We did it!

Tomorrow we embark on our last decal of the semester. Words cannot describe how amazing and rewarding this experience has been.

We will make scrapbooks in class and then we are happy to have HECTOR CARDENAS, from the Goldman School of Public Policy, come and give a talk about U.S. Mexico relations and the future of immigration reform. From the GSPP website:

While he was still in the PhD program, he started The Ergo Group, a policy and technology consulting firm that specializes in bringing the digital age to government agencies and thus helping them to do more and better things for more and more people. He has worked at The Ergo Group since 2000 on projects with the Mexican federal government and with state and local governments in the US. He is the president of the Silicon Valley chapter of the Mexico Talent Network and serves on the California Business Advisory Board of Nacional Financiera (Mexico’s development bank). He is back at GSPP to teach a course on US-Mexico relations.

Anyone interested in watching the film, LA MISSION, sometime soon? It comes out in theaters this Friday, and Benjamin Bratt wants us to go:

Dear Friends,

It is with great pride in the efforts of literally hundreds of people
that we write to tell you that our film La MISSION will have its
national theatrical release beginning April 9th.

La MISSION pays homage to the neighborhood and people we grew up around,
and captures the vibrancy, cultural pride, flavor a...nd sound of this
ever-evolving barrio. At the center of the story is Che, an old school
reformed bad boy and single father who has dedicated his life to raising
his 18 year-old son. Jess is a UCLA-bound honors student who is hiding
a deeply-held secret from his macho father: he's gay.

La MISSION doesn't pull any punches. It takes a hard look at some of the
prevailing attitudes that still thrive and do damage within our
communities. But La MISSION also celebrates the humor, the sense of
pride, and the passion for life that exists alongside the everyday
struggles.

Opening weekend attendance is critical. The box office totals determine
the life expectancy of the film, including its afterlife on DVD. If
you, as we do, want to see more films that are authentically
representative of our experiences and our communities, we urge you to
support independent filmmaking by showing up at the theaters and buying
tickets. It's the only message exhibitors understand--they only run
films that will bring in large crowds.

Please check our website (www.lamissionthemovie.com) and also become a fan of
La Mission on Facebook. There you will find details on what cities and
theaters we are playing in, plus photos and information on the film and
its crew.

Thanks for supporting independent cinema, and a heartfelt thanks from us
for your support of La MISSION.

Power to the people!

Peter and Benjamin

American Dream or American Nightmare?

For these last two weeks, we would like to focus on life after the border. We are finally here... and is it truly the American Dream? Perhaps decades ago, life could have been prosperous for any immigrant, documented or undocumented. Now there are reports that with the economic crisis, remittances are down, immigrants are going back home, and the amount of people attempting to cross the border has dropped. Life is hard enough for the undocumented immigrant in the U.S. Most are unable to drive, to work, or to gain access to fair wages and social services such as health care. Yet, during our Spring Break, we worked with organizations such as Casa Familiar, and the Latino film festival, who have demonstrated that despite the furious discussion on immigration, Latino's have developed their voice and have established themselves well.

It seems that this American Dream is no longer a dream for higher wages and a better living. It is a dream for the right to identity. Read this article from the BBC, "U.S. Latino's are finding a voice." The immigration reform dilemma is affecting those without documents. But what about Latino's who are documented? What does immigration reform mean to them? Should they care? Also, what does something like the 2010 Census mean for the Latino community? This LA Times article "Univision promotes the census to Latino audiences" should help you ground some answers to this question.

Please respond to these two articles after this post.