FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
11-YEAR-OLD LATINA YOUTH JOURNEYS TO DISCOVER THE PLIGHT
OF A PUREPECHA TRIBE
Los Angeles, CA – Fifth grader
Stephanie Maldonado, from a disadvantaged
neighborhood in Long Beach, California , dedicates a summer
to explore the world of hard-working migrant farm-harvesting
families in the Coachella Valley. She offers visual awareness
of plights greater than her own through a short documentary,
“The Purepecha: Poorest of
the Poor,” set to air soon on TimeWarner's
On-Demand.
Having
efforts praised by First Lady, Michelle Obama
and Oprah Winfrey, the film has been
invited to screen and feature several panel presentations
hosted by AFTRA during Hispanic Heritage Month,
the Palm Springs Human Rights Commission, Palm Springs
Intl. Short Film Festival, HollyShorts Intl. Film Festival,
UC Irvine's Latino Medical Student Assoc., UCLA Chicano
Research Dept., Venice Family Clinic, and the Indio Performing
Arts Center for the Coachella Valley Latino Intl. Film
Festival, among others.
Within the short documentary, Maldonado explores the lives
of an indigenous Indian tribe of close to 6,000 seasonal
migrant farm working families, originating from Michoacan,
Mexico, now residing in a trailer park community called
Duroville, just southeast of Los Angeles . She discovers
that without adequate living or working conditions, and
in one of the most wealthiest tourist destinations and
provider of a billion dollar crop industry, the Purepecha
continue to fully deliver yearly harvestings of the fruits
and vegetables on all American tables.
Assisting her to unveil the social injustices throughout
the film, among those exploited and deemed the ‘poorest
of the poor’ by David Kelly, L.A.
Times Reporter, is Arturo S. Rodriguez III,
President of the United Farm Workers, citing that
“we all have the responsibility to help out the
people making sacrifices to feed us every single day,”
Tamara Damante, KESQ-Ch.3 News Anchor/Reporter,
Elizabeth Espinosa (KTLA-Ch.5 News Reporter), and several other community leaders teaming together to
bring light to this American issue.
In an historic decision, former U.S. District Court
Judge, Stephen Larson rules that
the trailer park housing the families in third world poverty
conditions be repaired or be provided alternative humane
living conditions. He astutely observes, "On
the one hand, the U.S. portends that the undocumented
workers lack legal status while at the same time predicating
the economic efficiency of an agricultural industry on
their hard work. It appears that the U.S. has once again,
established a rather 'peculiar institution' to service
our agrarian needs."
Inspiration for the project comes from the work Sister
Gabriella Williams, a Dominican Sister of
Oakford with the Diocese of San Bernardino, initiates
through the non-profit organization, San Jose
Community & Bea Main Learning Center providing high quality services, childcare, computer and
educational resource programs positively impacting life
choices and development for the Purepecha families.
The documentary is produced and directed by Cheryl
Quintana Leader (a UCLA, Leadership America,
Leadership California, Hispanas Organized for Political
Equality Leadership Institute & the Woodhull Institute
for Ethical Leadership Graduate) via INDIVISION2000
Productions, an award-winning production company
creating educational media in English/Spanish for the
Latino community. Recent productions include, "The
Human Rights Agenda" for The Intl. Assoc. of
Official Human Rights Agencies; "Healthy Homes"
for the City of Long Beach educating youth and their families
on environmental hazards, asthma triggers and home safety;
and, Dove's "Campaign for Real Beauty,"
a 16-week on-line empowerment series for women highlighting
Financial Literacy, Authentic Voice & Advocacy,
Public Speaking & Negotiation.
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