Raza History Through Film Syllabus

Raza History Through Film, East Oakland Community High School

(This was the original syllabus for a class I taught at East Oakland Comm. High)

Instructor: Our History Facilitator: Mr. César A. Cruz

In this class we will learn about Raza History through films. We will trace the history of the Aztecs, Mayas, Incas and we will also look at Latinos in the U.S. from the 18th century until today. You will not only watch films but will learn to analyze and critique them.

The ‘No Quiero Ser Pendejo’ Clause
Getting our Knowledge On
We will learn what race, gender, and class mean and how they play into our lives. We will also develop a critical eye for our history and the history of others.

Steps to being ‘el mero mero y la mera mera’
A. We will check out films and break them down. How? By answering questions throughout the film about what is really going on.
1. So that we don’t forget our rich history, we will keep a journal about what we are learning each week to track our knowledge of Raza history.
2. We will all get a chance to study our own film of choice and break down our notes into a position paper to teach others about Raza history.

Check this out: Did you know that your knowledge can be passed on to the chavalillos/as? That is why you have to prepare yourself so that you are not a ‘pendejo’ out on the street without knowing your history.

This class is about:

1. getting our knowledge on as a form of strength.
2. our History. Our History will be like bullets and we are the gun. Every movie we watch, every book we read is another bullet. So let’s get our ammo together so no army can take us on. See they can put us in jail, try and harm us, but they can never take away our knowledge.
3. challenging you to learn something new.
4. respeto. We will learn that our history many times has not included women, gays or the poor. We will learn about biases, about our prejudice, and how to deal with that.
5. change. We will learn how we can change our lives and how we can transform any situation to be free.

Some of the films that we will analyze are:
Pa’lante: The Young Lords Party, The Land Struggle (Tijerina), Taking Back the Schools, The Bronze Screen: 100 Years of the Latino Image in Hollywood, Real Women Have Curves, Chicana, Viva la Causa Part I & Part II , The Battle for El Salvador, Mi Familia, El Norte, Piñero, Lives in Hazard Documentary (from American Me) , Immortal Technique Videos, Voces Inocentes, Clips from the show ‘Mind of Mencia,’ A Lost Year (Women Coming of Age) and various clips from other films.

Other parts of the class:
-Film nights: Watching the film “Walkout” (March 2006) Directed by Edward James Olmos

-Field Trips: EX: MEXA Conference, Saturday Feb. 18th, CSU San Luis Obispo
-El Salvador (Reconnect with our Roots)
Field trips will be based on a point system. But since everyone will be on point everyone will be going on field trips.

Grades: You will get jumped in to this class and jumped out.
The test: your ability to kick down knowledge.