Cam uses creativity and storytelling to engage nontraditional park attendees. He described how he first was introduced to Yosemite and how that planted a seed for his current career. He works to make the park more inclusive specifically for Latinos and representative of our local demographics for visitors and employees. He reminds us that not only do the parks preserve wild spaces but they also maintain and tell the stories of people, places, and events of the U.S. civil rights movement. He discusses labor leaders César Chávez, Richard Chávez, and Dolores Huerta.

Cam was born to migrant farmworker parents in Yuma, Arizona. His mother Adela helped to put 7 of her 9 children through college, with 5 of them earning advanced degrees from universities all over the country. Cam has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona in Mexican American Studies; as well as a Master’s degree in Urban Planning –pursuing both degrees while working full-time. Cam is a community and education advocate, serving as both a founding member of the Arizona César E. Chávez Holiday Coalition and a Tucson Unified Governing Board member (2012- 2016).

Part 2 of a 2 part series.

Recorded and produced by Amanda Shauger.

Cam uses creativity and storytelling to engage nontraditional park attendees. He described how he first was introduced to Yosemite and how that planted a seed for his current career. He works to make the park more inclusive specifically for Latinos and representative of our local demographics for visitors and employees. He reminds us that not only do the parks preserve wild spaces but they also maintain and tell the stories of people, places, and events of the U.S. civil rights movement. He discusses labor leaders César Chávez, Richard Chávez, and Dolores Huerta.

Cam was born to migrant farmworker parents in Yuma, Arizona. His mother Adela helped to put 7 of her 9 children through college, with 5 of them earning advanced degrees from universities all over the country. Cam has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona in Mexican American Studies; as well as a Master’s degree in Urban Planning –pursuing both degrees while working full-time. Cam is a community and education advocate, serving as both a founding member of the Arizona César E. Chávez Holiday Coalition and a Tucson Unified Governing Board member (2012- 2016).

Part 1 of a 2 part series.

Recorded and produced by Amanda Shauger.

Héctor Tobar is a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and novelist. He is the author of the New York Times best-seller “Deep Down Dark,” as well as “The Barbarian Nurseries,” “Translation Nation” and “The Tattooed Soldier.” Tobar is also a contributing writer for the New York Times opinion pages and an associate professor at the University of California, Irvine. He has written for The New Yorker, the Los Angeles Times, and other publications. His short fiction has appeared in Best American Short Stories, L.A. Noir, ZYZZYVA, and Slate. The son of Guatemalan immigrants, he is a native of Los Angeles, where he lives with his family. His new novel is “The Last Great Road Bum.”

Lynn Wiese Sneyd is the literary consultant for the Tucson Festival of Books and the owner of LWS Literary Services, an agency focusing on editing and publicity for authors. She has written numerous books including the award-winning memoirs “The Horse Lover” and “Cowboy Up,” both co-authored with Alan Day. Last June, the writing team launched The Cowboy Up Podcast, which airs on Apple and Spotify. 

Recorded and produced by Amanda Shauger

Pre-Register for your favorite festival sessions now!

Festival Staff / February 26, 2021

Festival events will be available to view on March 6 beginning at 9:00 am. Most festival events will be taking place live (click here for a schedule) and will allow you to chat with your fellow audience members and ask the author/authors questions! Pre-registering won’t allow you to access festival sessions early, but it will make it faster to get in on event day. Want to learn how? Click here for a short video created by our friends at the Arizona Daily Star.

Not interested in watching a video? Here are step-by-step instructions:

How to sign up for this weekend’s festival presentations and the Friday Night Event.

There are two ways to watch Tucson Festival of Books author presentations this weekend. And a third way to watch Friday night’s pre-festival extravaganza.

The festival is using a video tool similar to Facebook or Zoom. The video tool is called Crowdcast. Just like Zoom you use your email to sign up for Crowdcast. Unlike zoom, you will not end up on the screen as part of the presentation.

The Friday Night Event sign-up is pretty simple. Click on the link below, type in your email address and we’ll send you an email when it’s time for you to join us on Friday, March 5 at 5:30 p.m. Hosted by festival favorite and NPR host Scott Simon, this exciting hourlong event will begin with entertainment by Willy Vlautin, includes the presentation of the Tucson Festival of Books Founders Award to best-selling author Lisa See and is followed by a conversation between Scott and U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins.

Don’t miss this kick-off of our 2021 virtual festival! Register here today!

The two ways to watch the Tucson Festival of Books author presentations are nearly equally as simple, just different.

Way No. 1.

Go to the Presenting Author Schedule, which is live on our website at tucsonfestivalofbooks.org

Browse through the extensive list of sessions we will offer on March 6 & 7 and make a personalized list of events you want to see. Click here to see the full schedule. 

Once you are on that schedule, click on the title/name of the event you want to watch. For example: Searching for Heroes with Brad Meltzer–do not click the name of the presenting author(s) you will not be taken to the correct place.

This is what you’ll find:

Searching for Heroes with Brad Meltzer

If there is one thing he has learned and one thread that connects all of Brad Meltzer’s best-selling books, it is that ordinary people become heroes who save the world. Cases in point? The heroes and books he will discuss with us today: “The Lincoln Conspiracy,” “I Am Frida Kahlo” and “A New Day.”

See the broadcast icon followed by “Watch broadcast”? Click on that and you’ll be asked for your email. If you have not already created a crowdcast account, you will be sent an email to register for the session. You will need to exit the festival website and go to your email to login. Remember, this email is from crowdcast and may land in your junk/SPAM folder. That email won’t work for all presentations on festival weekend, just this one session. You will need to follow these steps for each session you would like to see.

Way No. 2–Big Timesaver on Festival Days

Go to crowdcast.io/tfob

You’ll think you’re in the wrong place because you won’t see the schedule of TFOB events. Don’t worry. You’re at the right place. In the left-hand corner are three lines and three figures (people icons). Go to “sign in.” I know, that doesn’t seem right, but it is. Type in your email address, click on the arrow and an email link will be sent to your email. Go to your email and click on the link to sign into Crowdcast. Once there you can add a password to your account. Adding this password will save you tons of time on festival weekend because you will be able to enter sessions without having to go back and forth between festival sessions and your email to get in. To add a password, click the icon in the upper left corner again, scroll down to settings. Once in settings scroll way, way down to the bottom past the payment info. Crowdcast accounts are always free for viewers. Enter a password in the box that says add password. After signing in so you can quickly click on the events you want to see when the weekend rolls around. In essence, You now have a password that works for every event.

It is some work…but will save you time!

Note that your crowdcast username and password will get you into all events (unless they fill up). This is unlike previous years where you needed individual tickets for each of the events you wanted to see.

Important! All of these steps and presentations work much more smoothly on a laptop or desktop computer. Much of the functionality of these programs are lost on a tablet or phone. The ability to chat, sign up for a password, and/or ask a question of a presenter during the festival weekend are often difficult or entirely absent when using a tablet (iPad) or phone.

Questions? Email info@tucsonfestivalofbooks.org.

Henry Barajas has been writing, lettering, editing, and publishing comics for ten years. Recently, he scripted and lettered a short story for Image Comics’ Where We Live Benefit Anthology—100% of the proceeds were donated to Route 91 Strong, a non-profit organization.

He was a deejay for KXCI, the online editor of the Tucson Weekly, former Arizona Daily Star writer/news assistant, and was nominated for the Shel Dorf Blogger of the Year award for his work at The Beat. Currently, he’s the Operations Director for Top Cow Productions in Los Angeles, CA.

He is about to launch the first part of a 4 part Latinx fantasy series called Helm Greycastle on April 28^th. Barajas took combined his passion for fantasy novels and books and created an alternate universe where the Aztec Empire defeated the Spanish Conquistadors.

Recorded and produced by Amanda Shauger.

People interested in the film festival are invited to watch the films at home and join the discussion via zoom. Ms. Sykes spoke about the animated short Hair Love and tied it into the Black Women’s Task Force’s efforts to initiate a CROWN act in the city of Tucson. CROWN is an acronym for Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair. The CROWN Act was created in 2019 by Dove and the CROWN Coalition to ensure protection against discrimination based on race-based hairstyles by extending statutory protection to hair texture and protective styles such as braids, locs, twists, and knots in the workplace and public schools. The Tucson City Council is going to have a study session for implementation in Tucson.

The Tucson Black Film Club presents the 2021 TUCSON BLACK FILM FESTIVAL

First: Watch the videos on your own.
     Akeelah and the Bee is included in HBO and Amazon Prime subscriptions; costs $3.99 on YouTube, Google Play, iTunes, Vudu, etc.
     Sounder screens free of charge at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GMD5Pg-IrTk&feature=emb_logo.
     Hair Love is also free on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNw8V_Fkw28.
Second: Join the Tucson Black Film Club for a synopsis of the films and an online discussion at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89660902504 
on Saturday, February 20, 2021 from 1:00 – 3:00pm.

Akeelah and the Bee, 2006 Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, and Keke Palmer dazzle in this inspiring story of a young girl’s talent, determination, and achievement. The winner of an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture, this film will make you cheer and is perfect for Black History
Month. There will be special participation in the Akeelah and the Bee discussion with the NAACP Tucson.

Sounder, 1972 The late Cicely Tyson as well as Paul Winfield star in this box-office hit that earned numerous Academy Award nominations as well as awards from several international and national film societies. It’s about love, survival, and hard choices.

The animated short Hair Love rounds out this mini-festival.

Sponsors include St. Mark’s Presbyterian Church and Africana Studies at the University of Arizona.

Recorded and produced by Amanda Shauger.

She gave an overview of how their work has shifted from the Obama administration to the Trump administration to the beginning of the Biden administration. Keep Tucson Together is a project of No More Deaths that works side by side with community members applying for status or facing deportation and that trains participants to help each other through the immigration court process. KTT also works with the national movement to give sanctuary to those facing removal, and to stop the raids and deportations. KTT’s legal team helps people who are eligible for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA) to file their documents. KTT maintains a bond fund to get people out of immigration detention. KTT helps people become United States citizenship.

Margo Cowan has been an advocate for migrant justice for more than 30 years and has been involved with the Migrant Trail since its first journey in 2004. Before becoming an attorney, she was a farmworker organizer mentored by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. Margo’s efforts in the areas of border and immigration policy, as well as the development and representation of undocumented persons and refugees, has spanned decades. She is a Defense Attorney for the Pima County Public Defender, was the lead counsel for the Sanctuary movement, where churches and synagogues offered sanctuary to the undocumented facing deportation and co-founded the organization No More Deaths, which seeks to reduce the number of deaths in the Arizona Desert.

Recorded and produced by Amanda Shauger.

Amalia C. Mora is an ethnomusicologist whose research focuses on how gender-based violence is implicated in various kinds of popular narratives and how these narratives are negotiated “on the ground.” Her specific areas of research and expertise include gender violence in relation to performance, tourism and cultural production, race, and nationalism; the music and dance of India and Latin America; musicodance traditions and healing; sex work and the political economy of intimacy; and mixed race body politics. She moved to Tucson in 2016 after receiving her doctorate from UCLA, which explored the relationship between sexual violence, racialized narratives on dancers and their bodies, and women who perform for tourists in Goa, India.

Prior to joining the Consortium team, she contributed to the Tucson Museum of Art folklife collection as a researcher and writer and had the honor of serving as Folklorist in Residence for the Southwest Folklife Alliance as well as a Visiting Folklorist for the Tucson Meet Yourself annual festival. Amalia’s role with the Consortium consists of managing the center’s Innovation Fund and academic and student engagement portfolio, including its annual Speakers Series as well as student-focused academic and creative initiatives. She is also an affiliated faculty member in the Human Rights Practice Program who has taught a course on the Me Too movement in India and the US and is a dedicated mentor who loves to help create career pathways for students.

Amalia is also a performing artist who has received training in music, dance, theater, and creative writing from institutions and professionals including the Colburn Music Academy, UCLA, Kyra Humphrey (Los Angeles Master Chorale), Khori Dastoor (Los Angeles Opera, Opera San Jose), and Liz Lira (25-time world champion dancer). Her writing on the intersection of performance, race, and gender violence has appeared in a wide variety of publications. Amalia loves living in Tucson, where her abuela’s family migrated en route to California from Sonora many years ago.

Mission

Our mission is to bring together interdisciplinary, cutting-edge interventions on gender-based violence in order to foster synergy between research, pedagogy, outreach, service, and student engagement both on and off-campus. We serve as a research and resource center for UA faculty, students, and staff through:

• Seed funding for innovative research and programming
• Assessment and evaluation services to ensure best practice in campus policies & programs
• Partnerships on and off-campus to develop, implement, and evaluate science-based interventions to address gender-based violence
• Academic opportunities and resources for students, faculty, and staff

Research

We strive to generate and circulate innovative conversations and analysis through supporting cutting-edge research on gender-based violence by UA faculty, staff, and students. We also envision collaborating with campus partners to develop a research-to-practice model for violence prevention and response, as well as working with community partners to strengthen gender-based violence prevention efforts in greater Tucson.

• Arizona Safer Bars Alliance (ASBA): Though a 3 million dollar grant awarded by the Arizona Department of Health Services and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Consortium operates a research project to study a sexual assault prevention program in bars.
• Sexual Assault Resistance Program: Through a 2 million dollar grant funded by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, the Consortium is currently implementing and conducting research and evaluation on an acquaintance rape prevention program for college freshmen.
• Evaluation with SIROW: The Consortium contracts the Southwest Institute for Research on Women (SIROW) to provide evaluation services for prevention and response programming on campus, as well as for our Innovation Fund projects.

Engagement

We work with faculty to integrate discussions of gender-based violence into the classroom through providing content expertise, curriculum development, and a new matching grant initiative through the Student-Faculty Interaction program. We also help to create career pathways for students through internships and opportunities to engage and collaborate with experts in the field.

• Speakers Series: The Consortium hosts two fall events and one spring event as part of its new Speakers Series, which allows U of Arizona students, staff, and faculty to engage with renowned scholars, activists, and artists whose work focuses on understanding and eradicating gender-based violence. Our Fall 2019 Speakers Series events were A Fireside Chat with ‘me too.’ Movement founder Tarana Burke and A Reading by Writer and Activist Lacy M. Johnson. We will be announcing our Spring 2020 event soon.
• 2020 Special Issue and Contest: The Consortium is partnering with the Sonora Review, the oldest graduate student-run literary journal in the country, on a special online issue and nonfiction contest. The theme of the issue and contest is “Extinction,” and will explore the intersection of gender-based violence and various other forms of irreversible harm (against the planet, other species, and ourselves).
• We are collaborating to develop an online graduate certificate in gender-based violence studies, which will be run and housed within the University of Arizona’s Human Rights Practice Program. The certificate will provide students with an advanced framework for understanding the root causes of gender-based violence, as well as training in applying this knowledge to advance the well-being, equality, and human rights of those most impacted. This will be the only certificate program in the United States that integrates and centralizes the study of femicide/feminicide, or the killing of women and girls because they are female. More information on this certificate program will be coming soon.

Incubating Projects

The Consortium provides seed funding for evidence-based campus programming as well as through our Innovation Fund. One of our most exciting accomplishments to date was the spearheading of the University of Arizona’s first Survivor Advocacy program. Learn more about our funding opportunities funding opportunities.

Text is courtesy from the Consortium on Gender-Based Violence.

Recorded and produced by Amanda Shauger. We spoke with Amalia Mora and others in 2017 ahead of its inaugural conference.

Alicia Sanders-Zakre is the Policy and Research Coordinator at the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. She directs and coordinates research on the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, and general nuclear weapons policy. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) enters into force on January 22, 2021.

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is a coalition of non-governmental organizations in one hundred countries promoting adherence to and implementation of the United Nations nuclear weapon ban treaty. This landmark global agreement was adopted in New York on July 7, 2017. After the 50th country ratified the treaty in October 2020, then the date for the treaty to go into effect became January 22, 2021.

They were awarded the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize for their “work to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons” and “ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons”.

Sanders-Zakre discussed the historic treaty and its process. She also discussed the universities that are involved in nuclear weapons research, including the University of Arizona. More information is about the treaty is available at ICANW.org.

I learned about ICAN and Sanders-Zakre from local anti-nuclear stalwarts Jack and Felice Cohen-Joppa. The Nuclear Resister networks the anti-nuclear and anti-war resistance movement while acting as a clearinghouse for information about contemporary nonviolent resistance to war and the nuclear threat. Our emphasis is on support for the women and men jailed for these actions.  This blog is the online companion to the quarterly Nuclear Resister newsletter, a more comprehensive chronicle. More information about their organization and newsletter and local efforts is available on their website nukeresister.org.

Randy Serraglio discussed steps that the Biden administration can take with newly appointed Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland. Haaland is an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo and a 35th-generation New Mexican. When confirmed, she will become the first Native American to run the Department of the Interior and the first Native American Cabinet secretary in U.S. history.

He also discussed policies that are rooted in racism and white supremacy and how we must dismantle racism and white supremacy in the dominant culture, in our own organizations, and in ourselves.

Randy Serraglio, Southwest Conservation Advocate, works on a variety of public-lands and other conservation issues in Arizona and the Southwest. He joined the Center in 2007 and currently leads the Center’s effort to stop proposed copper mines at Rosemont and Oak Flat, advocates for the jaguar and other protected southwestern species, and works to stop the border wall and destructive militarization of the border region. A veteran of many environmental and human rights campaigns, he holds a bachelor’s in Latin American studies from the University of Arizona.

Ron Barber was Gabrielle Giffords District Director at the time of the shooting and was seriously wounded. He later represented Southern Arizona from June 2012 to January 2015. Ron currently is president of the board of the January 8th Memorial Foundation.

Ron Barber discussed how he first got to know Gabrielle Giffords while she was still an Arizona State Legislator. He described the moments before the brief 19 seconds and 33 bullets of the shooting- and its aftermath- including the importance of the spontaneous memorials created by Tucsonans immediately after the shooting.

Ron spoke about creating the Fund for Civility, Respect, and Understanding while still in the hospital to help fund mental health and anti-bullying initiatives. Initial funding came from a star-studded concert in March 2011 featuring Jackson Browne, Crosby & Nash, Calexico, Ozomatli, Keb Mo’, Sam Moore, Dar Williams, Nils Lofgren, Alice Cooper, and more.

He then spoke about the commemorative ceremony that will take place on January 8, 2021, dedicating a memorial at the Historic County Courthouse created for the victims, survivors, and first responders of the Tucson shooting that claimed six lives. Because of the ongoing pandemic, the event may be viewed on Pima County’s Facebook Page. 

Finally, Barber says that it is not the shooting that defines Tucson, but it is our actions as a community that define us.

The Memorial, which is located just west of the Historic Courthouse in El Presidio Park and called “Embrace,” tells the story of the lives lost and people wounded at the hand of a gunman on January 8, 2011, at Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ “Congress on Your Corner” event in Tucson. Here is the artist statement by Rebeca Mendez.

Ron administered human service agencies in Arizona for 34 years prior to his work with Congresswoman Giffords. He has served on the boards of nonprofit agencies including Governors Council on Community Coordinated Child Care, United Way, Governors Council on Developmental Disabilities, Southern Arizona Mental Health Corporation, COPE, Our Family Services, Chair, Pima County HIV/Aids Planning Committee, founder and president of the Educational Enrichment Foundation and Board of Trustees of the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona.

Recorded and produced by Amanda Shauger

Pima County Press Release, December 15, 2020:

Dedication of January 8 Memorial will take place on 10-year anniversary of shooting

 A commemorative ceremony will take place on Jan. 8, 2021, dedicating a memorial at the Historic County Courthouse created for the victims, survivors, and first responders of the Tucson shooting that claimed six lives. Because of the ongoing pandemic, the event may be viewed on Pima County’s Facebook Page. 

The dedication will include:

• Presentation of flags from an honor guard comprising representatives from the Northwest Fire District, Pima County Sheriff’s Department, and other first responders
• Opening prayer offered by Rev. Joe Fitzgerald, Banner University Medical Center chaplain
• Remarks from Ron Barber, president of the January 8 Foundation’s Board of Directors who was wounded in the attack
• Bell ringing at exactly 10:10 a.m. to coincide with when the first shots were fired

The ceremony will then segue into an eight-minute video produced by Pima County’s Communications Office reviewing some of the events of the day, an introduction to the Memorial, how it came together and the reactions of some of the survivors and family members of victims who have toured the Memorial.

The Memorial, which is located just west of the Historic Courthouse in El Presidio Park and called “Embrace,” tells the story of the lives lost and people wounded at the hand of a gunman on January 8, 2011, at Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords’ “Congress on Your Corner” event in Tucson. It features sloping walls that depict symbols embodying the values and interests held by each of the six people who died and the 13 survivors.

In addition, the Memorial showcases symbols dedicated to the community of first responders, Tucson’s history, and the aspirations of the community for the future. The Memorial also features gardens named for each of the six victims.

Tucson’s January 8th Memorial Foundation is a non-profit 501c3 that was organized to fund and build a permanent memorial commemorating the Jan. 8 shootings. The firm CHEE SALETTE, founded in 2009 by Tina Chee and Marc Salette, created the January 8th Memorial following a national design competition.

County officials hope to have the Memorial open to the public by early February, depending on the status of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

He’s also the co-founder of HCW Hosted. HCW Hosted is a grassroots community-based organization mobilizing to meet healthcare worker needs during COVID-19 and any future pandemic threats likely to occur in our near future. An overlooked aspect of pandemic preparedness and response is the preparation of healthcare and critical infrastructure workers for lengthy periods of time when they put their families at heightened risk of infection.

HCW Hosted started out as a Tucson community-based initiative to help assure the well-being of HealthCare Workers (HCWs) throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Their initiative is responsive to the feedback of HCWs and their families.

Currently, they provide support to healthcare workers looking for housing during the COVID-19 pandemic to prevent family members from becoming infected. This happens by helping them find suitable places to self-quarantine, ideally with their colleagues. In addition to housing, their goal is to monitor the ongoing health status of HCWs, offer social and logistical support services for their partners/spouses and children, and connect them to emotional health services.

HCW Hosted believes that supporting HealthCare workers and their families will improve health outcomes in our community.

Learn more about their services and how you can help on their website HCWHosted.org. You can follow them on Twitter at @hcwhosted and Facebook at @hcwhosted.

Recorded and produced by Amanda Shauger.

Blax Friday is a community organization created in the summer of 2020, that spotlights Black businesses in Arizona. Their goals are representation and economic empowerment of Black business owners. They spotlight businesses through our website, iOS app, social marketing, promotions, weekly newsletters, and community events. They are Black business owners who joined forces to build a bridge between their Black Owned Businesses and the communities they serve in Arizona. They are focused on positive actionable steps towards inclusivity and equity.

“This project was created to take away emphasis from using “Black” as a discount code via Black Friday. In turn, we created Blax Friday where people shop at Black Owned Businesses” — Khailill P.

“Having grown up in Tucson, and seeing little acknowledgment of the Black community, it’s very encouraging to see so many people jumping on board to support and empower Black businesses. I’m personally receiving a lot of DMs from people who are eager and excited to buy Black! The fact that (Blax Friday) got organized so quickly is amazing.” — Fiona C.

With the desire for more representation and inclusive spaces, Blax Friday has created a promotional campaign for Black Businesses during the 2020 holiday season. This will allow opportunities to build awareness and bridges within our community while offering an accessible guide and limited capacity pop-up events that amplify Black businesses in lieu of the stressful undertakings at big box stores on Black Friday. The pop-up events on Blax Friday, November 27th will invite the community to actively locate Black Businesses via the Holla–Day Shopping guide while exploring community partner spaces for #blaxfriday promotions.

“Black Businesses are organizing, celebrating, and building resiliency plans to survive the effects of COVID-19, racial injustice, and economic disparities of financial support. The data and news show the world that we all need to do more in order to preserve the growth of local small businesses. As a community, we can change the ways of the past to propel ourselves into a positive future”. — Ashley La Russa

Roux Events is an event management company founded in Tucson, Arizona with a primary focus on supporting the growth of organizations and community leaders that foster equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives.

Recorded and produced by Amanda Shauger.

CAJUA is a coalition of students, staff, and faculty fighting for equity, transparency, and representation. They say that it is their love for and belief in the university that obliges them to imagine and create a compassionate, collaborative, and just University of Arizona.

Furthering the work of CAJUA, on August 18, 2020, they formed Local 7065, the United Campus Workers (UCW) of Arizona, and became part of the national movement of the Communications Workers of America (CWA).

Felise Tagaban is Diné, Tlingit, & Filipino. Her mom is from Black Mesa, AZ on the Navajo Nation. Her dad is from Petersburg, Alaska. She is proud to be a guest on the lands of the Tohono O’odham as a 1st-year doctoral student in the U of A Higher Education program. She is also a graduate student adviser for Native SOAR (Student Outreach, Access, and Resiliency), a multigenerational service-learning mentoring program that equips undergraduate students at the University of Arizona (UA) to mentor local middle and high school students.

Leila Hudson is an Associate Professor in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences where she is Associate Professor of Modern Middle East Culture & Political Economy. She is also a UA Faculty Senator.

Miranda Schubert is an Academic Advisor in the College of Medicine Department of Physiology. She is a member of the CAJUA steering committee and the union steering committee. Full disclosure- Miranda is a DJ on KXCI’s Tuesday Early Morning Music Mix.

More information is available at https://www.cajuarizona.com/.

Recorded and produced by Amanda Shauger.

We invited all Arizona Corporation Commission Candidates for interviews. Only Mr. Mundell and two other candidates responded. Lea Márquez Peterson and Shea Stanfield were interviewed in a previous episode of this series.

KXCI Community Radio is pleased to partner with The League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson to provide a series of shows called Your Arizona Voting Guide leading up to the general election on November 3rd. This weekly half-hour series will air at 3:30 p.m. on Sundays beginning August 16th.

During any election season, we always can count on a bombardment of political ads that tell us all the wonderful things every candidate has done and everything that’s wrong with their opponent. In addition, all too often, political consultants advise their candidates not to accept invitations to participate in public forums with their opponents to lessen the chance they’ll say something off-script. That results in very limited opportunities to hear directly from candidates and limits voter access to information about candidates and their positions on issues to scripted ads and sound bites.

During the lead up to the November 3rd General Election, the League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson is interviewing candidates for the Arizona Corporation Commission, which is a State of Arizona office. In addition, the League will interview candidates running for Pima County offices: Sheriff, Recorder, and Treasurer. League member, Vivian Harte, serves as host of the program. To aid voters in making informed decisions at the polls, candidates for each respective position are being asked the same questions. KXCI 91.3 FM Community Radio is partnering with the League to air these interviews with the community.

In addition, members of the League will be interviewed about various topics, including what to know about registering to vote in Pima County, ballot propositions, getting out the vote during the COVID-19 pandemic, speeches offered by the League, and League activities promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages the informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

CONTACT: Vivian Harte, League@lwvgt.com, 520-327-7652

Recorded and produced by 30 Minutes Producer Amanda Shauger.

KXCI Community Radio is pleased to partner with The League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson to provide a series of shows called Your Arizona Voting Guide leading up to the general election on November 3rd. This weekly half-hour series will air at 3:30 p.m. on Sundays beginning August 16th.

During any election season, we always can count on a bombardment of political ads that tell us all the wonderful things every candidate has done and everything that’s wrong with their opponent. In addition, all too often, political consultants advise their candidates not to accept invitations to participate in public forums with their opponents to lessen the chance they’ll say something off-script. That results in very limited opportunities to hear directly from candidates and limits voter access to information about candidates and their positions on issues to scripted ads and sound bites.

During the lead up to the November 3rd General Election, the League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson is interviewing candidates for the Arizona Corporation Commission, which is a State of Arizona office. In addition, the League will interview candidates running for Pima County offices: Sheriff, Recorder, and Treasurer. League member, Vivian Harte, serves as host of the program. To aid voters in making informed decisions at the polls, candidates for each respective position are being asked the same questions. KXCI 91.3 FM Community Radio is partnering with the League to air these interviews with the community.

In addition, members of the League will be interviewed about various topics, including what to know about registering to vote in Pima County, ballot propositions, getting out the vote during the COVID-19 pandemic, speeches offered by the League, and League activities promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages the informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

CONTACT: Vivian Harte, League@lwvgt.com, 520-327-7652

Recorded and produced by 30 Minutes Producer Amanda Shauger.

KXCI Community Radio is pleased to partner with The League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson to provide a series of shows called Your Arizona Voting Guide leading up to the general election on November 3rd. This weekly half-hour series will air at 3:30 p.m. on Sundays beginning August 16th.

During any election season, we always can count on a bombardment of political ads that tell us all the wonderful things every candidate has done and everything that’s wrong with their opponent. In addition, all too often, political consultants advise their candidates not to accept invitations to participate in public forums with their opponents to lessen the chance they’ll say something off-script. That results in very limited opportunities to hear directly from candidates and limits voter access to information about candidates and their positions on issues to scripted ads and sound bites.

During the lead up to the November 3rd General Election, the League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson is interviewing candidates for the Arizona Corporation Commission, which is a State of Arizona office. In addition, the League will interview candidates running for Pima County offices: Sheriff, Recorder, and Treasurer. League member, Vivian Harte, serves as host of the program. To aid voters in making informed decisions at the polls, candidates for each respective position are being asked the same questions. KXCI 91.3 FM Community Radio is partnering with the League to air these interviews with the community.

In addition, members of the League will be interviewed about various topics, including what to know about registering to vote in Pima County, ballot propositions, getting out the vote during the COVID-19 pandemic, speeches offered by the League, and League activities promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages the informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

CONTACT: Vivian Harte, League@lwvgt.com, 520-327-7652

Recorded and produced by 30 Minutes Producer Amanda Shauger.

KXCI Community Radio is pleased to partner with The League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson to provide a series of shows called Your Arizona Voting Guide leading up to the general election on November 3rd. This weekly half-hour series will air at 3:30 p.m. on Sundays beginning August 16th.

During any election season, we always can count on a bombardment of political ads that tell us all the wonderful things every candidate has done and everything that’s wrong with their opponent. In addition, all too often, political consultants advise their candidates not to accept invitations to participate in public forums with their opponents to lessen the chance they’ll say something off-script. That results in very limited opportunities to hear directly from candidates and limits voter access to information about candidates and their positions on issues to scripted ads and sound bites.

During the lead up to the November 3rd General Election, the League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson is interviewing candidates for the Arizona Corporation Commission, which is a State of Arizona office. In addition, the League will interview candidates running for Pima County offices: Sheriff, Recorder, and Treasurer. League member, Vivian Harte, serves as host of the program. To aid voters in making informed decisions at the polls, candidates for each respective position are being asked the same questions. KXCI 91.3 FM Community Radio is partnering with the League to air these interviews with the community.

In addition, members of the League will be interviewed about various topics, including what to know about registering to vote in Pima County, ballot propositions, getting out the vote during the COVID-19 pandemic, speeches offered by the League, and League activities promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages the informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

CONTACT: Vivian Harte, League@lwvgt.com, 520-327-7652

Recorded and produced by 30 Minutes Producer Amanda Shauger.

KXCI Community Radio is pleased to partner with The League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson to provide a series of shows called Your Arizona Voting Guide leading up to the general election on November 3rd. This weekly half-hour series will air at 3:30 p.m. on Sundays beginning August 16th.

During any election season, we always can count on a bombardment of political ads that tell us all the wonderful things every candidate has done and everything that’s wrong with their opponent. In addition, all too often, political consultants advise their candidates not to accept invitations to participate in public forums with their opponents to lessen the chance they’ll say something off-script. That results in very limited opportunities to hear directly from candidates and limits voter access to information about candidates and their positions on issues to scripted ads and sound bites.

During the lead up to the November 3rd General Election, the League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson is interviewing candidates for the Arizona Corporation Commission, which is a State of Arizona office. In addition, the League will interview candidates running for Pima County offices: Sheriff, Recorder, and Treasurer. League member, Vivian Harte, serves as host of the program. To aid voters in making informed decisions at the polls, candidates for each respective position are being asked the same questions. KXCI 91.3 FM Community Radio is partnering with the League to air these interviews with the community.

In addition, members of the League will be interviewed about various topics, including what to know about registering to vote in Pima County, ballot propositions, getting out the vote during the COVID-19 pandemic, speeches offered by the League, and League activities promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages the informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

CONTACT: Vivian Harte, League@lwvgt.com, 520-327-7652

Recorded and produced by 30 Minutes Producer Amanda Shauger.

KXCI Community Radio is pleased to partner with The League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson to provide a series of shows called Your Arizona Voting Guide leading up to the general election on November 3rd. This weekly half-hour series will air at 3:30 p.m. on Sundays beginning August 16th.

During any election season, we always can count on a bombardment of political ads that tell us all the wonderful things every candidate has done and everything that’s wrong with their opponent. In addition, all too often, political consultants advise their candidates not to accept invitations to participate in public forums with their opponents to lessen the chance they’ll say something off-script. That results in very limited opportunities to hear directly from candidates and limits voter access to information about candidates and their positions on issues to scripted ads and sound bites.

During the lead up to the November 3rd General Election, the League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson is interviewing candidates for the Arizona Corporation Commission, which is a State of Arizona office. In addition, the League will interview candidates running for Pima County offices: Sheriff, Recorder, and Treasurer. League member, Vivian Harte, serves as host of the program. To aid voters in making informed decisions at the polls, candidates for each respective position are being asked the same questions. KXCI 91.3 FM Community Radio is partnering with the League to air these interviews with the community.

In addition, members of the League will be interviewed about various topics, including what to know about registering to vote in Pima County, ballot propositions, getting out the vote during the COVID-19 pandemic, speeches offered by the League, and League activities promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages the informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

CONTACT: Vivian Harte, League@lwvgt.com, 520-327-7652

Recorded and produced by 30 Minutes Producer Amanda Shauger.

KXCI Community Radio is pleased to partner with The League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson to provide a series of shows called Your Arizona Voting Guide leading up to the general election on November 3rd. This weekly half-hour series will air at 3:30 p.m. on Sundays beginning August 16th.

During any election season, we always can count on a bombardment of political ads that tell us all the wonderful things every candidate has done and everything that’s wrong with their opponent. In addition, all too often, political consultants advise their candidates not to accept invitations to participate in public forums with their opponents to lessen the chance they’ll say something off-script. That results in very limited opportunities to hear directly from candidates and limits voter access to information about candidates and their positions on issues to scripted ads and sound bites.

During the lead up to the November 3rd General Election, the League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson is interviewing candidates for the Arizona Corporation Commission, which is a State of Arizona office. In addition, the League will interview candidates running for Pima County offices: Sheriff, Recorder, and Treasurer. League member, Vivian Harte, serves as host of the program. To aid voters in making informed decisions at the polls, candidates for each respective position are being asked the same questions. KXCI 91.3 FM Community Radio is partnering with the League to air these interviews with the community.

In addition, members of the League will be interviewed about various topics, including what to know about registering to vote in Pima County, ballot propositions, getting out the vote during the COVID-19 pandemic, speeches offered by the League, and League activities promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages the informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

CONTACT: Vivian Harte, League@lwvgt.com, 520-327-7652

Recorded and produced by 30 Minutes Producer Amanda Shauger.

KXCI Community Radio is pleased to partner with The League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson to provide a series of shows called Your Arizona Voting Guide leading up to the general election on November 3rd. This weekly half-hour series will air at 3:30 p.m. on Sundays beginning August 16th.

During any election season, we always can count on a bombardment of political ads that tell us all the wonderful things every candidate has done and everything that’s wrong with their opponent. In addition, all too often, political consultants advise their candidates not to accept invitations to participate in public forums with their opponents to lessen the chance they’ll say something off-script. That results in very limited opportunities to hear directly from candidates and limits voter access to information about candidates and their positions on issues to scripted ads and sound bites.

During the lead up to the November 3rd General Election, the League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson is interviewing candidates for the Arizona Corporation Commission, which is a State of Arizona office. In addition, the League will interview candidates running for Pima County offices: Sheriff, Recorder, and Treasurer. League member, Vivian Harte, serves as host of the program. To aid voters in making informed decisions at the polls, candidates for each respective position are being asked the same questions. KXCI 91.3 FM Community Radio is partnering with the League to air these interviews with the community.

In addition, members of the League will be interviewed about various topics, including what to know about registering to vote in Pima County, ballot propositions, getting out the vote during the COVID-19 pandemic, speeches offered by the League, and League activities promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion.

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages the informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

CONTACT: Vivian Harte, League@lwvgt.com, 520-327-7652

Recorded and produced by 30 Minutes Producer Amanda Shauger.

KXCI Community Radio is pleased to partner with The League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson to provide a series of shows called Your Arizona Voting Guide leading up to the general election on November 3rd. This weekly half-hour series will air at 3:30 p.m. on Sundays beginning August 16th.

During any election season, we always can count on a bombardment of political ads that tell us all the wonderful things every candidate has done and everything that’s wrong with their opponent.  In addition, all too often, political consultants advise their candidates not to accept invitations to participate in public forums with their opponents to lessen the chance they’ll say something off-script. That results in very limited opportunities to hear directly from candidates and limits voter access to information about candidates and their positions on issues to scripted ads and sound bites.

During the lead up to the November 3rd General Election, the League of Women Voters of Greater Tucson is interviewing candidates for the Arizona Corporation Commission, which is a State of Arizona office. In addition, the League will interview candidates running for Pima County offices: Sheriff, Recorder, and Treasurer. League member, Vivian Harte, serves as host of the program. To aid voters in making informed decisions at the polls, candidates for each respective position are being asked the same questions.  KXCI 91.3 FM Community Radio is partnering with the League to air these interviews with the community.

In addition, members of the League will be interviewed about various topics, including what to know about registering to vote in Pima County, ballot propositions, getting out the vote during the COVID-19 pandemic, speeches offered by the League, and League activities promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.

The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages the informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.

CONTACT: Vivian Harte, League@lwvgt.com, 520-327-7652

Recorded and produced by 30 Minutes Producer Amanda Shauger

Dr. Celeste González de Bustamante spoke about the formation of CAJUA and its ongoing work.

They’ve been organizing to push the administration for a plan to return to campus that puts safety above economics, to demand a financial response to the pandemic that preserves jobs and restructures one of the most drastic furlough plans in the country, and to fight for a future of the university that strengthens and supports our connections with the community. This summer they pushed for a historic general faculty vote to ask the administration to delay their pay cut plan and halt the layoffs.

Dr. Celeste González de Bustamante is Associate Professor in the School of Journalism at the University of Arizona and an affiliated faculty member of the UA Center for Latin American Studies. She’s also the Director for the Center for Border & Global Journalism. She received her Ph.D. in history at the University of Arizona. Her research interests include: the history of news media in Mexico, Brazil, and the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. In 2013, the University of Arizona honored her with the title of Distinguished 1885 Scholar. In 2013-2014, Dr. González de Bustamante served as a distinguished visiting professor at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City, where she conducted research on violence and journalism in Mexico. Her work has been published in numerous academic journals. She is the author of “Muy buenas noches,” Mexico, Television and the Cold War (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2012), and the co-editor of an anthology about immigration, media, and globalization entitled Arizona Firestorm: Global Immigration Realities, National Media, and Provincial Politics (New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 2012). She is the current co-head of the Border Journalism Network/La red de periodistas de la frontera, and former head of the International Communication Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Dr. González de Bustamante is an accomplished and sought-after mentor within the School of Journalism and beyond. She has demonstrated a strong commitment to inclusivity and diversity through her leadership, research, and teaching.

Recorded and produced by Amanda Shauger

Margo Cowan has been an advocate for migrant justice for more than 30 years and has been involved with the Migrant Trail since its first journey in 2004. Before becoming an attorney, she was a farmworker organizer mentored by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta. Margo’s efforts in the areas of border and immigration policy, as well as the development and representation of undocumented persons and refugees, has spanned decades. She is a Defense Attorney for the Pima County Public Defender, was the lead counsel for the Sanctuary movement, where churches and synagogues offered sanctuary to the undocumented facing deportation and co-founded the organization No More Deaths, that seeks to reduce the number of deaths in the Arizona Desert.

She is also the Project Coordinator for Keep Tucson Together, a grassroots, pro-bono project that is working directly with community members to stop deportations and the separation of families in Southern Arizona.

Margo shared history and perspective on the power of community organization in the legal fight for justice in the borderlands.

Since 2004, a group of committed people has coordinated an annual week-long, 75-mile walk from Sásabe, Sonora, Mexico to Tucson, Arizona to call for an end to migrant deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border and to stand in solidarity with victims of global migration. In May 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, participants were unable to physically unite to remember those who have died crossing

To continue to raise awareness about migrant deaths and to help raise money for local border justice organizations, organizers launched an alternative Migrant Trail Walk experience to bring people together in a virtual environment. Proceeds benefitted: BorderLinks, the O’Odham Anti-Border Collective, Keep Tucson Together, and the No More Deaths Emergency COVID-19 Bond Fund. The Migrant Trail 2020 Alternative experience included a week of daily reflections, videos, podcasts, and featured speakers.

This has been part 7 of a multipart series. You can learn more about The Migrant Trail on their website and their Facebook group.

Edited and produced by Amanda Shauger with audio provided by the Migrant Trail Organizing Committee.

Jessica Rodriguez is a Tucson based organizer and activist. Currently, she is the Lead Organizer for the Southside Worker Center. The Southside Worker Center supports a community of worker-leaders building collective power and raising the standards of worker conditions so that workers can take part in dignified work and earn just wages.

Throughout her work at the Southside Worker Center, Jessica has helped to recover thousands of dollars in wages for workers, stop criminalization, detention, and deportations of families, defend the rights migrant workers and develop migrant-led worker-owned cooperatives.

For the Virtual Migrant Trail, Jessica shared her personal experience as a DACA recipient in Arizona.

Since 2004, a group of committed people has coordinated an annual week-long, 75-mile walk from Sásabe, Sonora, Mexico to Tucson, Arizona to call for an end to migrant deaths along the U.S.-Mexico border and to stand in solidarity with victims of global migration. In May 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, participants were unable to physically unite to remember those who have died crossing

To continue to raise awareness about migrant deaths and to help raise money for local border justice organizations, organizers launched an alternative Migrant Trail Walk experience to bring people together in a virtual environment. Proceeds benefitted: BorderLinks, the O’Odham Anti-Border Collective, Keep Tucson Together, and the No More Deaths Emergency COVID-19 Bond Fund. The Migrant Trail 2020 Alternative experience included a week of daily reflections, videos, podcasts, and featured speakers.

This has been part 6 of a multipart series. You can learn more about The Migrant Trail on their website and their Facebook group.

Edited and produced by Amanda Shauger with audio provided by the Migrant Trail Organizing Committee.