Luis Valdez talks to Tufts

The "father of modern Chicano theater," recounted how his life experiences have contributed to his art - in the process imparting his unique perspective on societal and individual interactions, on Tuesday evening.

Film maker, playwright and activist in the Chicano Civil Rights Movement Luis Valdez spoke to a nearly full Braker auditorium, giving a speech entitled "21st Century Education: Accounting for the Past and Future."

Valdez's speech reflected what he has been taught by his life experiences. Although the title of the lecture concerns education, much of his speech was about understanding, peace, and bringing people together -- rather than tearing them apart through hate, war, and conflict.

Valdez began by explaining his own past and how it led him to become a playwright and filmmaker. He told a story of how he was deprived of his role in the school Christmas play in first grade.

"When cotton season was over, we were evicted from the farm, so we had to leave and I was never in the Christmas play," he said. "But for the last 50 years I've been filling that gap. I used to direct the other farm worker kids and began to write plays when I was eight or nine. It was something I had to do."

This is a story "of deprivation but fulfillment at the same time...for every loss there is a gain," Valdez said. "The things you've been denied, you've been given back in some way."

Valdez's ability to put his experiences in a positive light has allowed him to contribute to both the fields of theater and education. His primary message throughout the speech was that "love conquers all" and that he is critical of the lack of love, art, and culture in American society.

"I believe in the power of love," he said. "You can make your children smarter if you love them more."

Valdez asserted that the United States is in a very bad situation -- educationally, socially, and politically. People do not value the heart or love enough, he believes.

"What is the heart?" Valdez questioned. "We have serious problems with coronary disease. Is it just because of the hamburgers, the whoppers we eat? Or because of our emotional state?"

Valdez's greatest problems with the American educational system and culture in general is his lack of knowledge and value of ancient cultures that have added much to modern society. Greatly knowledgeable about the ancient peoples of the Americas, such as the Mayans and the Aztecs, Valdez spoke of his concern that the America taught in the United States' educational system begins with Christopher Columbus, negating the fact that these ancient peoples created art, culture, and knowledge well beyond their time.

"No one has ever taught you about the Aztecs or the Mayans. There's a world that remains to be discovered. We say that America became in 1492 with Christopher Columbus but there was a civilization here ... there was high civilization and no one knows anything about it," Valdez said. "The idea of America has been shortchanged ... it's as if we went to Europe and no one knew about the ancient Greeks and Romans."

He believes in the importance of looking at other cultures' history. "Every culture has contributed something to the world...this is why I became a writer and a storyteller. All of our roots lead back to [the past] ... We don't know this America and we need to redefine it in order to know ourselves."

Valdez spoke of this lack of reverence for past cultures, and people who are different, as a prime reason for the world's current state. "We're on the verge of world war on another level," he said. "I am a child of the Cold War, I grew up under the specter of the nuclear age and we are still there. We need to not flex our muscles but touch the Middle East with our hearts."

Valdez returned to the subject of education at the conclusion of his speech, stating that it is a combination of love, understanding, art, and different cultures. "I speak of a new kind of education," he said. "We need to revise our vision of America ... we can move forward to improve the sense of who we are. That huge wave of people from Asia and Latin America, that is our future."

Response to Valdez's speech was mostly positive, as students were impressed at the messages he conveyed.

"I didn't expect it to be so spiritual," sophomore Ruben Sanchez said. "He made it seem like wherever we're headed [as a society], it will bring people together."

Freshman Gena Davis agreed. "Like we're headed toward something instead of the end."

The level of Valdez's commitment and knowledge also impressed students. "There was a lot of passion in his voice, it was great to listen to the way he talked about native peoples and their contributions to America," sophomore Ben Byrd said.

Valdez concluded by stressing the importance for Americans to expand their view of the world. "Your life is there to live in hate and misunderstanding or in love and understanding ... this can be learned from the Mayans. We can envision our future only as far back as we can go in the past. Western education has to become East and West, North and South education -- global education."

A great contributor to the worlds of theater and film, Valdez came from humble beginnings as a Mexican American migrant farm worker in California. He is currently a professor at California State University. He directed such acclaimed films as La Bamba, Zoot Suit, and Cisco Kid. Additionally Valdez founded El Teatro Campesino (The Farmworkers Theater) a movement meant to reflect the Chicano experience.

The lecture was sponsored by the Association of Latin American Students and the Latino Center, as Latino Heritage Month event.