Empowering Young People to Be Critical Thinkers: The Mexican American Studies
Program in Tucson
Curtis Acosta and Asiya Mir
Education for Liberation: VUE Number 34, Summer 2012
A teacher and a student in Tucson’s acclaimed Mexican American Studies program, recently shut down by state and district officials, describe how the program has transformed the lives of its students and teachers.
INTRODUCTION
Curtis Acosta
The memories overwhelm me as the question is posed, “What does education for liberation look like in Tucson?” I see the marches, the vigils, the teatro. I feel the music and voices of youth expressing their own view of the world through their art. A collection of powerful and poised faces of former students quickly flip through my mind, as they assertively and respectfully challenged the misconceptions and agendas of powerful political figures in Tucson and Phoenix. Along with them, I see the uncomfortable expressions of those políticos as they were held accountable to their
