That's Not Fair! / ¡No Es Justo! Emma Tenayuca's Struggle for Justice/La lucha de Emma Tenayuca por la justicia

by Tafolla, Carmen; Teneyuca, Sharyll; Ybáñez, Terry

• ISBN13: 9780916727338
• ISBN10: 0916727335
• Edition: Bilingual
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-04-01
• Publisher: Wings Press

Summary

"That's Not Fair! -- Emma Tenayuca's Struggle for Justice / !No Es Justo!-- La lucha de Emma Tenayuca por justicia" is a children's picture book depicting some of the early injustices encountered by a young Mexican-American girl in San Antonio in the 1920s. She learns to care deeply about poverty and hunger, and the economic and social oppression of Mexican-Americans in a time period when many were starving to death, and worked unreasonably long hours at slave-wages, in unsanitary conditions in the city's pecan-shelling factories. (This had doubled the tuberculosis rate among the Mexican-American population.) Through astute perception, caring, and personal action, she begins to be involved. Finally, at the age of 21, she leads 12,000 workers in the most significant historical action in the history of the Mexican-American struggle for justice. Emma Tenayuca's story serves as a model for young and old alike about courage and compassion, and the role each of us can play in making the world more fair for everyone.With language that is simple yet poetic, both children and adults will find themselves entranced by the drama of the time period and young Emma's sense of injustice and commitment to change. Many will find inspiration and a role model in this Latina leader who was far ahead of her time. It fills in richly and profoundly what is currently a hollow space in the documented history of our nation, the early civil rights struggle of Mexican-Americans in the 1930s.

Author Biography

Carmen Tafolla is one of the most anthologized of all Latina poets, with poems for both adults and children appearing in more than 200 anthologies. She is the author of the Bluebonnet Award-nominated Baby Coyote and the Old Woman. Sharyll Teneyuca is a social justice lawyer and the niece of Emma Tenayuca. Terry Ybáñez is the illustrator of Christmas Tree: El árbol de Navidad and Hairs/Pelitos. They all live in San Antonio, Texas.