“This blog was started with a specific purpose - to get as many video submissions as we can of people reading passages from the books that Arizona is banning, mostly Chicano history. We believe this action is an attempt at cultural genocide and robs students in Arizona knowledge of history and literature.
Books like The House on Mango Street, The Circuit, Like Water for Chocolate and other works are part of the large list thatcan’t be read, talked about, cited by teachers or used in the schools. How ridiculous is that?
Stand with us and show Arizona that this is NOT ok! Send us a video of yourself reading a passage from a book on the list. Tell us what you think about this, write a guest post, send us a quote or a poem - whatever you want to help tell Arizona that they can’t just eradicate the culture and contributions of a whole ethnic group.”No history is illegal! Visit Banning History to see video submissions and use your voice to help fight censorship.
“Let’s get one thing out of the way: Mexican immigration is an oxymoron. Mexicans are indigenous. So, in a strange way, I’m pleased that the racist folks of Arizona have officially declared, in banning me alongside Urrea, Baca, and Castillo, that their anti-immigration laws are also anti-Indian….
“Bright Eyes is the proud daughter of El Paletero the ice cream vendor who immigrated from Mexico to make a better life for his family. He worked hard so that she could get an education. She has now graduated in pre-med and has been accepted into Stanford based on a paper she wrote on Cancer Research. All of we HOMIES from the neighborhood always wished the best for her. She studied obsessively and determined to make her daddy proud to get the kind of education that would help her change the world for the better. Good thing El Paletero didn’t move to Alabama where they just approved a law making it illegal for the public school system to teach the children of immigrants. I guess they would rather build more prisons.”
