Author Gigs - Racial Profiling -Test Trailer

Author Events

[text from event websites]

Francisco X. Alarcón

An evening of poetry, music, and dance.
April 23, 8:30 p.m.
Casa Zapata Dining Hall (Stern) - Stanford University

Enjoy the talents of students, staff, faculty and Bay Area performers who are committed to uplifting our community through arte y cultura. Featuring Poetry by Francisco X. Alarcón.
Francisco X. Alarcón is an acclaimed poet and educator, author of ten volumes of poetry. Alarcón is the recipient of 1993 American Book Award, the 1993 PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Award, and the 1984 Chicano Literary Prize. In April 2002 he received the Fred Cody Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bay Area Book Reviewers Association (BABRA). He was one of the three finalists nominated for the state poet laureate of California. Alarcón was also awarded the 1997 Pura Belpré Honor Award by the American Library Association and the National Parenting Publications Gold Medal. He also received 2002 Pura Belpré Honor Award, Danforth and Fulbright fellowships, 1998 Carlos Pellicer-Robert Frost Poetry Honor Award by the Third Binational Border Poetry Contest, Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua.

Sherwin Bitsui and Sherman Alexie

April 27 - 7:00 p.m.

A very special night is at hand as two amazing poets, one new to Elliott Bay audiences, and the other, familiar but always, in the vital sense, new, give this reading of their work together. We'll go with reverse alphabetical order here, or let the visiting poet be introduced before our longtime friend and neighbor.

Up from Arizona, Sherwin Bitsui is Diné of the Tódích'ii'nii (Bitter Water Clan), an extraordinary new poetic voice, the author of a fine first collection, Shapeshift, and now a compelling new book, Flood Song (Copper Canyon Press). This is major work. "Sherwin Bitsui sees violent beauty in the American landscape. There are junipers, black ants, axes, and cities dragging their bridges. I can hear Whitman's drums in these poems and I see Ginsberg's supermarkets. But above all else, there is an indigenous eccentricity, a 'cornfield at the bottom of a sandstone canyon,' that you will not find anywhere else." – Sherman Alexie.

With Sherman Alexie, originally from the Spokane Reservation, but coming here now from just over the hill, there is a poetic authenticity and urgency in his poems and all other work approached by relatively few working today. Since his first book of poems and stories, The Business of Fancydancing was published 19 years ago, he has written 22 books of poems and prose, many a 'mix tape,' as he might say, and did say of his most recent book, War Dances (Grove Press). Last year also saw publication of Face (Hanging Loose). "[Sherman Alexie] writes of blood, mirth, anger, patriotism, pretension, sex, the fruitful collision of cultures, and calcified ideas about what it means to be a Native American, a writer, a man, a human being. Skirmishes with insects and animals illuminate our conflicts over nature, and musings about the toll of creativity inspire poems about F. Scott Fitzgerald and Richard Pryor. A bountiful, keen, and inspiriting collection." – Donna Seaman, Booklist. Bountiful, this evening, indeed.

Location:

The Elliott Bay Book Company
1521 Tenth Avenue
Seattle, Washington 98122

Rolando Hinojosa-Smith

Conferencia Magistral:
El estado del español y su literatura en Estados Unidos y por qué lo uso en mi trabajo

Fecha: Miércoles, 28 de abril
Lugar: Life Science E Wing (LSE) 106, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ
Hora: 4:30‐6:00 p.m.
Información: 480.965‐6281

Rolando Hinojosa-Smith: destacado novelista chicano, es autor de Klail City y sus alrededores, Mi querido Rafa, Los amigos de Becky y We Happy Few, entre otras obras. Hinojosa‐Smith es profesor de Creative Writing y de Literatura Chicana en el Department of English de la Universidad de Texas, Austin.

Patrocinadores: School of International Letters & Cultures (SILC), Hispanic Research Center (HRC), Department of Transborder Chicana/o & Latina/o Studies (DTCLS) y Department of English.

Luis J. Rodriguez

April 29 - 6:30 p.m. Kansas City Public Library, Plaza Branch

One of the leading Chicano writers in the country with 14 published books in memoir, fiction, nonfiction, children’s literature, and poetry, Luis J. Rodriguez will discuss his prolific work.

Rodriguez’s master work, Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A., is a 1993 memoir of gang life. With more than 300,000 copies sold, this book garnered a Carl Sandburg Literary Award, a Chicago Sun-Times Book Award, and was designated a New York Times Notable Book.

It became a stage play by the Cornerstone Theater Company, showing in Los Angeles from 2003-2005 to 6,000 high school students. Written as a cautionary tale for Luis’ then 15-year-old son Ramiro — who had joined a Chicago gang — the memoir is popular among youth and teachers.

The event is co-sponsored by the Latino Writers Collective.

_______________________________________

1016 16th Street NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20036 Office: 202-293-2828
PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE DISTRIBUTION April 21, 2010	CONTACT: Estuardo Rodriguez: (202) 631-2892 Donald Gatlin: (202) 821-7923
CIVIL RIGHTS AND IMMIGRANT RIGHTS LEADERS REPUDIATE RACIAL PROFILING LAW, AZ SB1070, CALL FOR ITS VETO MALDEF, National Day Laborer Organizing Network, Rights Working Group and CASA de Maryland convene before Department of Homeland Security
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, MALDEF and NDLON met with other civil rights organizations in front of the Department of Homeland Security to call on Secretary Janet Napolitano to take immediate steps to prevent implementation of Arizona Senate Bill 1070 should Governor Jan Brewer move to enact it. The groups condemned SB 1070 as one of the most draconian anti-immigrant legislation approved by a state body in the nation. "If implemented, SB 1070 will have dire fiscal, economic, and public safety consequences for Arizona and all its residents," stated Thomas A. Saenz, MALDEF President and General Counsel. “In addition, this unconstitutional law could adversely affect federal law enforcement by upsetting developed enforcement priorities and diverting limited resources. It is therefore incumbent on Secretary Janet Napolitano and Department of Homeland Security to state clearly the federal government's opposition to SB 1070 and to commit not to alter federal practices and not to cooperate in the implementation of this draconian law." Margaret Huang, Executive Director, Rights Working Group, stated, “This law is the natural conclusion of a long process that has transferred the enforcement of federal immigration law to the states, and created an environment ripe for racial profiling. The federal government must reassert its exclusive authority to enforce the law. Until that happens, unconstitutional laws like the one in Arizona will continue to be passed and people’s human rights will continue to be violated.” Gustavo Andrade, Organizing Director, CASA de Maryland and NDLON member, stated, “Communities from Arizona to Maryland feel under siege. As a candidate, Barack Obama promised immigration reform in his first year, but instead, President Obama and his administration have unleashed a racial reign of terror upon the Latino community in the United States. This is the moment where the President must use his leadership and moral courage to strike down SB1070 and move forward to pass immigration reform.” If Governor Brewer does not veto SB 1070, Arizona will become the first state to criminalize illegal immigrants and allow local police to enforce federal immigration laws. On Monday, the State Senate endorsed SB 1070 by a vote of 17-11 and the legislation is now sitting on the Governor’s desk.
###

I'm sure you are aware of the Arizona issue. Change.org has more info and an email petition, at this link. I don't know if the petition will do any good, but we all should take the time to understand the consequences if a law like SB 1070 is enacted.

__________________________________________________

And here is something I put together in my spare time. If you have two minutes, click the flick and turn on your speakers. This is my first try at something like this - it is primitive and basic - but I have to say the process was fun. Any feedback is appreciated.

Later.