Colonial Education: Contemporary Trends: The Association of Raza Educators Journal

Regeneración
the Association of Raza Educators Journal Winter 2011 • Volume 2, Number 1
Colonial Education:
Contemporary Trends
www.razaeducators.org
IN THIS ISSUE:
Ethnic Studies Under Attack What is a Peopleʼs Educator?
Escuelita Aztlan, Interview Deculturalization and Schooling
Privatizing Education Ya Basta Youth Coalition, Interview
Regeneración
the Association of Raza Educators Journal
Introduction฀to฀Volume฀2,฀Issue฀1฀(Winter) A.R.E.฀Mission฀Statement
Regeneración,฀the฀Association฀of฀Raza฀Educators฀Journal,฀borrows฀its฀name฀ The฀Association฀of฀Raza฀Educators฀was฀established฀to฀uphold฀the฀
from฀Ricardo฀Flores฀Magón’s฀Regeneración,฀the฀revolutionary฀newspaper฀ rights฀and฀liberties฀of฀the฀Raza฀community.
published฀during฀early฀1900s฀as฀a฀voice฀against฀the฀
Education฀is฀essential฀to฀the฀preservation฀of฀civil฀and฀human฀rights.฀
Mexican฀dictator฀Porfirio฀Diaz.฀฀In฀the฀spirit฀of฀ It฀provides฀the฀foundation฀for฀all฀political฀and฀economic฀progress฀
Magón’s฀vision฀for฀a฀people’s฀newspaper฀and฀press,฀ and฀it฀must฀be฀a฀basic฀right฀of฀all฀people.฀Making฀this฀right฀a฀reality฀
Regeneración฀is฀a฀medium฀where฀educators฀and฀ is฀the฀fundamental฀objective฀of฀A.R.E.฀
community฀organizers฀provide฀analyses฀on฀educa-
tion฀issues฀and฀reports฀of฀struggles฀on฀the฀ground.฀฀฀ Raza฀has฀been฀and฀continues฀to฀be฀oppressed฀by฀the฀educational฀
system฀within฀the฀United฀States.฀฀Therefore,฀we฀are฀obligated฀to฀
Ricardo฀Flores฀Magón ensure฀that฀education฀serves฀as฀a฀tool฀for฀the฀liberation฀of฀our฀
This฀first฀issue,฀titled฀“Colonial฀Education:฀Contem-
community.฀
porary฀Trends,”฀challenges฀the฀reader฀to฀think฀historically฀in฀understanding฀
the฀contemporary฀wave฀of฀oppressive฀policies฀targetting฀Raza฀and฀other฀
oppressed฀communities.฀฀We฀are฀witnessing฀a฀growing฀movement฀against฀
the฀privatization฀of฀education,฀but฀for฀Raza฀communities,฀privatization฀is฀
not฀the฀only฀evil.฀฀The฀series฀of฀narratives฀and฀articles฀collectively฀testify฀ Contents
against฀the฀injustices฀our฀communities฀have฀faced฀historically.฀฀These฀ Introduction฀to฀the฀First฀Issue฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀ 1
voices฀speak฀with฀an฀anti-colonial฀framework฀that฀brings฀interlocking฀ Statement฀by฀the฀A.R.E.฀State฀Concilio฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀ 2
oppressions,฀the฀exploitation฀of฀our฀people฀and฀cultural฀domination,฀as฀a฀ Attacks฀on฀Raza฀Studies฀in฀Arizona฀..฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀฀ 4
way฀of฀understanding฀schooling฀as฀a฀colonizing฀project.฀฀ Analysis฀and฀Call฀to฀Educators฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀..฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀฀ 12
Careerist฀Versus฀People’s฀Educator,฀Invited฀Essay฀฀.฀.฀.฀.฀฀ 16
Voices฀of฀the฀teachers฀in฀Arizona฀fighting฀for฀the฀survival฀of฀Raza฀Studies;฀ Escuelita฀Aztlan,฀Interview฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀฀.฀.฀.฀.฀฀฀ 18
interviews฀that฀highlight฀alternative฀education฀projects,฀such฀as฀Escuelita฀ Student฀Reflection.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀ 20
Aztlan,฀and฀grass-roots฀student฀movement--the฀series฀of฀articles,฀essays,฀ Ya฀Basta฀Youth฀Coalition,฀Interview.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀ 22
and฀interviews฀that฀comprise฀this฀issue฀collectively฀function฀as฀a฀counter- A.R.E.฀Events฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀.฀฀25฀฀฀฀
story,฀thus฀providing฀a฀critical฀expansion฀of฀how฀colonialism฀is฀lived฀today,฀
leaving฀open฀the฀question฀of฀the฀possiblity฀in฀collective฀struggle฀outside฀
the฀Colonial-Capitalist฀State.
Colonial Education: Contemporary Trends Page 1

Regeneración
THE฀DYNAMICS฀AND฀OBJECTIVES฀OF฀THE฀CURRENT฀COLONIALIST-BASED฀ case฀took฀place฀in฀Orange฀County,฀California,฀when฀seven฀years฀before฀
EDUCATION Brown฀v.฀Board฀of฀Education,฀we฀witnessed฀the฀Mendez฀vs.฀Westminster฀case฀
in฀the฀mid-1940’s,฀where฀the฀courts฀also฀declared฀segregation฀illegal฀
A.R.E.฀State฀Concilio (Cosgrove,฀2008).฀฀Both฀of฀these฀cases฀argued฀successfully฀that฀Raza฀
students฀were฀segregated฀into฀separate฀schools฀based฀solely฀on฀their฀
฀ As฀we฀attempt฀to฀address฀the฀question฀of฀public฀education฀as฀it฀ national฀or฀ethnic฀origins,฀and฀that฀this฀was฀unconstitutional.฀
relates฀to฀Raza฀communities,฀we฀must฀come฀to฀terms฀with฀three฀important฀ ฀ Placing฀these฀cases฀historically฀within฀the฀tide฀of฀Eurocentrism฀and฀
dynamics.฀฀The฀first฀is฀that฀the฀educational฀system฀in฀the฀United฀States฀has฀ colonial฀realities฀encircling฀the฀lives฀of฀Raza฀communities฀in฀the฀U.S.,฀these฀
always฀had฀white฀supremacy฀(or฀Euro-centrism)฀as฀its฀foundation.฀The฀ cases฀have฀been฀framed฀as฀securing฀the฀legal฀guarantee฀to฀an฀equal฀educa-
second฀is฀that฀it฀was฀not฀established฀to฀educate฀Raza฀and฀other฀non-white฀ tion฀for฀Raza฀students.฀฀Later,฀through฀the฀struggle฀of฀the฀late฀1960s฀and฀
communities.฀฀The฀third,฀education,฀as฀a฀basic฀civic฀and฀human฀right,฀has฀to฀ 70s,฀we฀won฀many฀other฀concessions,฀such฀as฀bilingual฀education,฀cultural฀
fought฀and฀struggled฀for. respect,฀and฀employment฀for฀educators,฀administrators,฀and฀school฀staff.฀฀
฀ Generally฀speaking,฀all฀forms฀of฀schooling฀in฀the฀U.S.,฀whether฀ Beginning฀in฀the฀late฀1960s฀MEChA฀and฀Chicano/a฀Studies฀were฀instituted฀
public฀or฀private,฀have฀grown฀out฀of฀the฀womb฀of฀Eurocentrism,฀upholding฀ at฀Universities,฀Community฀Colleges,฀and฀some฀high฀schools.฀Yet,฀through฀
the฀preeminence฀of฀European฀thought฀and฀culture฀as฀superior฀to฀every- all฀this,฀we฀still฀have฀not฀received฀the฀education฀that฀both฀educates฀Raza฀
thing฀else.฀฀Eurocentrism฀also฀interlocks฀with฀a฀geo-political฀project฀aimed฀ students฀and฀is฀responsive฀to฀community฀needs.฀
at฀the฀control฀of฀the฀world’s฀resources฀by฀Europeans฀or฀their฀descendents. ฀ Since฀its฀founding฀in฀1994,฀A.R.E.฀has฀been฀saying฀that฀unless฀we,฀as฀
฀ Those฀who฀have฀struggled฀for฀and฀reflected฀upon฀the฀question฀of฀ educators฀in฀unity฀with฀our฀communities,฀don’t฀continue฀the฀struggle,฀the฀
education฀for฀Raza฀communities฀have฀come฀to฀see฀how฀our฀current฀school- few฀spaces฀we฀have฀reclaimed฀will฀eventually฀be฀lost.฀
ing฀system฀has฀never฀been฀established฀for฀the฀true฀education฀of฀the฀Raza,฀ ฀ ฀If฀some฀of฀us฀have฀“made฀it,”฀and฀are฀functionaries฀of฀the฀State,฀thus฀
especially฀one฀that฀would฀bring฀real฀self-determination฀to฀our฀communi- moving฀into฀key฀positions,฀then฀why฀was฀it฀so฀easy฀for฀us฀to฀lose฀bilingual฀
ties.฀It฀has฀been฀less฀than฀a฀century฀since฀we฀have฀been฀subjected฀to฀public฀ education?฀฀We฀believe฀that฀this฀loss฀was฀facilitated฀by฀the฀colonial฀educa-
education฀systems,฀and฀through฀this฀experience฀we฀have฀learned฀that฀the฀ tion฀that฀our฀very฀own฀Raza฀teachers฀have฀received.฀In฀plain฀terms,฀these฀
education฀which฀we฀have฀had฀access฀to฀has฀been฀meager฀at฀best.฀ Raza฀teachers฀(and฀administrators)฀got฀so฀“duped”฀into฀the฀myth฀of฀the฀
As฀we฀reflect฀upon฀the฀theme฀for฀this฀issue฀of฀Regeneración,฀Colonial฀ “American฀Dream”฀that฀they฀lost฀themselves฀in฀the฀ideologies฀of฀individual-
Education:฀Contemporary฀Trends,฀it฀is฀vital฀to฀understand฀that฀our฀commu- ism฀and฀meritocracy,฀thus฀blinding฀themselves฀about฀the฀prior฀histories฀of฀
nities฀have฀always฀struggled฀for฀education฀to฀be฀a฀basic฀right.฀฀For฀example,฀ struggle฀that฀enabled฀their฀own฀successes.฀Most฀of฀our฀Raza฀educators฀
in฀Lemon฀Grove,฀California฀during฀1930’s฀the฀local฀school฀board฀attempted฀ have฀become฀the฀agents฀of฀an฀educational฀system฀that฀has฀never฀ben-
to฀build฀a฀separate฀school฀for฀children฀of฀Mexican฀origin.฀The฀parents฀ efited฀our฀people.฀To฀this฀day,฀these฀“colonized฀educators”฀blame฀students฀
refused฀to฀send฀their฀children฀to฀the฀new฀school,฀which฀resulted฀in฀a฀boy- and฀parents฀for฀their฀lack฀of฀education,฀yet฀never฀acknowledge฀that฀they฀
cott฀and฀a฀landmark฀lawsuit.฀This฀became฀known฀in฀history฀as฀the฀Lemon฀ themselves฀have฀bought฀into฀a฀system฀of฀ideas฀and฀how฀their฀own฀colonial฀
Grove฀Incident,฀which฀led฀to฀the฀first฀successful฀school฀desegregation฀court฀ education฀blinds฀them฀from฀seeing฀how฀“success”฀and฀“failure”฀in฀this฀
decision฀in฀the฀history฀of฀the฀United฀States฀(Alvarez฀Jr.,฀1986).฀฀Another฀such฀ society฀is฀constructed฀and฀feed฀off฀each฀other.฀฀฀฀฀฀฀฀

Regeneración
฀ The฀demographics฀have฀been฀changing฀in฀California฀and฀oppressed฀ ฀ The฀U.S.฀schooling฀system฀has฀done฀its฀job฀well:฀it฀has฀kept฀us฀from฀
people฀of฀Color฀are฀now฀becoming฀the฀majority.฀It฀is฀a฀change฀that฀is฀taking฀ fully฀achieving฀a฀true฀education.฀The฀dynamics฀and฀objectives฀of฀the฀
place฀throughout฀the฀Southwest฀and฀throughout฀the฀United฀States.฀To฀ current฀colonialist-based฀education฀within฀the฀U.S.฀can฀only฀be฀pushed฀
deter฀our฀struggle฀for฀education,฀the฀Colonial-Capitalist฀State฀and฀the฀ back฀through฀organized฀struggle฀that฀strives฀to฀achieve฀Raza฀self-
interests฀that฀it฀serves,฀have฀responded฀with฀draconian฀policies฀that฀deny฀ determination.฀฀฀The฀contemporary฀waves฀of฀activism,฀although฀not฀
us฀any฀kind฀of฀true฀education;฀and฀when฀it฀offers฀an฀education,฀this฀comes฀ organized฀into฀a฀unified฀movement,฀are฀one฀response—yet฀for฀A.R.E.฀we฀
in฀the฀form฀of฀corporate-sponsored฀charter฀schools฀or฀“quality”฀education฀ must฀look฀to฀alternatives฀that฀seek฀to฀reclaim฀rather฀than฀defend฀“public฀
for฀the฀select฀few฀and฀for฀those฀who฀seek฀to฀benefit฀from฀this฀system.฀This฀ education”.
backlash฀has฀been฀mounting฀since฀the฀1970s;฀they฀are฀policies฀aimed฀at฀
rolling฀back฀the฀few฀achievements฀won฀from฀the฀last฀period฀of฀struggle,฀ Bibliography
the฀Chicano฀Movement฀1965-1975.฀
Alvarez฀Jr.,฀R.฀(1986).฀The฀lemon฀grove฀incident:฀the฀nation's฀first฀successful฀desegregation฀court฀
฀ In฀the฀1990’s,฀we฀experienced฀attacks฀in฀California฀with฀Proposition฀ case.฀The฀Journal฀of฀San฀Diego฀History,฀32(2),฀Retrieved฀from฀
187,฀209,฀227฀and฀21฀–a฀wave฀of฀laws฀attacking฀education,฀but฀more฀ http://www.sandiegohistory.org/journal/86spring/lemongrove.htm
directly฀our฀children.฀ Nunez,฀C..฀(2010,฀September฀3).฀California฀border฀schools฀to฀ask฀students฀for฀papers.฀La฀Prensa฀San฀
Diego.
Thereafter,฀we฀got฀
NCLB฀and฀HR4437฀
The฀U.S.฀schooling฀system฀has฀done฀ Cosgrove,฀J.฀(2008,฀April฀7).฀Mendez฀vs฀westminster฀case฀remembered.฀The฀Breeze.
(although฀it฀was฀never฀ its฀job฀well:฀it฀has฀kept฀us฀from฀fully฀
passed),฀and฀most฀ achieving฀a฀true฀education.฀The฀
recently฀SB฀1070฀and฀
HB฀2281฀policies฀
dynamics฀and฀objectives฀of฀the฀cur-
coming฀out฀of฀Arizona.฀฀฀ rent฀colonialist-based฀education฀
Furthermore฀the฀state฀ within฀the฀U.S.฀can฀only฀be฀pushed฀
of฀Arizona฀is฀consider-
ing฀teachers฀with฀
back฀through฀an฀organize฀struggle฀
so-called฀“accents.”฀฀ that฀strives฀to฀achieve฀Raza฀self-
School฀officials฀in฀ determination.฀
Calexico฀and฀San฀Diego,฀
California,฀are฀conduct-
ing฀police฀tactics฀where฀they฀are฀requesting฀student฀documentation฀of฀
immigration฀status฀and฀hiring฀staff฀to฀spy฀on฀students฀crossing฀the฀border฀
(Nuñez,฀2010).฀These฀policies฀are฀designed฀to฀promote฀a฀type฀of฀education฀
COVER฀PHOTO:฀฀Santee฀Education฀Complex฀Students฀Protesting฀Principal฀Carbino฀and฀
that฀controls,฀indoctrinates,฀and฀ultimately฀destroys฀any฀form฀of฀Raza฀self- Student฀Repression,฀July฀2007.฀฀The฀campaign,฀which฀was฀organized฀by฀A.R.E.฀and฀Santee฀
determination. students฀and฀parents,฀led฀to฀the฀removal฀of฀Principal฀Carbino฀with฀a฀record฀three฀weeks.

Regeneración
SAVING฀THE฀LIVES,฀THE฀CULTURE฀AND฀THE฀HISTORY฀OF฀OUR฀CHILDREN:฀ the฀three฀departments฀that฀make฀up฀our฀Ethnic฀Studies฀Department.฀
TELLING฀THE฀TRUTH฀IN฀ARIZONA’S฀CULTURAL฀WAR฀ These฀three฀departments฀are:฀Native฀American฀Studies,฀African฀American฀
Studies,฀and฀Pan฀Asian฀Studies.฀The฀primary฀functions฀of฀these฀depart-
Augustine฀F.฀Romero,฀Ph.฀D.฀and฀Sean฀Arce, ments฀are฀what฀I฀refer฀to฀as฀“associated฀academic฀services”฀which฀compro-
Directors,฀Mexican-American฀/฀Raza฀Studies,฀Tucson฀High mises฀mostly฀of฀tutoring,฀mentoring฀and฀student฀advocacy.฀Mexican฀
American฀Studies฀has฀a฀“direct฀academic฀service฀orientation฀that฀focuses฀
INTRODUCTION primarily฀on฀direct฀classroom฀instruction,฀with฀some฀attention฀given฀to฀
฀ Question:฀What฀would฀you฀expect฀a฀state฀to฀do฀with฀a฀successful฀ teacher฀mentoring,฀and฀continuing฀education฀opportunities฀for฀teachers.฀
academic฀program฀that฀has:฀a)฀inverted฀the฀achievement฀gap฀between฀ It฀is฀my฀belief฀that฀another฀reason฀why฀MAS฀has฀been฀singled฀out฀is฀
Mexican฀American฀students฀and฀their฀peers฀(regardless฀of฀ethnicity);฀b)฀ because฀of฀the฀transformative,฀historical฀inclusivity,฀more฀holistic,฀and฀
reversed฀the฀graduation฀rate฀between฀Mexican฀American฀students฀and฀ consciousness฀raising฀nature฀of฀it฀departmental฀orientation.฀Quite฀truth-
their฀Anglo฀peers;฀c)฀raised฀the฀college฀matriculations฀rates฀for฀Mexican฀ fully,฀many฀non-progressives฀view฀the฀fact฀that฀we฀enrich฀and฀enlighten฀
American฀students฀significantly฀higher฀than฀the฀national฀average;฀and฀d)฀ the฀American฀historical฀narrative,฀as฀negative฀that฀disrupts฀and฀erodes฀
virtually฀eliminated฀suspensions฀and฀expulsions฀of฀Mexican฀American฀ that฀fabric฀of฀their฀fictitious฀and฀self-serving฀narrative.฀฀For฀these฀people฀
students?฀฀The฀data฀supporting฀all฀of฀these฀points฀is฀forthcoming฀in฀the฀ the฀truth฀is฀irrelevant,฀for฀these฀people฀the฀level฀of฀academic฀success฀is฀
outcomes฀and฀voices฀section. irrelevant,฀and฀for฀these฀people฀the฀fact฀that฀we฀have,฀do,฀and฀will฀save฀the฀
฀ Over฀the฀last฀eight฀academic฀years฀the฀Tucson฀Unified฀School฀ lives฀of฀many฀children฀is฀irrelevant.฀These฀critical฀factors฀are฀irrelevant฀
District’s฀Mexican฀American฀/฀Raza฀Studies฀program฀(MAS),฀its฀Social฀Justice฀ because฀they฀all฀the฀potential฀of฀disrupting฀status฀quo฀within฀the฀
Education฀Project฀(SJEP)฀and฀its฀Critically฀Compassionate฀Intellectualism฀ America’s฀historical฀racial฀and฀social฀order฀(Romero,฀2008).
model฀(CCI)฀model฀have฀created฀and฀nurtured฀the฀academic฀environment฀ ฀ This฀paper฀will฀highlight฀the฀context฀in฀which฀this฀unethical,฀
described฀above.฀Yet,฀before฀I฀go฀into฀detail฀about฀the฀program,฀I฀return฀to฀ immoral,฀dishonest,฀and฀anti-humanistic฀political฀battle฀that฀is฀being฀
my฀opening฀question.฀I฀believe฀that฀most฀rationale฀and฀sound-minded฀ waged฀upon฀us฀in฀the฀name฀of฀patriotism,฀morality,฀and฀“American”฀values.฀
people฀would฀say,฀“Replicate฀that฀program.”฀However,฀remember฀I฀live฀in฀ Moreover,฀this฀paper฀constitutes฀a฀counternarrative฀that฀highlights฀the฀
Arizona. academic,฀social,฀and฀cultural฀transformations฀taking฀place฀with฀our฀
฀ Let฀me฀tell฀you฀what฀the฀state฀of฀Arizona฀did.฀On฀April฀29,฀2010฀the฀ students฀and฀in฀our฀communities.
Arizona฀State฀Legislature฀gave฀HB฀2281฀final฀approval฀status;฀thus฀sending฀
it฀to฀the฀governor฀for฀her฀signature.฀On฀May฀11,฀2010฀the฀governor฀of฀the฀ OVERVIEW
state฀of฀Arizona฀signed฀House฀Bill฀2281into฀law.฀I฀believe฀the฀sole฀intent฀of฀ ฀ I฀begin฀this฀paper฀with฀a฀brief฀narrative฀of฀the฀creation฀of฀MAS฀and฀
HB฀2281฀is฀the฀abolishment฀of฀Tucson฀Unified฀School฀District’s฀Mexican฀ its฀roots฀within฀Tucson’s฀Mexican฀American฀community.฀Second,฀I฀will฀
American฀/฀Raza฀Studies฀program฀(MAS),฀our฀Social฀Justice฀Education฀ discuss฀the฀creation฀of฀the฀SJEP฀and฀the฀subsequent฀creation฀of฀the฀CCI฀
Project฀(SJEP)฀and฀our฀Critically฀Compassionate฀Intellectualism฀model฀(CCI)฀ model.฀The฀third฀section฀focuses฀on฀the฀three฀foundational฀structures฀of฀
(Romero,฀2008).฀ the฀CCI.฀฀In฀this฀section,฀I฀will฀present฀student฀voices.฀In฀the฀next฀section,฀I฀
฀ Briefly,฀it฀is฀critical฀that฀I฀explain฀the฀difference฀between฀MAS฀and฀ continue฀the฀presenation฀of฀student฀voices฀and฀articulate฀the฀academic฀
and฀social฀impact฀of฀the฀courses.฀The฀fifth฀section฀examines฀the฀numerous฀

Regeneración
legislative฀attempts฀to฀abolish฀MAS฀program฀over฀the฀last฀three฀years.฀The฀ student฀organizers฀from฀the฀1969฀walkouts.฀The฀unification฀of฀these฀two฀
sixth฀section฀discusses฀some฀of฀the฀counter-strategies฀I฀have฀used฀to฀ groups฀of฀community฀and฀educational฀advocates฀was฀instrumental฀in฀the฀
preserve฀MAS.฀The฀last฀section,฀interrogates฀SB฀2281’s฀implications฀and฀ realization฀of฀a฀community฀dream,฀the฀creation฀of฀MAS฀(Romero฀&฀Arce,฀
discusses฀our฀national฀outreach฀campaign. 2010).
฀ As฀for฀a฀district฀overview,฀Tucson฀Unified฀School฀District฀is฀61.6%฀ ฀ The฀creation฀of฀
Latino฀and฀26%฀Anglo,฀with฀an฀enrollment฀of฀nearly฀58,000.฀Over฀the฀last฀ MAS,฀and฀the฀Mexican฀
The฀creation฀of฀MAS,฀and฀the฀Mexi-
eleven฀graduating฀classes฀within฀TUSD,฀the฀Latino฀enrollment฀has฀declined฀ American/Chicana/o฀ can฀American/Chicana/o฀educa-
by฀anywhere฀from฀32%฀to฀49%.฀฀This฀means฀that฀from฀the฀time฀a฀Latino฀ educational฀struggle฀in฀ tional฀struggle฀in฀Tucson฀is฀part฀of฀a฀
enters฀TUSD฀school฀doors฀as฀freshman,฀his฀peers’฀overall฀enrollment฀when฀it฀ Tucson฀is฀part฀of฀a฀ larger฀legacy฀of฀the฀Mexican฀
is฀time฀to฀walk฀across฀the฀graduation฀stage฀as฀seniors฀has฀been฀reduced฀by฀ larger฀legacy฀of฀the฀ American/Chicana/o฀quest฀for฀edu-
as฀much฀as฀49%฀(Class฀of฀2000)฀to฀as฀little฀as฀32%฀(Class฀of฀2007)฀(TUSD฀ Mexican฀ cational฀justice฀This฀struggle฀for฀
Accountability฀and฀Research,฀2010). American/Chicana/o฀
฀ quest฀for฀educational฀
justice฀and฀equal฀opportunity฀in฀
CREATION justice฀This฀struggle฀for฀ education฀can฀be฀traced฀back฀70฀
฀ TUSD’s฀Mexican฀American฀Studies฀Department฀was฀created฀in฀July฀ justice฀and฀equal฀ years...
of฀1998฀as฀a฀result฀of฀a฀grassroots฀movement฀for฀greater฀levels฀of฀academic฀ opportunity฀in฀educa-
achievements฀for฀the฀Chicana/o฀children฀in฀the฀district.฀฀For฀many฀ tion฀can฀be฀traced฀back฀70฀years฀to:฀Independent฀Schools฀District฀v.฀Salvati-
Chicana/os฀in฀Tucson฀the฀establishment฀of฀the฀MAS฀was฀a฀victory฀for฀battles฀ errra฀(1931),฀Alvarez฀v.฀Lemon฀Grove฀(1931)฀Mendez฀v.฀Westminster฀(1947),฀
fought฀nearly฀30฀years฀earlier฀when฀community฀organizers฀such฀as฀Raul฀ Delgado฀et฀al.฀Bastrop฀Independent฀School฀District฀of฀Bastrop฀County฀et฀al.฀
Grijalva,฀Guadalupe฀Castillo,฀Salomon฀Baldenegro,฀and฀Eduardo฀Olivas฀led฀a฀ (1948).฀฀In฀fact,฀the฀Mendez฀case฀demonstrates฀the฀strong฀relationship฀
series฀of฀school฀walkouts฀in฀1969.฀The฀creation฀of฀Chicano฀Studies฀was฀one฀ between฀the฀Mexican฀American฀and฀African฀American฀liberation฀struggles,฀
of฀the฀primary฀demands฀of฀community฀and฀student฀activists.฀Beyond฀the฀ it฀was฀one฀of฀the฀precedents฀use฀by฀the฀Honorable฀Thurgood฀Marshall฀in฀
Chicano฀Studies฀issue,฀the฀student฀organizers฀were฀distressed฀by฀a฀school฀ the฀landmark฀Brown฀v.฀Board฀of฀Education฀(1954)฀(Romero฀&฀Arce,฀2010).
system฀that฀was฀truly฀separated฀and฀unequal.฀The฀majority฀of฀the฀District’s฀ ฀ In฀2003,฀in฀the฀effort฀to฀honor฀the฀voices฀of฀those฀who฀struggled฀for฀
resources฀flowed฀to฀the฀vastly฀predominate฀white฀eastside฀schools,฀and฀ its฀existence,฀and฀in฀consort฀with฀the฀No฀Child฀Left฀behind฀Act฀(NCLB),฀as฀
very฀few฀resources฀going฀to฀the฀immensely฀African฀American฀and฀Chicano฀ director฀of฀MAS,฀I฀implemented฀the฀CCI฀as฀a฀means฀of฀ensuring฀an฀equitable฀
Westside฀schools.฀ educational฀experience฀for฀Mexican฀American\฀Chicana/o฀students.฀A฀more฀
฀ Despite฀the฀issuance฀of฀a฀federal฀desegregation฀order฀in฀1978,฀the฀ elaborate฀explanation฀of฀the฀CCI฀model฀is฀forthcoming.฀This฀model฀was฀
social฀and฀education฀condition฀for฀Chicano฀in฀Tucson฀Unified฀School฀ created฀from฀student฀voices,฀and฀established฀on฀the฀basis฀of฀equity.฀The฀
District฀would฀change฀very฀little.฀As฀a฀result,฀in฀1996,฀a฀group฀called฀Commu- model฀expresses฀what฀students฀said฀they฀and฀others฀like฀them฀needed฀to฀
nities฀and฀Neighborhoods฀for฀Mexican฀American฀Studies฀led฀by฀the฀likes฀of:฀ experience฀educational฀equity฀and฀to฀achieve฀greater฀academic฀success.
Lorraine฀Lee,฀Gustavo฀Chavez,฀Martin฀Sean฀Arce,฀Rosalie฀Lopez,฀Anna฀Maria฀
Chavez,฀Essence฀Arce,฀J.J.฀Rico,฀Leanne฀Hernandez,฀Tomas฀Martinez,฀Edgar฀ SOCIAL฀JUSTICE฀EDUCATION฀PROJECT
Reyes,฀Patrick฀McKenna,฀and฀Salo฀Escamilla฀were฀united฀with฀some฀of฀ ฀ In฀the฀spring฀of฀2002,฀Dr.฀Julio฀Cammarota฀from฀the฀University฀of฀

Regeneración
Arizona’s฀Mexican฀American฀Studies฀and฀Research฀Center฀and฀I฀(the฀then฀ the฀course฀of฀the฀last฀eight฀academic฀years฀we฀have฀designed฀and฀devel-
Director฀of฀TUSD’s฀Mexican฀American฀Studies฀Department)฀proposed฀a฀ oped฀courses฀that฀offer฀students฀an฀advanced฀level฀social฀science฀curricu-
course฀that฀would฀use฀the฀Arizona฀State฀Standards,฀Critical฀Pedagogy,฀Critical฀ lum฀from฀the฀fields฀of฀critical฀race฀theory,฀critical฀pedagogy,฀and฀social฀
Race฀Theory,฀and฀authentic฀caring฀as฀the฀foundation฀of฀an฀equitable฀educa- theory.฀Simultaneously,฀our฀students฀have฀developed฀the฀anthropological฀
tional฀experience฀to฀the฀District’s฀leadership.฀We฀believed฀that฀given฀the฀ skills฀needed฀to฀name,฀assess,฀and฀engage฀the฀injustices฀of฀their฀social฀
appropiate฀structures฀and฀an฀authentic฀culture฀of฀caring฀historical฀marginal- realities฀(Cammarota฀&฀Romero,฀2006;฀Romero,฀2008;฀Cammarota฀and฀
ized฀and฀underserved฀students฀could฀reach฀their฀intellectual฀capacities฀ Romero,฀2009).
(Cammarota฀&฀Romero,฀2006฀a;฀Cammarota฀&฀Romero,฀2006b;฀Romero,฀2008).฀ ฀ Before฀I฀move฀to฀the฀next฀section,฀I฀must฀establish฀the฀academic฀
With฀this฀in฀mind,฀I฀recruited฀Lorenzo฀Lopez฀Jr.฀to฀be฀the฀teacher฀that฀would฀ profile฀of฀our฀first฀SJEP฀student฀cohort.฀According฀to฀Romero฀(2008)฀the฀
be฀our฀lead฀teacher.฀Two฀years฀previous,฀Mr.฀Lopez฀was฀my฀student฀teacher,฀ first฀SJEP฀cohort฀was฀made฀up฀of฀17฀students฀(mostly฀Mexican฀American฀
and฀over฀the฀four฀months฀we฀shared฀together,฀I฀found฀him฀to฀be฀a฀highly฀ /Chicano),฀each฀student฀had฀dropped฀out฀at฀least฀once,฀instead฀of฀having฀
talented฀educator฀would฀firmly฀understood฀and฀effectively฀administered฀the฀ 12฀credits฀after฀their฀sophomore฀year,฀most฀students฀had฀between฀four฀to฀
politics฀of฀authentic฀caring. seven฀credits,฀and฀the฀average฀grade฀point฀average฀was฀in฀the฀low฀1.0฀
฀ In฀the฀early฀summer฀of฀2002,฀Dr.฀Rebecca฀Montano,฀Deputy฀Superin- range.฀However,฀despite฀the฀cohorts’฀less฀than฀impressive฀academic฀
tendent฀gave฀approval฀for฀The฀Social฀Justice฀Education฀Project.฀฀Dr.฀Camma- record,฀at฀the฀end฀of฀the฀spring฀semester฀each฀and฀every฀one฀the฀original฀
rota,฀Dr.฀Romero,฀and฀Lorenzo฀Lopez฀Jr.฀established฀the฀Project฀in฀the฀Fall฀of฀ 17฀students฀was฀still฀with฀us.฀I฀was฀blessed฀to฀walk฀into฀our฀classroom฀on฀
2002.฀The฀Project฀a฀collaboration฀between฀the฀University฀of฀Arizona฀and฀ one฀early฀May฀afternoon,฀and฀ask฀one฀question.฀
Tucson฀Unified฀School฀District฀originally฀offered฀students฀the฀opportunity฀to฀ CCI฀and฀it฀construction
replace฀their฀traditional฀11th฀grade฀and฀12th฀grade฀social฀science฀courses฀ ฀ This฀one฀question฀was,฀“Why฀are฀you฀still฀here.”฀The฀dialogue฀
with฀an฀11th฀grade฀U.S.฀History฀course฀that฀was฀centered฀on฀historical฀contri- around฀this฀question฀led฀to฀the฀construction฀of฀the฀CCI฀model.฀Our฀
butions฀of฀Mexican฀Americans,฀and฀a฀12th฀grade฀U.S.฀Government฀course฀ students฀had฀three฀responses฀to฀this฀question:฀1)฀What฀you฀taught฀us;฀2)฀
that฀uses฀the฀principals฀of฀critical฀race฀theory฀as฀a฀lens฀through฀which฀to฀ How฀you฀taught฀us;฀and฀3)฀How฀you฀treated฀us฀and฀our฀parents.฀These฀
examine฀the฀functions฀and฀actions฀of฀our฀government,฀the฀precedents฀ three฀comments฀totally฀validated฀our฀fundamental฀beliefs฀about฀what฀
established฀in฀the฀Declaration฀of฀Independence,฀the฀U.S.฀Constitution,฀the฀ was฀most฀critical฀to฀forwarding฀of฀an฀equitable฀educational฀experience.฀It฀
Amendments,฀and฀relevant฀supreme฀courts฀decisions฀and฀State฀laws฀ was฀our฀belief฀that฀our฀curriculum฀should฀not฀be฀watered฀down,฀but฀
(Cammarota฀&฀Romero,฀2006;฀฀Romero,฀2008;฀Cammarota฀and฀Romero,฀2009).฀ rather฀we฀should฀offer฀our฀students฀college฀level฀of฀curriculum.฀We฀made฀
Since฀the฀Fall฀of฀2002,฀the฀program฀has฀expanded฀to฀five฀other฀high฀school.฀ this฀college฀level฀material฀more฀accessible฀by฀first฀making฀it฀relevant฀to฀
Moreover,฀including฀our฀2010฀–฀2011฀enrollment,฀since฀2002฀we฀had฀the฀ the฀social฀reality฀of฀our฀students,฀and฀then฀making฀relevant฀to฀their฀
privilege฀of฀serving฀the฀more฀than฀3200฀students฀who฀have฀enrolled฀in฀our฀ historical฀and฀cultural฀realities.฀Equally฀important,฀we฀connect฀these฀
courses. realities฀to฀Arizona’s฀state฀standards฀for฀U.S.฀History฀and฀U.S฀Government฀
฀ In฀addition,฀the฀Project฀required฀that฀students฀engage฀in฀participa- courses฀(Cammarota฀&฀Romero,฀2006;฀Romero,฀2008;฀Cammarota฀and฀
tory฀action฀research฀that฀focuses฀on฀the฀social฀realities฀of฀our฀students.฀฀We฀ Romero,฀2009).
helped฀students฀develop฀the฀skills฀needed฀to฀implement฀the฀methodologies฀ ฀ In฀addition,฀when฀I฀created฀the฀SJEP฀curriculum,฀I฀deliberately฀
needed฀to฀assess฀and฀address฀the฀everyday฀injustices฀limiting฀their฀life฀ attempted฀to฀create฀a฀curricular฀experience฀that฀would฀counter฀the฀
chances,฀their฀freedom,฀and฀their฀ability฀to฀pursue฀happiness.฀Proudly฀over฀ oppressively฀reproductive฀nature฀of฀traditional฀secondary฀curriculum.฀

Regeneración
This฀conscious฀political฀decision฀was฀based฀on฀three฀perspectives:฀(1)฀Jules฀ (Yosso,฀2006)฀and฀the฀funds฀of฀knowledge฀(Gonzalez฀et฀al.฀1995)฀that฀the฀
Henry’s฀notion฀that฀the฀traditional฀curriculum฀fostered฀stupidity฀in฀students฀ students฀carry฀with฀them฀as฀they฀enter฀the฀classroom฀doors.฀
when฀it฀came฀to฀issues฀of฀race,฀labor,฀economics,฀poverty฀and฀war;฀(2)฀ ฀ Romero฀(2008)฀states฀that฀as฀students฀start฀to฀construct฀their฀histo-
Frances฀Fitzgerald’s฀notion฀that฀the฀traditional฀curriculum฀is฀intended฀for฀ ries฀or฀counterhistories,฀it฀is฀important฀that฀teachers฀build฀in฀both฀group฀
the฀rich฀as฀a฀means฀of฀maintaining฀the฀status฀quo฀within฀the฀social฀and฀ dialogue฀time฀and฀one-on-one฀time฀with฀students.฀฀The฀group฀dialogue฀will฀
political฀order฀of฀American฀society;฀and฀(3)฀Sonia฀Nieto’s฀belief฀that฀the฀ cover฀many฀questions฀and฀concerns,฀and฀will฀help฀students฀towards฀a฀
curriculum฀is฀inadequately฀designed฀to฀serve,฀much฀less,฀build฀upon฀the฀ greater฀social,฀cultural,฀and฀historical฀reality฀because฀these฀are฀their฀counter-
cultural฀and฀social฀strengths฀of฀Chicana/o฀students฀(students฀of฀color).฀ histories.฀฀However,฀the฀teacher-student฀one-on-one฀after฀a฀more฀intimate฀
Given฀the฀response฀of฀our฀students,฀I฀believe฀we฀are฀on฀the฀mark฀when฀it฀ dialogue฀is฀often฀needed฀when฀covering฀authentic฀social฀realities.฀฀More-
comes฀to฀offering฀them฀a฀curricular฀experience฀that฀meets฀their฀academic,฀ over,฀these฀processes฀give฀each฀student฀the฀opportunities฀they฀need฀to฀
cultural,฀and฀intellectual฀needs฀(Romero,฀2008).฀ construct฀his฀or฀her฀own฀counterhistory.฀฀This฀is฀often฀the฀introduction฀to฀
฀ I฀translated฀“how฀you฀taught฀us”฀to฀pedagogy.฀Pedagogy฀is฀critical฀to฀ the฀notion฀of฀counter-narratives฀or฀counterstorytelling฀(Delgado,฀1989).฀
the฀creation฀of฀an฀effective฀classroom฀environment.฀Moreover,฀we฀under- Counterstories฀are฀the฀stories฀that฀counter฀the฀majoritarian฀story฀that฀
stood฀that฀a฀curriculum฀by฀itself฀is฀not฀enough฀for฀students.฀It฀was฀and฀is฀ legitimizes฀the฀Anglo฀story฀as฀the฀“American”฀story฀(Romero,฀2008).฀It฀is฀
our฀belief฀that฀in฀order฀to฀increase฀the฀level฀of฀our฀effectiveness฀and฀ important฀that฀our฀students฀understand฀that฀their฀stories฀and฀the฀stories฀of฀
student฀critical฀consciousness฀–฀building,฀pedagogy฀is฀critical฀to฀this฀ their฀families฀and฀communities฀are฀legitimate฀“American”฀stories฀and฀that฀
process฀(Gay฀2002). they฀are฀a฀significant฀and฀vital฀component฀of฀the฀fabric฀that฀makes฀America฀
฀ Our฀primary฀pedagogical฀orientation฀is฀the฀critical฀pedagogy฀strand฀ and฀Americans.
that฀was฀developed฀from฀the฀work฀of฀Paulo฀Freire฀(1994;฀1998;฀2004).฀ ฀ This฀ability฀to฀remake฀or฀recreate฀their฀schooling฀experience฀offers฀
Freire’s฀critical฀pedagogy฀is฀a฀social฀justice฀project฀that฀announces฀the฀role฀ our฀students฀the฀opportunity฀to฀realize฀and/or฀strengthen฀their฀humanity.฀฀฀
of฀the฀oppressed฀(Chicanas/os฀and฀other฀people฀of฀color).฀Freire฀1994฀ It฀is฀for฀this฀reason฀that฀engaging฀students฀in฀the฀epistemological฀practice฀of฀
states: Tezcatlipoca฀is฀vital.฀฀In฀this฀liberating฀process฀students฀move฀toward฀realiz-
This,฀then,฀is฀the฀great฀humanistic฀and฀historical฀task฀of฀the฀oppressed:฀to฀liberate฀ ing฀their฀humanity฀through฀self-,฀familial-,฀and฀community-critical฀reflec-
themselves฀and฀their฀oppressors฀as฀well.฀The฀oppressors,฀who฀oppress,฀exploit฀and฀ tions฀(Romero,฀Arce฀&฀Cammarota,฀2009).฀Without฀their฀humanity,฀our฀
rape฀by฀virtue฀of฀their฀power,฀cannot฀find฀in฀this฀power฀the฀strength฀to฀liberate฀ students฀struggle฀to฀gain฀a฀critical฀consciousness.฀฀Without฀humanity฀and฀a฀
either฀the฀oppressed฀or฀themselves.฀Only฀power฀that฀springs฀from฀the฀weakness฀ critical฀consciousness,฀these฀students฀become฀the฀premier฀prey฀for฀cultural฀
of฀the฀oppressed฀will฀be฀sufficiently฀strong฀to฀free฀both…in฀order฀for฀this฀struggle฀ and฀capitalist฀predators฀(McLaren,฀1995).
to฀have฀meaning,฀the฀oppressed฀must฀not,฀in฀seeking฀to฀regain฀their฀humanity฀
(which฀is฀a฀way฀to฀recreate฀it),฀becomes฀in฀turn฀oppressors฀of฀the฀oppressors,฀but฀ Tina:฀You฀guys฀were฀like฀our฀tíos฀…฀like฀my฀dad฀even.฀฀There฀was฀that฀love,฀there฀
rather฀the฀restorers฀of฀the฀humanity฀of฀both. was฀that฀cariño,฀there฀was฀that฀touch;฀you฀guys฀could฀relate฀to฀us,฀it฀was฀a฀relief.฀฀
Finally,฀somebody฀that฀understood฀where฀we฀were฀coming฀from;฀we฀didn’t฀have฀to฀
฀ Our฀pedagogy฀is฀centered฀on฀the฀lived฀experiences฀of฀the฀students,฀ make฀this฀big฀‘ol฀explanation฀to฀try฀to฀make฀you฀understand฀us.฀.฀.฀.฀There฀was฀still฀
that฀type฀of฀security฀and฀it฀was฀there฀and฀a฀lot฀of฀love,฀a฀lot฀of฀love฀for฀all฀of฀us฀to฀
and฀it฀promotes฀the฀literacy฀of฀these฀experiences.฀In฀this฀approach,฀we,฀like฀ you฀guys฀and฀from฀you฀guys฀to฀us฀because฀you฀guys฀show฀it฀to฀us฀how฀much฀you฀
Freire฀and฀Macedo฀(1987),฀advocate฀for฀a฀“the฀reading฀of฀the฀word฀and฀the฀ guys฀went฀through฀for฀us.฀฀You฀guys฀did฀.฀.฀.฀hicieron฀lo฀imposible฀(did฀the฀impos-
world.”฀฀As฀is฀the฀case฀with฀the฀curriculum,฀this฀critical฀literacy฀builds฀upon฀ sible)฀.฀.฀.฀to฀make฀us฀get฀back฀on฀our฀feet฀and฀to฀make฀us฀want฀something฀out฀of฀life฀
the฀cultural฀literacies฀/฀cultural฀reality฀(Romero,฀2008),฀cultural฀wealth฀ (Romero,฀2008,฀p.฀205-06).฀

Regeneración
฀ The฀intersectionality฀of฀culture฀as฀a฀resource฀and฀Tezcatlipoca฀created฀ classrooms฀(Romero,฀2008).
a฀space฀wherein฀Tina฀felt฀more฀whole.฀฀It฀was฀in฀this฀whole฀state฀that฀she฀felt฀
as฀though฀she฀had฀greater฀control฀of฀her฀current฀space.฀฀We฀were฀able฀to฀ OUTCOME฀AND฀VOICE
help฀tri-dimensionalize฀her฀reality.฀฀In฀essence,฀because฀we฀were฀able฀to฀help฀ ฀ Over฀the฀last฀seven฀academic฀years,฀our฀students฀(over฀1,100)฀have฀
her฀develop฀a฀strong฀sense฀of฀agency฀that฀led฀to฀a฀more฀secure฀socio-reality.฀฀ outperformed฀all฀other฀students฀on฀the฀state฀high฀stakes฀graduation฀exam,฀
This฀healing฀and฀development฀took฀place฀through฀an฀understanding฀of฀her฀ have฀graduated฀from฀high฀school฀at฀a฀higher฀rate฀than฀their฀Anglo฀peers,฀
historic฀and฀cultural฀self,฀and฀who฀this฀perceptive฀ground฀her฀and฀creates฀ and฀our฀students฀have฀matriculated฀to฀college฀at฀a฀rate฀that฀is฀greater฀than฀
roots฀in฀the฀moment.฀These฀two฀intersections฀have฀helped฀Tina฀to฀recognize฀ the฀national฀average฀for฀Chicana/o฀students.฀
the฀hope฀that฀exists฀in฀her฀future฀thus฀completing฀the฀tri-dimensionalization฀ ฀ In฀regards฀to฀our฀students’฀performance฀on฀Arizona’s฀high฀stakes฀
of฀her฀reality.฀ graduation฀exam;฀when฀you฀compare฀them฀to฀their฀similarly฀situated฀peers฀
฀ Student฀–฀parent฀–฀teacher฀interactions฀is฀how฀I฀translated,฀“How฀you฀ at฀the฀four฀high฀schools฀where฀our฀program฀has฀been฀implemented.฀Our฀
treat฀us฀and฀our฀parents.”฀With฀regard฀to฀students,฀relationships฀were฀created฀ students฀have฀inverted฀the฀achievement฀gap.฀Our฀students฀are:฀three฀times฀
through฀the฀understanding฀that฀students฀come฀to฀us฀with฀cultural฀assets฀ more฀likely฀to฀pass฀the฀Reading฀section;฀four฀times฀more฀likely฀to฀pass฀the฀
that฀can฀be฀used฀as฀learning฀tools.฀Having฀an฀understanding฀(see฀Delgado฀ Writing฀section,฀and฀Two฀and฀Half฀times฀more฀likely฀to฀pass฀the฀Math฀
Bernal’s฀1998฀cultural฀intuition)฀of฀these฀cultural฀assets฀are฀critical฀to฀estab- section฀than฀their฀peers฀not฀in฀our฀program.฀At฀these฀same฀four฀sites฀over฀
lishment฀of฀strong฀student฀–teacher฀relationships.฀Identifying฀and฀building฀ the฀same฀time฀frame,฀we฀have฀graduated฀97.5%฀of฀our฀students.฀During฀that฀
upon฀these฀cultural฀assets฀is฀the฀next฀step.฀Each฀of฀the฀students฀in฀my฀2008฀ same฀time฀and฀at฀the฀same฀sites,฀Anglos฀have฀a฀graduation฀rate฀of฀
study฀about฀the฀SJEP฀stated฀that฀he฀or฀she฀had฀a฀significantly฀greater฀appre- 82.5%.
ciation฀for฀his฀or฀her฀experiences฀in฀the฀SJEP฀because฀the฀teachers฀in฀the฀ Over฀the฀course฀of฀this฀same฀period,฀slightly฀more฀than฀67%฀of฀our฀students฀
project฀related฀to฀them฀and฀loved฀them฀for฀all฀that฀they฀were.฀The฀experi- were฀enrolled฀in฀post-secondary฀education฀after฀they฀graduated฀high฀
ences฀were฀relevant฀and฀engaging฀for฀the฀students฀in฀this฀study฀because฀ school.฀This฀is฀179%฀greater฀than฀the฀national฀average฀of฀24%฀for฀Chicano฀/฀
experiences฀both฀inside฀and฀outside฀the฀project฀were฀centered฀upon฀their฀ Mexican฀American฀students.฀
lives.฀Olvia฀Guevara฀said,฀“For฀the฀first฀time฀in฀my฀life,฀I฀was฀important;฀for฀the฀ ฀ Over฀the฀past฀seven฀academic฀years,฀we฀have฀conducted฀more฀than฀
first฀time,฀who฀I฀was;฀and฀where฀I฀came฀from฀was฀important”฀(Romero,฀2008,฀ 1900฀student฀pre฀and฀post-course฀surveys.฀Some฀of฀the฀highlights฀revealed฀
p.฀230). by฀these฀survey฀are:฀1)฀96฀%฀of฀the฀students฀agree฀and฀strongly฀agree฀that฀
฀ The฀relationships฀developed฀within฀the฀SJEP฀and฀through฀the฀CCI฀ they฀talk฀to฀their฀parents฀and/or฀other฀adults฀about฀what฀I’ve฀learned฀on฀
model฀were฀started฀by฀a฀demonstration฀of฀humanity฀and฀solidarity.฀This฀is฀a฀ this฀project฀or฀in฀this฀class,฀2)฀95%฀of฀the฀students฀agree฀and฀strongly฀agree฀
form฀of฀praxis฀that฀Romero฀used฀in฀his฀classes฀prior฀to฀the฀SJEP,฀which฀was฀ that฀they฀are฀willing฀to฀do฀homework฀in฀order฀to฀keep฀the฀project฀moving฀
widely฀appreciated฀by฀countless฀numbers฀of฀former฀students.฀This฀praxis฀ along฀on฀time฀or฀to฀ensure฀participation฀in฀the฀class,฀3)฀97฀%฀of฀the฀students฀
involves฀what฀I฀refer฀to฀as฀the฀revealing฀of฀our฀hearts฀and฀souls.฀The฀revealing฀ agree฀and฀strongly฀agree฀that฀the฀project฀or฀the฀class฀has฀better฀prepared฀
of฀teachers’฀hearts฀and฀souls฀transcends฀the฀dialogical฀method฀(Freire,฀1994)฀ them฀for฀college,฀and฀4)฀98%฀of฀the฀students฀agree฀and฀strongly฀agree฀that฀
in฀that฀love฀becomes฀the฀foundation฀on฀which฀dialogical฀relationships฀are฀ working฀on฀this฀project฀or฀taking฀this฀class฀has฀help฀them฀believe฀that฀they฀
built฀and฀upon฀where฀critical฀praxis฀is฀nurtured.฀In฀this฀praxis,฀the฀teacher฀ have฀something฀worthwhile฀to฀contribute฀to฀society.
demonstrates฀risk฀taking,฀the฀sharing฀of฀trust,฀and฀the฀realism฀of฀her/his฀ ฀ One฀of฀the฀primary฀objectives฀of฀our฀courses฀is฀to฀instill฀a฀strong฀
humanity.฀It฀is฀my฀belief฀that฀before฀we฀as฀teachers฀can฀expect฀our฀students฀ sense฀of฀identity,฀purpose,฀and฀hope฀in฀our฀students฀(Romero,฀2008).฀I฀
to฀take฀risks,฀trust฀us,฀and฀claim,฀reclaim฀or฀nurture฀their฀humanity,฀we฀must฀ believe฀that฀if฀we฀can฀accomplish฀fulfill฀these฀human฀capacities,฀then฀the฀
demonstrate฀that฀the฀space฀for฀these฀critical฀elements฀exists฀in฀their/our฀ academic฀capacities฀of฀our฀students฀simultaneously฀be฀elevated฀(Romero,฀

Regeneración
2008,฀Romero,฀Arce,฀&฀Cammarota,฀2009).฀The฀following฀are฀some฀of฀the฀ authors฀of฀SB฀1108,฀argued฀that฀these฀voices฀“denigrate฀American฀values”฀
student฀articulation฀of฀identity,฀purpose,฀and฀hope:฀Identity฀-฀“Before฀your฀ and฀“overtly฀encourage฀dissent”฀against฀American฀values.฀Moreover,฀the฀
class฀and฀this฀project,฀I฀don’t฀know฀who฀I฀was.฀It฀is฀like฀I฀was฀living฀outside฀of฀ discourse฀within฀this฀bill฀becomes฀crystal฀clear฀when฀one฀realizes฀that฀SB฀
myself฀and฀just฀about฀everybody฀else.฀I฀am฀now฀alive;฀before฀I฀do฀not฀know฀ 1108฀was฀a฀Homeland฀Security฀Bill.฀The฀very฀idea฀that฀the฀abolishment฀of฀
what฀I฀was”฀(Oliva฀Guevara฀from฀Romero,฀2008,฀p.฀125),฀Purpose฀-฀“The฀class,฀ our฀program฀was฀advocated฀as฀a฀matter฀of฀National฀or฀State฀security,฀fully฀
the฀project,฀I฀mean฀you฀guys฀showed฀the฀students฀that฀we฀could฀say฀some- exposes฀the฀level฀of฀hates,฀paranoia,฀and฀fears฀that฀resides฀in฀the฀hearts฀of฀
thing,฀and฀we฀didn’t฀have฀to฀be฀scared.฀Now,฀we฀know฀that฀we฀need฀to฀stand฀ our฀attackers.฀We฀were฀fortunate฀that฀this฀bill฀was฀the฀most฀egregious,฀
up.฀We฀are฀conscious,฀and฀we฀need฀to฀use฀our฀conscious฀for฀justice,฀and฀to฀ hateful,฀and฀the฀broadest฀reaching฀of฀the฀three฀bills.฀This฀bill฀included฀not฀
fight฀racism.฀Damn฀mister,฀this฀was฀the฀best฀part,฀one฀of฀the฀best฀parts”฀ only฀K-12฀education,฀but฀also฀all฀of฀the฀community฀college฀and฀university฀
(Rolando฀Yanez฀from฀Romero,฀2008,฀p.฀158),฀and฀Hope฀-฀“I฀love฀the฀project,฀it฀ ethnic฀studies฀programs.฀It฀also฀included฀any฀and฀all฀K-12,฀community฀
was฀great,฀and฀it฀helped฀me฀feel฀smarter฀and฀know฀that฀I฀could฀challenge฀ college฀and฀university฀clubs฀and฀organizations฀that฀had฀any฀kind฀of฀ethnic฀
the฀teachers,฀and฀the฀project฀gave฀the฀idea฀that฀I฀could฀help฀my฀community,฀ orientation.฀Therefore,฀clubs฀like฀that฀the฀Association฀of฀Black฀Engineers฀
and฀that฀is฀what฀I฀am฀going฀to฀do฀with฀my฀life”฀(Tina฀Verdugo฀from฀Romero,฀ Students฀or฀Latino฀sororities฀or฀fraternities฀would฀have฀been฀abolished฀by฀
2008,฀p.฀203).฀ this฀piece฀of฀legislation.฀We฀were฀able฀to฀recruit฀the฀support฀of฀the฀three฀
฀ In฀the฀era฀of฀accountability฀and฀the฀in฀the฀era฀of฀No฀Child฀Left฀ major฀Arizona฀universities,฀and฀many฀of฀there฀ethnically฀rooted฀clubs฀and฀
Behind,฀we฀have฀exceeded฀the฀mandates฀of฀this฀era;฀however,฀despite฀our฀ organizations.฀
substantial฀success฀we฀have฀fallen฀victim฀to฀hypocrisy฀of฀those฀who฀seek฀to฀ ฀ The฀vast฀broad฀based฀opposition฀of฀SB฀1108฀led฀to฀its฀death฀on฀the฀
preserve฀the฀status฀quo฀of฀America’s฀racial฀and฀social฀order฀(Romero,฀2008).฀฀ senate฀floor.฀฀However,฀we฀knew฀that฀this฀was฀just฀the฀beginning.฀We฀knew฀
In฀fact,฀for฀Tom฀Horne฀this฀battle,฀“…฀Is฀not฀about฀education฀or฀academics,฀it฀ that฀in฀the฀future฀the฀political฀will฀would฀be฀greater,฀and฀we฀knew฀that฀when฀
is฀about฀values”฀(Horne฀seeks฀info฀on฀ethnic฀studies฀programs฀in฀TUSD,"฀ the฀time฀was฀right฀there฀would฀conservatives฀that฀would฀use฀the฀devasta-
2007).฀My฀question฀has฀been฀and฀is,฀“when฀did฀education฀lose฀its฀status฀as฀ tion฀of฀our฀program,฀
one฀of฀our฀country’s฀core฀values?฀Moreover,฀how฀convenient,฀in฀the฀middle฀ our฀communities,฀and฀
of฀the฀accountability฀game,฀the฀Department฀of฀Education฀is฀going฀to฀ our฀children฀for฀
change฀the฀rules฀on฀us.฀This฀is฀hypocrisy฀at฀its฀finest. political฀gain.฀
Bills In฀2009,฀Senate฀Bill฀
฀ In฀each฀of฀the฀past฀three฀years฀a฀bill฀has฀been฀introduced฀into฀the฀ 1069฀was฀introduced฀
Arizona฀legislature฀to฀abolish฀the฀MAS฀and฀all฀ethnic฀studies฀programs฀from฀ in฀the฀Arizona฀State฀
the฀state’s฀secondary฀schools.฀I฀must฀make฀it฀clear฀that฀Tucson฀Unified฀ Senate.฀SB฀1069฀was฀
School฀District฀is฀the฀only฀district฀in฀the฀State฀that฀has฀an฀ethnic฀studies฀ less฀egregious฀than฀
program.฀Moreover,฀during฀his฀testimony฀to฀the฀Arizona฀Senate’s฀Education฀ SB฀1108;฀however,฀it฀
Committee฀on฀April฀7,฀2010฀State฀Superintendent฀of฀Public฀Instruction฀Tom฀ still฀forwarded฀a฀
Horne฀stated฀that฀his฀only฀concern฀his฀the฀“Raza฀Studies฀Department฀in฀ discourse฀of฀dishon-
TUSD”(Arizona฀State฀Legislature,฀2010). esty฀and฀fear฀monger-
฀ The฀first฀bill฀established฀the฀truth฀within฀the฀hearts฀of฀our฀attackers.฀ ing.฀This฀bill฀estab-
In฀the฀spring฀of฀2008,฀Senate฀Bill฀1108฀(SB1108)฀was฀introduced฀in฀the฀ lished฀some฀of฀the฀ Mexican฀American฀/฀Raza฀Studies฀Teachers฀
Arizona฀State฀Legislature.฀In฀essence,฀SB฀1108฀would฀prohibit฀the฀use฀of฀any฀ language฀that฀would฀ Presenting฀in฀South฀Los฀Angeles฀As฀Part฀of฀the฀
curriculum฀centered฀in฀the฀voices฀and฀experiences฀of฀people฀color.฀The฀ appear฀in฀2010’s฀ Save฀Ethnic฀Studies฀Tour.
Senate฀Bill฀2281,฀“A฀

Regeneración
school฀district฀or฀charter฀school฀in฀this฀state฀shall฀not฀include฀in฀the฀ COUNTERS
program฀of฀instruction฀any฀courses฀or฀classes฀that฀either:฀1.฀Are฀designed฀ ฀ Over฀the฀last฀three฀years฀we฀have฀used฀as฀variety฀of฀counters฀to฀the฀
primarily฀for฀pupils฀of฀a฀particular฀ethnic฀group.฀2.฀Advocate฀ethnic฀solidarity฀ proposed฀anti-Ethnic฀Studies฀legislation.฀In฀2008,฀I฀was฀a฀member฀of฀the฀
instead฀of฀the฀treatment฀of฀pupils฀as฀individuals”฀(Arizona฀State฀Legislature,฀ Governor฀Janet฀Napolitano’s฀Latino฀Advisory฀Board.฀In฀April฀of฀2008,฀
2010).฀ Romero฀made฀a฀presentation฀on฀MAS฀at฀the฀governor’s฀monthly฀meeting.฀
฀ In฀2010,฀House฀Bill฀2281฀(HB2281)฀was฀introduced฀in฀Arizona฀State฀ After฀the฀presentation,฀Governor฀Napolitano฀guaranteed฀Romero฀and฀the฀
House฀of฀Representatives.฀Once฀this฀bill฀passed฀from฀the฀House฀to฀Senate,฀it฀ rest฀of฀the฀Board฀that฀if฀the฀bill฀made฀it฀to฀her฀desk,฀and฀she฀would฀veto฀it฀
was฀heard฀in฀the฀Senate฀Education฀Committee฀on฀April฀7,฀2010.฀At฀this฀ without฀hesitation.฀Fortunately,฀the฀bill฀died฀on฀the฀House฀side฀of฀legisla-
hearing฀Arizona’s฀Superintendent฀of฀Public฀Instruction฀Tom฀Horne,฀stated฀in฀ ture,฀and฀we฀did฀not฀have฀to฀use฀the฀Governor’s฀veto.
his฀testimony฀he฀sponsored฀this฀bill฀because฀he฀believed฀that฀Mexican฀ ฀ In฀2009,฀SB1108฀passed฀out฀of฀the฀Judicial฀Committee฀in฀the฀Senate,฀
American฀Studies฀promoted฀anti-American฀sentiment,฀and฀resentment฀ and฀went฀to฀the฀third฀of฀the฀required฀three฀reads,฀which฀made฀SB1108฀
towards฀White฀people.฀In฀a฀4-3฀vote฀that฀went฀right฀down฀party฀lines฀(Rs฀yes฀ eligible฀for฀vote฀on฀the฀Senate฀floor.฀Fortunately,฀we฀were฀able฀to฀negotiate฀
and฀the฀Ds฀no),฀HB฀2281฀moved฀out฀of฀the฀committee.฀However,฀the฀most฀ our฀way฀out฀of฀this฀bill.฀On฀Father’s฀Day฀2009,฀we฀met฀with฀one฀of฀the฀
repulsive฀part฀of฀the฀hearing฀was฀that฀despite฀the฀presence฀of฀numerous฀ republican฀power฀players,฀and฀in฀this฀meeting฀it฀was฀agreed฀that฀the฀bill฀
groups฀and฀individuals฀supporting฀the฀MAS฀program,฀the฀Chairmen฀of฀the฀ would฀be฀killed฀(details฀of฀this฀meeting฀are฀confidential).฀Despite฀this฀
Education฀Committee,฀Republican฀John฀Huppenthal฀denied฀them฀the฀ agreement฀there฀was฀coalition฀of฀community฀groups฀that฀wanted฀to฀
opportunity฀to฀testify,฀despite฀having฀given฀our฀adversaries฀all฀the฀time฀they฀ demonstrate฀their฀support฀for฀MAS.฀This฀coalition฀decided฀that฀it฀would฀
needed฀to฀full฀articulate฀their฀lies.฀In฀fact,฀he฀did฀so฀despite฀the฀fervent฀ sponsor฀a฀run฀from฀Tucson฀to฀Phoenix฀in฀the฀middle฀of฀summer.฀The฀Equal-
protest฀of฀the฀committee’s฀three฀democratic฀members.฀He฀arrogantly฀ ity฀and฀Justice฀Run฀that฀took฀place฀over฀three฀days.฀On฀June27฀&,฀28,฀2009฀
ignored฀the฀protest฀and฀called฀for฀the฀vote.฀Adding฀to฀the฀level฀of฀arrogance฀ over฀50฀Tucsonans฀(youth,฀students,฀parents,฀community฀members,฀educa-
and฀ignorance฀is฀the฀reality฀that฀the฀republicans฀cast฀their฀votes฀in฀the฀blind฀ tors,฀and฀district฀administrators)฀ran฀over฀130฀miles฀in฀heat฀of฀up฀to฀117°,฀
(the฀Democrats฀had฀previously฀requested฀information฀about฀our฀program).฀ across฀the฀desert฀from฀Tucson฀to฀Phoenix.฀฀Over฀the฀course฀of฀the฀run,฀
None฀of฀them฀had฀any฀real฀understanding฀of฀our฀program฀other฀than฀what฀ hundreds฀of฀supporters฀from฀the฀barrios฀and฀communities฀of฀Tucson,฀Eloy,฀
they฀had฀most฀likely฀read฀in฀Phoenix฀papers,฀and฀the฀lies฀they฀heard฀during฀ Casa฀Blanca,฀Guadalupe฀and฀Phoenix฀joined฀our฀runners.฀The฀run฀culmi-
the฀allowed฀testimony฀of฀our฀adversaries.฀As฀stated฀above,฀HB฀2281฀was฀ nated฀on฀June฀29,฀2009฀with฀a฀nearly฀300฀person฀march฀to฀the฀State฀Capitol฀
signed฀into฀law฀by฀Governor฀Jan฀Brewer฀who฀herself฀does฀not฀have฀any฀ Building.฀
first-hand฀knowledge฀of฀our฀program;฀moreover,฀she฀was฀not฀willing฀to฀ ฀ It฀must฀be฀noted฀that฀one฀of฀the฀most฀critical฀aspects฀of฀the฀Equal-
meet฀with฀us฀to฀gain฀an฀honest฀understanding฀of฀the฀nature฀and฀scope฀of฀ ity฀and฀Justice฀Run฀was฀the฀spiritual฀support฀we฀were฀given฀by฀the฀Yoeme฀
our฀program฀nor฀its฀educational฀and฀social฀merits. and฀Akimel฀O’odham฀nations฀as฀we฀ran฀through฀their฀lands.฀In฀addition,฀it฀
฀ HB฀2281states฀that฀classes฀in฀Arizona฀public฀schools฀cannot:฀1.฀ must฀be฀understood฀that฀this฀was฀about฀healing฀and฀it฀was฀linked฀to฀
Promote฀the฀overthrow฀of฀the฀United฀States฀government.฀2.฀Promote฀resent- indigenous฀traditional฀practice.฀The฀Run฀was฀used฀as฀a฀channel฀to฀carry฀out฀
ment฀toward฀a฀race฀or฀class฀of฀people.฀3.฀Be฀designed฀primarily฀for฀pupils฀of฀ positive฀change฀in฀our฀communities,฀and฀in฀our฀State.฀The฀Run฀was฀not฀a฀
a฀particular฀ethnic฀group.฀4.฀Advocate฀ethnic฀solidarity฀instead฀of฀the฀treat- march,฀a฀rally,฀or฀a฀race;฀but฀rather,฀an฀opportunity฀for฀our฀supporters,฀
ment฀of฀pupils฀as฀individuals.฀The฀fact฀of฀the฀matter฀is฀that฀we฀do฀not฀do฀any฀ teachers,฀and฀students฀to฀unite฀for฀purpose฀of฀healing,฀and฀to฀do฀so฀
of฀the฀things฀prohibited฀by฀HB฀2281.฀However,฀in฀this฀case,฀we฀are฀guilty฀in฀ through฀an฀indigenous฀tradition฀that฀generates฀change฀through฀prayer.฀฀
proven฀innocent.฀This฀fact฀runs฀contrary฀to฀the฀core฀American฀legal฀value฀ The฀Yoeme฀and฀Akimel฀O’odham฀nations฀believe฀the฀energy฀that฀is฀
that฀one฀is฀innocent฀until฀proven฀guilty. projected฀from฀the฀momentum฀of฀the฀run,฀its฀runners,฀their฀intentions฀and฀

Regeneración
and฀their฀constant฀connection฀to฀the฀earth฀will฀be฀reciprocated฀in฀the฀form฀ Freire,฀P.฀(1994).฀Pedagogy฀of฀the฀oppressed.฀New฀York:฀The฀Continuum.
of฀a฀healing฀and฀ultimately฀a฀blessing. Freire,฀P.฀(1998).฀Teachers฀as฀cultural฀workers:฀Letters฀to฀those฀who฀dare฀to฀teach.฀Oxford:฀Westview฀
฀ In฀2010,฀we฀did฀not฀have฀a฀friendly฀governor,฀and฀due฀to฀the฀fact฀that฀ Press.
Freire,฀P.฀(2004).฀Pedagogy฀of฀hope:฀Reliving฀pedagogy฀of฀the฀oppressed.฀New฀York:฀The฀Continuum.
there฀is฀a฀heightened฀sense฀of฀republican฀political฀will฀(2010฀is฀an฀election฀ Gay,฀G.฀(2002).฀Culturally฀responsive฀teaching฀in฀special฀education฀for฀ethnically฀diverse฀students:฀
year฀in฀Arizona),฀we฀had฀no฀leverage฀to฀negotiate฀HB฀2281’s฀withdrawal฀or฀ setting฀the฀stage.฀Qualitative฀Studies฀in฀Education,฀15(6),฀613฀–฀629.
defeat.฀As฀a฀result,฀we฀were฀left฀to฀the฀mercy฀of฀demagogues฀that฀planned฀to฀ Gonzalez,฀N,฀Moll,฀L.,฀Tenery,฀F.,฀Rivera,฀A.,฀Rendon,฀P.,฀Gonzales,฀R.,฀&฀Amanti,฀C.฀(1995).฀Funds฀of฀
use฀our฀program฀to฀advance฀their฀political฀platform.฀After฀the฀billed฀passed฀ knowledge฀for฀teaching฀in฀Latino฀households.฀Urban฀Education,฀29,฀443฀-470.
out฀of฀committee฀on฀April฀7th,฀we฀knew฀the฀end฀result฀was฀a฀foregone฀ Horne฀seeks฀info฀on฀ethnic฀studies฀programs฀in฀TUSD.฀(2007,฀November฀15).฀Arizona฀Daily฀Star.
McLaren,฀P.฀(1995).฀Critical฀Pedagogy฀and฀predatory฀culture.฀New฀York:฀Routledge.
conclusion. Romero,฀A.฀(2008).฀Towards฀a฀critically฀compassionate฀intellectualism฀model฀of฀transformative฀
education:฀Love,฀hope,฀identity,฀and฀organic฀intellectualism฀through฀the฀convergence฀of฀critical฀race฀
IMPLICATIONS฀AND฀OUTREACH theory,฀critical฀pedagogy,฀and฀authentic฀caring.฀Unpublished฀doctoral฀dissertation,฀University฀of฀
฀ That฀brings฀us฀to฀the฀current฀moment,฀we฀are฀gearing฀up฀for฀a฀legal฀ Arizona.
battle,฀but฀are฀not฀quite฀sure฀what฀the฀future฀holds฀for฀our฀program.฀As฀the฀ Romero,฀A.฀&฀Arce,฀M.฀(2010).฀Mi฀Otro฀Yo:฀Academic฀and฀Intellectual฀Apartheid฀as฀Legislative฀Policy,฀
dreamers฀that฀we฀are,฀we฀believe฀that฀truth฀and฀justice฀will฀prevail.฀However,฀ and฀the฀Attack฀on฀Critically฀Compassionate฀Intellectualism.฀฀Hamline฀University฀School฀of฀Law฀
Journal฀of฀Public฀Law฀and฀Policy.
we฀do฀need฀your฀support,฀we฀have฀established฀a฀Save฀Ethnic฀Studies฀ Tucson฀Unified฀School฀District,฀Accountability฀and฀Research฀Department.฀Retrieved฀from฀
Defense฀Fund.฀I฀hope฀that฀each฀person฀who฀reads฀this฀article฀will฀support฀ http://www.tusd1.org/.
our฀struggle฀for฀educational฀sovereignty฀and฀the฀preservation฀of฀cultural฀ Yosso,฀T.฀(2006).฀Critical฀race฀counterstories฀along฀the฀Chicana/Chicano฀educational฀pipeline.฀New฀York:฀
studies฀in฀K-20฀education. Routledge.
฀ Please฀be฀aware฀that฀we฀are฀the฀first฀domino,฀we฀are฀the฀proven฀
grounds฀for฀the฀attacks฀on฀Ethnics฀Studies,฀Cultural฀Studies,฀Multicultural฀
Education฀etc.฀If฀we฀are฀successful,฀we฀have฀prevented฀the฀fall฀of฀the฀next฀
domino,฀which฀may฀your฀program฀or฀a฀program฀that฀you฀support฀or฀find฀
valuable.฀However,฀if฀we฀fall,฀I฀am฀certain฀that฀your฀program฀will฀be฀next.฀
With฀Love,฀Respect,฀and฀Appreciation
References:
Arizona฀State฀Legislature.฀(2010).฀Arizona฀State฀Legislator฀Bills.฀Retrieved฀from฀฀฀
http://www.azleg.gov/.
Cammarota,฀J.฀&฀Romero,฀A.฀(2006a).฀A฀Critically฀Compassionate฀Pedagogy฀for฀Latino฀youth.฀Latino฀
Studies,฀4(3),฀305-312.
Cammarota,฀J.฀&฀Romero,฀A.฀(2006b).฀A฀Critically฀Compassionate฀Intellectualism฀for฀Latina/o฀students:฀
Raising฀voices฀above฀the฀silencing฀in฀our฀schools.฀Multicultural฀฀Education,฀14(2),฀16-23. Save฀Ethnic฀Studies฀Tour฀
Delgado฀Bernal,฀D.฀(1998).฀Using฀a฀feminist฀Latina฀epistemology฀in฀education฀research.฀Harvard฀ Members฀Waiting฀to฀Speak฀at฀
Education฀Review,฀68,฀555-582. the฀Centro฀Cultural฀Francisco฀
Delgado,฀R.฀(1989).฀Storytelling฀for฀oppositionists฀and฀others:฀A฀plea฀for฀narrative.฀฀Michigan฀Law฀ Villa,฀South฀Los฀Angeles,฀Octob฀
Review,฀87,฀2411-2441. er฀2010.

Regeneración
CAPITALIST-COLONIALIST฀CORPORATIONS฀MOVE฀TO฀TAKE฀COMPETE฀CON-
OBAMA฀IS฀NOTHING฀BUT฀A฀“FRONT”฀FOR฀THE฀CONTINUING฀WAR฀AGAINST฀
TROL฀OF฀EDUCATION:฀฀WHAT฀MUST฀RAZA฀EDUCATORS฀DO?
EDUCATION,฀TEACHERS,฀AND฀OPPRESSED฀COMMUNITIES
By฀Ernesto฀Bustillos
฀ On฀the฀other฀hand,฀the฀regime฀of฀U.S.฀President฀Barack฀Obama฀has฀
done฀nothing฀to฀roll฀back฀or฀eliminate฀any฀thing฀fundamental฀or฀of฀conse-
Note:฀Ernesto฀Bustillos฀is฀a฀member฀of฀A.R.E.฀San฀Diego.฀฀Material฀developed฀in฀
quence฀in฀regards฀to฀the฀provisions฀found฀in฀the฀NCLBA฀(No฀Child฀Left฀
this฀article฀forms฀part฀of฀a฀presentation฀delivered฀at฀the฀Teachers-4-Social฀
Behind฀Act).฀A฀product฀of฀the฀racist-reactionary,฀former฀president,฀George฀
Justice฀Conference,฀Oct.฀9,฀฀2010,฀held฀at฀Mission฀High฀School฀in฀San฀Francisco,฀
Bush,฀the฀NCLBA฀took฀effect฀in฀2002.฀Eliminating฀any฀curriculum฀that฀
CA.
teaches฀critical฀thinking,฀NCBA฀imposes฀standardized฀testing,฀relies฀heavily฀
on฀“monolithic฀teaching”,฀and฀down฀plays฀the฀importance฀of฀liberal฀arts-
฀ Within฀the฀last฀30฀years฀we฀have฀witnessed฀U.S.฀Colonial-Capitalist฀
humanities฀and฀multicultural฀studies฀in฀the฀educational฀process.
corporations฀more฀aggressively฀moving฀towards฀the฀complete฀control฀of฀
฀ In฀fact,฀Obama฀has฀implemented฀two฀programs฀that฀further฀support฀
education฀and฀its฀curriculum,฀as฀well฀as฀the฀destruction฀of฀teachers฀unions.฀
the฀essence฀NCLBA:฀(1)฀“Educate฀To฀Innovate”฀and฀(2)฀“Race฀To฀The฀Top”.฀
Along฀with฀denying฀our฀youth฀a฀relevant฀and฀meaningful฀education,฀elimi-
Both฀are฀schemes฀manufactured฀and฀controlled฀by฀private฀corporations฀
nation฀of฀teacher฀positions,฀and฀the฀debasing฀of฀the฀teaching฀profession฀–a฀
whose฀aims฀are฀to:฀advance฀standardized-roboticized฀teaching฀and฀learn-
major฀aim฀of฀this฀movement฀is฀the฀conversion฀of฀“Public฀Schools”฀into฀profit฀
ing;฀promote฀merit฀pay฀and฀competition฀among฀teachers฀and฀school฀
making฀enterprises.฀
districts;฀destroy฀or฀weaken฀teachers฀unions;฀and฀encourage฀the฀establish-
฀ In฀2007,฀Jonathan฀Kozol,฀liberal฀educator฀and฀author฀of฀many฀books,฀
ment฀of฀charter฀schools฀where฀the฀educational฀process฀becomes฀a฀capital-
among฀them฀Shame฀of฀A฀Nation,฀wrote฀in฀an฀article฀titled฀the฀Big฀Enchilada:
ist฀enterprise.฀(3)
“An฀investment฀banking฀firm฀known฀as฀Montgomery฀Securities฀described฀
฀ The฀truth฀is฀that฀the฀Obama฀regime฀is฀furthering฀the฀conditions฀that฀
the฀financial฀benefits฀to฀be฀derived฀from฀privatizing฀our฀public฀schools.฀‘The฀
germinate฀an฀education฀powered฀by฀capitalism:฀an฀educational฀system฀
education฀industry,’฀according฀to฀these฀analysts,฀‘represents,฀in฀our฀opinion,฀
based฀on฀monetary฀rewards฀and฀merit฀pay฀for฀teachers;฀driven฀by฀market฀
the฀final฀frontier฀of฀a฀number฀of฀sectors฀once฀under฀public฀control’฀that฀
forces฀and฀not฀education฀(critical฀intellectual฀growth);฀where฀students฀
‘have฀either฀voluntarily฀opened’฀or,฀they฀note฀in฀pointed฀terms,฀have฀‘been฀
become฀“a฀commodity”฀(or฀product);฀and฀where฀schools฀become฀yet฀
forced’฀to฀open฀up฀to฀private฀enterprise.฀Indeed,฀they฀write,฀‘the฀education฀
another฀business฀for฀the฀benefit฀of฀the฀rich-elite,฀versus฀institutions฀that฀
industry฀represents฀the฀largest฀market฀opportunity’฀since฀health฀care฀
benefit฀all฀of฀society.
services฀were฀privatized฀during฀the฀1970s.฀(1)
฀ Unlike฀what฀most฀“liberals฀and฀leftists”฀(Black,฀Brown,฀and฀White)฀
฀ Moreover,฀an฀article฀published฀in฀the฀journal฀Guerrillera/o฀de฀La฀
told฀us฀about฀Obama฀–that฀his฀election฀would฀represent฀progress฀and฀
Pluma,฀described฀the฀current฀situation฀of฀Raza฀and฀the฀question฀of฀Educa-
change–฀the฀truth฀is฀that฀Obama฀has฀proven฀to฀be฀nothing฀but฀a฀front฀for฀
tion฀as:฀฀“A฀conscious-historical฀materialist฀(reality)฀observation฀leads฀us฀to฀
U.S.฀Capitalists-Colonialists.฀฀฀And฀in฀actuality,฀things฀have฀worsen฀for฀
the฀understanding฀that฀these฀‘cutbacks’฀and฀‘layoffs’฀in฀education฀are฀attacks฀
Mexicans-Raza฀and฀other฀oppressed฀people฀(police/Ice฀raids,฀militarization฀
primarily฀aimed฀at฀working฀class฀and฀poor฀Mexican-฀Raza-Native฀Americans,฀
of฀the฀border,฀education฀cut฀backs,฀etc.฀–have฀increased).
Asian-Pacific฀Islanders,฀and฀Africans.฀As฀activists฀and฀revolutionaries฀have฀
฀ The฀African฀People’s฀Socialist฀Party฀was฀correct฀when฀they฀
been฀saying฀for฀the฀last฀three฀decades,฀they฀form฀part฀of฀the฀government’s฀
explained:฀“Barack฀Obama฀wasted฀no฀time฀bowing฀down฀to฀his฀Wall฀Street฀
‘low฀intensity฀warfare’฀whose฀purpose฀is฀to฀keep฀us฀from฀developing฀the฀
financial฀backers฀and฀war-mongering฀advisors.฀His฀cabinet฀selections฀
type฀of฀mass฀revolutionary฀liberation฀movements฀that฀existed฀within฀the฀
represent฀the฀same฀old฀politics฀of฀imperialists฀wars฀of฀plunder฀abroad฀and฀
belly฀of฀beast฀(U.S.)฀in฀the฀late฀1960s฀and฀early฀1970s.”฀(2)

Regeneración
police฀containment฀policies฀against฀the฀African฀and฀Mexican฀communi- belly฀of฀the฀beast฀(United฀States).฀฀These฀include:฀(1)฀understanding฀the฀
ties฀here.฀฀It฀could฀not฀be฀clearer฀that฀Obama…is฀white฀power฀under฀the฀ historical฀relationship฀between฀education฀and฀capitalism/big฀business;฀
cover฀of฀an฀African฀face”฀(4) (2)฀how฀capitalism฀works฀to฀ensure฀it฀has฀control฀over฀the฀education฀of฀
the฀masses;฀(3)฀how฀the฀present฀crisis฀facing฀capitalism฀has฀forced฀it฀to฀be฀
THE฀STATEGIC฀ROLE฀OF฀THE฀CORPORATE฀MEDIA more฀concerned฀about฀keeping฀its฀control฀over฀education;฀and฀(4)฀the฀
impact฀that฀capitalist-colonialist฀education฀has฀had฀upon฀Raza฀and฀other฀
฀ Recently฀two฀massive฀propaganda฀efforts฀where฀launched฀to฀ oppressed฀national฀communities.฀฀Most฀importantly,฀we฀must฀come฀to฀
further฀the฀very฀same฀goals฀of฀Obama’s฀programs.฀฀These฀media฀projects฀ some฀unity฀as฀to฀what฀do฀we,฀as฀Educators,฀social฀justice฀activists,฀and฀
were฀highly฀melodramatic฀attempts฀to฀promote฀capitalist-elitist฀perspec- revolutionaries,฀need฀to฀do฀to฀challenge฀and฀overthrow฀the฀fascist฀grip฀
tives฀and฀place฀the฀blame฀on฀what฀producers฀called฀“a฀crisis฀in฀education”฀ that฀capitalism-colonialism฀has฀over฀the฀education฀of฀our฀children.
–almost฀solely฀on฀teacher฀unions. ฀ History฀teaches฀us฀that฀ever฀since฀the฀establishment฀“public฀
฀ One฀of฀these฀programs฀was฀the฀NBC฀Special฀titled฀“Education฀ education”฀in฀the฀United฀States฀(from฀the฀mid฀to฀late฀1800s),฀the฀
Nation”,฀a฀two-day฀summit฀(held฀in฀New฀York฀City฀on฀September฀27th฀and฀ capitalist-colonialists฀have฀used฀it฀to฀serve฀its฀interests฀and฀needs:
28th฀of฀2010),฀which฀was฀aired฀in฀a฀series฀of฀segments.฀฀It฀was฀a฀blatant฀ •฀functioning฀as฀centers฀to฀produce,฀prepare,฀and฀train฀the฀leaders฀
assault฀on฀teacher฀unions฀and฀progressive฀curriculum,฀while฀at฀the฀same฀ and฀administrators฀who฀will฀manage฀the฀empire.฀
time,฀hypocritically฀claiming฀to฀be฀concerned฀for฀the฀educational฀needs฀of฀ •฀maintaining฀ignorance฀and฀confusion฀among฀the฀masses,฀and฀
“America’s฀Children”.฀(5) ensure฀a฀“political฀stability”฀that฀calls฀for฀a฀“work฀force”฀that฀is฀
฀ The฀other฀was฀the฀movie฀“Waiting฀For฀Superman”,฀a฀documentary฀ educated฀and฀disciplined,฀whose฀main฀purpose฀is฀to฀fulfill฀the฀
where฀the฀majority฀of฀the฀so-called฀expert฀commentators฀and฀film฀ needs฀of฀industry฀and฀big฀business฀–nothing฀else.฀(7)
endorsers฀where฀straight-up฀representatives฀of฀corporations฀or฀their฀ •฀promoting฀consumerism฀(the฀fostering฀of฀a฀desire฀to฀value,฀
“colonial”฀lackeys฀found฀within฀our฀communities.฀Some฀of฀these฀neo- purchase,฀and฀use฀ever฀increasing฀goods฀and฀services)฀through฀
colonial฀“actors”฀included฀Antonio฀Villaraigosa:฀Mayor,฀City฀of฀Los฀Angeles;฀ the฀upholding฀of฀capitalism฀and฀“admiration”฀of฀the฀capitalists;฀
Michelle฀Rhee:฀Chancellor,฀District฀of฀Columbia฀Public฀School฀System฀of฀ where฀students฀are฀constantly฀told฀that฀the฀more฀education฀they฀
Washington,฀D.C.฀,฀and฀Geoffrey฀Canada:฀CEO฀&฀President฀of฀Harlem฀ acquire,฀the฀more฀“material฀goods”฀they฀will฀be฀able฀to฀buy;฀while฀
Children's฀Zone฀Project฀฀–all฀of฀them฀get฀paid฀very฀well฀for฀selling฀out฀the฀ the฀fact฀that฀“consumerism”฀is฀a฀necessity฀of฀capitalism฀–as฀mass฀
interest฀of฀the฀working฀class,฀poor,฀and฀oppressed฀nationalities.฀฀ production฀necessitates฀mass฀consumption-฀is฀hidden.฀(8)
฀ Both฀capitalist฀propaganda฀pieces,฀far฀from฀being฀examples฀of฀ •฀฀nourishing฀xenophobia,฀white฀supremacy,฀and฀a฀patriotism฀that฀
“reformism”฀were฀acts฀of฀“deformism”฀and฀“puppet฀shows”฀for฀the฀right- blinds฀students฀to฀the฀realities฀of฀imperialism฀–justifying฀and฀
wing฀fascist฀corporate฀agenda.฀(6) recruiting฀mass฀participation฀in฀imperialist฀wars฀(the฀occupation฀
and฀oppression฀of฀other฀nations฀and฀their฀resources).฀
BURNING฀QUESTIONS฀THAT฀MUST฀BE฀ANSWERED ฀ On฀the฀other฀hand,฀history฀also฀teaches฀that฀there฀have฀always฀
been฀groups฀and฀communities฀who฀have฀challenged฀the฀ruling฀class฀
In฀opposition฀to฀those฀who฀want฀to฀destroy฀public฀education฀and฀all฀ (corporate฀elite,฀etc.)฀control฀of฀Education.฀฀This฀challenge฀has฀come฀from฀
forms฀of฀critical฀thinking,฀those฀who฀are฀striving฀for฀real฀liberation฀and฀ labor฀activists/unions,฀progressives/social฀justice฀activists,฀socialist-
true฀education฀for฀all฀people฀–to฀effectively฀fight฀back–฀must฀grasp฀some฀ communist฀parties,฀and฀oppressed฀national฀liberation฀movements฀
fundamental฀aspects฀relating฀to฀the฀question฀of฀education฀within฀the฀ struggling฀within฀the฀belly฀of฀the฀beast.฀(9)฀฀

Regeneración
THE฀MANY฀METHDOS฀THAT฀THE฀RULING฀CLASS฀USES฀TO฀CONTROL฀THE฀ position฀–a฀situation฀in฀which฀it฀finds฀itself฀reacting฀as฀the฀wounded฀and฀
EDUCATION฀OF฀THE฀MASSES dying฀beast฀that฀it฀is.฀฀
฀ As฀Omali฀Yeshitela,฀Chairman฀of฀the฀African฀People’s฀Socialist฀Party,฀
฀ As฀we฀continue฀the฀fight฀for฀liberation฀today,฀we฀need฀to฀learn฀ explains:฀“These฀struggles฀[from฀oppressed฀and฀colonized฀peoples]฀have฀
lessons฀from฀the฀struggles฀of฀these฀activists฀and฀movements;฀this฀includes฀ achieved฀critical฀mass฀and฀try฀as฀they฀may฀there฀is฀nothing฀the฀imperialists฀
understanding฀that฀many฀of฀tactics฀and฀methods฀used฀by฀the฀capitalist- can฀do฀to฀stem฀this฀tide฀of฀resistance฀that฀represents฀the฀true฀measure฀of฀
colonialists฀in฀the฀past,฀are฀being฀used฀against฀us฀today.฀฀For฀example: progress฀in฀human฀affairs.”฀(10)
•฀Control฀of฀the฀source฀of฀funding฀of฀schools฀(both฀private฀and฀ ฀ Out฀of฀
government). desperation฀and฀for฀its฀
This฀brings฀us฀to฀the฀question,฀“Why฀are฀
•฀The฀establishment฀of฀conservative-rightwing฀groups฀(religious฀ survival฀–the฀parasitic฀ Corporations฀moving฀so฀aggressively฀and฀
groups,฀associations,฀etc.)฀to฀influence฀policy฀or฀take฀over฀school฀ inhuman฀system฀of฀ ruthlessly฀to฀destroy฀public฀education฀
districts. capitalism-colonialism฀ today?”฀฀To฀answer฀this฀question฀requires฀
•฀The฀“donation”฀of฀funds฀towards฀the฀election฀of฀right-wing฀Board฀ finds฀that฀it฀must: the฀understanding฀the฀world’s฀oppressed฀
of฀Education฀members฀and฀other฀“elected”฀officials. •฀Gain฀com-
•฀The฀use฀of฀the฀Media฀to฀attack฀progressive฀curriculum,฀education฀
people฀are฀rising฀up฀against฀global-
plete฀control฀of฀ capitalism,฀colonial฀oppression,฀and฀all฀
programs฀(such฀as฀Chicano฀Studies),฀teachers,฀and฀organizations.฀ the฀minds/฀
•฀Under฀the฀guise฀of฀philanthropy,฀the฀funding฀and฀providing฀of฀ thoughts฀of฀ forms฀exploitation;฀we฀see฀this฀in฀Venezu-
grants฀to฀conservative/right฀wing฀school฀programs,฀partnerships฀ the฀masses฀and฀ ela,฀Bolivia,฀Ecuador,฀and฀so฀forth.฀Capital-
with฀businesses,฀and฀the฀military,฀etc. prevent฀even฀ ism,฀more฀and฀more,฀is฀being฀forced฀to฀
•฀The฀use฀of฀“think฀tanks”฀to฀create฀and฀promote฀ the฀“smallest”฀ find฀new฀sources฀and฀means฀of฀securing฀
programs/laws/acts฀such฀as฀NCLBA,฀etc. of฀opposition฀ profits.฀฀This฀resistance฀from฀the฀world’s฀
•฀The฀use฀of฀sellouts฀and฀vendidos฀as฀covers฀for฀the฀capitalist- to฀
colonialist฀agenda. oppressed฀nations฀and฀peoples฀has฀put฀
capitalist/impe
It฀is฀precisely฀some฀of฀these฀tactics฀that฀the฀racist-fascist฀in฀Arizona฀(and฀ rialist฀exploita-
imperialism฀in฀an฀extremely฀weak฀posi-
indeed,฀throughout฀Occupied฀America)฀are฀using฀against฀La฀Raza฀today. tion,฀at฀home฀ tion฀–a฀situation฀in฀which฀it฀finds฀itself฀
and฀abroad;฀ reacting฀as฀the฀wounded฀and฀dying฀beast฀
and฀it฀is฀count- that฀it฀is.฀฀
THE฀CAPITALISTS฀ARE฀WOUNDED-DYING฀BEASTS ing฀on฀schools฀
•฀Squeeze฀profits฀from฀whatever฀source฀available;฀it฀is฀here฀where฀the฀
฀ This฀brings฀us฀to฀the฀question,฀“Why฀are฀Corporations฀moving฀so฀ basis฀for฀the฀privatization฀of฀prisons฀and฀schools฀–and฀where฀
aggressively฀and฀ruthlessly฀to฀destroy฀public฀education฀today?”฀ students฀themselves฀have฀become฀“products”–฀is฀located.
฀ To฀answer฀this฀question฀requires฀the฀understanding฀the฀world’s฀ •฀Ensure฀that฀“workers”฀become฀even฀more฀obedient฀that฀they฀
oppressed฀people฀are฀rising฀up฀against฀global-capitalism,฀colonial฀oppres- already฀are;฀this฀calls฀for฀the฀destruction฀of฀labor฀unions฀and฀all฀
sion,฀and฀all฀forms฀exploitation;฀we฀see฀this฀in฀Venezuela,฀Bolivia,฀Ecuador,฀ forms฀of฀worker฀resistance;฀hence,฀teacher฀unions,฀being฀one฀of฀the฀
and฀so฀forth.฀Capitalism,฀more฀and฀more,฀is฀being฀forced฀to฀find฀new฀ few฀organized฀sectors฀in฀society฀that฀can฀put฀up฀some฀kind฀of฀chal-
sources฀and฀means฀of฀securing฀profits.฀฀This฀resistance฀from฀the฀world’s฀ lenge฀to฀the฀plans฀of฀the฀empire,฀have฀become฀a฀major฀target฀of฀the฀
oppressed฀nations฀and฀peoples฀has฀put฀imperialism฀in฀an฀extremely฀weak฀ capitalists-imperialists.฀

Regeneración
U.S.฀COLONIALIST฀EDUCATION฀HAS฀NEVER฀HAD฀AS฀ITS฀GOAL฀TO฀MEET฀THE฀ •฀It฀is฀also฀within฀schools฀where฀we฀have฀witnessed฀the฀“selection฀
NEEDS฀OF฀THE฀MEXICAN฀AND฀OTHER฀OPPRESSED฀COMMUNITIES process”฀that฀determines฀who฀will฀become฀the฀future฀“neo-colonial”฀
administrators฀and฀lackeys฀–the฀black฀and฀brown฀faces฀who฀the฀
฀ What฀does฀all฀this฀mean฀to฀Raza฀Educators?฀First฀and฀foremost,฀those฀ capitalist฀colonial฀system฀will฀put฀in฀the฀“right฀places”฀to฀further฀
of฀us฀struggling฀around฀the฀liberation฀of฀Mexicans-Raza฀and฀other฀oppressed฀ confused฀and฀fool฀us.
peoples,฀in฀order฀to฀formulate฀and฀carry฀out฀correct฀methods฀of฀struggle,฀we฀
must฀understand฀clearly฀the฀impact฀of฀the฀colonial-capitalist฀ PRAXIS฀CALLS฀UPON฀US฀TO฀WORK฀ON฀SOLUTIONS฀TO฀OUR฀OPPRESSION!
media/education฀has฀had฀and฀continues฀to฀have฀on฀our฀communities.
฀ The฀historical฀experience฀of฀our฀people฀informs฀us฀that฀far฀from฀being฀ ฀ The฀truth฀is฀that฀those฀most฀critical฀of฀public฀education฀have฀histori-
agents฀of฀progress฀for฀our฀communities,฀schools฀have฀been฀used฀to฀keep฀the฀ cally฀been฀Africans฀and฀Mexicans-Raza.฀It฀was฀the฀reform,฀civil฀rights,฀and฀
majority฀of฀us฀colonized฀and฀oppressed.฀Consider฀for฀instance: liberation฀movements฀that฀took฀place฀throughout฀the฀1900s฀that฀
•฀Capitalism฀cannot฀survive฀without฀keeping฀“knowledge”฀from฀those฀ demanded฀the฀firing฀of฀racist฀and฀incompetent฀teachers,฀and฀called฀for฀a฀
that฀it฀exploits฀or฀oppresses.฀฀Education฀has฀rarely฀been฀used฀to฀ quality฀and฀relevant฀education฀for฀our฀youth฀(Chicano฀Studies,฀College฀Prep฀
enlighten,฀but฀instead฀to฀impose฀ignorance฀upon฀our฀communities.฀ Courses,฀etc.).฀
(11)฀ ฀ Yet฀as฀critical฀as฀we฀are฀of฀schools,฀it฀is฀also฀important฀to฀recognize฀
that฀our฀movement฀has฀won฀some฀victories,฀concessions,฀and฀spaces฀within฀
•฀By฀denying฀Raza฀and฀ Yet฀as฀critical฀as฀we฀are฀of฀ the฀field฀of฀education฀and฀we฀are฀not฀about฀to฀give฀them฀up฀without฀a฀fight.฀฀
other฀colonized฀people฀a฀ schools,฀it฀is฀also฀important฀to฀ Moreover,฀teaching฀is฀one฀of฀the฀few฀professions฀where฀you฀find฀a฀signifi-
relevant฀education฀ recognize฀that฀our฀movement฀ cant฀number฀of฀Raza.฀It฀is฀precisely฀because฀of฀this฀situation฀that฀today฀
(Chicano฀Studies,฀Multicul- has฀won฀some฀victories,฀conces- some฀of฀us฀struggle฀to฀make฀Chicano฀Studies฀a฀science฀in฀the฀service฀of฀our฀
tural฀Studies,฀etc.),฀it฀has฀ people฀and฀have฀established฀organizations฀such฀as฀the฀Association฀of฀Raza฀
planted฀“self-hatred”,฀low฀ sions,฀and฀spaces฀within฀the฀field฀
of฀education฀and฀we฀are฀not฀ Educators฀(A.R.E.).฀
self-esteem,฀and฀a฀colo- ฀ And,฀as฀we฀have฀said฀before,฀criticism฀and฀analysis฀is฀not฀enough.฀฀
nized฀mentality฀in฀our฀ about฀to฀give฀them฀up฀without฀a฀ Praxis฀calls฀for฀working฀on฀solutions฀to฀our฀oppression.฀Therefore,฀as฀a฀way฀
peoples.฀฀It฀is฀here฀where฀ fight.฀฀Moreover,฀teaching฀is฀one฀ of฀dealing฀with฀the฀current฀attacks฀on฀education฀and฀its฀manifestations,฀
“horizontal฀violence”฀ of฀the฀few฀professions฀where฀you฀ those฀involved฀in฀the฀struggle฀for฀social฀justice฀and฀self-determination฀–if฀
between฀so-called฀“gangs”,฀ find฀a฀significant฀number฀of฀Raza.฀ we฀are฀to฀win–฀฀must฀do฀the฀following:
Mexicans฀and฀Africans,฀and฀
so฀forth,฀has฀its฀roots.฀Once฀
It฀is฀precisely฀because฀of฀this฀ 1.฀We฀must฀struggle฀to฀create฀organization.฀฀Only฀united฀and฀well฀
organized,฀can฀we฀“take฀on”฀capitalism฀and฀its฀neo-colonial฀lackeys฀
divided,฀it฀becomes฀impos- situation฀that฀today฀some฀of฀us฀ (Antonio฀Villaraigosa.฀Michelle฀Rhee,฀Geoffrey฀Canada,฀and฀com-
sible฀for฀the฀oppressed฀to฀ struggle฀to฀make฀Chicano฀Stud-
pany).฀฀All฀Raza฀interested฀in฀the฀question฀of฀education฀must฀join฀
fight฀the฀oppressor. ies฀a฀science฀in฀the฀service฀of฀our฀ A.R.E.,฀as฀it฀is฀the฀most฀progressive฀Raza฀educators฀organization฀[that฀
•฀Through฀discriminatory฀ people฀and฀have฀established฀ we฀know฀of ]฀that฀exist฀today.
implementation฀of฀zero- organizations฀such฀as฀the฀Asso- 2.฀We฀must฀inform฀ourselves฀on฀the฀issues฀and฀questions฀regarding฀
tolerance฀policies,฀criminal- ciation฀of฀Raza฀Educators฀(A.R.E.).฀ the฀education฀and฀liberation฀of฀our฀community.฀฀No฀struggle฀is฀won฀
ization,฀and฀the฀disconnect฀ without฀proper฀preparation.
that฀youth฀have฀felt฀towards฀education,฀for฀many฀of฀them,฀schools฀ 3.฀We฀must฀be฀active฀in฀the฀community.฀฀Our฀roots฀and฀daily฀lives฀
have฀been฀“pipelines”฀leading฀to฀prison. must฀be฀grounded฀in฀the฀community.฀It฀is฀in฀the฀community฀where฀

Regeneración
the฀masses฀are฀concentrated฀and฀it฀is฀from฀the฀masses฀from฀which฀ UNIÓN฀DEL฀BARRIO฀ON฀THE฀TOPIC฀THE฀“PEOPLE’S฀EDUCATOR”฀VERSUS฀A฀
we฀draw฀our฀power “CAREERIST฀EDUCATOR”
4.฀฀We฀must฀teach฀socialism,฀a฀“system฀were฀political฀and฀economic฀
democracy฀exist”,฀as฀the฀solution฀to฀society’s฀problems.฀The฀fact฀is฀ Note:฀The฀following฀essay฀is฀part฀of฀a฀continuing฀series฀of฀discussions฀that฀educators฀within฀
Unión฀del฀Barrio฀(UdB)฀are฀developing฀in฀order฀to฀further฀define฀our฀role฀in฀education฀and฀
that฀capitalism฀and฀democracy฀cannot฀co-exist.฀We฀cannot฀allow฀the฀ struggle.฀The฀last฀reflection฀focused฀on฀the฀distinctions฀between฀progressive฀and฀revolutionary฀
billionaire฀elites฀(capitalists)฀to฀falsify฀and฀slander฀the฀meaning฀of฀ educators.฀This฀second฀part฀adds฀to฀our฀political฀education฀on฀how฀UdB฀sees฀the฀role฀of฀
words฀such฀as฀“socialism”.฀ educators฀in฀relation฀to฀our฀profession,฀individual฀career,฀and฀the฀struggle฀for฀the฀liberation฀of฀
5.฀We฀must฀practice฀pedagogy฀of฀liberation,฀which฀demands฀that฀we฀ our฀people.
inform฀our฀students฀and฀the฀community฀that฀humanity฀means฀
confronting฀and฀destroying฀all฀forms฀of฀oppression. ฀ Education฀as฀a฀profession฀is฀a฀noble฀and฀honorable฀one.฀Teachers฀
6.฀We฀must฀work฀in฀coalitions฀and฀united฀fronts฀with฀other฀national฀ are฀widely฀respected฀in฀Raza฀communities฀and฀directly฀influence฀how฀our฀
liberation฀movements฀and฀those฀European฀(White)฀forces฀that฀are฀ youth฀think฀about฀the฀world฀and฀their฀position฀in฀it.฀Often฀this฀influence฀
willing฀to฀commit฀patriotic/nationalist฀suicide฀and฀rid฀themselves฀of฀ extends฀beyond฀our฀classrooms,฀and฀reaches฀the฀parents฀of฀our฀students฀as฀
white฀supremacist฀tendencies. well.฀When฀a฀raza฀family฀hits฀a฀crisis,฀it฀is฀often฀their฀child’s฀teachers฀who฀
7.฀And฀as฀fighters฀for฀social฀justice฀and฀liberation,฀to฀really฀be฀effec- they฀turn฀to฀first฀for฀answers฀or฀help.฀For฀many฀cultural,฀political,฀and฀
tive,฀we฀must฀be฀ready฀to฀sacrifice. economic฀reasons,฀the฀influence฀and฀respect฀teachers฀have฀is฀significantly฀
less฀among฀the฀white฀population฀within฀the฀U.S.฀
¡Los฀maestros฀luchando,฀también฀están฀enseñando! ฀ While฀it฀is฀easy฀to฀agree฀with฀the฀idea฀that฀raza฀educators฀play฀an฀
All฀power฀to฀the฀people! important฀role฀in฀our฀communities,฀for฀some฀people฀it฀is฀problematic.฀฀
Venceremos. Within฀the฀imperialist฀United฀States,฀which฀José฀Martí฀decried฀as฀the฀belly฀of฀
the฀beast,฀educators฀who฀are฀committed฀to฀their฀communities฀are฀more฀
NOTES: often฀than฀not฀marginalized฀and฀punished,฀while฀educators฀who฀play฀a฀role฀
(1)฀Jonathan฀Kozol,฀“The฀Big฀Enchilada”,฀Harper’s฀Magazine,฀August฀2007. as฀functionaries฀and฀defenders฀of฀the฀status฀quo฀and฀of฀the฀imperialist฀
(2)฀Ernesto฀Bustillos,฀“Capitalism฀Is฀The฀Problem,฀Revolution฀Is฀The฀Solution”,฀฀Guerrillera/os฀de฀La฀Pluma,฀ State฀are฀more฀often฀rewarded฀and฀promoted฀to฀administrative฀positions.฀
Journal฀of฀the฀Raza฀Press฀and฀Media฀Association,฀Spring฀2010. ฀ In฀order฀to฀understand฀how฀this฀happens฀we฀need฀to฀first฀under-
(3)฀Diane฀Ravtich,฀“Obama's฀Right-Wing฀School฀Reform”,฀New฀York฀Review฀of฀Books.฀2010
(4)฀Penny฀Hess,฀“White฀power฀in฀black฀face:฀cabinet฀selections฀reveal฀the฀real฀Obama”,฀Uhuru฀News,฀Nov.฀
stand฀why฀it฀happens.฀Some฀groups฀define฀the฀“educator”฀as฀any฀person฀
21,฀2008. who฀makes฀a฀living฀as฀a฀teacher;฀others฀define฀the฀“educator”฀as฀an฀expert฀
(5)฀Marc฀Bousquet,฀“NBC’s฀Education฀Nation:฀Policy฀Summit฀or฀Puppet฀Show?”฀The฀Chronicle฀of฀Higher฀ who฀has฀been฀certified฀by฀the฀State฀through฀earning฀a฀series฀of฀credentials;฀
Education฀(chronicle.com)฀September฀28,฀2010. yet฀others฀define฀the฀educator฀as฀a฀“reflexive฀practitioner”฀and฀“critical฀
(6)฀Dan฀Conway,฀฀“Waiting฀For฀Superman:฀American฀Liberalism฀Spearheads฀The฀Right-Wing฀Attack฀On฀ pedagogue.”฀฀Instead฀of฀getting฀involved฀with฀these฀professionalized฀
Public฀Education”,฀World฀Socialist฀Web฀Site฀(wsws.org)฀Oct.฀7,฀2010. definitions,฀Unión฀del฀Barrio฀sees฀the฀fundamental฀distinction฀we฀need฀to฀
(7)฀Samuel฀Bowles,฀"Unequal฀education฀and฀the฀reproduction฀of฀the฀social฀division฀of฀labor",฀Power฀
and฀Ideology฀In฀Education,฀1971.
draw฀as฀between฀the฀concepts฀of฀being฀a฀“people’s฀educator”฀versus฀a฀
(8)฀Richard฀H.฀Robbins,฀Global฀Problems฀and฀the฀Culture฀of฀Capitalism,฀2004. “careerist฀educator”.฀
(9)฀Catherine฀Casey,฀“Building฀For฀A฀Long฀Future:฀Workers’฀Education฀In฀The฀Progressive฀Era”,฀Breaking฀
New฀Ground:฀The฀Development฀of฀Adult฀and฀Workers'฀Education฀in฀North฀America,฀March฀1989. A฀PEOPLE’S฀EDUCATOR
(10)฀Omali฀Yeshitela,฀One฀People!฀One฀Party!฀One฀Destiny!฀The฀Political฀Report฀to฀the฀5th฀Congress฀of฀
the฀African฀People’s฀Socialist฀Party,฀2010.
(11)฀Ernesto฀Bustillos,฀Education,฀Chicano฀Studies,฀and฀Raza฀Education,฀La฀Verdad฀Publications,฀1992.
฀ Unión฀del฀Barrio฀considers฀a฀People’s฀Educator฀a฀true฀educator฀in฀

Regeneración
the฀most฀ideal฀form,฀as฀someone฀who฀is฀devoted฀to฀the฀profession฀of฀educa- to฀attain.
tion฀in฀its฀broadest฀liberatory฀sense.฀฀A฀People’s฀Educator฀is฀guided฀not฀only฀ ฀ We฀have฀to฀ask฀ourselves,฀why฀does฀the฀careerist฀educator฀so฀often฀
by฀the฀ethical,฀philosophical,฀moral,฀and฀political฀standards฀of฀the฀profession฀ win฀out฀if฀they฀generally฀are฀not฀good฀teachers?฀Why฀is฀it฀that฀mediocre฀
of฀teaching,฀but฀also฀is฀an฀activist฀promoting฀the฀values฀and฀rights฀of฀ educators฀so฀often฀want฀to฀become฀Principals฀after฀three฀years฀of฀teaching?฀
students,฀colleagues,฀and฀the฀community.฀In฀practice,฀the฀People’s฀Educator฀ Clearly,฀educating฀our฀youth฀is฀not฀the฀priority฀of฀this฀system,฀but฀the฀repro-
focuses฀on฀teaching,฀striving฀to฀improve฀pedagogical฀expertise,฀but฀under- duction฀of฀the฀system฀itself.฀And฀in฀the฀reproduction฀of฀systems฀of฀anti-raza฀
stands฀that฀for฀an฀education฀to฀be฀liberating฀it฀must฀inform฀and฀prepare฀our฀ oppression฀and฀exploitation,฀it฀is฀the฀careerist฀educator฀who฀is฀most฀suited฀
communities฀for฀the฀struggle฀to฀overturn฀their฀oppression฀in฀all฀its฀forms,฀and฀ and฀rewarded,฀and฀it฀is฀the฀People’s฀Educator฀who฀must฀be฀contained฀and฀
it฀is฀this฀combative฀understanding฀that฀is฀the฀measure฀of฀their฀success,฀ isolated.฀It฀is฀a฀sad฀thing฀to฀see฀how฀young฀educators฀begin฀teaching฀full฀of฀
beyond฀forms฀of฀short-term฀convenience฀and฀personal฀gratification฀such฀as฀ energy,฀only฀to฀become฀Principals฀that฀lack฀any฀understanding฀of฀the฀special฀
securing฀a฀choice฀assignment,฀a฀pay฀raise,฀recognition฀from฀administration,฀ interests฀they฀represent฀and฀how฀they฀further฀the฀deculturalization฀of฀our฀
etc.฀The฀People’s฀Educator฀is฀the฀teacher฀“with฀a฀cause,”฀and฀typically฀are฀the฀ communities.฀Of฀course,฀we฀must฀be฀clear฀that฀we฀are฀not฀against฀leadership฀
most฀committed,฀effective,฀and฀respected฀teachers฀within฀a฀school฀commu- in฀our฀school:฀฀we฀stand฀in฀favor฀of฀leadership฀when฀it฀grows฀out฀of฀the฀
nity—฀an฀ideal฀that฀we฀uphold฀and฀struggle฀to฀reach฀on฀an฀ongoing฀ school฀community฀and฀not฀driven฀by฀careerist฀priorities.฀
basis.
NO฀INDIVIDUAL฀PEOPLE’S฀EDUCATOR฀CAN฀BRING฀ABOUT฀REAL฀CHANGE฀
A฀CAREERIST฀EDUCATOR
฀ ฀ It฀is฀important฀to฀note฀that฀a฀People’s฀Educator฀can฀achieve฀great-
฀ A฀careerist฀is฀a฀self-identified฀professional฀who฀pursues฀advancement฀ ness฀and฀can฀serve฀their฀communities฀in฀positive฀ways.฀But฀no฀matter฀how฀
within฀her/his฀profession฀by฀any฀and฀all฀means฀necessary.฀A฀careerist฀often฀ wonderful฀an฀individual฀People’s฀Educator฀may฀be,฀it฀is฀impossible฀for฀them฀
advances฀their฀career฀at฀the฀expense฀of฀their฀values,฀integrity,฀and฀ to฀bring฀about฀real,฀lasting฀change.฀What฀makes฀us฀strong฀is฀when฀People’s฀
philosophical/฀moral฀compass.฀The฀careerist,฀on฀her/฀his฀path฀toward฀ Educators฀come฀together฀and฀participate฀in฀progressive฀or฀revolutionary฀
“advancement”,฀consistently฀places฀personal฀ambition฀and฀self-interest฀above฀ organizations.฀When฀this฀happens฀we฀become฀more฀powerful,฀and฀there-
the฀rights฀of฀the฀school฀community,฀and฀refuses฀to฀take฀any฀risk฀or฀defend฀ fore฀more฀capable฀of฀promoting฀fundamental฀change฀in฀our฀communities.฀
any฀cause฀that฀might฀curtail฀their฀career฀goals.฀The฀careerist฀sees฀positions฀ ฀ However,฀in฀this฀society฀(which฀values฀individualism฀more฀than฀
and฀assignments฀(teacher,฀counselor,฀etc.)฀within฀the฀institution฀only฀as฀ collective฀struggle)฀few฀educators฀become฀members฀of฀non-State฀spon-
“stepping฀stones,”฀as฀they฀climb฀the฀ladder฀towards฀their฀main฀“personal”฀ sored฀organizations.฀฀They฀actually฀prefer฀to฀work฀as฀individuals,฀sometimes฀
goals.฀A฀careerist฀will฀accept฀certain฀positions/฀assignments฀only฀until฀ forming฀what฀we฀call฀a฀“collective฀individualism,”฀and฀may฀begin฀to฀see฀their฀
another฀“opportunity”฀opens฀up,฀and฀rarely฀assumes฀a฀longer-term฀commit- work฀inside฀educational฀institutions฀as฀“strategic”.฀Yet,฀this฀mind฀set฀inevita-
ment฀to฀a฀school฀community฀–฀they฀are฀just฀“passing฀through.”฀Historically,฀ bly฀leads฀to฀the฀educator฀being฀accountable฀only฀to฀the฀reproduction฀of฀
we฀have฀seen฀how฀the฀careerists฀have฀served฀the฀interests฀of฀those฀that฀ their฀jobs฀or฀themselves.฀฀In฀our฀view,฀a฀People’s฀Educator฀is฀transformed฀into฀
exploit฀and฀oppress฀our฀communities.฀฀Typically,฀the฀careerist฀educator฀is฀a฀ a฀Revolutionary฀Educator฀when฀she/he฀is฀integrated฀into฀a฀grass-roots฀
less฀than฀effective฀teacher,฀is฀generally฀less฀committed,฀and฀less฀respected฀ community฀structure฀that฀brings฀a฀revolutionary฀political฀line฀to฀our฀school฀
when฀compared฀to฀a฀People’s฀Educator.฀Yet฀in฀spite฀of฀this,฀we฀often฀see฀that฀ communities฀through฀our฀work฀as฀educators.฀฀Grass-roots฀community฀
in฀the฀present฀capitalist-colonialist฀State,฀the฀careerist฀educator฀is฀more฀ structures฀have฀been฀historically฀present฀throughout฀Latin฀America;฀they฀
consistently฀rewarded฀with฀administrative฀promotions,฀and฀upheld฀by฀the฀ have฀often฀come฀to฀represent฀the฀seeds฀of฀revolutionary฀parties,฀and฀are฀
administration฀as฀a฀model฀of฀what฀present฀and฀future฀teachers฀should฀strive฀ historically฀present฀as฀collective,฀revolutionary฀struggle.

Regeneración
ESCUELITA฀AZTLAN,฀AN฀INTERVIEW฀WITH฀ERNESTO฀BUSTILLOS Question:฀What฀was฀Unión฀del฀Barrio's฀analysis฀of฀public฀education,฀and฀
why฀was฀Escuela฀Aztlán฀established?฀฀
Base฀Paulo฀Freire,฀Unión฀del฀Barrio,฀Los฀Angeles
Ernesto:฀฀As฀an฀organization,฀we฀understand฀that฀education฀can฀be฀used฀to฀
INTRODUCTION either฀oppress฀or฀liberate.฀฀We฀had฀seen฀how฀as฀a฀result฀of฀colonial฀educa-
฀ For฀any฀progressive-minded฀individuals฀who฀have฀been฀involved฀in฀ tion,฀our฀youth฀were฀being฀pushed฀out฀of฀school฀and฀into฀the฀prison฀pipe-
the฀public฀school฀system฀in฀some฀form,฀whether฀as฀students,฀parents,฀or฀ line,฀leaving฀them฀functionally฀illiterate฀in฀the฀process.฀And฀those฀who฀were฀
teachers,฀it฀is฀abundantly฀clear฀that฀it฀does฀not฀work฀for฀Raza฀and฀other฀ “making฀it”฀through฀the฀school฀system฀had฀no฀sense฀of฀who฀they฀really฀were;฀
students฀from฀oppressed฀communities.฀The฀reality฀is฀that฀the฀system฀isn’t฀ their฀“education”฀had฀been฀achieved฀through฀the฀colonial฀schooling฀system฀
simply฀failing฀our฀youth฀–it฀is฀carrying฀out฀the฀very฀function฀for฀which฀it฀was฀ that฀had฀mis-educated฀them฀with฀self-hate฀and฀elitism.฀฀They฀had฀no฀
designed฀by฀the฀colonial-capitalist฀power฀structure.฀฀ connection฀to฀their฀community,฀or฀worse,฀many฀became฀the฀vendidos฀who฀
฀ In฀an฀article฀titled,฀What฀Is฀A฀Liberation฀Education,฀Unión฀del฀Barrio฀ contributed฀to฀the฀oppression฀of฀their฀own฀people,฀convinced฀by฀their฀
wrote,฀“If฀we฀understand฀that฀the฀system฀benefits฀from฀our฀oppression,฀the฀ colonial฀education฀to฀become฀the฀Brown฀faces฀of฀White฀power.
theft฀of฀our฀lands,฀the฀exploitation฀of฀our฀labor,฀etc.,฀then฀we฀must฀under- ฀ We฀developed฀Escuela฀Aztlán฀in฀1988,฀because฀we฀understood฀at฀
stand฀that฀knowledge฀is฀something฀that฀those฀who฀oppress฀us฀must฀keep฀ that฀time,฀that฀there฀was฀a฀need฀to฀develop฀a฀grassroots-based฀
from฀us.฀฀And฀if฀we฀understand฀that฀the฀educational฀institutions฀are฀ “Chicano/Mexicano”฀educational฀center฀that฀would฀create฀academically฀
controlled฀by฀the฀system฀(our฀oppressors),฀then฀we฀must฀come฀to฀terms฀with฀ skilled฀barrio฀youth฀with฀advanced฀social฀consciousness฀and฀commitment฀to฀
the฀reality฀that฀the฀oppressor฀will฀not฀allow฀for฀any฀type฀of฀education฀which฀ the฀progress฀of฀La฀Raza.฀฀This฀type฀of฀education฀had฀to฀stress฀the฀develop-
will฀provide฀us฀with฀a฀knowledge฀that฀would฀challenge฀the฀‘status฀quo’฀or฀our฀ ment฀of฀a฀critical฀consciousness฀that฀would฀lead฀to฀personal฀and฀social฀
relationship฀to฀the฀colonial฀power”฀(See,฀Education,฀Chicano฀Studies,฀and฀ growth;฀an฀education฀that฀would฀focus฀on฀self-determination,฀international-
Raza฀Liberation,฀La฀Verdad,฀1992).฀ ism,฀and฀the฀dialectical฀and฀dialogical฀nature฀of฀learning.
฀ Grounded฀in฀this฀analysis,฀Unión฀del฀Barrio,฀a฀revolutionary฀nationalist฀ ฀ We฀always฀utilized฀critical฀pedagogy฀and฀an฀emphasis฀on฀raising฀the฀
organization,฀recognized฀that฀to฀engage฀youth฀in฀the฀type฀of฀education฀and฀ critical฀thinking฀skills฀of฀youth฀as฀a฀means฀of฀informing฀them฀that฀the฀basis฀
knowledge฀that฀would฀ultimately฀lead฀them฀to฀organize฀for฀the฀liberation฀of฀ of฀our฀oppression฀and฀all฀problems฀in฀society฀were฀based฀on฀the฀class฀nature฀
our฀gente,฀it฀could฀not฀be฀done฀in฀the฀colonizer’s฀schools.฀฀Thus,฀฀“Escuela฀ and฀nationality฀of฀our฀community;฀that฀we฀are฀mostly฀workers฀class/poor฀
Aztlán”฀was฀born. people฀and฀that฀ending฀oppression฀meant฀national฀liberation฀(struggle฀for฀
฀ Escuela฀Aztlán฀functioned,฀in฀some฀form฀or฀another,฀from฀1988฀to฀ land,฀self-determination,฀cultural฀rights,฀etc.).
2000฀in฀San฀Diego’s฀Barrio฀Lomas,฀although฀the฀students฀and฀participants฀ ฀ What฀we฀were฀doing,฀actually,฀was฀nothing฀“new”.฀฀The฀Brown฀Berets,฀
came฀from฀different฀barrios฀across฀the฀city.฀฀Escuela฀Aztlan’s฀programs฀were฀ MEChA,฀and฀La฀Raza฀Unida฀Party,฀had฀similar฀programs฀in฀the฀late฀1960s฀and฀
housed฀in฀Unión฀del฀Barrio’s฀headquarters,฀Centro฀Aztlán,฀and฀included฀ early฀to฀mid-1970s.฀฀In฀fact,฀in฀San฀Diego,฀MEChA฀de฀SDSU฀established฀La฀
everything฀from฀Chicana/o฀Studies,฀art,฀karate฀lessons,฀movies,฀homework฀ Escuelita฀del฀Barrio฀and฀the฀Barrio฀Station฀in฀1969,฀along฀the฀same฀lines฀as฀
assistance,฀fieldtrips,฀and฀dance/ballet฀folklorico.฀฀Most฀of฀the฀instructors฀ we฀later฀did฀with฀Escuela฀Aztlán.฀฀The฀Barrio฀Station,฀now฀called฀the฀Barrio฀
were฀community฀activists,฀and฀there฀were฀always฀parent฀and฀college฀volun- Youth฀Center,฀still฀exists฀today,฀but฀is฀now฀government-funded฀and฀non-
teers฀lending฀their฀support฀as฀well.฀ critical/non-liberation฀oriented.฀
฀ The฀following฀is฀an฀interview฀with฀Unión฀del฀Barrio฀member฀and฀one฀
of฀the฀founders฀of฀Escuela฀Aztlán,฀Ernesto฀Bustillos,฀who฀remains฀an฀active฀ Question:฀As฀a฀founder฀of฀Escuela฀Aztlán,฀what฀parallels฀do฀you฀see฀
organizer,฀educator,฀and฀journalist. from฀what฀was฀going฀on฀15฀or฀20฀years฀ago฀in฀public฀education฀and฀
what฀is฀happening฀today?

Regeneración
Justice,฀Brown฀Berets,฀La฀Raza฀Unida฀Party,฀Young฀Lords,฀MEChA,฀etc.฀–were฀
Ernesto:฀The฀struggle฀continues.฀฀Things,฀relatively฀speaking,฀have฀worsened.฀฀
no฀longer฀active฀or฀found฀themselves฀in฀a฀very฀weak฀condition.฀฀It฀was฀a฀
Neo-colonialism฀–placing฀Black,฀Brown,฀and฀Yellow฀faces฀in฀the฀right฀
period฀where฀those฀who฀had฀survived฀the฀“movimiento”฀of฀the฀late฀60s฀
places–฀has฀been฀extremely฀effective฀in฀putting฀our฀people฀to฀sleep฀or฀
and฀early฀70s,฀were฀struggling฀to฀regroup฀in฀order฀to฀continue฀the฀
confusing฀them.฀
struggle.฀฀It฀was฀a฀period฀that฀the฀white-supremacist฀bourgeois฀media฀
฀ Real฀public฀education฀is฀a฀threat฀to฀the฀oppressor฀(rich,฀elite,฀corpo-
coined฀as฀the฀“Decade฀Of฀The฀Hispanic”.฀฀Therefore฀we,฀Unión฀del฀Barrio,฀
rates),฀and฀since฀its฀founding฀in฀the฀U.S.฀(late฀1800s),฀they฀have฀attempted฀to฀
had฀very฀little฀influence฀over฀Raza฀working฀in฀the฀public฀schools,฀and฀thus,฀
manage฀public฀education฀according฀to฀their฀needs฀and฀interests.฀฀This฀was฀
there฀was฀no฀support฀or฀space฀to฀be฀found฀within฀the฀public฀school฀
happening฀in฀the฀late฀1800s,฀15฀to฀20฀years฀ago,฀and฀it฀has฀gotten฀worse฀
system฀for฀the฀type฀of฀education฀that฀we฀were฀fighting฀for.
today.
฀ Teachers,฀generally฀speaking,฀have฀failed฀to฀do฀what฀they฀were฀
Question:฀What฀led฀to฀the฀disintegration฀of฀Escuela฀Aztlán?
supposed฀to฀do:฀TEACH.฀฀Instead฀they฀have฀become฀conduits฀for฀
liberalism/capitalism,฀and฀now฀we฀are฀reaping฀what฀we฀sowed.฀Or฀as฀
Ernesto:฀Escuela฀Aztlán฀was฀basically฀always฀a฀project/work฀undertaken฀
Malcolm฀X฀would฀say,฀“the฀chickens฀are฀coming฀home฀to฀roost.”
by฀Somos฀Raza,฀the฀youth฀component฀of฀Unión฀del฀Barrio.฀By฀year฀2000,฀
conditions฀had฀changed฀somewhat.฀฀We฀had฀formed฀A.R.E.฀(Association฀of฀
Raza฀Educators)฀in฀1994,฀and฀some฀compañero/as฀begin฀to฀work฀in฀several฀
Question:฀Many฀organizations฀have฀fought฀for฀Raza฀Studies฀for฀years฀
public฀schools.฀฀Therefore,฀the฀organization฀decided฀to฀implement฀
with฀little฀success,฀and฀now฀folks฀in฀the฀public฀(state-funded)฀schools฀
Raza/Chicano฀Studies฀programs฀in฀community฀centers฀or฀schools฀where฀
of฀Tucson/Arizona฀are฀having฀to฀defend฀their฀program.฀฀Why฀did฀Unión฀
some฀of฀our฀members฀(those฀working฀with฀A.R.E.)฀had฀a฀strong฀presence฀
del฀Barrio฀decide฀to฀create฀an฀Escuela฀"outside"฀the฀State?
or฀influence.฀These฀programs฀were฀held฀in฀different฀barrios฀and฀schools฀
Ernesto:฀฀First,฀we฀have฀to฀support,฀in฀ Hence,฀if฀we฀are฀to฀truly฀ and฀community฀centers฀from฀2000฀to฀2008,฀which฀by฀the฀way,฀are฀again฀
any฀way฀possible,฀the฀struggle฀that฀is฀ being฀implemented฀by฀members฀of฀our฀organization.
being฀waged฀to฀save฀Raza฀Studies฀in฀ liberate฀ourselves,฀we฀have฀ ฀฀
Tucson. to฀work฀outside฀of,฀or฀free฀ Question:฀What฀lessons฀learned฀would฀you฀share฀that฀would฀have฀
฀ The฀reason฀we฀decided฀to฀ from฀the฀constraints฀of฀the฀ made฀la฀Escuela฀Aztlán฀sustainable฀long-term?
create฀our฀educational฀program฀ state.฀This฀holds฀true฀
outside฀the฀public฀school฀system฀was฀ whether฀we฀are฀talking฀ Ernesto:฀฀First,฀we฀need฀organization.฀฀Without฀organization฀we฀can’t฀
based฀on฀several฀conditions฀or฀factors:฀฀ politically,฀economically,฀or฀ sustain฀anything.฀฀฀Also,฀the฀organization฀has฀to฀have฀the฀will,฀members฀
First,฀our฀analysis฀of฀our฀oppression฀ willing฀to฀sacrifice,฀and฀the฀resources฀to฀engage฀in฀the฀education฀of฀our฀
(and฀that฀of฀most฀people),฀using฀
socially฀(education). community.฀฀And฀finally,฀the฀organization฀has฀to฀have฀a฀solid฀political฀
historical฀materialism฀as฀our฀foundation,฀informed฀us฀that฀the฀state฀itself฀is฀ understanding฀of฀the฀fact฀that฀only฀a฀working฀class/liberation฀based฀
the฀main฀weapon฀of฀the฀oppressor.฀฀Hence,฀if฀we฀are฀to฀truly฀liberate฀ education฀can฀challenge฀and฀defeat฀the฀anti-democratic/imperialistic฀
ourselves,฀we฀have฀to฀work฀outside฀of,฀or฀free฀from฀the฀constraints฀of฀the฀ education฀that฀the฀oppressor฀is฀hell-bent฀on฀imposing฀on฀the฀world.
state.฀This฀holds฀true฀whether฀we฀are฀talking฀politically,฀economically,฀or฀
socially฀(education).฀฀
฀ Second,฀the฀1980s฀was฀a฀very฀difficult฀period฀for฀our฀movement.฀฀ For฀more฀information฀on฀Unión฀del฀Barrio,฀please฀visit:฀
Most฀Raza฀revolutionary฀nationalist฀organizations,฀such฀as฀the฀Crusade฀For฀ www.uniondelbarrio.org.฀

Regeneración
REFLECTIONS฀ON฀JOEL฀SPRING’S฀DECULTURALIZATION฀AND฀THE฀STRUGGLE฀ learned฀the฀language฀and฀fears฀soon฀began฀to฀arise฀about฀the฀Cherokee฀
FOR฀EQUALITY:฀A฀BRIEF฀HISTORY฀OF฀THE฀EDUCATION฀OF฀DOMINATED฀CULTURES฀ being฀reluctant฀to฀learning฀the฀English฀language.฀Sequoyah’s฀invention฀of฀
IN฀THE฀UNITED฀STATES the฀alphabet฀was฀very฀ingenious฀and฀helped฀unite฀the฀tribe;฀however฀it฀did฀
nothing฀for฀the฀purpose฀of฀the฀missionary฀schools฀and฀English฀was฀still฀to฀
Vicky฀Rodarte,฀California฀State฀University,฀Fullerton be฀the฀language฀spoken.฀Learning฀a฀new฀language฀was฀only฀the฀beginning฀
of฀a฀number฀of฀hardships฀for฀the฀Native฀Americans฀in฀their฀struggle฀with฀the฀
฀ Perhaps฀one฀of฀the฀great฀atrocities฀in฀American฀history฀is฀the฀unspo- deculturalization฀process.฀Another฀being฀the฀Indian฀Removal฀Act฀which฀
ken฀truth฀of฀the฀near฀genocide฀of฀Native฀American฀peoples.฀In฀Deculturaliza- intended฀to฀strip฀the฀Native฀of฀his฀culture฀not฀only฀through฀the฀change฀in฀
tion฀and฀the฀Struggle฀for฀Equality฀(McGraw-Hill,฀5th฀edition,฀2006)฀education฀ his฀or฀her฀language,฀but฀now฀with฀the฀use฀of฀physically฀removing฀them฀from฀
historian฀Joel฀Spring฀explores฀the฀forced฀and฀extreme฀changes฀the฀Native฀ their฀known฀lands฀into฀the฀unknown.฀฀Despite฀the฀hardships,฀the฀Cherokee฀
Americans฀had฀to฀undergo฀as฀a฀result฀of฀the฀expansionistic฀and฀capitalistic฀ and฀the฀Choctaw฀organized฀their฀own฀governments฀and฀established฀their฀
attitude฀of฀the฀Anglo-฀Saxon.฀฀We฀see฀over฀and฀over฀again฀throughout฀history,฀ own฀schools฀in฀their฀new฀location.฀They฀not฀only฀established฀their฀own฀
the฀need฀for฀the฀White฀to฀expand฀and฀control.฀With฀the฀so฀called฀discovery฀of฀ school฀systems,฀but฀were฀successful฀in฀developing฀schooling฀for฀their฀
the฀Americas,฀came฀the฀need฀to฀find฀a฀way฀to฀assimilate฀the฀native฀peoples฀of฀ children฀as฀well฀as฀literacy฀programs฀for฀the฀adults.฀
the฀newly฀discovered฀lands,฀into฀the฀mainstream฀way฀of฀life-฀the฀“American฀ ฀ When฀things฀seemed฀somewhat฀well,฀once฀again฀the฀Anglo-Saxon฀
way.”฀The฀situation฀for฀the฀Natives฀was฀nowhere฀near฀easy.฀Not฀only฀was฀the฀ decides฀he฀needs฀to฀expand฀some฀more฀and฀land฀became฀a฀problem.฀Now,฀
White฀man฀looking฀to฀strip฀them฀of฀their฀lands,฀they฀wanted฀to฀put฀them฀ reservations฀seemed฀to฀be฀the฀quick฀resolution฀to฀the฀problem.฀฀Reserva-
through฀the฀deculturalization฀process;฀they฀were฀“foreign฀heathen,”฀(p.฀25).฀ tions฀were฀necessary฀because฀“it฀was฀a฀way฀to฀keep฀them฀controlled…until฀
The฀Five฀Civilized฀Tribes฀were฀targeted฀by฀Thomas฀McKenney฀for฀the฀process฀ they฀proved฀to฀be฀civilized,”฀(p.฀32).฀฀Manual฀labor฀schools฀were฀established฀
of฀deculturalization.฀The฀schooling฀process฀then฀became฀an฀“experiment”฀for฀ to฀instill฀in฀the฀Natives฀not฀only฀the฀basic฀skills฀of฀reading,฀writing฀and฀
Anglos.฀฀They฀wanted฀to฀see฀how฀civilized฀then฀can฀make฀these฀people.฀Can฀ arithmetic฀but฀also฀to฀help฀them฀develop฀agricultural฀knowledge฀they฀
schools฀really฀transform฀these฀so฀called฀inferior฀people฀into฀civilized฀individu- would฀need฀in฀preparation฀for฀the฀labor฀they฀would฀be฀performing฀at฀a฀later฀
als?฀That฀was฀the฀big฀question.฀McKenney฀then฀pushed฀for฀the฀removal฀of฀the฀ point฀in฀their฀lives.฀฀For฀many฀it฀came฀at฀later฀point฀in฀their฀lives฀but฀for฀
tribes฀west฀of฀the฀Mississippi฀for฀“their฀protection฀and฀‘civilization’,”฀(p.฀24).฀ children฀it฀came฀very฀early฀in฀their฀lives.฀With฀the฀establishment฀of฀boarding฀
Mckenney฀portrayed฀the฀tribe฀members฀as฀children฀who฀needed฀to฀be฀ schools,฀children฀were฀removed฀from฀the฀family฀at฀the฀earliest฀age฀as฀
protected฀from฀evil฀and฀needed฀to฀be฀isolated฀as฀well฀as฀educated. possible฀to฀seclude฀them฀and฀prevent฀their฀exposure฀to฀the฀ways฀of฀their฀
฀ Sure฀enough,฀the฀spread฀of฀Protestant฀missionaries฀came฀as฀a฀result฀ parents฀and฀the฀tribe.฀There฀was฀very฀little฀regard฀to฀the฀lives,฀safety฀and฀
for฀this฀need฀to฀educate฀and฀civilize฀the฀“savage”.฀฀As฀Spring฀points฀out,฀the฀ education฀of฀these฀children.฀฀The฀living฀conditions฀of฀the฀children฀in฀board-
idea฀of฀manifest฀destiny฀was฀crucial฀not฀only฀in฀the฀establishment฀of฀the฀ ing฀schools฀were฀very฀poor.฀As฀the฀text฀puts฀it,฀“‘…children฀were฀sentenced฀
missionaries฀but฀it฀was฀the฀concept฀by฀which฀they฀operated฀and฀rationalized฀ to฀hard฀labor฀for฀a฀term฀of฀years฀to฀expiate฀the฀crime฀of฀being฀born฀from฀
their฀actions.฀฀It฀was฀only฀by฀establishing฀these฀schools฀and฀instilling฀in฀the฀ their฀mothers’,”฀(p.฀36).฀
Natives฀Protestantism฀and฀the฀Anglo-Saxon฀culture฀that฀they฀would฀be฀able฀ ฀ Without฀a฀doubt฀the฀reoccurring฀theme฀of฀Deculturalization฀and฀the฀
to฀“share฀in฀the฀glory฀of฀the฀Anglo-Saxon฀culture,”฀(p.฀25).฀฀A฀key฀element฀in฀ Struggle฀for฀Equality฀฀was฀the฀deculturalization฀process฀that฀all฀four฀groups฀
the฀effectiveness฀of฀the฀deculturalization฀process฀would฀be฀language.฀฀Unlike฀ –Native฀Americans,฀African฀Americans,฀Asian฀Americans฀and฀Latino/฀Hispan-
the฀future฀groups฀that฀were฀to฀be฀subject฀to฀the฀process,฀the฀Cherokee฀were฀ ics฀had฀to฀undergo฀in฀the฀hands฀of฀the฀Anglo-Saxons.฀฀There฀is฀the฀whole฀
able฀to฀introduce฀their฀own฀alphabet฀and฀therefore฀a฀written฀language฀to฀ idea฀of฀Manifest฀Destiny฀as฀a฀rationalization฀not฀only฀for฀the฀Anglos฀but฀also฀
help฀preserve฀their฀culture.฀The฀problem฀was฀that฀none฀of฀the฀missionaries฀ for฀the฀victims฀of฀the฀process.฀฀For฀the฀Anglo,฀it฀served฀as฀a฀way฀to฀make฀him฀

Regeneración
or฀herself฀feel฀better฀for฀their฀actions.฀For฀the฀victims,฀it฀was฀in฀my฀opinion฀ power฀and฀doing฀what฀is฀necessary฀to฀remain฀on฀top.฀฀With฀all฀these฀
some฀sort฀of฀a฀brain฀washing฀technique฀in฀which฀God฀was฀utilized฀by฀the฀ groups,฀although฀they฀lived฀in฀U.S.฀territory฀and฀worked฀in฀plantations,฀
Anglo,฀as฀the฀supreme฀force฀who฀wanted฀and฀was฀allowing฀all฀these฀hard- factories฀or฀the฀construction฀of฀railroads,฀either฀as฀slaves฀or฀low฀wage฀
ships฀to฀happen฀to฀them.฀The฀ workers,฀they฀were฀all฀denied฀citizenship฀and฀had฀to฀struggle฀and฀go฀
Americans฀used฀the฀same฀ Essentially฀they฀wanted฀everybody฀ against฀all฀odds฀thrown฀at฀them.฀With฀regards฀to฀education,฀all฀of฀them฀had฀
technique฀with฀all฀four฀groups.฀฀ (victims)฀to฀be฀educated...but฀to฀a฀ to฀begin฀a฀schooling฀system฀separate฀or฀segregated฀from฀the฀Anglos฀for฀
First฀and฀foremost฀they฀estab- certain฀extent.฀฀They฀wanted฀to฀ their฀children.฀฀For฀the฀฀Native฀Americans,฀boarding฀schools฀for฀the฀children฀
lished฀they฀were฀the฀superior฀ educate฀them฀in฀religion,฀they฀ was฀the฀“solution”฀to฀stripping฀the฀children฀of฀their฀culture฀by฀separating฀
race.฀Everything฀and฀everybody฀ them฀from฀the฀customs฀of฀their฀parents฀and฀the฀tribe฀they฀฀belonged฀to฀as฀
needed฀to฀revolve฀around฀
wanted฀to฀strip฀them฀of฀their฀
cultures,฀their฀language,฀their฀ways฀ well฀as฀educating฀them,฀all฀in฀one฀generation.฀Although฀there฀was฀an฀
them฀and฀to฀do฀so,฀they฀ attempt฀from฀Cherokees฀to฀create฀a฀written฀language฀and฀somehow฀
needed฀to฀“civilize”฀all฀of฀these฀ of฀life,฀their฀mindsets฀but฀they฀ conserve฀their฀native฀language,฀English฀still฀resided.฀In฀the฀case฀of฀African฀
“inferior฀peoples”,฀“mongrels”,฀ didn’t฀want฀to฀provide฀them฀with฀ Americans,฀there฀was฀an฀immediate฀denial฀from฀Anglos฀to฀accept฀African฀
and฀“savages”฀to฀fit฀the฀agenda฀ too฀much฀education฀because฀too฀ children฀in฀White฀schools.฀฀Education฀however,฀served฀as฀the฀way฀to฀replace฀
of฀the฀Anglo.฀฀Essentially฀they฀ much฀knowledge฀might฀lead฀them฀ the฀African฀Culture฀with฀the฀dominant฀Anglo-American฀culture.฀While฀
wanted฀everybody฀(victims)฀to฀ to฀gain฀a฀consciousness฀about฀their฀ Anglos฀all฀agreed฀Africans฀needed฀to฀be฀“civilized,”฀they฀feared฀they฀repre-
be฀educated...but฀to฀a฀certain฀ sented฀a฀racial฀threat฀to฀their฀purity฀and฀as฀a฀result,฀they฀were฀segregated.฀
extent.฀฀They฀wanted฀to฀edu- oppression฀and฀lead฀them฀to฀revolt.฀฀
They฀was฀a฀need฀to฀educate,฀yet฀keep฀the฀African฀at฀a฀lower฀level.฀฀The฀
cate฀them฀in฀religion,฀they฀wanted฀to฀strip฀them฀of฀their฀cultures,฀their฀ schools฀these฀children฀were฀being฀educated฀in,฀were฀falling฀apart฀which฀
language,฀their฀ways฀of฀life,฀their฀mindsets฀but฀they฀didn’t฀want฀to฀provide฀ can฀be฀interpreted฀as฀the฀lack฀of฀interest฀in฀really฀producing฀educated,฀
them฀with฀too฀much฀education฀because฀too฀much฀knowledge฀might฀lead฀ productive฀future฀citizens.฀This฀was฀true฀for฀all฀children฀from฀these฀groups.฀฀
them฀to฀gain฀a฀consciousness฀about฀their฀oppression฀and฀lead฀them฀to฀ There฀was฀never฀a฀real฀effort฀to฀provide฀them฀with฀quality฀education.฀฀
revolt.฀฀The฀Anglo฀Saxon฀wanted฀all฀of฀these฀people฀to฀learn฀to฀be฀civil฀by฀ These฀children฀were฀more฀valuable฀out฀in฀the฀work฀area฀than฀they฀were฀
becoming฀more฀“Americanized”฀but฀they฀were฀unwilling฀to฀let฀children฀mix฀ sitting฀in฀a฀classroom.฀Proof฀of฀this,฀is฀the฀type฀of฀education฀they฀were฀
with฀their฀own฀children฀in฀a฀classroom฀setting฀because฀it฀would฀prevent฀the฀ receiving.฀It฀was฀more฀of฀a฀training฀of฀“proper฀work฀habits฀and฀morals”฀that฀
White฀children฀from฀learning฀at฀a฀faster฀pace฀and฀more฀importantly,฀it฀would฀ would฀lead฀them฀to฀be฀hard฀workers฀and฀take฀“their฀proper฀place฀in฀soci-
take฀away฀the฀“purity฀of฀the฀white฀race.” ety,”฀(p.฀59).฀
฀ The฀Anglo-Saxon฀aside฀from฀expansion,฀wanted฀profit.฀฀As฀we฀saw฀ ฀ How฀ethnocentric฀does฀this฀appear?฀The฀Anglo฀established฀itself฀at฀
with฀the฀African,฀Asian,฀and฀Mexican฀Americans,฀they฀all฀represented฀cheap฀ the฀top฀of฀the฀pyramid฀and฀everybody฀else฀must฀fall฀below฀them฀because฀
labor.฀฀With฀the฀near฀genocide฀of฀the฀Native฀Americans,฀there฀was฀a฀need฀to฀ they฀represented฀ideal฀that฀were฀different฀to฀their฀own฀and฀could฀not฀be฀
look฀for฀African฀slaves฀to฀work฀in฀the฀fields;฀in฀other฀words,฀it฀was฀a฀forced฀ questioned฀or฀changed.฀In฀the฀case฀of฀the฀Mexicans,฀their฀ideal฀of฀Catholi-
migration฀for฀the฀African฀people.฀I฀have฀always฀felt฀very฀strongly฀that฀slavery฀ cism฀and฀feudalism฀simply฀could฀not฀be฀permitted฀in฀a฀world฀dominated฀
will฀always฀be฀one฀of฀the฀cruelest฀acts฀one฀human฀being฀can฀impose฀on฀ by฀Protestantism฀and฀a฀republican฀government.฀As฀a฀result,฀they฀too฀
another.฀฀Perhaps฀the฀fact฀I฀was฀born฀in฀a฀time฀when฀slavery฀is฀no฀longer฀ needed฀to฀civilized฀and฀somehow฀transformed฀to฀fit฀the฀mold฀of฀an฀Anglo.฀
legal฀and฀there฀is฀a฀greater฀sense฀of฀equal฀opportunities฀for฀everybody฀has฀a฀ Education฀was฀a฀form฀of฀social฀control.฀They฀were฀needed฀in฀the฀fields฀but฀
lot฀to฀do฀with฀my฀frown฀upon฀slavery,฀but฀under฀any฀circumstances,฀it฀is฀ did฀not฀want฀them฀to฀know฀too฀much฀and฀revolt.฀The฀main฀concern฀of฀the฀
surprising฀to฀see฀the฀extent฀people฀are฀capable฀to฀going฀when฀it฀comes฀to฀ Anglo฀was฀to฀preserve฀its฀political฀and฀economic฀rights.฀฀

Regeneración
฀ I฀end฀this฀reflection฀with฀a฀quote฀in฀the฀book฀that฀really฀struck฀me:฀฀ GRASS-ROOTS฀STUDENT฀ORGANIZING฀AGAINST฀COLONIAL฀EDUCATION:
“…฀It฀is฀up฀to฀the฀White฀population฀to฀keep฀the฀Mexican฀on฀his฀knees…,”฀(p.฀ IINTERVIEW฀WITH฀YA฀BASTA฀YOUTH฀COALITION
95).฀It฀was฀more฀than฀keeping฀just฀the฀Mexican฀on฀his฀knees;฀it฀was฀about฀
keeping฀everybody฀else฀that฀was฀considered฀inferior฀in฀a฀position฀of฀ Miguel฀Zavala,฀A.R.E.฀Los฀Angeles
submission.฀The฀initial฀problem,฀as฀Spring฀states,฀was฀the฀assumption฀by฀
Anglos฀that฀their฀“institutions,฀customs฀and฀beliefs฀were฀the฀best฀in฀the฀ Ya฀Basta,฀a฀youth฀organization,฀formed฀in฀2010฀as฀a฀response฀to฀the฀oppres-
world฀and฀should฀be฀imposed฀on฀everybody,”฀(p.฀103).฀I฀completely฀agree฀ sion฀at฀North฀Hollywood฀High฀School฀in฀the฀Los฀Angeles฀Unified฀School฀
with฀Spring฀here.฀Who฀gave฀Algo-Americans฀the฀right฀to฀decide฀they฀were฀ District.฀Ya฀Basta฀has฀participated฀in฀the฀Justice฀4฀Oscar฀Grant฀protests฀in฀Los฀
the฀superior฀race?฀Because฀of฀this฀assumption,฀one฀racial฀group฀after฀ Angeles;฀organized฀community฀forums฀on฀student฀rights฀and฀immigration฀
another฀fell฀victim฀to฀the฀deculturalization฀process฀imposed฀by฀the฀self฀ rights;฀฀currently฀they฀are฀undertaking฀a฀campaign฀to฀restrict฀military฀recruit-
proclaimed฀superior฀race—the฀Anglo—up฀until฀not฀very฀long฀ago,฀the฀ ers฀at฀their฀campus.฀฀
1950s฀and฀60s฀with฀the฀civil฀rights฀movement.฀฀It฀seems฀inconceivable฀that฀
this฀mindset฀and฀the฀oppression฀of฀historically฀dominated฀groups฀as฀well฀as฀ Miguel:฀฀When฀was฀Ya฀Basta฀formed?
others,฀existed฀not฀too฀long฀ago:฀฀yet฀we฀are฀living฀the฀effects฀of฀this฀history฀
and฀domination฀today. Ya฀Basta:฀฀After฀the฀A.R.E.฀conference฀in฀San฀Diego.฀฀We฀were฀at฀the฀A.R.E.฀
conference฀and฀we฀were฀all฀sitting฀in฀the฀auditorium฀watching฀and฀
listening฀to฀the฀speakers.฀฀I฀guess฀the฀fact฀that฀A.R.E.’s฀logo฀was฀on฀the฀
screen฀in฀bold฀red฀letters,฀it฀hit฀us฀all:฀‘Wow,฀wouldn’t฀it฀be฀awesome฀if฀
there฀was฀an฀A.R.E.฀youth฀group?’฀฀We฀were฀excited฀and฀after฀a฀long฀time฀
waiting฀we฀were฀inspired฀by฀A.R.E.,฀seeing฀how฀they’ve฀grown฀as฀an฀
organization,฀it฀just฀hit฀us:฀฀‘We฀should฀form฀a฀youth฀group฀at฀our฀school.’฀฀
We฀were฀really฀excited฀about฀this,฀and฀it฀took฀a฀lot฀of฀organizing฀over฀the฀
summer฀to฀make฀sure฀that฀we฀came฀out฀strong.฀฀Now,฀when฀you฀see฀us฀all฀
together,฀you฀can฀really฀see฀the฀commitment,฀we’re฀a฀family.
Miguel:฀฀Why฀was฀Ya฀Basta฀formed?
Ya฀Basta:฀฀It฀was฀formed฀basically฀to฀inform฀kids฀that฀there’s฀another฀side฀
to฀everything,฀that’s฀how฀it฀started฀with฀us.฀฀We฀have฀certain฀teachers฀that฀
teach฀us฀only฀one฀side฀of฀the฀story,฀which฀is฀what฀the฀education฀system฀
wants.฀฀When฀a฀select฀few฀teachers฀taught฀us฀the฀other฀side฀of฀the฀story,฀
an฀idea฀sparked฀in฀our฀head:฀฀‘Our฀youth฀should฀not฀only฀hear฀this฀but฀
teachers฀they฀should฀hear฀it฀from฀us฀as฀well,฀once฀they฀hear฀it฀from฀youth,฀
PHOTO:฀฀1844฀Picture฀of฀Hoover฀Elementary฀Segregated฀Class฀for฀Mexican฀Children.฀฀
Westminster,฀Orange฀County,฀CA.฀฀©Creative฀Commons.
they฀will฀be฀able฀to฀understand฀and฀make฀the฀connection.’฀฀Youth฀see฀
injustice฀at฀school฀and฀in฀their฀communities.฀฀When฀they฀come฀into฀this฀
school,฀they฀see฀the฀injustices฀that฀exist฀very฀low฀key.฀฀When฀we฀say฀low฀
key฀we฀mean฀underneath฀the฀covers.฀฀We฀have฀noticed฀student฀tracking;฀

Regeneración
we฀have฀been฀in฀classes฀with฀racist฀teachers.฀฀All฀of฀us฀see฀these฀ Grant฀Coalition;฀we฀also฀did฀an฀education฀campaign฀on฀the฀rights฀of฀
injustices...Students฀see฀injustices฀in฀their฀society฀and฀they฀come฀to฀school฀ students,฀what฀they฀can฀do฀when฀a฀police฀officer฀stops฀them.฀฀
expecting฀to฀be฀in฀a฀safe฀place,฀a฀place฀where฀they฀can฀forget฀that฀and฀
focus฀on฀what’s฀in฀front฀of฀them,฀but฀schools฀is฀nothing฀like฀that.฀฀Our฀ ฀Miguel:฀฀What฀challenges฀are฀you฀facing฀in฀your฀campaign฀to฀restrict฀
school฀has฀racism฀and฀injustices—and฀most฀students฀are฀too฀scared฀to฀ military฀recruiters?
speak฀out฀against฀it.
Ya฀Basta:฀฀It’s฀really฀hard฀sometimes฀to฀talk฀to฀youth฀because฀they’re฀so฀
Miguel:฀฀What฀are฀some฀of฀the฀challenges฀you฀are฀facing฀as฀an฀organi- brainwashed.฀฀They’re฀not฀really฀willing฀to฀open฀their฀minds.฀Leadership฀
zation? students,฀for฀instance,฀are฀the฀in-group฀and฀organize฀events฀on฀campus฀
that฀support฀the฀norm,฀the฀rules.฀฀We฀also฀see฀students฀defending฀military฀
Ya฀Basta:฀Most฀of฀us฀are฀seniors,฀so฀we฀have฀asked฀ourselves,฀‘What฀are฀we฀ recruiters.฀฀One฀student฀decided฀to฀start฀her฀own฀petition฀saying฀that฀what฀
gonna฀do,฀what฀can฀Ya฀Basta฀do฀because฀when฀we฀graduate฀who฀will฀teach฀ Ya฀Basta฀is฀doing฀is฀wrong฀and฀is฀full฀of฀misinformation.฀฀The฀positive฀or฀
the฀younger฀students?’...At฀North฀Hollywood฀we฀see฀students฀buying฀into฀ negative฀reactions฀we฀are฀seeing฀from฀students฀and฀teachers฀is฀evidence฀
the฀mentality฀that฀I฀am฀better฀than฀you฀because฀of฀where฀I฀am฀tracked฀or฀ that฀we฀are฀challenging฀their฀mentality,฀we’re฀challenging฀something฀that฀
the฀group฀I฀am฀in;฀students฀are฀too฀naive฀and฀believe฀what฀the฀teacher฀says,฀ they฀think฀is฀right,฀and฀maybe฀while฀they’re฀in฀that฀process฀of฀trying฀to฀
and฀they฀don’t฀question฀anything.฀฀In฀high฀school฀is฀where฀we’re฀gonna฀ prove฀that฀they’re฀right,฀they’ll฀have฀to฀think฀carefully฀about฀what฀they฀
become฀the฀people฀we’re฀gonna฀be฀for฀the฀rest฀of฀our฀lives,฀so฀as฀seniors฀ support฀and฀stand฀for.฀We’re฀putting฀the฀question฀in฀students฀by฀making฀
we฀are฀really฀worried฀because฀we’re฀gonna฀be฀leaving฀soon฀and฀we฀want฀ them฀aware—and฀that฀is฀good฀because฀it฀is฀making฀them฀think.฀฀
more฀younger฀people฀to฀take฀that฀step฀forward.
Miguel:฀What฀challenges฀are฀you฀facing฀as฀students฀today฀here฀at฀
Miguel:฀What฀are฀some฀of฀the฀challenges฀you฀are฀facing฀as฀students? North฀Hollywood฀High?฀
Ya฀Basta:฀฀In฀our฀society,฀people฀tell฀youth฀constantly฀‘no,฀no,฀no’฀and฀ Ya฀Basta:฀฀We’ve฀observed฀over฀time฀that฀students฀form฀into฀smaller฀
students฀grow฀afraid.฀฀We฀want฀youth฀to฀lose฀that฀fear฀because฀youth฀are฀ groups฀and฀they฀all฀stick฀to฀their฀own฀groups,฀which฀is฀strange฀because฀if฀
always฀learning. students฀came฀together,฀they฀would฀have฀a฀stronger฀voice฀at฀this฀school.฀฀
Students฀face฀lots฀of฀obstacles฀and฀things฀that฀they฀create฀to฀divide฀us.฀฀
Miguel:฀฀It฀sounds฀like฀Ya฀Basta฀is฀providing฀an฀education฀that฀opens฀ There฀are฀so฀many฀things฀that฀they฀think฀we’re฀not฀gonna฀be฀able฀to฀
students฀minds฀and฀pushes฀students฀to฀take฀risks....What฀struggles฀ achieve--
and฀campaigns฀are฀you฀currently฀involved฀in฀as฀an฀organization?
Miguel:฀฀Who฀is฀they?
Ya฀Basta:฀฀Military฀recruiters!฀฀One฀thing฀we฀are฀doing฀is฀restricting฀military฀
recruiters.฀They฀come฀in฀to฀campus฀all฀the฀time,฀they฀hit฀up฀kids฀on฀Face- Ya฀Basta:฀฀Administrators,฀teachers—youth฀are฀faced฀with฀a฀lot฀of฀obstacles.฀฀
book,฀they฀have฀access฀to฀youth—and฀the฀rules฀that฀restrict฀military฀ But฀when฀you฀come฀to฀school,฀you฀come฀to฀learn฀and฀achieve฀your฀goals.฀฀
recruiters฀are฀not฀enforced.฀฀And฀we฀have฀asked฀ourselves,฀‘Why฀come฀to฀ Yet฀a฀lot฀of฀administrators฀and฀teachers฀forget฀this;฀they฀seem฀to฀be฀here฀
our฀school?’฀฀So฀we฀started฀a฀petition฀and฀collected฀more฀than฀700฀signa- only฀to฀put฀their฀students฀down฀and฀go฀against฀students฀who฀speak฀up.฀฀
tures฀in฀one฀day!฀฀We’ve฀been฀walking฀around฀asking฀students฀and฀educat- Teachers฀feed฀you฀an฀ideology฀that฀is฀oppressive...Also,฀the฀school฀system฀
ing฀them฀about฀the฀situation...In฀the฀past,฀we฀were฀involved฀with฀the฀Oscar฀ divides฀students.฀฀At฀our฀school฀we฀are฀divided฀in฀SLCs฀that฀creates฀a฀sense฀

Regeneración
of฀superiority฀in฀some฀students.฀฀SLCs฀are฀also฀ranked.฀฀Each฀academy฀has฀a฀ example฀for฀other฀students.฀Change฀is฀actually฀in฀our฀hands.฀฀Don’t฀just฀talk฀
title.฀Students฀are฀then฀fed฀a฀mentality฀where฀they฀think฀they฀are฀superior฀ about฀starting฀your฀organization฀but฀take฀action,฀that’s฀what฀makes฀the฀
to฀others;฀you฀can฀see฀how฀these฀students฀become฀elitist.฀฀What฀this฀ difference.฀฀Whenever฀you฀are฀trying฀to฀organize,฀you฀will฀find฀that฀there฀are฀
mentality฀does฀is฀keeps฀the฀cycle฀going,฀so฀some฀of฀these฀students฀feel฀ other฀students฀who฀want฀to฀make฀change,฀so฀you฀are฀not฀alone.
they฀are฀superior฀and฀therefore฀achieve฀higher฀than฀others.฀฀Some฀of฀these฀
students฀who฀are฀book฀smart฀achieve,฀but฀they฀are฀only฀in฀it฀for฀them-
selves. ฀ Members฀of฀Ya฀Basta฀
Youth฀Coalition฀
Miguel:฀฀What฀challenges฀do฀teachers฀face฀in฀supporting฀youth฀orga- during฀the฀May฀1st฀
Protests,฀Downtown฀
nizing? Los฀Angeles
Ya฀Basta:฀฀Some฀teachers฀don’t฀take฀risk,฀there฀are฀very฀few฀teachers฀who฀
are฀actually฀willing฀to฀teach฀us฀about฀standing฀up฀or฀who฀teach฀us฀what฀is฀
really฀going฀on.฀฀As฀people฀tend฀to฀get฀older,฀they฀don’t฀have฀the฀same฀
drive฀as฀us,฀they฀worry฀about฀their฀jobs฀being฀on฀the฀line.฀฀But฀some฀of฀our฀
teachers฀do฀play฀a฀big฀role.฀฀They’re฀more฀like฀our฀friends,฀people฀we฀trust.฀฀
The฀difference฀is฀that฀most฀teachers฀in฀this฀school฀teach฀but฀they฀don’t฀
educate.฀฀But฀the฀few฀teachers฀that฀work฀with฀us,฀they฀educate฀us.฀฀They฀
care฀about฀us฀as฀an฀individual,฀they฀get฀involved฀with฀us,฀they฀talk฀to฀us,฀
they฀don’t฀see฀us฀as฀better฀or฀less฀than,฀and฀they฀ask฀us฀to฀think฀critically฀
and฀to฀question฀the฀system.
Group฀photo฀of฀Ya฀
Miguel:฀฀That’s฀cool,฀the฀difference฀you฀draw฀between฀teaching฀and฀ Basta,฀on฀way฀to฀
educating— deliver฀a฀petition฀to฀
restrict฀military฀
Ya฀Basta:฀฀There฀are฀teachers฀who฀teach฀and฀there฀are฀teachers฀who฀edu- recruiters฀to฀the฀
cate.฀฀There’s฀a฀huge฀difference฀between฀learning฀and฀being฀educated.฀฀ administration฀at฀
North฀Hollywood฀
When฀you฀learn฀something,฀you฀memorize฀it฀and฀do฀it฀for฀the฀test.฀฀But฀ High.
those฀teachers฀that฀educate,฀they฀impact฀our฀actual฀lives,฀they฀create฀
mutual฀respect,฀and฀they฀learn฀from฀us.
Miguel:฀฀You’ve฀all฀started฀your฀own฀organization,฀what฀messages฀do฀
you฀have฀for฀other฀youth฀who฀haven’t฀started฀their฀own฀organiza-
tion?
Ya฀Basta:฀฀All฀youth฀have฀a฀voice—if฀you฀see฀an฀injustice,฀you฀need฀to฀speak฀
your฀mind฀and฀stand฀against฀that฀injustice.฀฀When฀you฀do฀that,฀you฀set฀an฀

Regeneración
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A.R.E. Annual Conference

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Regeneración

the Association of Raza Educators Journal Winter 2011 • Volume 2, Number 1

Colonial Education: Contemporary Trends Page 1

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