Episode 40: Dr. Trinidad Gonzales, Professor and Co-Founder of Refusing to Forget

Welcome back to Yeah, I Got an F#%*ing Job With a Liberal Arts Degree! Join Cal Poly Humboldt Dean Jeff Crane as he interviews a range of guests about the value of the liberal arts and higher education as a personal and public good. Dr. Trinidad Gonzales is a history and Mexican American Studies instructor at South Texas College. He is a co-founder of Refusing to Forget, a public history project devoted to examining state-sanctioned violence against ethnic Mexicans in Texas during the 1910s. Refusing to Forget has been recognized with the Western Historical Association's Autry Public History prize, American Historical Association's Herbert Feis Award and the Organization of American History's Friend of History Award. He is also a board member of the National Humanities Alliance which is a coalition of organizations that advocates for the teaching of the humanities. Trini also recently wrote a letter to advocate for a Truth and Reconciliation Committee regarding the history of Texas. This letter was sent to Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, and Speaker of the House Dade Phelan, Members of the Texas Senate, and House of Representatives. In the letter he states, "The first step towards addressing past injustices because of state-sanctioned violence is by legislatively creating a Truth and Reconciliation Committee that will allow families and communities of Texas to be heard and for victims the dignity of being remembered." He also writes that "The scope of the committee’s investigation should be limited to the period between Texas’s foundation as a Republic in 1836 to 1980. The committee should exist for two years and be composed of an equal number of bipartisan senators and representatives with bipartisan co-chairs. The committee should hold meetings in five geographically different locations to allow local communities from across the state to have their histories heard. Once the hearings are completed then the collected records and testimony should be made available on the Texas Library and Archives Commission website so that a wider public can access those records. The committee should propose recommendations concerning the creation of historical markers, public memorials, exhibits and consider an official apology for past human rights violations." Listen to the episode for more information on Trini's life and his work as a citizen and as a professor. Works cited: 9-1-1: Lone Star Lone Star by John Sayles Follow Dr. Gonzales on X @GonzalesT956 Follow the show on X ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@JobLiberalArts⁠⁠⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and on Instagram @LiberalArtsJobPod ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Music by Silverman Sound Studios⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Yeah, I Got an F#%*ing Job with a Liberal Arts Degree is produced by Abigail Smithson