Reading Ethnic Studies

Post by Renee Simmis

For some time in Arizona, the loudest voices in the immigration debate have been from people with anti-immigrant perspectives. HB 2281, the Arizona House Bill that would ban ethnic studies in k-12 schools, is the most recent legislation to target ethnic immigrant communities. But there are other more compassionate voices in Arizona.

Arizona Writers for Justice (AWJ) serves as a resource for writers working toward social justice. AWJ has recently organized literary readings around the discussion of HB2281 because AWJ believes that in the midst of political rhetoric, the actual stories of how people are living and understanding their realities gets lost.

On Friday, April 29th at 7 p.m., AWJ hosts "Reading Ethnic Studies" at Casa Libre en la Solana in Tucson. The event is $5.

"Reading Ethnic Studies" will be a literary presentation of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction that responds to the dialogue around Arizona's ethnic studies legislation. The readers include Tucson teachers and high school students, a recent winner of the Bellwether prize in fiction, an NEA Literature fellow, a slam poet, and a Cave Canem fellow. A question/answer period will follow the reading. The reading is a fundraiser for Save Ethnic Studies.

Come on out and participate in the discussion and reading. If you'd like more information about the event or AWJ, please go to casalibre.org or check out AWJ on Facebook.