Latinx Heritage Month
Opening CeremonyFeaturing Texas State Poet Laureate Ire'ne Lara SilvaPerformances by: PAC Mariachi, PAC Ballet Folklorico, & Viva Tejana Dance CompanyMonday, Sept. 16 Join us as we kick off our Latinx Heritage Month Celebration! Get ready to savor the flavors and celebrate the culture with this fun-filled kick off event. Artist and Speaker Bios
Ire'ne Lara SilvaIre’ne Lara Silva, 2023 Texas State Poet Laureate, is the author of five poetry collections, furia, Blood Sugar Canto, CUICACALLI/House of Song, FirstPoems, and the eaters of flowers, two chapbooks, Enduring Azucares and Hibiscus Tacos, and a short story collection, flesh to bone, which won the Premio Aztlán. Ire’ne is the recipient of a 2021 Tasajillo Writers Grant, a 2017 NALAC Fund for the Arts Grant, the final Alfredo Cisneros del Moral Award, and was the Fiction Finalist for AROHO’s 2013 Gift of Freedom Award. Most recently, Ire’ne was awarded the 2021 Texas Institute of Letters Shrake Award for Best Short Nonfiction. Her first comic book, VENDAVAL, was released by the Chispa Imprint of Scout Comics in July 2024. Arte Publico Press will publish her second short story collection, the light of your body, in Spring 2025.
¡Viva Tejana! Dance Company¡Viva Tejana! Dance Company is a women’s dance company based in San Antonio, Texas. Founded by Sophia Salgado in January 2020, the team performs contemporary Tejano music at venues such as Veterans of Foreign Wars, retirement homes, festivals, parades, theaters, Fiesta events, and professional sporting events. |
Panel/ Plática: National Voter Registration DiscussionTuesday, Sept. 17 Join us for a discussion with our student leaders, PAC faculty, and community members on the importance of voting. What does it mean to vote in the United States? National awards and other personal items from social activist icon Willie Velasquez, founder of the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project (SVREP), will also be displayed during this panel. His organization paved the way for millions of Latinos to have a voice in the democratic process through their vote. Ozuna Library Resources: Willie Velásquez: Su Voto Es Su Voz by Juan Sepúlveda
Stream Willie Velásquez: Your Vote is Your Voice (Documentary from PBS Video) Current PAC students and employees can access the eBook and streaming video using their ACES username and Banner number. Willie Velasquez Library Guide Rebecca Flores Bio
Rebecca FloresIn 1975, Rebecca Flores established a large membership among the Rio Grande Valley farm workers at the United Farm Workers' offices in San Juan, Texas. With these organized farm workers, Rebecca and her committed staff provided social services where there were none; she advocated for change in state services that did not consider the unique needs of farm workers, their migrancy, their poverty, and their language. After being trained by the famous leaders Cesar Chavez and Fred Ross, she and farm workers organized dozens of committees in the colonias of the Rio Grande valley that then fought to raise wages and working conditions in the fields; elected politicians that would introduce and fight for good farmworker legislation; and who would fund projects that would upgrade the living conditions of colonia residents, through developing an infrastructure of streets, sewage systems, street names, electricity, water, etc. From 1983 to 1988, she helped pass legislation for workers' compensation for injured farm workers and unemployment compensation, raised the Texas minimum wage, prohibited the use of the short-handled hoe, provided for toilets and potable drinking water in the fields, and passed protective Pesticide Right to Know legislation. She led annual campaigns in the Texas onion fields to raise piece rates. She also organized mushroom pickers in Florida and strawberry and grape pickers in California, which resulted in union contracts. Rebecca was the State Director of the National AFL-CIO for three years. In December 2005, she retired from her union job. Since 2014, she has been following the situation of refugee mothers and children being detained in Karnes City and Dilley, Texas. This detention is based on the determination by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that they pose a national security risk. After Governor Abbot signed Senate Bill 4, with the help of two other women in San Antonio, she formed the Pro Immigrant Coalition in San Antonio, a grassroots organization with 300 members that supports advocates for policy changes for undocumented immigrants. In the last year, she has become involved with her neighborhood residents who are feeling the effects of gentrification. Along the way, she raised three intelligent children committed to justice in their work. Joseph M. Fonseca Jr. Bio
Joseph M. Fonseca Jr. is a Political Science (Govt.) Instructor at Palo Alto College. |
Constitution DayTuesday, Sept. 17 Celebrate Constitution Day on September 17 with a special treat! Get your free pocket-sized US Constitution at the Ozuna Library while supplies last. |
Keynote Speaker: Patssi ValdezWednesday, Sept. 18 TBD
Speaker Bio
Patssi ValdezPatssi Valdez, born and raised in East Los Angeles, is a visual artist and a founding member of the art collective ASCO. As the only female member of Asco, Valdez’s wide artistic range–which includes performance art, conceptual art, installations, murals, fashion design, collage, photography, easel painting, and set design–was crucial to the group’s role in expanding the definition of Chicana/o art into alternate creative realms that went beyond traditional media such as murals and posters. Asco’s artistic practice was performative and conceptual, taking on various forms, such as staged events and street performances. Her artistic contributions in ASCO challenged the dominant narrative of the Chicano Movement and Chicano Art to provide an expanded and contemporary vision of Chicana/o identity. Valdez received her BFA from Otis Art Institute in Los Angeles and was named outstanding alumni in 1985. In her visual art practice, Valdez works to capture her internal world and spaces she both inhabits and re-imagines. Since the late 1980s, Valdez has gone on to develop some of her most recognizable works, a body of images that are Neo-Expressionistic and Surrealistic in form and content and are both autobiographical while also pushing back on traditional depictions of American domesticity and Chicanismo. Her work has contributed to an ongoing Chicana feminist critique and examination of the sociopolitical reality of the Chicana/o community living in the United States. Valdez has exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions such as Les Démons Des Anges, Halle du Centre de Recherche pour le Développement Culturel, Nantes, France, 1989; A Precarious Comfort, The Mexican Museum, San Francisco, CA, 1999; ASCO No Movies, (Touring Exhibition 2013-2014) Nottingham Contemporary, UK, 2013; Radical Women: Latin American Art, 1960-1985. Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, 2017; and L.A. Memo Chicana/o Art 1972-1989, La Plaza de Cultura y Artes, Los Angeles, 2022. Her work is highlighted in the newly inaugurated Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture in Riverside, California, 2022. Her artwork is in major collections, including the National Museum of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington D.C., and The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Valdez continues making art in her studio in Los Angeles. |
Keynote Speaker: Shelly LaresTuesday, Sept. 24 TBD Shelley Lares Bio
Shelley Lares Nicknamed "Little Miss Dynamite" for her many talents, Shelly Lares has been one of the most enduring artists in the Tejano music scene for over 40 years and a member of the Tejano Roots Hall of Fame. She has a large, devoted following due to her powerful singing voice and charismatic stage presence. She is a Tejano Music Icon, musician, songwriter, producer, guitarist, percussionist, business owner, and activist. She has been nominated for and won several categories for the Tejano Music Awards, Pura Vida Awards, Cyber Awards, My Tejano Awards, Grammys, Latin Grammys, and many more. Lares recorded her first record at the age of 10 with The Hot Tamales Band, which was when she was introduced to Tejano Music. Lares stayed with them for four years, recording five 45 records before branching out independently and signing with Manny Guerra at 17. She recorded for Manny Music between 1989 and 1995. Her fifth album, "Quiero Ser Tu Amante," was a breakthrough and landed inside the Top 40 of the Latin Albums Charts. Her biggest hit, "Soy Tu Amor," which she co-wrote with JJ Reyes, was the most Latin-played song of 1994. After leaving Manny, she signed to Sony Discos, and her self-titled 1996 album "Shelly" peaked at 35 on the Top Latin Albums Chart, and its single "Siempre Lo Esperare" was recognized by BMI that same year. It reached number 18 on the Regional Mexican charts. It allowed her to record half of the album in Nashville alongside country superstar Vince Gill, who was featured on guitar and vocals. It solidified her as a cross-over country music artist, and she performed several shows with major country artists. She has collaborated with artists such as Little Joe, Ruben Ramos, Jay Perez, Elida Reyna, Ram Herrera, David Mares, and many others. This earned her another nickname, "Queen of Collabs," with over 30 collaborations in her career, the most of any Tejano artist. One of her most successful collaborations has been with Elida Reyna and Stefani Montiel as Las Tres Divas. They toured the United States, Japan, Guam, and Korea. They received a Grammy Nomination for Best Mexican American Album and a Latin Grammy nomination for their album "Las Tres Divas." She has since received several lifetime achievement awards, most recently the Human Rights Campaign Legacy Award, for her work and representation in her community. Celebrating 40 years in the industry in 2022, Shelly decided to retire from the road and, as an artist, to work on her label ShellShock Records 3. She signed her first exclusive artist, El Gallo Dez, in April of 2023, opened her recording studio, and is following her love for hospice through music therapy. Shelly was named the first-ever artist-in-residence at the University of Texas San Antonio and will begin teaching in late October 2023. She will be featured on the series "Leguizamo Does America" with John Leguizamo in 2025, highlighting her career. She continues to be a trailblazer and an advocate for new artists. |
Gallery100 Exhibit: Featuring "Jimmy" James CanalesOpening ReceptionWednesday, Sept. 25 Join us for a special reception showcasing the Gallery100 Exhibit, featuring the celebrated San Antonio artist “Jimmy” James Canales. You won't want to miss it! Exhibit will be open from Sept. 16 – Oct. 17 Gallery Hours: Monday-Thursday from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Artist Bio
"Jimmy" James CanalesJimmy James Canales is a sculptor and performance artist based in San Antonio, TX. His work explores his Mexican-American / Tejano identity through imaginative installations and proxy performance sculptures. Canales received his BFA from the Museum School of Fine Arts in Boston and his MFA from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Locally, he has exhibited work at Artpace, Sala Diaz, Presa House, The Contemporary at Blue Star, and the McNay Art Museum. At the national level, his work has been exhibited at the DePaul University Art Museum in Chicago, IL, Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana (MACLA) in San Jose, CA, and the Great Jones Gallery in Seattle, WA. Canales is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, most notably the Arch and Anne Giles Kimbrough Award for Artists from the Dallas Museum of Art (2015), the Tanne Foundation Award (2016), The Contemporary at Blue Star Berlin Residency Program at Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin, DE (2019) and the 2024 Individual Artist Grant from the Department of Arts & Culture in San Antonio, TX. He works as a Lecturer in Studio Art at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. ARTIST STATEMENT Growing up in San Antonio, the iconic San Antonio Missions have loomed large in my imagination since I was young, and I have been shaped by the stories surrounding them. These UNESCO Heritage sites are unique and fundamental to the city’s identity. However, their stories are also complex and tangled in the history of Spanish Colonialism. I want to ask the question: In what ways can we expand our relationship with the missions? What would happen if the Missions came to life? |
Poetry Slam & Open MicThursday, Oct. 3 If you have a passion for writing or enjoy poetry, you're in for a treat! All individuals will have a chance to read out loud on the mic. This event is open to students, staff, and faculty. To sign up, please contact Magdalena Yznaga at myznaga1@alamo.edu. You will also be able to sign up in person. |
Book Discussion and Music EventMi Carnal Frank A family memoir and Biography of U.S. Congressman Frank Mariano Tejeda Jr. 1945-1997Monday, Oct. 7 Join us as we speak with the author of Mi Carnal Frank A family memoir and Biography of U.S. Congressman Frank Mariano Tejeda Jr. 1945-1997. A Special Conjunto Music Performance by Juan & Armando Tejeda will follow.
Speaker Bio
Juan TejedaJuan Tejeda retired in 2016 as a Mexican American Studies and Music professor at Palo Alto College in San Antonio, Texas. A writer, musician, educator, ex-Jefe Segundo of Xinachtli (the first traditional Mexica-Azteca Conchero dance group in Texas), arts administrator, and activist, from 1980 to 1998, he was the Xicano Music Program Director at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center where, among his many duties, he founded and directed the annual Tejano Conjunto Festival en San Antonio. He is the button accordionist for the Conjunto Aztlan, and he and his wife, Anisa Onofre, are the publishers of Aztlan Libre Press, a small, independent publishing company based in Yanawana that is dedicated to the publishing, promotion, and free expression of Indigenous/Xicanx literature and art. |
Palo Alto College – Ozuna Library Book DiscussionChola Salvation
Wednesday, Oct. 9 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Ozuna Library & Learning Center, Legacy Room (room 101)
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Ugly Little Monkeys A True American StoryFilm & DiscussionWednesday, Oct. 9 Join us for a Q&A panel discussion afterward with one of the original students from Los Changuitos Feos, Palo Alto College faculty and staff. In the 1960s, at a time when students were disciplined for speaking Spanish in school, a group of boys from Tucson, Arizona, became international sensations for embracing their Mexican-American culture and “singing” in Spanish in the first youth mariachi group in the United States, Los Changuitos Feos de Tucson Their success launched the Youth Mariachi Movement still thriving 60 years later. But their success came at a terrible cost. The Ugly Little Monkeys feature-length documentary is “riveting” and “touching and heartbreaking,” according to reviews. It combines rare historical footage of the beginnings of Los Chanquitos Feos to a nationwide youth mariachi movement. With insightful interviews from past and present Changuitos, intimate and revealing conversations with surviving members, civic and church leaders, as well as with Tucson’s much- beloved star Linda Ronstadt. |
Indigenous Peoples' Day/Día de la Raza Opening for the Center for Mexican American StudiesWednesday, Oct. 14 4.-5:30 p.m. Palomino Center (room 111)
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Ozuna Library ExhibitsBracero ProgramSept. 16 – Oct. 11
Constitution Day Celebrate Constitution Day on September 17 with a special treat! Get your free pocket-sized US Constitution at the Ozuna Library while supplies last.
Indigenous Peoples' Day Native Americans and Native Alaskans in the U.S. Navy from Naval History and Heritage Command The Ozuna Library hosts the poster exhibit Native Americans & Native Alaskans in the U.S. Navy: Charting a Course into the Future from the Naval History and Heritage Command. The exhibit celebrates the history and contributions of the Native Americans and Native Alaskans in the U.S. Navy. |
ALL EVENTS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. |
For information, please contact us. Phone: (210) 486-3044 Email: myznaga1@alamo.edu |
A special thanks to: Center for Mexican American Studies, Student Life, PAC Working Writers Series, PAC STEM Center, and Student Activities Fee. |