Resources to Inspire Empathy about Immigration

I presented at the #AATSP17 conference in Chicago this week on: "Discussing sensitive current issues in the Spanish classroom: A Humane Education approach"

I've gathered some resources for inspiring empathy in civic dialogue when talking about political change and about immigration policy. Here are links to some activities and materials I have used in the Spanish language classroom to spark conversation and reflection.

  VIDEOS
 •Familias sin fronteras (3 min)
 •A Family Endures the Tragic Side of Immigration
 •Invisible Mexicans of Deer Canyon: (Trailer)
 •Frontline: A Tale of Two Villages
 •Buen Viaje – Immigration between Morocco and Spain (Film in Spanish without subtitles here) •Dying to Live
 •Victoria para Chino (in the textbook Rumbos with subtitles in English / Spanish)
 •Life in the Deportee Slums of Mexico
 •Sin nombre (full length feature film—use with reading Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario)

  BOOKS
 •Cajas de Cartón: Memorias de un niño campesino de Francisco Jiménez
 •Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario

  ORGANIZATIONS
 •Deported Veterans Support House
 •No más muertes / No More Deaths
 •Radio Ambulante episodes on immigration

Piñatas políticas in Colorado and in Latin American Tradition

In Mexico, political piñatas are a "thing." To celebrate holidays, families and friends gather to take turns swinging a stick (palo) to hit the swinging paper maché piñata until it breaks open to disperse evil (el mal) and to scatter candy (dulces) for children to gather and enjoy.

Piñatas to express political dissent are a form of popular satire, such as those made to represent the former Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gotori and current president Enrique Peña Nieto.  The PRD (one of three major political parties in Mexico) even hosts a competition for young people to encourage the artistic creation of artisanal piñatas as political engagement and expression.

This week, a Colorado teacher has been placed on administrative leave because students in Spanish class broke a piñata with the figure of Donald Trump.  The superintendent of Johnstown Milliken Schools Dr. Martin Foster, evidently unaware of the custom of youthful satire through political piñatas, called the incident "incredibly disrespectful."

At first glance and from a purely USAmerican perspective, perhaps the custom of breaking a piñata representing a politician's image seems odd.  Here instead of piñatas and effigies, we express political humor more commonly through satiric caricatures and Halloween costumes.  MayDay rallies in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Minneapolis included artistic satire in the form of puppets and floats criticizing billionaires, especially Donald Trump.

In US Latino communities, piñatas in the form of political figures are common and innocent fun.  We poke fun through satire that is culturally appropriate and, in a Spanish class, las Posadas or Reyes or Cinco de Mayo are celebratory moments in which it is common to express political humor in a light-hearted, playful, way.  The constitutional right of freedom of speech allows us to gather as communities to laugh and cry together about the politicians who represent us in government.

Would you take a moment to share your experiences with political piñatas as a healthy form of political satire?  Do you have a photo of your own political piñata that you might be willing to share in the comments?

Scroll down to contact Dr. Martin Foster by email to share your cultural experiences with political piñatas.  Your cultural knowledge may be useful to the school district as they consider how to proceed with the Spanish teacher who has been placed on administrative leave.

Campañas electorales en español para la presidencia de los EE. UU. en 2016

The 2016 election season feels more volatile than promising.  Like a woman in transition during childbirth, we all need words of encouragement to stay engaged in the democratic process.  I've reminded my students multiple times to register to vote. We've talked briefly about the debates during class. I'm working on a lesson plan about Spanish-language campaign efforts to get out the Latinx vote.  Here are some videos with questions that I'm working into the lesson plan.  Suggestions and advice are welcome!  

1.  Describe la voz y la fluidez de Jacqueline Kennedy en su anuncio.
2.  ¿Cuáles son los temas que más le preocupan a ella?
3.  ¿Qué dice acerca de su esposo John F. Kennedy y sus planes y promesas?
4.  ¿Cómo concluye su mensaje?

5.  ¿Qué dice Barack Obama acerca de su familia?
6.  ¿Cómo describe a los DREAMers?
7.  ¿Cuál es el legado (legacy) del Presidente Obama para los DREAMers?

7.   ¿Cómo se identifica el Senador Tim Kaine?
8.   ¿Dónde dio su presentación?
9.   ¿Dónde y cómo aprendió español el Senador Kaine?
10.  ¿Qué dice el Senador Kaine acerca de la responsabilidad de votar?
11.  ¿De qué se trata la parábola del Buen Samaritano?

12. Hillary Clinton habla muy poco español.  El 9 de marzo 2016, dijo "¡Basta!" durante un debate entre los candidatos demócratas.   El 2 de junio 2016, Clinton dijo:  "¡Sí, se pueda!"

13.  No hay ningún anuncio publicitario en español de parte de la campaña republicana. Donald Trump explica su opinión acerca del español en los Estados Unidos

14.  En tu opinión, ¿es importante que los candidatos para la presidencia y el congreso de los EE. UU. hablen español?  ¿Por qué sí o no?  Defiende tu respuesta.

Spanish Poetry Day

Here is an outline of my presentation for the Indiana Foreign Language Teacher's Conference this weekend

Poetry Recitation as a literary / social event

El día de poesía en español  ~ Spanish Poetry Day at Valparaiso University

--April 23:  El día del libro / San Jordi

·         Co-hosted by the Department of Foreign Languages & Literatures and the Christopher Center Library

·         Letras literary magazine launch event

·         Poetry reading of famous works spanning 500 years

                   How we chose poetry

•       Solicited submissions of famous poets and poems, based on the yearly theme for Letras

•       Aimed for a diverse mix of poets, regions, styles, forms

•      Sought familiar poetry and less-known works

How we chose readers

•       Shared applications in intermediate and advanced courses

•       Invited student poets to consider reading

•       Reviewed applications and invited students to a rehearsal

      Event Details and Program:   Decorations / Food / Drink

•       Welcome / Introduction

•       Reading of famous poets

•       Presentation of Letras literary magazine

•       Introduction of student poets

•       Recitations

  Letras:   Spanish language literary magazine at Valparaiso University

·         Editor Carlos Miguel-Pueyo

·         Published annually

Available online:   http://www.valpo.edu/foreignlanguages/spanish/letras.php

La esclavitud y el tráfico de personas en el mundo actual / Global Human Trafficking and Slavery and the campaign to END IT!

Today, April 9th, is a day to END IT!  For practice with simultaneous translation, today I showed this brief video about slavery in the world today.  As the subtitles ran in English, I offered an interpretation in Spanish of the video's script.

I provided students with a few key terms that appear in the video, including:

• la esclavitud
• la mentira
• las fábricas
• la amenaza
• el burdel
• la justicia
• la opresión
• oprimido/a 
• contra su voluntad
• luchar
• la voz
• a indiferencia
• la libertad

I showed students the X on my hand sketched with a red marker, and my Facebook profile picture of my family's hands.

In Spanish 203 and 204, students have been preparing debates this week using the subjunctive form.  I asked whether there is any debate to the subject of slavery.  Following this video and translation exercise, students began presenting opposing points of view over various topics of human security and human rights:  gun control, immigration, the DREAM act, gay marriage, abortion, lowering the drinking age, legalization of marijuana.  I allowed students to propose topics and to choose the side of each debate that they wish to argue.  They have been preparing during class and at home this week.

By doing debates in class, students are gaining confidence in embracing their own bilinguality.  They are taking their speaking abilities to the brink in answering impromptu questions from the audience about controversial topics---and as they stretch their linguistic capacity, their language skills grow before our very eyes.  It is an honor to see the students grow.

Here are some ideas for class discussion in a language classroom. After we watched the video, I offered some sentences using the subjunctive to talk about action steps we can take.  I had a list of infinitives on the board:  

• informarse sobre el tema
• compartir el video
• divulgar la información
• cambiar nuestros hábitos de consumo
• participar en un boicot de las compañías que abusan de sus empleados
•  influir en el Congreso con peticiones y cartas sobre esta situación
• orar por los víctimas del tráfico de personas 

We formed sentences using the subjunctive and impersonal expressions that trigger its use, such as:

• Es importante que
• Es triste que
• Es necesario que
• Es preciso que
• Es urgente que
• No creo que
• Espero que

I have learned the following statistics from reading many sites about slavery, exploitation and trafficking.  Did you know that 27 million people around the world live in slavery, working in brothels, or in hard labor, for someone else's benefit?  The global cost of a human being is $90. The average international cost of a sex act is $5. Five bucks. Life is cheap in a world where slavery is permitted. If we turn a blind eye to the plight of the enslaved, our complicity chips away at our own humanity and we become lower than beasts. April 9, this is a day to recognize the role of consumers (of chocolate, of coffee, of pornography, of exploitative sex, of cell phones---all our first world addictions) about the human cost and the price that someone else is paying. END IT is a campaign to educate and empower people for change. There is more slavery today than at any previous point in history. Trafficking and slavery exist INSIDE the United States, very likely around the corner from where you live. There is more criminal money changing hands for human trafficking than for the drug trade now. This is EVERYONE'S issue.

Since we are talking in class about food, we did a reading from the textbook (Identidades) that talks about the chocolate trade.  Some in the class knew about fair trade clothing, and we discussed the boycotts against Hershey's and Nestlé.  We mentioned the local fair trade store in our community, The Welcome Mat.  We discussed how sometimes something healthy and good, like quinoa, can lead to environmental devastation, as is the case in present-day Bolivia.

As students learn how consumer choices and personal decisions affect others, they become truly engaged global citizens.  They take their language from an artificial, safe classroom environment and prepare to use their language skills for everyday tasks that involve logic, rhetoric, science, technology, social justice, love and mercy. 

How do you engage students in thinking compassionately about their own responsibility for justice in the real world?  Please share your comments below. 

Local Hispanic Food Markets / Mercados locales

  El Salto has just opened a new Mexican grocery store in Valparaiso.  It's on Lincolnway right next to Domino's pizza and Au Naturel Market.  They carry fresh produce, dry goods, pan dulce sweet breads, meat, fresh tamales, and household goods and toiletries.  They provide excellent service.  The selection of fruits and vegetables is a mix of domestic and imported produce, and all is fresh and ready to eat without needing time to ripen.  

In Hobart / New Chicago / Lake Station, La Rancherita bakery and El Ranchero restaurant are my favorites.  From Old Ridge Road, turn at the rooster statue onto Michigan Street (it's at 3559 Michigan St).  The mural on the wall is pictured above and is a landmark. Their restaurant is busy at lunch time---free chicken-tomato noodle soup comes as an appetizer with the meal.  The pan dulce Mexican sweet bread is 35 cents to 75 cents a piece.  My kids love the watermelon-shaped cookies, and I like what my mom calls elephant ears (different from the fried dough at the county fair) that in Spain was called palmeras.  Next time I am there I'll take a picture of those to share. 

  Tarimoro is a larger Mexican grocery in Lake Station  located at 330 Central Avenue.  The produce is fresh, ripe, ready to eat, and the prices are great.  They have a selection of piñatas for children's birthday parties.  They also sell gift items like the piggy bank pictured below.  

 

"Inocente" gana un premio Oscar

Inocente
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