MacGinley,Sevilla1

CiaraMacGinleyandGloriaSevilla

ProfessorMedina

CTW1

8November2017

EmpoweringtheVoices

Thedocumentary,PreciousKnowledge,d irectedbyAriPalosiscenteredaroundthe

controversyabouttheMexicanAmericanStudies(MAS)programatTucsonHighSchool(THS)

inTucson,Arizona.Fo rmerArizonaAttorneyGeneralT
omHorne,vouchedthattheseethnic

studyprogramswereteachingstudentstobeUnAmericanbecausetheyonlyrevolvedaround

theHispanicheritage.Therefore,HornesoughttopassthelegislationH
B2281,whichwould

eliminatesuchprogramswithintheTucsonUnifiedSchoolDistrict.Inresponse,SeniorsatTHS

protestedandlobbiedagainstthelegislation.Afterairingin2011,therehavebeenmany

interpretationsregardingthedocumentary.Forexample,JoseGarciassaysthatthefilmis

focusedontheimpactthelegislativecontroversyhadontheLatinocommunity.ConnieWun

narrowsthatgeneralstandpointinclaimingthatthefilmexposesh owwomenwereimpactedby

thelegislativemovement.GarciaandWunexposethatthefilmPreciousKnowledge,documents

theempowerment,respectively,oftheLatinocommunityandwomen,duringthecourseofthe

proethnicstudiesmovementinTucson,therebygivingtheseminoritiestheopportunitytohave

theirvoicebeheard.

Oneaspectofempowermentrevealedbybothreviewers,ishowtheseminoritiesused

educationasamechanismtosucceed.MostofthestudentsfromtheLatinocommunityatTHS

MacGinley,Sevilla2

werefromalowsocioeconomicstatusandhadtohelpoutwithfamiliesfinances.Thus,school

wasnotalwaysthepriority.YetJoseGarciaremarkedthatthroughoutthefilmitisevidentthat,

teachersandstudents[atT
HSlearned]howinstitutionalandstructuralforces[impactedtheir]

education,[which]empowered[them]totransformtheirinadequateeducational

experiences(Garcia).Thus,heatteststhatdespitetheircircumstancestheyvaluededucation.

Thereforewhenitthreatenedtopotentiallybetakenaway,allstudents,maleandfemaleunitedto

defendthesamepurpose.Alongthoselines,Wunpointsoutthat,bytheendofthefilm,

students[bothmaleandfemalealike,]areleadingproteststodefendMASandgraduatingfrom

highschool(Wun).Ifstudentshadnotcaredfortheirschooling,orseenanybenefitsassociated

withit,theywouldnothavestrivedtokeeptheprogram.YetWunsstatementdemonstratesthat

studentsofbothgendersfoughtback,hadequalsay,andbecameempowered.Asaresult,the

entireLatinocommunityandparticularlythewomen,suchasPriscillaandCrystal,became

leaderswho[transformed]their[prior]inadequateeducationalexperiences,forthebetter

(Garcia).GarciaandWunpresentsthesituationinsuchwaytoappealstothosewhosympathize

withtheminoritiesaswellasthosewhodonot.Byconveyingthepassionwithwhichthesetwo

groupsprotestedtokeeptheireducation,itgrantsthemcredibilityofbeingenlightened

individualswhoarestrivingtosucceed.Thus,theaudienceispromptedtobeconsiderateof

them,acknowledgetheireffortsandseethemasempowered.

GarciaandWunalsoclaimthattherewasafortificationoftheidentitiesofbothgroupsas

theydisprovedstereotypes.ThosewhowantedtobanoftheMASprogram,includingHorne,

basedtheirreprimandingonspeculations.F
ormerA
rizonaSuperintendentofPublicInstruction

JohnH
uppenthal,wastheonlyonewhowentintotheclassroomtoconfirmhisassumptions.