C/S Nonfiction Three For the New Year

C/S Nonfiction Three For the New Year 

Michael Sedano 

The name “Arizona” conjures up sad images of plague-time idiocy, cowardly lethal border vigilantes, curriculum destroyers, and book burners. 

Books smuggled into Arizona during SB1070 law

Working diligently to counter those impressions, Arizonans at the University of Arizona Press wrapped dismal 2020 with three enlivening books to help curriculum builders everywhere. La Bloga-Tuesday is happy to share the publisher’s précis of the three.

September brought Teaching Gloria E. Anzaldúa: Pedagogy and Practice for Our Classrooms and Communities.  

Teaching Gloria Anzaldúa is a pragmatic and inspiring offering of how to apply her ideas to the classroom and community rather than simply discussing them as theory. 

The collection Is divided into three main parts, according to the ways the text has been used: Curriculum Design, Pedagogy And Practice, and Decolonizing Pedagogies . . . . offers practical advice in the form of lesson plans, activities, and other suggested resources for the classroom. Are you my first practical and inspiring ways to deploy Anzaldúa’s transformative theories with real and meaningful action. 

Teaching Gloria E. Anzaldúa (link). Margaret Cantú-Sánchez (Editor), Candace de León-Zepeda (Editor), Norma Elia Cantú (Editor). ISBN hardcover 9780816541904 

October brought two titles, first, Vanessa Fonseca-Chávez, Colonial Legacies In Chicana/O Literature And Culture: Looking Through The Kaleidoscope. 

The book exposes the ways in which colonialism is expressed in the literary and cultural production in the southwest United States, a region that has experienced at least two distinct colonial periods since the 16th century. This book is intended for readers interested in how colonial legacies are performed in the southwest United States, particularly in the context of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona. Readers will relate to the personal narrative thread throughout the book that provides a path to understanding fragmented identities. 

Vanessa Fonseca-Chávez, Colonial Legacies In Chicana/O Literature And Culture: Looking Through The Kaleidoscope (link). ISBN hardcover 9780816541935 

October’s second from the University of Arizona Press offers a portrait of Chicana/o grass roots leadership in the 20th century, in urban California, Activist Leaders of San José, Josie Méndez-Negrete. 

Through excerpts, biographical and historical information, and analysis, Méndez-Negrete shows the contributions of thid singular community throughout the 20th century and the diversity of motivations across the generations. 

Spanning generations, we hear about the motivations of activists in the 1930s to the end of the 20th century. We hear stories of victories and struggles, successes and failures, firsthand from those who participated. 

This book is an important record of the contributions of San José in improving conditions for the Mexican American community. 

Activist leaders of San Jose: En sus propias voces link. Josie Méndez-Negrete. ISBN Hardcover 9780816542000