Self-described book smuggler Tony Diaz, nicknamed “El Libro-Traficante”, is set to launch a small caravan to bring carloads of controversial books into Arizona that were recently banned by public school officials in Tucson after the city suspended its acclaimed Mexican-American Studies program due to a state ban on the teaching of ethnic studies. “When Arizona tried to erase our history, we decided to make more,” Diaz says. “We’ve unleashed this informal network that’s galvanized into a national movement… People are forming groups to read the books that have been confiscated. They have actually brought so much attention to our community that I think right now we really are on the verge of a Latino Renaissance.”
"Rethinking Columbus: The Next 500 Years" edited by Bill Bigelow and Bob Peterson “What’s to fear? "Rethinking Columbus" offers teaching strategies and readings that teachers can use to help students consider perspectives that are too often silenced in the traditional curriculum.” -Bill Bigelow
"Pedagogy of the Oppressed" by Paulo Freire
"Occupied America: A History of Chicanos" by Rodolfo Acuña “What people don’t understand about the Mexican-American Studies Program there is that it’s a pedagogy. It’s a way to get people to feel proud of themselves, to motivate them to stay in school and motivate them to go on.” -Rodolfo Acuña
"Chicano! The History of the Mexican Civil Rights Movement" by Arturo Rosales
Message to Aztlan by Rodolfo "Corky" Gonzales
"500 Years of Chicano History" edited by Elizabeth Martinez
"Critical Race Theory" by Richard Delgado and Jean Stefancic “How does it feel to have written a book that is officially banned? We are sorry for the kids and disappointed in the school board. But we decided to move a similar book up on our docket so as to get it into print ahead of schedule…Sometimes, it’s hard to kill an idea, and we certainly plan to do our part to keep it that way.” – Delgado and Stefancic
Seven books have been removed from classrooms in the Tucson Unified School District. Censored writers have responded to the measure in interviews and blogs; others have not yet publicly commented.
Self-described book smuggler Tony Diaz, nicknamed “El Libro-Traficante”, is set to launch a small caravan to bring carloads of controversial books into Arizona that were recently banned by public school officials in Tucson after the city suspended its acclaimed Mexican-American Studies program due to a state ban on the teaching of ethnic studies. “When Arizona tried to erase our history, we decided to make more,” Diaz says. “We’ve unleashed this informal network that’s galvanized into a national movement… People are forming groups to read the books that have been confiscated. They have actually brought so much attention to our community that I think right now we really are on the verge of a Latino Renaissance.”
