Reading, Writing, and Revolution

Barragán Goetz has provided a significant intervention in the robust and well-respected field of Mexican American educational history in Texas...Written in an engaging manner and meticulously researched, this book will become a foundational text for those hoping to understand Mexican American schooling in Texas. ~Journal of the History of Childhood and Youth

A well-organized and well-supported body of work about South Texas' escualitas...[Reading, Writing, and Revolution] is a much needed conversation about resistance, self-determination, gender, and power in a time when the denial and erasure of history resonates today. Barragán Goetz’ attention to the collected narratives, and skillful presentation of ideas is tribute to the memory of a people – especially Mexican and Mexican American women – whose work benefitted future generations. ~Journal of Latinos and Education

Reading, Writing, and Revolution is the freshest, most innovative scholarship in Chicana/o history to appear in some time. Until now, the history of escuelitas has remained elusive and not extensively documented. Through the creative use of untapped, stellar primary documents and oral histories combined with a tremendous ingenuity of interpretation, Philis Barragán Goetz reconstructs both the local history and the international roots of the escuelitas of Texas. In doing so, she sheds new light upon the whole of the field. ~Carlos Kevin Blanton, Texas A&M University, author of George I. Sánchez: The Long Fight for Mexican American Integration

Reading, Writing, and Revolution situates escuelitas (little schools) as alternative spaces that disrupted the Anglicizing hegemonic institutions of US schools. Mexican Americans revered education and offered racial uplift in these schools, which were based on ethnic self-determination during an era of racial exclusion and segregation. Barragán Goetz recasts Mexican American women as, simultaneously, teachers and revolutionary leaders confronting patriarchy. Merging US and Mexican history, this detailed, well-researched work is the first major study of escuelitas as tools of Mexican American empowerment in the Southwest. ~Cynthia E. Orozco, Eastern New Mexico University, Ruidoso, author of Agent of Change: Adela Sloss-Vento, Mexican American Civil Rights Activist and Texas Feminist

Reading, Writing, and Revolution makes a major contribution to our understanding of the origins and political development of escuelitas in Texas—their founders, teachers, and curriculum. This engaging historical narrative reveals, with incredible detail and nuance, evidence of the Mexican community’s long-standing efforts for self-determination and their struggles to provide their children with the best education possible, on their own terms. ~David G. García, University of California, Los Angeles, author of Strategies of Segregation: Race, Residence and the Struggle for Educational Equality

"Barragán Goetz traces an important and complex trajectory of escuelita history in Reading, Writing, and Revolution, making this book an essential read for those interested in Mexican American educational history....Barragán Goetz corrects a century of history in this book, in showing that Mexican and Mexican American communities have always valued education and have taken on the necessary actions in sustaining the learning experiences of children." ~Pacific Historical Review

Barragán Goetz's definitive book bridges a major gap in Chicano educational history...Based on excellent and thorough research, Barragán Goetz's book provides a sweeping, innovative, and pathbreaking history of the escuelitas in south Texas. ~Journal of American History

Barragán Goetz presents refreshing historical insights into how Mexican communities organized efforts to create and build institutions focused on the educational well-being of children and youth...Barragán Goetz makes critical contributions to scholarship on Chicana/o educational history, educational history for communities of color, and ethnic studies...Reading, Writing, and Revolution will appeal to scholars of social movements, educational history, and ethnic studies. Barragán Goetz’s work adds to a growing body of scholarship about the work of Mexican educators and families who collaborated to create new possibilities for all students, including those in succeeding generations. ~Aztlán: A Journal of Chicano Studies