Estimadas/os: This is an appeal to help us defeat the person who engineered the Mexican American Studies (MAS) Book Ban in Tucson Arizona … that person is running for a position in a predominantly Mexican American-Yaqui district … I hope you will help.

If you supported our Tucson fight to Save MAS and to fight the MAS Book Ban …
I hope you’ll be motivated to help Luis Gonzales in his campaign for a seat on the Pima Community College Board of Governors (District 5).

Pima Community College (PCC) is very important to our community. The overwhelming majority of Mexican American-Chicana(o)-Latino(a) students who pursue higher education in the Tucson area go to PCC. Some go for an AA degree or for a Certificate, others transfer to the U of A or other four-year school after PCC. Luis Gonzales played a key role in keeping the doors of PCC open to our students (more details on this below) and Luis was instrumental in undoing the Mexican American Book Ban engineered by his opponent Martha Durkin (details below)..
Salomon

Luis A. Gonzales for Pima Community Governing Board—District 5
Luis Gonzales has been serving our community for 40-plus years. He has lived in District 5 all his life … Luis grew up in Old Pascua Yaqui Village and is the first person from Old Pascua to be elected to the state legislature. Among his many contributions to our community, Luis was instrumental in undoing the Mexican American Book Ban engineered by Martha Durkin.

If you live in PCC District 5, or even if you don’t, you can  help!
Contact friends, family members, colleagues, etc., who live in PCC District 5 and ask them to vote for Luis .. and/or you can volunteer to help with the campaign (phone banking, canvassing, etc.) …  and/or you can contribute to Luis’ campaign. See the Link below!

You can attend the “Oldies” fundraising Dance and Rally on October 23, 2016, See the Attached Invite. This fundraising Dance and Rally is in conjunction with the Betts Putnam-Hidalgo for TUSD School Board campaign. I will soon issue an informative email about Betts Putnam-Hidalgo, an outstanding candidate who is very much needed on the TUSD Board.

Some important things to keep in mind about the PCC District 5 race:
Pima College District 5 is 58.11% Mexican American-Yaqui in composition …
And
Pima College enrollment is 43.2% Mexican American/Latino …
YET
There is not a single Mexican American/Yaqui/Latino on the PCC Board of Governors …
AND
There is an effort to keep Mexican Americans-Yaquis off of the PCC Board and to keep the predominantly Mexican American-Yaqui District 5 from having Mexican American-Yaqui representation.

Other things to keep in mind:
Martha Durkin worked hand-in-hand with TUSD Superintendent John Pedicone …
To dismantle the highly successful Mexican American Studies (MAS) curriculum in TUSD … and

To Ban the MAS books in TUSDàas you remember, TUSD administrators went into MAS classrooms, while classes were in session, and confiscated all the books, posters, etc. that had anything to do with Mexicans and Mexican Americans … and
To militarize TUSDàAt the May 3, 2013 meeting TUSD had over 150 Tucson police officers as well as helicopters and two “Paddy Wagons” for those who were arrested for protesting the dismantling of MAS … community advocate and MAS professor Lupe Castillo was arrested that evening for the “crime” of wanting to address the TUSD Board … several students were also arrestedà TUSD treated MAS supporters as criminals and made us go through metal detectors and had us wanded, etc. 
Martha Durkin has NEVER worked on behalf of our community, has absolutely no track record of being an advocate for our community and has in fact worked AGAINST our community.

In contrast, here’s a sampling of Luis Gonzales’ work on behalf of our community:
As a State Senator, Luis sponsored, co-sponsored and/or shepherded through the legislature significant pieces of legislation (the following is a sample and not a complete list):

* The AZ K-12 Bilingual Act, which mandated that any school with a certain percentage of Spanish-Speaking children had to have a bilingual curriculum; 

* Legislation that mandated culturally relevant testing for bilingual students regarding inclusion in “gifted” programs, which had a huge impact on Mexican American and Native American kids.

* Legislation that eliminated unfair testing for students for whom English was not their native language) for the 1st three academic years;

* Legislation that provided funding for the University of Arizona’s Mexican American Studies and Research Center (the Center was slated for extinction…this funding saved it);

* Legislation that prohibited balloon payments on home mortgages (predatory lenders sold, foreclosed and repossessed, and re-sold the same houses over and over again);

* Legislation that protected Priest -Penitent privilege (county attorneys were wanting to force priests and ministers to divulge things said during Confession or counseling sessions);

* Legislation that sought the repeal of Arizona’s Right to Work law;

* Legislation that provided free text books for AZ high-school students (shepherded law through the Senate for Rep. Carmen Cajero).
Luis’ contributions go beyond his work as a State Senator:

* Luis led the movement that brought about equitable representation of Mexican Americans in the state legislature and other bodies.

* Luis was instrumental in getting the U.S. Department of Justice to prosecute Patrick and Thomas Hanigan for the torture of Mexican farm workers in Cochise County.

* As a State Senator, Luis also played a huge, and key, role in the historic 1983 Copper Miners strike in Clifton-Morenci.
* Luis was a Coach for Western Little League (based in Joaquín Murrieta Park).
* Luis is an active member of the El Rio Coalition-II, which recently saved the Trini Alvarez El Rio Municipal Golf Course from destruction and saved Barrios Hollywood and El Rio from developers that would have changed the entire character of these barrios.

* Luis is a Charter Member of Los Vatos de la John Spring, which raises money for barrio-based projects such as the renovation of the historic El Casino Ballroom.
* Luis is a Charter Member of the Coalition For Accountability, Integrity, Respect, and Responsibility (C-FAIRR), which exposed the pervasive sexual harassment that was going on at Pima Community College and that has stood up for employees who were/are being mistreated at PCC and for the union (AFSCME) that is helping PCC employees.

* Luis played a key role in getting the Pima Community College Governing Board to reinstate its Open Admission policy, which kept PCC open to our community. Before the Open Admission policy was reinstated, 4,000 people, of which 2,880 were Mexican Americans-Yaquis, were denied admission to PCC.
* Luis was involved in the fight to save the MAS curriculum in TUSD. He attended TUSD Board meetings where MAS was discussed as well as Save MAS rallies. Luis and Los Vatos de la John Spring lobbied TUSD Superintendent Pedicone in support of MAS.

* Under Luis’ leadership, the Legislative District 3 Democratic Committee (Luis was the Chair) passed a Resolution on September 23, 2013, to formally request that TUSD  lift the 2012 ban of the MAS books (my wife Ceci Cruz made the motion). The LD3 action set off a chain of events that led to the un-banning of the MAS books on October 22, 2013.
The above is merely a thumbnail sketch of Luis’ achievements and his substantial and substantive contributions to our community over many years and his continuing contributions.
Luis has earned our support—not only in the form of voting for him but also in donating to his campaign and getting others (friends, family, colleagues, etc.) to vote for him.
The entire Democratic Party establishment is supporting the Book-banning, anti-MAS Durkin, whereas Luis’ campaign is a grassroots, organic effort.
With your help and support, we can win—Please contribute and help!
Thanks—
Salomon
HERES THE LINK TO CONTRIBUTE TO LUIS’ CAMPAIGN:
http://www.gonzales4pcc.com/donatee.html