From left, Tomas Carrasco, Jose Anguiano Cortez, and Jessie Turner are acknowledged at Graduate Division Commencement in June 2012. Credit: Patricia MarroquinOne by one, UCSB alum Tomas Avila Carrasco is ticking the boxes on his checklist of dreams and goals. Several months ago, Tomas made history when he and fellow UCSB students Jessie Turner and José G. Anguiano Cortez became the first grad students in the world to earn Ph.D.s in Chicana(o) Studies. This distinction helped him reach another milestone: a full-time tenure track position as an American Ethnic Studies Professor, at Santa Barbara City College. And now Dr. Tomas Carrasco, who is also an actor and co-founder of the comedy troupe Chicano Secret Service, can add yet another title to his resume: Online Political Commentator for CNN.
How did Tomas, who was born and raised in Oxnard, get from Ph.D. to CNN? His journey from one acronym to the next involved an old friend of Tomas’: actor-comedian-film producer John Leguizamo, Tomas told the GradPost in a telephone interview recently. Tomas and Leguizamo became friends in the mid-1990s when both appeared in a short-lived Latino-oriented comedy-variety TV show on Fox, “House of Buggin’.” They remained friends, and the two men reconnected a few years ago when Leguizamo came to UC Santa Barbara to perform at Campbell Hall.
At that time, Tomas told Leguizamo about his dreams to be a full-time ethnic studies professor and a political commentator. “I think America needs a smart Latino commentator talking about the demographic revolution,” Tomas said he told the actor. Leguizamo agreed that it was a great idea.
Fast forward to this past summer, when Tomas made history with his Chicano Studies Ph.D., then accepted an offer to teach at Santa Barbara City College. Tomas shot an email to his friend Leguizamo, titling it: “Dr. Tomas ‘I Want What I Want’ Carrasco.” In Tomas’ email, he sought advice from Leguizamo on how he could get into “the national conversation as an intellectual and a commentator” for a news network. Leguizamo asked Tomas to meet him at the Chateau Marmont in Hollywood, where they discussed strategies for achieving his dream.
Leguizamo put Tomas in touch with a senior editor at CNN. The editor was impressed with Tomas’ credentials and ideas for opinion pieces spanning topics in mass media, immigration, and pop culture. Since the editor was looking for new, fresh voices, he thought Tomas would be a perfect fit.
Dr. Tomas Carrasco with his doctoral co-chair, Dr. George Lipsitz.Tomas, who expects his first article to appear within a month, describes the type of writing he will do as factual and very positive. He wants to help “change the image of Latinos and Latinas in America” to show that “we’re an economic pillar and that we contribute immensely to this economy.” Subjects he will explore include the demographic revolution involving Latinos and Asian Americans; the reasons Latino cultures (Cuban, Mexican, Chicano, Puerto Rican, etc.) affiliate themselves with certain political parties and candidates to “let America know that we are very diverse among the Latino community”; and the inequitable distribution of tax dollars to prisons versus education. Since Tomas will be doing his own research and prefers quality over quantity, he expects to write an article once every two to three months.
Tomas points to his Ph.D. in Chicana(o) Studies as a big factor in getting the CNN job. Having that degree “goes along with my pitch that I’m cutting edge – academically, intellectually, and culturally,” he said.
He also praises the mentors and faculty he worked with in his Ph.D. program at UCSB. Among those he thanks are Maria Herrera Sobek, Mario Garcia, George Lipsitz (“a humble man and one of the most well-known and respected scholars in the U.S.”) and Aida Hurtado (who as Luis Leal Endowed Chair of the Chicana(o) Studies Department “has created a very positive and nurturing intellectual community”).
Dr. Tomas Carrasco jokes with students in his Racism in America class at Santa Barbara City College. Credit: Michael Clark, The ChannelsTomas said he finds a similar “positive student culture” and vibrant energy at his new place of employment, Santa Barbara City College. At City College, Tomas teaches four classes: two classes of Racism in America and two classes of Chicano Studies.
He enjoys teaching his Chicano Studies class, using the landmark book “Occupied America, A History of Chicanos,” by Rodolfo “Rudy” Acuna. Tomas intertwines media, local Santa Barbara history, and national politics. He said the beauty of teaching Chicano Studies is that he not only teaches history, but “we teach students to read the world, to become global citizens” by analyzing race, class, and gender. “I learned that at UCSB in the Ph.D. program,” Tomas said.
Both the Racism in America and Chicano Studies classes are “hard topics,” Tomas said. So he uses some of his acting and performing skills along with satire to liven it up. At the same time his students are laughing, they are learning theories and analysis. He also teaches respect. “It’s not about agreeing or disagreeing; it’s about dialogue, about talking about issues in a very respectful context,” Tomas said.
One of the next goals Tomas has set for himself is to parlay his online commentator role into an on-air commentator job, in which he would be called upon as an expert on immigration, media, and other issues.
Through his teaching, mentoring, writing, performing, and commentating, Tomas said he wants to show that “it’s not bad to be different.” This multitalented scholar is an example of just that.
For more articles about Tomas Carrasco, read:
UCSB Makes History With World’s First Chicano Studies Ph.D.s:
http://gradpost.ucsb.edu/headlines/2012/8/3/ucsb-makes-history-with-worlds-first-chicano-studies-phds.html
Chicano Studies Professor Hired by CNN:
http://www.thechannels.org/features/2012/10/19/chicano-studies-professor-hired-by-cnn/
Fear of a Brown Planet. Satire is the weapon of choice for the Chicano Secret Service:
http://www.metroactive.com/papers/sonoma/05.04.00/csecretservice-0018.html
PROFILE TOMAS CARRASCO : Homeboy Debut. The satirist leads Chicano Secret Service in its guerrilla attacks on racism, politics, social stereotypes – and Oxnard:
http://articles.latimes.com/1992-04-16/news/vl-792_1_chicano-secret-service
Madness Is Their Cure: The comedy trio Chicano Secret Service zeroes in on political and cultural targets – ‘we're not apologizing for who we are':
http://articles.latimes.com/1993-02-28/entertainment/ca-7_1_chicano-secret-service