The Reality Dysfunction - Unscripted/Unsilenced

Dr. Ernesto Mireles and Alex Yanish discuss the Kristen Williams pamphet "Whither Anarchism" and how anarchist politics, particularly preformative politics have moved into the Xicana/o/x movement mainstream.

This segment of The Reality Dysfunction is a conversation with Somos en Escritos editors Scott Duncan and Jenny  Irizary and the forthcoming book El Porvenir, Ya! Joining us in the conversation two of the authors Rosa Martha Villareal who is recently retired as an Adjunct Professor at Cosumnes River College in Sacramento, California, and the author of several novels including Doctor Magdalena, The Stillness of Love and Exile, and Chronicles of Air and Dreams. She writes a periodic column, Tertulian’s Corner, for Somos en escrito. Also Ernesto Hogan who is the author of High Aztech, Smoking Mirror Blues, and Cortez on Jupiter. Those novels, along with his short fiction have won him the reputation of being the Father of Chicano Science Fiction. His mother’s maiden name is Garcia, he was born in East L.A. His work has appeared in Amazing Stories, Analog Science Fiction and Fact, and Aztlan: A Journal of Chicano Studies, and other magazines and anthologies.

This is one exciting conversation by media professionals from around the country. A review of the most relevant stories and issues of 2021 affecting our community. 

Presenters:

Elena Herrada is a Detroit community activist leader, an advocate on issues of immigration, public education, national and international human rights and Director of the Oral History project of Fronteras Norterias organization. She was a member of the Detroit Public Schools Board of Education in Michigan, representing District 2.  Herrada ran for election for an at-large seat of the Detroit Public Schools Board of Education in Michigan.

Dr. Jose Flores is cofounder of the Hispanic Center for Western Michigan, the Hispanic Festival, The Community Voice/La Voz Magazine, and La Familia Grocery/Convenience Store.His community activism helped bring needed interpreters to the emergency services units in police/fire/medical care units of Grand Rapids, and he was a chief advocate for providing court interpreters for persons unable to fully understand English. As a community advocate, he led efforts to improve U.S. Decennial Census counts, engage youth in summer employment opportuni ties, and worked on committees to reduce drop-out rates among minority youth.

Maria Emilia Martin is an award-winning independent multi-media journalist who currently directs the GraciasVida Center for Media, a nonprofit organization based in Austin, TX and La Antigua, Guatemala devoted to the practice of independent journalism in the public interest (www.graciasvida.org). She is an award-winning public radio journalist for over three decades, Martin developed ground­ breaking programs and series for public radio, including NPR's Latino USA, and Despues de las Guerras: Central America After the Wars and reports regularly for NPR and other media outlets.

Miguel Barrientos is the General Manager of El Concilio Hispano Media Group, a Latino Media Agency in Southern Nevada through which he produces a daily Latino Talk Radio and News program, Publisher of Nevada Hispanic Magazine and prepare to produce News and Community programs on local Latino TV and social media from Las Vegas. He has been at the forefront with many great community leaders in Las Vegas, fighting for immigration reform, Civil rights and helping increase Hispanic Voters at the polls.

The failure of immigration policy is a two party failure. How can the Xicana/o/x community stop failing along with them?  

Related Resources & Articles:

• [ES]tatus: the Latino/a Caucus of ACT UP New York Exhibit video     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5RnPIKGs5o&ab_channel=JuliandeMayo

This week on The Reality Dysfunction, Dr. Ernesto and the crew talk about and remember Xicano super star Jesus "Chuy" Negrete. This LEGEND of the Xicano movement returned to the ancestors this month.  We wanted to take a moment and pay tribute to the man who brought our songs and history to us for over 4 decades. 

 CHUY NEGRETE PRESENTE!

In this episode of The Reality Dysfunction Dr. Ernesto and crew talk about their vaccines, how and when will the Xicano Latino community go back to work, work expectations, what they plan on doing this summer, and how issues of pay have been impacted by the past year. 

This segment of The Reality Dysfunction Dr. Ernesto talks with Jose Oliva of the HEAL Food Alliance based in Chicago, Il. Jose came to the United States, with his parents as a young man, in the 1980s fleeing governmental oppression in his home country of Guatemala. The work he is doing alongside workers in the food industry is vital not just to fairness and equity but to environmental sustainability an often overlooked aspect of workers rights. For more information about HEAL click the link below. 

https://healfoodalliance.org/

In this episode of The Reality Dysfunction Dr. Ernesto speaks with Chair Pro Tem of the La Raza Unida Party Ernesto Ayala and James Ortega a Raza Unida member about the weekly study group, why it is a requirement for membership, and how important it is to develop the organic intellectual side of the Xicana/o/x movement. 

Click on the link below to get more information about the weekly study group.  

https://form.jotform.com/202060962074045

Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes is Professor of American Culture, Romance Languages and Literatures, and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and received his BA from Harvard (1991) and his MA and Ph.D. from Columbia (1999). He is author of Queer Ricans: Cultures and Sexualities in the Diaspora (2009), Keywords for Latina/o Studies and of several books of fiction. His most recent book Translocas: The Politics of Puerto Rican Drag and Trans Performance (University of Michigan Press, 2021) is part of the Triangulations: Lesbian/Gay/Queer Theater/Drama/Performance series. Larry performs in drag as Lola von Miramar since 2010, and has appeared in several episodes of the YouTube series Cooking with Drag Queens.  He is the former director of the Latina/o Studies Program at University of Michigan, his grandmother is originally from Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and he goes by Larry.

Today, we will discuss why Latinx/o/a, Puerto Rican, and Xicano Studies, as well as Queer and LGBTQ Studies are key to US culture and society, his futuros projects as author, artist, and activist, and Larry's new appointment (starting in July 2021) as Chair of the Department of American Culture at UofM-and why this is important in the fight to maintain and nurture Ethnic Studies across the USA.

https://lsa.umich.edu/rll/people/faculty/lawrlafo.html

https://lsa.umich.edu/ac/news-events/all-news/search-news/prof--lawrence-la-fountain-stokes-appointed-as-american-culture-.html    

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~lawrlafo/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_La_Fountain-Stokes

https://www.press.umich.edu/11314788/translocas (30% discount code: UMS21)

https://www.press.umich.edu/flyers/9780472074273.pdf