S AL U D O S H I S PAN O S Central Valley, González has worked with symphonies around the world and artists as varied as Quentin Tarantino, Britney Spears and Slash, and conducted orchestras at Carnegie Hall and the Sydney Opera House. “I’m excited to create the score for this series,” González said. “It’s an important project to be a part of, and it allows me to draw on the multi-faceted musical heritages of many cultures, much like the history told in LATINO AMERICANS.” Downs, born in Oaxaca, Mexico, began performing traditional Mexican rancheras as a girl, and singing with mariachis. She has toured the world and released seven studio albums with songs in Spanish, English and several native Mexican languages, and is the winner of two Latin Grammy Awards and other industry recognition. “The importance of music as a form of cultural expression to Latinos cannot be understated,” Downs said. “It’s a privilege to have our music be a part of this series, building on that rich tradition.” LATINO AMERICANS relies on historical accounts and personal experiences to vividly tell the stories of early settlement, conquest and immigration; of tradition and reinvention; of anguish and celebration; and of the creation of this new American identity with an influx of arrivals from Mexico, Spain, Puerto Rico, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and countries in Central and South America. The series is broken into the following six chronological segments that cover the 1500s to the present day : 1. “Strangers in Their Own Land”(w.t.) spans the period from 1500-1880, as the first Spanish explorers enter North America, the U.S. expands into territories in the Southwest that had been home to Native Americans and English and Spanish colonies, and as the Mexican-American War strips Mexico of half its territories by 1848. 2. “The Pull and the Push” (w.t.) documents how the American population begins to be reshaped by the influx of people that began in 1880 and continues into the 1940s, as Cubans, Mexicans and Puerto Ricans begin arriving in the U.S. and start to build strong Latino-American communities in South Florida, Los Angeles and New York. 3. “War and Peace” (w.t.) moves into the World War II years and those that follow, as Latino Americans serve their new country by the hundreds of thousands — but still face discrimination and a fight for civil rights. 4. “The New Latinos”(w.t.) highlights the swelling immigration from Puerto Rico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic that stretches from the post-World War II years into the early 1960s as the new arrivals seek economic opportunities. 5. “Pride and Prejudice”(w.t.) details the creation of the proud “Chicano” identity, as labor leaders organize farm workers in California, and as activists push for better education opportunities for Latinos, the inclusion of Latino studies and empowerment in the political process. 6. “Peril and Promise” (w.t.) takes viewers through the past 30 years, with a second wave of Cubans arriving in Miami during the Mariel exodus and with hundreds of thousands Salvadorans, Nicaraguans and Guatemalans fleeing civil wars, death squads and unrest to go north into a new land — transforming the United States along the way. The debate over undocumented immigrants flares up, with a backlash that eventually includes calls for tightened borders, English-only laws and efforts to brand undocumented immigrants as felons. Simultaneously, the Latino influence is booming in music, sports, media, politics and entertainment. The largest and youngest growing sector of the American population, Latino Americans will determine the success of the United States in the 21st century. To view series and resources go to http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/collection/latino-americans/ Beyond the Broadcast LATINO AMERICANS is supported by a major bilingual public education campaign, a bilingual website with user-generated digital content, social media platforms and the development of a school-based curriculum. The production team will work with local public broadcasting stations and other groups and organizations to engage the public in the themes and history featured in the series. LATINO AMERICANS also includes a companion book by Ray Suarez, Senior Correspondent for PBS NEWSHOUR. LATINO AMERICANS is a production of WETA Washington, DC; Bosch and Co., Inc.; and Latino Public Broadcasting (LPB). The series executive producers are Jeff Bieber and Dalton Delan for WETA, and Sandie Viquez Pedlow for LPB. The series producer is Adriana Bosch. The supervising producer is Salme Lopez. The producers are Nina Alvarez, Dan McCabe, Ray Telles and John Valadez. The associate producers are Sabrina Avilés, Yvan Iturriaga and Monika Navarro. For the re-enactment sequences, the producer is Cathleen O’Connell and the directors are David Belton and Sonia Fritz.
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