Let’s have some fun today. Shall we? Why not.
Guess what, Mexican American Studies is still outlawed in the state of Arizona. Yep. It’s illegal to teach Mexican American history to students.
Neither my public nor my private library had a copy of 500 Anos del Pueblo Chicano / 500 Years of Chicano History in Pictures so I put in a request for the book for the public library. So far it has not appeared in their catalog. I got tired of waiting for it to come to their shelves so I bought a copy online via AbeBooks.com.
(((((Big Grin)))))
I like my new libro a lot.
Why?
The book has heart.
Incredible black and white photographs.
Poetry.
Bi-lingual text.
History.
Art.
It’s one of 84 books feared by the Tucson Unified School Board.
Makes me like it more.
Oh, I’m not Mexican.
I don’t live in Tucson, AZ.
I don’t like some people telling other people what they can and cannot read.
I don’t like mind control.
It’s your mind.
Feed it well.
Truth.
Links for all interested parties:
“The Battleground for America’s Narrative: An Annotated Bibliography of the 84 Banned Books In Arizona” complied by Elaine
Romero http://www.librotraficante.com/annotatedBibliography.pdf
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Librotraficante http://www.librotraficante.com/ Bringing books to every state. You can get a Viral Banned Book Kit via this link. 🙂 Sharing books is such fun.
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If you are a student in Arizona you can get a free copy of the book here http://chicanohistory.org/letters-from-arizona-students/
An interesting video recently posted on the tubes of you. It’s not sleek and slick, but I think it does the trick. I was looking for ‘now’ and this came up. “Independent in their way of thinking” prompted me to post it.
AbeBooks http://www.abebooks.com/
om mani padme hum jewel in the lotus wahupa qi prana universal life energy
47whitebuffalo's Blog 
still a dreamer said,
September 24, 2013 at 10:24 pm
I just noticed – this is Banned Books Week! –
http://www.bannedbooksweek.org
47whitebuffalo said,
September 25, 2013 at 8:16 pm
Huzzah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
slpmartin said,
September 21, 2013 at 3:30 am
Fahrenheit 451
47whitebuffalo said,
September 25, 2013 at 8:16 pm
and 452, 453, 454 . . . .
still a dreamer said,
September 20, 2013 at 4:41 pm
How scary is this?
Back when Sarah Palin was running for VP, I read that when she was Mayor of Wasilla she was looking into banning books at the local library. What was scarier than that, was that people who supported her, people that I actually heard speak, handily dismissed that in light of what they felt were her other positive qualifications. How can anyone in any way think that banning books is OK?
I’m glad there are people out in AZ taking action.
jeanne
47whitebuffalo said,
September 25, 2013 at 8:15 pm
O why am I not surprised at your SP story? She had positive qualitifications? I think you’re yanking my chain, Still a dreamer.
Yep, I do.
So much for swimsuits.
Low blow…yeah…so what.
🙂
Who bans books? People who don’t like independent thinking. And folks who do not know what that is. Maybe they’re poor readers who are taking their frustrations out on the books with words they don’t like?
OOOps, if I keep this up, I’ll soon not be pc at all…..o well. shrug shrug
ty jeannne 🙂
still a dreamer said,
September 26, 2013 at 2:50 pm
Mind you, I didn’t say that I thought she had positive qualifications, LOL. But there were some … I could go on about what else was on that post, but I’ll stop here. Banning books is bad enough.
Frightened people also ban books. People who fear that we can’t possibly sort out or evaluate what writers put forth, so they’ll do it for us. We could both go on and be not PC – trust me!
Jeanne
47whitebuffalo said,
September 27, 2013 at 7:56 pm
Let’s dump pc and just talk reality and truth. Why the hell not? Yes, fear does terrible things to otherwise decent minds.
MisBehaved Woman said,
September 20, 2013 at 1:58 am
Added to my (endless) Book-Wish List. YaY! Thanks for the review/recommendation!
I live a stone’s throw from the border and so far as I know, this book isn’t taught in schools here in NM, either. What a shame and more so since crossing the border is more difficult now than a few years ago and the separation between *friends* is growing wider. I don’t care what this patch of land is called now, point of fact is that Las Cruces and our little sister village, Mesilla, were both a part of Mexico for years and years. It is history and it is OUR history…all of us, together…including the lovely folks of AZ. It should all be thrown out there and taught…the good, bad, the sinners and saints from both sides…
47whitebuffalo said,
September 20, 2013 at 2:17 am
O yes the who was part of where and when is covered in this book. If you indulge, get the most recent edition as corrections have been made. I do believe you can also procure it through the site that offers free copies for AZ students. You may also enjoy checking out the other 83 books removed from AZ classrooms–literally. The photos are excellent for all they convey—there are a number I haven’t seen before. I neglected to mention that Elizabeth Martinez is the editor. I find myself wanting MORE text–but there’s plenty of words elsewhere so that’s not really a valid issue.
Oh it’s pretty damn clear why a certain sort of mentality would not want copies of this book wandering around schools inciting questions about ‘history.’ All the more reason to respect it.
Btw, this is a project of the Southwest Organizing Project.
MisBehaved Woman said,
September 20, 2013 at 1:40 pm
I will for sure look for the newer version. I usually order from Alibris and there’s usually a good selection of copies to order from. If I can afford a used copy from a small bookstore, I’ll do that and leave free ones available for those who might need them more.
Now, I did just post an article objecting to one of the books AZ removed but I didn’t connect that they might be removing the book due to racial-political asshattery. I just thought the content was not appropriate for the age level and wouldn’t want my daughter to be assigned to read a book with lines about how a young woman is now some man’s (lovingly battered and bruised) bitch – not because the characters or author are Latino. Now I’m wondering if I didn’t screw up with the post and by not understanding that there is a much bigger issue at play in AZ than just the content of ONE fiction book. >Ugh<