THIS WEEK ON LATINOPIA: EDUARDO PAGAN ON THE ZOOT SUIT RIOTS, RICARDO ROMO ON EARLY HISTORY OF SOUTH TEXAS, DOLORES HUERTA ON CESAR CHAVEZ’S 1966 PEREGRINACIÓN AND ANGELA ROA “CANTO DESAFINADO.”
This week Zootsuit riots, Texas history, Dolores Huerta and Angela Roa. In 1943, gangs of American servicemen attacked young Mexican American youth dressed in Zoot Suits, beat them and ripped off their clothes. This infamous incident, that lasted a week, became known as the Zoot Suit Riots. Dr. Eduardo Pagan, a historian at Arizona State University, explains what may have behind these vicious attacks.
Ricardo Romo returns with his Tejano Report. This week he reexamines the colonial history of Mexican families in southern Texas. Being a descendant of a long line of Tejanos himself, its no surprise that some of his kin figure in this important telling of our history.
We repost Dolores Huerta recalling the 1966 peregrinación (pilgrimage) of Cesar Chavez and his farm workers from Delano to the California state capital at Sacramento. This was a historic march in which campesinos joined as the march progressed from city to city in the San Joaquin valley until there were more than ten thousand marchers. Check out the story of this historic march.
And don’t miss Chilean folk singer Angela Roa as she sings her original composition, “Canto Desafinado,” (I Sing out of tune) which comments on the sad history of her native Chile.
Enjoy your week on Latinopia.
Tia Tenopia