Cara Mia Theatre Company proudly presents the world-premier
production, *Crystal
City 1969*
Performances will be scheduled from December 3-18, 2010, Latino Cultural Center and Irving Arts Center in Dallas, TX *Special discount preview performances December 1, 2 and 8
"The Best New Play of 2009!" - Dallas Morning News and TheatreJones.Com
Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the historic student
walkout of Crystal City, Texas. The project is based on the true story of
Mexican American students who walked out of school and into Chicano civil
rights history.
Students demanded that they be treated equally without prejudice. They
wanted what many teenage students in 1969 wanted - an opportunity to become
a cheerleader, the homecoming queen, a varsity athlete, or the school's
most
popular, most handsome, or other high school honors. However, these
recognitions were almost exclusively reserved for non-Hispanic students.
Crystal City High School was like many schools in Texas and the Southwest
during the 1960's. Spanish was prohibited anywhere on campus including the
hallways and cafeteria and punishment was often severe. Students were
spanked, slapped, and humiliated for speaking their maternal language.
Mexican and Chicano children were also discouraged from aspiring to attend
university and have careers uncommon for Hispanics at the time. When a
Chicana child told a high-school counselor that she wished to be a doctor,
she was often told that she should aspire to be a nurse instead. When a
Chicano said he wished to be a lawyer, he was told he should plan on being
a
farm-worker or a janitor. These students were rarely encouraged to be
business owners, landowners or educated professionals such as lawyers and
doctors. In 1969, as it was for countless decades before, the Crystal City
educational system perpetuated a society in which Mexicans and Chicanos
were
trained to be the serving class.
On December 9, 1969, student leaders Severita Lara, Diana Serna, and Mario
Treviño led a walkout that drastically changed Crystal City's future. With
the guidance of a 23-year old political mastermind from Crystal City, José
Angel Gutiérrez, the walkout gained national attention as people from
around
the United States arrived at this small Texas town to support the effort.
Meanwhile, the three high school teenagers tactfully negotiated with the
local School Board for three weeks until their demands for better treatment
were met.
The immediate gains from the walkout were modest at first but the
experience
inspired a town in which 85% of the population was Mexican and Chicano. In
the spring of 1970, 16 posts on the city council and the school board were
up for election and Chicanos were voted to 15 of the positions. Crystal
City
became an example of American democracy at its best.*
*
*Crystal City 1969, *written by David Lozano and Raul Treviño and directed
by David Lozano, will feature a talented cast of young actors.
