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Before COVID-19, I belonged to Sweat, an exercise studio in Berkeley. I loved the HIIT classes at 6 am and religiously reported for duty at least four times a week. One morning I introduced myself to a woman who seemed to be a regular. We exchanged names. “Great to meet you, Michelle.” “It’s Nichelle,” she said, “like Lt. Uhura in Star Trek.” “Oh, sorry about that, and thanks for letting me know, Nichelle.” Although I’ve never been a big tv watcher and hadn’t ever followed Star Trek, I knew who Lt. Uhura was. I‘d read about her importance as a role model for Black children (really for everyone) and that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had told her to stay on in that role when she told him of her plans to leave the series. Representation Matters and Dr. King knew that only too well. It is super important for kids of color and individuals from communities that have been marginalized and demeaned (eg. gay and trans kids), to see people who look like them living successful and fulfilling lives, even in outer space. These folks can be real people, sports figures like Venus and Serena Williams, public servants like President Obama, Congresswoman Patsy Mink, or Julian and Joaquin Castro. Or they could be fictional characters in mainstream movies and television or streaming programs. Representation matters. I was aware of Nichelle Nichols' death having heard a radio news story about this. I learned so much more from Terry Baum's BAUMblog titled OBITS TO DIE FOR: Nichelle Nichols? Some months ago, my friend Beth introduced me to the work of her neighbor and friend Terry Baum, a writer, director, and blogger. She forwarded me Terry's blog and I found the topics Terry tackled and her point of view very much aligned with mine. So I became a subscriber. It was in Terry's blog that I learned Nichelle's name story and since I love name stories, I asked Terry’s permission to share this blog with my readers, which she granted. Here are a few tidbits from the blog to encourage you to read the whole thing: “Besides being a great communications officer, Uhura, along with Captain Kirk, were part of the first interracial kiss on network television. They were FORCED to do it by the inhabitants of a strange planet . . . The episode aired just one year after the US Supreme Court’s Loving v. Virginia decision struck down laws against interracial marriage. At the time Gallup polls showed that fewer than 20% of Americans approved of such relationships.” “After STAR TREK was canceled, Nichols created a non-profit. Women in Motion focused on science education for girls. In 1977, Nichols gave a speech to the National Space Institute, challenging NASA to “come down from your ivory tower of intellectual pursuit, because the next Einstein might have a Black face – and she’s female. NASA responded by asking Nichols to lead a campaign to bring women and people of color to apply for the new Space Shuttle program.” Check out Terry’s other writings by visiting her website, where you can also subscribe and read other thoughtful pieces she has published, and you can learn more about the work of Lilith Theater. Nichelle Nichols was again in the news with the recent announcement that some of Lt. Uhura’s ashes and DNA samples will be launched into space on a memorial journey later this year. The ashes of four other dearly departed Star Trek pioneers will also be on that space flight. More here. Godspeed, Lt. Uhura. Representation REALLY Matters And while on the topic of representation, last month California Governor Gavin Newsom nominated Judge Patricia Guerrero to be the FIRST Latina Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. She has now been confirmed and holds that post. She is the first Latina Chief Justice anywhere in the United States. Read about Chief Justice Guerrero in Cal Matters. I hope you’ve had a good summer; mine has been busy with some unexpected travel, and lots of work. And I’m now rehearsing my updated show, as it will be back on stage at The Berkeley Marsh for a limited five-week run, starting September 23rd, every Friday night at 7:30 pm for five weeks. Hope to see my Bay Area peeps there. I've got some interesting post-show talkback speakers on topics related to social justice. Tickets are now on sale. Use the magic of this QR code to buy yours.

My show will be at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center (TPAC) in Nashville, February 10-12, 2023, yes that’s NEXT year. Things get booked way ahead of time. I’ve never been to Nashville, a vibrant and happening place, and I am really looking forward to being there. Since booking this show, I’ve started doing research on Nashville (population 700,000 +/-) and the Latino community which is currently estimated to be between 10-14%. When it comes to public schools 20% of Nashville’s students are Latino. And Latinos are both immigrants (Mexican, Columbian, Cuban, but not just) and native-born people who have moved from other states seeking jobs, education, and what everyone wants: opportunity. According to my preliminary research: “Nashville has become a trendy destination for immigrants due to a healthy job market and relatively low cost of living. The city is home to large populations of Mexicans, Kurds, Vietnamese, Cambodians, Laotians, Arabs, and Bantus. There are also small communities of Pashtuns from Pakistan and Afghanistan, mostly concentrated in Antioch. Nashville is home to the largest population of Kurdish people in the country, while many of around 60,000 Bhutanese refugees admitted to the country settled in the area. There is also an active American Jewish community here with a history dating back more than 150 years.” Wow. I can’t want to see this place and check out the variety of food, and of course, the great music venues. I’m looking forward to reaching out to people and am pleased to know that Nashville has a Hispanic Bar Association, Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Hispanic Family Foundation, Latino Health Coalition, and many other organizations serving our community. If you know folks in Nashville, I’d love to connect with them. I plan to do outreach to the African American community and other communities as well. TPAC staff and I are already brainstorming some post-show talkbacks with Latino and African American lawyers to discuss civil rights and the importance of collaboration and having each other’s backs. Here’s what TPAC’s press materials had to say about our shows: “The theater series includes three powerful solo shows, including LeLand Gantt’s Rhapsody in Black and Irma Herrera’s Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name? — both of which explore themes of race and power structures in America. And Thaddeus Phillips’ 17 Border Crossings takes an “engrossing look at the imaginary lines that divide up the world and the very real barriers they create.” So how, you might wonder, did my show get booked by this amazingly beautiful theater in Tennessee? In January 2020, I attended APAP’s annual conference in NYC. APAP is the Association of Performing Arts Professionals and the world's leading convening for the performing arts industry. Thousands of people descend upon several hotels in NYC and there are workshops and hundreds of short preview shows at hotels, as well as numerous theaters around the City. I was part of a contingent of solo performers from The Marsh Theater in San Francisco. APAP Conference attracts bands, dance troupes, solo performers, musicians playing classical music, clowns, puppeteers, you name it. I had a field day watching solo performers from around the country. I performed one 15-minute preview show at APAP and the hope for any performer is that someone out there will see your show and engage you. Six weeks after APAP, COVID-19 wreaked havoc and upended all our lives, with theaters and so many other places closing down for the better part of two years. Fast forward to January 2022, and APAP holds a hybrid conference both online and in person. I didn’t go. But the agent for The Marsh was there and TPAC inquired about my show. And voilà three years later, I get to perform at the beautiful Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville. So you just never know . . . Not planning to travel to Nashville to see my updated show the weekend of February 10-12, 2023? Fair enough. If you live in the SF Bay Area you can see my FIRST LIVE performance since March 2020 on May 19th at Stage Werx Theater. Tickets here.

As Easter approaches each year, my mind turns to an unfortunate incident involving an invitation to an Easter Brunch and Egg Hunt. The host Tricia, a friend/acquaintance, treated me and my family in a way that felt so disrespectful. Several years ago, I told this story on stage, and it was recorded. This 20-minute piece is both funny and sad. More than a quarter-century later, I’m still hurt and bothered by it. If any of this is sounding familiar, maybe you were at this show, or you read the blog and saw this video last year at Easter time. All of us have done and said things that we later regret, and how we make it right varies with each situation. On occasion, I have imagined a conversation with Tricia in which we tried to understand each other’s point of view. Tricia, if this gets to you, call me, let’s talk. Last week, a friend who is the co-founder of Living Room Conversations, sent me an email asking whether I thought my readers might be interested in the upcoming National Week of Conversation 2022. I’d not heard of this organization or event so I read on, following the links she provided. “America Talks provides an opportunity for Americans of different backgrounds and beliefs to connect during a time of deep division in our country. Participants will be matched into face-to-face, one-on-one or small group conversations with one or more people." "You will be welcomed to this online event with a livestream that will help set you up for a great conversation. Then you and your conversation partner(s) will go into a breakout room (like on Zoom) to spend about an hour together using a secure video conversation platform and built-in conversation guide." Here are some editorials from prior years about the National Week of Conversation which will take place later this month. I’ve registered for one event, and I hope you will consider doing so as well. More about the National Week of Conversation here. I hope you’ll also check out Living Room Conversations, an organization that works to heal society by connecting people across divides - politics, age, gender, race, nationality, and more – through guided conversations proven to build understanding and transform communities. They are doing important work to heal build common ground and find solutions to so many of our seemingly intractable problems. The most important thing I’ve learned from my newish career as a solo performer is that “the closest distance between two people” is a story. I love this quote coined by Patti Digh whose work helps create inclusive communities. She offers seminars and workshops and I have participated in several zoom sessions of her Hard Conversations Book Club. Check out her website. Keep promoting justice and fairness. You never know the impact of your work, and even if it only makes the world better for a few people, it matters. Wishing you the best as you we roll into Spring.

Super excited to announce that I’m doing my first live solo show since March 2020 at San Francisco’s Stage Werx. This venue has been so welcoming to the solo community and many of us perform short pieces as we develop full-length shows. It’s also a great place to learn and see improv and comedy. Inviting SF Bay Area peeps to come on out and see an updated version of my one-woman show. Joining me that evening is Fred Pitts performing Aren’t You? I’ve seen some of Fred’s work online and am so eager to watch him perform. He is an enormously talented actor and storyteller. Check out a snippet of Fred’s show here. We promise you an evening of great entertainment, and a brief respite from the heartbreaking news and repression all over the world -- in our own backyards where vulnerable communities are being targeted on so many fronts, at the US-Mexico border, in Ethiopia, Ukraine . . . and I'll stop there. One ray of sunshine is that we'll soon see the first Black woman US Supreme Court Justice when Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson reports to duty on October 2nd, the first Monday of October when the new term begins. I recommend reading this moving essay by Diana Butler Bass, whose work was brought to my attention by a friend because this essay about Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson explores the power of our names and the ways in which people with power often refuse to grant us the respect each and every individual is due. I hope you’ll take the time to read it. It's truly a remarkable piece of writing. I loved this article so much that I began subscribing to the author’s newsletter. Diana Butler Bass frequently comments in major media outlets on politics, religion, and culture. Here’s how the author is described on her website: “Diana’s passion is sharing great ideas to change lives and the world—a passion that ranges from informing the public about spiritual trends, challenging conventional narratives about religious practice, entering the fray of social media with spiritual wisdom and smart theology, and writing books to help readers see themselves, their place in history, and God differently. She does this with intelligence, joy, and a good dose of humor…” I’ve certainly benefitted from reading her work these past weeks. As we begin to venture out more: eating at restaurants, attending plays and movies, traveling, congregating where there are a lot of people, I urge you to take whatever precautions are still prudent. While we may be done with the COVID, the virus is not done with us. Large numbers of people are still contracting COVID and getting sick. And although hospitalizations and death rates have gone down significantly, that is of little comfort when it is your loved one that is felled by the virus. Please take care, and be thoughtful and kind, all around us many people are living with great hardships and suffering. Hope to see my Bay Area peeps next month for my first live performance. Please note that the theater requires proof of vaccination and masking (of audience members) during the performance. Here's the 411: Thursday, May 19, 2022 @ 7 pm Stage Werx 446 Valencia St. (between 15th & 16th Streets) San Francisco (two blocks from 16th St. BART) Tickets on Eventbrite. Click here:

Today is the anniversary of Claudette Colvin's arrest. On March 2, 1955, the 15-year old refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus to accommodate a white woman passenger. In a blog I published two weeks ago, read it here, I noted that although Claudette had been arrested nine months before Rosa Parks, for various reasons, the leaders of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, chose not to launch the boycott with her arrest. Instead, they waited until a person they deemed a more suitable standard-bearer to be the face of the movement against the great injustices perpetrated by the Jim Crow laws. That person was Rosa Parks. Three years ago, lucky me, I was in Paris. At that time I wrote a blog about Claudette Colvin and here it is again with a few changes. Walking down a major boulevard, this distinctive poster caught my eye, so I crossed the street to take a closer look. An outsized young girl sits on top of a yellow bus. It looked like a school bus, so it puzzled me to see well-dressed grown-ups boarding the bus. It was an advertisement for a play called NOIRE. I made note of the theater and the dates. Later that day at the Alliance Française in Paris where I was studying, a class exercise had each student describing persons in pictures projected on a screen, in French, of course. Elle a des cheveux blonde, il port des lunettes, she has blonde hair, he wears glasses, and so on. The pictures were of people with different characteristics that reflect the origins of the French people -- Northern European, African, Asian, and mixed ancestry as well. A fellow student raised his hand. Based on appearance and his name -- Israel (pron. Is-rah-el) -- my initial assumption was that he was from Latin America, but this middle-aged businessman was from Pakistan and learning French as he had recently gotten a job transfer to Paris. “How do you describe a person’s skin color?” Israel asked. The teacher’s face immediately telegraphed disapproval. Her response, in French, “here, in France, it is considered racist (pronounced rah-sist), to refer to someone’s skin color or to talk about someone’s race.” Before going to France I had read articles and listened to podcasts about this very subject. I raised my hand. “Mademoiselle, I understand that the word noir is not used with reference to people of African origin. Can you speak about that?” “Oui, the preferred word is les blacks.” Click here to listen to the podcast, Rough Translation, We Don’t Say That. addressing this topic. Our teacher adds that in France it is illegal to ask people about their race or religion. (Let me clarify that it is illegal for the French Government to ask). NOIRE, Tania de Montaigne's One-Woman Show After class, I returned to the apartment we had rented and Googled Théâtre du Rond-Point, and was thrilled to learn that Noire was a one-woman show about Claudette Colvin, who was (then and now) little-known in the civil rights movement in the United States. The play is based on the book, NOIIRE, written by Tania de Montaigne, who also wrote and performed NOIRE. She is a distinguished French journalist, writer, and actor whom I had the pleasure of meeting briefly after the performance. Claudette Colvin, was 15-years old when she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus. This was several months before Rosa Park was arrested for doing the same. Claudette, was in the back of the bus in one of the seats usually occupied by blacks when a white woman boarded a crowded bus. When Claudette refused to give up her seat for this woman, she was arrested and later became one of several plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit, Browder v. Gayle, brought the year after the Brown v. Board of Education decision. The Browder case challenged segregation in public transportation. At the time the case was filed, the famous bus boycott in Montgomery was underway. The lower court and the US Supreme Court held that segregated busing violated the United States Constitution. Requests for reconsideration by the segregating entities were denied and this led to the integration of the buses in Montgomery. Days after the further appeals were denied, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as the spokesperson for this coalition of organizations and leaders backing the bus boycott, announced the end of the Montgomery bus boycott. Black residents and their supporters had stayed off the Montgomery buses for more than a year. NOIRE was a beautifully rendered and moving production with familiar African-American music and projected still photos and video images. My research on Claudette Colvin before seeing the play proved most helpful and I was pleased to learn that my French was good enough to follow Tania de Montaigne's powerful storytelling on stage. Seeing NOIRE was one of the highlights of my five weeks in Paris. Even if you don’t speak French, have a look at the website promoting this play. Click here. I was lucky enough to meet the author and actor, Tania de Montaigne after the show. Like the United States, France struggles with the issue of racism and racial discrimination, and I could not begin to tackle this topic so I'm providing references to several articles and some relevant quotes from French scholars. “Unlike many other West European countries, and very much unlike English-speaking immigrant societies such as the United States, Canada or Australia, France has intentionally avoided implementing “race-conscious” policies. There are no public policies in France that target benefits or confer recognition on groups defined as races. For many French persons, the very term race sends a shiver running down their spines, since it tends to recall the atrocities of Nazi Germany and the complicity of France’s Vichy regime in deporting Jews to concentration camps. Race is such a taboo term that a 1978 law specifically banned the collection and computerized storage of race-based data without the express consent of the interviewees or a waiver by a state committee. France, therefore, collects no census or other data on the race (or ethnicity) of its citizens." "Political leaders are nonetheless aware that race and ethnicity matter. To counter problems of ethnic disadvantage, they have constructed policies aimed at geographical areas or at social classes that disproportionately contain a large number of minorities.” You can read the entire Brookings article Race Policy in France (a bit dated since it was published in 2001) here. I also highly recommend Can The French Talk About Race? an article in The New Yorker, click here. La condition noire In a television interview, in English, French historian and Associate Professor at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris, Pap Ndiaye, discusses the issue of diversity and representation in France. He is the author of ‘La condition noire: essai sur une minorité française’(The Black Condition. An essay of a French minority. Ndiaye, was born in France to a ‘French’ mother and a father who came to France from Senegal. “The black condition in France is a way to feel French while being considered as not French. If you are black,” says Ndiaye, “most people in Paris ask you all the time, where do you come from. As a way to tell you, you must be from somewhere else. You must be not French.” Blog post and video of his interview (in English) available here. La Condition Americaine Like our French brothers and sisters, this is an experience that many of us in this country live every day. When asked where I’m from I say California. I usually add that I’ve lived in California for four-plus decades and I’m originally from Texas. I’m asked again, where are am I REALLY from, where were my parents born? The answer is still the same, Texas. And, of course, I’ve also been told to go back to where I came from on numerous occasions. I love Texas but have no plans to move back there, California is my home. One afternoon in Paris, we take an uber (no Lyft in France, at least back then) and get to chatting with the driver, who asks where we are from. His face lights up when we say San Francisco Bay Area. “I lived in Oakland several years.” He also shares that he is originally from Senegal and much of his family is there, but he has lived in France for 30+ years. I ask him about his experiences as a black man in both the United States and France. He pauses for a moment and says, “I feel like the French are a bit more two-faced, more hypocritical in their views about race. In the United States . . . there, you know how people feel about you.” And it is becoming more and more the case for so many Americans in our own country. #SocialJustice #Prejudice #solotheater #Racism

On March 2, 1955, 15-year-old high school student Claudette Colvin and a classmate were headed home on the public city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. When a white woman boarded the bus, the bus driver ordered them to relinquish their seats. There were other seats available where the woman could have sat. Claudette's friend moved, but Claudette refused, saying it was her constitutional right to keep her seat; she had paid her fare like everyone else. This incident happened nine months BEFORE Rosa Parks' famous stance of civil disobedience. Few people know about this teenager's brave and bold actions; fortunately, in the recent past, Claudette Colvin's story has received national attention. Claudette was a quiet and studious girl who loved learning. At the time of her arrest, her segregated school had just observed Negro History Week, but her teachers didn't limit the study to a week's time; they devoted the entire month to studying Black history. Negro History Week (its original name) was established in February 1926 by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, later known as the Father of African American History. Although started as a week-long event, Woodson believed that Black history was too important to America and the world to be crammed into such a limited time frame and he recommended that schools teach it throughout the year. In the 1960s, Black college students advocated for more opportunities to study Black history, and in February 1969, students and educators at Kent State University proposed the first Black History Month — and began celebrating it the following year. Responding to pressure from Black leaders, President Gerald Ford officially declared February as Black History Month and noted its importance as the nation celebrated its bicentennial in 1976. During these times of racial reckoning, millions of us are actively engaged in learning the neglected and previously untold history of our fellow Americans -- Blacks, Indigenous, Latinos, Asians. For more information about the history and importance of Black History Month check out the Zinn Education Project and this NY Times article. But back to 1955 and life in Montgomery, Alabama. Months before Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat on the bus, the United States Supreme Court had ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregated schools violated the United States Constitution and had to be dismantled. But for Claudette and her classmates, nothing had changed; they still attended inferior and poorly funded segregated public schools. Throughout February, students at Booker T. Washington High School spoke freely about the injustices of Jim Crow. They couldn't try on clothes at department stores. When they needed new shoes, a tracing of their feet was made on a piece of paper or cardboard and taken to the store to determine the shoe size. They could not eat at lunch counters. And earlier that year, a popular classmate who lived in Claudette's neighborhood had been charged with raping a white woman, and he had been beaten and coerced into confessing to that and other crimes and sentenced to death. They knew first-hand how the system denied them their dignity and freedom in all spheres of their lives. So when the bus driver asked Claudette to give up her seat, she would not budge. Years later, she explained her reasons. "I could not move, because history had me glued to the seat . . . It felt like Sojourner Truth's hands were pushing me down on one shoulder and Harriet Tubman's hands were pushing me down on another shoulder, and I could not move." Two police officers dragged Claudette off the bus while she loudly protested that it was her constitutional right to sit wherever she wanted. Although a minor, she was handcuffed, arrested, and booked into the adult jail and charged with disturbing the peace, violating the segregation laws, and assault and battery on a police officer. She had the support of her family and their pastor, and the local chapter of the NAACP. A newly minted lawyer Fred Gray, a graduate from Case Western Law School, stepped in to represent Claudette. At that time, no Alabama law school would accept a Black student, and upon returning to Montgomery, his hometown, Gray set up a private law practice. Claudette's arrest was big news at that time. She was tried as a juvenile and convicted and put on indefinite probation. Several months later, when Rosa Park was arrested, Fred Grey also represented her. Following Rosa Park's arrest, the NAACP and other Black-led organizations launched the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which had been in the planning stages for some time. The Black residents of Montgomery had long complained of their mistreatment by the bus company. The reserved white seats exceeded the seats available to Black passengers, even though ridership was 75% Black. Some drivers required Black passengers to pay their fare, exit the bus, and re-enter through the back door. At times, the bus purposely took off before these Black passengers (who had already paid) boarded through the back door. Drivers were rude and disrespected Black passengers in countless ways. Meetings with city officials about these complaints had led nowhere. Community activists had considered using Claudette's case as the rallying point for the bus boycott but dismissed the idea. Many thought that an unpredictable dark-skinned teenager from a poor family was not the proper standard-bearer for this movement. Rosa Parks' presented the right situation. She was active in the civil rights movement and the Secretary of the Montgomery NAACP. The 42-year-old mature married woman was attractive, light-skinned, and employed as a seamstress. She was the epitome of Black respectability and viewed as capable of withstanding the scrutiny which would surely follow. Two months after the Montgomery Bus Boycott was launched, Claudette Colvin, Aurelia Browder, and three other women became the plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit challenging the segregation in Montogery's public buses. They were represented by Fred Gray, with assistance from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. Claudette Colvin was the star witness in the case of Browder v. Gayle. W.A. Gayle, the then-mayor of Montgomery, was the defendant. The United States Supreme Court decision in this landmark case in 1956 ended forced segregation on public transportation. The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted over a year, from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956, and only came to an end when the Supreme Court ordered the bus system integrated. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was the first large-scale US demonstration against segregation, and the leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's brought him to national prominence. In 1955, there were newspaper accounts about the teenage girl arrested and convicted for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus. And then, she moved to the Brox and vanished into obscurity. Claudette Colvin rarely spoke about the vital role she had played in the civil rights movement. While researching the book, We Were There, Too! Young People in US History, Phillip Hoose came across references to Claudette Colvin's arrest and conviction. He set about looking for her. Although she had an unlisted phone number, he eventually reached her. It took four years before she was willing to share her story. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, won the National Book Award in 2009. Fast forward to January 2021-- a mural was dedicated in the Montgomery, Alabama neighborhood where Claudette Colvin grew up to recognize her contributions to the civil rights movement. The street where she was raised was named after her. In one of the numerous interviews she gave this past year, Claudette Colvin spoke of being inspired by youth activism, especially the leadership of young black women, and the BLM movement following the murder of George Floyd. She still had some activism in her, and in October 2021, Claudette Colvin filed a petition with the Court in Montgomery, Alabama, to have her conviction expunged and clear her name. That motion was granted. Check out this wonderful CBS News story where the judge who expunged Claudette Colvin's record offers an apology on behalf of the state of Alabama. Last Fall, the Montgomery City Council voted unanimously to honor attorney Fred Gray by renaming the street where he had grown up. That street was formerly named after the President of the Confederate States, Jefferson Davis. It is now Fred D. Gray Avenue. Dr. King described Fred Gray as "the brilliant young Negro who later became the chief counsel for the protest movement." Fred Gray, 91, is still practicing law in Montgomery, Alabama. Claudette Colvin was at his side for the street naming ceremony.

I love hearing from you and an email from Maria Hidalgo in Tucson really touched me. In Maria's words is everything we need to know about the importance of our names, and with her permission, I am sharing her story. Maria's Story Back in 1973, I was hired to teach at Franklin High School in Stockton, California. It was my 2nd year teaching and still felt the normal anxiety of a new teacher. I was a double major - History and Physical Ed. Although I really wanted to be a history educator, Franklin needed a Physical Ed teacher and so, I took the job. I remember vividly on the first day of school, getting the student roster for all six periods and starting with period one, taking attendance. "Nancy Adams (here), Ed Brown (here)", and each time I came to a Spanish name I pronounced it correctly. I heard giggles from the Anglo students. I stopped and quietly asked what was funny. No one said anything. Not even the Latino students. Then I came to one of the most beautiful names I'd ever seen - Xochimilco Hurtado. No answer. I repeated the name and shyly a young girl raised her hand. And her classmates looked at her and asked, "Is that your name?" with an obvious tone of judgment. And Xochimilco snapped back "Yeah! what's it to you!." After class, some of the Latino students approached me and sheepishly asked if I would pronounce their name "regular." I pretended not to know what they meant. I asked, "Please explain what a regular pronunciation is?" "You know Mrs. H., without the Mexican accent." Gently, I reached out and placed my hand on that student's shoulder and replied, "there is no such thing as a Mexican accent, perhaps you mean Spanish accent?" And immediately, Xochimilco from the back of the small group spoke up. "Mrs. Hidalgo, you are the first teacher in all my life, who's ever pronounced my name correctly and that's how I want it pronounced. And you guys, pointing to the other 4-5 girls, need to check yourselves." I looked at the group and asked, "are we done here?" No one said a word. I wished them a good first day at school and politely excused myself. I can still recall those beautiful brown faces, who would eventually beam a smile back at me, every time I took attendance - after pronouncing their names correctly. Your story flooded me with these wonderful memories. To have your name validated by merely having it pronounced correctly - is empowering. Me Again If you are wondering how this beautiful name is pronounced, it's quite easy. The X in Xochimilco has the S sound, and the letter H in Huerta is SILENT, like the K in knock. The H in Spanish is always silent except when preceded by a C as is Chihuahua. A great example, if I say so myself, as there are the two silent H's in Chihuahua. Remember that you already know NOT to say the H. Another example is "hasta la vista baby." Ready? Here's how you say Xochimilco Huerta. SO-chi-mil-ko Wehr-ta Next on my list of things to learn is how to embed a sound file so you can hear the pronunciation. AND if you know how to do this, show me how. Please note that the X can also have the English H sound as in Mexico, Meh-hi-co. Thanks so much to Maria Hidalgo (that's E-dal-go with the E as in even ), What an unexpected and welcome experience for these students - a teacher who knew how to say their names and well understood that the "regular pronunciation" they were used to hearing failed to see them for who they really were.

Some weeks back I received 30 handwritten notes from 10th graders at Centennial High School in Corona, which is in Riverside County in Southern California. Along with those letters was a note from their teacher, Ms. Robyn Orozco. They had watched my one-woman show during the virtual Encuento Festival, sponsored by the Los Angeles Latino Theater Company. The day after the Festival ended, I met via zoom with several classrooms of students who are part of the Puente Program. In a minute I’ll tell you about Puente but first I want to thank the Puente Program for bringing my play to their schools. Here are a few things they said in their notes. Each quote is from a different writer: “I want to thank you for all the effort and time you spent on your play and doing the Q&A. I really enjoyed watching. I was able to relate to it in various ways. Realmente me encanto las diferentes expresiones que tuve durante la actuación.” The student then says she learned so much and that seeing my play motivated and inspired her to stand up for our community. I love that she so seamlessly goes from English to Spanish. “As I was watching, I liked how you went far back because it really gave meaning. I have unfortunately gone through some prejudice in my life, your presentation brought light to my thoughts on my culture.” The writer says he was inspired by my play and felt pride in being Mexican-American. He hopes someday to become a lawyer and fight for what is right. You can do it, joven, and I am rooting for you. “I kept wanting to hear more and more about the story the entire time. I especially liked the part when your teacher took note of the correct pronunciation of your name. I had never seen a one-woman play before, and it was really interesting seeing you play all the people.” Now, a bit about Puente. The Puente Project is a national award-winning program that has improved the college-going rate of tens of thousands of California's educationally underrepresented students since 1981. Its mission is to increase the number of these students who enroll in four-year colleges and universities, earn college degrees, and return to the community as mentors and leaders to future generations. The program is interdisciplinary, with writing, counseling, and community mentoring components. The word puente in Spanish means bridge. I am a huge fan of Puente and first became familiar with it through the local community college in the area where I live in the San Francisco Bay Area. I have previously served as a mentor and made presentations in Puente classes and in the past two years have met with Puente instructors and counselors on Zoom. Although started to support students to successfully transition from community colleges to four-year institutions, Puente has expanded to serve students in both junior and high schools in various communities throughout California. Puente's staff training programs have benefited approximately 300,000 students across California. Puente is open to all students, and almost all participants are or will be the first in their families to access a college education. When making our charitable contributions, we are always happy to support Puente. The Puente Project has expanded and is serving students in Texas, my home state. You can learn more about Puente Program on their website, and there’s a donate button too. Now back to a few more student letters. One reported that she could not personally relate to the experience of people mispronouncing her name or the type of discrimination she saw in my play, but this led her to a conversation with her parents who told her of their experiences confronting prejudice in their own lives. “When you showed the video of that one lady saying that the immigrant children didn’t need soap or toothbrushes, it made me feel so upset because they deserve everything especially for what they are going through.” You are so right, it is upsetting. I included a clip of this video from a court hearing about conditions in detention centers so that people can know how immigrant children are being treated. Would anyone want their children treated this way? “I really enjoyed watching your show. There were so many things I relate to, for example, my mother’s name is Maria, and some of her friends are also named Maria.” The writer adds that she also hears people say you should stay out of the sun because the whiter you are the prettier you will be. “I sometimes pronounce my name wrong or say a Mexican food in a way that would be considered normal in this country. But you have changed my mind and inspired me to take pride in my name. Thank you.” And finally, one student told me he enjoyed my play, but “no offense” he though my dancing could be upgraded. Duly noted. Thanks, Robyn Orozco, for bringing my play into your classroom and encouraging your students to share their thoughts with me. AND special thanks to each student, for your personal handwritten notes (even if it was a class assignment!). I had forgotten the joy that a handwritten letter can bring. You can hold it and read it again and again. I see you and appreciate you: Alaritza, Aliya, Alyssa, Bruno, Bryan, Chris, Diana, Diego, Erick, Giselle C., Giselle DR., Gisselle, Isabella O., Isabella P. Jacqueline, Jennifer, Jesus, Jocelyn F. Jocelyn J., Joseph, Kai, Kayla, Laura, Liliana, Maximiliano, Maximus, Naomi, Nicolas, Nicole, Oliver. Muchisimas gracias. As my friend, comedian, and solo performer, Marga Gomez, says “keep shining.”

Yep, that's a scene from my play, where I incorporate a short video clip of Don Lemon's interview with Donald Trump where he (Trump) proclaims he is the least racist person that Don Lemon has ever met. Funny/Not Funny. If you haven't yet seen my show it is still available 'til Sunday night 12/5. Although the run of my play at the Re-Encuentro Theater Festival did end, some folks experienced technical glitches and were unable to watch it. So, making it available HERE 'til the end of this weekend. A big SHOUT OUT to the Latino Theater Co. of the LA Theater Center, hosts of The Re-Encuentro Festival. They did an outstanding job, and the hard work of their staff, board, and Re-Encuentro's Selection Committee made the festival a great success. First and foremost, they made 16 theatrical performances available to the general public free of charge, So grateful I was invited to participate and that my show was streamed as part of the festival. The first time I ever had an online run. What else did I love about The Re-Encuentro Festival? Pretty much everything. The promotional images they produced for each of the 16 shows were inspired and I also loved the beautifully colorful and inviting graphics that opened the videos. Kudos all around. The festival also provided the participants' ample opportunity to network with other teatristas --theater-makers -- playwrights, performers, directors, and actors, and a chance to see each others' work. the Latino Theater Co. organized a series of panels on issues that are at the heart of many of the featured plays: immigration, colorism, grief and trauma, representation, music, queer voices. Those panel discussions are available on the Latino Theater Co YouTube channel. I hope you’ll take advantage and watch these presentations, which feature very knowledgeable folks, including some of the performers, speaking on these topics. Beyond all that, each theater company (or solo performer) was invited to do a 45-minute interview where we were asked questions about ourselves and how we created the work. In my session I was joined by my director, Rebecca Fisher, where we spoke about our working relationship as well as Rebecca’s own work in social justice theater including her work with the Bay Area’s Formerly Incarcerated People’s Performance Project (FIPPP). She serves as one of the co-directors. Check out FIPPP’s website and learn more about their work bringing stories to the stage that provide us a greater understanding of how communities of color are impacted by incarceration and the criminal (in)justice system. These online backstage activities were open not just to the participants in the festival, but to all theater companies or solo performers that applied to the festival, irrespective of whether their work was featured. I very much appreciated this spirit of openness and community which gave us a chance to interact with folks from around the country whose experiences within the Latino/x/e diaspora vary enormously. MIL GRACIAS to the Latino Theater Co. for producing such an informative and inspiring event. Seeing all that great work, got me thinking hard about my next play, although I'm still quite passionate about updating and performing ofWhy Would I Mispronounce My Own Name? I look forward to bringing it to theaters around the country, maybe to one near you. So . . . here’s your last chance if you haven’t yet seen it. You can watch it anytime between now and Sunday night, 12/5 (Midnight Pacific) by clicking HERE. A couple of screenshots to pique your interest. Thanks for sharing your reactions to the play in social media posts and in emails sent to me. I very much appreciate hearing from you, and you can reach me at irmadherrera@gmail.com. Adelante.

I woke up with this phrase: sólo tres dias, whirling in my mind. This would be the title of today’s blog. Sólo tres dias to catch my show while it’s streaming as part of Re-Encuentro, the Latina/o/x Theater Festival that ended last Sunday. All 16 plays in Re-Encuento had 10-day online runs. The plays rolled out one or two a day throughout the festival. Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name? premiered November 19th and is available through Monday, November 29th (Midnight Pacific Time). So, if you haven’t yet seen it, this weekend is your última oportunidad. If you are lucky enough to grow up in a family where two or more languages are used daily, words and ideas stream out in a smooth consistent flow. You are not even aware that the thoughts forming in your mind are in English or Spanish (or whatever your home language). No matter what I’m writing I’m thinking bilingually, and I am constantly entertained and delighted, and sometimes surprised, by the meaning of words in various languages. Burro in Italian means butter and largo means wide. You shake your head after you get it wrong a time or two and then you're good. More on this in future blogs. I type Solo tres dias into Google Translate. Wow, I need to put an accent on that. And, for the first time, I notice the icon to hear its pronunciation. I listen . . . good authentic well-pronounced Spanish. The power of the internet at its best. Not knowing when an accent is necessary reminds me of the judgment I feel when I'm casually asked, can you translate this. “I have no idea how you say Motion for Summary Judgement in Spanish." “But I thought you were bilingual.” “I am. Let me ask about you. The language of your home is English, yes? How many years of formal education have you had in English? 12? 16? 20? I’ve never been educated in Spanish.” Growing up, most Raza had two years of high school Spanish, with Anglo kids whining, “so unfair, they already know Mexican (their word, not mine), they have an advantage over us. That’s not right.” Chicanos born and raised in the Southwest, many of our families here for generations, were punished for speaking Spanish, they tried to beat the Spanish out of us, and in many instances, they succeeded. Of course, this wasn’t just true for our community, this has been done by English speaking settlers to every group -- indigenous people whose lands they/we occupy, people whose ancestral homes were annexed and made part of the United States through war, waves of immigrants that came over centuries. That anyone in this country can maintain a home language (other than English) beyond a generation is nothing short of a miracle. My theory is that many folks oppose the retention and any formal education of our home languages -- whether Spanish, Cantonese, Arabic, Swahili, Hmong, Mandarin, and others – due to the deep psychic wound experienced by prior generations of white ethnics when they were stripped of their language and culture. Pay it forward in the worst of ways. A wrong was done to my people, we're gonna do it to yours. How many times have I had this conversation, “my (fill in the blank) had to learn English when they came to this country." “Hold up, who said anything about us NOT learning English. Of course, we learn English, but why should we be stripped of our home language?” I could go on for pages about the justifications for wanting English-only education. 1) it confuses children when they speak more than one language. Not true, speaking multiple languages is the norm in most countries regardless of the level of education. 2) real Americans give up their heritage, language, and ties to their homeland. Last I looked St. Patrick’s Day Parade was celebrated by the Irish and by me too. It’s beautiful to hold on to the culture and language of our ancestors no matter how many generations removed we are from those lands. For several years, I worked in the field of Education Law and was deeply immersed in issues of language acquisition, bilingualism, and equity. These are fascinating areas of law that are still of great interest to me. But back to my thinking and writing bilingually. Many a friend has had this experience in a writing workshop where we are the only Latinos in the room. We exchange manuscripts or read for 5,10, 15 minutes. Lots of good feedback but inevitably, someone says, “well, when I see/hear Spanish words you've lost me. I feel excluded. I think it’s better if you don’t use Spanish, or if you must, to provide a translation. Otherwise, I really don’t want to keep reading.” The first thought that comes to mind is pinches pendejos, we read stuff ALL the time in English that is unfamiliar to us, and we just go with it, expecting we’ll get the gist in context, we have faith, and keep reading. The Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Junot Diaz said it best. 'Nuf said about language. This is the last weekend to see Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name?, where I code-switch between English and Spanish. That’s how I roll, and I’m betting you will understand everything, even if you don’t speak Español. To see my hour-long show, which is streaming on-demand, click here. It will take you to the Re-Encuento Registration Page where you provide your name and email address and voilà, you can watch. Wishing all of you a good weekend.

I have been so gratified by the response to my videotaped one-woman show, which was selected as part of Re-Encuentro, the Latina/o/x Theater Festival. Although the festival formally ended on 11/21, all plays selected for the festival got a 10-day run and mine is still streaming through Monday, 11/29 (Midnight Pacific Time). After that, poof, it will disappear from the internet. So here's your chance to see it in the comfort of your home. Although the name of the play remains the same, Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name?, it is updated on a regular basis to comment on contemporary societal issues as they relate to prejudice, racism, and respect for others. I do not know yet how many views my play has gotten, but it has been watched throughout the United States, and in other countries too. To date, I’ve heard from people in Great Britain, Italy, France, Argentina, and S. Africa. Lucky to know people all over the world and my friends and colleagues have shared information WIDELY with their communities on social media and in private emails. Thank you for sharing these reactions with me. I am very touched by the wide viewership and your kind words for the work. Here are a few comments I’ve received either on email or posted on social media. “James and I just watched your performance. It was masterful!! Your own rich memoir, plus history lessons, plus stand-up comedy - it was completely engaging and highly informative - all while providing important insights into systemic racism. Thank you, Irma! It was powerful!” ~Teresa “Irma. Me hizo reír. Me hizo llorar. Sentí tristeza. Sentí coraje. Tus palabras me trajeron tantos recuerdos de mi niñez y de la vida de mi familia. Me encantó. Lo qué haces es tan importante como el trabajo que hacías en corte. Me siento tan orgullosa de ti. Impresionante.” ~Marta "I just finished watching the film and was blown away by it. It has all the great features of your live shows -- and so much more!! I found all of the material – old and new -- so thoughtful and thought-provoking. I admire your willingness (and dedication) to use your genius to help broaden the horizons of others." ~Julie “The time has arrived for every Anglo to see the beauty and the tribulations of a Latina growing up in South Texas. Irma is a consummate performer assuming many roles alternating between the Alice, TX drawl and the Spanish accents. She's entertaining and engaging. The show is both hilarious and moving. I plan to watch it again.” ~Neil “Ayer vi a tu amiga Irma, me encantó! Si estás en contacto con ella, mandale felicitaciones, por el show y por su actitud.” ~Judith “This is a streaming version of a one-woman play by law school classmate and former colleague. Her play has had a long run in San Francisco with rave reviews and does a great job of exploring prejudice and injustice from her personal experiences.” ~ Ted And finally thanks to Jackie for her post on FB: “There's still time to watch Irma Herrera's solo performance now streaming through November 29th! It's a powerful piece and worth taking an hour to watch. For those of you gathering with friends and family this week, watching this is a great activity to do together. It may spark interesting discussions and sharing of stories. Congratulations Irma on a great show!” My transition from lawyer to teatrista has been a wonderful and rewarding experience, and I have so many more stories to tell, so stay tuned. So grateful to the Los Angeles Latino Theater Co for hosting Re-Encuentro, such an educational and exhilirating experience. A wonderful opportunity to meet other playwrights and performers and to see all 16 plays, written, produced, and performed by us, however we might identify: Latinx, Latine, Hispanic, Latino, Chicana, our identities are richly complex and multi-layered as is our work. Check out the available offerings, many plays from the festival are still streaming for a few more days. Click here to see the play descriptions and whether they are still available. A special shout out to the Re-Encuentro team for producing such beautiful graphics and presenting a seamless and successful 10-day festival. Muchisimas gracias. You can watch Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name?, by clicking here, and it will take you to the Re-Encuentro's, Registration Page. After you register (name and email) you can stream the show. Much gratitude to all.

“Muchacha, pareces mosca en leche,” my mother’s words urge me to change clothes, expressing her view that the white blouse I’m wearing makes me look like a fly in the milk. The laughter and other sounds of recognition when I say these lines on stage give me a solid clue as to how many of my peeps are in the audience. By my peeps I mean Raza, a term that means community in this context, rather than race. Personally, I identify as Chicana, and I also see myself as part of that larger collective of 60+ million people labeled or self-identified as Latinx, Latina, Latino, Latine (gaining traction like Latinx as gender-neutral), Hispano, Hispanic. There is no universal agreement as to what we call ourselves or others call us, and language is always evolving. It’s becoming common to see these terms used interchangeably. But this blog isn’t about what we call ourselves, it’s about colorism, a type of discrimination that favors lighter skin over darker skin, often within the same racial or ethnic group. Earlier this month, the Pew Research Center released a report titled, Latinos and Colorism: Majority of U.S. Hispanics Say Skin Color Impacts Opportunity and Shapes Daily Life. The Pew report explained that colorism can be related to racism but is its own form of discrimination, and not surprisingly found that persons with darker skin experienced more incidents of discrimination than Latinos with lighter skin. I won’t summarize the other findings but will simply say it stated the obvious, the lighter you are the greater the chance you’ve had better opportunities for a decent education and higher status better-paying jobs, and careers. The charts that accompany the report illustrate the research finding and are visually quite interesting. You can read a fuller discussion on colorism and racism and how these -isms affect our families as people from different ethnic groups and racial backgrounds enter into long-term unions and our immediate families become multi-racial in this Time Magazine article. Colorism is not unique to the Latine community, it’s everywhere, not just here in the United States, or in Latin America, it is a global phenomenon, including in India, Brazil, and many African countries. When traveling in India some years back I saw so many billboards advertising Fair and Lovely products, holding up lighter fairer skin as the standard of beauty. And there have been campaigns by Bollywood actors seeking to counter that narrative. People are voting with their pocketbooks to lighten up. An article in Marketplace reported that the “global market for bleach creams and injectables that purport to lighten skin — and which carry many potential health risks — stood at an estimated $8.6 billion in 2020, including $2.3 billion in the U.S.” A quick bilingual internet search for the image mosca en leche produced these two books with the phrase as their title. Haven't read either, but the book covers caught my eye. No matter the language, we know that a fly in the milk (or the soup) is not a welcome sight. My mother’s message was loud and clear don’t call attention to your darkness. I purposely accentuated my skin color as a form of spite. The existence of colorism was often denied with phrases like para mi todos son iguales, everyone is equal. But everyday conversations I heard among adults confirmed this deeply entrenched prejudice. "Juan Felipe is such a smart, kind boy, too bad he’s so dark." And the never-ending praise for light-skinned babies. "Carolina’s baby is so pretty, tan güerita, such light skin, tan preciosa la niña." It is not uncommon for family members and friends to assign a nickname based on physical attributes, la negrita, la prieta, la güera, la chinita. And these names are typically uttered with great affection, I took no offense when my parents or other relatives called me mi prieta. Listen to some Cuban music (just one example) and these terms of endearment are everywhere. I spent several weeks in Havana and engaged in conversations with people I befriended about their easy-going and common referencing of someone’s skin color. They were baffled by my explanation that such references in the United States would be considered racially insensitive or outright racist. Today I am a pale version of myself, having lived in the temperate climate of Northern California. When I see current pictures of me or look in the mirror, my mind’s eye sees me in the darker hue of my younger self. As I put my hand up against the chart in the Pew Research Poll on colorism, I’m a 4 but my true color is a 6. I love beach vacations because being in the hot sun restores my true color within a matter or two or three days. Pero aqui en el norte de California estoy muy palida. Talking about colorism and naming and acknowledging prejudices in our community is a good thing and a starting point for addressing our biases. It does no good to pretend otherwise. The issue was part of a national conversation with respect to Lin-Manuel Miranda's In The Heights and the casting of few Afro-Latinos in major roles. "Lo prieto no duele," my mother would say when she’d hear my siblings tease me. "Sonriete, para poder verte." Smile so we can see you in the dark. My mother’s comment that being dark never hurt anyone simply perpetuated the lie. No different than being told that sticks and stones can break your bones, but words will never hurt you. We know better, words can and do hurt us. And so does colorism. Check out my one-woman show, Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name? where I explore how colorism in our community, along with perceptions of us as perpetual “foreigners,” leads to devaluing Latinos. Why Would I Mispronounce My Own Name? is streaming, on-demand, and it’s free, between Friday, November 19th and Monday, November 29th as part of Re-Encuentro, the Latina/o/x Theater Festival. Go to irmaherrera.com, and click on the red RSVP button, this will take you to Re-Encuentro’s RSVP form, complete that and the link will be mailed to you. You must register to receive the streaming link. Thanks for watching, it’s available during the long Thanksgiving weekend.