U of A prof speaks about "Arizona's Anti-Ethnic Studies Bill 1108" during UW's Ethnic Studies Week

From a UW press release:

Leading ethnic studies researcher, Andrea J. Romero, will lead three programs Monday, Oct. 4, at the University of Wyoming.

Romero, a professor at the University of Arizona, is a key speaker during Ethnic Studies Week at UW. She will give a public lecture on "Chicano/a Students' Engagement with Arizona's Anti-Ethnic Studies Bill 1108: Civic Engagement, Ethnic Identity and Well-being" in the Wyoming Union East Ballroom from 6-7 p.m.

Also Monday, she will discuss "Life Span and Human Development: Positive Ethnic Identity Development for Chicano/a Youth" in the College of Education auditorium from 9-9:50 a.m.

"!El Movimiento Sigue!: How Being Engaged with Anti-Ethnic Studies Arizona Legislation Keeps Chicano/a Students Healthy" will be discussed in the Multicultural Resource Center (MRC) from 12:30-2 p.m.

Romero is a Fitch Nesbitt professor in family studies and human development and Mexican American and Raza studies. She has a Ph.D. in applied social psychology with a minor in qualitative methods from the University of Houston.

Ethnic Studies Week is sponsored by the University of Wyoming Chicano Studies Program in conjunction with Multicultural Affairs and the UW chapters of MEChA and Sigma Lambda Gamma.

Other planned activities for Ethnic Studies Week include the Ross Hall Book Club Friday, Oct. 15, from noon-1:30 p.m. in the Ross Hall Conference Room 108. Lilia Soto will lead a discussion on "Every Night is Ladies' Night" by Michael Jaime-Becerra. This event is open to faculty, staff, students and Laramie residents. The first 10 people to register by e-mail to Chicano_Studies@uwyo.edu receive the book free.

Photo: Andrea Romero will discuss "Civic Engagement, Ethnic Identity and Well-being" from 6-7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 4, in the Wyoming Union East Ballroom.

Rojos Calientes performs at NIC's Wednesday Night Live

What do you get when you cross bluegrass with Latin rhythms?

Why Latingrass, of course.

With influences bridging both sides of the equator, Rojos Calientes an exciting new sound to Wednesday Night Live outdoors at the Nicolaysen Art Museum in Casper on July 14. The free show begins at 5:30 p.m. and goes until 7:30.

Listen to some of the Colorado group's songs at http://www.myspace.com/rojoscalientes

FMI: 307-235-5247

UW Chicano Studies opens baseball season with stories from the "Sugar Beet League"

From a press release:

The University of Wyoming's Chicano Studies Program will host a public event April 1, celebrating Hispanic contributions to baseball at both the regional and national levels -- a start to the Major League Baseball season.

Adrian Burgos Jr., University of Illinois associate professor of history and author of "Playing America's Game: Baseball, Latinos, and the Color Line," will give a public lecture about sports promoter Alex Pompez at 5 p.m. in the Wyoming Union West Ballroom in Laramie. Pompez helped hundreds of young baseball players from the Caribbean make the leap from sugar cane fields to major league ball fields.

Following Burgos' lecture, Gabe and Jody Lopez, finalists for the 2009 Colorado Rockies Adult Hispanic Leadership Award, will open in Ross Hall their exhibit "From Sugar Beet Fields to Fields of Dreams: Mexican/Spanish Contributions to America's Favorite Pastime."

The exhibit documents the history of the Rocky Mountain Semipro Baseball League, which got its start among Hispanic agricultural workers in the 1920s and quickly spread throughout northern Colorado, southeast Wyoming and western Nebraska.

"It was dubbed the ‘sugar beet league' because it came out of the Spanish colonies built by the Great Western Sugar Company beet field laborers," says Ed Munoz, UW Chicano Studies Program director.

A reception and book signing will take place in Room 109 of Ross Hall, where books by Burgos and the Lopezes will be available for purchase.

"Mexican baseball teams helped solidify Chicano communities during the 20th century," Munoz says. "They provided a break from hard work in the fields or on the railroad and they also served as social and political outlets for the players and their fans."

Through research, the Lopezes have located information about Wyoming baseball teams in Albin, Bitter Creek, Burns, Carpenter, Casper, Cheyenne, Cody, Creston Junction, Hanna, Laramie, Lusk, Newcastle, Piker Spring, Pine Bluffs, Rawlins, Riverton, Sinclair, Superior, Torrington, Wamsutter, Wheatland, Worland and Yoder. The exhibit will be expanded to include some of this information.

"We invite the players and their families to the exhibit to relive their playing days," Gabe Lopez says. "We want to hear their stories."

Event sponsors are the Wyoming Humanities Council, the UW Office of Diversity, Multicultural Affairs, Sigma Lambda Gamma, MEChA, Associated Students of UW, the Social Justice Research Center and KOCA 93.5 FM La Radio Montanesa.

FMI: Contact the UW Chicano Studies Program at Chicano_Studies@uwyo.edu or 307-766-4127.

Photo: The 1943 Cheyenne Lobos played in the Rocky Mountain League.

WHC: Su Teatro and "The Cancer Monologues"

Jenny Ingram wrote the following Aug. 6 post for the Wyoming Humanities Council blog. It talks about a program co-sponsored by the WHC and the WAC. Both orgs have grants for this type of program -- and a variety of others.

Here's the post:

Both the Wyoming Humanities Council and the Wyoming Arts Council sponsored a March presentation of The Cancer Monologues by Denver’s El Centro Su Teatro. The play, hosted in Laramie by La Radio Montañesa KOCA 93.5 FM, explores the social and cultural issues of cancer within the Latino community. Su Teatro originally created The Cancer Monologues in partnership with the Latino Research and Policy Center at the University of Colorado, Denver, and it’s now on their roster of touring shows. (Other offerings include a seatbelt safety awareness play starring two Mexican masked wrestlers, and a play about the United Farm Workers march from Delano to Sacramento in 1966.)

I went with limited expectations. How interesting can a public service cancer play be? Let me tell you: I’m now a season ticket holder to El Centro Su Teatro! They are fresh, they are funny, and in the best tradition of theater, they are political. (They’re also a bargain.)

Before the performance of The Cancer Monologues began, Cecelia Aragon, a UW faculty member in theater and in Chicano studies, presented a short history of Chicano theater. She explained how the tradition (and Su Teatro) started in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the aim of highlighting social and political issues in the Hispanic community. I love this era for its activism, and I’m always excited to encounter people and organizations from this time period who have retained their liveliness. Thank you, Su Teatro, for keeping it real!

"Maid in the U.S.A." author at UW April 29

Mary Romero, author of "Maid in the U.S.A.," a 1992 book that studies the exploitation of domestic service workers in the United States, will speak Tuesday, April 29, at the first scholarly presentation of the University of Wyoming's Social Justice Research Center (SJRC).

Romero, a professor of justice studies and social inquiry at Arizona State University, will speak from 4-5:30 p.m. in the College of Education auditorium in Laramie. Her presentation, titled "What immigration raids tell us about Latino Families and the State," is free and open to the public.

She will also speak to UW classes while at the university.

"We are honored to bring such a distinguished scholar to the University of Wyoming," says SJRC Director Francisco Rios. "Dr. Romero's scholarship exemplifies the best of research with a social justice lens. The focus of her academic achievements on women and labor highlight a much-neglected area of our thinking. But in uncovering these often silenced voices, we learn anew about the task of widening the path for democracy, dignity and human rights."

Romero's UW visit is sponsored by the SJRC and the departments of Chicano Studies and Family and Consumer Sciences.

The SJRC, established last year, is an interdisciplinary center dedicated to addressing practical and theoretical questions arising from the pursuit of social justice. The idea for the center stemmed from a directive of the President's Advisory Council for Minorities and Women's Affairs.

FMI: http://www.uwyo.edu/sjrc

"Semana Primavera" events set for UW

Five days of events are scheduled during "Semana Primavera" (spring week) at the University of Wyoming.

The UW student organization MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanos de Atzlan) sponsors activities beginning Sunday, April 20, with a reception honoring UW's Chicano faculty and staff members. Refreshments will be served from 4-6 p.m. in the Multicultural Resource Center, Room 103 of the Wyoming Union.

Other activities are:

• Monday, April 21: Primavera Poetry Slam, King Street Market, Washakie Dining Center, 7-9 p.m.
• Tuesday, April 22: Installation of new MEChA officers, Multicultural Resource Center, 5-6 p.m.
• Wednesday, April 23: "Secret Techniques: breakdancing workshop," behind Bagel Makers in the Wyoming Union, 5:30-7 p.m.
• Saturday, April 26: "Fiesta: Comida y Cultura (Food and Culture)", Wyoming Union Skylight Lounge, 2-5:30 p.m.

FMI: Cynthia Chavez Kelly, Office of Multicultural Affairs, at (307) 766-6193 or ckelly@uwyo.edu.

Call for entries: Chicano/Latino writing

PALABRA, print litmag of Chicano/Latino writing, invites submissions of inventive fiction, poetry, novel excerpts, and short plays that explore new directions in Chicano and Latino literary art. Some pay. Guidelines on web site: www.palabralitmag.com. Queries at info@palabralitmag.com. Submit via USPS only to PALABRA, P.O. Box 86146, Los Angeles, CA 90086-0146.