And The Winner Is! One Book One Campus 2022-2023 Episode 163

The Mt. San Antonio College Podcast

Mt. SAC History Professor, Professional Learning Academy Coordinator, and One Book, One Campus Coordinator Rita Page talks with our host Sun Ezzell about this year's One Book One Campus winner “Illegally Yours: A Memoir” by Rafael Agustin, Mt. SAC alumni and writer on the hit TV show Jane the Virgin. Called “an alternatingly hilarious and touching exploration of belonging and identity, Illegally Yours revolves around one very simple question: What does it mean to be American?”

We hope you’ll join us for this year’s One Book, One Campus Great Read!

Resources:

Get the book: https://illegallyyoursbook.com/

NPR Feature -“Jane the Virgin’ writer recounts growing up undocumented in ‘Illegally Yours’”

The Mission of the OBOC Program

The goal of Mt. SAC’s OBOC program is to unite students, faculty, and staff around a shared reading experience designed to promote discussion and understanding of issues in our campus community and beyond. The program incorporates curriculum and campus-wide activities that build unity and contribute toward the achievement of the College’s mission.

nd the Winner Is...

Every year members of the Mt. SAC community vote on a book to read together as part of the OBOC program. The winner of the 2022 - 2023 OBOC election is Illegally Yours: A Memoir by Rafael Agustin.

Brief Summary of Illegally Yours

About the Memoir: Illegally Yours: A Memoir is a heartwarming, comical look at how this struggling Ecuadorian immigrant family bonded together to navigate Rafa's school life, his parents' work lives, and their shared secret life as undocumented Americans, determined to make the best of their always turbulent and sometimes dangerous American existence. From using the Ricky Martin/Jennifer Lopez “Latin Explosion” to his social advantage in the ‘90s to how his parents—doctors in their home country of Ecuador—were reduced to working menial jobs in the US, the family's secret became their struggle, and their struggle became their hustle. An alternatingly hilarious and touching exploration of belonging and identity, Illegally Yours revolves around one very simple question: What does it mean to be American?

About the Author: Rafael Agustin is a Mt. SAC alumnus, and a writer on the award-winning The CW show, Jane the Virgin. He is a Sundance Fellow for his TV family comedy, Illegal, based on his life as a formerly undocumented American. Rafael currently serves as Executive Director of the Latino Film Institute (LFI), where he oversees the Youth Cinema Project, their statewide project-based learning educational film program, and the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival (LALIFF). In 2018, the LA Weekly named Rafael one of the fifty most essential people in Los Angeles. Also in 2018, the United Nations invited Rafael to speak at their 70th Anniversary Celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Please join us for One Book, One Campus 2022-23 Great Read meetings 3:00 – 4:30pm:

Sept. 21 - pages 1- 94

Oct. 19 - pages 95-188

Nov. 16 - pages 189-284

For questions regarding One Book, One Campus 2022-23, contact OBOC Coordinator Rita Page at: [e-mail]

Run Time: 13 min, 35 sec

To find the full transcript for this episode, click HERE