Bookmarks & Landmarks at the Sea Mar Museum
“Latinx Suffrage”
Bookmarks & Landmarks is an annual program series that is a collaboration between SoCoCulture (South King County Cultural Coalition), KCLS (King County Library System), and a different cultural host site. This October 2020, the Sea Mar Museum of Chicano/a/Latino/a Culture is very excited to be joining SoCoCulture and KCLS in hosting a weeklong online event that pairs a King County landmark or historical/heritage site with a book. The theme of this year’s Bookmarks & Landmarks program is “Suffrage.”
You already know that 2020 is a presidential election year. It’s also the centennial of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed women the right to vote. That’s why SoCoCulture, KCLS, and the Sea Mar Museum of Chicano/a/Latino/a Culture are partnering to discuss why other generations of Americans have fought and are still fighting for the right to have a voice in the way our government is run. What does that means for us today?
To pair with the new Sea Mar Museum of Chicano/a/Latino Culture, we have chosen the book “Stranger: The Challenge of a Latino Immigrant in the Trump Era”, written by Jorge Ramos and published in 2018.
Ramos, an Emmy-winning journalist, syndicated columnist, and Univision anchor, attained even greater visibility in August 2015 when presidential candidate Donald Trump had him thrown out of a press conference in Iowa. Ramos tells the full story of that confrontation by way of launching this timely and clarifying mix of candid memoir and sharp commentary about "what it means to be a Latino immigrant in the time of Trump." Ramos reflects on why, even though he has lived in the U.S. for 35 years and has become a citizen and a father, he still feels like a stranger. He recounts his difficult decision to leave Mexico as a fledgling journalist to escape state censorship, asserts journalism's role as a "public service," and expresses his love for the U.S., an "experiment . . . based on the extraordinary process of converting 'others' into 'us.'" Under Trump, this inclusiveness is grievously imperiled. Decrying discrimination and deportation and the tragic predicament of the courageous DREAMers, he calls for resistance against the erosion of freedom. Ramos also celebrates Latino lives and finds reasons for optimism. - Donna Seaman (Booklist, 2/1/18)
Book discussion of Stranger: The Challenge of a Latino Immigrant in the Trump Era by Jorge Ramos - with special guests Mayor Jimmy Matta and SeaTac City Councilmember Senayet Negusse. A collaboration of SoCoCulture, KCLS and the SeaMar Museum of Chicano/a/Latino/a Culture. Advance registration required at https://kcls.bibliocommons.com/events/5f4e83a3773d7e0304cf9a4a
This is a FREE program, suitable for teens and adults.
A Video Production by Latino Northwest Communications
An Introduction to the Sea Mar Museum of Chicano/a/Latino/a Culture – take a look at our mission and exhibits.
A Video Production by Latino Northwest Communications
The History of the Latino Community in the State of Washington – take a closer look at the stories the Sea Mar Museum seeks to share.
For a fascinating discussion on the many different uses, meanings, and impact of the idea and term “race” in U.S. please listen to Edwin Lindo, JD, a Faculty Lecturer at the Department of Family Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine and School of Law in Seattle, WA. Edwin’s research and scholarship has focused on the history of racialized medicine, race & racism within medicine, social justice and social movements, and decolonized pedagogies for critical education.
Discussion on the definition of “race” starts at minute 2.35.
Historylink.org is the free online encyclopedia of Washington state history. The below two articles by Carlos Rosales Castaneda highlight Washington stories of the Mexican-American civil rights movement – the Chicano Movement - of the 1960s, a seminal period of Chicanx activism and self-determination.
The University of Washington developed the Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project to share the unique history of Seattle’s civil rights movements, including the Chicano Movement. These stories are told not just through articles, books, and photographs, but in the voices and words of those who took part. Take a look at the video oral histories of activists, business leaders, and artists who helped pave the way for the Chicanx/Latinx community not just in Seattle, but throughout all of Washington state.
· Chicano Movement in Washington state – Video Oral Histories
KCTS 9 Documentaries is a local public television program presented by KCTS 9, a PBS member TV Station serving Seattle and Tacoma, Washington. They produced a 30-minute documentary sharing the story of the first group of Chicano students to enter the University of Washington in the Fall of 1968.