Regional Ethnic Studies gathering in SF October 7

Oct 10

THIS IS WHAT WE NEED IN BOSTON!

Teaching Toward Justice: A Weekend of Building Solidarity and Strengthening a Movement
Events surrounding the Teaching for Social Justice annual educator’s conference on Oct 6 in San Francisco, CA

FRIDAY
Tough Times, Resistance and Real Talk: Into the Political Economy of Race, Place & School with David Stovall

Friday Oct 5, 7:30pm at I-SEEED (Institute for Sustainable Economic, Educational and Environmental Design), 1625 Clay St, Oakland, CA 94612
David Stovall, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Educational Policy Studies and African-American Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). His scholarship investigates four areas 1) Critical Race Theory, 2) concepts of social justice in education, 3) the relationship between housing and education, and 4) the relationship between schools and community stakeholders. In the attempt to bring theory to action, he has spent the last ten years working with community organizations and schools to develop curriculum that address issues of social justice.

Sponsors: Urban Education & Social Justice (UESJ) & the International and Multicultural Education (IME) Department at the University of San Francisco, California NAME, Center for Urban Schools and Partnerships (CUSP), Teachers 4 Social Justice & the People’s Education Movement
This event is free and open to the public, donations will be accepted for the Raza Defense Fund

SATURDAY
Teaching for Social Justice: Acts of Courage and Resistance
Saturday, October 6th, 2012 at Mission High School, 9am-5pm, 3750 18th Street, San Francisco, CA 94114
Register at: http://www.t4sj.org
Each year hundreds of educators both locally and nationally gather to network, explore empowering learning environments and develop a professional learning community. We are excited to celebrate 12 years of building grassroots, peer-led professional development opportunities!
Join us for… WORKSHOPS, RESOURCE FAIR, SPEAKERS, CHILDCARE & COMMUNITY BUILDING
Keynote Speaker: Sean Arce, former director of Tuscon Unified’s Mexican-American Studies Program and Dr. Sonia Nieto, author of The Light In Their Eyes, Creating Multicultural Learning Communities.

SATURDAY EVENING
Precious Knowledge: film on the struggle for Ethnic Studies in Arizona, with Sean Arce and Curtis Acosta as special guests
Saturday, October 6th, 2012 7pm-9pm
Presentation Theater, Education Building, University of San Francisco
2350 Turk Blvd, San Francisco, CA 94118
Sponsored by the Urban Ed and Social Justice Cohort at University of San Francisco
Arizona lawmakers believe Tucson High School teachers are teaching victimization, racism, and revolution in their Ethnic Studies classes. Meanwhile Tucson Unified School District’s Mexican American Studies Department have data showing that almost 93% of their students, on average, graduate from high school and 82% attend college.
PRECIOUS KNOWLEDGE, the movie, illustrates an epic civil rights battle as brave students and teachers battle with lawmakers and public opinion in an effort to keep their classes alive.

SUNDAY
Ethnic Studies People’s Movement Assembly
Sunday, October 7th, 2012 9:30am-12:30pm
SF Community School – 125 Excelsior Street, San Francisco, CA 94112
It is time for action! As recent events in Tucson have proven, the struggle for Ethnic Studies is alive throughout the nation. This assembly will be a collaborative and democratic process that will be used to create a plan of action, culminating in a national assembly at Free Minds, Free People 2013. It is time to develop a regional and national strategy for K-12 Ethnic Studies nationwide together. All levels of experience and expertise are welcome!

Assembly Co-sponsors
Association of Raza Educators
Association of Mexican American Educators
Napa Valley Ethnic Studies Advocates
Pico Youth and Family Center
Raza Studies Now
Rethinking Schools
Save Ethnic Studies
Teachers 4 Social Justice
Tucson Freedom National Network

 

Filed Under: Events

Operation Backpack – DONATION DAY SATURDAY

Aug 9

We are working with United Sisters of Color, a human service organization dedicated to serving our community, to supply 400 underserved Boston students with supplies and backpacks for the year and we need your help! This Saturday there will be 3 events to raise funds and in-kind donations for Operation Backpack, an effort to supply underserved students with school supplies for the upcoming 2012-2013 school year.

Public Donation Day: We will be accepting monetary and donations of supplies from 2-4 PM this Saturday at Holland Community Center 85 Onley Street, Dorchester MA.

For those who want to look good and feel good too, FITT body Bootcamp is holding a Bootcamp for Backpacks fitness / training event. Get healthy and give back. 9:30-10:30 AM.

There will also be a “Cash Mob” at Dollar Ave from 2-6 to buy supplies to donate. Dollar Ave – 646 Blue Hill Ave Dorchester.

Not sure what to donate?

3-ring binder
1, 3 or 5 Subject Notebook
***BACKPACKS BACKPACKS BACKPACKS***
Circular protractor
Colored pencils
Colored pens
Compass
Crayons
Eraser
Flash-Drive
Folder
Foreign Language Dictionary
Glue stick
Graph paper
Hand sanitizer
Highlighters
Index cards
Markers
Organizer/planner
Paper clips
Pens/pencils
Pencil sharpener
Pocket dictionary
Pocket folders
Poster paper
Ruler marked with in and cm
Scientific calculator with fraction key
Scissors
Spiral notebook
Stapler
Thesaurus
Tissues

These school supplies are for students in ALL GRADES (1-12). Please keep that in mind when purchasing so that we can have a range of age appropriate items.

Help us reach our goal of 400 backpacks to send 400 students to school with the proper tools and equipment to succeed!

If If you would like to make a monetary donation, we are accepting donations through Paypal. The email address is: achilds@unstoppableassistants.com or make your donation online thru Scope.

 

Filed Under: Events

Film Screening: Precious Knowledge

Sep 28

ON THE MOVE: El MOVIMIENTO/The Movement:

Fundraiser to support AZ Save Ethnic Studies

http://saveethnicstudies.org/

$5
530pm:Dinner
6pm-9pm:Film & Open Mic
When: October, 7, 2011
Film Screening: Precious Knowledge: Arizona’s Battle over Ethnic Studies

Location:
Encuentro 5
33 Harrison Ave Fl.5
Boston, MA 02111

Contact:
Pedro Montañez
(857)350-5801
konaf2@gmail.com
website: www.ethnicstudiesnow.org
FB:El Movimiento-The Movement for Ethnic Studies in BPS

Filed Under: Events

Dialogue on Education & Immigration with Dr. William Perez

Apr 27

Friday, April 29th
3pm – 4:30pm
Larsen 203

Harvard Graduate School of Education

Dr. William Perez, Professor of Immigration & Education at Claremont Graduate University in California will be guest lecturing at the Harvard Graduate school of education to discuss the current immigration climate in addition to exploring the implications of being undocumented relative to mental health issues and how we can prepare to serve the unique needs of undocumented students.

Dr. Perez is the author of “We ARE Americans: Undocumented Students Pursuing the American Dream” Winner of the 2009 Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Mildred Garcia Prize for Exemplary Research.

we r.jpg

Please RSVP:
Dialogue with Dr. Perez (SIGN UP)

Facebook Event:
Let us know you are coming!!!

Filed Under: Events

Resurrection of Education

Feb 23

Filed Under: Events

Ethnic Studies Classes Illegal in Arizona as of Jan. 1

Feb 5

The bill HB 2281 bans schools (in AZ) from teaching ethnic studies because it supposedly promotes the overthrow of the U.S. government. Also outlawed are courses designed primarily for students of a particular ethnic group and those that advocate ethnic solidarity..

Tom Horne (state Superintendent of schools and the force behind the Arizona law SB 1070) claims that ethnic studies “serve to divide rather unite”. He says; “Fundamentally, I think it’s wrong to divide students by their race … the program teaches ‘one-sided’ propaganda and is inconsistent with American values.”

Now all of the sudden it is wrong to divide individuals, in this case students, by race or ethnicity. Is it because, according to the government, this class or this ‘division’ would be a threat to the government? How is it that when they divided the students, the community, the COUNTRY by the color if their skin – it was not considered to be wrong? In that case the United States has been incoherent when it comes the “American” values, the “United States”values, the “White man” values. Since dividing people by their race is not wrong, then why did the U.S go through slavery, segregation and is currently going through institutionalized racism?

Ethnic solidarity is when a particular group of people who share a common ethnicity or culture bond together to achieve a common goal. Ethnic studies will enable students to recognize the resemblance between their own culture and the culture of those who surround them; the beauty of ethnic studies is that it will give birth to ethnic solidarity between different ethnicities.

To read the bill click on this link: HB 2281

http://www.truth-out.org/ethnic-studies-classes-illegal-arizona-jan-166457

Filed Under: Uncategorized

VICTORY for Somerville Youth! The Somerville School Committee Pass Resolution in Support of the Dream Act.

Oct 21

Somerville, MA- This Monday night with a unanimous vote, the Somerville School Committee passed a resolution that supports the concepts of the Dream Act which is currently before both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.

“I want to congratulate the Youth Members of Centro Presente and the Welcome Project for their commitment, energy and their courage organizing and mobilizing in support of the Dream Act here in Somerville,” said Patricia Montes, Executive Director of Centro Presente. “The School Committee have sent a clear message to politicians in Massachusetts and in Washington that Somerville believes in all of our youth and we believe in their dreams.”

“This resolution is not only a victory for Somerville’s undocumented students, it is a victory for all Somerville students,” declared Warren Goldstein-Gelb, Executive Director of the Welcome Project. “By supporting the aspirations of this group of students, the School Committee is helping to make the schools a better place for everyone to learn.”

The School Committee heard testimonies from the students of the youth programs as well as Jose Palma, Lead Organizer of the Student Immigrant Movement, which is promoting the Dream Act across Massachusetts and worked with the students.

“My dream is to reach my full potential through education. I want you to feel my desperation for not being able to do what I want to do,” testified Gabriel Maldonado, youth member and Liaison Interpreter for The Welcome Project. “I just want you to understand that I want the same rights that others have. In order for me to keep educating myself, I have to fight for it.”

“All I hope is that my dreams don’t get torn up apart just because I don’t have a piece of paper. I want to be able to accomplish my goals, I want to go to college, be able to study and learn from my peers and become a successful person,” testified Kevin Alegria, youth member of Centro Presente’s Pintamos Nuestro Mundo, youth program.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

What people trying to do good things have to face

Sep 26

Disenfranchised high school seniors become academic warriors and community leaders in Tucson’s embattled Ethnic Studies classes while state lawmakers attempt to eliminate the program. Precious Knowledge is a co-production of Dos Vatos Productions, the Independent Television Service (ITVS) and Arizona Public Media, with funding provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

Watch the trailer!

http://vimeo.com/15062646

Filed Under: Uncategorized

DREAM Act Movement is not over !

Sep 25

SAVE THE DATE!

Come and learn What is the DREAM Act?
Why is the DREAM Act needed?
What is the DREAM Act’s current status?

Centro Presente and The Welcome Project Youth Members are supporting the efforts of the Students Immigrant Movement.

When: Thursday, September 30th at 6:00 p.m.
Where: Centro Presente, 17 Inner Belt Road, Somerville, MA

Even if the Dream Act does not pass we need to educate the community in general about the importance of giving all youth the opportunity for higher education

Education should be a right of everybody NOT a privilege of a few.
We are going to have:
Information
Youth testimonies
A video produced by Youth members of Centro Presente and the Welcome Project
Youth Leaders from the Student Immigrant Movement the organization leading this campaign in MA.

For more info please call:
Laura Gonzáles- Centro Presente Youth Organizer
(617) 629 4731 ext. 228
or
Maria Landaverde
Welcome Project Youth Organizer
(508) 361 5734

Join Our Mailing List!

Centro Presente
17 Inner Belt Road
Somerville, Massachusetts 02143

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Ethnic Studies defense group must be open

Sep 25

“Ethnic-studies classes in TUSD are open to everyone at the schools where they’re offered, and they’re not compulsory. They’re based in the – evidently novel – idea that the general-survey history books don’t tell the entire story of a time or a culture or an event, and that if students learn more about different ideas and ways of looking at the world, they’ll be more engaged and (gasp) better educated.

…

People are legitimately interested in what students are taught, and while curriculum decisions should not be turned into a popularity contest, they should not be so guarded that suspicion can fester. Ethnic studies will continue to be a flash point for TUSD unless the controversy can be hashed out in the open.”

Arizona Daily Star

http://azstarnet.com/news/opinion/editorial/article_3f3c6597-9483-53fe-95b2-aae3ee635e5c.html

Filed Under: Uncategorized
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