Educational Study Guide The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 2

How To Use This Guide JESSE CELEDON AS OSCAR ZETA ACOSTA, PHOTO: RAFAEL GARDENAS This study guide uses hands-on activities to promote critical thinking about themes presented in the film The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo. Students explore the work and legacy of author and Movement activist Oscar Zeta Acosta, celebrating his accomplishments as a writer and lawyer, and grappling with his often problematic behavior. Through Acosta’s story, students unpack concepts of discrimination, representation, identity, and power. Educators are encouraged to use the guide as a whole, in sections, or as a launching pad to support their own facilitating methods and interests.

This guide can be used by middle, high school, and college educators to enhance and complement existing curricula and classroom study and/or to support students in developing youth-led campaigns. The lesson plans can be used to support and deepen content areas such as U.S. History, Ethnic Studies, Civics, Sociology, Psychology, and English Language Arts. Multigenerational activists, educators and leaders might also use this guide as a resource in school-based clubs and organizations, after-school and social justice/youth development programs, and after screenings of the filmThe Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo. The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 3

What is a Brown Buffalo? Advocacy, Agency, & Art: 1Self-Determination in 2Civil Disobedience in the Representation Warm Up: Two-Minute Selfies Warm Up: The Chicano Movement Vocab Race Opening Discussion: Exploring Self Representation Opening Discussion: Connected Histories of Resistance Main Activity: Brown Buffalos and Cockroaches: Oscar Zeta Acosta’s Main Activity: Civil Disobedience and Representation of Self and Community The Chicano Movement Continue the Conversation: The Anthropomorphic Super Self

Plans Against the Erasure of Women: Why Did the Brown Buffalo 3Exploring & Uplifting the Disappear?4 Chicana Feminist Movement Challenging Cultural Warm Up: “A Time I” Pair Share Whitewashing Opening Discussion: Introducing the Warm Up: Life Biography Interviews Chicana Feminist Movement Opening Discussion: Disruptive and Main Activity: Flipping the Concept of Damaging Narratives Erasure: Using BlackOut Poems to Uplift Main Activity: Creating Ethical Writers Chicana History and Storytellers Continue the Conversation: Calling In Continue the Conversation: Spotting the and Calling to Action Buffalo Lesson The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 4

ABOUT THE FILM

The Rise and Fall of The Channeling the spirit of the Brown Buffalo is a fresh and psychedelic 60s and the joyful genre-defying film about the life irreverence of “Gonzo” journalism, of radical Chicano lawyer, author The Rise and Fall of The and countercultural icon, Oscar Brown Buffalo shows Acosta’s Zeta Acosta—the basis for the personal and creative evolution character Dr. Gonzo in Fear and playing out against the backdrop Loathing in Las Vegas, written by of a society in turmoil. From his friend, legendary journalist- his origins in segregated rural provocateur Hunter S. Thompson. , to his stint as a Baptist missionary in the jungles of The author of two Panama, to his radicalization groundbreaking autobiographical in the Chicano movement of novels, Autobiography of a the late 60s, and finally to his JEFF HARM AS HUNTER S THOMPSON, Brown Buffalo and The Revolt of mysterious disappearance off the PHOTO: RAFAEL GARDENAS the Cockroach People Acosta’s coast of Mexico in 1974, director powerful literary voice, brash Rodriguez offers a vision of a courtroom style and notorious complex figure at once wholly revolutionary antics made him a unique; and emblematic of a revered figure within the Chicano generation. Movement of the 1960s and 70s and offered one of the most Relevant now more than ever, How to Access the brazen assaults on the status The Rise and Fall of The Film quo and White supremacy seen Brown Buffaloexplores issues The Rise and Fall of the Brown at the time. Yet Acosta is more of racial identity, criminal Buffalo airs nationally on PBS on known for his turn as Thompson’s justice, politics, and media Friday, March 23rd, 2018 at 9:00 pm bumbling sidekick in Fear and representation, while revealing Eastern time. Check local listings. Loathing in Las Vegas than for his the personal story of a troubled own work exposing racial bias, but brilliant man coming to terms After that date, the film will be hypocrisy, and repression within with his identity and finding available for streaming for a limited time on PBS.org the California justice system. meaning in the struggles of his people. Public libraries and educational institutions can use their Kanopy accounts to stream the film at Kanopy.com BrownBuffaloFilm.com The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 5 Standard Alignments

While drawn from the high school 6. Conduct short as well as more section of the Common Core, this sustained research projects to study guide also aligns to parallel answer a question (including a standards at the middle school level. self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; THE COMMON CORE synthesize multiple sources WRITING STANDARDS on the subject, demonstrating 9-10, 11-12 understanding of the subject 1. Write arguments to support under investigation. claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and sufficient SPEAKING AND evidence. LISTENING 9-10, 11-12 2. Write informative/explanatory 1. Initiate and participate effectively texts to examine and convey in a range of collaborative complex ideas, concepts, discussions (one-on-one, in and information clearly and groups, and teacher-led) with accurately through the effective diverse partners on grades selection, organization, and 9–10 topics, texts, and issues, analysis of content. building on others’ ideas and 3. Write narratives to develop real expressing their own clearly and or imagined experiences or persuasively. events using effective technique, 2. Present information, findings, well-chosen details, and well- and supporting evidence clearly, structured event sequences. concisely, and logically such that 4. Produce clear and coherent listeners can follow the line of writing in which the development reasoning and the organization, and style are appropriate to task, development, substance, and purpose, and audience. style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task. 5. Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, 3. Make strategic use of digital and update individual or media (e.g., textual, graphical, shared writing products, taking audio, visual, and interactive advantage of technology’s elements) in presentations to capacity to link to other enhance understanding of information and to display findings, reasoning, and evidence information flexibly and and to add interest. dynamically. The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 6 MORE Standard Alignments

WRITING STANDARDS the world, to understand where FOR LITERACY IN people, places, and resources are located and why they are there, HISTORY/SOCIAL and to explore the relationship STUDIES, SCIENCE AND between human beings and TECHNICAL SUBJECTS the environment. In schools, 9-10, 11-12 this theme typically appears in courses dealing with geography 1. Determine the central ideas and area studies, but it is also or information of a primary or important for the study of the secondary source; provide an geographical dimension of other accurate summary of how key social studies subjects. events or ideas develop over the course of the text. 3. INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT AND IDENTITY: Personal identity 2. Analyze in detail a series of events is shaped by family, peers, culture, in a text; determine whether and institutional influences. earlier events caused later ones or Through this theme, students simply preceded them. examine the factors that influence an individual’s personal identity, NATIONAL CURRICULUM development, and actions. STANDARDS FOR SOCIAL 4. INDIVIDUALS , GROUPS, AND STUDIES INSTITUTIONS: Institutions 1. CULTURE: Through the study such as families and civic, of culture and cultural diversity, educational, governmental, and learners understand how human religious organizations, exert beings create, learn, share, and a major influence on people’s adapt to culture, and appreciate lives. This theme allows students the role of culture in shaping their to understand how institutions lives and society, as well the lives are formed, maintained, and and societies of others. In schools, changed, and to examine their this theme typically appears in influence. units and courses dealing with 5. CIVIC IDEALS AND PRACTICES: geography, history, sociology, An understanding of civic ideals and anthropology, as well as and practices is critical to full multicultural topics across the participation in society and is an curriculum. essential component of education 2. PEOPLE, PLACES, AND for citizenship. This theme ENVIRONMENTS: This theme enables students to learn of a helps learners to develop their democracy, and to appreciate the spatial views and perspectives of importance of active citizenship. The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo EducationalGrade Levels: Study Guide 8-12 Suggested Time: 60-90 minutes7

Who is a Brown Buffalo? Self-Determination in Representation

OVERVIEW: Students examine Oscar Zeta Acosta’s complex characterization of self and the Mexican-American/Chicano community, and use their learnings to self-determine their own representation.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: • To begin to grapple with and practice concepts of self representation. • To examine Acosta’s complex biography, and multiplicity through the lens of his own characterizations.

MATERIALS:

Markers Two-Minute Selfie worksheet

Pens/pencils, crayons or colored The Anthropomorphic Super Self pencils worksheet Chart paper1 The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 8

WARM UP (10 minutes) Two-Minute Selfies Introduce students to the 4. as a villain concept of self representation by 5. as a car engaging them in a “two-minute selfie” drawing exercise. Remind 6. as a house students that drawing skills are 7. as a leader not important, and to have fun 8. as a monster with their illustrations. Using the 9. as an animal worksheet listed in the appendix, invite students to choose four Time each drawing for two ways to draw themselves from the minutes before prompting nine options offered, one in each students to move on to the next box on the worksheet: box. At the close of the exercise, 1. on a bad day invite students to pair share their JESSE CELEDON AS OSCAR ZETA ACOSTA, 2. on a good day work before moving into the PHOTO: RAFAEL GARDENAS discussion. 3. as a superhero

OPENING DISCUSSION (10-20 minutes) Exploring Self Representation Choose a selection of questions you hear “superhero, villain, artist to engage the class in either a full and monster?” Why do we class forum, small group, or pair- make those associations? share discussion. What might influence our good quick associations? • Look at your selfies—which category feels like it best • What are ways people can superhero represents the “everyday” you? exert control over how they Why? represent themselves in public? (Social media, being • What visual choices did you authors, or artists, etc.) What bad make for each category? are ways people might not What meaning do these have control over how they visual cues and symbols are represented in public? am I? hold for you? How we think (Being written about, being Who about representing different “outed”, etc.) monster roles—in which roles can we easily picture ourselves? • How would you want animal Which felt like a stretch of the someone to represent you in imagination? public? What control would you want? • What real life people come to mind immediately when we • What animal did you choose author hear the abstract categories? to represent yourself and why? Who do you think of when The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 9

Main Activity (30 minutes) Brown Buffalos & Cockroaches: Oscar Zeta Acosta’s Representation of Self and Community

Remind the class that in the • Why do you think Acosta film, Acosta referred to himself paints himself as a buffalo? interchangeably as a “brown What words on the word map buffalo” and a “cockroach.” Divide connect to Acosta’s character the students into four small and actions? (Point to words used — for example, if groups, handing a piece of chart students wrote strength, where paper to each. Assign two groups do we see Acosta exhibiting with the phrase “brown buffalo,” that in his personhood?) and two with “cockroach,” and ask them to write the words in the • Why do you think Acosta center of the chart paper. When characterizes himself and we think of these animals/insects, the Latinx community as what comes to mind? For five cockroaches? What negative minutes, invite the students to free implications are there in this representation? (equating associate, creating a word map on people to pests)? What positive the chart paper. (“Buffalo” might ones (durability, ability to connect to strength, associations “infest” the system)? with indigenous cultures, large stature, while “cockroach” might • Why might Acosta see connect to pests, inciting fear, himself and his community infestation, armies, etc.) through a negative lens at times? If comfortable, guide Hang the chart paper on the wall, students in considering Acosta’s problematic qualities, the two buffalo wordmaps side by and how ostracization and side and the two cockroach word identity confusion in early maps side by side. Examine as a life contributed to his lack of class to dissect the choices—point pride in self, and the difficult out similarities and differences behaviors that followed. between the two word maps. Ask students to determine which • Do you find these portrayals words and qualities are positive, of buffalo and cockroach and which are negative by accurate? Offensive? Positive? Does it matter who inviting a volunteer to be directed is assigning these terms? by their peers, circling the positive What if an outsider called and placing a box around the Acosta a “brown buffalo” and negative, while still allowing the the Chicano community words to be legible. “cockroach people?” Invite a debate about what these Invite students to journal about characterizations mean—and what they discovered through the the complexions they take word mapping process. Use the on when viewed through questions that resonate to unearth different lenses. JESSE CELEDON AS OSCAR ZETA ACOSTA, PHOTO: RAFAEL GARDENAS and begin to examine Acosta’s complexity. The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 10

Continue the Conversation (15-30 minutes) The Anthropomorphic Super Self

Invite students to share out • Who is their archenemy? anthropomorphic superheroes • What is their tool? (Mighty Mouse, Donkey Kong, ThunderCats, Teenage Mutant • What is a symbol that Ninja Turtles, etc.) Spend a few represents them? moments briefly defining their qualities and abilities. Educators • What color is their costume might also consider creating a and why? Powerpoint in advance to offer a Ask students to return to the slideshow of examples to students. animal they first identified when Share with students that they’ll creating their two-minute selfies, be creating an anthropomorphic and determine if the choice still superhero version of themselves. fits their list. If not, what animal now aligns with the written Using the worksheet located in the portrait they’ve created? Once an appendix, lead students through animal has been identified, invite the questions aloud, using Acosta the students to draw themselves as the example. When complete, as this character. task students with creating a characterization of self using the worksheet, which involves additional steps that help students to determine answers to the following questions:

• What is their super power?

• Who do they protect and serve?

• What is their mission?

• What is their kryptonite/ weakness?

COCKROACH DRAWING, CIRCA 1905 AND 1906, COURTESY OF POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY VOLUME 68. BUFFALO DRAWING COURTESY OF THINKSTOCK (BY GETTY IMAGES), MORIZ89 The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo EducationalGrade Levels: Study Guide 8-12 Suggested Time: 60-90 minutes11

Advocacy, Agency, & Art: Civil Disobedience in the Chicano Movement

OVERVIEW: Students examine Oscar Zeta Acosta’s complex characterization of self and the Mexican-American/Chicano community, and use their learnings to self-determine their own representation.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: • To introduce students to the vocabulary of the Chicano Movement • To connect the Chicano Movement to civil rights movements past and present • To identify Acosta’s contributions to the Movement • For students to define their own agency and power in relationship to their role as students, informed by the East L.A. student walkouts

MATERIALS:

The Chicano Movement vocabulary Markers cards Paper East Los Angeles Student Walkout Proposal handouts Drawing/coloring utensils and/or collage materials Chart paper

MULTIMEDIA RESOURCES Access2 to projector and Internet to show examples from the Chicano Arts Movement The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 12

WARM UP (10 minutes) The Chicano Movement Vocab Race Assign students 14 words and The terms on the cards are as phrases connected to the Chicano follows. See appendix for handout: Movement’s history and 14 definitions. Each student should National Farm Workers have one card, cut from the Association cards handout in the appendix, Alianza Federal de Mercedes distributed at random (if there are more students than cards, they Boycott can work in pairs or small groups). Set the timer for five minutes and Mendez vs. Westminster task students with finding their Aztlan card’s match. YOUTH FROM THE FLORENCIA BARRIO OF Nonviolent resistance SOUTH CENTRAL LOS ANGELES ARRIVE AT Depending on the level of BELVEDERE PARK FOR LA MARCHA POR LA Voting Rights Act of 1965 JUSTICIA. JANUARY 31, 1971. knowledge in the room, this race PHOTO: LUIS C. GARZA. COURTESY OF THE might run its course quickly, Civil Disobedience PHOTOGRAPHER AND THE UCLA CHICANO or cause some confusion and STUDIES RESEARCH CENTER deliberation. When the timer is Delano Grape Strike up, ask each pair to share out. Chicano Arts Movement Rearrange pairs as needed in order to achieve the correct definition. Hand out the definition cards sheet, intact, for a deeper Cultural Nationalism exploration of the terms, or as a document to return to in the work.

OPENING DISCUSSION (10 minutes) Connected Histories of Resistance • What civil rights movements • How is this struggle do we know about that were still relevant today? The happening in the United characterization of the Latinx States in the 1960s? (African community in the U.S. is a ripe American Civil Rights, discussion point. For example, Women’s Movement). What comparisons might be drawn were they fighting for? between the Chicano Student Movement walkouts with • What do we see the Chicano the self organizing of the Movement fighting for in the Dreamers. film, and in what ways?

• How was the struggle connected to the other PHOTO: ALICE DONOVAN ROUSE movement’s of the day? The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 13

Main Activity (40 minutes) Civil Disobediance and the Chicano Movement PART A: IDENTIFYING • Used controversial defenses OSCAR ZETA ACOSTA’S that sparked resentment CONTRIBUTIONS from the LAPD — was often The Chicano Movement had a followed and harrassed by law rich history of civil disobedience, enforcement. including Cesar Chavez’s grape • Proved a pattern of boycotts and hunger strikes discrimination against in support of farmworkers by rights, and the East L.A. student subpoenaing every member of walkouts, which challenged the Los Angeles County Grand discrimination in local school Jury. He found that 178 judges districts. Acosta was a powerful, had never nominated a person and highly controversial figure, with a Spanish sounding during the 1960 and 1970s, surname. working in support of the Chicano Movement—and sometimes, • Began to use illegal getting in its way. psychedelic drugs while working in the courtroom, Circle back to the film and, with as he felt they “expanded his students’ help, identify Acosta’s mind.” contributions (both positive and questionable) to the Chicano • He was linked to the Movement. Source from the Chicano Liberation Front, an student’s memory, and fill in the underground organization ATTORNEY OSCAR ZETA ACOSTA AT A blanks if needed. A Powerpoint known for aggressive tactics DEMONSTRATION IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES. presentation could aid in sharing such as bombings. TOP: COURTESY OF OSCAR CASTILLO this information visually: BOTTOM: RAUL RUIZ • Set judge’s lawn on fire after • 1968, moved to East L.A. to being held in contempt of join the Chicano Movement to court. defend Chicano activists in his • In 1970, ran for sheriff of Los role as an attorney. Angeles County, vowing to • Represented high-profile do away with the Sheriff’s civil rights cases such as the Department. Chicano 13, students who • Used his training as a preacher participated in the East L.A. to rally the people. Known for walkouts, as well as Rodolfo flamboyant presentation with Gonzales, members of the an Aztec god on his business Brown Berets and other card, a flower-print attaché residents of the area. case, adorned with a Chicano Power sticker. OSCAR ZETA ACOSTA FOR L.A. COUNTY SHERIFF CAMPAIGN POSTER, 1970 The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 14

Main Activity (40 minutes) Civil Disobediance and The Chicano Movement (continued)

• Wrote two books about his identities in their own school. own life, Autobiography of What demands would they ask for, the Brown Buffalo and about inspired by the Chicano Student the Chicano Movement, The Movement’s proposal? Write these Revolt of the Cockroach demands on chart paper. People. Ask students to choose three of Follow up with a brief discussion their points to defend in a speech. about which of Acosta’s tactics Ask one student from the group to were powerful and useful, and volunteer to be recorder, writing openly question the problematic notes as the group discusses. orientations. What can we Another student will take on the learn from Acosta, and co-opt task of presenter, sharing their as possible tactics and cues in speech to the full class. Prompt the responding to current social students to address the following issues? questions, recording their answers in bullet points on chart paper: PART B: ROLE PLAYING THE • Why are these requests STUDENT MOVEMENT important? Bring the conversation to a focal point, narrowing in on • What will they do for the the role of the student in social school community? TOP: HIGH SCHOOL WALKOUT STUDENTS ARGUE movements. Hand out copies of WITH A SCHOOL ADMINISTRATOR. CIRCA 1968. PHOTO BY DEVRA WEBER. BOTTOM: BROWN • How will they be sure their the proposals made by the 1968 BERET MARGARITA SANCHEZ , LEFT, AND RUTH East L.A. student walkouts—also demands are heard? ROBINSON, WITH CAMERA, GETTING ARRESTED known as the “blow outs”—to the AT THE BELMONT HIGH SCHOOL WALKOUTS. MARCH 8, 1968. PHOTOGRAPHER UNKNOWN, board of education—located in Bring the group together and PHOTO COURTESY OF HERALD-EXAMINER the appendix. Break students into present out. After all group’s have COLLECTION/LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY. four groups, each assigned to one shared, discuss the process. section of the proposal: • How did it feel to determine • ACADEMIC their needs and the lack of those needs being met? • ADMINISTRATIVE • Did it feel empowering to • FACILITIES identify them and speak to them? Did it feel disappointing • STUDENT RIGHTS or angering?

Invite students to read their • Are there next steps the class section of the proposal, and in might take as a community to their groups, determine if the move beyond role playing and requests have been fulfilled by into lived action within their the school system. Ask students SANTA BARBARA BROWN BERETS AKA school community? What MORATORIUM IN MARAVILLA” 1970. to widen the conversation to would it take? PHOTO: OSCAR CASTILLO consider the needs of other The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo EducationalGrade Levels: Study Guide 8-12 Suggested Time: 60-90 minutes15

Against the Erasure of Women Exploring and Uplifting the Chicana Feminist Movement

OVERVIEW: Students learn about the Chicana Feminist Movement, formed in response to gender disparity within the Chicano Movement. Introducing students to the concept of cultural erasure, students engage in creative activities to bring the biographies of Chicana leaders, past and present, to the forefront. Grappling with complex leaders, students confront Acosta’s mistreatment of women, and make connections to contemporary dialogue around sexism, sexual harassment, and abuse.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: • To unpack gender disparity within social movements • To examine the origins of the Chicana Feminist Movement and the factors that led to its formation • To learn about the concept of cultural erasure • To learn about Chicana leaders and centralize their stories through creative processing • To grapple with problematic leaders by examining Acosta’s treatment of women

MATERIALS:

Pencils Printed copies of Dorena Moreno’s

Markers Paper

Printed biographies of Writing utensils Chicano leaders

MULTIMEDIA RESOURCES Access to projector and Internet to show examples, biographies researched on CHICANAPORMIRAZA.ORG.3 The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 16

WARM UP (5 minutes) “A Time I” Pair Share Invite students to identify a time how it felt and what they did in they contributed to a project response. Invite the larger group and did not receive full credit for to briefly name the feelings of their contributions. This could being dismissed or diminished be in school during group work, —frustrated, depressed, angry, at home with chores, in a sports etc.—and create a wordbank on context, etc. In pairs, invite the board as a visual cue for the students to informally share the opening discussion. experience with their partner,

The oppression suffered by Chicanas is different from that suffered by most women in this country. Because Chicanas are part of an oppressed nationality, they are subjected to the racism practiced against . Since the overwhelming majority of are workers, Chicanas are also victims of the exploitation of the working class. But in addition, Chicanas, along with the rest of women, are relegated to an inferior position because of their sex. Thus, Raza women suffer a triple form of oppression: as members of an oppressed nationality, as workers, and as women.

- Mirta Vidal (1971) The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 17

OPENING DISCUSSION (10-20 minutes) Introducing the Chicana Feminist Movement The Chicana Feminist Movement • Point out how female was launched in the early characters in the film may 1970’s as a response to both have been introduced to offer U.S. patriarchal culture and the balance in representation. influence of Mexico’s culture, Why do you think the where long-held gender-based filmmaker made this choice? bias and practices surfaced within • In what ways do women still the Chicano community—both in fight for visibility and equity in the home, the workplace and the the U.S. and beyond? movement. Chicana women also responded to the erasure of their • What current artists/leaders contributions to the movement do we admire who also have in the public dialogue. Introduce troublesome aspects of their students to this history in brief behavior? How can we or do and pose the following questions we reconcile, ignore or excuse for discussion — referring back their contributions given their to the wordbank the students problematic actions? created in the warm up, thinking of times their contributions were dismissed or diminished:

• Why do you think the Chicana Feminist Movement separately defined their movement from the Chicano Movement?

• How do we see Acosta talking to or about women in the film?

• Based on what you know about Acosta, do you think he acknowledges women as his peers?

SOCORRO ACOSTA (WIFE OF ACOSTA) WITH OSCAR ZETA ACOSTA. PHOTOGRAPHER UNKNOWN. The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 18

‘Erasure’ refers to the practice of collective indifference that renders certain people and groups invisible. The word migrated out of the academy, where it alluded to the tendency of ideologies to dismiss inconvenient facts, and is increasingly used to describe how inconvenient people are dismissed, their history, pain and achievements blotted out. Compared with words like ‘‘diversity’’ and ‘‘representation,’’ with their glib corporate gloss, ‘‘erasure’’ is a blunt word for a blunt process. It goes beyond simplistic discussions of quotas to ask: Whose stories are taught and told? Whose suffering is recognized? Whose dead are mourned?

- “Fighting ‘Erasure’” by Parul Seghal, The New York Times The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 19

Main Activity (40 minutes) Flipping the Concept of Erasure: Using Blackout Poems to Uplift Chicano History

WHAT IS CULTURAL create a found poem within its ERASURE? contents, by blacking out the Introduce the concept of cultural words around the new message. erasure by projecting this Search an Internet image base definition, culled from aNew York such as Google Images for the Times article, or handing out to term “blackout poems” and project students. Closely read the text the results, or create handouts of aloud, unpacking the meaning as the images for students to engage. a group. Where in history, and in Ask the students to examine these present times, have we witnessed works — how have artists created the act of cultural erasure? Task new meaning from old texts? How students in pairs with rewriting might this approach be powerful the definition of erasure in when thinking about the concept student-friendly language. If they of erasure? The ability to make were to teach this concept to new meaning, or emphasize their peers, how would they word meaning, from a document puts the language? Share out their the power back in the reader’s reworded definitions. hands. Blackout poems are about both deconstruction and Connect the conversation to reconstruction. the previous dialogue about the Chicana Feminist Movement. After viewing examples, explain How might the concept of erasure to students that they’ll be apply? How did the members of creating blackout poems that the Chicana Feminist Movement profile women leaders in the fight against the erasure of their Chicano/Chicana Movement by own voices? This last question’s using the Chicana por mi Raza answer, at this point in the Digital Memory Collective — a student’s learning, stops at “they database created by a group of created a movement.” Explain historians, educators, researchers, that you’ll be engaging a creative archivists and technologists exercise that will introduce dedicated to preserving imperiled them to leaders in the Chicana Chicanx and Latinx histories Movement and help further their of the long Civil Rights Era. understanding of how Chicana’s CHICANAPORMIRAZA.ORG fought erasure. Distribute biographies of women BLACKOUT POEMS: profiled in the database. Task HONORING CHICANA students with finding a bio that MOVEMENT LEADERS speaks to them, perhaps for Blackout poems take a text, such homework, or have printouts on as a newspaper article or page hand to share. Each participant of a book, and use the text to should end up with two copies The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 20

Main Activity (40 minutes) Flipping the Concept of Erasure: Using Blackout Poems to Uplift Chicano History (cont.) of a single bio to blackout, creating a synthesized visual “poem” of the heart of their message and work. Aside from Zeta’s blatant sexism, he also ignores the female voice—it is absent from his work. Share with students that as they read, they should imagine themselves in the shoes of the leader and use the blackout method to create a poem that represents what the leader stands for. This ghostwriting brings the female voice back into the classroom.

Before beginning, engage a brief discussion about the danger of the blackout method being used as an act of erasure. How could this process go wrong? How might it be detrimental in the wrong hands? How might someone use this process to manipulate meaning? Make parallels between the creative act and the historical act. Underscore the power students have in this process and that they are flipping the act of erasure on its head—using it to amplify, teach, and further a message.

To create blackout poems, engage students in the process through the following steps:

1. Set aside one copy of the bio that will not be touched.

2. Read the bio in full and write a quick bullet point summary of key terms, ideas and concepts relating to the leader’s life and legacy.

3. Choose a word to begin with, on the top 3rd of the page, that will begin the poem. Use a pencil to mark words that might be used, strung together to make meaning.

4. List the words on a separate sheet of paper and read the message they create. Are there words you want to subtract or add in from the page? Explore different possibilities before making the marks on the biography paper permanently.

5. Circle the final words on the page, and erase the marks for words you will no longer be using.

6. Draw an illustration, or simply black out around the words, making the chosen text boldly stand out.

When complete, invite students to hang their work in a classroom gallery. The group moves as one cohort, piece to piece, as the creator presents their work, reading the poem and discussing their creative choices with the audience. The creator is also tasked with summarizing the biography and introducing the leader to their peers—the second, untouched copy of the bio can be used to aid them in this process. The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 21

Continue the Conversation (40 minutes) Calling in and Calling to Action READ DORINDA MORENO’S in” is a method in which a LETTER TO OSCAR ZETA person, group or community calls ACOSTA attention to how a friend, peer, “...As a liver of life Dorinda Moreno, a Chicana or family member is harming activist who knew and worked themselves and the people you are ruthless. with Acosta, wrote a letter they love, while also showing challenging his sexism, and compassion, patience, and offers As a recorder you calling on him to be a better a request for change. Calling to partner in the struggle by action is the charge the person honoring his power, and asking is tasked with, a specific request are unscrupulous. him to examine his problematic for immediate implementation. behaviors. Invite students to read How does Dorinda Moreno “call But, as a writer you the letter, located in the appendix, in” Acosta? What is her “call to aloud in a dramatic reading with action?” fall short of your the class. Spend a few minutes extracting meaning from the text, WRITE YOUR OWN LETTER potential, you are translating words and language TO OSCAR ZETA ACOSTA that might be unfamiliar, and Task students with writing a letter ‘almost’ profound...” determining her message as to Acosta asking him about how a group. Pay attention to the his experiences created both - Dorinda Moreno following quote as an entry point: positive and negative actions— Offer them various approaches by “As a liver of experiences you writing the following phrases on are an insatiable genius for the board, briefly walking through sensationalism. As a liver of life each: you are ruthless. As a recorder you -- posing difficult questions are unscrupulous. But, as a writer -- mirroring of his behavior you fall short of your potential, you are ‘almost’ profound. I feel -- offering wishes, comfort or that your distorted machista view advice gets in the way of your victories... -- calling to action your atrocities overpower your -- sharing gratitude meaningful contributions.” Ask students if they can think of Introduce the concepts of “calling any other approaches to the letter. in” and “calling to action.” Write The goal is for students to grapple the phrases on the board. Ask with Acosta’s complexity, to find students to take a guess at their his humanity, and to also hold OSCAR ZETA ACOSTA, 1971, meanings. Explain that “calling him accountable. PHOTO: ANNIE LEIBOVITZ The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 22

Continue the Conversation (40 minutes) Calling in and Calling to Action

EXTEND THE DIALOGUE Frame this exercise as either This exercise might also extend a debate in class or Op-Ed for into a deeper exploration of the homework. There are many discussion question: articles on the Internet to choose from that address this topic. Here • What current artists/leaders is a starting point: do we admire who also have troublesome aspects of their “How the Myth of the Artistic behavior? Genius Excuses the Abuse of • How can we (or do we) Women” by Amanda Hess in The reconcile, ignore, or excuse New York Times their contributions given their https://www.nytimes. problematic actions? com/2017/11/10/arts/sexual- harassment-art-hollywood.html • What do we excuse?

• How do we help people—both the victim and the perpetrator?

• How do we shift society and prevent these actions?

• How do we educate men?

• How do we educate women? The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo EducationalGrade Levels: Study Guide 8-12 Suggested Time: 40-90 minutes23

Why Did the Brown Buffalo Disappear? Challenging Cultural Whitewashing

OVERVIEW: Oscar Zeta Acosta’s disappearance in life metaphorically parallels his relative obscurity as an author, compared to his writing partner Hunter S. Thompson. This lesson plan examines who gets to tell whose story, how narratives get changed in the course of history, and how we can preserve and advocate for ethical collaborations in journalism and other forms of media.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: • To point out and examine where cultural narratives have been erased, whitewashed, mistold, or miscredited in history • To engage students in considering the implications of disrupted or damaging narratives —both intentional and unintentional—by applying the concept to their own story, and through the story of Acosta • To develop a set of ethical guidelines for writers and cultural shapers in storytelling • To uplift Acosta’s legacy through identifying how and where the “buffalo spirit” lives on in our society.

MATERIALS:

Papter Writing4 utensils The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 24

WARM UP (20 minutes) Life Biography Interviews Set a timer and ask students to students to choose a new partner, condition: the interviewee can not interview each other in pairs and spend five minutes having correct their partner on the details about their life biography for four a conversation about whatever of their story when sharing—they minutes. The interviewer should they wish: what they did this past must remain silent. The idea is not respond to the interviewee or weekend, what classes they are that at some point in the sharing, write down any details with pen struggling with or doing well in, a student will inevitably flub the and paper during the interview— what they love to eat, etc. This details, opening a conversation engage in present listening. Offer activity, though students are not about storytelling. When the students a few questions to begin aware, is to disrupt their memory sharing has closed, circle back to with as jumping off points, written of the details of their partner’s the interviewees whose stories on the board, to facilitate their story. were shared. They are now story telling. welcome to correct the details. At the close of the activity, invite Ask the students how it felt to hear When the timer goes off, invite the a few students, with consent, their story being told when they partners to switch roles. After the to retell the biography of their could not correct it. second interview is complete, ask partner to the class, but with a

OPENING DISCUSSION (15 minutes) Disruptive and Damaging Narratives Connect this exercise, and the oppressive histories feelings it generated, to a history -- The Founding Fathers’ of incorrectly told stories. As the call for freedom only students: applied to white men • Where have we seen other when written, but often people’s stories get told is used to underscore the incorrectly, or incompletely? If U.S. position as “the land students are unsure where to of the free” in relationship start, here are some examples: to people of color and immigrants -- The popular narrative of Christopher Columbus • What damage does this “discovering” America incorrect—deliberately or versus the reality of his not—cause to society? Who “discovery” launching a benefits? Who is hurt? SAMUEL ADAMS COURTESY OF ISTOCK genocide of native peoples (GETTY IMAGES) • What voices are at risk of -- Rock and roll was a Black being a victim of skewed, artform that inspired White incorrect, or damaging artists, who were assigned narratives in our current the credit and made society? famous for innovating • What actions can we take to -- History books focus ensure all voices are valued primarily on White men and represented equally—and and often skew the correctly? narrative to hide or bury The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 25

Main Activity (40 minutes) Creating Ethical Writers & Storytellers Introduce how Acosta’s • Why was Acosta upset by disappearance in life his portrayal in the article metaphorically parallels his (and later the book and film relative obscurity as an author, versions of Fear and Loathing especially when compared to In La Vegas)? Did Thompson his writing partner, Hunter S. betray his friend’s trust? Thompson. In the film, after their travels to Las Vegas for • Why do you think Thompson’s legacy remains today, while Magazine, we see that,Thompson has painted Acosta’s faded? Acosta, thinly disguised as “Dr. • Have you heard the term Gonzo,” a “heavy weight Samoan “whitewashing” in culture and attorney” in the article. This history? What do you think it representation offends Acosta. might mean? (Whitewashing refers to the erasure of people Additionally, though Acosta was of color’s contributions an early contributor to the Gonzo historically, and often in journalism writing style—which Hollywood refers to White is framed as journalism written actors cast in the roles of without claims of objectivity, people of color.) Was Acosta’s often including the reporter as story whitewashed? part of the story via a first-person narrative—Thompson is often • In response to the article by solely credited with its invention. Thompson, Acosta contracted his own books to be Engage students in a brief published—an autobiography discussion in response to these and a book about the Chicano facts. Movement. Why was it important for Acosta to tell his own story and the story of his people?

Invite students to consider the implications of mistold and erased stories by applying the concept to themselves. In about a 10- minute time frame, three and a half minutes allotted per question, guide students in journaling the following questions:

• What would you want to be sure of if someone told your

LEFT: HUNTER S. THOMPSON & OSCAR ZETA ACOSTA, LAS VEGAS, CEASAR’S PALACE, APRIL 1971, PHOTOGRAPHER UNKNOWN The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 26

Main Activity (40 minutes) Creating Ethical Writers & Storytellers (continued) story in a book or movie? What Share out ideas. In small groups, should be included? What hand out chart paper and would you not want included? task students with using their How would you want to be journaling to create a code of represented? ethics for writers. This code of ethics should include 5-10 points • Who do you think has the for writers to consider when ability to tell, and understand telling other people’s stories to your story (think about avoid an incorrect depiction or ethnicity, gender, etc.)? co-opting of narrative. • What are the possible dangers that come with telling another person’s story?

Continue the Conversation (20 minutes) Spotting the Buffalo Though Acosta did not reach the known examples might include acclaim of Thompson, his spirit Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors, has not been lost—it lives on in and Opal Tometi, the women other forms, channeled through who started Black Lives Matter, the work of others in our society. Beyoncé—for her politically driven Invite students to consider what performances—and football the buffalo spirit embodies— quarterback Colin Kaepernick inspired by Acosta—by creating who refused to stand up during a community-sourced list, the national anthem in protest of either on chart paper as a police brutality against African whole group or by inviting Americans. Invite students to take students to write their ideas a few minutes to write down their on post-it notes and share buffalo and what makes them fit out when sticking them the charge of the buffalo spirit. on the board. Share aloud and Share out the students’ answers process as a group, creating a final in the group, preferably in a list that all can agree on. circle format, and close out the OSCAR ZETA ACOSTA & HUNTER S THOMPSON conversation by asking students DURING THOMPSON’S CAMPAIGN BID TO BECOME ASPEN, COLORADO’S SHERIFF, 1970. Using the qualities listed as a to identify where the buffalo spirit PHOTO: BOB KRUEGER guide, ask students who they lives within themselves. consider to be buffalos in their lives and in society. A buffalo might be a family member, teacher, mentor, friend or a famous activist. Some well- The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 27

Appendix Additional Resources

Films: A Class Apart: The first major film to bring to life the heroic post-World War II struggles of Mexican Americans against the Jim Crow-style discrimination targeted against them, A Class Apart is built around the landmark 1951 legal case Hernandez v. , in which an underdog band of Mexican Americans from Texas bring a case all the way to the Supreme Court - and win.

And the Earth Did Not Swallow Him: A Mexican boy’s (Jose Alcala) family (Daniel Valdez, Rose Portillo) struggles to earn a living in 1950s America.

Cesar Chavez: Famed labor organizer and civil-rights activist Cesar Chavez (Michael Peña) is torn between his duty to his family and his commitment to securing a living wage for farm workers.

Dolores: Documents the undertold story of Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the first farmworkers union with Cesar Chavez, and her tireless fight for racial and labor justice.

I Am Joaquin: a 1969 short film by Luis Valdez, a project of his . It is based on the poem “I Am Joaquín” by Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzáles, a key text of the Chicano movement.

Real Women Have Curves: “Real Women Have Curves” is a humorous and warmhearted look at a Mexican-American teenage girl coming of age in a boiling cauldron of cultural expectations, class constrictions, family duty, and her own personal aspirations.

Rubin Salazar: Man In The Middle: A documentary by Phillip Rodriguez, examines the life and mysterious death of pioneering journalist

The Longoria Affair: Tells the story of one key injustice—the refusal by a small-town funeral home in Texas after World War II to care for a dead Mexican-American soldier’s body “because the Whites wouldn’t like it”—and shows how the incident sparked outrage nationwide. The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 28

Appendix (continued) Walkout: A teacher (Michael Peña) becomes a mentor to Chicano high- school students protesting injustices in public schools in 1968.

Zootsuit: Mexican-American gangster Henry Reyna (Daniel Valdez) and others in his group are accused of a murder in which they had no part. They are then rounded up by the police because of their race and their choice of clothing.

Books Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo by Oscar Zeta Acosta

Bless Me Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya

Chicano Movement For Beginners by Maceo Montoya and Ilan Stavans PhD

¡Chicana Power!: Contested Histories of Feminism in the Chicano Movement (Chicana Matters) by Maylei Blackwell

Change from the Inside: My Life, the Chicano Movement, and the Story of an Era by Richard Alatorre and Marc Grossman

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

The Revolt of the Cockroach People by Oscar Zeta Acosta The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 29

HANDOUTS The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 30 WORKSHEET: Two-Minute Selfie Draw yourself...

on a bad day on a good day as a superhero

as a villain as a car as a house

as a leader as a monster as an animal The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 31

WORKSHEET(continues on the next page): The Anthropomorphic Super Self

What have other people told you that you excel at? What do you feel like you excel at?

How do you help others? What activities do you love to do?

= WHAT IS YOUR SUPEROWER? The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 32

Who do you protect and serve? (What people do you care about? Think about people you know, and also groups of people you want to advocate for/help):

What is your mission? (How can you use your superpower and skills to advocate, support or make change?):

What is your kryptonite/weakness? (What slows you down/gets in the way?):

Who is your archenemy? (Who/what are you fighting against to accomplish your mission?):

What is your tool to help forward your mission?:

What symbol represents you?:

What color is your costume—and why?:

What animal represents these qualities/best describes you?:

What is your anthropomorphic superhero name?:

The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 33 WORKSHEET: The Anthropomorphic Super Self

Draw yourself as:

(your superhero name) The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 34 VOCABULARY CARDS: The Chicano Movement

United Farm Workers of America (UFW) is a U.S. labour union founded in 1962 as the [Name of the Association] by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. The union merged with the American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) in 1966 and was re-formed under its current name in 1971 to achieve collective bargaining rights for farmworkers in the United States. National Farm In 2006 the UFW disaffiliated from the AFL- CIO and joined the labor federation Change Workers Association to Win. The UFW seeks to empower migrant farmworkers and improve their wages and working conditions. It also works to espouse nonviolence and to educate members on political and social issues.

- Britannica.com

As one of the formative organizations of the Chicana/o movement in the 1960s and ‘70s, [This group] waged a dynamic and controversial campaign in New Mexico for the recovery of Mexican and Spanish land grants that had been lost in the aftermath of the Alianza Federal de Mexican-American War in the mid- Mercedes 19th century.

- Forgotten Pueblos: La Alianza Federal de Mercedes and the Cultural Politics of Indo-Hispano by Simon Ventura Trujillo The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 35

VOCABULARY CARDS: The Chicano Movement

To withdraw from commercial or social relations with (a country, organization, or person) as a punishment or protest. A punitive ban that forbids relations Boycott with certain groups, cooperation with a policy, or the handling of goods.

-Dictionary.com

In 1947, a Federal court’s decision in Orange County ended Mexican American primary school segregation Mendez vs. in California and supported later civil rights struggles to end all segregation Westminster nationally.

-NPS.gov

In modern Chicano culture, [This place] represents an important symbol of spiritual and national unity. The term has also been used to mean the territories ceded to the United Aztlan States by Mexico with the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo in 1848—New Mexico and Arizona.

- ThoughtCo. The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 36

VOCABULARY CARDS: The Chicano Movement

The practice of achieving goals such as social change through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, satyagraha, or other methods, while being Nonviolent nonviolent. This type of action highlights the desires of an Resistance individual or group that feels that something needs to change to improve the current condition of the resisting person or group.

- Wikipedia.com

U.S. legislation (August 6, 1965) that aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote under the Fifteenth Amendment Voting Rights Act (1870) to the Constitution of the United States. The act significantly of 1965 widened the franchise and is considered among the most far- reaching pieces of civil rights legislation in U.S. history.

-Britannica.com The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 37

VOCABULARY CARDS: The Chicano Movement

The active, professed refusal of a citizen to obey certain laws of the state, and/or demands, orders, and Civil Disobedience commands of a government, or of an occupying international power.

- Wikipedia

September 8, 1965, Filipino American grape workers, members of the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, walked out on strike against Delano-area table and wine grape growers protesting Delano Grape years of poor pay and conditions. The Filipinos asked Cesar Chavez, Strike who led a mostly Latino farm workers union, the National Farm Workers Association, to join their strike.

- UFW.org

During the 1960’s an important component of El Movimiento Chicano was the involvement Chicano Arts of artists in this socio-political Movement movement.

-Chicanoart.org The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 38

VOCABULARY CARDS: The Chicano Movement

“A group of Chicano revolutionaries of all age’s from the barrios of the Southwest fighting for the self- determination of our people. We organize in our barrios, publish Brown Berets the newspaper La Causa, we ran a free clinic and fight against police brutality as well as against the U.S. war in Vietnam and Iraq.”

-nationalbrownberets.com

Refers to movements of group allegiance based on a shared heritage as in language, history, literature, songs, religion, ideology, Cultural symbols, land, or monuments. Emphasizes heritage or culture, Nationalism rather than race or ethnicity or institutions of statehood.

-Encyclopedia.com The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 39

Proposals Made By High School Students of East Los Angeles to the Board of Education

ACADEMIC month. The monies for these • Every teacher’s ratio of failure • No student or teacher will be programs will come from per students in his classroom reprimanded or suspended local funds, state funds and shall be made available to for participating in any efforts matching federal funds. community groups and which are executed for the students. Any teacher having • Administrators and teachers purpose of improving or a particularly high percentage who show any form of furthering the educational of the total school dropouts prejudice toward Mexican or quality in our schools. in his classes shall be rated Mexican-American students, by the Citizens Review Board • Bilingual-Bi-cultural including failure to recognize, composed of the Educational education will be compulsory understand, and appreciate Issues Committee. for Mexican-Americans in Mexican culture and heritage, the Los Angeles City School will be removed from East ADMINISTRATIVE System where there is a Los Angeles schools. This • Schools should have a majority of Mexican-American will be decided by a Citizens manager to take care of students. This program will be Review Board selected by the paper work and maintenance open to all other students on a Educational Issues Committee. supervision. Administrators voluntary basis. A) in-service • Textbooks and curriculum will will direct the Education education programs will be be developed to show Mexican standards of the School instituted immediately for all and Mexican-American instead of being head janitors staff in order to teach them contribution to the U.S. society and office clerks as they are the Spanish language and and to show the injustices today. increase their understanding that Mexicans have suffered of the history, traditions, and • School facilities should as a culture of that society. contributions of the Mexican be made available for Textbooks should concentrate culture. B) All administrators in community activities under on Mexican folklore rather the elementary and secondary the supervision of Parents’ than English folklore. schools in these areas will Councils (not PTA). Recreation become proficient in the • All administrators where programs for children will be Spanish language. Participants schools have majority of developed. are to be compensated during Mexican-American descent • No teacher will be dismissed the training period at not less shall be of Mexican-American or transferred because of than $8.80 an hour and upon descent. If necessary, training his political views and/or completion of the course will programs should be instituted philosophical disagreements receive in addition to their to provide a cadre of Mexican- with administrators. salary not less than $100.00 a American administrators. The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 40

Proposals Made By High School Students of East Los Angeles to the Board of Education

• Community parents will • Library facilities will be • Dress and grooming standards be engaged as teacher’s expanded in all East Los will be determined by a group aides. Orientation similar Angeles high schools. At of a) students and b) parents. to in-service training, will present the libraries in these • Student body offices shall be be provided, and they will high schools do not meet open to all students. A high be given status as semi- the educational needs of the grade point average shall professionals as in the new students. Sufficient library not be considered as a pre- careers concept. materials will be provided in requisite to eligibility. Spanish. • Entrances to all buildings • Open-air student eating areas FACILITIES and restrooms should be should be made into roofed • The Industrial Arts program accessible to all students eating malls. As an example, must be re-vitalized. Students during schools hours. Security Los Angeles High School. need proper training to use can be enforced by designated the machinery of modern • Proposals Made By High students. day industry. Up-to- School Students of East • Student menus should be date equipment and new Los Angeles to the Board of Mexican oriented. When operational techniques must Education Mexican food is served, replace the obsolescent mother from the barrios machines and outmoded STUDENT RIGHTS should come to the school and training methods currently • Corporal punishment will only help supervise the preparation being employed in this be administrated according to of the food. These mothers program. If this high standard State Law. cannot be met, the Industrial will meet the food handler Arts program will be de- • Teachers and administrators requirements of Los Angeles emphasized. will be rated by the students at City Schools and they will the end of each semester. be compensated for their • New high schools in the area services. must be immediately built. • Students should have access The new schools will be to any type of literature and • School janitorial services named by the community. should be allowed to bring it should be restricted to the At least two Senior High on campus. employees hired for that Schools and at least one purposes by the school board. • Students who spend time Junior High School must be Students will be punished by helping teachers shall be built. Marengo Street School picking up paper or trash and given monetary and/or credit must be reactivated to reduce keeping them out of class. compensation. the student-teacher load at • Only area superintendents can Murchison Street School. • Students will be allowed to suspend students. have guest speakers to club • The master plans for Garfield meetings. The only regulation High School and Roosevelt should be to inform the club High School must go into sponsor. effect immediately. The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo Educational Study Guide 41 Credits WRITTEN BY: Caits Meissner FUNDING FOR The Rise and Fall of the Brown Buffalo and EDITED BY: Caits Meissner, supporting materials was made Renée Gasch, Desiree Gutierrez, possible by: and Alison Sotomayor

LAYOUT BY: Zinna Riley

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