OXNARD — As part of the Guest Speaker Series, Oxnard Housing Authority Resident Service Department is honored to announce a special book reading and signing event in La Colonia area of Oxnard by authors, Margo Porras and Sandra Porras. Their highly anticipated book, Growing Up in La Colonia: Boomer memories from Oxnard’s barrio, is due to be released on July 8th 2019 and already considered a must read by many community members and educators.
This special authors presentation will be take place on Saturday, July 13th, 2019 at the Oxnard Housing Authority Multi-Service Center building located at 1500 Camino del Sol in Oxnard, CA 93030 beginning at 2:00 p.m.
This is a FREE community event! Books will be available for purchase. Book signing to follow presentation. Refreshments and appetizers will be made available. Space is limited so please be sure to arrive early.
About Growing Up in La Colonia: Boomer memories from Oxnard’s barrio: La Colonia is half a square mile of land separated from the rest of Oxnard by the railroad tracks and home to the people who keep an agricultural empire running. In decades past, milpas of corn and squash grew in tiny front yards, kids played in the alleys and neighbors ran tortillerias out of their homes. Back then, it was the place to get the best raspadas on Earth. It was a home to Cesar Chavez and a campaign stop for presidential candidate Robert Kennedy. As one Colonia native put it, “We may not have had what the other kids had, but we were just as rich.” Through the voices of the people, the authors share the challenges and triumphs of growing up in this treasured place.
Margo Porras is a writer and designer. Her work has been featured in Women’s Day, Latina and the New York Times. She’s a cohost of the culture podcast, Book Versus Movie. Margo and her family live in San Diego, where she enjoys working at KPBS and reading to her kids. This is her first book.
Sandra Porras is a retired educator and education activist. A native Oxnardian, she has previously been featured in Pronto, Roma. She lives in San Diego and is a proud grandmother to three grandchildren.
The City of Oxnard Housing Authority Resident Services Program- La Colonia, located at 1500 Camino Del Sol in Oxnard, CA, is a departmental organization that provides youth and families with skills to enhance their way of living with the mission to assist residents to live in a secure environment and increase their skills using education, economic, social-recreational, and community development activities. The Guest Speaker Series is part of the Resident Services Youth Summer Mural Program.
For questions or more information please contact Rose Banuelos at (805) 385-7574.
This event is made possible thanks to the support of the Oxnard Housing Authority Resident Services Department, La Colonia Village Tenant Association, and community support.