20 | Deportes: The Making of a Sporting Mexican Diaspora with Dr. Jose Alamillo
This week, Miguel speaks to Dr. Jose Alamillo (http://josealamillo.cikeys.com/), professor of Chicana/o Studies at California State University, Channel Islands. Dr. Alamillo is a cultural historian who teaches and writes about immigration, labor, race, gender, leisure, and sport. Dr. Alamillo is also the author of Deportes: The Making of a Sporting Mexican Diaspora.
Miguel spoke to Dr. Jose Alamillo about his book Deportes and the development of the Sporting Mexican Diaspora in the 20th century between Mexicans on both sides of the border. They discuss the importance of boxing, baseball, and other sports in developing a transnational sports network between Mexico and what became known as Mexico de Aufera, which was Southern California & beyond. The development of this network through sports created what Dr. Alamillo calls the Sporting Mexican Diaspora.
Additionally, Dr. Alamillo described how the U.S. government’s imperialist project in Latin America deliberately shaped the Sporting Mexican Diaspora through the Good Neighbor Policy and the Office of Iner-American Affairs (OIAA). Dr. Alamillo also explained the importance of Mexican sports journalists in developing the Mexican sporting diaspora, plus more!
Episode 20s Molotov MVP is the legendary Mexican/Chicano Tennis superstar Richard “Pancho” Gonzalez. He faced racism as a Mexican in a sport dominated by the white establishment. Nevertheless, El Maestro de la Raqueta was ranked #1 in the world of tennis for eight consecutive years, from 1952-1960, and was in the top 10 for 21 straight years, from 1948-1969. After the segment, Miguel included archival audio from a 1950s sports program called Jimmy Powers Press Box Favorites featuring Pancho Gonzalez.
Lastly, Miguel highlights the legendary Chicana labor organizer and teacher, Emma Tenayuca, for episode 20s Xicano/a sports history. The San Antonio-born Indigenous Mexicana was a communist labor organizer and an all-city San Antonio high school basketball player!
Music Credit: Emma Tenayuca (La Pasionaria de Texas) by Sacramento’s ¡Las Pulgas! (Band Camp)
Miguel Garcia produced this episode.
More Reading and Videos:
THIS DAY IN HISTORY: Jan. 31, 1938: Emma Tenayuca Leads Pecan Sheller Strike (Zinn Education Project)
103 Years Later: Emma Tenayuca’s Push For Labor Rights Still Resonates In San Antonio (2019)
Richard Pancho Gonzalez Youth Foundation
Jimmy Powers Press Box Favorites: Pancho Gonzales, Budge, and Riggs (YouTube)
Emma Tenayuca: la Pasionaria de los trabajadores (YouTube)
