Teaching Central America Goes to the 19th Annual ARE Statewide Conference

Jonathan Peraza Campos, Teaching for Change’s Teaching Central America program specialist, attended the 19th Annual Statewide Conference hosted by the Association of Raza Educators (ARE) in Los Angeles. This year’s theme was “Land, River, Sea: Ethnic Studies To Be Free.”

Peraza Campos tabled for the conference, where he met many teachers in Los Angeles and from throughout California who came to find community in the struggle for liberated ethnic studies education. While tabling, Peraza Campos met many teachers who were excited to learn about the program’s offerings, including Central American teachers. He spoke to a Costa Rican teacher who commented on how a majority of her students are Guatemalan. For her, learning Central American studies alongside Chicano studies is necessary for her recently arrived and U.S.-born Central American students. A Mexican-Guatemalan teacher from Los Angeles appreciated that Teaching Central America provided resources to contribute Central American studies content to ethnic studies education in Los Angeles where they are still lacking. 

Palestinian and Chicana/o keynote speakers shared their stories of defiance against racist and Zionist attacks on ethnic studies in California and beyond over the years. During the conference, Peraza Campos attended sessions to grow in his own praxis as an ethnic studies educator. He felt empowered by the decades of organizing from ARE teacher-organizers in California. Presenters discussed critical topics, including the struggle for liberated ethnic studies in California, how to organize school communities, models of autonomous education spaces, and ICE watch efforts. 

Teaching Central America joins ARE in the fight for a liberating ethnic studies education.