THIS WEEK ON LATINOPIA: REMEMBERING DR. RUDY ACUÑA, DR. ALVARO HUERTA ON THE LEGACY OF DR. RUDY ACUÑA, IRMA OROZCO ON 500 YEARS OF CHICANA/LATINA ROLE MODELS, RICARDO ROMO ON THE ART OF MARK MENJIVAR, AND RUDY ACUÑA ON WRITING OCCUPIED AMERICA AND THE FOUNDING OF CHICANO STUDIES.
We are sad to report that this week we lost another giant of our Chicano/Latino community, Dr. Rodolfo “Rudy” Acuña, who passed away on March 23, 2016. Recognized as a distinguished historian and founder of the Chicano Studies curriculum at California State University at Northridge, he wrote what is considered the most important and influential book on Chicano history, Occupied America. We celebrate Dr. Acuña’s incredible and influential activist life with the posting of new clips from an interview conducted by Latinopia’s Jesús Treviño and David Sandoval in 2013.
We are also posting a remembrance by Dr. Alvaro Huerta, a colleague and friend of Dr. Acuña. In this essay Alvaro reviews Acuña’s many accomplishments and the activism that characterizes his entire life.
Also we are reposting two videos, one of Dr. Acuña speaking about the founding of the Chicano Studies curriculum and the other about his writing of the classic book Occupied America from that 2013 Latinopia interview.
Also this week we welcome guest blogger Irma Orozco who draws our attention to 500 Years of Latina Role Models. In this succinct but powerful array of historical figures Orozco leaves no doubt of the impact made by Latinas over the centuries. Check it out!
And Ricardo Romo returns with his Tejano Report. This week he reviews Mark Menjívar’s Murmurations exhibit, a new, expansive, mid-career survey highlighting 16 multifaceted projects from his past 20 years of work. which is currently open at the Contemporary at Blue Star in San Antonio, Texas. As always Dr. Romo’s love of art shows itself indelibly in his writing.
Enjoy your week on Latinopia!
Tia Tenopia