I support Google for the doodle post yesterday March 31 in commemoration of Cesar E. Chavez. Google recognizes the contributions that this pacifist union leader and advocate for the poor has made in efforts towards social justice. Viva la Causa!

Diana Rivera,
Cesar E. Chavez Collection
MSU Libraries

West Michigan Tejano musicians René Meave and Guillermo Martinez founders of Los Bandits were honored with the prestigious 2012 Michigan Heritage Award. The Michigan Heritage Awards are presented each year to honor "master Michigan tradition- bearers who, with excellence and authenticity, continue the folk traditions of their families or communities through practice and teaching. " Awards are made in three categories: performance, material culture, and community leadership. Nominations are reviewed and awardees selected by an invited panel of subject specialists. The Michigan State University Museum coordinates and presents the Michigan Heritage Awards.

The White House on Thursday named the 2012 recipients of the nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Here's the list:
Former Secretary of State Madeline Albright
Former Assistant Attorney General John Doar, who worked to protect and widen civil rights in the 1960s.
Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan
Former Centers and Disease Control and Prevention Director William Foege, an epidemiologist who helped eradicate smallpox.
Former Sen. John Glenn, D-Ohio, marine corps veteran and astronaut.
Gordon Hirabayashi, who protested the internment of Japanese Americans in World War II.
Civil rights advocate Dolores Huerta, co-founder of what became the United Farm Workers of America.
Jan Karski, a former officer in the Polish Underground who helped bring the Holocaust to international attention.
Juliette Gordon Low, founder of the Girl Scouts.
Novelist Toni Morrison
Former President of Israel Shimon Peres
Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens
Pat Summitt, legendary coach of the University of Tennessee women's basketball team.

Article By Roque Planas Published April 19, 2012

"While the district has not expressly banned any books, it has implemented a series of restrictions ranging from outright prohibition of some books from classrooms, to new approval requirements for supplemental texts, and vague instructions regarding how texts may be taught.

Read more: http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/04/19/neither-banned-nor-allowed-mexican-american-studies-in-limbo-in-arizona/?cmpid=cmty_%7BlinkBack%7D_Neither_Banned_Nor_Allowed%3A_Mexican_American_Studies_in_Limbo_in_Arizona#ixzz1sawYtALI"

The Libraries has now added American History in Video to its growing list of video resources. Keyword searching is an option to identify video and video clips for your research. According to fair use rules this can also be streamed for class use. For those in Chicano and Latino Studies, there are some relevant content. These products have never done a great job of representing Chicana/o or Latina/o issues. They do however provide some minimal coverage. There are three clips on Cesar E. Chavez, 4 on Chicano 42 on "Latino" (which almost half are on Cuba or Mexico) and 12 are on "mexican american."

MSU Library card holders can access it through : http://ahiv.alexanderstreet.com.proxy1.cl.msu.edu/

Nora Chapa Mendoza
In May, the Lawrence Street Gallery in Ferndale will feature a sweeping retrospective exhibition entitled "My Life Through My Paintings" by member artist Nora Chapa Mendoza, a former recipient of the Michigan Governor’s Arts Award, which named her Artist of the Year in 1999. She was also the recipient of the Wayne County Cultural Council Artist Award in 2011. This Chicana artist was born in Texas and studied at the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit. Her work is a part of many important collections across the United States, including at the main office of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan, the General Motors corporate offices, the Ford offices in Rockefeller Plaza, New York, and the collection of Gilberto Cardenas, the second largest collector of Chicano art. Nora Mendoza is also part of the national archives of the University of Notre Dame. Some of Nora's international highlights have been an exhibit in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt and three exhibits in Cuba, among many others around the world.

The reception will take place on Friday, May 4 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. and will give the public an opportunity to meet the artist as well as view the exhibition. There will be a book of Nora Mendoza's paintings, also entitled "My Life Through My Paintings," available for purchase, with the opportunity for a personalized autograph!

Guests are invited to enjoy light refreshments and some wonderful music. Performers are to include Anthony DiMambro on classical guitar with Irina Tikhonova on cello; Sita Yetasook and David Ormai on violin; and Peter Psarianos on oud with Dylan McKee on percussion.

TUSD board member Michael (John) Hicks interviewed byThe Daily Show with Jon Stewart's in-the-field-reporter Al Madrigal.