El Coraje, a 1960s Tucson Chicano movement newspaper, is gaining new life in classrooms at the University of Arizona.
This year's editor is Karina Salazar, a journalism senior who wants to write about Hispanic issues as a career.
"We're living in a huge moment for red and brown journalism," said Salazar, a student in a UA class titled "History of Red-Brown Journalism." It focuses on indigenous and Mexican-American issues in communication.
"So we're going to use this to spread our voices," she said.
Roberto "Cintli" Rodriguez, an assistant professor with the UA's Department of Mexican American and Raza Studies, heads the newspaper revival and the class.
"The real special thing about this publication is that when it's published, we have a national conference," Rodriguez said, "and the students are going to present it to the ones from 40 years ago and talk about the current work and the old work from the 1960s."
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A presentation of the new El Coraje - a Spanish word meaning "courage" or "anger" - will begin the three-day "Combating Hate, Censorship and Forbidden Curricula" conference on Thursday.
The newspaper will not be sold. Rather, it will be used mostly as a pamphlet for the free-admission conference at the University of Arizona. The paper addresses issues such as House Bill 2218, the state measure that opposes ethnic studies in the Tucson Unified School District.
"I'm simply trying to provide the funding for them," said Rodriguez, whose students run the publication. "I'm not trying to supervise them. I'm just their adviser."
El Coraje's format resembles that of a magazine, with photography and poetry, along with journalistic and research pieces submitted by each student in Rodriguez's class, other university personnel, high school students and community members.
The paper focuses on issues of immigration, education, and it includes a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the slaying of Ruben Salazar, a Mexican-American journalist and former Los Angeles Times reporter who was killed by police during a Vietnam War protest.
Students also are recruiting advertisers from groups including Chicano-Hispano Student Affairs, as well as Mexican American and Raza Studies, Rodriguez said.
Last year students tried to revive the paper, but the contents revolved mostly around research materials and essays.
Raquel Rubio-Goldsmith, who spoke to students in the class, thought the students' efforts were important not only for Mexican American and Raza Studies, but also for journalism.
"It's very exciting to continue a tradition that started in the Chicano movement in Tucson," said Rubio-Goldsmith, an adjunct lecturer with Mexican American and Raza Studies, "and I'm very excited that students today are looking toward journalism to diffuse their opinions and get their voices out there."
Jazmine Woodberry is a University of Arizona student who is apprenticing at the Star. Contact her at starapprentice@azstarnet.com or 573-4128.
