Hispanic and Latinx Heritage Month: read, watch, follow

"'We Are Owed' is the debut poetry collection of Ariana Brown, exploring Black relationality in Mexican and Mexican American spaces. Through poems about the author's childhood in Texas and a trip to Mexico as an adult, Brown interrogates the accepted origin stories of Mexican identity. We Are Owed asks the reader to develop a Black consciousness by rejecting U.S., Chicano, and Mexican nationalism and confronting anti-Black erasure and empire-building. As Brown searches for other Black kin in the same spaces through which she moves, her experiences of Blackness are placed in conversation with the histories of formerly enslaved Africans in Texas and Mexico. Esteban Dorantes, Gaspar Yanga, and the author's Black family members and friends populate the book as a protective and guiding force, building the 'we' evoked in the title and linking Brown to all other African-descended peoples living in what Saidiya Hartman calls 'the afterlife of slavery.'" (Publisher's Description)

"Seventeen-year-old Yamilet prefers drawing attention for her killer eyeliner, not for being one of the only Mexican kids at her new mostly white Catholic school. At least here no one knows she's gay, and she intends to keep it that way. After a harsh rejection from her crush at her old school, she could use the fresh start. ​It's harder to fake being straight when Bo, the only openly queer girl at school, is so annoyingly cute. Yami isn't sure if she likes Bo or if she's just jealous of her unapologetic nature. Either way, she isn't ready to make the same mistake again. If word got to her mom, she could face a lot worse than rejection. ​Here, she has new priorities. Make her mom proud, keep her brother out of trouble, and most importantly, don't fall in love. Granted, she's never been good at any of those things, but that's a problem for future Yami." (Author's Description)

"Traveling across the country, journalist Karla Cornejo Villavicencio risked arrest at every turn to report the extraordinary stories of her fellow undocumented Americans. Her subjects have every reason to be wary around reporters, but Cornejo Villavicencio has unmatched access to their stories... Cornejo Villavicencio powerfully reveals the hidden corners of our nation of immigrants. She brings to light remarkable stories of hope and resilience, and through them we come to understand what it truly means to be American." (Publisher's Description)

"'The Afro-Latin@ Reader' focuses attention on a large, vibrant, yet oddly invisible community in the United States: people of African descent from Latin America and the Caribbean. The presence of Afro-Latin@s in the United States (and throughout the Americas) belies the notion that Blacks and Latin@s are two distinct categories or cultures. Afro-Latin@s are uniquely situated to bridge the widening social divide between Latin@s and African Americans; at the same time, their experiences reveal pervasive racism among Latin@s and ethnocentrism among African Americans... The contributions that Afro-Latin@s have made to U.S. culture are highlighted in essays on the illustrious Afro-Puerto Rican bibliophile Arturo Alfonso Schomburg and music and dance genres from salsa to mambo, and from boogaloo to hip hop. Taken together, these and many more selections help to bring Afro-Latin@s in the United States into critical view." (Publisher's description)

"In East Los Angeles, an 18-year-old struggles between her ambitions of going to college and the desires of her domineering mother for her to get married, have children, and oversee the small, rundown family-owned textile factory." (IMDB Description)

"An Emmy award-winning feature documentary that follows the remarkable story of three Latina immigrants working in Los Angeles garment sweatshops as they embark on a three-year odyssey to win basic labor protections from a trendy clothing retailer. In intimate verite style, 'Made in LA' reveals the impact of the struggle on each woman’s life as they are gradually transformed by the experience. Compelling, humorous, deeply human, 'Made in L.A.' is a story about immigration, the power of unity, and the courage it takes to find your voice." (Kanopy Description)

"'Under the Same Moon' puts a human face — several very appealing faces — on the dilemma of Mexican 'illegals' living and working clandestinely in the United States and the loved ones back home they’re supporting. Rosario, a young single parent, left her village four years ago and jumped the border to find work in Los Angeles; ever since, she and son Carlitos, now nine, haven’t seen each other, but she faithfully calls him from the same street-corner pay phone every Sunday morning. When Rosario’s mother — the boy’s guardian — dies in her sleep, Carlitos taps into an impressive reservoir of street smarts and contrives his own border crossing. The border is just the first of many obstacles to a mother-and-child reunion — not least the fact that the only address the boy has for Rosario is a mental image of the corner she always phones from." (Director's Description)