Spring Upcoming Event Spotlight "A Song for Cesar" Film Screening

ONLINE MOVIE VIEWING: Wednesday, May 4th 7:00-9:00 p.m. CST

ONLINE PANEL DISCUSSION: Thursday, May 5th 4:20-6:00 p.m. CST

Organized by Dr. Chris Tirres

How did you learn about the film, A Song for Cesar, and what inspired you to bring it to DePaul?

In the fall of 2020, I was invited by a former teacher of mine, Dr. Davíd Carrasco of Harvard University, to be part of a planning committee to commemorate the two year anniversary of the mass shooting that took place in El Paso, Texas on August 3, 2019. (I grew up in El Paso and Prof. Carrasco has strong family ties there.) So to make a long story short, I came to know about the film because Prof. Carrasco suggested that El Paso could screen the documentary as part of their 2021 "Month of Healing." He had previously served as a consultant for the film and knew the film directors. I wanted to bring it to DePaul not only because it's such a terrific documentary that tells the story of the art and music that fueled the Farmworker's Movement, but also because the documentary takes on added meaning when set against the backdrop of El Paso's own use of the arts to heal.

What about this film makes it a unique or new way to learn about the life of Cesar Chavez?

For me, as a scholar of religion, the film shines light on the aesthetic dimensions of the Farmworker's Movement, which gets to an underlying spirituality in the movement. Although the film makes few, if any, explicit references to "religion" or "spirituality", the people in the film implicitly embody an activist spirituality that uses the arts to inspire and empower people to assert their dignity and fight for justice. One can certainly talk about Chavez's religiosity in terms of his Catholicism, but we also get a sense of his spirituality when we learn about other passions of his, such as his deep interest in Pachuco culture and jazz. These kinds of things give us a wider picture of what fuels Chavez's sense of freedom. And there are many other examples of spiritual activism in the film, especially when we turn to the musicians and artists of the movimiento.

Who are some of the panelists who will be speaking about the film on May 5th?

We are going to have an all-star panel. I'm very pleased to announce that Dolores Huerta, the civil rights icon and activist, has graciously agreed to participate, along with the two movie directors, Abel Sánchez and Andrés Alegría

In addition, we have some top notch educators joining the line-up, including the noted historian of religion Davíd Carrasco (Harvard University), the first Mexican-American Rhodes scholar and celebrated author, John Phillip Santos (UT San Antonio), one of the most gifted, inspiring, and award-winning philosophy teachers in all of El Paso, Manuela Gómez (El Paso Community College), and the incredibly talented and award-winning New York Times photojournalist, Ryan Christopher Jones. The cool thing about all of these people (including Dolores Huerta and the movie directors) is that we were all together in El Paso in August 2021, for the dedication ceremony of the El Paso Healing Garden, which was part of their "Month of Healing." So in addition to talking about the film, we will also discuss the connections between the film and what we witnessed in El Paso. It's going to be a great event, and I encourage everyone to register for these virtual events. And a side-note... DePaul University has purchased perpetual rights for the film, so all DePaul faculty, staff, and students already have 24/7 access to the documentary on Panopto!