Tag: latinx

Publisher Highlight: Riot of Roses

Posted on by Bee Lehman
Banner for riot of roses with six book covers

Located in Sejatnga, Unceded Tongva Territory, South Whittier, CA, the publishing house Riot of Roses (webpage) tells their readers that they “publish books to heal and liberate others” and affirm that the press is “for the people.”[1]

Black, full open rose on red background
Logo for Riot of Roses‘ opening screen

Brenda Vaca founded Riot of Roses in 2021 to publish her first poetry collection. Vaca had completed her first manuscript with the Community Literature Initiative program out of South Los Angeles, CA and found her options for publishing limiting. In an interview with Canvas Rebel, Vaca explained that she wasn’t happy with the non-negotiable contract she received from an already-established publisher and wasn’t content publishing with a platform like Amazon, which wouldn’t end up in a library system.[2]

To address that problem for both herself and others, Vaca created Riot of Roses as a space for writers to amplify historical silenced voices.

In the handful of years since the press’ inception, Vaca has done wonderful work promoting it and the press’ authors. They attend poetry slams, book events, and more around their location in Sothern CA. Readers can find more information about their events on their Instagram page.

Books at UC Berkeley’s Doe Library

Here are a handful of Riot of Roses’ recent publications in Doe Library:

For more material

You can search in the UC Library Search advanced search for “Riot of Roses” as a publisher (click here to see the search).

Endnotes

[1] “About,” Riot Of Roses Publishing House, accessed May 5, 2025, https://www.riotofrosespublishinghouse.com/about.

[2] “Meet Brenda Vaca,” Canvas Rebel, August 21, 2023, https://canvasrebel.com/meet-brenda-vaca/.

Bibliopolítica: A Digital History of the Chicano Studies Library

Posted on by Claude Potts
Bibliopolítica: A Digital History of the Chicano Studies Library

At the intersection of Chicana/o/x Studies, Digital Humanities and Library History, Bibliopolítica: A Digital History of the Chicano Studies Library chronicles the history of one of the first Chicana/o/x collections, the Chicano Studies Library at the University of California, Berkeley.

Bibliopolítica shares the stories of trailblazing library workers, students and community members who worked to preserve and make Chicana/o/x resources available. Featuring photographs, ephemera, archival documents, and oral histories, Bibliopolítica offers an original digital collection of primary sources and is the first audiovisual history of this special place that helped redefine what libraries could be.

Bibliopolítica takes its name from a book of the same title that Richard Chabrán and librarian colleague Francisco García-Ayvens published in 1984, BiblioPolítica: Chicano Perspectives on Library Service in the United States. In 2024, it remains one of the few titles dedicated to the discussion of Chicana/o/x librarianship. Bibliopolítica: a Digital History of the Chicano Studies Library adds to this important conversation, but it is only the beginning of a much needed longer and more detailed history of the Chicano Studies Library and the contributions of Chicana/o/x library workers.

You can explore the digital exhibit, listen to recorded oral histories, browse digitized archival items, or explore on your own path.

Co-curated by Amanda Belantara – Assistant Curator at New York University Libraries, Lillian Castillo-Speed – former Chicano Studies Library Coordinator, now Head Librarian of the Ethnic Studies Library at UC Berkeley, and Richard Chabrán – former Chicano Studies Library Coordinator, Team Leader Latino Digital Archive Group.

Digitization of archival items by Chrissy Huhn and UC Berkeley Library IT and Oral history recordings at Berkeley by Pablo Gonzalez and Angelica Garcia. See additional credits.