hear in public spaces, and from them we shouldn't be surprised why racism continues.
One out of the many interesting points that Dr. Theodore addressed was how African American students experience more racially identified after going through a higher learning.

Professor of American Indian Studies, Franci Washburn highlighted how women of color are victims of violence at higher rates than women in the majority who tend to receive the most news/media coverage. By the same token, Washburn explained that women of race rarely see justice, and rarely make the news.