With the embattled successes of the San Francisco State Strike and the UC Berkeley Third World Liberation Front Strike in 1968-1969, ethnic studies forged its way into U.S. academia. Faced with the task of filling in the gaping holes in U.S. history, where white settlers deleted their crimes of aggression and oppression of generations and multitudes of people of color — ethnic studies gained a small foothold in the established academic community.

At the heart of ethnic studies is the oral histories of people of color who lived through the oppressive regimes of the past (and present).  Oral tradition is the precious stuff that lights up our histories in the Americas.