La Raza Radio - Thursday, June 4, 2026

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1. Yo, this is your brother's speech from the Crew Arrested Development. You rockin' with KPFK 90.7 Los Angeles.
2. La Raza Radio with Matt Cedillo.
3. Welcome to La Raza Radio. Radio for La Raza, La Casa. Radio for the gente de la ciudad.
4. And we at La Raza Radio believe in drawing understanding from the study of history and economics and our sense of direction in advance of people and the movement.
5. Welcome to La Raza Radio.
6. This hour we'll be joined by Professor Joaquin Herrera.
7. We're very excited to have him on.
8. And yeah, it's going to be a great show.
9. And welcome back to La Raza Radio.
10. We're now joined by Dr. Joaquin Herrera over at El Camino College.
11. We're very excited to have you on today.
12. I'm very excited always to have on people who are professors who teach, you know, Chicano studies and talk about their kind of journey and entry points.
13. And you have a very interesting entry point into the world of Chicano studies.
14. But don't let me tell your story.
15. Please, Dr. Herrera, talk about how you got involved in both Chicano studies and the movement at large.
16. Oh, well, thank you, Matt.
17. It's a pleasure to be on your show always.
18. Just one correction.
19. I don't have a Ph.D.
20. But I do teach full-time at a college, El Camino College in Torrance.
21. And for many years, actually for decades already, I have been a professor of Chicano Studies at Cal State Northridge in the Department of Chicano and Chicano Studies.
22. But anyway, how did I get involved?
23. Well, I come from a family of Chicano Studies professors.
24. My dad, who's still teaching at CSUN, right, in the Department of Chicano Studies, started there in 1971.
25. Basically, I was born the same year, but he started maybe a couple of months after I was born.
26. And so as a child, it was very, very common for us to step foot on that campus in the 1970s, throughout the 1970s, throughout the 80s and so forth,
27. and see how that department was run and you know catch that that Chicano movement fervor
28. of the 70s. My dad himself right he's a graduate of UCLA he's a specialist in the Nahuatl language
29. that's one of the courses that he's taught there since 1971 you know classical Nahuatl
30. he also teaches a course in traditional Mexican music regional Mexican music course or regional
31. music of Mexico which is also of course I teach but he's a product of the Chicano
32. movement right a former Bram Bure right of the city of Oxnard right he and some
33. of his his childhood friends right from the La Colonia which is the big it's
34. it's one of the barrios here in Oxnard but it's the big old barrio Mexican barrio
35. right they they put together the Bram Bure chapter in Oxnard back in the late
36. So he was a Brown Beret student at UCLA at the time, at a time in which you had just a couple of dozen Chicanos attending UCLA.
37. And I got to meet a lot of them, right?
38. Some of them today, you know, 50-some years later, they're actually prominent activists, professors, lawyers, and so on and so forth, right?
39. And so that group of Chicano radical student activists who were attending UCLA really put their names on the map in terms of education or the legal system and so on and so forth But anyway my dad has been teaching there
40. since 1971. I have an aunt who just retired, who had been teaching there since the late 1970s in
41. Chicana Studies. There are other members of the family who also are college professors.
42. and anyway I grew up right I went to UCLA myself got an undergraduate degree there in Latin American
43. Studies and went on to Cal State Northridge to receive a master's degree in in Chicano and Chicano
44. Studies and Spanish and anyway I have taught at numerous community colleges throughout the years
45. I'm still the Department of Chicano and Chicano Studies at CSUN, and I've been at El Camino College full time since 2013.
46. I'm the founder and senior faculty member of the Ethnic Studies Department, Ethnic and Social Justice Studies Department.
47. So I know that's a mouthful, but that's where we are.
48. No, that's a wonderful entry point that we can take in different directions.
49. I know that, you know, Cal State Northridge is kind of seen as really kind of one of the major, I mean, really is the major fountain of Chicano studies.
50. I mean, Rudy Acuna was where he established.
51. And so, yeah, did you have any encounters or stories that you could share about Rudy Acuna?
52. Well, I'm so sorry he passed away, right?
53. But I think we're all grateful for what he was able to contribute to Chicano society.
54. as someone who really helped a lot of people
55. coming in and out of Cal State Northridge
56. and then with his publications.
57. A lot of people's first encounter with Chicano history
58. was by way of his book, Occupied America.
59. I knew Rudy since I was a child.
60. Rudy was the one who brought my dad on board
61. to Cal State Northridge.
62. And so I had a lot of interaction with him
63. as a kid growing up, but later on,
64. as a faculty member.
65. So we would always chat in the hallway and so forth.
66. And again, I'm grateful for his efforts, right,
67. as someone who founded the Department of Chicano Studies
68. and someone who really put the whole notion
69. of Chicano Studies out there, right,
70. by way of his teachings, his publications,
71. and the influence that he had on many people.
72. So, you know, may he rest in peace, right?
73. And my condolences to his family, Lupe, his wife, and so on.
74. But yeah, as far as me having any interaction with him,
75. pretty much all through my life, right?
76. Again, I met him as a baby, when I was a baby, right?
77. And as a colleague from 1994 on,
78. I had numerous interactions with him and got to know him better, I would say.
79. So of course, Rudy Acuna is a legend
80. But so is your father
81. Can you tell our audience a little bit more about your father?
82. As an entry point, can you tell
83. What was the relationship like between
84. Your father and Rudy
85. And then beyond that, tell us more about
86. It was always very respectful
87. My dad always
88. Gives him credit
89. As being the person who
90. Through another
91. Mutual friend
92. Asked my dad
93. to apply for the position in Chicano Studies back in 1971. Again, my father's Professor
94. Ferm Herrera of the Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies And throughout the years I always knew Rudy as someone who always supported him
95. respected my dad a lot.
96. There was a mutual respect, you know, between them.
97. And I think of the old guard, my dad's the only full-timer still on board,
98. He's going to be 79 this year.
99. He's been there 54 years, if I'm not mistaken, going on 55.
100. But, you know, I can't confirm this, but I think right now he's probably,
101. he may be the faculty member in the university that currently has most of the years in.
102. You know, many other people have passed on or retired.
103. But going back to the relationship he had with Rudy was very amicable on the one hand, but their collegial relationship was a very respectful one and one that lended itself to a lot of support, mutual support.
104. My dad always supported everything Rudy stood by and stood for, and so did Rudy, right?
105. And so I think it was a good collaboration.
106. It was a good connection, right, between two faculty members who saw eye to eye in many things and who pretty much had a lot of unconditional support for each other.
107. That we can say also about the other old timers, right?
108. The old guard of Chicano studies there at Cal State Northridge, right, was pretty much...
109. all for one and one for all.
110. And that's how it functioned for a very long time.
111. It's still the case.
112. But in this case, we're talking about the older faculty,
113. many of whom I got to know as a kid and actually worked with.
114. Ruy Acuña, Dr. Jorge Garcia, Dr. Joe Resendez,
115. Veto Ruiz of Cal State Northridge, right?
116. And so on and so forth.
117. Yeah.
118. Yeah, well, again, Cal State Northridge being the flagship kind of school
119. School for Chicano Studies that inspired so many other campuses.
120. And I really want to get into your work there at El Camino and what it was like to found a department, to really push for a department.
121. And what are some of the visions you have for that?
122. Before we get into that, can you tell us just a little bit more about your father?
123. I know he's one of the great translators of Nahuatl that we have today, particularly here in the United States.
124. Can you tell us a little bit more about his work, his legacy?
125. Well, my dad was actually born in Durango, Mexico, right?
126. That small town or family hometown on my dad's side.
127. My grandparents were from a small town called El Presidio Tepehuanes, right, in the state
128. of Durango.
129. And my dad was actually born there in 1947 on a trip that the family took there.
130. But you know, as soon as my grandmother was able to get some rest then after the delivery,
131. right after the birth they came back to their home in Oxnard.
132. And Oxnard has a population today of over 200,000 people I believe but back
133. then it was a very small town. It's always been a very very Mexican town
134. it's a farm worker community. And so my grandparents were campesinos and so
135. was my father and so were his siblings. They worked in the fields with my my
136. grandparents picking the news from strawberries to tomatoes and lemons and
137. going up north in the summers to the Hillsburg area to pick the grapes and you know for the winery there and so on and so forth my dad actually throughout his high school years and early college was a seminarian
138. He was going to be a priest, but he was more interested in the idea of teaching at a seminary, being a researcher.
139. And so he was trained in classical Latin and classical Greek at a very early age.
140. He had a knack and a strong interest for languages.
141. But I think during or maybe after his sophomore year at the major seminary, St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, he decided to take a different path in life and transfer to UCLA.
142. And it was at UCLA that he was introduced to the Nahuatl language, Mesoamerican studies and so forth.
143. So that's what he focused on.
144. He even did, I believe, a year in Mexico City at the National Institute of Anthropology
145. as a student.
146. And so first and foremost, he was highly educated in Mesoamerican studies and the Nahuatl language
147. and so forth.
148. That was what he was hired to do at Cal State Northridge initially.
149. But being that he's a person who has always cultivated himself, pushing himself to the
150. next limit or the next level of something, learning something new, right?
151. At the age of 26, he started to learn how to play, of all instruments, a harocho harp,
152. the viracruz harp.
153. He always loved music, right?
154. He grew up in an era in which rock and roll was a thing and he loved it.
155. Little Richard and Fats Domino and Elvis Presley and so forth.
156. Like so many people of his generation, right, he grew up listening to Mexican music, right?
157. Traditional Mexican music that was played on the radio or kind of like Richard Allen's when they were, you know, picking grapes.
158. That was maybe on a loudspeaker as a farmer, you know, workers would work and so forth.
159. It was traditional Mexican music and he liked it and so forth.
160. And little by little, he started to lean more, you know, towards it.
161. he did come across a lot of Jarocho music, but I'm used to music, harp music, right?
162. Watching all those black and white films of the 1950s and so forth.
163. And in his teenage years, he started to gravitate towards that kind of music, right?
164. Buying albums and, you know, more and more immersing himself in Mexican music.
165. By his college years, right, he was involved in the movement, the Chicano movement as a
166. Brown Beret in Oxnard.
167. And eventually that chapter, like so many other chapters of the Brown Barriers, closed down.
168. And he went to establish a cultural center in Oxnard called El Colegio Quetzalcoatl.
169. They taught music and dance.
170. But the focus was Jarocho music and dance.
171. And he brought in Chicano musicians from East L.A., people like Manuel Vazquez and Robert Murillo and so forth.
172. These were Chicanos from East L.A.
173. I believe I heard somewhere that harpists from the East Side,
174. Robert Murillo was from the Maravilla neighborhood and so forth.
175. And he brought them in to teach other Chicanos their music.
176. And my dad enrolled in the courses and became a harpist, right?
177. And his love for Mexican music, his interest in Mexican music,
178. because studies in Mexican music turned into a great researcher of Mexican music, a connoisseur of Mexican music,
179. someone who teaches a course in Mexican music at Cal State Northridge.
180. And by extension, a family group came out of that as well, Conjunto Guayapan.
181. We specialize in traditional Mexican music, mostly son jarocho of the Veracruz area.
182. It's very important to note because even though the music is from Veracruz,
183. and we have great musicians always coming out of Veracruz, and many migrating to Mexico City,
184. Southern California has a very, very, very healthy tradition of son jarocho, but it's Chicano son jarocho.
185. In many cases, musicians who have no roots in Veracruz.
186. They have roots in L.A. and Ventura County and elsewhere, right?
187. That's where they live.
188. Their families may come from other parts of Mexico, but they are not from Mexico themselves.
189. And among the first people to transplant that here, certainly in Ventura County, was my dad.
190. So he's seen, yes, as a specialist in the Nahuatl language, a translator of Nahuatl manuscripts.
191. That is one of the strong fields. But in addition, he is someone who is very, very highly respected
192. as a researcher and professor of traditional Mexican music, performer as well. But going back
193. back to the now what he few years ago published a dictionary it's a concise now what to English
194. English to know what dictionary and I believe it has some introductory now what listens as well
195. that's a very popular dictionary I've seen it at Barnes & Noble and Walmart one time it's on
196. Amazon for anyone who wants to see it but it's my understanding it's also a a banned book a banned
197. book in the prisons. From what I understand, certain inmates use it, right, to speak in code,
198. because it's very useful. It's easy to understand the language, right, and the way the
199. dictionary, you know, pans out. Okay, so yeah, he's, in recent years, right, he's been known for,
200. as a person who put that dictionary out. Yeah, so anyway.
201. still going strong at Cal State Northridge
202. still teaching Nahuatl, still teaching Mexican music
203. still performing
204. and so many other things
205. This is the KPFK, La Raza Radio
206. we are now joined by Professor
207. Goyatzin Herrera
208. we're talking about the legacy of his father
209. Fermin Herrera as well as
210. that of the late great
211. Rudy Acuna
212. so moving towards your own work
213. so you were there at Northridge
214. in that great milieu of so many
215. different legends and so many people who are establishing their own careers and service
216. the community and doing all kinds of wonderful things there at Cal State Northridge.
217. But you also teach over at El Camino College, where you established a program.
218. So tell us a little bit about how that came about and what your experience has been there
219. at El Camino College and why you thought it was important to bring Chicano Studies to
220. El Camino.
221. Well, at Camino College, if we take a look at it, it was kind of late in terms of
222. incorporating ethnic studies or Chicano studies into its system, whereas other schools, other
223. community colleges like ELAC and Santana College and many other places have been doing this for
224. decades already. There was a dean of social sciences. In fact, she hired me. We became
225. very good friends. As my understanding, she was the first Chicana in the country to receive a PhD
226. in history. That was the late Doctor Gloria Miranda and the
227. school was pretty conservative, you know.
228. But it couldn turn the other cheek It could turn a blind eye to the fact that it was becoming more and more Mexican The student population fluctuates from anywhere from 50 to almost 60 percent Latino
229. So they desperately needed an ethnic studies program, first and foremost with a focus in Chicano studies, with someone who focused on Chicano studies.
230. and so there was a position out there i applied and fortunately i i got it right i was hired
231. through the history department so it was a program it was in a full-fledged department
232. ethnic studies but um part of my job was to establish a department turn that program into a
233. a standalone department right and so i did with the help of of of my former dean dr miranda and
234. the current day we have now uh dr chris gold and so we developed courses in chicano studies
235. and we could say it was an ethnic studies department that pretty much only offered
236. Chicano Studies courses for many years. I was just the sole full-timer and then we had many
237. part-timers who came and went. And in recent years we have been able to hire people who specialize
238. in other disciplines, African American Studies and Asian American Studies. And currently at this
239. moment, right, we're very close to actually in the next few weeks we will hire, right, a full-time
240. faculty member again in Chicano Studies only to fortify what we already have there.
241. Why was it important? Well every other person in LA is Mexican.
242. Every other student on campus at El Cabino College is Mexican, right? We are not,
243. I guess in many cases, in regards as Mexicans here in California, we are a minority group,
244. right? But we are not a minority of a population. You know, we are the population.
245. we can say and it would be a shame right not to teach about you know what most people are
246. here in the state of california mexican and so there's a growing need to really really teach
247. the history of mexican americas of chicanos the culture of chicanos and so on and so forth
248. and so that's why there was a a great need to do this at the camino college and that's what i'm
249. on my end anyway, that's what I push for.
250. To add to this, I organize a lecture
251. and performance series every year
252. called Celebration of Chicano Culture.
253. I have invited in the past people like
254. Jose Angel Gutierrez of the Razonido Party,
255. Luis Valdez, Moctezuma Esparza,
256. of course the great Matt Zedillo has come several times.
257. Yeah, several times.
258. Yeah, this year Julissa Arce,
259. Gina Chicano-Athra, I just got off the phone with her.
260. Reina Grande.
261. I invite big names because it is a big deal.
262. We're still writing something that is valuable.
263. What is valuable?
264. Being Chicano, being Mexican and everything that comes with it.
265. Cultural, historical and so forth.
266. Yeah.
267. Is this Reina Grande's first appearance?
268. No, Reina Grande, she's been here.
269. last year and I think the year
270. before that.
271. You've been with us a few times,
272. right?
273. Can you tell our audience a little bit about
274. what it was like hosting
275. Reina?
276. What was it like having her there?
277. You know, Reina,
278. the first time she came I believe it may have been in let me see was it 2020 2024 maybe or 2023 that she came
279. And I had never met her.
280. I had read her books and knew who she was, obviously.
281. So I invited her and I called her a few times, invited her, and we touched base, basically.
282. They didn't.
283. The day of our event, we're supposed to go out to lunch.
284. I said, you know, I know you're flying in from somewhere.
285. Let's meet up before your presentation, you know, as a courtesy, right?
286. And formality as well.
287. Let's meet for lunch.
288. She said, yes, yes, yes.
289. And she called me early that day.
290. She said, I can't make it to lunch, but I'll be there for the event.
291. I said, okay.
292. You know, not a problem.
293. Anyway, she shows up looking kind of somber.
294. right and um i said oh fine you know make some small talk but then she hit that stage
295. and there was this energy about her you know um that really just came out
296. and she talked about you know being born in mexico growing up in mexico and becoming a chicana
297. moving to the States and so forth
298. and you know she had just gone through a family issue
299. I think there was a death in the family or something
300. but she says that
301. she told me that night that being there
302. on campus
303. with so many
304. Chicanos in the audience, young Chicanos
305. and Chicanas in the audience
306. created an energy
307. that
308. for lack of a better expression
309. just revitalized her
310. that night and
311. And she felt good about being there.
312. You could feel it.
313. You know, she read from her books and told something about her life and her career and so forth.
314. But it was great.
315. It was great to see her energy come out, you know.
316. And I remember that night I addressed the audience.
317. And sometimes at these evening events, not everyone comes by that.
318. I mean, not all administrators or professors.
319. People go home.
320. And I thought, oh, so-and-so is missing, so-and-so was telling me, you know, told me that they were going to come here and didn't show up.
321. You know, I was on stage and looking at who was there.
322. But then I thought about it a few seconds later.
323. I said, we don't need them.
324. We have each other.
325. Right?
326. We had nothing but brown faces in the audience.
327. Right?
328. And it felt good.
329. It felt strong.
330. It felt powerful.
331. It was amazing.
332. And I think that's what Reina was alluding to.
333. Right?
334. It was beautiful to be in a room full of Mexicans, right, feeding off each other's energy.
335. Great.
336. Yeah.
337. And Luis Valdez?
338. Luis Valdez, I brought him in 2022, right?
339. We got back from the pandemic.
340. The school opened up in the spring of 2022.
341. And I received the funding once again to do these events.
342. and I mean that school was very lazy like other schools it was people were still moping around
343. wearing their face masks it's kind of empty and they said no no we got to come back with a
344. with a bang so that year I invited Jose Angel Gutierrez from the Razonida party and he gave
345. typical Jose Angel Gutierrez radical presentation making a lot of sense you know uh you know just
346. Just laid it out there in terms of Chicanizabal and so forth And a couple of days later Luis Valdez comes up to campus I pick him up at the airport You know he the nicest guy
347. unassuming. And when
348. we hit it off, he brought his wife, Lupe.
349. And we went out
350. to dinner. For that event,
351. Jorge Huerta, right,
352. was
353. with him as well. And
354. it was basically like a bunch of friends
355. getting together and talking.
356. And he, Luis Valdez presented on his latest book.
357. And again, that energy we felt with Reina Grande, it was repeated with Luis Valdez.
358. You know, it's his tone of voice.
359. It's his life experience.
360. It's his delivery and so forth that just spells Chicano in capital letters.
361. and these events that I put on,
362. they're done with that in mind.
363. Bring in strong people
364. who can give strong presentations
365. to do what?
366. To spread the idea of Chicano strength
367. within the students.
368. Yeah.
369. Right?
370. Powerful energy.
371. That's a beautiful thing.
372. Yeah.
373. Go ahead.
374. Sorry.
375. And Matt Cedillo.
376. No, I'm kidding.
377. And Matt Cedillo.
378. I'm joking.
379. I recall, Matt,
380. that we invited you a few times
381. and so we always...
382. It was all right.
383. Yeah, I tend to have you right in for the first as a first presenter, just like to open up the series.
384. But I do recall that one time, I guess you were near the college waiting for an Uber.
385. I don't know what it was. And you text me. Hey, how's it going? Right.
386. I was giving a class. Hey, can I just stop by your class and give a.
387. You came in and wow, they were floored by that. Thank you.
388. Yeah, of course, of course. No, it's I mean, like from there and there.
389. So, you know, I want to touch on something you mentioned earlier, though.
390. You're talking about this kind of demographic shift here in Los Angeles and beyond.
391. I mean, I think that something like 75 percent, if I'm not correct, of L.A.
392. USD students are Rasa or Chicano or Latino, for lack of a better term, a lot of Central
393. Americans as well.
394. So there's a huge population, growing brown population in Los Angeles right now.
395. But the future is going to skew even more heavily in that direction.
396. But the question really I have is that, you know, given the socioeconomic structure of, you know, the Los Angeles area or greater Los Angeles, is this going to look like a, you know, changing of the population and the culture and all these things?
397. Or is this going to just look like some type of economic apartheid?
398. I mean, what are we looking at the future?
399. And what will be the determining factors in your opinion?
400. I mean, I'm not an expert on the economy or demographics, but my gut feeling is that, well, in due time, I mean, we have a lot of us in society.
401. And you see these communities that are changing, right, becoming browner and browner.
402. We'll have more of that.
403. I think culturally speaking, it'll be more evident, right, more obvious that we're here.
404. We've always been here. We're here to stay. In terms of the economy, well, you know, we're always thinking that others are the people with economic power.
405. Well, you can have maybe certain groups that, you know, on the average earn more than our group, right?
406. But we're bigger in numbers.
407. Again, I'm not an expert on economics, but if California is the fourth or fifth largest economy in the world, a lot of that has to do with our buying power.
408. We spend a lot, right?
409. Yeah.
410. And I think as we grow as a population, you'll see that maybe California will become more, in my opinion only, right, powerful in that regard.
411. But it's going to be because of us, because of the numbers, right, and the amount of money that we spend collectively and so forth.
412. So not all Mexicans are poor.
413. You know, not all Chicanos are poor.
414. That's a myth.
415. Some of us do pretty well and have always done pretty well.
416. and others are
417. but collectively we are the power
418. you know
419. and we shouldn't look at others
420. with intimidation
421. oh they have more than we do
422. no no we're more we're bigger
423. we are a large group
424. you know
425. well we need to have more
426. solidarity I think
427. I think that needs to be promoted
428. I'm not saying this is a complaint to throw in the air
429. like oh we're all crabs in a bucket
430. I'm not saying this is a theoretical thing
431. I'm saying this is a point of advocacy.
432. We need more, and we do have organizations,
433. but we need those organizations stronger, more vocal.
434. We need more of a collective spirit, I think,
435. and I think that's really what the times call for.
436. Sure.
437. Yes, we do, yeah.
438. It's okay to focus on a certain agenda, right,
439. regardless of what that agenda may be in terms of,
440. well, you know, you focus more on these issues
441. these issues or that issue or that other issue and so forth.
442. But at the end of the day, all come together as Chicanos, right?
443. Anyway, I used that expression earlier in the interview, I said,
444. one for all and all for one.
445. If we take a look at the dynamics of the Chicano movement,
446. it was comprised of different struggles,
447. ideologies and events that take place in the 60s and 70s.
448. We have the farm workers movement,
449. We have the struggle for political empowerment.
450. We have the walkouts.
451. And so we're all in a way kind of different, but focusing on the same broad population, right?
452. And if you understood that, right, you supported each and every cause and so forth.
453. Together we all came together as one, right?
454. We understand it's unity that makes us stronger.
455. Absolutely.
456. Not divisions.
457. Absolutely.
458. So, you know, earlier we mentioned ethnic studies or we were talking, we opened the conversation, talking about ethnic studies, talking about the legacy of Rudy Kuna.
459. We talked about your father. We talked about your work at Cal State Northridge as well as taking that work over to El Camino College.
460. I recently had Nolan Cabrera on as well as following we had Lupe Carrasco-Cardona on.
461. We're all kind of talking about the importance of ethnic studies and how and why when a student is enrolled in ethnic studies, it tends to they tend to perform better all across the board in their academic pursuits.
462. I guess I mean, like no one really laid out the case as to why that is the case of the evidence of that, I should say.
463. But I'm really interested in your opinion as to why, given this is true that when students take ethnic studies, they tend to have a better overall academic success rate.
464. Why do you think that is?
465. I'd like to mention something in regards to that term ethnic studies.
466. Ethnic studies is actually an umbrella term that encompasses different disciplines.
467. Ethics studies is comprised of Asian American studies African American studies Chicano studies Chicano Latino studies Central American studies and so on and so forth Sometimes we tend to use that term not in my case but I come across some people who use the term ethnic studies as a means to not let say utilize the term Chicano
468. What do you teach ethnic studies?
469. Well, I actually do teach in the Department of Ethics Studies and we have different disciplines, right, that we cover and so forth.
470. But in terms of Chicanos or Latinos and so forth who take courses in the branch of ethics
471. that the studies don't have, Chicano studies, let's say, they become potentially more prone
472. towards success and completion because they're learning about who they are as a people.
473. It's more relatable to them, especially when you have a Chicano or a Chicana teaching a
474. Chicano Studies course. You relate to the instructor, they relate to you, right? It's your history,
475. it's your culture, and so forth, and it becomes more interesting, right? It motivates you to
476. learn more, because you're learning about you, you know, you're learning about your ancestors,
477. you're learning about your past, you're learning about your present day, you know, situation,
478. and that gets you more motivated, more interested.
479. And that interest that you're developing in Chicano Studies course
480. or General Ethics Studies course, you can take it and apply it to other disciplines.
481. Right?
482. And so you get that 1A in Chicano Studies 101
483. and then the second A in 102 and so forth.
484. And you say, you know what?
485. I can do this.
486. you know i i i developed a love for reading for learning and so forth now i'll apply that to my
487. course in english and philosophy and so forth and finish well that means getting a degree in
488. chicago studies or english or history or econ or whatever it may be you know no wonderful wonderful
489. yeah that's that's that's a beautiful answer i think that's true i mean people
490. are equipped with knowledge of self,
491. then it's stronger.
492. You feel more dignified and capable.
493. You march to the world differently.
494. It's empowering to learn about your own culture,
495. about your own history.
496. Particularly in a place where,
497. if you look at media studies,
498. we comprise,
499. we're the least represented demographic in the country,
500. given our numbers.
501. We're like 4% of people on screen.
502. We're like 4% of people behind the camera.
503. We're like only like 2% of tenured professors.
504. We're like so on and so forth.
505. Any way in which a country would explain itself to itself, we are grossly underrepresented.
506. So, you know, education and culturalization does not just come through formal education.
507. It comes through, you know, the general society we live in.
508. It comes through entertainment, news, et cetera, et cetera.
509. And we live in a country that is hell-bent on denying our presence.
510. and because it's helped in denying our presence you know the only place people are often going to
511. get this is through higher education where they're going to encounter that and I think that I think
512. that that's why what you're doing the work that you're doing is just so so so incredibly important
513. thank you and especially you know these conferences or this this um this thing that you're putting on
514. there on campus I think that's that's really really really the initiative you've shown in that
515. and what you've brought to a community college that before you know before your efforts didn't
516. necessarily have this interest it really shows how one person can really do something I mean like this this program that you brought to el camino college has brought in some very you know prominent names has brought people who are have definitely had a voice in our culture and have shaped so many different uh junctures of it and
517. and the fact that you've done it really shows uh it's inspiration for those who yeah might show
518. what one one person's one one person's initiative can do well yeah i mean i have to say it's not
519. It's not East LA College.
520. It's a community college that has a tradition of this, right?
521. You know, and it's a school that's right in the heart
522. of East LA and, you know, it's things like that
523. have been ongoing for a very long time.
524. Or let's say if we go down south to the San Diego area
525. and so forth, you know, San Diego,
526. and its many Chicano communities is rooted
527. in that sort of thing of cultural promotion and so forth.
528. It was a school that lacked that.
529. And I think our dean, our former dean, understood that.
530. She said, we've got to bring someone in who is going to go all out.
531. And we used to have talks and everything.
532. She said, I want you to go full force with whatever you have to do to make the idea of Chicano studies really stand out.
533. And it has.
534. It's paid off.
535. And I went solo for many years, right?
536. Promoting these things on my own, putting them together and so forth.
537. I still do, right?
538. If you want to join me, that's fine.
539. If you don't, I'll still do it.
540. It's important.
541. It's just a priority and it needs to be done.
542. And fortunately, I've been able to pull this off.
543. You're listening to KPFK La Raceria.
544. We're now joined by Professor Shoxin Herrera of El Camino College.
545. We've been talking about the program he's been putting on there on the campus for a few years now,
546. as well as just, you know, his long journey in Chicano studies.
547. So I want to ask you now, what advice would you have for, you know,
548. let's just say somebody coming out of their graduate program and they're,
549. they're seeking, you know, employment in Chicano studies,
550. they want to get involved, but they really don't know where to turn.
551. What advice do you have for young professionals right now in this time?
552. Because I know it's, it's, it's quite a bit harder than it's been in the past.
553. Well, that's a very good question, Matt, because I've,
554. it's something that I've been wanting to say for a while.
555. I just hope that people hear me out.
556. You know, it's my advice, take it or leave it.
557. But I've had grad students at Cal State Northridge
558. and come across other students who were formerly students
559. at a communal college going to other universities,
560. and they want to become professors.
561. They want to teach Chicano studies or general ethnic studies
562. or whatever it may be.
563. And some of them want to teach at the community college level,
564. like I do, right?
565. And then I find out that they're majoring in education.
566. Nothing wrong with getting an Ed.D. or PhD in education.
567. That's good.
568. But they don't understand the rules of engagement of a community college system.
569. They think it's all the same across the board.
570. You can teach in Chicano Studies at a Cal State with a degree in education.
571. Many people have degrees in education and they teach courses in education in Chicano Studies, maybe other courses.
572. but the california community college system has very strict guidelines people think ah
573. that's only community college no but they have their guidelines and they respect their guidelines
574. so for you to be to to meet the minimum qualifications to teach chicano studies
575. or ethnic studies at a community college you need an ethnic studies degree you need a chicano
576. studies degree you need to take a look at their guidelines and say okay they only accept these these degrees to get a job here And so sometimes I come across people who say well I been trying and trying and trying
577. and I never get hired.
578. Well, what do you have your M.A.N.?
579. What do you have your PhD in education?
580. But it's a specialization in cultural studies that I have.
581. Well, you can always apply for equivalency,
582. but sometimes schools don't wanna deal with that, right?
583. They just want someone who has the degree
584. chicano studies or something related something that's on record right to the the california
585. community college system or specific schools and that's something that people ignore you know the
586. other thing is that there's not all the time but sometimes poor mentorship in case and point i i
587. came across a former student of mine at camino college and i ran into her and she said that
588. she was going to apply to a part-time pool at our school right and they said oh you are i said
589. could okay fine and then she said um i asked her but you're not done with your with your master's
590. degree yet she said no i need my my dissertation then you can't apply you have to be done with the
591. master's degree in order to you know be considered and she said you know i'm going to write a letter
592. saying that i'll be done by the time i start they said but they're not going to accept that letter
593. they're gonna throw it out no because I talked to my professor from a grad
594. program and he said that that that's the way it works and they said it works that
595. way when you are a BD applying at a four-year sometimes you say okay you
596. need the PhD there's a guarantee that I'll be done by the time I start in the
597. fall but it doesn't work that way in the community college system I asked her why
598. are you going to this person not that I have anything against this person but
599. Why are you going to this?
600. Well, he knows.
601. I said, no, this person does not know.
602. I know this person personally.
603. He's never taught at community college.
604. If I were applying at a UC, right,
605. or for full time at Cal State,
606. I would ask someone who knows those systems.
607. I said, you know me, you know so-and-so and so-and-so,
608. but you never come to us.
609. Each system has its own set of rules
610. and you need to contact people,
611. to be mentored by people who know those sets of rules,
612. not outsiders to the system.
613. And so all this to say is that if you are going to apply to a Cal State, if you have
614. your eyes set on a Cal State, go to someone who knows the rules of engagement of a Cal
615. State, an administrator, a tenured faculty member, someone who's been on hiring committees,
616. the same thing for UC and the same thing for the community college district.
617. It's not all the same.
618. So the unfortunate thing I see at a communal college very often are people who apply, people
619. who show interest but don't have the right degrees and they don't have the right mentorship
620. they're going to people who do not know how the system functions you need to know the system
621. that's my advice no that's great advice it's very great very practical advice i really it's
622. practical it's it's easy but sometimes people you know uh i heard someone tell some i was at a at
623. market and someone said in spanish right you know uh no that's my difficile
624. don't make easy things harder you know right yeah i'm going to get a second degree in literature
625. but it's not going to apply but i but i'm going to teach you kind of literature i i yeah but here
626. you can't you can teach an english department but not in the chicano studies department at
627. at this community college, whatever it may be.
628. No, yeah, people don't really understand the guidelines
629. and what it is they're applying for.
630. People think, I think people,
631. I think people in many ways, like,
632. live in a very choose your own adventure
633. kind of world these days, but that doesn't,
634. That doesn't work in things that are a little bit more formal.
635. Things that require paperwork and signatures.
636. You don't just get to choose your own adventure.
637. You don't get to choose your own adventure in hiring practices.
638. You don't get to choose your own adventure in taxes.
639. And you don't get to choose your own adventures in the courts.
640. So those are those things you got to be more, a little more formal about.
641. The other thing, if I may just add to this, is that many times people try to dazzle you with their research.
642. yeah you know my master's thesis and my dissertation is this and that it's all great
643. wow hey give me a copy i want to read that but what we teach at the comedic college level these
644. are introductory courses these are foundational courses right and when you go off to to grad
645. school you know this ucsb or get a master's in chicago cities at cal state la or c center to
646. the phd program at ucla in chicago studies now you're gonna have these roundtable discussions
647. with your professors and your fellow classmates at the graduate level.
648. And you're going to be talking theory and that sort of thing.
649. But for you to talk that, you need to know what's foundational first.
650. Otherwise, it's just gibberish.
651. I had a student from Macabino College who went on to do the graduate program
652. in Chicano Studies at UCSB.
653. And she came back from the holidays.
654. And I was on campus.
655. And she said, I was looking for you.
656. she's I'm at a loss you know I'm living over there and everyone talks this way
657. in that way and so on and so forth so do you have your notes from when you took
658. she got a little history of beach she said yes she had the questions remember
659. they broke these down refreshing questions we have you know oh yeah I so
660. have it look them over because that's all rooted in facts know the facts yeah
661. yeah right and she came back to me later you know what we were discussing this
662. they didn't know the facts none of that she's not all students those are super
663. smart but a few people are in her circle they didn't know my for the facts but
664. they were talking theory and she said yeah well then this is all nonsense
665. yeah it's like you're a writer right there has to be structure before you get
666. into writing right you know that first and so again some people say I'm gonna
667. dazzle this committee with my with this and that so for no well you're at a
668. place where you're going to teach foundational knowledge in chicano studies and so forth right
669. otherwise you're going to lose an 18 year old talking about this right i feel like i feel like
670. you know the world of gibberish can get you a lot of free money i feel like the world of gibberish
671. can get you free money like people will give you a a grant from a foundation or something but
672. But you're never going to build an audience that way.
673. The world of gibberish is just small.
674. It's just people in small circles writing things to each other.
675. And, you know, some of them will get a grant and some, most of them won't.
676. I think that's that world.
677. But if you actually write things that are clear and cogent, based in facts and analysis
678. of those facts, and don't have more words to drift further and further and further from
679. material reality, that's how you build an audience.
680. That's how you build a fan base.
681. I think you actually sell some books.
682. It's a different approach, let's put it that way.
683. Yes, yes, of course.
684. And you know again just to add to all this you know sometimes as scholars in the making right at the grad level let say you know we sometimes exposed to three or four topics in Shikam studies right or other students And so it different And then you think that what it is to teach a course or that what it is to be chicano or chicana right this and we couldn use only this language and so forth you present that to a bunch of 18 19 20 year and they going to say well that not me
685. that doesn't represent me i'm at a loss i took this course because it's about me it's about my
686. people but this doesn't pan out you know and if they lose interest they brought the courses and
687. so forth, read your audience, read the community you're serving.
688. And by all means, it's okay.
689. It really is to say Mexican.
690. Yeah, right, right, right.
691. We have all these terms.
692. I'm this, I'm that.
693. I live in the, you know, intersection of this.
694. And that's okay.
695. That's okay.
696. You know, but you're Mexican or you're Guatemalteco or you're Saloreño or Saloreña.
697. And that's okay.
698. That's beautiful.
699. You know, it's beautiful to be that.
700. And guess what? The 18, 19, 20, 21-year-old at the community college is going to say, yeah, of course. I can relate to that because I'm that. At the very, what is it, the foundational level, I keep on using that word, right?
701. but it's at a level that's who I am. That's who we are. That's a start.
702. Okay, fine. You caught my ear, you know?
703. You got my attention now and now I can learn because you're not confusing me
704. with all this other stuff. Yeah.
705. Teach them to be proud of the whole world.
706. The rest of the world can teach them shame,
707. but teach them to be proud in that time you have together.
708. I guess my final question is, Professor Rara,
709. What advice would you have to other, let's say, you know, professors in their career who want to do something similar to you, who want to like make their campus have better programming and have programming that really emphasizes and celebrates Chicano culture on a campus where maybe that's more dormant?
710. What advice would you have to building up something like that?
711. The advice that I would have is for you to do this and to do this well, you're going to need some seed money, you know, some money, right?
712. Not all campuses have the same budgets.
713. Not all programs, right, you know, will even give you any money at all.
714. You have to go to these departments or these divisions, right, that have money for this sort of thing.
715. I know I have colleagues at other colleges who call me and they say, hey, man, how'd you pull this out?
716. How'd you bring Luis Valdez?
717. How'd you put on this concert at the auditorium?
718. What did you do?
719. Did you have money?
720. Yeah, I had some money.
721. It was your money, not my money.
722. It's the school's money.
723. Where'd you get it?
724. Because our department doesn't have anything.
725. Community college departments in general don't have much money.
726. You know, so you have to do your research and see who has the money.
727. oh it's the equity division that has the money oh it's the that one vp who handles student
728. engagement and so forth go to them establish good relationships with them um you know
729. present your idea make sure make sure it's dignified and so forth convince them that it
730. is a good a good idea an educated person will will will understand but it has to be well presented
731. You have to go to the right people like sup trying if your department
732. Can only give you $200 or $300. You're not gonna do much with it, you know
733. So you may have to bypass your department at least somewhat and seek money elsewhere There is money You just have to know where to go And by all means it always a good idea to network
734. with other Chicanos and Latinos on campus,
735. whether it's in your own department or outside of your division
736. or your school or whatever.
737. Bring people together.
738. They may know how to get funding.
739. They may have contacts that may be useful to you.
740. but if no one wants to come and help you and no one wants to support you right at the volunteer
741. they don't have time or the interests keep in mind that if you have you have an idea
742. and you really believe in it and you can secure the money you don't need a lot of people you just
743. need yourself a lot of organization right a lot of focus and just run with it and you'll do it
744. community colleges are some we have a large you know community college uh but it's not a it's not
745. a huge city it's it's a complex and it has a bunch of buildings and so forth you could do a lot with
746. one person right who's consistent who's willing to to push forward yeah and the more you do it the
747. more it it'll get noticed and the more success you have the more it it will be respected they may not
748. like what you're doing in some cases, but they will respect what you do.
749. Yeah.
750. You know, so.
751. Well, Professor Herrera, I thank you for your time.
752. Okay.
753. I thank you for the work you have done.
754. I thank you for the work you're doing.
755. And I thank you for the work I know you will continue to do.
756. Well, thank you, Matt.
757. It's always a pleasure to be on your show.
758. I think I was on there one time before.
759. And obviously when you've been to campus, it's a pleasure.
760. It's an honor.
761. Talk to you soon.
762. All right.
763. Thank you, Matt.
764. Okay.
765. Thank you.
766. And with that, we want to thank our guests for the hour, Professor Herrera over at El Camino College.
767. I want to thank you, listeners. And as always, we want to thank Gary Baca, without whom the show is not possible.
768. Thank you, Gary. And as always, give you the best.
769. Thank you.
770. Thank you.
771. Thank you Thank you
772. ¶¶
773. ¶¶
774. ¶¶
775. guitar solo
776. guitar solo
777. ¶¶
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784. The three or four of the important stories and issues of the day