New England Tour- Brown University

Last week we returned from a mini-tour of screening Made in L.A. in the New England area. The tour came about as a result of Professor Matthw Garcia's invitation to visit Brown, but it soon expanded, thanks to Matt's"booking powers" and to interest from professors at Yale, Smith and Mount Holyoke.

With Monica Pelayo and Prof. Matt Garcia

I had visited Brown a few years ago, back when Made in L.A. was just a ten-minute trailer. I had met Prof. Garcia at the Berkshire Conference where I did a presentation called "Documenting Latina Immigrant Workers". Matt, who wrote a great book (called "A World of its Own. Race, labor and citrus in the making of greater Los Angeles"), invited me to visit Brown then to talk about the process of making the film. So it was a wonderful "closing of the circle" to be back at Brown, a few years later, this time with a finished film to screen and with my producer Robert by my side. The discussions in Matt's classes were fascinating: we explored how his students see organizing fitting into their lives, and we dissected the many themes and concepts that are intertwined with the film's narrative arc, including issues of race, class and gender, and how their interplay with US history and economic globalization. It reminded me of how much you can learn from the students, and how much I miss teaching!

A huge thank you also goes to student leader Monica Pelayo, who coordinated the entire event, and to the event sponsors Semana Chicana and The Center for Study of Race and Ethnicity!