Texas Group Aims To “Smuggle” Latino Literature Back Into AZ

The video shows a man hanging out in front of the trunk of a car filled with books you may recognize, books about Latinos, books written by Latinos. He says his name is Tony and he has a few things to say about Arizona’s ban on Mexican American studies.

The man’s name is Tony Diaz, novelist and writer originally from Chicago but now living in Houston. His organization is called Nuestra Palabra, which promotes Latino literature, literacy and culture. His mission is simple: to smuggle Latino books back into Arizona.

“In my delusion, it’s good to be thousands of us,” he told NewsTaco about his plan to organize a banned book caravan to Tucson, Arizona this March. “We’re taking all the ‘wet books’ that are illegal in Arizona back across the border.”

Of course, Diaz’s plan is accompanied by plenty of theater, but the Librotraficante Banned Book Caravan he is organizing to kick off on Sunday, March 11 — which will see the caravan of at least one bus drive from Houston to San Antonio to El Paso to New Mexico and finally to Tucson — is the real deal. Thus far, he told us there about 70 people in Houston planning to make the week-long trek, but organizers and authors in other cities in Texas, as well as New Mexico and Arizona, are piling on their own plans.

What happens when Diaz and his cohorts get to Arizona is still up in the air, he told us, but it’s likely that upon arriving in Tucson the group will celebrate literature currently banned in the state. A workshop on Mexican American studies, talking to politicians and community members, and perhaps even writing around in an ice cream truck giving out Mexican American studies books is on the agenda, he told us.

If you would like to help, donate, participate, send books, or spread the word, this is what you can do. Visit his website, watch his video, donate money, or donate your books (send to P.O. Box) check them out on Facebook or Twitter. Check out his video below, and we will update you on the group’s progress.