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Downtown San Jose Region

Mexican American History of San Jose, CA - Stephen J. Pitti 4/25/2008
41:33

Mexican American History of San Jose, CA - Stephen J. Pitti 4/25/2008

On Friday, April 25, 2008, The NHUCastellano Distinguished Speaker Series hosted Dr. Stephen J. Pitti, Yale University Department of History, who spoke about his book, The Devil in Silicon Valley: Northern California, Race and Mexican Americans, (Princeton University Press, 2003). Introductions by Dr. Ramon Martinez. The presentation took place at The National Hispanic University. Dr. Pitti also responded to questions from the audience. In addition, local community leaders commented on Dr. Pitti's presentation and on history and issues related to Mexican and Chicano History in San Jose, California. The respondents included Cindy Chavez, Dr. George Castro, Dr. Guillermo Mora-Torres, Victor Garza, Sophia Mendoza and others. Videography Frank Ruiz, A-Best Productions. All copy rights to Dr. Stephen Pitti. ----------- El viernes 25 de abril de 2008, la Fundación Castellano Familia, Serie de Oradores Distinguidos acogió el Dr. Stephen J. Pitti, Yale Departamento de Historia de la Universidad, quien habló sobre su libro, El diablo en Silicon Valley: el norte de California, la raza y los estadounidenses de origen mexicano, (Princeton University Press, 2003). Presentaciones del Dr. Ramón Martínez. La presentación tuvo lugar en la Universidad Nacional Hispana en San Jose, California.. Dr. Pitti también respondió a las preguntas de la audiencia. Además, los líderes locales de la comunidad comentaron la presentación del Dr. Pitti y sobre la historia y las cuestiones relacionadas con la historia mexicana y la historia chicana en San José, California. Los encuestados incluyeron Cindy Chávez, el Dr. George Castro, el Dr. Guillermo Mora-Torres, Víctor Garza, Sophia Mendoza y otros. Videografía Frank Ruiz, A-Best Productions. Todos los derechos de copia al Dr. Stephen Pitti.
A Train Ride with Dolores Huerta 5/23/2016
05:53

A Train Ride with Dolores Huerta 5/23/2016

A Train Ride with Dolores Huerta 5/23/2016 More Information at: (partial article below; enter the information above ) Through May 15, 2016 "One Life: Dolores Huerta" will highlight the significant role of this Latina leader in the California farm workers movement of the 1960s and 70s. This eleventh installment in the "One Life" series is the first devoted to a Latina. It will illuminate Huerta as the co-founder, with Cesar Chavez, of the United Farm Workers (UFW), and highlight her position as the union's lobbyist and contract negotiator. Huerta was instrumental in achieving major legal protections and a better standard of living for farm workers, yet she remains largely under-acknowledged in history. The exhibition is the first in a national museum to draw attention to her contributions. Opening in July 2015,the exhibition will coincide with the 50th anniversary of the September 1965 grape strike launched by the farm workers movement. Taína Caragol, curator for Latino art and history, is the curator for this exhibition. One Life: Dolores Huerta "Don’t be a marshmallow. Walk the street with us into history. Get off the sidewalk. Work for justice! " Dolores Huerta, 1975 The farm workers’ movement in California was one of the civil rights campaigns of the 1960s that made the country acutely aware of the inequalities undermining its constitutional promise of freedom and dignity for all members of society. A crucial yet lesser-known figure in this struggle is Dolores Huerta (born 1930). Along with César Chávez, Huerta brought the conditions of field laborers to public attention—including below- poverty-level wages for long days of backbreaking work and precarious living conditions—galvanizing national solidarity on their behalf. Huerta was the pragmatic counterpart to the charismatic Chávez, and the pair cofounded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA) in 1962. It became the United Farm Workers Organizing Committee (UFWOC) in 1966 and eventually the United Farm Workers (UFW). At a time when men dominated organized labor and Mexican American women were expected to dedicate themselves to family, Huerta advanced new models of womanhood as an energetic picket captain, a persuasive lobbyist on the state and national level, and an unyielding contract negotiator. She spear headed and served as the main strategist for the 1965 national campaign that by 1967 had called on international consumers to boycott table grapes from growers who refused to negotiate with the union. Fearless, eloquent, and passionate for social justice, Huerta ushered through her vision of landmark improvements for farm workers, from higher wages to worker’s compensation and the right to collective bargaining. 1 Connect with us about “One Life: Dolores Huerta” using #Viva Huerta on our social media sites. (symbols for Facebook, Instagram and Twitter). Curatorial Statement The civil rights movement of the 1960s awakened an awareness of social injustice that fueled empowerment struggles among other marginalized groups, including farm workers. In 1965 Mexican American and Filipino grape pickers walked out of the fields in Delano, California, triggering a battle that culminated a decade later in the signing of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Act. This exhibition commemorates the fiftieth anniversary of this momentous strike and Dolores Huerta’s fight for the rights of agricultural workers. Taína Caragol, Curator for Latino Art and History “One Life: Dolores Huerta” is made possible through federal support from the Latino Initiatives Pool, administered by the Smithsonian Latino Center; the Friends of the National Museum of the American Latino; and by the Guenther and Siewchin Sommer Endowment Fund. 2 DH01 (hallway image) Dolores Huerta, Delano, California, grape strike, September 24, 1965 Harvey Wilson Richards (1912–2001) Reproduction courtesy Harvey Richards Media Archive 3 DH02 Dolores Huerta with her brothers John and Marshall, c. 1937 Born on April 10, 1930, in Dawson, New Mexico, Dolores Fernández was the second of the three children of Juan Fernández and Alicia Chávez. Dolores was two years old when the marriage e ended. Alicia Chávez moved with her children to Stockton, California, an agricultural center with a community of Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, Jewish, and Mexican families. Chávez worked as a waitress during the day and at the canneries at night to provide her family with a middle-class upbringing. During World War II she was able to buy a lunch counter and a seventy-room hotel. She frequently gave free lodging to dispossessed migrant farm workers. Huerta had limited contact with her father, but she was proud of his union activity as a miner and of his work in the beet fields. Videographer: Ramon J Martinez Ph.D. June 14, 2014
Francisco Jimenez At History San Jose: Writing Your Family History 3/31/18
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Francisco Jimenez At History San Jose: Writing Your Family History 3/31/18

Francisco Jimenez Book Talk at History San Jose, 3/31/1`8 Francisco Jimenez, Author: Books, Teachers & Family History 3/31/18 Francisco Jimenez At History San Jose: Writing Your Family History 3/31/18 Francisco Jiménez emigrated with his family from Tlaquepaque, Mexico to California and as a child worked alongside his parents in the fields of California. He received his BA from Santa Clara University and an MA and Ph.D. in Latin American literature from Columbia University under a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship. He has served on various professional boards and commissions, including the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, the California Council for the Humanities, the Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities (WASC), Santa Clara University Board of Trustees, the Far West Lab for Educational Research and Development, and ALearn. His autobiographical books The Circuit: Stories from the Life of a Migrant Child, Breaking Through, Reaching Out, La Mariposa, and The Christmas Gift have won several national literary awards, including the Américas Book Award, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Pura Belpré Honor Book Award, the Tomás Rivera Book Award, the Jane Addams Honor Book Award and the Carter C. Woodson National Book Award. His books have been published in Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Italian and Spanish. He has published and edited several books on Mexican and Mexican American literature, and his stories have been reprinted in over 100 textbooks and anthologies of literature. In 2002 he was selected U.S. Professor of the Year by CASE and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and in 2009 he was awarded an honorary doctorate of Humane Letters, honoris causa,from the University of San Francisco. He is currently the Fay Boyle Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures at Santa Clara University. Contact: www.scu.edu/fjimenez Videographer: Ramon J. Martinez, Ph.D. 20180331034328 1 5 2 1
America's Social Arsonist Book: Fred Ross Sr. CSO History  San Jose , CA  11/16/2016
32:14

America's Social Arsonist Book: Fred Ross Sr. CSO History San Jose , CA 11/16/2016

America's Social Arsonist Book: Fred Ross Sr. CSO History San Jose , CA 11/16/2016 Photo: (r-l): Dolores Huerta and Fred Ross Sr., Photo Credit: Leroy Chatfield. Book Talk in San Jose, California by Gabriel Thompson, author of America's Social Arsonist: Fred Ross and Grassroots Organizing in the Twentieth Century Held on Wednesday, November 16 , co-sponsored by La Raza Historical Society of Santa Clara Valley and The Foundation for Hispanic Education (TFHE - formerly NHU National Hispanic University). Please Like us, Share and tell us if you are interested in attending at Facebook https://www.facebook.com/LaRazaHistoricalSocietySCV/ Source for the following edited review: Amazon.com "Gabriel Thompson. a John Steinbeck Fellow from San Jose State is the biographer of Fred Ross, who, as many of us know, had a long and devoted relationship to Cesar Chavez, and was instrumental in recruiting Cesar to organize communities throughout California by forming CSO Chapters. His biography of Fred Ross, titled "Social Anarchist" illuminates the historical path of the CSO's, and the contributions of Cesar, Fred Ross and others to activism founded on social justice" -- Honorable Blanca Alvarado (September 25, 2016) "This is an absolutely must-read book for organizers, those interested in organizing, and those interested in how to achieve progressive social change. It is also perfect for book groups, inspiring discussions sure to go far into the night."--Randy Shaw "Social Policy" (04/01/2016) “Fred Ross was a quiet leader who inspired greatness in those he met and worked with. He had real insight and knew how to move people to action. Cesar Chavez himself got his first organizing instructions from Fred Ross.”—Jerry Brown, thirty-ninth governor of California “This compelling biography chronicles how previously powerless farm workers were brilliantly organized by the charismatic Fred Ross. With painful honesty, it also documents Ross’s sacrifice, personal pain, and loss to himself and to his loved ones involved in this campaign across a lifetime of heroic effort.”—Kevin Starr, author of the Americans and the California Dream series “Fred Ross Sr. was one of America’s leading labor organizers and educators, dedicating his life to lifting the voices and earnings of the oppressed. Here’s a superb biography and introduction to Ross’s life, thoughts, teachings, and techniques - as applicable for America today as they were when he was alive and kicking.” - Robert B. Reich, Chancellor’s Professor of Public Policy, University of California, Berkeley, and former U.S. Secretary of Labor See information about this book at: https://www.facebook.com/AmericasSocialArsonist/America's Social Arsonist: Fred Ross and Grassroots Organizing in the Twentieth Century Hardcover – March 29, 2016 by Gabriel Thompson Book Review "Those who know the name Fred Ross probably identify him as 'the man who taught Cesar Chavez how to organize, ' as he was once dubbed by The Chronicle. Most Californians probably have never heard of him. Gabriel Thompson s superb new biography of Ross, 'America s Social Arsonist: Fred Ross and Grassroots Organizing in the Twentieth Century, ' will be fascinating for both groups. The author sheds new light on the life of a man whose presence was behind the scenes but whose work ended up in the headlines. . . . Thompson has plumbed Ross extensive notes and files to relay vivid accounts of his experiences and insight into his ideas. During his half century as an organizer, Ross pioneered tactics that are widely used today. 'But, ' asserts Thompson, 'his greatest legacy is in the people he inspired and mentored who went on to shape California and U.S. history.'"--Elaine Elinson"San Francisco Chronicle" (03/24/2016)" "Gabriel Thompson has produced a masterful and engaging book about a premier American organizer, Fred Ross Sr. . . .This fine book is many things useful, moving, and sad. It highlights the creative innovations and the painful lessons of an organizer who spent his career behind the scenes, but who is getting, at long last, the attention he richly deserves."--Michael Gecan "Labor's Edge" (04/05/2016)" “This compelling biography chronicles how previously powerless farmworkers were brilliantly organized by the charismatic Fred Ross. With painful honesty, it also documents Ross’s sacrifice, personal pain, and loss to himself and to his loved ones involved in this campaign across a lifetime of heroic effort.”—Kevin Starr, author of the Americans and the California Dream series Videographer: Ramon J. Martinez, Ph.D. 20161116190538 1 1 1
Visita De La Familia De Ernesto Galarza A San Jose, California
35:01

Visita De La Familia De Ernesto Galarza A San Jose, California

Copyright © 2010 Dick Meister Ernesto Galarza: "Man On Fire" Edited Article: read the entire piece at: http://www.dickmeister.com/id348.html Before Cesar Chavez, there was Ernesto Galarza to lead the seemingly endless struggle to bring economic and social justice to America's Mexican-American farm workers. But even many who have followed the struggle may have forgotten Galarza, who died in San Jose a quarter-century ago. I haven't forgotten. I still vividly recall talking with Galarza shortly after he announced his retirement in 1978. I couldn't believe it, couldn't believe he was actually abandoning his extraordinary lifelong crusade in behalf of farm workers and Mexican-Americans generally. We were on the telephone. "Ernesto! You're kidding!' I damn near shouted, much as Galarza had often shouted to me over the phone when I had to explain that while I was quite sympathetic to his cause, the newspaper I worked for - the San Francisco Chronicle - was not particularly sympathetic. In any case, as I told him repeatedly, my paper was not interested in reporting every one of his many examples of the poor treatment of farm workers and what he thought must be done - right now! - to overcome their mistreatment. Galarza never accepted that, never eased his demands for thorough newspaper coverage of each of the many injustices he uncovered, particularly those involving the federal bracero program, which enabled U.S. growers, with government assistance, to import masses of penniless, undemanding Mexicans to replace U.S. workers who struck or otherwise demanded better treatment. In 1950, for instance, Galarza led a strike of several thousand tomato pickers in the Stockton area who sought an increase in their poverty-level pay, only to have them replaced by some 2,000 braceros who were escorted across the picket lines by deputy sheriffs and state highway patrolmen. Retiring? Yes, Galarza's shining black hair and thick bushy eyebrows had turned an unruly white. His sharp features had softened. His once fierce penetrating glare had softened. And the words he once shot out in sharp, intense indignity now flowed at a soft, slow, almost melodious pace. It was impossible to believe nonetheless. But Ernesto Galarza insisted. He was indeed retiring from his long struggle to wrest economic and social justice for Mexican Americans from the growers and other Anglos who ran American society. By Galarza's own account there was still very much to be done, and the new wave of activists led by Cesar Chavez and other leaders and followers of the United Farm Workers needed every bit of help they could muster. But at age 72, Galarza was in effect worn out. Edited Article: read the entire piece at: http://www.dickmeister.com/id348.html Videographer; Ramon J. Martinez Ph.D. MAH01549 1 1
Early Writings of Luis Valdez: El Excentrico Magazine 1964, SJSU Speaker Series 4/27/2016, Part 3/3
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Early Writings of Luis Valdez: El Excentrico Magazine 1964, SJSU Speaker Series 4/27/2016, Part 3/3

Early Writings of Luis Valdez: El Excentrico Magazine 1964, SJSU Speaker Series 4/27/2016, Part 3/3 https://youtu.be/wUv4FuNelNM Humberto Garcia II, founder, and publisher of El Excentrico Magazine called him " El Machete" because of his passionate writings. Luis Valdez Leadership Academy at 1st SJSU Speaker Series 4/27/2016, 1/3 https://youtu.be/00FL4FbuP3U - Luis Valdez SJSU Math Major to Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa 4/27/2016, 2/3 https://youtu.be/sIb6oa1mL88 Co-sponsored by the Mexican American Studies Department, The College of Social Sciences, ASPIRE/McNair, Baktun Twelve, and La Raza Historical Society of Santa Clara Valley. Students from the Luis Valdez Leadership Academy recited readings from Maestro Luis Valdez' plays. The program theme, “Luis Valdez and El Excentrico Magazine” took place at San Jose State University on April, 27, 2016. Dr. Gregorio Mora-Torres, Lecturer at the SJSU Mexican American Studies Program interviewed Maestro Valdez. Luis Miguel Valdez was about 24 years old in 1964, a fresh graduate of San Jose State College, when Humberto Garcia II asked him to write a column in El Excentrico Magazine. He wrote eight columns. Listen to students read the columns and to Maestro Valdez talk about his own early life experiences as he developed as a writer. Thanks to Xago Juarez, Dr. Gregorio-Mora Torres, Humberto "Bert" Garcia III and the committee that sponsored this event at San Jose State University on Wednesday, April 27, 2016. Luis Valdez Leadership Academy www.sjlvla.org 1855 Lucretia Avenue, San Jose, CA 95122 408-479-0253 In the 2nd and 3rd video in this series, Luis Valdez talks about his love for the certainty of math and about the uncertainty of written drama. He also talks about his high school advisor, a lost scholarship to UC and then going to San Jose State College, and about Theater of the Absurd, as shown in his college play, "The Shrunken Head of Pancho Villa". All copyrights to Luis Valdez Videographer: Ramon J Martinez Ph.D. Video link https://youtu.be/wUv4FuNelNM Visit www.larazahs.org for more Visit La Raza Historical Society on Facebook
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