Have you ever heard of Huelga Schools in Houston? Probably not yet.

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That’s why longtime educator and Texas 2022 Poet Laureate Mendez set out to write his own book on Huelga Schools, using the research, Tate’s findings, Houston Metropolitan Research Center records, and the people of Houston.

The book is titled “Molotov: A Huelga School Guide Book,” and Mendez completed the 155-page manuscript earlier this month. Some selections have already been published in various poetry and literature magazines, and he is now preparing to send the final product to a list of publishers ranging from college presses to independent operations.

Mendez’s book, however, differs from San Miguel’s in one important respect. It is based on “anthropoesía”, a technique in which a creative writer approaches his subject from an anthropological point of view, integrating his research into history and using it as the foundation from which his work will flow.

“The San Miguel book gives you a full rundown of the history of what really happened, and I hope my book tells you about the colors on the walls,” Mendez said. “I want to be able to elevate oral history and anecdotal record, and when you say ‘anecdotal record’ people want to assume that has no place in academics.”

“I want to be able to say no, it’s a very white academic attitude because for the rest of us oral history is how we tell the story. It’s indigenous, it’s indigenous, it’s passed down from generation to generation. This is how the story is told, ”Mendez said.

Mendez, a native of Galveston, had never heard of Huelga Schools until 2013, when the family of his fourth-grader at Helms Elementary School asked him to look into their older brother Jacob Tate’s project. , which dived deep into an integral part of Houston. the story.

In 1970, HISD attempted to circumvent school integration by classifying Mexican-Americans as white, busing them to black schools in the city, and leaving English-speaking students unaffected while respecting court-imposed quotas. .

The leaders of the Mexican community revolted and established “huelga” or “strike” schools to house-school their children over the next two years. Thousands of Chicano students signed up for huelga classes, which were taught in churches and bingo halls – where administrators could find space – by volunteers, students and retired teachers.

Tate learned this story after one of his favorite teachers in Helms, Patricia Silva-Flores, retired from school. On his retirement poster, he noticed that his first job was to teach at a school in Huelga.

The website he created on Huelga Schools won second place at the town’s history fair, but perhaps more importantly, it caught Mendez’s attention to the story.

Tate, now 21 at Rice University, was delighted to learn that his project had played a part in inspiring Mendez, whose own work, including the poem “Rules at School Juan Marcos Huelga (even the unspoken) ”- he followed with interest.

“It’s a really weird feeling, to think that something you write at 13 is something that you don’t cringe eight years later, but I think it speaks to the origin of the project, which is this immense difficulty in learning more about the Huelga schools. And the feeling I have now is the same as I had then, that it matters, “Tate said.

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“A lot of [this history] is still here, and Lupe has always been a phenomenal writer, so I’m absolutely thrilled. I had no idea it was happening, but I’m so excited it is, ”he said.

After receiving San Miguel’s blessing to work on the book, Mendez set out to dig through the archives of the Houston Metropolitan Research Center and interview former students, teachers, and community members involved with Huelga schools.

Everything he found, from the diaries of principals to lesson plans for teachers to oral accounts of former students, served as fodder for the poems and prose that would end up in “Molotov: A Huelga School Guide Book “.

He learned how parents would pay teachers for food and how the struggle for proper integration into public schools created anti-black sentiment among some parents.

Mikaela Selley, the research centre’s former Hispanic Collections Archivist, remembers meeting Mendez in 2014. He introduced himself “in the most Lupe way possible, very excited, talking millions of miles per minute, very eager to learn how to conduct research. focus.”

She created a research guide for Mendez to sort through the archival documents of the research center and followed it as he learned more and more about the history of the Huelga schools.

“The recordings themselves are fascinating documents… and Lupe builds on that and enhances that with her approach which is truly unique in that she answers these questions not only about what happened, but on how it felt for everyone involved, ”Selley said.

Mendez, who has worked as a teacher development specialist at HISD for the past three years, is taking a sabbatical to focus on his role as Texas Poet Laureate, in which he plans to host poetry readings and workshops. across the state.

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The book, however, is dedicated to the educators and students with whom Mendez worked for over 20 years.

“I hope this manuscript helps the conversation not only on fairness and the struggle of people of color, but also provide new perspectives on the lives of teachers and students,” Mendez said.

“For some reason our view of educators is so demoralized that I am writing it to honor these educators of the past. This job is not a job for the faint of heart, ”Mendez said.