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March 31, 2010    Remembering the birthday of C�sar E. Ch�vez
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CCI Welcomes the Oral History
and Cultural Ethnography Project 

ohcep logoWe are very honored and pleased to announce that SFSU's Oral History and Cultural Ethnography Project has joined the Institute and will be housing their project at CCI's offices.

Headed by Phil Klasky, lecturer in American Indian Studies, this project is a collaboration between students, faculty and the community to conduct audio and video recordings to "add voices to history", and to offer oral history and cultural ethnography workshops for communities to conduct their own documentation. 

This project utilizes the skills of graduate and undergraduate students from Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts (BECA), Cinema, History, Creative Arts, Photography, the ethnic studies and other disciplines to facilitate civic engagement.

Recent project themes  include: an oral history of civil rights, labor and peace activist Harold Supriano; ethnographic recording of the traditional songs of the Pomo Indian Tribe; documentation and exhibit on the 40th anniversary of the occupation of Alcatraz; documentation of elders living in subsidized housing to advocate for threatened independent living services as part of the SF Community Living Campaign; and, collaboration with San Francisco's Neighborhood Empowerment Network Television (NENtv) project.

We look forward to this exciting new dimension to CCI's work!

 
Planning under way for an
Ethnographic Collaborative at CCI


Several faculty in the College of Ethnic Studies are currently meeting to establish a collaborative initiative at CCI to house and support ethnographic projects focused on issues of social justice and communities of color.

A key goal of this interdisciplinary, inter-departmental Collaborative will be to share and further cultivate the resources, funding, networking and expertise needed to support ongoing efforts and future projects. While the initial focus has been on oral history, cultural reclamation and digital archiving, the Collaborative will likely include other compatible, ethnographic goals and methods - from the social sciences to the arts.

Our overarching goal will be to document the conditions in our communities, highlight their history, resiliencies and strength, create tools for action, and build new mechanisms for community empowerment as well as serve as a model for collaboration between faculty, students and the community.

Anyone interested in knowing more about this (yet unnamed!) collaborative may contact CCI, or speak with any of the following faculty: Dawn-Elissa Fischer, Phil Klasky, Nancy Mirabal, Belinda Reyes.

Developments will be announced in future Boletines.


Successful seminar on immigration policy reform

CCI and Raza Studies recently sponsored a 2-hour round table discussion on immigration reform which was very well attended and generated good discussion.

The invited speakers were Andr�s Jim�nez, Director of the California Program on Opportunity and Equity; P�a Orrenius, economist and specialist on US/Mexico border economies, and; Renee Saucedo, Community Empowerment Coordinator of the Centro Legal La Raza.

Many important topics were covered by the panel, such as Guest Worker programs, the political climate in Washington this year, Obama administration policies, the role of grass-roots organizations in framing the debate, and the need to change the emotionally charged public discourse with more and better information. All participants agreed that the current policy in the US is broken and serves no one.

Perhaps most striking was the data presented on the essential role immigrants played in the great economic booms in the US in the 20th century, providing the human energy essential to the expansion of key industries. Far from being a drain on the US economy or taxpayer, immigrants have helped drive American prosperity, and have been among the first to suffer the consequences of economic downturns.

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The event video is available at cci.sfsu.edu/immigration_reform.


C�sar E. Ch�vez Institute
College of Ethnic Studies
San Francisco State
1600 Holloway Ave.  PP750

San Francisco CA 94132-4027

[email protected]

http://cci.sfsu.edu



Issue: 2
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Did you miss the
Round Table on
Immigration Policy?


Watch the video...
From our mailbox:
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CCI receives many emails from community and campus organizations asking for help in publicizing their events and projects. We will be presenting a selection of those items in this column, as a service to our activist allies. We hope you find something of interest...



April 11
SF Women's Film Festival
CODE NAME: BUTTERFLIES
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A  documentary directed and written by Chilean filmmaker Cecilia Domeyko tells the powerful story of the Mirabal sisters of the Dominican Republic who in the 1950s, under the code name 'Butterflies', created a secret resistance movement against dictator Rafael Trujillo. When the tyrant had the women assassinated, the country rose up. The courage of these women helped bring freedom and democracy to their country. The film weaves interviews with survivors of the Trujillo regime with dramatic recreations.
http://www.sfwff.com/


April 20
Raza Studies Spring Speaker Series:
Afro-Latin@ Studies as part of Latin@ Studies
2:00 - 3:30  PM
EP 116
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Speakers:
Dr. Juan Flores,  Social & Cultural Analysis, NYU;
Dr. Miriam Jim�nez Rom�n,  Africana Studies, NYU;
Dr. Dawn Elissa Fischer, Africana Studies, SFSU;
Dr. Nancy Mirabal,  Raza Studies, SFSU
Info: Teresa Carrillo


UFW / Ch�vez Foundation campaign for a
National Ch�vez Holdiay
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Report out: U.S. Latino Religious Identification 1990-2008 - Growth, Diversity & Transformation
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