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VOCES American Historia: The Untold History of Latinos • WXXI-TV & WORLD

Inspired by his quest to uncover Latino and Latina heroes and their contributions, this new three-part series brings acclaimed Broadway and film actor John Leguizamo’s passion from the stage to the screen. 

VOCES American Historia: The Untold History of Latinos premieres Fridays, September 27 and October 4 and 11 at 9 p.m. on WXXI-TV and streams on PBS.org and the PBS App. After the premiere, the episodes can be watched on-demand here.

Also airing on WXXI-World

Episode 1: Echoes of Empires airs on World:

WXXI World | Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 05:00 am

WXXI World | Tuesday, Oct. 8 at 11:00 am

Episode 2: Threads in the American Tapestry

WXXI World | Thursday, Oct. 10 at 07:00 pm

WXXI World | Friday, Oct. 11 at 12:00 am

WXXI World | Friday, Oct. 11 at 08:00 am

WXXI World | Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 05:00 am

WXXI World | Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 11:00 am

Episode 3: Solidarity in the New Era

WXXI World | Thursday, Oct. 17 at 07:00 pm

WXXI World | Friday, Oct. 18 at 12:00 am

WXXI World | Friday, Oct. 18 at 08:00 am

In this series, Leguizamo takes viewers on a captivating journey, delving into both well-known and lesser-known stories of Latino history and contributions, spanning thousands of years from the Ancient Empires to the early 1970s. Through this exploration, he aims to shine a light on the rich and often overlooked history of Latinos while showcasing how Latino history is American history.

Filmed on location in Mexico and throughout the U.S., American Historia features Leguizamo in conversation with over a dozen leading historians, anthropologists, authors and experts. The series also features actors, including Benjamin Bratt, Bryan Cranston, Rosario Dawson, Laurence Fishburne, Ethan Hawke, Edward James Olmos, Rosie Perez, Liev Schreiber, reading original source materials.

“If our contributions were written back into history textbooks, can you imagine how America would see us?’ says Leguizamo. “More importantly, can you imagine how we would see ourselves?”

Photo: Creator and host John Leguizamo on the set of AMERICAN HISTORIA./ Credit: NGL Studios

Voces on PBS “Almost American” • WXXI-TV

Meet a Salvadoran-American family who have legally lived and worked in the nation’s capital for 20 years until disaster strikes.

Voces on PBS “Almost American” airs Monday, August 26 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV.

A Salvadoran-American family of five who have legally lived and worked in the nation’s capital for 20 years have their lives upended when Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for those from El Salvador and five other countries is revoked. Follow their fight to stay together as a family.

VOCES “From Here/From There (De Aquí/De Allá) • WXXI-TV

This film tells the inspiring story of Luis Cortes Romero, the first undocumented attorney to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

VOCES “From Here/From There (De Aquí/De Allá)” airs Monday, July 22 at 10 p.m. on WXXI-TV

Follow Luis – an immigration attorney as well as a DACA recipient’s – on a journey from a difficult youth to the highest court in the land as part of a powerful legal team fighting the Administration’s attempt to rescind DACA.

Luis was attending a school for gifted students when he discovered he was undocumented when he couldn’t join a class trip to Europe, leading to his father’s deportation and his family’s upheaval. This hardship and his mother’s direction led Luis to Chicano Studies at San Jose State, where he would become an immigration lawyer.

When the Obama administration established DACA in 2012, Luis’s life changed, allowing him to practice law openly, and in 2017, he defended Daniel Ramirez, a DACA recipient facing deportation, and recognized the broader threat to DACA. This led to a landmark Supreme Court case where Luis, the first undocumented lawyer to appear before the Court, and his team won a victory in 2020, overturning the Trump administration’s rescission of DACA. Despite this win, the future of DACA remains uncertain, affecting hundreds of thousands of young people.

Why Do We Say “Latino”?

Danielle Bainbridge traces the origin of the term Latino, Hispanic, and Latinx in this episode of “Origins of Everything.” When you hear “Latino” you probably think of people from Latin America – places like Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, etc. But where exactly did the history of that word come from, and has it always meant Central America and South America as well as the Caribbean? Danielle traces the origin of the term “Latino” and the debates that still surround it as well as the term “Hispanic” and “Latinx.”

About Origins of Everything Host, Danielle Bainbridge

She is a fun loving, history nerd who will never shy away from a good debate or bad joke. She has a PhD in African American Studies & American Studies from Yale University, graduated Cum Laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in English & Theatre Arts, and is a new faculty member at Northwestern University in Theatre and African American Studies. Which basically means her interests run the gamut from big Broadway musicals to the social & political movements of the last 200 years.

On Two Fronts: Latinos & Vietnam On-Demand

 

This film captures a complex aspect of the Vietnam War: the legacy of Latino veterans and their families during the conflict. Watch On-Demand

Through rare archival footage and candid interviews, On Two Fronts: Latinos & Vietnam, conveys the rich heritage of military service, a deeply rooted part of Latino cultural identity in the U.S., and looks at the contributions made by Latino veterans and their families during the Vietnam era. The film also explores the controversy and changing attitudes amid the growing Chicano anti-war movement and within a community reeling over disproportionate losses and divided over participation in the war.

Examine the Latino experience during a war that placed its heaviest burden on working-class youth and their communities. Framing the documentary are memoirs of two siblings, Everett and Delia Alvarez, who stood on opposite sides of the Vietnam War, one as a POW and the other protesting at home.

On Two Fronts: Latinos & Vietnam is part of WXXI’s Veterans Connections initiative that is designed to help bridge military and veteran needs with community support and awareness.  Through special TV, radio and online programming, documentary films, group discussions, news features, and web features. Veterans Connections works to create a community platform to raise awareness and connect veterans with valuable resources.

Watch On-Demand

PBS KIDS: Talk About: Race and Racism

BS KIDS Talk About: Race and Racism is a special co-viewing program for families with young children to watch and discuss together. 

The PBS KIDS Talk About: Race and Racism special is a half-hour program featuring authentic conversations between real children and their growmups, and will include content from PBS KIDS series DANIEL TIGER’S NEIGHBORHOOD, ARTHUR and XAVIER RIDDLE AND THE SECRET MUSEUM.

The special will feature children and their grownups talking about race and racial justice-related topics in an age-appropriate way, such as noticing differences in race, understanding what racism can look like, and embracing the role we all have to play in standing up for ourselves and each other — offering viewers ideas to build on as they continue these important conversations at home.

**Please note: This special programming is designed as a co-viewing experience with adults and children watching together. **

Watch together on-demand

More: Articles and Resources for Grown-ups 

More About the Special

Grownup note: PBS KIDS programs are designed to reflect the diversity of communities across the nation, and to address themes relevant to children’s everyday lives. This special is designed for parents and children to watch together, and for parents to build on in whatever way they choose to have these conversations with their children. The program touches on topics such as race, racism, and the recent Black Lives Matter protests from the perspective of real kids in an effort to help children understand what they might be seeing happening around them in a developmentally-appropriate way.

The PBS KIDS Talk About: Race and Racism special was created in response to parents increasingly asking PBS KIDS for resources to address tough but important topics with their kids, including race and racism, and is part of PBS KIDS’ ongoing commitment to families across the nation.

Designed as a co-viewing experience, the program explores complicated topics in an age-appropriate way. Our goal is to support parents in talking with their children about race. We hope that our content will provide a helpful starting point in whatever way parents choose to have these conversations with their children. Additional parent resources are available on PBS KIDS for Parents on pbs.org/parents/talking-about-racism to support parents in discussions about race and racial justice-related topics with their children.

The following advisors consulted on this project:

  • Dr. Aisha White, Program Director, P.R.I.D.E (Positive Racial Identity Development in Early Education)
  • Dr. Renee Wilson-Simmons, Executive Director, ACE (Adverse Childhood Experience) Awareness Foundation
  • Dr. Dana Winters, Director of Simple Interactions and Academic Programs; Assistant Professor of Child and Family Studies, Fred Rogers Center

Coming Together: Sesame Street Resources on Racial Literacy

Sesame Workshop continues its major commitment to racial justice with new resources and content called “Coming Together” to help families talk to young children about race and identity. 

All kids need a strong individual and group identity, but racism hurts the healthy development of both, as well as our entire society. Whether you and the children in your care are directly affected by racism or you’re allies of those who are, engaging honestly and directly with little ones is the beginning of building racial literacy (the skills needed to talk thoughtfully about race and to identify and respond to racism). 

Please note: All of the resources listed below and available through Sesame Street in Communities are designed for co-viewing, co-learning, and co-participation – meaning that to create the most meaningful experience and takeaways, adults and children should use them together.

I Am Somebody Song:

I Am Somebody (Giant Song) #ComingTogether
You and Me Makes We Song #ComingTogether
#ComingTogether Playlist

Coming Together is rooted in extensive research and consultation with experts to develop a groundbreaking Racial Justice educational framework and curriculum for young children. Like the science-based whole-child model that Sesame Street is known for, this framework will help guide and inform the creation of new Sesame Workshop content going forward—including future seasons of Sesame Street. This collection of resources are designed to provide families with the tools they need to build racial literacy, to have open conversations with young children, to engage allies and advocates to become upstanders against racism, and more, Coming Together includes a racial justice educational framework, ongoing research, and a rolling release of new content.

Where to Find Coming Together Resources: You can find all of the resources connected to Coming Together and Racial Justice by following the below links.

Learn More: Sesame Street in Communities Race, Ethnicity, and Culture Resources

Latino Americans Series Classroom Resources

Resources from the PBS Latino-Americans, a three-part documentary series chronicling the rich and varied history and experiences of Latinos over the past 500 years.

Resources from the program include:

Latino Americans Series PBS LearningMedia Collection

Explore The Series Website (English & Spanish)

Latino Americans is led by Emmy Award-winning series producer Adriana Bosch anddocuments the evolution of a new “Latino American” identity from the 1500s to the present day, featuring interviews with close to 100 Latinos from the worlds of politics, business and pop culture — including Herman Badillo, Dolores Huerta, Gloria Estefan and Rita Moreno — as well as deeply personal portraits of lesser-known Latinos who lived through key chapters in American history.

“In six episodes of first-rate television, LATINO AMERICANS covers centuries of history about native-born Latinos and immigrants from throughout the Americas,” said Bosch, a Cuban-born filmmaker whose previous PBS projects include LATIN MUSIC U.S.A. and a number of documentaries for the series AMERICAN EXPERIENCE. “We do not shy away from addressing key issues of legitimacy, justice, discrimination and the very meaning of citizenship. The series has great cinematography, incisive interviews, evocative archive materials — but what I am most proud of is that we were able to tell history in the first person. Latino Americans is history ‘con nombre y apellido’ — with first and last name. And that is what makes our stories compelling and profoundly human.”

The diversity of the Latino American experience is reflected in both the on-camera interview subjects and the filmmaking staff. The production team, most of who are Latino Americans, includes individuals who are of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Salvadoran and Dominicans heritage, among others. In addition to Bratt as the narrator, the musical score for Latino Americans is by award-winning composers Joseph Julián González, a native of California’s Central Valley of Mexican descent, and Claudio Ragazzi, a native of Argentina; and the acclaimed singer-songwriter Lila Downs, born in Oaxaca, Mexico, will serve as the featured artist for the series, performing the closing song in Latino Americans.

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