Podcasts about houston creative writing program

On this Nuestra Palabra Rewind from October 2020, join us as we listen to an early interview Tony Diaz had with Mario Castillo, who at that time made history as the first Latino President for the Lone Star College System being named Interim President at the Kingwood campus for the 2020 to 2021 academic year. It's been a few years since Mario shared his story and demonstrated the power of leaders leading with Latino values, interests, and needs in mind. Ahead of the Celebrating Latino Art & Culture con el Chancellor Mario K. Castillo event on Thursday, April 25th, 2024, relisten to the interview that helped Houston get to know the future leader and now Chancellor, Mario K. Castillo. Join us on Thursday, April 25th, 2024, at Lone Star College - University Park at the Visual & Performing Arts Building at 930 University Park Campus Dr, Houston Texas, 77070 at 12 PM Noon with a special recognition for the Chancellor, followed by the eagerly anticipated 7th Annual Juried Student Art Show. Thank you to the following: Lone Star College Partners Lone Star College Board of Trustees The Latino Cultural Experts Committee LSC LASO Houston North Puente LSC - HN Thank you to our Community Partners: Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say The American Leadership Forum ALMAAHH - Advocates of a Latino Museum of Cultural and Visual Arts & Archive Complex in Houston, Harris County Que Onda Magazine LULAC Mario K. Castillo J.D. was named the fifth Chancellor of Lone Star College System in August 2023. Prior to that, Castillo served the College as Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel. His responsibilities have progressed through the years; starting as the College's General Counsel in 2015, he was promoted to Vice Chancellor and General Counsel in 2016 and again promoted to Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel in 2017. Additionally, he served as Interim President at the Kingwood campus for the 2020 to 2021 academic year. Castillo's focus is the College's students. He has reshaped processes and procedures to be student centric and student informed. He understands you cannot be what you cannot see, and therefore ensures he meets students where they are at. Castillo provides numerous student scholarship and internship opportunities and regularly meets with students to offer career advice. He prioritizes student speaking engagements and student outreach. Castillo received his Juris Doctorate from the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University in Bloomington and received his Bachelor of Arts in Government from The University of Texas at Austin. Castillo is a first-generation high school (on his mother's side), college, and law school student as well as a first-generation American. He enjoys overly ambitious home improvement projects, recently completed Ironman Texas, and is an avid reader. Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Relive the community event celebrating Mario Castillo making history as the first Latino Chancellor for Lone Star College! La gente celebrated Tuesday, March 20th, 2024, at Spanish Flowers to congratulate Chancellor Mario K. Castillo. We had so many folks join us, including: Lone Star College Partners Art Murillo, Lone Star College Board of Trustee The Latino Cultural Experts Committee LSC LASO Houston North Puente LSC - HN Thank you to our Community Partners: Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say The American Leadership Forum ALMAAHH - Advocates of a Latino Museum of Cultural and Visual Arts & Archive Complex in Houston, Harris County Que Onda Magazine LULAC Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Tony hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. * Live events. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, co-host, and producer emeritus www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center's Latino Bookstore, as part of the Texas Author Series, welcomes Dr. Carmen Tafolla as she presents and reads from her latest book WARRIOR GIRL! Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante and Literary Curator for the GCAC's Latino Bookstore, hosts the Texas Author Series every second Friday of the month. Carmen talks about the book, it's representation, and how this novel is defying the books bans occurring now and reads several poems from the book. Her book, published through Penguin Random House, is available through various online stores but also at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center's Latino Bookstore and makes an excellent addition to your family library, public library, and underground library. Carmen Tafolla is the 2015 State Poet Laureate of Texas and the former president of the Texas Institute of Letters. An award-winning poet and children's author, storyteller, perfor­mance artist, motivational speaker, scholar, and university professor, she is the author of more than forty books and a profes­sor emeritus of Transformative Children's Literature at @UTSA. Her numerous awards and distinctions include the pres­tigious Américas Award, the designation of first city Poet Laureate of San Antonio, six International Latino Book Awards, two Tomás Rivera Book Awards, two ALA Notable Books, the Art of Peace Award, and the Charlotte Zolotow Award. WARRIOR GIRL (@penguinrandomhouse, 2023) chronicles Celina and her family who are bilingual and follow both Mexican and American traditions. Celina revels in her Mexican heritage, but once she starts school it feels like the world wants her to erase that part of her identity. Fortunately, she's got an army of family and three fabulous new friends behind her to fight the ignorance. But it's her Gramma who's her biggest inspiration, encouraging Celina to build a shield of joy around herself . Because when you're celebrating, when you find a reason to sing or dance or paint or play or laugh or write, they haven't taken everything away from you. Of course, it's not possible to stay in celebration mode when things get dire--like when her dad's deported and a pandemic hits--but if there is anything Celina's sure of, it's that she'll always live up to her last Guerrera--woman warrior--and that she will use her voice and writing talents to show the world it's a more beautiful place because people like her are in it. Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Tony hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante & Literary Curator for the Latino Bookstore at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center (GCAC) in San Antonio Texas, welcomes professor Dr. Jesús Jesse Esparza, Associate Professor in the Department of History, Geography, and General Studies at Texas Southern University, to discuss his book RAZA SCHOOLS (University of Oklahoma Press, 2023) ahead of his Texas Author Series appearance on November 10th, 2023 at the GCAC's Latino Bookstore. Join us on NP LIve on October 16th, 2023 at 6:30 PM CDT as part of Nuestra Palabra's multi-stream platform broadcast on Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. In 1929, a Latino community in the borderlands city of Del Rio, Texas, established the first and perhaps only autonomous Mexican American school district in Texas history. How it did so—against a background of institutional racism, poverty, and segregation—is the story Jesús Jesse Esparza tells in RAZA SCHOOLS, a history of the rise and fall of the San Felipe Independent School District from the end of World War I through the post–civil rights era. Telling the complex story of how territorial pride, race and racism, politics, economic pressures, local control, and the federal government collided in Del Rio, Raza Schools recovers a lost chapter in the history of educational civil rights—and in doing so, offers a more nuanced understanding of race relations, educational politics, and school activism in the US-Mexico borderlands. Dr. Jesús Jesse Esparza is an Associate Professor of History in the College of Liberal Arts and Behavioral Sciences at Texas Southern University, where he has taught since 2009. His area of expertise is on the history of Latinos in the United States, emphasizing civil rights activism. Dr. Esparza's manuscript, Raza Schools: The Fight for Latino Educational Autonomy in a West Texas Borderlands Town, is scheduled for release in September 2023. The University of Oklahoma Press will publish it as part of the New Directions in Tejano History series. Dr. Esparza teaches Mexican American, Texas, and Civil Rights history. He received his B.A. and a master's degree in History from Southwest Texas State University and a Ph.D. in History in 2008 from the University of Houston. Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Tony hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. * Live events. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, co-host, and producer emeritus www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante & Literary Curator for the Latino Bookstore at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center (GCAC) in San Antonio Texas, welcomes award-winning Seattle writer, teacher, and editor Alma García as she returns to her El Paso roots with her debut novel, ALL THAT RISES (University of Arizona Press, 2023), a story of secrets, lies, border politics, and discovering what it means to belong—within a family, as well as in the world beyond, ahead of her Texas Author Series appearance on November 10th, 2023 at the Guadalupe's Latino Bookstore. Join us for NP Live on October 9th, 2023 at 7:30 PM CDT via our Nuestra Palabra's multi-stream platform broadcast on Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube! Alma García is a writer whose award-winning short fiction has appeared in Narrative Magazine and most recently in phoebe and the anthology Puro Chicanx Writers of the 21st Century. She is a past recipient of a fellowship from the Rona Jaffe Foundation. Originally from El Paso and later from Albuquerque, she now lives in Seattle, where she teaches fiction writing at the Hugo House and is a manuscript consultant. In her debut novel, ALL THAT RISES, two guardedly neighboring families in El Paso, Texas, have plunged headlong into a harrowing week. Rose Marie DuPre, wife and mother, has abandoned her family. On the doorstep of the Gonzales' home, long-lost rebel Inez appears. As Rose Marie's husband, Huck (manager of a maquiladora), and Inez's brother, Jerry (a college professor), struggle separately with the new shape of their worlds, Lourdes, the Mexican maid who works in both homes, finds herself entangled in the lives of her employers, even as she grapples with a teenage daughter who only has eyes for el otro lado—life, American style. What follows is a story in which mysteries are unraveled, odd alliances are forged, and the boundaries between lives blur in destiny-changing ways—all in a place where the physical border between two countries is as palpable as it is porous, and the legacies of history are never far away. There are no easy solutions to the issues the characters face in this story, and their various realities—as undocumented workers, Border Patrol agents, the American supervisor of a Mexican factory employing an impoverished workforce—never play out against a black-and-white moral canvas. Instead, they are complex human beings with sometimes messy lives who struggle to create a place for themselves in a part of the world like no other, even as they are forced to confront the lives they have made. ALL THAT RISES is about secrets, lies, border politics, and discovering where you belong—within a family, as well as in the world beyond. It is a novel for the times we live in, set in a place many people know only from the news. Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Tony hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante & Literary Curator for the Latino Bookstore at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center in San Antonio Texas, welcomes award winning author John Olivares Espinoza to the show to discuss his book THE DATE FRUIT ELEGIES (Bilingual Review Press, 2008) ahead of his Texas Author Series appearance on October 13th 2023 at the Guadalupe. John shares with us his work, reads some of his poems (including unreleased portions of his upcoming book), the inspiration behind his work, as well as his current as editor / poetry coach to several well known literary figures, including Chicana icon Sandra Cisneros. John Olivares Espinoza is a recipient of a 2023 City of San Antonio Project Grants for Individual Artists. Born and raised in Indio, California, and the son of immigrants from Mexico, he received degrees in creative writing from the University of California, Riverside and Arizona State University. He is the author of the poetry collection, The Date Fruit Elegies (Bilingual Review Press, 2008), as well as two chapbooks, Aluminum Times (Swan Scythe Press, 2002) and Gardeners of Eden (Chicano Chapbook Series, 2000). His poetry has appeared in journals and anthologies domestically and internationally such as Alta Journal, American Poetry Review, Berkeley Poetry Review, New Letters, Poetry International, Quarterly West, Rattle, ZYZZYVA and In Xóchitl in Cuícatl: Floricanto: Cien años de poesía chicanx/latinx (1920-2020) (Editorial Polibea: Madrid, 2021). His honors include a writing grant from The Elizabeth George Foundation, a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans, and a residency at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C. Espinoza has been a member of the Macondo Writers Workshop since 2004 and lives in San Antonio with his family. John attempts to create a family mythology around their experiences and identities as immigrants, laborers, and New Americans. Meanwhile, other speakers in his poems grapple with their identities as first generation Americans. Poet Christopher Buckley introduces Espinoza's poetry by saying, “…[I]t was the lives of his family, of the people who did not stay at resorts [and the homes of the rich], that became [John's] theme, and his poems risked clarity at every turn to do them justice. John's poems are witness to this life, and with poignancy and inventiveness they reveal the essential dignity and compassion of the people he knows.” Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Tony hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante & Literary Curator for the Latino Bookstore at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center welcomes award winning author and distinguished professor Dr. Norma Cantu to the show to discuss her latest book CHICANA PORTRAITS: CRITICAL BIOGRAPHIES OF TWELVE CHICANA WRITERS (University of Arizona Press 2023) ahead of her Texas Author Series appearance on October 13th 2023 at the Guadalupe. Join us for a lively discussion over this amazing anthology that spotlights 12 literary figures from 12 authors who themselves are making a name for themselves. Norma describes the process and reads from the book and shares some of her thoughts on the current state of book bans and censorship culture. Dr. Norma E. Cantú is a scholar-activist who currently serves as the Norine R. and T. Frank Murchison Professor of the Humanities at Trinity University. She is founder and director of the Society for the Study of Gloria Anzaldúa. She has published fiction, poetry, and personal essays in a number of venues. Her latest book CHICANA PORTRAITS is an innovative collection that pairs portraits with critical biographies of twelve key Chicana writers, offering an engaging look at their work, contributions to the field, and major achievements. Artist Raquel Valle-Sentíes's portraits bring visual dimension, while essays delve deeply into the authors' lives for details that inform their literary, artistic, feminist, and political trajectories and sensibilities. The collection brilliantly intersects artistic visual and literary cultural productions, allowing complex themes to emerge, such as the fragility of life, sexism and misogyny, Chicana agency and forging one's own path, the struggles of becoming a writer and battling self-doubt, economic instability, and political engagement and activism. Biographies included in this work include Raquel Valle-Sentíes, Angela de Hoyos, Montserrat Fontes, Gloria E. Anzaldúa, Norma E. Cantú, Denise Elia Chávez, Carmen Tafolla, Cherríe Moraga, Ana Castillo, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Sandra Cisneros, and Demetria Martínez. Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Tony hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Tony Diaz welcomes key members of Main Street Theater's current production of CARMELA, FULL OF WISHES, playing Sept. 24 – Oct. 21 at MST's Midtown location at 3400 Main Street, 77002 at the MATCH. Adapted by Nuestra Palabra's very own Alvaro Saar Rios from the best selling book by Matt de la Peña, Tony speaks with Alvaro, Laura Moreno, the play's director, and Jacqueline Vasquez, the actor playing Carmela, about this wonderful play and it's importance in telling our stories. On our show, we have: Laura Moreno (Director) Main Street Theater: (Director) Last Stop on Market Street (Costume Design) Miss Nelson Is Missing! The Musical!, Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter, Dragons Love Tacos; Alley Theatre: (Assistant Director): A Midsummer Night's Dream, What-a-Christmas!; Mildred's Umbrella: Ladies' Night: Beckett Shorts; Lamar University: The Revolutionists; Jewish Community Center: Photograph 51; Horse Head Theatre Company: Church, Judgement of Fools; Gravity Players: The Last Days of Judas Iscariot; Duchesne Academy: Little Women, The Importance of Being Earnest. Education: M.F.A, University of Houston, Directing; M.A, University of Houston, Arts Leadership; B.F.A., University of Houston School of Theatre and Dance, Acting. Jacqueline Vasquez plays Carmela in our current production, and she'll be back right after Carmela Full of Wishes for Disney's Beauty & the Beast at Main Street Theater! Other credits include: James and the Giant Peach (swing), Miss Nelson is Missing! The Musical; Haven Arts: She Kills Monsters. Education: Texas Christian University. Alvaro Saar Rios is a Texican playwright living in Chicago. His plays have been seen in New York City, Mexico City, Hawaii, Chicago, St. Louis, Milwaukee and all over Texas. His award-winning plays include Luchadora!, On the Wings of a Mariposa and Carmela Full of Wishes. Mr. Rios is Playwright-In-Residence at Milwaukee's First Stage and a proud veteran of the US Army (he used to drive tanks). Originally from Houston, Alvaro teaches playwriting at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. About CARMELA FULL OF WISHES Feliz Cumpleaños! It's Carmela's birthday, and she's finally old enough to tag along with her big brother as he runs the family errands. Passing by the bodega and the lavanderia, Carmela picks a dandelion and makes a very important wish… Carmela Full of Wishes illuminates the beauty of working class neighborhoods and the power of community and family. Told through the lens of a heartfelt sibling story, this endearing play explores what hope looks like in a migrant community steeped in Mexican culture. CARMELA FULL OF WISHES Adapted by Alvaro Saar Rios From the book by Matt de la Peña Illustrated by Christian Robinson Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Tony hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Tony Diaz, el Librotraficante spotlights Dr. Carmen Tafolla's latest book WARRIOR GIRL! Carmen talks about the book, it's representation, and how this novel is defying the books bans occurring now and reads several poems from the book. Her book published through Penguin Random House is available through various online stores but also at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center's Latino Bookstore and makes an excellent addition to your family library, public library, and underground library. Carmen Tafolla is the 2015 State Poet Laureate of Texas and the former president of the Texas Institute of Letters. An award-winning poet and children's author, storyteller, perfor­mance artist, motivational speaker, scholar, and university professor, she is the author of more than forty books and a profes­sor emeritus of Transformative Children's Literature at @UTSA. Her numerous awards and distinctions include the pres­tigious Américas Award, the designation of first city Poet Laureate of San Antonio, six International Latino Book Awards, two Tomás Rivera Book Awards, two ALA Notable Books, the Art of Peace Award, and the Charlotte Zolotow Award. WARRIOR GIRL (@penguinrandomhouse, 2023) chronicles Celina and her family who are bilingual and follow both Mexican and American traditions. Celina revels in her Mexican heritage, but once she starts school it feels like the world wants her to erase that part of her identity. Fortunately, she's got an army of family and three fabulous new friends behind her to fight the ignorance. But it's her Gramma who's her biggest inspiration, encouraging Celina to build a shield of joy around herself . Because when you're celebrating, when you find a reason to sing or dance or paint or play or laugh or write, they haven't taken everything away from you. Of course, it's not possible to stay in celebration mode when things get dire--like when her dad's deported and a pandemic hits--but if there is anything Celina's sure of, it's that she'll always live up to her last Guerrera--woman warrior--and that she will use her voice and writing talents to show the world it's a more beautiful place because people like her are in it. Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Tony hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. * Live events. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, co-host, and producer emeritus www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Nuestra Palabra features the book "The Alton Bus Crash" on our latest podcast episode which you can stream on your favorite platform. Tony Diaz speaks with Juan P Carmona about his book on the tragic Alton Bus Crash, which claimed the lives of f 21 junior and senior high school students after a bottling truck collided with the school bus, causing the bus to enter a caliche pit filled with water. This terrible incident led to many changes in several industries but also served as a precursor to other catastrophes that have befallen marginalized communities and the government response. Juan P. Carmona is a Social Studies teacher at Donna High School and a dual enrollment History instructor through South Texas College. He graduated with honors from the American Military University with a master's degree in American History and he was the Recipient of the 2018 James F. Veninga Outstanding Teaching Humanities Award by Humanities Texas. He is a member of the NACCS Tejas Foco Committee for Mexican American Studies K-12, and the Social Studies Coordinator for the Rio Grande Valley Coalition for Mexican American Studies. He is the co-author of a 1-year curriculum for a high school class in Mexican American Studies. He has been teaching Mexican American History for dual enrollment for the past 10 years at Donna High School. He is also a member of the award-winning Refusing to Forget Project. His primary field of research is the history of the South Texas borderlands. He is the author of the book The Alton Bus Crash, co-host of the podcast “Mi Valle MI Vida” and produced a podcast with his Mexican American History students called “The Alamo Train Crash of 1940”, which he is now developing into a book project. Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Tony hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. * Live events. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, co-host, and producer emeritus www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante & Literary Curator for the Guadalupe Culturalarts Center's Latino Bookstore, spotlights Dr. Mehnaaz Momen's LISTENING TO LAREDO: A BORDER CITY IN A GLOBALIZED AGE. in a lively discussion on place, identity, and the changing conditions of an American border city. Dr. Mehnaaz Momen is an associate professor in the Department of Social Sciences at Texas A&M International University and the author of THE PARADOX OF CITIZENSHIP IN AMERICAN POLITICS AND POLITICAL SATIRE, POSTMODERN REALITY, AND THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY (Arizone Press) Her new book, LISTENING TO LAREDO: A BORDER CITY IN A GLOBALIZED AGE, gives an in depth look at the burgeoning Texas town that has grown. Nestled between Texas and Tamaulipas, @officialcityoflaredo was once a quaint border town, nurturing cultural ties across the border, attracting occasional tourists, and serving as the home of people living there for generations. In a span of mere decades, Laredo has become the largest inland port in the United States and a major hub of global trade. Listening to Laredo is an exploration of how the dizzying forces of change have defined this locale, how they continue to be inscribed and celebrated, and how their effects on the physical landscape have shaped the identity of the city and its people. Bringing together issues of growth, globalization, and identity, Mehnaaz Momen traces Laredo's trajectory through the voices of its people. In contrast to the many studies of border cities defined by the outside—and seldom by the people who live at the border—this volume collects oral histories from seventy-five in-depth interviews that collectively illuminate the evolution of the city's cultural and economic infrastructure, its interdependence with its sister city across the national boundary, and, above all, the strength of its community as it adapts to and even challenges the national narrative regarding the border. The resonant and lively voices of Laredo's people convey proud ownership of an archetypal border city that has time and again resurrected itself. Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Tony hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. * Live events. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, co-host, and producer emeritus www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Nuestra Palabra's Tony Diaz El Librotraficante, Literary Curator for the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center's Latino Bookstore, welcomes Dr. Ito Romo, who will be one of our our featured authors for the Texas Author Series' September reading at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center on September 8th at 6:00PM. Tony will speak with Dr. Romo re: his book THE BORDER IS BURNING being released on paperback, his next projects, and even have a reading in advance to Dr. Romo's appearance in San Antonio Westside! Dr. Ito Romo was born and raised on the border in Laredo, Texas. His recent work, dubbed “Chicano Gothic” and “Chicano Noir,” shows the dark and gritty life along Interstate 35 through South Texas, where his family has lived for nine generations since 1750. He lives in San Antonio and is Professor of English Language and Literature at St. Mary's University. Romo received his PhD from Texas Tech University's Creative Writing Program and was recently inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters. He is the author of The Border is Burning (2013) and El Puente / The Bridge (2001), both published by University of New Mexico Press. Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Tony hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. * Live events. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, co-host, and producer emeritus www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Tony Diaz, the Literary Curator for the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center's Latino Bookstore, welcomes The Borderlands Shakespeare Colectiva @borderlandsshax (BSC)! Dr. Kathryn Vomero Santos (Trinity University), Dr. Katherine Gillen (Texas A&M University–San Antonio), and Dr. Adrianna M. Santos (Texas A&M University–San Antonio), who will be our featured authors for the Texas Author Series' September reading at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center on September 8th, at 6:00PM. Dr. Brenda Sarmiento Quezada (Purdue University) joins Tony & the BCS to discuss writing curriculum and how important these works are as educational tools for not just traditionally marginalized folks but for all. These curriculums and coursework is all part of a $102,250 grant for the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center's Latino Bookstore Education Outreach and Literacy Program. Join us on our show on KPFT 90.1 FM in Houston at 7:00 CDT PM or online via www.kpft.org. If not, you can always catch the podcast on our streaming platforms! The Borderlands Shakespeare Colectiva (BSC) seeks to amplify the work of Chicanx and Indigenous artists who adapt Shakespeare to reflect the histories and lived realities of the U.S.–Mexico Borderlands. They aim not only to change the way Shakespeare is taught and performed but also to promote the socially just futures envisioned en el arte de La Frontera. The Borderlands Shakespeare Colectiva are editing a three-volume anthology titled The Bard in the Borderlands. Their work has been supported by funding from the Mellon Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Folger Shakespeare Library. Dr. Brenda Sarmiento Quezada is an assistant professor of Literacy and Language Education with emphasis on emergent bilinguals at Purdue University. Born in Mexico City, she taught as a Dual Language teacher at a Title 1 school in San Antonio, Texas. Her research area focuses on language practices and identity performances of linguistically and culturally diverse students. Her research and interests also encompass teacher education and preparation programs, literacy integration across content areas, bilingual community engagement, digital spaces and multimodalities, and language policy and practices. Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Tony hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. * Live events. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, co-host, and producer emeritus www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Nuestra Palabra's Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, welcomes author of the acclaimed books ZARZAMORA and WHERE THE RECKLESS ONES COME TO DIE Vincent Cooper, who joins us to talk about his latest book from Mouthfeel Press, INFIDELIS. Tony speaks with Vincent Tuesday on KPFT Houston 90.1 FM on Tuesday August 22nd at 7:00 PM CDT as we discuss Vincent's powerful new book. You can hear it live via KPFT.org if you're not in the Houston area; otherwise you can catch the podcast afterwards! Vincent Cooper's INFIDELIS is a powerful collection of poetry that delves into the life of a Chicano outcast, drawing from the author's personal experiences as a United States Marine. Through lyric and Blues poetry, Cooper paints a vivid picture of the 9/11 era, capturing the raw and authentic emotions that accompanied his journey. Vincent Cooper is a poet living in San Antonio, Texas. He is a former United States Marine and has published in Ban This! The BSP Anthology of Xicano Literature, Big Bridge Magazine: Refreshing San Antonio, and La Voz de Esperanza Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. * Live events. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, Texas Poet Laureate, co-host, and producer emeritus Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. He is the author of the forthcoming book: The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital. www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records Website | baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Nelson Delgado Jr. is the Founder & Creative Director of the The Eclectic Arts Movement (T.E.A.M.) which was created in 2010 along with the BEGIN MY MOVEMENT Project. T.E.A.M. is a group of artists uniting for a great and noble cause through projects Nelson envisions. The Event and Exhibition was ART. Keeping the World Moving! A fundraiser for children who needed prosthetics. In less than one year, T.E.A.M. united 200 Artists from all over the United States, to donate a single work of Art and raise funds for the No Boundaries Prosthetic Foundation at the Wynwood Walls Miami; this uniting of artists and volunteers successfully sold 187 paintings that night! The Multi-ZEN-sery Exhibition features 30 artists who together will create a multi-sensory and interactive experience The ALTA Arts, located at 5412 Ashbrook Dr, Houston TX 77081, from July 21 and on through August 05, 2023. July 22 is the Grand Opening and is free to the public. By presenting an exhibition made for every individual but especially being inclusive for the blind, deaf and people/persons with disabilities, Nelson and T.E.A.M. truly hope to bring the arts to everyone. Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. * Live events. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, Texas Poet Laureate, co-host, and producer emeritus Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. He is the author of the forthcoming book: The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital. www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records Website | baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Nuestra Palabra spotlights acclaimed Nicaraguan-American comedian Cat Alvarado as she talks about her debut comedy album Off-White, available now on Spotify and Apple Music! Cat Alvarado is a Nicaraguan-American comedian who turned her journey as a Latina misfit into an award-winning one-woman show and a comedy special, Off-White. She's performed at the Laughing Skull Lounge Festival and The Big Pine Comedy Festival. She premiered her hour at the 2022 Hollywood Fringe Festival to rave reviews, winning a Producer's Encore Award. She was also a featured comedian at the 2022 Great American Comedy Festival. She made her TV stand-up debut on PBS's First Nations Comedy Experience in 2018. She is also the creator and host of the Villains of History podcast, a cohost on the Unofficial Official Story podcast, and a frequent guest co-host on YouTube's Reel Rejects. Her debut comedy album, Off-White, was released on May 26th on @BlondeMedicine and everywhere comedy albums are streamed or sold. Cat discussed the creation of her debut album as well as some of the themes in her material, including identity and Latinidad, as well as the current climate in the comedy world. Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. * Live events. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, Texas Poet Laureate, co-host, and producer emeritus Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. He is the author of the forthcoming book: The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital. www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records Website | baydenrecords.beatstars.com

El Martillo Press publishes writers whose pens strike the page with clear intent; words with purpose to pry apart assumed norms and to hammer away at injustice. El Martillo Press proactively publishes writers looking to pound the pavement to promote their work and the work of their fellow pressmates. There is strength in El Martillo. Founded in Los Angeles in 2023 by Matt Sedillo and David A. Romero, and launched with a diverse group of celebrated and hardworking writers who embody our working-class intellectual spirit, El Martillo Press maintains an editorial board that makes its selections for publishing. Matt Sedillo has been described as the "best political poet in America" as well as "the poet laureate of the struggle." His work has drawn comparisons in print to Bertolt Brecht, Roque Dalton, Amiri Baraka, Alan Ginsberg, Carl Sandburg and various other legends of the past. David A. Romero is a Mexican-American spoken word artist from Diamond Bar, CA. Romero is the author of My Name Is Romero (FlowerSong Press), a book reviewed by Gustavo Arellano (¡Ask a Mexican!), Curtis Marez (University Babylon), and founding member of Ozomatli, Ulises Bella. Paul S. Flores is a San Francisco artist of Mexican and Cuban-American heritage that has built a national reputation for interview-based theater and bilingual spoken word. He integrates Latino and indigenous healing practices to tell the stories of real people impacted by immigration and systemic inequalities. Flores appeared on Season 4 of HBO's Def Poetry. His first full-length book of poetry, WE STILL BE: Poems and Performances was published by El Martillo Press in June 2023. Ceasar K. Avelar is the current Poet Laureate of Pomona. He is the writer in residence of Cafe con Libros Press, and the founder of Obsidian Tongues open mic. Avelar writes through the sociological lens of a blue-collar worker. He is the author of God of the Air Hose and Other Blue-Collar Poems (El Martillo Press, 2023). Avelar will graduate this summer from Cal Poly Pomona with a bachelor's degree in Sociology. Donato Martinez was born in the small pueblo, Garcia de la Cadena, Zacatecas, Mexico and immigrated into the USA at six years old. He teaches English composition, Literature, and Creative Writing at Santa Ana College. He has also taught classes in Chicano Studies. He has a self-published collection with three other Inland Empire poets, Tacos de Lengua. His full collection of poetry, Touch the Sky, was published by El Martillo Press in June 2023. Margaret Elysia Garcia is the author of the short story collection Graft, the chapbook Burn Scars, and the daughterland (El Martillo Press, 2023). She's the co-editor of the anthology Red Flag Warning: Northern Californians Living with Fire out on HeyDay Books in 2024. She writes about family, culture and surviving climate change disasters. Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records Website | baydenrecords.beatstars.com

On today's program, Nuestra Palabra features the One Houston One Book program from the Houston Public Library! Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, will speak with Federico Salas-Isnardi, Director of the Mayor's Office for Adult Literacy (MOAL) in Houston about the goals of the OHOB Program. Nuestra Palabra airs on 90.1 KPFT @KPFTHoustonTX Tuesdays at 7:00 PM CDT. Catch us on the radio dial or tune in anywhere via the web at KPFT.org and livestream us. One Houston, One Book, promotes literacy, diversity, and community conversations by encouraging Houstonians to come together, read, and discuss books with a common theme. The program features three book selections: one for children, one for teens and one for adults. Programs and events include Author Talks, Read-ins, Book Clubs, Story & Craft Times, Critical Conversations, Camps, Block Parties, Open Houses, and a special Grande Finale event! Federico is a linguist, educator, diversity trainer, and writer who has worked in adult education in Houston for over 30 years. Federico has presented or facilitated hundreds of professional development workshops and seminars and is a regular speaker at professional conferences on topics ranging from second language acquisition to anti-bullying education and from literacy and employability skills in the 21st century to identity and privilege in a culture of respect. He is a published author of ESL textbooks, and a certified Diversity Trainer. He has been active in professional, arts, and community organizations for more than 25 years. Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. * Live events. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, Texas Poet Laureate, co-host, and producer emeritus Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. He is the author of the forthcoming book: The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital. www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records Website | baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Juneteenth is coming up and we have two community superstars who want to make sure literacy is part of the celebration by making sure our people have a choice in both the books they read and where and who they purchase from. Guest host Rodrigo Bravo Jr. welcomes two book barons who are changing lives one page at a time. At a moment in time where our books are being marginalized, discouraged, even banned, it's crucial we support these book traffickers to ensure we continue our self determination in our education, just as Tony Díaz @librotraficante says, “our terms on our terms”. CLASS Bookstore is a Black-owned and family operated online/ mobile/ brick-and-mortar retailer based in Houston, TX. Founded by co-owners and married couple, David & Dara Landry in November 2020, they began their business as an online bookstore, operating out of their apartment. January 2021- December 2022 were the years of participating in pop-up markets throughout the cities of Houston and Austin, TX. On December 3, 2022, they opened the brick-and-mortar shop, called "The Residency" at 3803 Sampson St., 77004 (just outside of the campus of Texas Southern University). Jesus A. Cosme is a book seller & owner of King Abel's King Abel's. Prior to selling books, Cosme sold handmade jewelry, accessories & apparel under the name of "Jes Co's Designs". He designed "King Abel" circa 2018 and it was then, that he decided to change the direction he was going business wise & started selling books. Since then he's been advocating for literacy & history, primarily Latin & African American history. The majority of the books he sells revolve around that, culture & history. He sells books for all ages & anyone curious/interested enough to learn history outside of what's taught in school. The books he sells are for a minimum of $5 donation. The goal is not to get rich from selling books, although profit IS nice, but to strive primarily to promote literacy & educate as many people as possible. Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. * Live events. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, Texas Poet Laureate, co-host, and producer emeritus Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. He is the author of the forthcoming book: The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital. www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records Website | baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Nuestra Palabra Presents "Latina Leadership Lessons", the new book featuring many Latina Leaders as written by the Honorable Delia Garcia who is joined by two contributors, Dolores Huerta and Maria Gabriela Pacheco. Listen to this amazing platica in advance to Delia Garcia's speaking engagement at the Latino Bookstore at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center on June 9th, 2023 at 6:00 PM. Honorable Delia Garcia is an executive servant leader for over 25 years. She currently serves at the U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau as Regional Administrator. Delia Garcia is a trailblazer where she was elected the first Latina & youngest female to the Kansas State Legislature in 2004 where she served six years in the House of Representatives; and in 2019, she was appointed as Cabinet Secretary of Labor for the State of Kansas. She has over 25 years of public service at the national and state level, including non-profit executive leadership service in advocating for economic security for all. She is an author on national women leadership, and recently wrote her first book titled Latina Leadership Lessons. Dolores Huerta is a civil rights & labor rights feminist icon in the world, with schools & streets named after her across our U.S. Dolores is the Founder & President of the Dolores Huerta Foundation and Co-Founder of the National United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez. Dolores is the Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom Recipient, the highest civilian award in the United States; as well as the Ohtli Award, the highest award from the Mexican Government. At age 93, she continues to develop leaders & advocate for working women & families thru grassroots organizing. Dolores serves as Delia's mentor, & together they encourage & train Latinas to run for public office across the U.S. Dolores wrote the Foreword to the Latina Leadership Lessons book. Maria Gabriela (“Gaby”) Pacheco is a nationally recognized immigrant rights leader. Since the early 2000s, she has advocated for tuition equity laws and the DREAM Act. In 2006, after Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) raided her home and detained her family, she began to fight for comprehensive immigration reform. On January 1, 2010, along three friends, they led the Trail of Dreams, a four-month walk from Miami to Washington, DC, to call attention to the plight of immigrant families under the threat of deportation. In 2012, as political director for United We Dream, she spearheaded the efforts and strategy that led to the announcement of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. He is the author of the forthcoming book: The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital. www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records Website | baydenrecords.beatstars.com

The Sin Muros Festival at @stageshouston has been celebrating and lifting up Latinx artists for six years. Listen on 90.1 FM @kpfthoustontx Tuesday, May 23rd at 7:00 PM CST as we feature organizers and participants of the festival! More than 300 Latinx artists have benefited—both financially and creatively—from participating in the festival. This year, a committee of some of the most influential Latinx voices in Houston has selected four plays by Latinx playwrights and nominated three individuals who serve the Latinx art community to be celebrated in a weekend-long festival May 25-28. The 6th annual Sin Muros Festival, a weekend of play readings and workshops, is a celebration of Latinx voices and stories throughout Texas. Tony Diaz @librotraficante speaks with several of the artists who are a part of the festival as well the organizers. @JasminneMendez, co-founder of Tintero Projects, has been involved in the Sin Muros Festival for years. @thepoetmendez, co founder of Tintero Projects and Current Texas Poet Laureaute, will also join us as well. Additionally, we will also speak with David Davila @davidodavila Josie Nericcio @jotolkin Ricardo Dávila Jesús I. Valles @thejesucia who's plays have been selected for the readings! In addition to the readings, the festival will present the Premio Puente. The honorees are: Ashley Dehoyos @ashleydelara Deniz Lopez @deecolonize Gonzo247 @gonzo247 Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. * Live events. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, Texas Poet Laureate, co-host, and producer emeritus Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. He is the author of the forthcoming book: The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital. www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records Website | baydenrecords.beatstars.com

As book bans become fashionable and favorable vs just outright discrimination, one of our own Librotraficantes has been deemed too controversial for K-12. Lupe Mendez, 2022 Texas Poet laureate and award winning author, has had his book "Why I Am Like Tequila?" banned at a Texas Panhandle school along with other BIPOC and LGBTQi+ books. Tony Diaz speaks with our hermano about why this happened, what this means, and what the next move is in the Librotraficante movement. Originally from Galveston, TX, Lupe Mendez (Writer // Educator // Activist) is the author WHY I AM LIKE TEQUILA (Willow Books, 2019), winner of the 2019 John A. Robertson Award for Best First Book of Poetry from the Texas Institute of Letters. He is the founder of Tintero Projects which works with emerging Latinx writers and other writers of color within the Texas Gulf Coast Region, with Houston as its hub. Lupe earned his Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Texas @ El Paso. Mendez's work can been seen in print and online formats including the Kenyon Review, Gulf Coast Journal, the Texas Review, the L.A. Review of Books, Split This Rock, Poetry Magazine and Poem-A-Day from the Academy of American Poets. Mendez is the 2022 Texas Poet Laureate. Follow Lupe on Twitter, at @thepoetmendez and on Instagram, at @ellupis. Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. * Live events. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, Texas Poet Laureate, co-host, and producer emeritus Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. He is the author of the forthcoming book: The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital. www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records Website | baydenrecords.beatstars.com

2023 ALMAAHH Visual Artist: Viri Ramos - Te Bajé La Luna Y Las Estrellas On today's bonus episode, Tony Diaz speaks with Viri Ramos in support for the ALMAAHH Silent Auction going on now. Viri Ramos was introduced to painting at an early age by her mother who was a classically trained oil painter. Growing up they would often work along side each other. Upon graduating college, she made the move from Monterrey, México to Houston, Texas. It was during her time living on her own that she discovered acrylics, which were better suited for her not so well ventilated studio apartment. She found in acrylics the best match for her laid back relaxed aesthetic and personality. Her paintings are filled with life and fun. They are happy and playful.. at times serious, but mostly not at all. She favors rough strokes and bold colors. Instagram: @viriviriramos Website: www.viriramos.com Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. * Live events. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, Texas Poet Laureate, co-host, and producer emeritus Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. He is the author of the forthcoming book: The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital. www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records Website | baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say has guest host Rodrigo Bravo filling in for Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, author of the book "The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital." Even though Tony may not be here, ya sabes que le damos esquina al Librotraficante and continue talking about cultivating cultural community capital. Nuestra Palabra welcomes Jose Ralat and Gustavo Arellano to the show to discuss their work covering cultura y nuestra gente through food. On our show, we will specifically talk about Tex Mex food, it's evolution, and how that reflects on our Latinidad. Both of our guests will be appearing at the Irma & Emilio Nicolas Media Center in collaboration with the City of San Antonio World Heritage Office to talk in the "Great SA: Tex Mex Debate" to discuss Tex Mex food, how it happened, and why it's so controversial. This exciting panel will take place Thursday, April 20, 2023, doors at 6p, program at 7p, and discussion afterwards at 8p. Supported by: Arts & Culture, City of San Antonio City of San Antonio World Heritage Office Frost Bank, & Texas Public Radio José R. Ralat is Texas Monthly's Taco Editor, writing about tacos and Mexican food. He is the author of American Tacos: A History & Guide. In 2022, he won a James Beard Foundation Award for his Texas Monthly Tex-Mexplainer column. Gustavo Arellano is a columnist for the Los Angeles Times, covering Southern California everything and a bunch of the West and beyond. He previously worked at OC Weekly, where he was an investigative reporter for 15 years and editor for six, wrote a column called ¡Ask a Mexican! and is the author of “Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America.” He's the child of two Mexican immigrants, one of whom came to this country in the trunk of a Chevy. Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. * Live events. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, Texas Poet Laureate, co-host, and producer emeritus Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. He is the author of the forthcoming book: The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital. www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records Website | baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Frida Festival Showcase! Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, interviews artist Lizbeth Ortiz, artist and founder of Houston's Frida Festival! Also joining us are two big contributors to the event! Our show airs Tueday's on 90.1 FM KPFT Houston on Houston's Community Radio 90.1 FM at 7:00 PM CST. We will share a podcast link as well after the show! Alan Gonzalez / Alantude is an Emmy award winning fashion and costume designer based out New York. Project Runway contestant and host of Project Runway Redemption, Alan runs his namesake brand Alantude, as well as working on private commission for TV, Film & Theatre and private events. Constance Vazzino is a mixed media artist and full time educator living in Houston TX. She graduated with a BFA with a focus in Studio Painting. Her art is all about the process that includes different mediums, colors, imagery, and materials within her pieces. Her inspiration comes from oceanic and biology related images. As for Lisbeth Ortiz, she was born in Mexico City, raised in Houston, and thrust into adulthood in New York City certainly have influenced her work. Lizbeth Ortiz graduated from HSPVA/Houston and attended Pratt Institute/NYC.In 2005 along with a community of inspired artists, Lizbeth Ortiz organized the first Frida Festival in Houston. Join us and we'll see you there at the Frida Festival, a month long celebration! Viva Frida! Art Exhibition MECA East End April 8, 6-9 pm Frida en Primavera Dinner + Fashion Show | The Ballroom at Bayou Place April 19, 6-10 pm Frida Festival | MECA April 29, 11 am – 7 pm More info at https://www.fridafestival.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. * Live events. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, Texas Poet Laureate, co-host, and producer emeritus Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. He is the author of the forthcoming book: The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital. www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records Website | baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante & Literary Curator for the Latino Bookstore at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center hosted Ms. Silviana Wood and her debut book "La Quinta Soledad" from Aztlan Libre Press recently to a packed house. Our show highlights the event and features a phenomenal reading by Florinda Flores-Brown. We also had a special performance by Juan Tejeda and Armando Tejeda which is why you have to come by the GCAC live every 2nd Friday of the month! A native of Tucson, Arizona, Silviana Wood received her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona and has been involved in the local theater community since the 1970s. She is known for her bilingual comedies and dramas as well as for being a professional storyteller, actor, director, and teacher of literature and Chicano Theater. Silviana has twice won the Chicano/Latino Literary Prize from the University of California, Irvine: once for Short Story, and once for Drama. In 2016, Barrio Dreams/ Selected Plays by Silviana Wood was published by the University of Arizona Press. FMI: https://aztlanlibrepress.com/silviana-wood/ Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. * Live events. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, Texas Poet Laureate, co-host, and producer emeritus Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. He is the author of the forthcoming book: The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital. www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records Website | baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Nuestra Palabra Presents: An interview with Dr. Richard A. Tapia and his featured book "Losing the Precious Few: How America Fails to Educate its Minorities in Science and Engineering" Richard Tapia is the Maxfield-Oshman Chair in Engineering, a professor in computational and applied mathematics and director of the Tapia Center for Excellence and Equity, all at Rice University. He is the recipient of the National Medal of Science, the US government's highest honor bestowed on scientists, and the National Science Board's Vannevar Bush Award. He served on the National Science Board from 1996-2002, and two professional conferences have been named in his honor: the Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing Conference and the Blackwell-Tapia Mathematics Conference. He lives in Houston, Texas. In his eye-opening book, Losing the Precious Few: How America Fails to Educate its Minorities in Science and Engineering, nationally acclaimed scholar Richard Tapia examines the issues that keep domestic minority students out of STEM education and careers. A professor for almost 50 years in Rice University's Department of Computational and Applied Mathematics, Tapia is struck by the number of foreign students in the hallways and wonders how the United States can remain globally competitive. Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. * Live events. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, Texas Poet Laureate, co-host, and producer emeritus Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. He is the author of the forthcoming book: The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital. www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records Website | baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say's Tony Diaz the Librotraficante welcomes Award Winning Author and one of the OG Librotraficante Caravan members Diana Lopez to the show to discuss her latest book, the first in a series, "Felice and the Wailing Woman". Diana speaks with Tony about her inspiration behind the book and her literary journey and her current partnerhsip with the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center Latino Book Store's Texas Author Series to create curriculum and lesson plans from authors, all through a grant spearheaded by Joaquin Castro. To highlight this partnership, Tony also has on the show San Antonio ISD Teacher Celi Manriquez; the Bonham Middle School STEM Academy instructor is developing the lesson plans for Ms. Lopez's book so that students can read stories about them, that they can relate to, and can inspire them. We have a live event on April 14th at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center as well as at Bonham Academy; check our next post for more details! Diana López is the author of the adult novella, Sofia's Saints, and numerous middle grade novels, including Confetti Girl, Nothing Up My Sleeve, and Lucky Luna. Her debut picture book is now available and is called Sing With Me: The Story of Selena Quintanilla. She also wrote the novel adaptation for the Disney/Pixar film, Coco. Diana retired after a 28-year career in education at both the middle grade and college levels. Her "second act" day job is helping her husband in his physical therapy clinic, FYZICAL Therapy & Balance Center, located in her hometown of Corpus Christi, Texas, but she still enjoys meeting with students when she visits schools to chat about books and writing. Araceli Manriquez is a middle school dual-language teacher in San Antonio ISD. She currently teaches eighth-grade DL social studies and started the first Mexican American Studies (MAS) course for middle school students in the district. She received her double-major bachelor's degree in Interdisciplinary Studies Bilingual EC-6 and Mexican American Studies from the University of Texas at San Antonio and also has her master's degree in Bilingual-Bicultural Studies. Manriquez has been at the forefront of advocacy and organizing for Mexican American Studies to be offered as a course for credit throughout the state of Texas. She also helped create a MAS Summer Camp on her campus for San Antonio ISD middle and high school students and writes MAS curriculum for the district. As an educator, she ensures that her students have a rich, deep understanding of the culture and contributions of the Latinx/e community and are taught a true history of Texas. Manriquez is an active member of her local union, the San Antonio Alliance, and a founding member of its social justice caucus, PODER. She leads professional development in social studies, Mexican-American studies and culturally relevant/sustaining pedagogy for educators throughout San Antonio. Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records Website | baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Nuestra Palabra Presents: José F. Aranda, Jr. interviews Tony Diaz LIVE! on Nuestra Palabra! In this twist of an interview, it will be José F. Aranda, Jr. interviewing Tony Diaz and asking questions about his book, "The Tip of the Pyramid, Cultivating Community Cultural Capital" José F. Aranda, Jr. is Professor of Chicanx and American Literatures at Rice University. He is the author of When We Arrive: A New Literary History of Mexican America (Arizona, 2003). He has written articles on 19 th century Mexican American literature and the Recovery Project, the future of Chicano/a Studies, and most recently undertaken an investigation of the relationship between modernity and Mexican American writings, entitled The Places of Modernity in Early Mexican American Literature, 1848-1948, University of Nebraska Press, 2022. Tony Diaz Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, is a Cultural Accelerator. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. In 1998, he founded Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say (NP), Houston's first reading series for Latino authors. The group galvanized Houston's Community Cultural Capital to become a movement for civil rights, education, and representation. When Arizona officials banned Mexican American Studies, Diaz and four veteran members of NP organized the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books from the banned curriculum back into Arizona. He is the author of The Aztec Love God. His book, The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital, is the first in his series on Community Organizing. * This is part of a Nuestra Palabra Multiplatform broadcast. * Video airs on www.Fox26Houston.com. * Audio airs on 90.1 FM Houston, KPFT, Houston's Community Station, where our show began. * Live events. Thanks to Roxana Guzman, Multiplatform Producer Rodrigo Bravo, Jr., Audio Producer Radame Ortiez, SEO Director Marc-Antony Piñón, Graphics Designer Leti Lopez, Music Director Bryan Parras, co-host and producer emeritus Liana Lopez, co-host and producer emeritus Lupe Mendez, Texas Poet Laureate, co-host, and producer emeritus Writer and activist Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, hosts Latino Politics and News and the Nuestra Palabra Radio Show on 90.1 FM, KPFT, Houston's Community Station. He is also a political analyst on “What's Your Point?” on Fox 26 Houston. He is the author of the forthcoming book: The Tip of the Pyramid: Cultivating Community Cultural Capital. www.Librotraficante.com www.NuestraPalabra.org www.TonyDiaz.net Nuestra Palabra is funded in part by the BIPOC Arts Network Fund. Instrumental Music produced / courtesy of Bayden Records Website | baydenrecords.beatstars.com

Tony Diaz is a writer, activist and professor. He was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. He is also a political analyst with his own radio show, and his work has been published by multiple national media outlets. He is the founder of Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say, which encourages cultural change within Latinx communities. In this interview, Tony talks about the Librotraficante "Book Trafficking" movement, the activism he is part of, his literary work and much more. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/latino-book-review/support

On November 18, 2020, Hurricane Iota ravaged San Andres, Colombia, home to the Raizal community. Host Larry Payne talks with Diana Caicedo and Brittney Sandoval, both members of the Raizal diaspora in Houston about the effects of the Hurricane and how members of the diaspora in Houston and beyond have mobilized to serve their friends, family and community in San Andres. Helpful Links: University of St. Thomas Center for International Studies San Andres and Old Providence Indigenous Raizal Diaspora Facebook Page Iglesia Bautista Melrose Facebook Page University of Houston Creative Writing Program

Gail Storey was formerly administrative director of the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. She is a writer, hoop dancer and comic performance artist. Porter Storey, M.D. has been a full time hospice physician since 1983. He is a national leader in hospice and palliative medicine.  Together they bicycled on their tandem from Maine to San Diego, and years later trekked the Pacific Crest Trail. Gail is the author of The Lord's Motel (Persea Books 2011), God's Country Club (Persea Books 2011) and I Promise Not to Suffer: A Fool for Love Hikes the Pacific Crest Trail (The Mountaineers Books 2013) (winner of the Barbara Savage Award). Porter is the editor of: The Primer of Palliative Care, 4th edition (American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine 2010)Interview Date: 10/2/2013      Tags: Gail Storey, Porter Storey, M.D., Pacific Crest Trail, trekking, river rafting, falling into river, flooding in Boulder, Colorado,  Personal Transformation, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Relationship/Partnership/Sexuality

Potent poetry! Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante and the Nuestra Palabra Crew talk to poet Roberto Tejada, the first Latinx poet at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. Tony Diaz shares the latest installment in his “Cultural Capital” series: Confidence-The Power of Writing, and the NP Crew talks social issues and art. Here is a link to the essay "Confidence-The Power of Writing": https://www.tonydiaz.net/blog/confidence-the-true-power-of-writing Click her to donate to Nuestra Palabra: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=9CPLMM88TF5BS Roberto Tejada is the author of Still Nowhere in an Empty Vastness (Noemi, 2019), a cultural poetics of the Americas, as well as poetry collections that include Full Foreground (Arizona, 2012), Exposition Park (Wesleyan. 2010), Mirrors for Gold (Krupskaya, 2006), and selected poems in Spanish translation Todo en el ahora (Magenta, 2015). He is the author also of National Camera: Photography and Mexico’s Image Environment (Minnesota, 2009) and a monograph on the Chicana conceptual artist Celia Alvarez Muñoz (A Ver: Celia Alvarez Muñoz, Minnesota, 2009). He has served as co-curator on Manuel Álvarez Bravo: Optical Parables at the J. Paul Getty Museum (2001), and Luis Gispert: Loud Image at the Hood Museum of Dartmouth College (2004); and his writings appear frequently in exhibition catalogs, among them Images of the Spirit: Photographs by Graciela Iturbide (Aperture, 1996) and Now Dig This! Art & Black Los Angeles 1960-1980 (UCLA Hammer Museum, 2011). NP Radio airs live Tuesdays 6pm-7pm cst 90.1 FM KPFT Houston, TX. Livestream www.KPFT.org. More podcasts at www.NuestraPalabra.org. The Nuestra Palabra Radio Show is archived at the University of Houston Digital Archives. Our hard copy archives are kept at the Houston Public Library’s Special Collections Hispanic Archives. Producers: Leti Lopez & Marlen Treviño. Board operator: Terrell Quillin. Inters: Maria Mendoza, Rachel Rojas. Co-hosts: Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, and Terrell Quillin. Tony Diaz Sundays, Mondays, & Tuesdays & The Other Side Sun 7am "What's Your Point" Fox 26 Houston Mon Noon "The Cultural Accelerator" at www.TonyDiaz.net Tues 6pm NP Lit Radio 90.1 FM KPFT, Houston www.NuestraPalabra.org 24/7 The Other Side TV www.TheOtherSideTele.com

In episode 4 of Ink Well, Jasminne and Lupe chat with poet Robin Davidson about the Houston Favorite Poem Anthology and more. Robin Davidson, a resident of Houston for more than 50 years, was named Houston’s second Poet Laureate by Mayor Annise Parker in 2015 and served through April 2017 under the leadership of Mayor Sylvester Turner. She is a graduate of the University of Houston Creative Writing Program and is the author of two poem chapbooks, Kneeling in the Dojo and City that Ripens on the Tree of the World, and the collection Luminous Other, as well as co-translator with Ewa Elżbieta Nowakowska of The New Century: Poems from the Polish of Ewa Lipska. Most recently she has served as editor for Houston’s Favorite Poems, an anthology of best loved poems contributed by those living in Greater Houston. She teaches literature and creative writing as professor of English for the University of Houston-Downtown.

In 1958, a Virginia couple, Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving, married in the District of Columbia. About four months after their marriage, the Virginia county they lived in issued a criminal indictment charging the Lovings with violating Virginia’s ban on interracial marriage. Mildred was black and Richard was white. Their case, Loving v. Virginia, eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court. And it would take nearly a decade before all state laws prohibiting interracial marriage were struck down. A new series from TOPIC.com tells the story of Americans born to one black parent and one white parent after the 1967 Supreme Court decision. The series is titled “The Loving Generation.” From Melissa Harris-Perry to Mat Johnson, and Panama Jackson, The Loving Generation features a diversity of voices examining the borderland between “blackness” and “whiteness.” Johnson is an award winning novelist and comic book writer. His graphic novel series "Incognegro" centers around a mixed race detective who goes undercover as a white man to solve racially-motivated crimes. His latest work is titled "Incognegro: Renaissance." Mat is also a professor at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program.

Hello and welcome to The Rob Burgess Show. I am, of course, your host, Rob Burgess. On this, our 94th episode, our guest is Tony Diaz. Writer, activist, and professor Tony Diaz, El Librotraficante, was the first Chicano to earn a Master of Fine Arts Degree from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. He earned his bachelor's degree in Communications from De Paul University in Chicago. Diaz is currently a professor of Mexican American Literature and Rhetorical Analysis in Houston, Texas. Diaz is also a political analyst on "What's Your Point" which airs on Fox 26 Houston. He also hosts the weekly bilingual radio program Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say which covers Latino Literature, Art, and Politics on KPFT 90.1 FM Houston. His essays have appeared in the Houston Chronicle, The Texas Observer, CNN.com, the Los Angeles Times, and The Huffington Post Latino Voices, among other publications. He wrote the novel The Aztec Love God and is included in "Hecho En Tejas: The Anthology of Texas Mexican Writers". He recently launched the column “The Cultural Accelerator” to address issues that other publications don't address in a unique style and point of view. He is the lead writer and editor for the textbook "The Mexican American Studies Toolkit". He also is an educational consultant for school districts implementing innovative curriculum. Diaz currently resides in Houston where he continues to fight for Intellectual Freedom and Freedom of Speech. Diaz made national and international news when he led the Librotraficantes in defying Arizona's ban of Mexican American Studies by leading veteran members of Nuestra Palabra to organize the 2012 Librotraficante Caravan to smuggle books banned in Tucson back into Arizona. In December, A. Wallace Tashima, a U.S. federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, ruled against the state, declaring the ban unconstitutional. If you enjoy this podcast, there are several ways to support it. I have a Patreon account, which can be found at www.patreon.com/robburgessshowpatreon. I hope you'll consider supporting in any amount. Also please make sure to comment, follow, like, subscribe, share, rate and review everywhere the podcast is available, including iTunes, YouTube, SoundCloud, Stitcher, Google Play Music, Facebook, Twitter, Internet Archive, TuneIn and RSS. The official website for the podcast is www.therobburgessshow.com. You can find more about me by visiting my website, www.thisburgess.com. If you have something to say, record a voice memo on your smartphone and send it to therobburgessshow@gmail.com. Include “voice memo” in the subject line of the email. I have no idea what, if anything, I'll be doing with these, but it could be interesting. Until next time.

Gail Storey was formerly administrative director of the University of Houston Creative Writing Program. She is a writer, hoop dancer and comic performance artist. Porter Storey, M.D. has been a full time hospice physician since 1983. He is a national leader in hospice and palliative medicine.  Together they bicycled on their tandem from Maine to San Diego, and years later trekked the Pacific Crest Trail. Gail is the author of: The Lord's Motel (Persea Books 2011), God's Country Club (Persea Books 2011), I Promise Not to Suffer: A Fool for Love Hikes the Pacific Crest Trail (The Mountaineers Books 2013) (winner of the Barbara Savage Award). Porter is the editor of: The Primer of Palliative Care, 4th edition (American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine 2010)Tags: Gail Storey, Porter Storey, M.D., Pacific Crest Trail, trekking, river rafting, falling into river, flooding in Boulder, Colorado, Personal Transformation, Ecology/Nature/Environment, Relationship/Partnership/Sexuality

On the occasion of his visit to Minneapolis as featured author for Givens Foundation Black Books Talk, Mat Johnson author of Loving Day, took time out to chat with Erin and Junauda.  Mat Johnson is the author of the novels Loving Day, Pym, Drop, and Hunting in Harlem, the nonfiction novella The Great Negro Plot, and the comic books Incognegro and Dark Rain. He is a recipient of the United States Artist James Baldwin Fellowship, The Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, and the John Dos Passos Prize for Literature.  Mat Johnson is a Professor at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program.  

Attention Literary Tourists! I met with Kristi Beer from Inprint Houston, a non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring readers and writers in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1983, Inprint fulfills its mission through the nationally renowned Margarett Root Brown Reading Series, the Cool Brains! Reading Series for Young People, literary and educational activities in the community that demonstrate the value and impact of creative writing, and support for the University of Houston Creative Writing Program.  These programs and events play a vital role contributing to Houston's rich and diverse cultural life. Who better then to question about how the Literary Tourist might best spend his or her time in Houston. [Please note that this interview was conducted several years ago, so check the Inprint website for information on current and upcoming events etc.]