Aspen Film, in partnership with Voces Unidas de las Montañas, Present:
A TRULY TEXAS MEXICAN Conversation; Native American roots of Texas Mexican cuisine, feminism and cultural resistance.
This LIVESTREAM event will feature clips from the film TRULY TEXAS MEXICAN and be a guided panel discussion examining the themes highlighted in this extraordinary documentary.
The evening will begin with a salsa making demo led by Chef Adán Medrano and progress into an in-depth conversation about the role women and food play in the history, memory and culture of South Texas.
A text chat will be available for viewers to ask questions of the panelists during the LIVESTREAM.
Panel guests:
Chef, Author & Filmmaker, Adán Medrano
Retired Associate Professor of Anthropology, Dr. Mario Montaño
Voces Unidas Co-Founder & Executive Director, Alex Sánchez
Voces Unidas Board Chair, Blanca Uzeta O'Leary
Moderated by:
Voces Unidas Program Coordinator, Jasmin Ramirez.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
This livestream will NOT include a full viewing of the film. We suggest you view the film prior to this event, but all are welcome to join the conversation even if you have not yet watched it.
The TRULY TEXAS MEXICAN film will be available to stream beginning on March 1, 2021 on these platforms:
Amazon
Apple TV
Google TV
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
ADÁN MEDRANO
Chef, Autor, Filmmaker
Adán Medrano is a food writer and chef, specializing in the indigenous foods of Texas and the Americas. His book, Truly Texas Mexican: A Native Culinary Heritage In Recipes, published by Texas Tech University Press, received the “Finalist, Book Of The Year” award from Foreword Reviews. In his most recent history and cookbook, “Don’t Count The Tortillas--The Art Of Texas Mexican Cooking,” Medrano focuses on the aesthetic aspects of cooking that universally impact identity and community, with over 100 recipes that illustrate today’s cooking in Texas kitchens.
He spent 23 years working throughout Latin America, Europe and Asia, and during his travels came to recognize the cultural importance of food. He returned to the US in 2010 to focus his attention on the culinary traditions of the Mexican American, Native American communities of Texas and the indigenous cooking of the Americas. He is President of “The Texas Indigenous Food Project.”
His professional work in restaurant kitchens includes fine dining at “Restaurant Ten Bogaerde” in Belgium, and volunteering as the Chef of Houston’s Casa Juan Diego, a shelter for homeless families.
Medrano is also an award-winning filmmaker and holds a Master of Arts degree in Radio, Television and Film from the University of Texas at Austin. In 1976 he founded the San Antonio CineFestival, the first and now longest-running Latinx film festival in the USA. He continues producing media with a new documentary feature film, “Truly Texas Mexican," available on Amazon, Google TV and Apple TV.
He has lectured about food & culture at academic institutions, including the Harvard University Co-op, Northeastern University and last year was invited to Moscow by the US Ambassador to Russia, as the featured Chef for the July 4th US official celebration. He has showcased his recipes at the Museum Of Fine Arts, Houston; at the New York and Texas campuses of the Culinary Institute of America, as well as at The Briscoe Western Art Museum, the American Book Center in Amsterdam, and the Yorkshire Dales Food and Drink Festival in Great Britain.
ALEX SÁNCHEZ
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Voces Unidas
Alex is one of the original founders and now serves as the executive director of Voces Unidas, the first Latino-created and Latino-led advocacy organization in the tri-county region.
An experienced executive and community organizer, Alex has led other non-profits, managed his own political consulting firm, and has extensive corporate and government experience at the senior management level.
Alex grew up in a small town in Jalisco, Mexico until the age of 9. When his family moved to the United States, Alex lived in El Jebel and attended Basalt schools. Alex is the first in his family to graduate from high school and receive college degrees from both Colorado Mountain College and Colorado State University.
Alex is currently a Trustee of Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, appointed by Gov. Polis in 2019 to a four-year term. He also currently serves on the boards of COLOR, COLOR Action Fund, Conservation Colorado and the Anderson Ranch Arts Center. Alex has served on numerous other local, state, national and international boards and commissions including the Colorado Medical Board, the Latin American Research and Service Agency, and the Instituto de los Mexicanos en el Exterior.
An immigrant at heart, Alex has lived in two continents and in three different countries. Alex has also travelled to more than 35 countries for business or pleasure.
BLANCA UZETA O’LEARY
Board Chair, Voces Unidas
Blanca Uzeta O’Leary is a solo practitioner attorney licensed in Texas.
She is a community volunteer who has served on numerous non-profit boards and organizations including Alpine Legal Services, the Aspen Words Board, PEN International, San Miguel de Allende Center and Voces Unidas de las Montañas where she currently serves as Board Chair. Blanca has extensive experience in organizing grassroots campaigning and fundraising.
She lives in Aspen with her husband Cavanaugh and her son Cavanaugh.
Dr. MARIO MONTAÑO
Retired Associate Professor of Anthropology
Colorado Mountain College
Dr. Mario Montaño is a cultural anthropologist and folklorist. His research focuses on the Texas-Mexico border and northern region of Mexico.
His interests are on the anthropology of food and tries to answer the following questions: How do foods centered activities influence the construction of cultural and gender identity? How do food preparation, distribution, and consumption contribute to men and women's social position and power? How does food symbolically connote maleness and femaleness?
In addition, for the past six years, he has been teaching a course on the Rio Grande River, focusing on the different regional, Hispanic cultures living along the Rio Grande River. Currently, he is working on a research proposal for the National Endowment of the Humanities for a two-year, ethnographic-historical research project on the Rio Grande Basin.
JASMIN RAMIREZ
Program Coordinator, Voces Unidas
Jasmin is one of the original founders and now serves as a program coordinator for Voces Unidas. Before joining Voces Unidas, Jasmin was a facilitator for a non-profit serving veterans in the Roaring Fork Valley.
Jasmin began her professional career in college as a full-time employee and student on campus. She was elected Student Body President of Cerritos College, with more than 25,000 students, and was the first Latina to be elected in a decade. She was also a member of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges.
In 2013 she made her way back to Colorado and began her teaching career.
Jasmin is the proud daughter and wife of immigrants. She graduated from Glenwood Springs High School and is a first-generation college graduate. She resides in Glenwood Springs with her children, who attend Roaring Fork School District schools, and her husband who is a small business owner.
Jasmin was elected this past November to the Roaring Fork School District’s Board of Education, where almost 60% of students are Latino. She also serves on the Parks and Recreation Commission for the City of Glenwood Springs.
Aspen Film, in partnership with Voces Unidas de las Montañas, Present:
A TRULY TEXAS MEXICAN Conversation; Native American roots of Texas Mexican cuisine, feminism and cultural resistance.
This LIVESTREAM event will feature clips from the film TRULY TEXAS MEXICAN and be a guided panel discussion examining the themes highlighted in this extraordinary documentary.
The evening will begin with a salsa making demo led by Chef Adán Medrano and progress into an in-depth conversation about the role women and food play in the history, memory and culture of South Texas.
A text chat will be available for viewers to ask questions of the panelists during the LIVESTREAM.
Panel guests:
Chef, Author & Filmmaker, Adán Medrano
Retired Associate Professor of Anthropology, Dr. Mario Montaño
Voces Unidas Co-Founder & Executive Director, Alex Sánchez
Voces Unidas Board Chair, Blanca Uzeta O'Leary
Moderated by:
Voces Unidas Program Coordinator, Jasmin Ramirez.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
This livestream will NOT include a full viewing of the film. We suggest you view the film prior to this event, but all are welcome to join the conversation even if you have not yet watched it.
The TRULY TEXAS MEXICAN film will be available to stream beginning on March 1, 2021 on these platforms:
Amazon
Apple TV
Google TV
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
ADÁN MEDRANO
Chef, Autor, Filmmaker
Adán Medrano is a food writer and chef, specializing in the indigenous foods of Texas and the Americas. His book, Truly Texas Mexican: A Native Culinary Heritage In Recipes, published by Texas Tech University Press, received the “Finalist, Book Of The Year” award from Foreword Reviews. In his most recent history and cookbook, “Don’t Count The Tortillas--The Art Of Texas Mexican Cooking,” Medrano focuses on the aesthetic aspects of cooking that universally impact identity and community, with over 100 recipes that illustrate today’s cooking in Texas kitchens.
He spent 23 years working throughout Latin America, Europe and Asia, and during his travels came to recognize the cultural importance of food. He returned to the US in 2010 to focus his attention on the culinary traditions of the Mexican American, Native American communities of Texas and the indigenous cooking of the Americas. He is President of “The Texas Indigenous Food Project.”
His professional work in restaurant kitchens includes fine dining at “Restaurant Ten Bogaerde” in Belgium, and volunteering as the Chef of Houston’s Casa Juan Diego, a shelter for homeless families.
Medrano is also an award-winning filmmaker and holds a Master of Arts degree in Radio, Television and Film from the University of Texas at Austin. In 1976 he founded the San Antonio CineFestival, the first and now longest-running Latinx film festival in the USA. He continues producing media with a new documentary feature film, “Truly Texas Mexican," available on Amazon, Google TV and Apple TV.
He has lectured about food & culture at academic institutions, including the Harvard University Co-op, Northeastern University and last year was invited to Moscow by the US Ambassador to Russia, as the featured Chef for the July 4th US official celebration. He has showcased his recipes at the Museum Of Fine Arts, Houston; at the New York and Texas campuses of the Culinary Institute of America, as well as at The Briscoe Western Art Museum, the American Book Center in Amsterdam, and the Yorkshire Dales Food and Drink Festival in Great Britain.
ALEX SÁNCHEZ
Co-Founder and Executive Director, Voces Unidas
Alex is one of the original founders and now serves as the executive director of Voces Unidas, the first Latino-created and Latino-led advocacy organization in the tri-county region.
An experienced executive and community organizer, Alex has led other non-profits, managed his own political consulting firm, and has extensive corporate and government experience at the senior management level.
Alex grew up in a small town in Jalisco, Mexico until the age of 9. When his family moved to the United States, Alex lived in El Jebel and attended Basalt schools. Alex is the first in his family to graduate from high school and receive college degrees from both Colorado Mountain College and Colorado State University.
Alex is currently a Trustee of Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, appointed by Gov. Polis in 2019 to a four-year term. He also currently serves on the boards of COLOR, COLOR Action Fund, Conservation Colorado and the Anderson Ranch Arts Center. Alex has served on numerous other local, state, national and international boards and commissions including the Colorado Medical Board, the Latin American Research and Service Agency, and the Instituto de los Mexicanos en el Exterior.
An immigrant at heart, Alex has lived in two continents and in three different countries. Alex has also travelled to more than 35 countries for business or pleasure.
BLANCA UZETA O’LEARY
Board Chair, Voces Unidas
Blanca Uzeta O’Leary is a solo practitioner attorney licensed in Texas.
She is a community volunteer who has served on numerous non-profit boards and organizations including Alpine Legal Services, the Aspen Words Board, PEN International, San Miguel de Allende Center and Voces Unidas de las Montañas where she currently serves as Board Chair. Blanca has extensive experience in organizing grassroots campaigning and fundraising.
She lives in Aspen with her husband Cavanaugh and her son Cavanaugh.
Dr. MARIO MONTAÑO
Retired Associate Professor of Anthropology
Colorado Mountain College
Dr. Mario Montaño is a cultural anthropologist and folklorist. His research focuses on the Texas-Mexico border and northern region of Mexico.
His interests are on the anthropology of food and tries to answer the following questions: How do foods centered activities influence the construction of cultural and gender identity? How do food preparation, distribution, and consumption contribute to men and women's social position and power? How does food symbolically connote maleness and femaleness?
In addition, for the past six years, he has been teaching a course on the Rio Grande River, focusing on the different regional, Hispanic cultures living along the Rio Grande River. Currently, he is working on a research proposal for the National Endowment of the Humanities for a two-year, ethnographic-historical research project on the Rio Grande Basin.
JASMIN RAMIREZ
Program Coordinator, Voces Unidas
Jasmin is one of the original founders and now serves as a program coordinator for Voces Unidas. Before joining Voces Unidas, Jasmin was a facilitator for a non-profit serving veterans in the Roaring Fork Valley.
Jasmin began her professional career in college as a full-time employee and student on campus. She was elected Student Body President of Cerritos College, with more than 25,000 students, and was the first Latina to be elected in a decade. She was also a member of the Student Senate for California Community Colleges.
In 2013 she made her way back to Colorado and began her teaching career.
Jasmin is the proud daughter and wife of immigrants. She graduated from Glenwood Springs High School and is a first-generation college graduate. She resides in Glenwood Springs with her children, who attend Roaring Fork School District schools, and her husband who is a small business owner.
Jasmin was elected this past November to the Roaring Fork School District’s Board of Education, where almost 60% of students are Latino. She also serves on the Parks and Recreation Commission for the City of Glenwood Springs.