WHY AM I SO BROWN?
Trinidad Sánchez, Jr.©1991
MARCH/Abrazo Press
ISBN: 1-877636-03-7
100pp

The Illusion of Inclusion
Rodolfo Rosales
University of Texas Press, Austin©2000
ISBN; 0-292-77103-7
236pp

8888WHY AM I SO BROWN?

WHY AM I SO BROWN? is a compelling scenario of Ideals and cultural activism. Trinidad's signature poem “Let Us Stop This Madness” sets the tone for a plurality of global political Justice. Through an integration of barrio rhythms and street orality, he finds identity and culture. His sensitive and mature hand captures a consciousness that is a framework for aesthetic realism and change. In this, Trinidad's fifth book, his sense of humanity has gelled into completeness. This is a must read for anyone who will take the challenge to investigate this form we call poetry.
8888Ron Allen
8888Horizons In Poetry
8888Detroit, Michigan

WHY AM I SO BROWN? is a book that should be savored and shared with children and friends. Trinidad Sánchez, Jr. is a poet to be reckoned with, discussed and taught in schools.
8888Thom Jurek
8888Metro Times
8888Detroit, Michigan

WHY AM I SO BROWN? Iifted my spirit and self-esteem. Every Hispanic should have this kind of “tune-up”!
8888Gloria Dominguez
8888Eagle Pass, Texas

8888The Illusion of Inclusion

"Imaginative and rich political science.... Rosales' analysis of middle-class Chicano activism in the early postwar era is both a new and an important contribution to our knowledge of San Antonio's and Texas' recent political history.... Also, the clarity of the book's writing and structure make it a good candidate for use in intermediate undergraduate urban and/or minority politics classes."

8888—Sidney Plotkin,
8888Professor and Chair of Political Science, Vassar 8888College

To many observers, the 1981 election of Henry Cisneros as mayor of San Antonio, Texas, represented the culminating victory in the Chicano community's decades long struggle for inclusion in the city's political life. Yet, nearly twenty years later, inclusion is still largely an illusion for many working-class and poor Chicanas and Chicanos, since business interests continue to set the city's political and economic priorities.

In this book, Rodolfo Rosales offers the first in-depth history of the Chicano community's struggle for inclusion in the political life of San Antonio during the years 1951 to 1991, drawn from interviews with key participants as well as archival research. He focuses on the political and organizational activities of the Chicano middle class in the context of post-World War II municipal reform and how it led ultimately to independent political representation for the Chicano community. Of special interest is his extended discussion of the role of Chicana middle-class women as they gained greater political visibility in the 1980’s.

8888Rodolfo Rosales is Associate Professor of Social and 8888Policy Sciences at the University of Texas at San 8888Antonio.