Northern California Tour - Santa Cruz

On Monday, our third stop, we went to the University of California at Santa Cruz, and Lupe was able to join us for the day! The organizers had gotten an article in the university newspaper, and had created special postcards and posters for the event, so when we arrived on campus students spotted Lupe and approached all of us as if they had seen a celebrity!

There was a beautiful reception before the screening at the Chicano/Latino Resource Center, where we met with students and where the organizers gave us nice presents as thank you gifts... After heading to the screening venue, we were amazed to see groups of students keep arriving and arriving ... By the end, the organizers counted 450 students!!! Imagine that many students laughing at the same time, crying at same time and experiencing the film together. As the credits rolled, Robert and I went on stage with Lupe, and were welcomed with a long, emotional, standing ovation!

Following a bilingual Q & A, a long line of students formed to talk to us and to get their DVDs and postcards autographed. Lupe was regarded a bit like a rock star, with a long line of young Latina students surrounding her for more than 45 minutes. It was all extremely beautiful and inspiring, and the event helped us begin to understand the power of the film to move young Latinas and Latinos, especially whose parents are immigrants, to make them feel proud of who they are, and to inspire them to action.

Lupe sorrounded by a long line of Latinas waiting to talk to her!	With some of the organizers of the event: Dana Frank, Robert, Almudena, Lilly Pinedo, Rocio, Lupe, and Rosalee Cabrera.

As a result of this screening, we received an invitation from the Reel Work Film Festival in Santa Cruz, so we will be back there in town on April 26th!!! (details to come -if you want to stay updated join our list or visit our screenings page periodically).

(This event was sponsored by: The Chicano Latino Resource Center (CLRC), Labor Studies, EL CENTRO: Chicano Latino Resource Center, Women of Color Research Cluster and Stevenson College)