Fronteras

Book deserts are not uncommon for lower income communities. A new initiative aims to remedy the lack of access to literature in San Antonio’s West Side, while also amplifying the rich culture of the community and featuring diverse authors often removed from mainstream narratives or not commonly found in popular chain bookstores.

Co-authors Mando Rayo and Suzanne García-Mateus intentionally wrote the book in Spanglish as a way to break shame associated with the language and instead embrace it as a cultural cornerstone for bilingual households and communities.

Latino misrepresentation in the entertainment industry results from the lack of Latino representation in the media.

Brownsville native and writer, Oscar Cásares, penned an article last year after losing a cousin to COVID-19. Like many, he was left to grieve in isolation, but he turned to a cultural tradition as a source of healing: Día de los Muertos. Cásares’ article memorialized loved ones lost to the virus and will be featured in an upcoming collection by Texas Monthly.

In the book, “South to Freedom: Runaway Slaves to Mexico and the Road to the Civil War,” historian Alice Baumgartner examines the U.S. and Mexico’s complicated ties to slavery and how Mexico’s stance on slavery had a major influence on politics to the North.

The Underground Railroad to the North promised salvation for enslaved people in North America. But historian Alice L. Baumgartner explores how some slaves sought refuge in Mexico and how the country’s push to abolish the practice stirred white salve owners in southern U.S. states, eventually setting the stage for the U.S. Civil War.

The political careers of Julián and Joaquin Castro are well known in their hometown of San Antonio and beyond. The twin brothers' rise in public service, and the women in their lives who played a vital role in their success, caught the attention of award-winning children's author, Monica Brown, who chronicled their story in a new bilingual children's book, "Small Room, Big Dreams."

A devastating flood one hundred years ago served as a catalyst for community mutual-aid groups — including Cruz Azul Mexicana and Communities Organized for Public Service (C.O.P.S.) — as they rallied for more proactive responses from city leaders. The floods that landed Sept. 9, 1921 killed 51 people, but that figure is believed to be severely undercounted.

A devastating flood 100 years ago marked a critical turning point for San Antonio’s development. But the response efforts by local leaders at the time were largely driven by protecting economic interests of business elites while neglecting the barrios of the city’s West Side. A new book details what happened on that fatal night and the West Side community organizers who fought to protect their neighborhoods after city leadership failed them.

Teachers have faced an unprecedented amount of stress while navigating the challenges prompted by the pandemic. Now that's being coupled with the politicization of their jobs over the controversy of how they can talk about current events and America’s history of racism in the classroom.