{"product_id":"author-talk-we-exist-in-the-whisper-with-lupe-mendez-august-5-7-pm","title":"AUTHOR TALK: We Exist in the Whisper with Lupe Mendez - August 5 @ 7 PM","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCelebrate the release of \u003cem\u003eWe Exist in the Whisper\u003c\/em\u003e with Lupe Mendez!\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEVENT DEETS\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhen: Wednesday, August 5 @ 7 PM CST\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhere: Kindred Stories (2310 Elgin St. Houston, TX 77004)\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eHow:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli data-end=\"81\" data-start=\"44\" data-section-id=\"1h4scnw\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong data-end=\"59\" data-start=\"46\"\u003eRSVP ONLY\u003c\/strong\u003e to reserve your seat.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-end=\"210\" data-start=\"82\" data-section-id=\"1u46exx\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong data-end=\"102\" data-start=\"84\"\u003eRSVP WITH BOOK\u003c\/strong\u003e to reserve your seat and purchase a copy of the book, supporting both the author and our store programming.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli data-end=\"325\" data-start=\"211\" data-section-id=\"9r7ts8\"\u003e\n\u003cstrong data-end=\"247\" data-start=\"213\"\u003eRSVP (I ALREADY HAVE THE BOOK)\u003c\/strong\u003e if you plan to bring a copy you previously purchased from another bookseller.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePlease note outside copies of the book will not be allowed in the bookstore and you will not be eligible for the signing\/photo line. You must buy a book from Kindred Stories or purchase the RSVP (\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e \u003cstrong data-end=\"247\" data-start=\"213\"\u003eI ALREADY HAVE THE BOOK\u003c\/strong\u003e) ticket. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABOUT THE BOOK\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"One day all these classrooms \/ will no longer hold any of us. \/ Leave no evidence we were here. \/ We exist in the whisper….\" Lupe Mendez's innovative new collection captures a unique time in Houston, Texas, \"a sliver of a moment for Mexican-American and Mexican communities in the early 1970s,\" that explores Houston ISD's racist plan to integrate schools by sending Mexican-American children-labeled as white-to predominantly African-American schools, thereby satisfying federal desegregation laws.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIncensed that its children would have to travel to schools that were no better than the ones they could walk to, the Chicano community resisted by instituting a walkout, or \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003ehuelga\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, and creating its own schools in churches, homes and neighborhood centers. Weaving poetry and history, the book contains \"found\" poems created from newspaper articles about the strike; oral history interviews with teachers, principals and students; notes from visits the author made to the sites where classes were held more than 50 years ago; docupoems created from official Huelga School papers; and historical documents such as photographs, charts, fliers and letters.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn his illuminating notes about the book, Mendez describes the methodology for creating this collection and includes a list of best practices for the \"poethnographer.\" His research revealed the racism that existed in this era, perpetuated by the majority white population and between brown and black populations forced to compete for every resource. Ultimately, Mendez asserts the Huelga School strike had a critical impact on Houston, both in the development of Mexican-American leaders who got their start in these \"freedom schools\" and the nascent collaborations between diverse communities. This creative, thought-provoking volume is a must-read for anyone interested in education, history and Mexican Americans' fight for equality.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABOUT THE AUTHOR\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOriginally from Galveston, TX, Lupe Mendez is a Writer, Editor, Educator, and Artivist…  \u003cbr\u003eHe is the author several books poetry and multi-genre works, including WHY I AM LIKE TEQUILA (Willow Books, 2019), winner of the 2019 John A. Robertson Award for Best First Book of Poetry, PRAYER HOLDING NIGHT: NEW \u0026amp; SELECTED WORKS (Texas Christian University Press, 2025) and WE EXIST IN THE WHISPER: HUELGA SCHOOL WORKS (Arte Publico Press, 2026). He is the founder of Tintero Projects which works with emerging Latinx writers and other writers of color within the Texas Gulf Coast Region, with Houston as its hub.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLupe earned his Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Texas @ El Paso and currently serves as Poetry Editor for the Texas Observer  and Huizache: the Magazine of a New America and Associate Editor for the Acentos Review.  He has been awarded residencies and fellowships from CantoMundo, Macondo, the National Association of Latino Arts \u0026amp; Cultures, the Poetry Foundation + Crescendo Literary Poetry Incubator, the Betsy Hotel Writer’s Room and was one of twenty-five recipients of the inaugural Houston BIPOC Arts Network Fund (now HOUSTON IN COLOR) Artist Award for 2023. . Lupe is a 20+ year veteran in education having served classrooms across K through College in public, private and charter school settings.  Mendez is Texas Poet Laureate Emeritus (Texas Poet Laureate 2022 - 2023).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eAris Kian (she\/her) is a Houston enthusiast and student of abolition. Her poems are published with Button Poetry, West Branch, Obsidian Lit, and elsewhere. As an Inprint C. Glenn Cambor Fellow, she received her MFA from the University of Houston. Her team Smoke Slam coached by Ebony Stewart ranked #1 at the 2025 Bigfoot Regional Poetry Slam and #1 at the 2024 Southern Fried Poetry Slam. She previously served as the 2023-2025 Houston Poet Laureate and was chosen as a 2025 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellow.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kindred Stories","offers":[{"title":"RSVP ONLY","offer_id":48702723293439,"sku":null,"price":5.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"RSVP WITH BOOK","offer_id":48702723326207,"sku":"9798893750300-EVENT","price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"RSVP (I ALREADY HAVE THE BOOK)","offer_id":48702723358975,"sku":null,"price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0527\/3577\/0820\/files\/LupeMendez.png?v=1781648141","url":"https:\/\/kindredstorieshtx.com\/products\/author-talk-we-exist-in-the-whisper-with-lupe-mendez-august-5-7-pm","provider":"Kindred Stories","version":"1.0","type":"link"}