National
Latino Heritage Month
Línea Abierta Special Programs
Monday,
September 1
Linda Chávez-Thompson - The daughter of cotton sharecroppers in Texas,
Chávez-Thompson labored as a farm worker, joined the labor union movement
and eventually rose through the ranks olf the AFL-CIO to become the first
person of color and the first woman elected to Executive Vice-President of
the AFL-CIO in 1995. This is an interview on current topics.
Also, Reies López Tijerina - A special interview with New Mexico folk hero Reies López Tijerina, one of the pioneers of the Chicano movement in the 1960s. The testimony of his dramatic civil rights struggle is written in his autobiographical book They Called Me "King Tiger."
Tuesday,
September 9
National Heritage Awardees - This program features conversations with
Carmencristina Moreno and Roberto Martínez, recipients of the country's highest
honors in the folk and traditional arts field. Carmencristina Moreno, winner
of the Bess Lomax Hawes Award, is a Mexican American folk singer, composer
and teacher from California who blends traditional Mexican music with contemporary
U.S. influences. Roberto Martínez, founder of the ensemble Los Reyes de Albuquerque,
received the National Heritage Fellowship Award. He is a Mexican American
musician who promotes traditional songs and music from Albuquerque and rural
New Mexico.
Thursday,
September 11
Chile: Memories of a 9/11 - The Chilean community in the U.S. commemorates
the thirtieth anniversary of the military coup that overthrew president Salvador
Allende. Exiled artists talk about their painful memories, the institutions
and traditions they helped establish in their new land, and the promise of
Chile's current transition to democracy.
Monday,
September 15
Alambrista! - On the day of El Grito, the Mexican Cry for Independence,
this program revisits the award-winning, classical film Alambrista! A story
about a young Mexican worker who slips across the U.S. border to support his
family and finds only exploitation, the film is being reissued in digital
format. Dr. José Cuellar, an anthropologist and director of Dr. Loco and his
Tiburones del Norte, worked on the new soundtrack and comments on the timeliness
of the story.
Tuesday,
September 23
The Emerging
Latino Vote - This program explores the meaning of democratic participation
for immigrant citizens. Citizens from different walks of life come together
on a roundtable conversation on the promises and barriers of U.S. democracy.
Does the system welcome newcomer citizens? Is the right to vote colorblind?
Is the fast-growing Latino vote changing the political landscape of the nation?
Wednesday,
September 24
Frontera Libre - Radio Bilingüe and XEJB, Radiarte in Guadalajara,
kick off a new season of the series Frontera Libre, a call-in simulcast interconnecting
audiences in Western Mexico and the U.S. to dialogue on news developments
of common interest. This premiere edition is scheduled to originate live from
the site of a gathering of Mexican public broadcasters near Mexico City.
Friday,
September 26
Tite Curet Alonso: A Tribute - A rebroadcast of the last interview
with the late Puerto Rican composer "Tite" Curet Alonso, a legendary figure
in the salsa repertoire of the world. Tite's original interview aired live
during Latino Heritage celebrations last year.
Tuesday,
September 30
Freedom Rides - Inspired by the Freedom Rides of the 1960s to end
segregation, immigrant activists travel by bus across the country and converge
on the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C. They demand legalization, clear road
to citizenship and family reunification for immigrant workers. In the original
Rides for civil rights and civil liberties in 1961, student activists rode
from Washington, DC to Montgomery, AL. A special envoy files daily news reports
from the road.