New Horizons in Latino Studies: Volume 1, Number 3

November Spotlight: Institute Fellow Alex E. Chávez

In this issue of New Horizons we turn the spotlight on Institute Visiting Fellow Alex E. Chávez. Chávez earned his PhD in anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin in 2010 with a concentration in folklore and public culture and holds doctoral portfolios in both Mexican American studies and cultural studies. His current research project is a multi-site ethnographic case study conducted in Mexico and the United States over the course of seven years and funded by both the National Science Foundation and Ford Foundation. He explains:

"I interrogate the vexed relationship between Mexican migration to the US and the re-imagining of community across borders through a focus on oral poetry and the practice of huapango arribeño folk music. I detail how huapango arribeño's poetic narratives key in on the subjectivities of undocumented immigrants and in fact disrupt the discursive and militarized constructions of the US-Mexico border that reproduce strategies of containment and deportability designed to disenfranchise and exclude them. The culturally mediated lexicon of nation and citizenship, I argue, is embedded in a web of public discourse, poetic narrative, media, and performance where unauthorized migrants expressively confront the moral economy of a nation-state that accepts them as expendable laborers, but not as citizens with equal human and civil rights."

His research interests explore more broadly what he terms the "transborder imaginary," the prism through which the social life of Latino music-practice, language-use, and performance are envisioned. He focuses on Mexican/Latino folklore and music-cultures, public and popular culture of Greater Mexico, the anthropology of US-Mexico migration, and Borderlands theories of postcoloniality and critical theory.

Read more

HERE

Dia de los Muertos @ Notre Dame, 2010

Artemio Rodríguez

Ragdale Time: October 13 - 20, 2010

In April of 2008, I pitched an idea to Susan Tillet, the Executive Director of the Ragdale Foundation.

We were having lunch in Omaha, Nebraska as guests of the Bemis Center for Comtemporary Arts, along with others, at the invitation of Midwestern Voices and Visions---an initiative run by the Alliance of Artists Communities in Providence, RI. The objective of this initiative is to place artists of color in artist residencies---artists of color have never been to an artist residency.

But my pitch to Susan had a twist.

It involved Latino and Latina poets who are also literary publishers and/or editors. The idea was to place poets in residence together to allow them to work and be in community. But we also wanted to curate a group who shared what I'll call "the editing bug"----those poets who are also very much invested in getting other poets into print, Latino/a and non-Latino/a alike. We were posing a question: What would happen if we brought a group of these poets together and set up very loose and informal conversations about editing and publishing and Latinidad, in addition to allowing them to use their time as they saw fit?

This idea  (experiment really), with assistence from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), is what was played out for one week in Lake Forest, IL at Ragdale recently. Had the NEA awarded the full amount we had requested, the group would have been larger and the residency would have been for two weeks. In the end, one week seemed just about right for this initial gesture, and eight poets seemed a nice intimate number as I hope the photos that follow will convey.

My sincere thanks to David Dominguez, Carmen Gimenez Smith, Roberto Harrison, Raina J. León, J. Michael Martinez, Maria Melendez, and elena minor for saying Yes.

***

Ragdale has a nice custom of inviting their residents to display (and consider donating) any of their books. They are available for residents to browse and read during their stay, which is what ended up happening in many instances.

Some might argue that the highlight of any time spent at Ragdale are the delicious meals prepared by Linda Williams, which she lays out every evening for a 6:30 PM communal meal. 

Table talk, then, was a special time:

Table talk away from dinner, too...

On our last morning together, David rose early 

and made us breakfast: chorizo con huevos,

with a generous stack of tortillas

***

After dinner, on three of the nights that we were there, we retired into the living room for our evening discussions. Over two nights, everyone had a turn at presenting to the group their particular journal or press. An informal Q & A followed. The discussions that followed were unscripted and free-ranging around the topic of Latinidad and publishing. Two words that generated particularly engaging talk: "accessible" and "innovative." On a third night, last Monday, we talked about what might happen with our collective (with an eye, of course, of inviting and welcoming other Latino and Latina poets who are also publishers and/or editors) post-Ragdale...

***

And yet, most of the time we were there, our time was our own and spent on whatever writing (or reading) projects we felt drawn. Everyone had their own work space:

Raina shared with group the origins of The Acentos Review, an online journal for Latino writers, which she co-edits with Rich Villar. The Acentos Review has graciously agreed to host us on their links page.

Raina also offered, throughout the week, a lot of the insights she has derived from her rich experience in teaching youth, including in Las Vegas, and currently in Germany.

David is the poetry and non-fiction editor, as well as the co-founder of, The Packinghouse Review, a print journal housed in California's Central Valley. He shared with us how this journal serves as a textbook in a number of composition classes at Reedley College, where he teaches. He also conveyed his passion for working towards improving the academic and vocational outcomes for Latino and Latinas in the U.S.

Carmen spoke about her work as Editor-In-Chief of Puerto del Sol, where she delegates substantial editorial responsibilities to her graduate students in order for them to feel more invested and take more ownership of the journal, but always under her guidance. And she spoke to us about Noemi Press, where her editorial vision, if I heard her correctly, leans towards providing more space for women to publish their poetry and prose.

Roberto's editorial and curatorial activities involved the journal Crayon, which he co-edited with Andrew Levy, and currently Bronze Skull Press chapbooks, as well as his Milwaulkee-based Enemy Rumor Reading Series. What was particularly insightful and moving about his trajectory as an editor and curator was how these activities were and are informed, above all, by his desire to create community with other writers.

I gave a thumbnail sketch of Momotombo Press and how my experience with the Chicano Chapbook Series, as well as the mentoring I received from Gary Snyder at UC Davis informed my desire to cultivate the chapbook as a way to promote emerging voices. I also underscored that my role with Momotombo Press is now solely as publisher--through Letras Latinas--and that the editorial vision has been assumed by Maria Melendez, who has recently identified the next Momotombo author.

Breach is the word. It is an idea hatched by both J. Michael Martinez and Andrés Montoya Poetry Prize winner Gabriel Gomez. He described Breach Press as a new venue for Latino writing. He shared with us the experience of putting together the online work, "LaChiPo: a Decolonial Poetics," and the lively discussion this curated collective essay has generated. Breach Press's mission, as I understand it, seeks to stretch the canvas of Latino writing and to challenge the notion that there is an aesthetic division in Latino letters.

Maria shared how she came to assume the helm of Pilgramage, a project she described as "a community-in-print serving an eclectic fellowship of readers, writers, artists, naturalists, contemplatives, activists, seekers, adventurers and other kindred spirits"! Maria, who served as a co-faciliator during our week at Ragdale, was particularly diplomatic in helping us navigate our around the terms "innovative" and "accessible" during our general discussions.

I don't think I speak for myself only when I say how inspiring it was to hear about how PALABRA started, and how far it's come in its six numbers. Among the insights that stays with me about elena's editorial philosophy is the notion of opening the door to those pieces of writing that other editors might not consider "polished" enough to merit publication. In other words, PALABRA is open to the idea of creativing a space for writing at its various stages.

***

Our time together culminated with group reading, "Ocho Poetas," a wonderful way to wind up the week, reading to each other and a number of special guests, including Ragdale board member, fellow poet and co-editor of the journal Rhino, Ralph Hamilton. It was also great to meet for the first time John Alba Cutler, a young professor of Chicana/o and Latina/o and comparative literatures at Northwestern University. I might also add that the evening included a special announcement about a new initiative
that involves Latino poetry and counts on the collaboration of Red Hen Press
and Ragdale. Details to follow.

Susan Tillet gives a warm welcome

(photo credit: J. Michael Martínez)

 Raina J. León
(photo credit: Laura Ramos Hegwer)

David Domínguez
(photo credit: Laura Ramos Hegwer)

Carmen Giménez Smith
(photo credit: Laura Ramos Hegwer)

Roberto Harrison
(photo credit: Laura Ramos Hegwer)

Francisco Aragón
(photo credit: Laura Ramos Hegwer)

 J. Michael Martínez
(photo credit: Laura Ramos Hegwer)

Maria Melendez
(photo credit: Laura Ramos Hegwer)

elena minor

(photo credit: Laura Ramos Hegwer)

***

elena and Raina.

Raina was the first to depart, leaving after the reading to catch a flight back to Germany that night. But not before this:

(photo credit: Laura Ramos Hegwer)

***

On the final morning, some of us left early. Those who lingered into mid-morning 

found time to visit a little more:

***

Special thanks to Susan Tillet, Regin Igloria, Laura Ramos Hegwer, Linda Williams and the rest
of the staff at Ragdale.

"I got a whole lot of happy"

Juan Uribe

THE STORY HERE

two views of a new poetica

1

From the album:

Highights of Summer 2010 

by Darrel Alejandro Holnes

Cave Canem 2010

In this photo: Marcus Jackson, Natasha Ria El-Scari, Glenis Redmond, Kelly Harris, Brian Francis, Marcus Wicker, Camille Rankine, Nandi Comer, Michelle Whittaker, Stewart Shaw, Yalonda JD Green, M Ayodele Heath, Ekoko Omadeke, Aricka Foreman, Hafizah Geter, Aisha Sharif, Nicole Sealey, Tommye Blount, Kateema Lee, Timothy Black, Donika Ross, Robin Coste Lewis, Jonterri Gadson, Bianca Spriggs, Sami Schalk, LiAundra Grace, Cornelius Eady, Robert Ricardo Reese, Hallie S. Hobson, Francisco Aragón, Mahogany L. Browne, Glenn North, Ashley Toliver, Kyla Marshell, Rickey Laurentiis, Ruth Ellen Kocher, Drea Brown, Makalani Bandele, Douglas Brown, Kenyatta Rogers, Avery R. Young, Keith Wilson, Brenda Cardenas, Erica Monteiro, Ciara Miller, Lillian B.

 ***

2

 PALABRA PURA

welcomes

Roger Bonair-Agard
(photo credit: David Shankbone)

Maurice Kilwein Guevara

Click here for more information

Latino and Latina poets encouraged to submit work

Thanks to Sarah Browning for passing this along:

Split This Rock 2011 Poetry Contest

$1,000 awarded for poems of provocation and witness

Reading Fee of $25 Benefits Split This Rock Poetry Festival - Washington, DC

Jan Beatty, Judge

Submission Guidelines:

Send up to 3 unpublished poems, no more than 6 pages total, in any style, in the spirit of Split This Rock (see below). Postmark Deadline: November 1, 2010

Include one cover page containing your name, address, phone number, email, and the titles of your poems. This is the only part of the submission that should contain your name.

Enclose a check or money order for $25 (made out to "Split This Rock") to:

Split This Rock Poetry Contest

1112 16th Street NW, Suite 600

Washington, DC 20036

Simultaneous submissions OK, but please notify us immediately if the poem is accepted elsewhere. For more information, info@splitthisrock.org.

Prizes:

First place $500; 2nd and 3rd place, $250 each. Winners will receive free festival registration, and the 1st-place winner will be invited to read the winning poem at Split This Rock Poetry Festival, 2012. Winning poems will be published on www.SplitThisRock.org.

Reading fee of $25 supports Split This Rock Poetry Festival.

Details:

Submissions should be in the spirit of Split This Rock: socially engaged poems, poems that reach beyond the self to connect with the larger community or world; poems of provocation and witness. This theme can be interpreted broadly and may include but is not limited to work addressing politics, economics, government, war, leadership; issues of identity (gender, sexuality, race, ethnicity, disability, body image, immigration, heritage, etc.); community, civic engagement, education, activism; and poems about history, Americana, cultural icons.

Judge Jan Beatty's new book, Red Sugar, was published by the University of Pittsburgh Press in Spring, 2008. Other books include Boneshaker and Mad River, winner of the 1994 Agnes Lynch Starrett Prize. Beatty's poetry has appeared in Quarterly West, Gulf Coast, Indiana Review, and Court Green, and in anthologies published by Oxford University Press, University of Illinois Press, and University of Iowa Press. Awards include the Creative Achievement Award in Literature from the Heinz Foundation, the Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry, and two fellowships from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. For the past thirteen years, she has hosted and produced Prosody, a public radio show on NPR-affiliate WYEP-FM featuring the work of national writers. Beatty directs the creative writing program at Carlow University, where she runs the Madwomen in the Attic writing workshops and teaches in the MFA program.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: OCHO POETAS

LATINO, LATINA POETS SHARE WORK AT RAGDALE ON OCTOBER 19

Ragdale’s first collaborative residency for Latino, Latina poets
culminates in public reading

LAKE FOREST, IL – OCTOBER 8, 2010 – On October 19, Ragdale will host “Ocho Poetas,” a public event featuring readings by eight contemporary Latino and Latina poets.

The event marks the first-ever collaborative residency for Latino and Latina poets at Ragdale, the fourth-largest artists’ community in the United States. The residency is funded by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and is also a collaboration with Letras Latinas, the literary program of the Institute for Latino Studies (ILS) at the University of Notre Dame.

“We’re delighted to host this collaborative residency program and serve as a vital resource for artists in an ever-changing, multicultural society,” says Susan Page Tillett, Executive Director of Ragdale. “By bringing poets of similar backgrounds together so they can work side-by-side, we hope that the supportive environment at Ragdale will inspire them to greater creativity, individually and collectively.”

In mid-October, eight Latino and Latina poets will live and work in community at Ragdale for one week. As with all residencies, the invited group of poets will be free to work on their own projects. In addition, the poets will discuss and explore the challenges they face as writers who are also active as literary editors.

“We’re looking forward to this unique week-long opportunity to build community,” says Francisco Aragón who, along with Maria Melendez, is co-facilitating the residency. He is Director of Letras Latinas and a Ragdale alumnus. “But we’re also here to learn about each others’ editing projects and explore ways we can better support one another after we leave Ragdale, as well as reach out to other poet/editors in our community. My hope is that we expand this circle.”

In addition to the public reading, “Ocho Poetas” will also serve as a platform to announce a new national Latino poetry initiative that involves Ragdale and Letras Latinas as partners, as well as Red Hen Press in Pasadena, CA. The reading and announcement will take place on Tuesday, October 19, at 7 pm at Ragdale, located at 1260 N. Green Bay Road in Lake Forest. Seats are limited. To reserve a space, please RSVP to Melissa Ernst at Ragdale, at 847.234.1063, ext. 201.

The poet/editors

Francisco Aragón (Latino Poetry Review / Momotombo Press)

Francisco Aragón is the author of Puerta del Sol and Glow of Our Sweat. He edited The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry. His poems and translations have appeared in a range of anthologies and journals, including Beltway Poetry Quarterly, Crab Orchard Review, Chelsea, Jacket, Mandorla, and Poetry Daily. He serves on the board of Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP). Aragón is also the editor of Canto Cosas, a book series from Bilingual Press for Latino and Latina poets. He directs Letras Latinas, the literary program of the Institute for Latino Studies (ILS) at the University of Notre Dame. Visit: http://franciscoaragon.net.

David Dominguez (The Packinghouse Review)

David Dominguez’s first book of poetry, Work Done Right, was published by the University of Arizona Press. His second collection of poetry, The Ghost of César Chávez, was published by C&R Press. Dominguez’s poems have appeared in The Bloomsbury Review, Crab Orchard Review, Poet Lore, and The Southern Review. His work has been anthologized in Bear Flag Republic: Prose Poems and Poetics from California, Camino del Sol: Fifteen Years of Latina and Latino Writing, The Wind Shifts: New Latino Poetry, among others. He teaches full-time at Reedley College and is the co-founder and poetry/nonfiction editor of The Packinghouse Review. Visit: http://www.daviddominguez.net/Site/David_Dominguez.html

Carmen Giménez Smith (Noemi Press, Puerto del Sol)

Carmen Giménez Smith is an assistant professor of creative writing at New Mexico State University, and publisher for Noemi Press as well as editor-in-chief of Puerto del Sol. Her work has most recently appeared in jubilat, Ploughshares, and Colorado Review and is forthcoming in A Public Space, Denver Quarterly, and New American Writing. Her collection of poetry, Odalisque in Pieces, was published by the University of Arizona Press in 2009. A memoir called Bring Down the Little Birds was published by University of Arizona Press in 2010. Read an interview with her here.

Roberto Harrison (Bronze Skull Press, Crayon)

Roberto Harrison is Panamanian-American. His work has appeared in Talisman, Jacket, New American Writing, Chicago Review, Bombay Gin, and Mandorla, among many other places. He edited Crayon with Andrew Levy and now publishes Bronze Skull Press chapbooks and hosts the Enemy Rumor reading series. He is the author of two full-length collections, Os (subpress) and Counter Daemons (Litmus) and of a half dozen or so chapbooks. He lives in Milwaukee where he works as a systems librarian. Read an inverview with Roberto here.

Raina J. León (The Acentos Review)

Raina J. León, a Cave Canem fellow and member of the Carolina African-American Writers Collective, has been published in The Cherry Blossom Review, Natural Bridge, OCHO, Poem.Memoir.Story, Black Arts Quarterly, Womb, Boxcar Poetry Review, Salt Hill Journal, Xavier Review, MiPoesias, Torch: Poetry, Prose and Short Stories by African American Women, Poetic Voices without Borders, Gathering Ground: A Reader Celebrating Cave Canem’s First Decade, Growing Up Girl: An Anthology of Voices from Marginalized Spaces, AntiMuse, Farmhouse Magazine, Furnace Review, Constellation Magazine, and Tiger’s Eye Journal among others, with forthcoming work in African American Review. Her first collection of poetry, Canticle of Idols, was published in 2008. Visit: http://www.rainaleon.com/Welcome.html

J. Michael Martínez (Breach Press)

Poet, essayist, and librettist, J. Michael Martinez´s writings have appeared in Puerto Del Sol, New American Writing, on NPR, and Mandorla. Recent work can be found in Octopus, Phoebe, Quarterly West, and other journals. Recipient of the 2006 Five Fingers Review Poetry Prize, he has received residencies from the Ragdale Foundation, Canto Mundo, and the Vermont Studio Center. His libretto for the opera “The Autumn Orchard” premiered this past summer at CU’s New Opera Workshop. His collection Heredities was selected by Juan Felipe Herrera for the Academy of American Poets’ Walt Whitman Award. He also likes chocolate. Dark. Typically with strawberries.  He can be found at http://www.jmichaelmartinez.org/

Maria Melendez (Pilgrimage / Momotombo Press)

Maria Melendez publishes Pilgrimage in Pueblo, Colorado, a literary magazine serving a far-flung community of writers, artists, naturalists, contemplatives, activists, seekers, and other adventurers in and beyond the Greater Southwest (http://pilgrimagepress.org/).  University of Arizona Press has published two of her poetry collections: How Long She’ll Last in This World (2006) and Flexible Bones (2010). She serves as Contributing Editor for Latino Poetry Review and Acquisitions Editor for Momotombo Press, a chapbook publisher featuring prose and poetry by emerging Latino writers. Maria speaks of American Poetry at PSA site here.

elena minor (Palabra)

elena minor is founding editor of PALABRA, A Magazine of Chicano & Latino Literary Art. Her work has been published in RHINO, Mandorla, Hot Metal Bridge, OCHO, Quercus Review, Puerto del Sol, Diner, City Works, Poetry Midwest, 26, Segue, and BorderSenses, among others. A seasoned arts administrator, she teaches creative writing to high school students. She is also a past first prize recipient of the Chicano/Latino Literary Prize in drama. She earned her MFA at Antioch University Los Angeles. Daniel Olivas profiles elena at La Bloga here. 

About Ragdale

The Ragdale Foundation is an artists’ community that enriches the creative spirit, fosters artistic freedom, and infuses the artistic process with a powerful energy burst – the catalyst for creativity. Built in 1897, Ragdale is located on the grounds of Arts and Crafts architect Howard Van Doren Shaw’s summer home in Lake Forest, IL. Today the historic, timeless, and tranquil environment provides a sanctuary for artists-in-residence through its Foundation. For more information about Ragdale, please contact 847.234.1063. Ragdale is located at 1260 N. Green Bay Road, Lake Forest, Illinois 60045. Visit: http://www.ragdale.org/

About Letras Latinas

Letras Latinas seeks to enhance the visibility, appreciation, and study of Latino literature both on and off the campus of the University of Notre Dame. Of particular interest are projects that identify and support emerging Latino and Latina writers. Letras Latinas actively seeks collaboration with individuals and organization in order to more effectively carry out its mission. To learn more about Letras Latinas, please visit: http://letraslatinas.net

"I am more a poet writing in English with a Latin American sensibility."

"And while I honor Spanish as my native tongue, it is English that I am enamored with, the one I hear (enchantingly like a Sirenian song) whenever I write, especially its liquid rhythms, the protean richness of its assonance and alliteration."

An Interview with Orlando Menes

By Annie Leister and David Moffat

Orlando Ricardo Menes’s poems have appeared in several prominent anthologies and in such magazines as Ploughshares, Antioch Review, Prairie Schooner, Shenandoah, Chelsea, and Green Mountains Review. He has also published translations of such poets as the Argentine Alfonsina Storni and the Cuban José Kozer. His third poetry collection, Furia, was published in 2005 by Milkweed Editions. Menes is also the author of Rumba atop the Stones, published in 2001 by Peepal Tree Press (Leeds, England), and has edited the anthologies Renaming Ecstasy: Latino Writings on the Sacred (Bilingual Press/Editorial Bilingüe, 2004) and the forthcoming The Open Light: Poets from Notre Dame, 1991-2008 (University of Notre Dame Press, 2010). He is an associated professor of English at Notre Dame. Poetry by Menes appeared in West Branch 66, Spring/Summer 2010.

*

West Branch: In your poem "Palma y Jagüey" the character Omar claims "Whether sweet or bitter, / words will not fill our bellies." How do you respond to the argument that poetry has no practical value for the average person? Do poets have a responsibility to appeal to skeptics and attract a wider audience?

Orlando Menes: Omar, my wife's uncle, represents the cynic, a man of humble origins who had supported the Revolution in his youth. A student of economics at the University of Havana, he read volumes of world literature published in inexpensive editions, even writing a few poems and short stories in the neo-baroque style favored by many of his generation. He attended as well Fidel's hours-long speeches and was mesmerized, then finally took a job as an economist at the ministerial level. During those arduous years of the Special Period in the early 1990s when Cuba had lost her Soviet subsidies, Omar proposed all sorts of reforms at the Ministry but was rebuffed at every turn, even by Fidel himself, and he was soon removed from his position. In those new economic times he could not earn a living as an economist anyway, so he began to work as a carpenter, doing odd jobs for foreigners who would pay him in dollars. (Other professionals took jobs as waiters or cab drivers.) That experience exacerbated his doubts about the system, amplified his grievances, and altered his views about art. The man who had loved literature as a university student began to doubt whether art had any viability in a totalitarian society racked by poverty and despair, a society in which, he would say, propaganda and artful lies had seeped into all areas of public discourse.

Yes, it is true that poetry cannot fill an empty belly, that words cannot be sown for harvest or caught in the fisher's net. But poetry can, and does, provide sustenance to the spirit if not the body. It is the deep song that gives us hope, that makes us resolute, that binds us in the face of hardship. Poetry, as any art, represents experience while at the same time transforming it through the imagination.

It is this power to transform the quotidian to the metaphorical, the ordinary to the orphic, that I find so entrancing about poetry, as in, for example, William Blake's vatic "London," a poem that makes me tremble every time I recite it to myself. 


Interview is from West Branch Wired, an extension of the print West Brach, which is published out of Bucknell University.

Read the entire interview HERE

THE DEBTE THAT REALLY MATTERS by: Robert Cruickshank Sun Oct 03, 2010 at 10:00:00 AM PDT Most of the coverage of yesterday's debate in Fresno between Meg Whitman and Jerry Brown has focused on Whitman's false accusation that Brown was somehow involved in the housekeeper scandal. But there was a far more meaningful moment later on, pertaining to immigration, that showed a huge contrast between the candidates and the cruelty of Whitman's approach. If it gets the attention it deserves, it might even cost Whitman the election.The exchange in question came when Univision went to an audience member to ask about the DREAM Act. She was a student who graduated first in her class in high school and is now an honors student at Fresno State, triple majoring! in poli sci, Spanish, and Latin American Studies. As a former college professor myself, I can tell you that these are the students you dream about having in class, the ones that make teaching worthwhile. She explained that she was brought to California by her parents at a young age - in other words, that she was undocumented. (Which is probably why she did not give her name.) Her question was whether the candidates supported the DREAM Act, to let students like her get an education and, I'm paraphrasing, "contribute to the economy here." Brown's response was direct and solid: he supports the federal DREAM Act, would sign the California DREAM Act, and believes it is our moral obligation to ensure that all our children, whether undocumented or not, got the opportunity to succeed, including getting a good education in California public schools, UC and CSU included. But it was Whitman's shocking response that, as far as I am concerned, ought to be a game-changer in this election. Here's how Calbuzz quoted Whitman: Here is the challenge we face: Our resources are scarce. We are in terrible economic times and slots have been eliminated at the California State University system - I think they're down by 40,000 students. Same is true at the ... the University of California system. Programs have been cut, and California citizens have been denied admission to these universities and I don't think it's fair to bar and eliminate the ability of California citizens to attend higher universities and favor undocumenteds. Calbuzz omitted the first part of Whitman's response, which was a very condescending "I'm glad you were able to get a good, free education in California's K-12 public schools," but the blockquote gives you the gist: Whitman attacked this successful young student, saying she shouldn't even be allowed to attend Fresno State, and accusing her of taking someone else's place. In other words, it's this young woman's fault that some other Californian can't attend a CSU. My jaw just about hit the floor when I heard Whitman say this. And I have to imagine everyone in the audience and watching at home had a similar reaction. Every parent - whether Latino or not, whether documented or not - dreams of their child having the kind of success that this young woman is having. And when they watched Meg Whitman belittle and attack this woman for her success, saying that it was not only undeserved but that it was hurting others, their only reaction would be negative. Whitman's attack on Brown over the housekeeper issue may have been entertaining television, but it was Whitman's attack on one of California's best and brightest that will cost her a lot of votes. That exchange was also revealing in how the two candidates treat the issue of immigration. Brown was very strong and clear that he did not support - at all - any form of immigrant-bashing. He didn't justify this by pointing to the economic contributions of immigrants, but by speaking a very clear and compelling moral language about our obligations and duties to our fellow Californians. He slammed Whitman for opposing a path to citizenship, which he said would force the deportation of 2 million people living in California - something Brown called "immoral." For Whitman herself, like the rest of the California Republican Party, the undocumented are perfectly acceptable when they can be exploited for their cheap labor and living with the constant threat of deportation - but the moment they have anything approaching success, they're suddenly a threat to California and must be dealt with harshly. Whitman's personal approach to immigration therefore matches Republican anti-immigrant policy quite well - exploit immigrant labor as long as you can, and get rid of them when you no longer need them. Brown made an extremely strong and powerful attack on Whitman's support for a guest worker program, explaining how it would allow workers to be exploited unfairly. In fact, Brown deserves kudos for his deeply progressive framing of the immigration issue. Still, it was Whitman's shocking attack on the Fresno State student that was the most important moment of this debate. Let's hope it gets the attention it deserves.

Robert Cruickshank :: The Debate Exchange That Really Matters

Flor y Canto Re-cap

Rob Casper, Maria Melendez, Emmy Perez, Diana Garcia

Festival Flor y Canto.  Yesterday.  Today.  Tomorrow. 

by Maria Melendez

The Festival proceeded over a Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, with Wednesday celebrating “Yesterday” by honoring poets who were present 37 years ago at USC’s original Festival de Flor y Canto.  Highlights of the day included Verónica Cunningham strutting her California Poets in the Schools prowess (“You people may not know who I am, but I am Hot Shit in the third and fourth grade,” she quipped—and then her reading ending with a prop-book bursting into flames!  Still don’t know how she did that—), running into Alurista for a first-time meeting (I'd gotten his Calaca Press from publisher Brent Beltrán earlier this year), and a rousing, participatory reading by one of my big poetry heroes Juan Felipe Herrera, who brought a guitar to pluck and a hat to toss in the air.  

Emmy

Low lights: I had been so looking forward to hearing Ron Arias speak, and then he pooped on me and all the other “today” poets a little, saying he didn’t see sufficient enthusiasm from “younger poets” these days.  This was before I had even said a word at the mic, mind you!  And I thought: I didn’t come here to dump on him.  Why is he dumping on me in advance of my even saying anything? (Notably, other young writers found at the Festival found Arias to be personally supportive and encouraging.)  Then Richard Montoya introduced a lovely black and white film of Evangelina Vigil-Piñón and others at a 1978 Flor y Canto Festival, but he managed to get a few digs in, too, saying “younger poets use too much ‘I’—‘I went to the cafe, I turned on my iPod...’”  Now wait a $#@! minute!  When did Emmy, Diana and I, and Xánath Caraza, and Melinda Palacio, and other poets of “today,” get turned into punching bags and easy targets for veterano criticism?  And didn’t feminism teach me that the literary “I” is revolutionary, that letting my life’s truths speak and not be erased is important cultural work?  sIgh.

Maria

Despite these occasional barbs, most of the veteranos were the picture of graciousness, and the Thursday readings representing “Today” brought another chance to get high on poetry.  Festival catalyst Michael Sedano and the brilliant programming team at the Doheny Memorial Library, led by Tyson Gaskill, set up the event so that poetry continued in the library on Weds. and Thurs. from 1pm-7pm, with periodic breaks for book selling and buying.  The presence of esteemed documentarian Jesus Treviño as chronicler of the Festival gave the whole enterprise an air of enduring significance.  Melinda Palacio and Xánath Caraza, who I mentioned earlier, are two poets whose recent work I’ve been admiring more and more.  Melinda read from her chapbook, Folsom Lockdown, about trying to reconcile as an adult with an incarcerated father who had been largely absent from her childhood.  Xánath embodied the multi-faceted nature of mestizaje—it’s not just about whites and indios!—in her chant poem, “Imagen Digital / Digital Image,” which begins with song lyrics in Wolof that she’d heard in Veracruz.  This took place during an hour in the afternoon set aside to highlight those who have work written partly or mostly in Spanish, which her poem moved into after the Wolof.  This hour for enjoying poetry in Spanish began with a lively reading by a mentor dear to me, Francisco X. Alarcón, who came bearing his newest multilingual poetry collection, Ce  Uno  One.  He brought his roots in and personal connections to those early movimiento literary efforts, along with his infectious, ever-youthful smile.

Rob

Thursday evening closed with Rob Casper, Program Director for the Poetry Society of America, introducing Diana, Emmy and I as the keynote readers for the evening.  Thanks to Francisco Aragón and Letras Latinas, Rob and the PSA, and the dedication of the festival organizers, we were able to come together from Texas, Colorado, and northern California to be part of this Flor y Canto Festival.  We opened with a poem we put together collaboratively with bits of our own previously published works—Diana’s idea, inspired by Juan Felipe.  I found it very moving to be literally working in concert with these women I admire so much.  The presence of a strong showing from Emmy’s family in the audience, along with my cousin, the painter Alfredo de Batúc, and his friend L.A. poet Roger Taus, along with the supportive hermana presence of L.A. poet, playwright and publisher elena minor made real the ideal of Chicana literature as cord for strengthening the weave of familia.

Emmy, Diana, Maria

I regretted that other obligations took me south to San Diego on Friday, so that I missed the Festival’s final day.  Slated to read were both established writers of the post-70s publishing generation, such as Rigoberto González and Dan Olivas, as well as the poets of “tomorrow,” presented in a selection of student poets.  No doubt Treviño and his camera crew came away full and reeling from all the energia and entusiasmo.  I left inspired and buoyed for the poetry writing and listening years ahead.

Diana

Note: Thanks to Emmy Pérez, who contrbuted the photos to this post.