Interviewer : Ernesto Valdes

Project : University of Houston

Dr. Luis R. Cano reflects on his career as a teacher and an activist in Houston. Dr. Cano started a school funded by grants. With only $35,000 he employed two others, and taught drop outs from HISD. Because of sharp criticism aimed at HISD, the district moved to adopt the school, but Dr. Cano refused the offer. Simultaneously, he was a part of the Chicano Communications Council. While working for the council he increased the opportunities of Mexican-Americans, especially in the area of broadcast journalism. He recounts his childhood and what got him interested in race and culture. Dr. Cano tells the story of his grandfather, and how he stood up for the rights of his daughter to be educated in a normal school, and his fight with the Ku Klux Klan. He ends discussing Hispanic culture, music and history with Ernesto Valdes.