Blowout!, Enhanced Ebook

Name: Blowout!, Enhanced Ebook
Author: Mario T. García
ISBN: 9781469608389

Enhanced ebook with video and audio - Sal Castro and the Chicano Struggle for Educational Justice

by Mario T. García and Sal Castro

Published by The University of North Carolina Press

Publication date: November 01, 2012

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ISBN 9781469608389 |

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The story behind one of the largest movements for school reform in American history — now available as an Enhanced E-Book with video and audio

In March 1968, thousands of Chicano students walked out of their East Los Angeles high schools and middle schools to protest decades of inferior and discriminatory education in the so-called “Mexican Schools.” During these historic walkouts, or “blowouts,” the students were led by Sal Castro, a courageous and charismatic Mexican American teacher who encouraged the students to make their grievances public after school administrators and school board members failed to listen to them. The resulting blowouts sparked the beginning of the urban Chicano Movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the largest and most widespread civil rights protests by Mexican Americans in U.S. history.

This fascinating testimonio, or oral history, transcribed and presented in Castro’s voice by historian Mario T. García, is a compelling, highly readable narrative. Beginning with Castro’s experiences as a boy growing up in Los Angeles, the story takes him through a stint in the military, to his career as a teacher, his role as a key leader and facilitator of the blowouts, and his experience as the subject of an week-long sit-in at the offices of the School Board by students and community members who did not want to see him fired from his job. Castro expresses his deep commitment to instilling in young Mexican Americans a sense of cultural pride, and to encouraging their aspirations to achieve a college education and full participation in American society. With humor and affection, he challenges and provokes his audience to recognize the long path ahead. Blowout! fills a major void in the history of the civil rights and Chicano movements of the 1960s, particularly the struggle for educational justice.

The enhanced electronic version of the book draws from archives, libraries, and the author’s personal collection and includes more than 150 interview excerpts, documents, and photographs, each embedded in the text where it will be most meaningful. Featuring more than 100 audio and video clips (more than 3.5 hours total) from 10 individuals, including Castro himself, the enhanced e-book brings alive the collective nature of the blowouts through the voices of people who were at the center of the action.

“A worthy learning experience. Solidly researched, with extensive notes, photographs, and a valuable appendix of Chicano historiography. Highly recommended. All levels/libraries.” — CHOICE

“The book fills an important place in the history of the Chicano movement.” — The Latin American Review of Books

“This book is an important contribution to Chicano history and the field of American education.” — The El Paso Times

“This book is a significant contribution to the literature of the Chicano/a movement.” — Journal of American History

“A compelling story of individual courage and commitment personified by Sal Castro. . . . A masterful and inspirational life story that is brilliantly contextualized by the larger Chicano Movement.” — Journal of American Studies

“An excellent read for casual readers as well as serious students of the Chicano experience, education, the history of the 1960s, leadership development, and California history. It will make an excellent choice for undergraduate classroom use and reading lists.” — Western Historical Quarterly

“The influence of [Castro’s] teaching methods and the walkouts resonate today, underscoring the importance of this publication in Chicano and U.S. History.” — 49th Parallel

“García’s oeuvre has mapped Mexican American history and allowed us to imagine a different kind of past — one filled with efforts to rectify social injustices. This book is no exception; it sheds much needed light on Sal Castro’s struggles to expand educational and civil rights and in so doing prods us to follow in his footsteps and build a more emancipatory future.” — Ernesto Chávez, University of Texas at El Paso

“Sal Castro is a force of nature, a man on a mission. His story, this book, is the history of the Chicano student movement. He has left an indelible mark on the lives of hundreds of young Chicanos aspiring to achieve their unique place in the American dream.” — Carlos R. Moreno, Associate Justice, Supreme Court of California

“Empowering the powerless requires a movement inspired by leaders who transform the consciousness of those at the bottom. The Chicano blowouts in Los Angeles schools were such a movement, and Sal Castro helped empower the students. Too many of the terrible conditions they fought against still exist today, and the kind of leadership Castro showed in the 1960s is urgently needed in a society where more than a fifth of U.S. students are Latino.” — Gary Orfield, co-director, Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles, UCLA

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Blowout!, Enhanced Ebook

Enhanced ebook with video and audio - Sal Castro and the Chicano Struggle for Educational Justice

Blowout!, Enhanced Ebook

Enhanced ebook with video and audio - Sal Castro and the Chicano Struggle for Educational Justice

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