East LA high schoolers get a lesson in oral history

[ColbertWatcher]

From the Los Angeles Times
Eastside high schoolers get a lesson in oral history
A small group from Roosevelt High volunteers in a 10-month program organized by Cal State L.A. to film a documentary about five influential women in the community.
By Esmeralda Bermudez
March 29, 2009

Steve Barrios knows all about passing along stories. The kind of fleeting tales that zoom through cyberspace via MySpace and e-mail recounting the latest gossip on campus.

But not until recently did the 16-year-old discover a new kind of storytelling, the ancient form of oral history. The Roosevelt High School sophomore took part in a 10-month project organized by Cal State Los Angeles that pulled students off computers and put them face to face with five female activists from across the Eastside to conduct interviews and document their histories.

Their work will be part of a 20-minute video documentary that will be archived at the university and other institutions. It is also slated to debut at the college's film festival in May. On Saturday, Barrios and others for the first time showcased an unedited version of "Las Grandes de East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights: Women as Community Builders" at the Southwest Oral History Assn. conference at USC.

(...)

The project, paid for by the California Council for the Humanities, was led by Dionne Espinoza, an associate professor of Chicano studies and liberal studies at Cal State L.A., and Claudia Rodriguez, a writer and performer. The two chose five influential women from the Eastside, an area that has gained national attention in the past for powerful grass-roots movements organized by women.

The list includes Juana Gutierrez with Mothers of East Los Angeles Santa Isabel, a decades-old group that fights for social and environmental justice in the area; Theresa Soriano, president of Casa del Mexicano, a Boyle Heights center that reaches out to immigrants; Ofelia Esparza, a renowned artist and altar-maker; Josefina Lopez, an acclaimed playwright and founder of a community theater house; and Susana Reynoso, an influential teacher at Roosevelt High School for 15 years.

--Los Angeles Times

The sad part is that the kids won't get any school credit for participating.

[Drunken Irishman]

1. Ok, not the kind of oral history I was expecting when I clicked the link.

[ColbertWatcher]

2. LOL! n/t

[Drunken Irishman]

3. What's sad is that with all the news you've been hearing about teachers and students...

It seemed like a very likely headline.

[ColbertWatcher]

4. True. I didn't even think about that! n/t

[empyreanisles]

6. LOL. Me too. My mind is in the gutter. :) (eom)

[ColbertWatcher]

5. Monday morning kick! n/t