THIS WEEK ON LATINOPIA: SAL BALDENEGRO ON THE WORLD WAR TWO GENERATION, MAGGIE RIVAS RODRÍGUEZ’S VOCES PROFILES ON CARMEN CONTRERAS BOZAK AND JULIAN GONZALEZ, MYLENE MORENO’S “ON TWO FRONTS,” AND PORFI AND ARNIE ON MEMORIAL DAY,
Memorial Day greetings to you all Latinopians! This week we pay respect to those Latino and Latinas warriors who have sacrificed for our nation. We begin with Sal Baldenegro reminding us of the many sacrifices made by Latinos during World War Two, check out his essay “The World War Two Generation.”
Next we turn to Dr. Maggie Rivas Rodríguez’s oral history project “Voces,” for profiles of heroes from World War II. There are several here we are reposting, each worth your time to view. The Voces (Voices) Oral History Project at the University of Texas at Austin, Texas, was created by Dr. Maggie Rivas Rodríguez and has now recorded more than 1000 oral histories of Latino veterans of World War II and the Korean War. “Meet Julian González” is one of these oral histories. It recounts. first hand, the invasion on D-Day of France by Allied Forces from the point of view of a Mexican American who was there on the day. Another of the VOCES profiles is that of pioneering WAC Carmen Contreras Bozak, who broke gender barriers while fighting for her country.
And Mylene Moreno’s documentary “On Two Fronts” reminds us that while Latinos have fought wars overseas for decades, they have often had to fight a war against discrimination back home. Check out the trailer for Mylene’s long form documentary “On Two Fronts.”
And be sure to check out Sergio Hernández’s poignant cartoon on Memorial Day reminding us of the true meaning of Memorial Day.
Be thoughtful on this Memorial Day week-end. Not just about the Bar-B-Ques and just-released movies.
Tia Tenopia