In the case of Hollywood movies, for too long — past and present — Latinas/os (in general) and Chicanas/os or Mexican Americans (in particular) have been mostly invisible and marginalized.
Author Archives: Álvaro Huerta
Dr. Álvaro Huerta is a Religion and Public Life Organizing Fellow at the Harvard Divinity School. Dr. Huerta is also an Associate Professor in Urban & Region Planning and Ethnic & Women’s Studies at Cal Poly Pomona. He’s the author of the forthcoming book, Jardineros: Cultivating Los Angeles’ Green Landscapes with Brown Hands, Migrant Networks and Technology (The MIT Press). He’s also the author of an award-winning book, Defending Latina/o Immigrant Communities: The Xenophobic Era of Trump and Beyond, among other publications.
Posted inagriculture
CALÓ ESSAY: From Bracero to ‘Braincero’
As a “guest” of the American government, my father—Salomón Huerta, Sr.—worked as a farmworker during the early 1960s under the Bracero Program. Officially known as the Mexican Farm Labor Program (1942-1964), this guest worker program recruited 4.6 million Mexican laborers to toil in America’s agricultural fields, along with the railroad and mining sectors.
Posted inCulture
COMMENTARY: From Bracero to ‘Braincero’
As a “guest” of the American government, my father—Salomón Huerta, Sr.—worked as a farmworker during the early 1960s under the Bracero Program. Officially known as the Mexican Farm Labor Program (1942-1964), this guest worker program recruited 4.6 million Mexican laborers to toil in America’s agricultural fields, along with the railroad and mining sectors.
Posted inEducation
CALÓ COMMENTARY: The importance of higher education for La Raza, reflections of an East LA Chicano scholar
Yet, if not for my participation in Upward Bound (a federally funded program to help prepare historically marginalized, first-gen kids to pursue higher education), I wouldn’t be able to compete at the highest level in my mathematics. More specifically, if not for my childhood friend Hector from the projects, who peer pressured me to apply to Upward Bound at Occidental College (Oxy) – a six-week, residential program – I would be oblivious to the college application process.
Posted inCulture, Education, Opinion, Representation
COMMENTARY: Higher education, La Raza, reflections of LA Chicano scholar
Yet, if not for my participation in Upward Bound (a federally funded program to help prepare historically marginalized, first-gen kids to pursue higher education), I wouldn’t be able to compete at the highest level in my mathematics. More specifically, if not for my childhood friend Hector from the projects, who peer pressured me to apply to Upward Bound at Occidental College (Oxy) – a six-week, residential program – I would be oblivious to the college application process.