The Tucson students who launched the lawsuit against the state of Arizona to overturn H.B. 2281 — Maya Arce, Korina Lopez, and Nicolas Dominguez — next to a picture of former Mexican-American studies instructor Curtis Acosta at the John Valenzuela Youth Center, the location of the Tucson Librotraficante Underground Library (photo credit: Liana Lopez).
Mayra Arce even resembles Esperanza, the protagonist in The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. That was one of the 80-plus books that were part of the Tucson Unified School District’s K-12 Mexican-American studies curriculum before the program was dismantled under Arizona House Bill 2281.
But Maya isn’t the main character of a book. She’s the main plaintiff in the lawsuit against the state of Arizona.
On January 12, 2015, Maya heads to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to overturn the law used to prohibit Mexican-American studies in Tucson.
This is a major case of truth being stranger than fiction. And it will take several semesters of Mexican-American studies courses to fully appreciate, comprehend, and document all the nuances, cultural subtexts, historical facts, and fiction against our fiction. We are a blessed generation that can fill that San Francisco courtroom to witness a young Chicana making history and fighting for every American’s freedom of speech.
Me, “El Librotraficante,” in front of the Alamo during the San Antonio stop of the Librotraficante Caravan to Tucson (photo credit: Liana Lopez).
To read more, click HERE.
The House on Mango Street because part of a bigger cause.
The ten-day bench trial over the constitutionality of the enactment and enforcement of the law that was used to terminate the Mexican American Studies Program at the Tucson Unified School District took place during June and July 2017. Transcripts for each trial day appear below.
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To read the transcripts, click the link below the graphic.
