Film Produced by Haverford Professor Debuts Nationally on PBS
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"Justice for My People," for which Professor Maria McMath served as associate producer, tells the remarkable life story of Mexican-American civil rights activist Hector P. Garcia.
Hector P. Garcia—a Mexican-American physician who fought for equality and desegregation in Texas and the Southwest throughout the 20th century—may not be the most recognizable name in the history of civil rights movements. But Visiting Instructor of Anthropology and Peace and Conflict Studies Maria McMath hopes that the documentary“Justice for My People: The Dr Hector P. Garcia Story,” which premiered nationally on PBS in September, will make him a household name.
The film, on which McMath served as associate producer, tells Garcia's story through photographs, archival footage and interviews with his contemporaries. Garcia was a Mexican Revolution refugee and decorated war hero who, upon returning from WWII to settle in Corpus Christi, Texas, found his people facing public school segregation, squalid living conditions in labor camps, and second-class citizenship. He became a doctor to the barrios and founded the American GI Forum in 1948, empowering Mexican Americans to fight legal and political battles against discrimination. In the early ‘60s, President John F. Kennedy appointed him ambassador to a West Indies treaty signing, and in 1967, President Lyndon Johnson appointed Garcia as an alternate ambassador to the U.N., before which he gave the first speech by an American delivered in a language other than English. In 1968, he was sworn in as the first Mexican American to serve on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. President Ronald Reagan presented Garcia with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984; he was the first Mexican American to receive this honor. Hector Garcia died in July 1996 in Corpus Christi.
Many of Maria McMath's role models, like Garcia, are from the WWII generation.“They were fighting for strong issues, of rights, education, freedom, voting access,” she says.“These pressing issues still exist today, but for some reason the fire of the fight has gone out of people.” She also admires the fact that many WWII veterans, particularly veterans of color, like Garcia and her own physician grandfather, pursued their education courtesy of the GI Bill and made something out of themselves using any and all available resources.
“And after their successes, they never lost sight of the communities they fought for and the struggles they threw their weight behind,” says McMath.“These people who experienced so many hardships and obstacles still prevailed, these leaders who could still be so kind and minister to others up till their dying days—these are healthy role models in the most literal sense of the word.”
McMath first learned about Hector Garcia as an undergraduate at Swarthmore, in an“Introduction to Latinos in the United States” course still taught by Professor Miguel DÃaz-Barriga, who later became her mentor and nominated her for a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship. DÃaz-Barriga also introduced her to nonfiction film as an instrument for education and social change, which led McMath to apply for the associate producing job at PBS just after graduating from Swarthmore.
When McMath joined the crew of“Justice for My People,” the film was already five years in the making. It would take another five years for the project to reach a national audience.“It's difficult to bring an unknown story to television,” says McMath.“[Garcia] didn't have the name recognition that would interest traditional funders.” But the recent airing of Ken Burns' documentary saga“The War” had PBS stations searching for additional WWII programming to complement the series.“When they revisited ‘Justice for My People,' they said they didn't understand why they hadn't carried it in the first place.”
McMath hopes that Garcia's remarkable story will inspire viewers.“They'll see that alongside the struggle, there is triumph,” she says.“You can lead a meaningful life and make a difference even from your own hometown.”
She is a strong advocate of film as a teaching tool; in the course she's currently teaching, a flagship seminar for returning Center for Peace and Global Citizenship interns, students watch a film every week, topically related to the week's theme.“When people watch media, there should be an active reception and questioning of information,” she says.“But many people, when watching television or a news broadcast, are not actively processing what they're watching in the same way they process text. It's important for students to have the tools to take apart mediated images in the same way they take apart books and magazine articles.”
McMath's next project is an oral documentary for NPR or RFI (francophone public radio) about French rap music, the subject of her doctoral dissertation.“Hip-hop culture has become overwhelmingly visual, and I want to bring listeners back to both the oral and aural dimensions of the music.” Recent civil unrest in Paris will provide a timely context for her exploration. In the near future, she hopes to complete a documentary on the Underground Railroad, and its rich history in the Philadelphia area.
“Working on projects related to civil unrest in the past and present, I hope to better understand and care for civil unrest in the future,” she says.
“Justice for My People” continues to air on PBS stations across the country, and is also available in Magill Library. More information is available at pbs.org and www.justiceformypeople.org
-Brenna McBride
The film, on which McMath served as associate producer, tells Garcia's story through photographs, archival footage and interviews with his contemporaries. Garcia was a Mexican Revolution refugee and decorated war hero who, upon returning from WWII to settle in Corpus Christi, Texas, found his people facing public school segregation, squalid living conditions in labor camps, and second-class citizenship. He became a doctor to the barrios and founded the American GI Forum in 1948, empowering Mexican Americans to fight legal and political battles against discrimination. In the early ‘60s, President John F. Kennedy appointed him ambassador to a West Indies treaty signing, and in 1967, President Lyndon Johnson appointed Garcia as an alternate ambassador to the U.N., before which he gave the first speech by an American delivered in a language other than English. In 1968, he was sworn in as the first Mexican American to serve on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. President Ronald Reagan presented Garcia with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984; he was the first Mexican American to receive this honor. Hector Garcia died in July 1996 in Corpus Christi.
Many of Maria McMath's role models, like Garcia, are from the WWII generation.“They were fighting for strong issues, of rights, education, freedom, voting access,” she says.“These pressing issues still exist today, but for some reason the fire of the fight has gone out of people.” She also admires the fact that many WWII veterans, particularly veterans of color, like Garcia and her own physician grandfather, pursued their education courtesy of the GI Bill and made something out of themselves using any and all available resources.
“And after their successes, they never lost sight of the communities they fought for and the struggles they threw their weight behind,” says McMath.“These people who experienced so many hardships and obstacles still prevailed, these leaders who could still be so kind and minister to others up till their dying days—these are healthy role models in the most literal sense of the word.”
McMath first learned about Hector Garcia as an undergraduate at Swarthmore, in an“Introduction to Latinos in the United States” course still taught by Professor Miguel DÃaz-Barriga, who later became her mentor and nominated her for a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship. DÃaz-Barriga also introduced her to nonfiction film as an instrument for education and social change, which led McMath to apply for the associate producing job at PBS just after graduating from Swarthmore.
When McMath joined the crew of“Justice for My People,” the film was already five years in the making. It would take another five years for the project to reach a national audience.“It's difficult to bring an unknown story to television,” says McMath.“[Garcia] didn't have the name recognition that would interest traditional funders.” But the recent airing of Ken Burns' documentary saga“The War” had PBS stations searching for additional WWII programming to complement the series.“When they revisited ‘Justice for My People,' they said they didn't understand why they hadn't carried it in the first place.”
McMath hopes that Garcia's remarkable story will inspire viewers.“They'll see that alongside the struggle, there is triumph,” she says.“You can lead a meaningful life and make a difference even from your own hometown.”
She is a strong advocate of film as a teaching tool; in the course she's currently teaching, a flagship seminar for returning Center for Peace and Global Citizenship interns, students watch a film every week, topically related to the week's theme.“When people watch media, there should be an active reception and questioning of information,” she says.“But many people, when watching television or a news broadcast, are not actively processing what they're watching in the same way they process text. It's important for students to have the tools to take apart mediated images in the same way they take apart books and magazine articles.”
McMath's next project is an oral documentary for NPR or RFI (francophone public radio) about French rap music, the subject of her doctoral dissertation.“Hip-hop culture has become overwhelmingly visual, and I want to bring listeners back to both the oral and aural dimensions of the music.” Recent civil unrest in Paris will provide a timely context for her exploration. In the near future, she hopes to complete a documentary on the Underground Railroad, and its rich history in the Philadelphia area.
“Working on projects related to civil unrest in the past and present, I hope to better understand and care for civil unrest in the future,” she says.
“Justice for My People” continues to air on PBS stations across the country, and is also available in Magill Library. More information is available at pbs.org and www.justiceformypeople.org
-Brenna McBride
