Intorduction to Chican Studies
Walkout (2006) Produced by Moctesuma Esparza
Walkout is based on the true story of the Chicana/o students of East L.A. who in 1968, staged several dramatic walkouts in their high schools to protest academic prejudice and dire school conditions. The film portrays the struggle of students that decided to take a stand against injustices such as being forbidden from speaking Spanish in class or from using the restrooms during lunchtime. An important element of this movement was the fact that students pointed at the deficiencies of the educational system including the fact that Mexican American history and culture was absent from the curriculum and there was a lack of administrators of Mexican descent in schools (schools with a majority Mexican American student body, among many other things. The Walkouts were the result of collective efforts of organizing groups such as the Brown Berets, United Mexican Students (UMAS) and The Young Citizens from Community action (YCAA), local newspaper and Sal Castro, a Mexican American educator teaching at Lincoln.
While watching the film, focus on the role of Chicana women throughout the movement. Think about the experience of Chicana students, specifically about the different ways in which they were challenging patriarchal and gender roles in the private and public sphere. Also, analyze the politics of representation in this film consider the following questions: 1. how are women depicted in the film? 2. Does the film reproduce stereotypes of Chicana femininity or does it present a different view on it?
VIDEO is on you tube: Walkout, write a short essay.
Solution PreviewIn the film, “Walkout” (2006) produced by Moctesuma Esparza, we see women being depicted as troublesome individuals. Here, we see men working really hard to suppress female students’ efforts to change their schools’ status quo….