Tag Archives: Associate Professor

The State of Puerto Rican Politics in New York City

November 1, 2009CorrientesAlicia Cardona, Angelo Falc, Anthropology, Arlene Davila, Associate Professor, author, Chair, City College, Co-editor, David Diaz Distinguished Lecturer, East Coast Latino Voting Rights Act Reauthorization Manual, Gotham, Houston Street, Ideas and Action, Island University-Brooklyn, Joseph Wiscovitch President, Latinos Inc., Long Island University, Melissa Mark Viverito, Mickey Melendez, National Institute for Latino Policy, Neoliberal City, New York, New York University, NYU, NYU Wagner The Puck Building, President and Co-Founder, Prince, Professor, Professor of Political Science, Ram, senior correspondent, WNBC-TVescalona

The National Institute for Latino Policy
invites you to a roundtable

Discussion based on José Ramón Sánchez’ new book
Boricua Power: A Political History of Puerto Ricans in the United States

Tuesday, May 15, 6:15pm

NYU Wagner
The Puck Building, 2nd Floor Conference Room
295 Lafayette Street (and Houston Street)
New York, NY 10012-9604

(B,D,F,V to Broadway-Lafayette, N,R,W to Prince Street, 6 to Bleecker Street)

Roundtable Participants

Alicia Cardona
Author: Rambling on Random Thoughts and New York Puerto Rican Women Achievers

Arlene Davila:
Professor, Anthropology, Social and Cultural Analysis (American Studies)
New York University, author: Barrio Dreams: Puerto Ricans, Latinos and the Neoliberal City; Latinos, Inc.: The Marketing and Making of a People; and Sponsored Identities: Cultural Politics in Puerto Rico

David Diaz
Distinguished Lecturer in Media & Politics, City College (CUNY);
formerly senior correspondent and anchor on WCBS and WNBC-TV

José A. García
Senior Research and Policy Associate, Demos: A Network for Ideas
and Action; and author, East Coast Latino Voting Rights Act Reauthorization Manual

Mickey Melendez
Author, We Took the Streets: Fighting for Latino Rights with the Young Lords

Councilmember Melissa Mark Viverito
Democrat representing District 8

Joseph Wiscovitch
President, Wiscovitch Associates

Respondent

José Ramón Sánchez
Associate Professor of Political Science and Chair of Urban Studies,
Long Island University-Brooklyn Campus

Moderator

Angelo Falcón
President and Co-Founder, National Institute for Latino Policy; and author, Atlas of Stateside Puerto Ricans,
and co-editor, Boricuas in Gotham: Puerto Ricans in the Making of Modern New York City

Co-sponsored by the

Women of Color Policy Network
at NYUWagner
RSVP with
Wynnie Lamour 212-334-5722 or wlamour@nlcatp.org

QUEER LATINO TESTIMONIO

November 1, 2009CorrientesArnaldo Cruz-Malav, Associate Artistic Director, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of Anthropology, author, C, Director of Pregones Theater, Gay Men, Graduate School, Hard Tails Author, Illinois, Jorge Merced, Juan Rivera, Juanito Xtravaganza, KEITH HARING, LATINO TESTIMONIO Barnes & Noble Bookstore, Martin F. Manalansan IV, Mayra Santos-Febres, meditation, New York, New York City, Pop artist, Professor, Professor of Anthropology, Professor of Comparative Literature, Professor of Hispanic Literatures, Queer Latino Testimonio, R, Robert F. Reid-Pharr, University of Illinois, University of Puerto Ricoescalona

Barnes & Noble Bookstore (Upper Westside)
2289 Broadway at 82nd Street
New York City

Join Us!

Thursday, Oct. 25 at 7:00 p.m.

QUEER LATINO TESTIMONIO, KEITH HARING, AND JUANITO XTRAVAGANZA

Hard Tails

Author Arnaldo Cruz-Malavé will be joined in a reading from his new book by Jorge
Merced, Associate Artistic Director of Pregones Theater, and will sign copies.

In the tradition of the Latin American testimonio, Queer Latino Testimonio is the story of Juan Rivera, a.k.a. Juanito Xtravaganza, a Latino runaway youth who ends up homeless in the streets of New York in the late 70s and becomes partner of the internationally famous 1980s Pop artist Keith Haring during some of the most frenetically productive years of his brief life, as told to the author and retold by him. A hybrid text–part testimonio, part linguistic and cultural analysis, and part art criticism–this is also a history of New York Latino neighborhoods during this
period of devastating disinvestment and gentrification, as well as a personal, heart-felt meditation on the art of listening and the ethical limits of representing queer Latino lives.

Praise for Queer Latino Testimonio, Keith Haring, and Juanito Xtravaganza

“A story of the abject, an urban cultural history, and a literary meditation, Queer Latino Testimonio is a glorious assemblage of voices, images, rhythms, and sensualities of the turbulent last two decades of twentieth century New York City. A stirring portrait of the upheavals, deaths, and hopeful futures of bodies under siege. A marvelous piece of scholarship!”–Martin F. Manalansan IV, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and author of Global Divas: Filipino Gay Men in the Diaspora

“Narrated with sensitivity and style, Queer Latino Testimonio reminds us that the greatest of our cultural icons are never simply isolated geniuses, but instead reflections of the messy, funky, difficult, exasperating and exciting realities of everyday life. In a word, the book you hold in your hands is legendary!”–Robert F. Reid-Pharr, Professor of English, CUNY Graduate School, and author of Once You Go Black: Choice, Desire, and the Black American Intellectual

“A thrilling biography of a character that is both real and imagined, and a fresh vision of what Cultural Studies can become.”–Mayra Santos-Febres, Professor of Hispanic Literatures, University of Puerto Rico, and author of Sirena Selena

“An alluring, uncompromising tale of tails in the waning years of the age of x-travagance, and the dawn of the age of AIDS.”–Rubén Ríos-Avila, Professor of Comparative Literature, University of Puerto Rico, and author of La Raza Cómica.

Event is free and open to the public, but subject to change. Please call ahead to confirm. 212-721-5282

Latinos in US Media

November 1, 2009CorrientesAmerica, Americas, Argentina, Armando Robles Godoy Filmmaking School, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies and Director of Graduate Studies, Boston, Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis University, California, Carmen Oquendo-Villar, Cristina Kotz Cornejo, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, Department of Romance Studies and the Program, Department of Visual and Media Arts, DIRECTOR, Director of Graduate Studies, Director of the BFA Program, Doris Sommer, Emerson College, Ernesto Livon-Grosman, Florence Levy Kay Fellow, Fox Latin America, Harvard University, Howard Thurman Center, interdisciplinary artist, Jose Barriga, La Opinion, Latin America, Los Angeles, Marisol Negron, Massachusetts, media, Media The Boston Latino International Film Festival, Professor of Romance Languages, Ricardo Palma de Lima, social psychologist, Spanish, The media, United States, Universidad Catolica de Lima, Universidad Ricardo, University of California, West Africa, www.bliff.org, www.bu.edu/thurmanescalona

The Boston Latino International Film Festival (www.bliff.org) the Boston
Area Spanish Exchange – BASE present:

Latinos in US Media
(panel *mostly* in Spanish)
Saturday October 20, 2pm, Howard Thurman Center at Boston University (FREE)
775 Commonwealth Ave.
Boston, MA 02215
www.bu.edu/thurman

“Boston area Spanish-speaking media, film and arts experts meet to discuss in Spanish the present state of Spanish language (and bilingualism) in these U.S. media. The media have played an active role in the creation of many of the stereotypes related to the Latino community in the United States. By addressing the role of language in the inscription, and subversion, of these stereotypes, this panel seeks to provide a space for reflection about how these issues affect the very communities represented in the screen and other media, as well as their relationship with other
communities in the US.”

Moderator:
Carmen Oquendo-Villar

Panelists:

-Ernesto Livon-Grosman, Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies and Director of Graduate Studies of the Dept. of Romance Languages & Literatures at Boston College; he has also made the documentary “Cartoneros”, about the paper recycling process in Argentina, and how many people become trash pickers to be able to make a living.

-Cristina Kotz Cornejo, Associate Professor, Director of the BFA Program, Department of Visual and Media Arts, Emerson College; who has made several films. The last one, titled “3 Americas”, about the relation between an Argentinean-American girl, her anti-American grand-mother in Argentina, and America.

-Doris Sommer, Ira Jewell Williams Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures, Department of Romance Languages and Literatures, Harvard
University; her work focuses mainly on issues of bilingualism and cultural agency.

-Marisol Negron, Florence Levy Kay Fellow in Latino Studies, Department of Romance Studies and the Program in Latin American & Latino Studies, Brandeis University; her dissertation is “Salsa as commodity and cultural signifier: an analysis of nuyorican musical form.” Her research interests are migration and diaspora, popular culture and comodification, and Cuban-American, Dominican-American, Chicano and Puerto Rican cultural production.

-Jose Barriga, He is a social psychologist by training and specializes in Latino media in the U.S. He has worked in Los Angeles with Telemundo, Fox Latin America, La Opinion newspaper, and Enigma Entertainment in different executive positions. He attended: la Universidad Catolica de Lima, la Universidad Ricardo Palma de Lima, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Armando Robles Godoy Filmmaking School.

-Carmen Oquendo-Villar, (Harvard Ph.D) is a Boston-based interdisciplinary artist and writer-scholar of Puerto Rican and Spanish descent, educated in Latin America, West Africa and the United States. She has been lecturing, exhibiting, and curating internationally since 2004.

Major Latino Organizations Speak Out Against PBS series THE WAR

August 20, 2007The ForumAldo Lauria Santiago, America, Amherst, and National Bronx Member, Armando Rendon, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of Education, Associate Professor of Spanish, Austin Angela Valenzuela, Austin Armando Vazquez-Ramos, Austin Miguel "Mickey" Melendez, Austin Richard Valencia, Boston, Brown University, CA National Institute for Latino Policy, California, California State University, Candida Tapia Donato Tapia, Carlos Molina, Carlos Rodriguez, CEO and president, Cepeda, Chair, Charles Pitt Robinson, City College of New York, City University of New York, Clara E. Rodriguez, Clinical Coordinator, co-chair, Commander, Commissioner, Congressman, Coordinator, Cynthia Garcia Coll, D. Tanya K. Hernandez, DC National Association of Latino Independent Producers, Department of Curriculum & Instruction, Department of Educational Psychology, Department of History, Department of Political Science, Department of Sociology, Department of Urban Studies, Dolores M. Fern, East Region Area Organizing Director, Ed (Gato) Castillo-Rubio, Edgar De Jesus, Educational Administration, Edwin Karli Padilla, Emilio Zamora, Esteban Torres, Eugene Rivera, Evelyn Collazo, Executive Director, Federal Communications Commission, Florentine Films, Frances Aparicio, Francisco J. Gonzalez, Franklyn Perez, Frederick W. Hall Scholar, Gabriel Haslip-Viera, Gloria Tristani, Grissele Camacho, Gus Chavez, Hector Soto, Herbert H. Lehman College, Hilda Hern, Hill Health Center, Hispanic Media Coalition, Hispanic War Veterans of America, Hostos Community College, Illinois, Investigator, Jaime Estades, James Jennings, Jess Quintero, Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, John Palmer, journalism professor, Jr., Juan Flores, Ken Burns, La Resurreccion UMC Social Justice Committee, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement, Latin American and Latino Studies, Latina, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Los Angeles League, Louise Bonanova, Luis Aponte-Par, Luis O. Reyes, Luis Urrieta, LULAC, Luz Rodriguez, Maggie Rivas-Rodr, Major, Marta Garc, Martin Espada, Massachusetts, Medger Evers College, Middletown, Minerva Delgado, Miriam Jim, Myra Y. Estepa, National Association of Hispanic Journalists, National Endowment for the Humanities, national president, Nelson Sierra, New York Chapter, New York, New York University, Newark, NY National Latino Council on Alcohol and Tobacco Prevention, NY Izzy Sanabria, Office for Civil Rights, Officer, one of the founders, Panama, Paula Kerger, PBS President and CEO, Placido Salazar, President, Professor, Professor of Education, Professor of Law, Professor of Social, Puerto Rico, Queens College, Raul Madrid, Ricardo R. Fernandez, Rights, Rosa Rosales, Rosalina Diaz, Rudy L. Ramos Civil, Rudy L. Ramos Civil Rights Chapter, Rutgers University, Rutgers University School of Law, San Anotnio Carlos Sanabria, San Antonio, San Francisco, San Juan, Sharon Percy Rockefeller, Texas, The War, Tuft University, United States Department of Education, United States, University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Houston, University of Massachusetts, University of Puerto Rico, University of Texas, USD, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Viet Nam Veterans, Washington, WETA, WETA-TV, Williams College, Williamstown, WWIIescalona

Major Latino Organizations Speak Out:
The WAR AGAINST KEN BURNS / PBS’
“THE WAR” IS NOT OVER
Why the Latino Community Can’t Let This Matter Rest

The Latino “war” against Ken Burns’ upcoming documentary, “The War,” to be aired on PBS is not over. Despite recent press statements, key Latino organizations and leaders across the country today publicly announced that the issue is far from resolved and that they will continue pressing for a respectful resolution. Latino organizations and leaders called on Ken Burns and Florentine Pictures to meet with a representative cross-section of the national Latino leadership to explain in detail the changes they have made to the film, how they plan to include the Latino experience in their future projects and how they plan to include Latinos on the Florentine team. They also call on PBS President and CEO Paula Kerger, as well as WETA-TV’s CEO and president, Sharon Percy Rockefeller, to explain the measures that will be taken to assure that such a gross exclusion of the Latino community does not occur again in their current and future programming, and how they will supplement The War with other programming and activities to include the Latino experience, in particular with the educational programming.

At the urging of a corporate sponsor, Burns met with two Latino groups in early May and reiterated that he would include interviews with some Latino veterans in the 14.5 hour documentary, without offering many details. This was a commitment that he and PBS had already made publicly. Citing the results of this meeting, Burns and PBS officials at both the national and local levels have declared the issue closed. “Ken Burns cannot choose to make a secret deal with only two of the many Latino groups that were involved in this issue and in discussion with him and PBS, and then claim that the matter is resolved,” explains Marta García, co-chair of the New York Chapter of the National Hispanic Media Coalition and one of the founders of Defend the Honor, a Latino grassroots mobilization that first raised the alarm about Latino exclusion from this PBS documentary at the beginning of this year. “He must bring closure to this issue by paying the Latino leadership of this country the respect, respeto, of meeting with us to explain himself and his future relationship to the Latino community.”

Some progress had been made on the issue over the past several months in that Burns has added interviews with two Mexican American veterans and one Native American to the 14 hour and 28 minute documentary. “But make no mistake,” said Iván Román, executive director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, “we will withhold judgment on how meaningful that additional material is – whether it truly speaks to the Latino experience and whether it is reflected in the companion book and educational material.” In subsequent statements to the press, Burns has been dismissive of the arguments that the inclusion of Latinos is about historical accuracy rather than political correctness.

“It is unfortunate that Ken Burns continues to see this issue as one of politics and rhetoric that he must rise above,” said Dr. Maggie Rivas-Rodríguez, the University of Texas journalism professor who co-chairs the Defend the Honor Campaign. “It has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with historical accuracy andinclusion.” Rosa Rosales, national president of LULAC, said that it was crucial for the Latino
organizations to publicly challenge statements in the press by Burns and PBS that the issue had been resolved. “As Ken Burns travels across the country as part of the $10 million promotional effort by PBS, he still characterizes this as a terrible misunderstanding,” Rosales said. “It’s no misunderstanding. We understand perfectly that he only added the new interviews under pressure and, right now, it looks like he’s not very proud of that new material.”

Another sticking point are the discrepancies between the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant proposal that provided federal funding for the film, and what he and PBS have said in recent months. For instance, Burns has said repeatedly in news interviews that in the more than 6 years of production, “no Latinos came forward” to be interviewed about their WWII experiences. But he apparently excluded Latinos from the beginning: in the NEH grant proposal submitted in 2004, Burns and Florentine Films said that the film “will celebrate American diversity” and that
it will be about the “diversity of wartime America . . . African-American, Japanese American and white.” “This is certainly very different from the way he discusses his film today in defending himself against Latino criticisms,” observes Jess Quintero, president of the Hispanic War Veterans of America. That documentary will shape how Americans view WWII, and if short shrift is given to the Latino contributions, there will be a reinforcement of the widespread ignoranceof the Latino contribution to the building of the U.S. “Ken Burns and PBS are playing recklessly with our history, both as Latinos and Americans,” observes Gus Chavez,one of the co-chairs of the Defend the Honor. He concludes, “This is something every
American should be upset about.”

“We are very uncomfortable with taking Burns and PBS’ word that they have addressed the Latino community’s concerns before actually seeing the product,” Armando Rendon of Defend the Honor Campaign of Northern California adds. “The anger in the grassroots Latino community continues unabated by the manner in which he and PBS have handled this matter.”-30-

Preliminary signatories to this statement include the following, with additional signatures to be added through Sept. 22, 2007.

Organizations:
Afro-Latino Project, Queens College (CUNY), Flushing, NY
APITO Centro Cultural de Puerto Rico (ACCPR), San Juan, Puerto Rico
Defend the Honor
Latino Literacy Now, Los Angeles
League of United Latin America Citizens (LULAC)
Lic. Rudy L. Ramos Civil Rights Chapter of the American GI Forum, San Antonio, Texas
National Association of Hispanic Journalists (NAHJ), Washington, DC
National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP), Los Angeles, CA
National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC), Los Angeles, CA
National Institute for Latino Policy (NiLP), New York, NY
National Latino Council on Alcohol and Tobacco Prevention (LCAT), New York, NY & Wash., DC

Individuals (affiliations for identification purposes only):
Vicente “Panama” Alba, New York, NY
Frances Aparicio, Ph.D., Professor, Latin American and Latino Studies, University
of Illinois at Chicago
Luis Aponte-Parés, Boston, MA
Louise Bonanova, Civil Rights Investigator (Retired), Office for Civil Rights, United
States Department of Education, San Francisco, CA
María Cabán
Grissele Camacho, Esq.
Ed (Gato) Castillo-Rubio, Commander, Viet Nam Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post
9305 of Imperial County
María Elena Cepeda, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Latina/o Studies, Williams College,
Williamstown, MA
Evelyn Collazo, New York, NY
Edgar De Jesus, AFSMCE East Region Area Organizing Director, and National Bronx
Member, Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LACLA)
Minerva Delgado, Bronx, NY
Dra. Rosalina Diaz, Associate Professor of Education, Medger Evers College (CUNY), Brooklyn, NY
Martin Espada, Professor, University of Massachusetts, Amherst
Jaime Estades, Brooklyn, NY
Myra Y. Estepa, Brooklyn, NY
Dolores M. Fernández, Ph.D., President, Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College
(CUNY), Bronx, NY
Ricardo R. Fernandez, Ph.D., President, Herbert H. Lehman College (CUNY), Bronx, NY
Juan Flores, Ph.D., Visiting Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis, New York University, New York, NY
Cynthia Garcia Coll, Ph.D., Charles Pitt Robinson and John Palmer Barstow Professor
Professor of Education, Psychology & Pediatrics, Brown University, Providence, RI
Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas, Queens, NY
Gabriel Haslip-Viera, Ph.D., Chair, Department of Sociology, City College of New York, City University of New York, New York, NY
Hilda Hernández-Gravelle, MSW, Ed.D.
Tanya K. Hernandez, Professor of Law and Justice, Frederick W. Hall Scholar, Rutgers University School of Law, Newark, NJ
James Jennings, Ph.D., Professor, Tuft University, Boston, MA
Miriam Jiménez Román, Afro-Latino Forum, New York University, New York, NY
Francisco J. Gonzalez, Cottage Grove, MN
Aldo Lauria Santiago, Ph.D., Rutgers University
Raul Madrid, Ph.D., Department of Political Science, University of Texas at Austin
Miguel “Mickey” Melendez, New York, NY
Carlos Molina, Ph.D., New York, NY
Edwin Karli Padilla, Associate Professor of Spanish, University of Houston-Downtown
Franklyn Perez, Esq., Hostos Community College, Bronx, NY
Luis O. Reyes, Ph.D., New York, NY
Eugene Rivera, Clinical Coordinator, Hill Health Center, Middletown, CT
Clara E. Rodriguez, Ph.D., Bronx, NY
Luz Rodriguez, New York, NY
Carlos Rodriguez-Fraticelli, Ph.D., University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras
Placido Salazar, USAF Retired Vietnam Veteran, State Veterans’ Affairs, Officer
of The American GI Forum of Texas, San Anotnio
Carlos Sanabria, Ph.D., Coordinator of Latin American and Caribbean Studies, Eugenio
Maria de Hostos Community College, City University of New York, Bronx, NY
Izzy Sanabria, publisher, Latin NY Magazine; Salsamagazine.com
Dr. José Ramon Sánchez, Chair, Department of Urban Studies, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY
Nelson Sierra, Albany, NY
Hector Soto, Esq., La Resurreccion UMC Social Justice Committee, Bronx, NY
Candida Tapia
Donato Tapia, JD, San Francisco, CA
Hon. Esteban Torres, former U.S. Congressman, California
Gloria Tristani, former Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
Luis Urrieta, Jr., Ed.D., Department of Curriculum & Instruction, University of Texas at Austin
Richard Valencia, Ed.D., Department of Educational Psychology, University of Texas at Austin
Angela Valenzuela, Ed.D., Department of. Curriculum and Instruction and Educational Administration, University of Texas at Austin
Armando Vazquez-Ramos, Ph.D., Chicano & Latino Studies Department, California State University, Long Beach
Emilio Zamora, Ph.D., Department of History, University of Texas at Austin

LATINOS EXCLUDED FROM BURNS’ DOCUMENTARY “WAR”

March 7, 2007The ForumA1000, Americas, Angelo Falc, Associate Professor, Austin, California, Co-Chair and Founder, Crystal City, Development and Education Advocate, Gus Chavez, Ken Burns, Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, Marta Garcia, National Hispanic Media Coalition, National Institute, New York Chapter, New York, Paula A. Kerger, President, President and Founder, producer, San Diego, School of Journalism, Texas, The War, University of Texas at Austin, Virginiaescalona

LATINO REPRESENTATIVES MEET

WITH PBS PRESIDENT

ON LATINO EXCLUSION FROM

KEN BURNS’ WWII DOCUMENTARY

The President of the Public Broadcasting System (PBS), Paula A. Kerger, met on Tuesday, March 6, 2007 with representatives from the Latino community at their headquarters in Crystal City, Virginia to discuss their concerns and recommendations about the exclusion of Latinos from producer Ken Burns’ forthcoming documentary, “The War”, on World War II.

Representing the Latino community at the meeting were Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez of the University of Texas at Austin; Gus Chavez of San Diego; Marta Garcia, co-chair and founder of the New York Chapter of the National Hispanic Media Coalition; Angelo Falcón of the National Institute for Latino Policy; and Ivan Roman of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. PBS was also represented by new PBS Board member Lionel Sosa, Senior Vice President/Chief TV Programming Executive John F. Wilson, Chief Content Officer John L. Boland, and Director of Corporate Communications and Media Relations Jan McNamara.

The PBS position on this issue at this point is:

· The Ken Burns 7-part documentary, “The War”, 6 years in the making, is completed and cannot be changed. The idea of PBS telling him to make changes to include Latinos would violate Burns’ artistic independence.

· PBS is putting resources to promote local programming by its 348 member stations around this documentary, the best of which they plan to promote at the national level. They are willing to work with the Latino community to make sure that the Latino involvement in WWII is addressed in this way.

· PBS may be willing to facilitate a meeting between Ken Burns and representatives of the Latino community to discuss this issue, as well as the Latino role in this future productions.

The Latino community representatives made the following points:

· The exclusion of Latinos from Ken Burns documentary is an insult to our community and nothing short of delaying the release of this film until it is edited to include Latinos is acceptable.

· We are willing to meet directly with Ken Burns as an independent producer to discuss our concerns.

· Why, if this documentary took six years to complete, did no one at PBS flag this problem of Latino exclusion earlier? We raise the need for PBS to consider instituting measures that prevent this type of exclusion from occurring in the future.

· There is a clear pattern of the neglect of Latinos in all of Ken Burns projects, so why hasn’t PBS been sensitive to this problem earlier?

· We have given Ms. Kerger one week, until Tuesday, March 13, 2007, to formally respond to us in writing.

For further information on this issue, please contact:

Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

School of Journalism

The University of Texas at Austin

1 University Station A1000

Austin, TX 78712

512-471-0405

Fax: 512-471-7979

mrivas@mail.utexas.edu

http://utopia.utexas.edu/explore/latino

Gus Chavez

Latino Community Development and Education Advocate

4674 Esther Street

San Diego, CA 92115

619-807-8938 (Cell)

619-286-9858 (Home)

Chavez1@mail.sdsu.edu

Marta Garcia

Co-Chair and Founder

New York Chapter

National Hispanic Media Coalition

101 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10013

(212) 965-9758

mediacoalition@optonline.net

www.nhmc.org

Angelo Falcón

President and Founder

National Institute for Latino Policy

101 Avenue of the Americas

New York, NY 10013

212-334-5722

afalcon@latinopolicy.org

www.latinopolicy.org