♪ eeeeeh, baby, i said i like it like that ♪ ♪ stomp your feet if you think i'm neat ♪ ♪ clap your hands if you want some more ♪ ♪ i said i like it like that ♪ damian trujillo: hello, and welcome to "comunidad del valle." i'm damian trujillo, and a big show today. ♪ clap your hands if you want some more ♪ dr. francisco jimenez is here in our virtual studio, plus celebrating the mexica new year on your "comunidad del valle." ♪♪♪

♪♪♪ damian: and we begin with a man who actually needs no introduction. he is dr. francisco jimenez with the--popular with the movie "the unbroken sky" and "the circuit" and everything else. and also manny cardenas is with us. he's with bellarmine college prep. they're actually inviting dr. jimenez to premiere, to show his film on campus. welcome to the show, gentlemen. francisco jimenez: it's a pleasure to be here. damian: so true story--you asked me to call you francisco, but i have to call you dr. jimenez. dr. jimenez, true story that you and i were in gilroy a couple of years ago. i was moderating a panel between you, dolores huerta, and luis valdez. and i was awestruck that after that event there was a big line of people seeking autographs; and it wasn't for dolores, it

wasn't for luis, it was for you. what a reception you've gotten from the children, from the adults after your series of books. francisco: yes, i--it was a blessing and a surprise for me. you know, i--it's a blessing because the--my work really resonates with a lot of people who have gone through the similar experiences that i have gone through as a child growing up in a family of mexican migrant woworkers. and so as you know, including yourself, damian, there's--there are many, many people in our communities who have gone through that experience or whose parents or grandparents have gone through that experience. and so my writing then honors these families who work very, very hard from sunup to sundown, many cases living in poor living

conditions, and thanks to their hard and noble work we're able to enjoy our meals every single day. and what sustains these families working day in and day out is that they have hopes and dreams of having a better life for their children and their children's children. so these families inspire me, and they also inspire my writing. and so the film "the unbroken sky," it's really a film that is based on my memoirs, but more importantly it is--it honors immigrant families and--many of whom are migrant farmworkers. and so it--the film in a very artistic and dramatic way

conveys the purpose for my writing, and that is to honor immigrants and migrant farmworkers. damian: and it's an honor they deserve and an honor they don't get enough of. we showed just a slight--a short clip of the trailer of this movie. we're going to show the entire trailer in our next segment and then--but that's the reason, right, manny, that you want to bring dr. jimenez into campus to make sure that as many students as possible get to see and appreciate the work in the movie of dr. jimenez. manny cardenas: that is correct. for many of us, you know, we think of bellarmine as a very kind of siloed institution and, you know, there's a lot of great work that's being done here that i feel like, you know, our community needs to know and learn and be part of. and so bringing this short film to our campus is not just bringing awareness to our young men here, but we're opening

the--you know, the avenue for others to join us and to see the work that bellarmine college prep has been doing for many years. as you know, we also participate in the salinas plunge each year where we gather students to go out to the salinas valley and learn about the process of the farmworking community and--you know, our students get to learn various aspects of that process, whether it's, you know, other nonprofit organizations who are working in the farmworking community to an organization like salud para la gente who offers resources in the medical field. but also our students get to visit the camps in the gonzales area to really hear the stories of the migrant families currently today and what they're facing, which, again, to--dr. jimenez was talking about a lot of it still plays in today's

era, some of the similarities in the stories that happen. so i'm glad that we're able to bring this short film here on campus and showcase it for all to see, and we hope for a great turnout. damian: i'm sure you will. and full disclosure, my son is a junior at bellarmine and he participated in that plunge. and you'd think he's heard all the stories because of all the time i talk about the farmworker experience, but he came back in awe. he remembers--he went to one of the labor camps and he says, "dad, the kitchen is also their living room and their bedroom." and just fascinating, and dr. jimenez brings that to life. we're going to show you the website for an--"the unbroken sky" by dr. francisco jimenez. it's there on the screen there. he will be showcasing it again over at bellarmine, but he's done it throughout the country in the past. so we'll talk more and show you these--this trailer when we continue here on "comunidad del valle." stay with us.

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and the clip--one of the clips, dr. jimenez, reminds me of a story that i shared on facebook just recently. and we were--i was about 8 or 9 years old picking garlic in--just outside of soledad and then all of a sudden i see classmates, friends, co-pickers start running and i was baffled. and then i looked behind me and down the hill were a few light green suvs and vans, and it was la migra. and i looked at my mom and i said, "[speaking foreign language] do we run?" she says, "no, [speaking foreign language]." we were only one of the few who were documented on that field at the time. but that seems from the short clip i saw that that's some of the same experiences that you had. francisco: exactly. it was--i was in the 8th grade. at that point in our life, my father couldn't work in the fields anymore because he had severe back problems.

character in the film, and i worked doing janitorial work to help support our family. and i was in the 8th grade ready to recite the preamble to the constitution, and as i was--it took me a long time to memorize the preamble, but--and so i'm in the classroom and the border patrol officer comes in and asks for me, and we are deported back to mexico. so that experience was very traumatic for me, but that experience has really deepened my empathy and respect and admiration for farmworkers because i know that many farmworkers are undocumented and their hard and noble work, you

know, as i mentioned earlier, puts food on our tables. and so my hope is that people who view this film will deepen their empathy, appreciation, respect, and value for the work that migrant workers do. and thanks to their hard work, we are a strong economic society or country. and so their valuable contributions in many ways shape who we are as a nation. so i think their story, your story, and it's really our story is--i'm glad that it's depicted in this film.

damian: well, and in reciting the preamble you mentioned seven powerful words that describe this country--or should describe this country. that's life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. let's show you that--the trailer at this moment. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ francisco: "we hold these truths to be self-evident." francisco: self-evident. male: you still learning that? you got to recite it in front of the whole class? francisco: "that all men are created equal." male: [speaking foreign language] francisco: [speaking foreign language] male: [speaking foreign language]

francisco: "endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights." francisco: unalienable. female: francisco jimenez. francisco: here. ♪♪♪ francisco: "that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." ♪♪♪ damian: boy, that is truly powerful. manny, how excited are you to be able to showcase this to students, whether they come from migrant families or not? manny: i mean, ware buzzing here at bellarmine knowing that

we've had a chance also to pre-screen the movie and know that this hits home for a lot of our students, for a lot of our community as well and--you know, i think the energy around this is that people need to know, people need to understand. dr. jimenez said it really well, that, like, we should be thankful. we should be--understand where our food come from, you know, the process of what our farmworking communities have to go through not just from back in the day to this present day as i mentioned earlier. and so i think, like, for us it's very important that our community and our students understand, you know, the things that go behindhose stories and have a better understanding of the true lives and storytelling of folks who have lived this experience. and so i think it's going to be a wonderful event for our student body, our teachers and faculty, our community members. we're inviting other schools in our diocese to be part of this

process too as well just to create more awareness. and, again, as we know, you know, some of our schools--our students have read "the circuit" too as well. and so we're really asking our students to come forward and kind of put what they have read into full practice with this event and be able to see it for its--all its glories. damian: well, that's wonderful. well, that's on march 23rd at bellarmine. you kind of need an invitation 'cause it's going to be sold out. they're not selling tickets, but seats are limited. we're going to show you that information. again, the website for "the unbroken sky" by dr. francisco jimenez. there it is on the screen, the life of the great teacher at santa clara university there. we'll be back and wrap it up with dr. jimenez and manny cardenas here on "comunidad del valle," stay with us.

i love your daughter so munch. are you... saying munch? yup! he's craving my new big smashed jack, with more than double the beef of a big mac. i'm in love... with? what's her face, right? get my new big smashed jack and so munch more. welcome to jack in the box!

if you like options, you'll love my $6 all day big deal meal. choose from 4 delicious entrées and 5 tasty sides with a drink. oh, and nobody else includes breakfast items all day. just this guy. at jack, every bite's a big deal! welcome to jack in the box! damian: we're back with dr. francisco jimenez, the star of at jack, every bite's "the unbroken sky;" and manny cardenas at bellarmine. and correction, manny.

you are selling tickets. manny: yes, we are. so we are selling tickets for a great purpose actually. so you could locate the event under bcp.org's website under events. it'll be--the title of it is "screening and q&a with 'the unbroken sky.'" and yes, we are selling tickets to the general public. we are asking $20 for general admission and $10 for students. but here's the great thing, is that the proceeds are all going to the food bank of monterey county. so we are going to give everything that we are able to procure on that day back into the community. we know that the food bank of monterey county has done some great work with our farmworking communities out the. we've also partnered with them during our plunges that we've done. and so we want to give back. so everything that we are able to fundraise here, we will be giving them the opportunity to have--all the proceeds go

to them. in addition, day of we are also going to be still collecting donations for the food bank of monterey county. so yeah, you're more than welcome to donate even more if it moves your heart. so we're very excited about that process. damian: all right, that's bcp.org for bellarmine college prep. dr. jimenez, you have the floor, sir. francisco: yes, i'm very grateful to you, manny, and bellarmine for doing this. it's a wonderful thing that you're doing to help raise funds for farmworkers. and also my understanding is that some of the monies will go to help sch--to provide monies for scholarships so that other students who come from underserved communities who cannot afford to attend bellarmine can actually get scholarships to attend your wonderful institution.

and i should fess up that i have a great respect for bellarmine and gratitude because two of our grandchildren graduated from bellarmine and thanks to bellarmine they're very successful and they continue providing--or contributing to underserved communities in the areas where they work. so thank you, manny, for your wonderful work. damian: well--i mean, dr. tomas jimenez also takes after his dad. so i can see where that's happening. we have about a couple of minutes left. dr. jimenez, any final thoughts on your film? that's for dr. jimenez. francisco: i'm sorry. damian: any final thoughts, dr. jimenez, on the film? francisco: oh, i--it's i'm--i hope you enjoy the film.

it was--it has been submitted to 13 film festivals and has garnered several first-place awards for it, and every time it is shown and i--every time i see it, i get emotional. and i can't thank enough the producers, normandie ramirez and her husband, who basically gave their time to produce this film without any compensation. so--and the film was made thanks to many contributors from our community here in the santa clara valley. so it's really a grassroots effort to produce this wonderful film that reflects many members of our community.

so i am very pleased that bellarmine and that manny and--are showing the film at bellarmine. damian: all right. well, you were an inspiration as a professor at santa clara university, dr. jimenez, and then even more as an author and now as an--well, not an actor, but you're a filmmaker, if you will. so thank you for your inspiration. i look forward to seeing you on the 23rd at bellarmine. francisco: thank you. damian: gracias. thank you, manny. and, again, this is happening on march 23rd over at bellarmine college prep here in san jose. there is the website for more information for "the unbroken sky." but as manny said, tickets are still available at bcp.org. proceeds go to the monterey county food bank. up next here on "comunidad del valle," celebrating the mexica new year, stay with us.

i guess what i'm looking for from you is, i mean, i know how the fire affected me, and there's always a constant fear that who's to say something like that won't happen again? that's fair. we committed to underground, 10,000 miles of electric line. you look back at where we were 10 years ago anand we aren a completely different place today, and it's because of how we need to care for our communities and our customers. i hope that's true. [joe] that's my commitment. [ambient noise] damian: and we're celebrating the mexica new year here on "comunidad del valle." [joe] that's my commitment.

with me once again with calpulli tonalehqueh is quetzalli. she's back on our show. welcome back to "comunidad del valle." quetzalli jimenez: thank you. damian: well, this is another great event. happy mexica new year. tell us about this year's great event. quetzalli: yeah, so our ceremony is taking place from the 14th through the 16th at emma prusch park. it's an event free for the community, a ceremony free for the community. and yeah, we're just coming together to honor and celebrate indigenous culture. damian: and those who might be deficient in the knowledge of indigenous culture, quetzalli, enlighten us. people might say, "well, january 1st is new year." tell us why we celebrate the mexica new year on this day. quetzalli: well, many cultures from mexico celebrate mexica new year, this new era of a year around this time; and each year has a symbol. and so this symbol for this year is chalet, which is house. so it--that kind of represents the foundation, the home,

stability, harmonization, and balance. damian: and it's the aztec calendar that dictates that this is when the mexica new year begins? quetzalli: yeah, that's right. damian: all right. well, tell us the significance of this year. i mean, every year it gets better and better. i can't wait to--we're showing video now of last year's event. it's color. it's culture. it's pride. quetzalli: yeah. so it represents the home and kind of where we're grounded. and so we hope to honor that by presenting this beautiful ceremony, bringing in different cultures not just for us mexicas but also for people from different places all around the world, from peru to canada to all over turtle island. damian: and it's a weekend-long celebration. starts friday, goes through sunday. tell us what's happening. quetzalli: yeah, so we start off the ceremony by bringing the sacred fire and having the muwekma ohlones present and coordinate the

ceremony and bringing in different cali tribes from california. damian: and the host tribe this year is the tribe that's indigenous to the land that we're sitting on now, the muwekma ohlone. quetzalli: yes. damian: talk about their significance and their role in all of this, the ohlone. quetzalli: yeah. they bring in parts of their dance and their music and the way that they know how to honor it and clean it for us because throughout the ceremony we're constantly cleansing ourselves with the smoke and the fire and trying to do that in an honorable way. and so, yeah, that's what they will be helping us with. damian: you mentioned cleansing. talk about what--how you feel when you wake up on monday after the ceremonies are over. what kind of a spirituality, a cleansiness, if that's a word, do you wake up with? quetzalli: the ceremony is so powerful. there's so much energy everywhere not only from the dancers but from all the people coming in, from little

guys--little babies to adults to elders. so it's really beautiful to feel being in community, and that's really powerful medicine. and so coming out of that, walking out of that ceremony on--during the week you still feel the excitement, the adrenaline. and so you feel inspired, and that's what i hope to bring out on people when they come out here for our ceremony. damian: and calpulli would want us to mention the vendors, right? quetzalli: yes. yes, of course. so we will be having many vendors coming from all over selling handcrafted items, to clothing representing, you know, indigenous culture, to food vendors, to arts and crafts vendors who'll have an artist booth, live art. there's a lot happening. damian: and you need a space. i mean, emma prusch park is a huge park. you need the space because this is that big of a celebration. quetzalli: yes. yeah. and so parking will be a little bit limited, but we will have

a map of the parking spaces on our website. so any information that people have any questions on, feel free to check out our website at aztecadancers.com. damian: all right, we'll show that at the end here. any final thoughts, quetzalli, before we let you go? quetzalli: just excited to see everybody and, yeah, praying for good weather. damian: all right, same here. cross your fingers. thank you so much, quetzalli, with calpulli tonalehqueh putting on another great celebration of the mexica new year. thank you so much. quetzalli: thank you. damian: all right, and telemundo 48 and nbc bay area are some of the sponsors--many sponsors for this mexica new year celebration. there is the website, aztecadancers.com, for more information. another great mexica new year's celebration. well, if you want to get a hold of us here on "comunidad del valle," you can follow me on instagram. my handle is @newsdamiantrujillo. there is also my email address. you can tell me off there if that's what you wish. or you have suggestionfor the show, you can do that there as well. we thank you for sharing another part of your sunday with us on "comunidad del valle." we're going to leave you now with the sounds and images

of last year's mexica new year. we'll see you there. ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ ♪♪♪

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