POV

La Boda
Hannah Weyer first explored migrant life and border culture in "La Boda," which premiered on P.O.V. in 2000. The film follows Liliana's sister, Elizabeth, a 22-year-old Mexican-American migrant farmworker in the weeks leading up to her wedding. Along the way stereotypes about migrant life and border culture disintegrate and the funny, moving and heartfelt portrait of a family and a way of life emerges.

United Farm Workers
The most established organization for the protection and advancement of migrant workers. Send an action alert to government officials, watch a movie on Cesar Chavez or join the UFW's email update list to keep current on migrant issues.

Office of Migrant Education
The Office of Migrant Education gives federal grants to programs focused on migrant education. Migrant families can call 1-800-234-8848 for the nearest migrant education program.

Rural Migration News
Online newsbrief based in California, diligently tracks Mexican-American labor issues and concerns relevant to migrant workers' lives.

Commission for Farm Workers' Rights
An organization based in California dedicated to helping local farm workers take back their rights. They operate an online newswire of articles covering local migrant issues and hold weekly meetings.

National Council of La Raza (NCLR)
NCLR works on the national and local level serving the Hispanic community as a think tank and educational resource for community-based groups. Version en EspaÒol.

Child and Adolescent Farmworkers in the United States
This report published by Human Rights Watch (HRW) vividly describes the total cost of working in the fields, using statistics and research to further educate the reader.

PBS Online: History of the American School System
This site offers an informational guide through the turbulent history of the American public school system. See what Liliana Luis went through in her attempts to adjust, socially and academically to high school.

Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)
MALDEF is a non-profit Latino litigation, advocacy and educational outreach institution, and operates an informative web site covering the legal issues affecting Mexican-Americans.

National Center for Farmworker Health (NCFH)
Based in Texas, NCFH works to improve the health status of farmworker families by providing informational services and managing more than 500 migrant health center service sites in the United States.

California Migrant Education Program.
Overview of the actual state policies dealing with migrant education in California, including descriptions of local, statewide and binational programs.


RECOMMENDED READING

This Migrant Earth
By Tom·s Rivera
Tom·s Rivera has been one of the most influential voices in Chicano literature. Starting as a migrant worker, he went on to become the Chancellor of the University of California at Riverside. With this book published in 1987, he formed the basis of the literary Chicano/a movement.

Y No Se Lo Trago la Tierra (And the Earth Did Not Swallow Him)
By Tom·s Rivera
Considered by many to be the seminal book in the Chicano search for identity, Rivera sets the novel in 1952, as twelve-year-old Marcos watches his family struggle with prejudice and injustice as they move from Texas to Minnesota following the crops.

Voices from the Fields: Children of Migrant Farm Workers Tell Their Stories
By S. Beth Atkin
In evocative photographs and candid first-person interviews, migrant worker's children show what life is like for them, in the fields and with their families. Atkin captures the children in their imagined and real landscapes, using their own words.

Barrios and Borderlands: Cultures of Latinos and Latinas in the United States
By Denis Heyck and Lynn Daly
This is a marvelous anthology for those interested in major aspects of Latino cultures including literature, cultural anthropology, ethnography, religion, the arts, community studies, and immigration studies. Fiction and non-fiction sources are included.

Migrant Farm Workers: The Temporary People
By Linda Jacobs Altman
Recounts the history of migrant labor, tracing the social, economic, and political forces that molded the lives of migrant workers during this century. Including the Great Depression, the "bracero" program, and the United Farm Workers.

Zoot Suit and Other Plays
By Luis Valdez
This collection of plays is written by the founding director of El Teatro Campesino and contains groundbreaking work in Chicano theater. Containing three of Luis Valdez's most important and recognized plays — "Zoot Suit," "Bandido!," and "I Don't Have to Show You No Stinking Badges" — it's the theatrical farmworker's bible.

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