Professor premieres animated short on Pueblo revolt on PBS

UC Santa Cruz professor John Jota Leanos's animated film on U.S.- Mexican border history premieres on pbs.org this month.

Part of Latino Public Broadcasting's Hispanic Heritage Month, the 19-minute film "Frontera! Revolt and Rebellion on the Rio Grande" tells of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, in which Pueblo Native Americans drove Spanish colonizers out of what is now New Mexico.

Inspired by the educational musical cartoon series "Schoolhouse Rock!," Leanos said he weaved together animation, rap and history to teach Native Americans and Latinos their untold story.

"I think it's really important for colonized folks to see these stories, have their own history reflected in media — to see these histories of survival and of cultural resistance really exist," said Leanos, a professor of social documentation.

Through negotiation, the Pueblo were able to pull together neighboring tribes to achieve the unthinkable: expelling the Spanish from the region for 12 years, he said...