FRONTERA SCHOOLS

3:30 pm - 4:15 pm
| Location of Session: Hawn Holt Family Auditorium
Adult Sessions

Start of Signing: 4:30 pm
| Signing Location: Festival Marketplace

My Schedule

About the Event

Raza Schools: The Fight for Latino Educational Autonomy in a West Texas Borderlands Town is a revealing history of the rise and fall of the San Felipe Independent School District from the end of World War I through the post–civil rights era. Historian Jesús Jesse Esparza offers a nuanced understanding of race relations, educational politics, and school activism in the US-Mexico borderlands.

About the Author

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Jesús Jesse Esparza

Jesús Jesse Esparza

Dr. Jesús Jesse Esparza is an Associate Professor and Interim Chair of the Department of History at Texas Southern University. His area of expertise is on the history of Latinos in the United States, emphasizing civil rights activism. Dr. Esparza teaches Mexican American, Texas, and Civil Rights history. He received his BA and MA degree in History from Southwest Texas State University and a PhD in History from the University of Houston. His book, Raza Schools: The Fight for Latino Educational Autonomy in a West Texas Borderlands Town, was published by the University of Oklahoma Press as part of the New Directions in Tejano History series.

Moderator

Dr. Mike Flores

Dr. Mike Flores assumed the role of chancellor of the Alamo Colleges District on Oct. 1, 2018, after unanimous vote by the Alamo Colleges District Board of Trustees. Flores’ vision for the Alamo Colleges District – eliminating poverty through education – is based on his personal experience as a child of migrant farmworkers who pursued education to gain economic and social mobility. Through his leadership, the Alamo Colleges District has launched AlamoPROMISE, a tuition-free college program for graduating high school students in Bexar County and one of the most significant initiatives implemented in the region.