Starring Jose Gonzalez, Curtis Acosta
Produced by Isabella Eren McGinnis
Directed by Ari Palos
Price: $28.00
Purchase Here
View Trailer Here
Reviewed by Rafael A. Nevares
It is often difficult to separate the messenger from the message. However, the Ari Luis Palos directed documentary on the fight over the controversial Mexican-American Raza Studies Program in the Tucson Arizona Public School System forces us to do just this. Precious Knowledge is a revealing and front-line look at what happens when two of the most important issues in America today, illegal immigration and education, collide.
As the film begins, it seems like we will be embarking on a journey of struggle and discovery with Crystal, Pricilla and Gilbert. Three high school kids from Latino families who just want the opportunity to advance and succeed at securing their fair piece of the American dream. All of them come from modest homes, are intelligent, aware of their situation and desire to change it. But as the film progresses we realize that this story is less about them and more about the struggle between competing ideologies and these kids are going to be caught in the crossfire.
On the side of preserving the ethnic education program are Tucson high school teachers Curtis Acosta and Luis Gonzales. One unabashedly bases his teachings on those of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire whose philosophy of critical pedagogy is founded on Marxism and draws from anarchism. The other, a literature teacher, has his classroom adorned with political banners with slogans like “Land or Death”, “Stop Deportation Raids”, “Citizenship Yes, Deportation No,” and a Che Guevara skateboard. As you can imagine there will be objections.
Leading the charge for terminating the program are Arizona State School Superintendent Tom Horne and State Senator John Huppenthal. Horne professes to be an opponent of racial separation and to believe that there are better ways to decrease Latino dropout rates from their staggering 50%. But if he truly has any such ideas we are never privy to them. Each of these men, to varying degrees, are depicted as conservatives sometimes accompanied by extremist both in the state government and citizenry as shown in a scene where Horne supporters threaten peaceful pro ethnic studies demonstrators.
Acosta/Gonzalez vs. Horne/Huppenthal sounds like the card at a pay-per-view boxing match and at its core this is what Precious Knowledge is about. The clash of priorities as embodied by these willing combatants. Pugilists whose motives are questionable and in doubt. Is the primary concern for these teachers the education of their students or the advancement of their own ideological positions? Do the state officials really care about future opportunities for these kids or about their own political ambitions? After all by the end of the film the people of Arizona have promoted Horne to State Attorney General and Huppenthal to Superintendent of Instruction.
Thoughtfully interspersed throughout the film is a brief yet insightful history of Chicano education in Tucson and throughout the US and the legislative history of various Arizona state bills. An ever so slightly biased snapshot of the social background of the day reveals that naïveté and bigotry are present on both sides but dominate neither. But missing from the landscape was the usually strong role of parents in Latino culture. More insight into that would have helped provide us a more complete depiction.
The message in Precious Knowledge is the worthy cause of improving education standards and lowering the dropout rate in our Latino high schools. It is a cause which needs more films like this to raise it in the hierarchy of the American consciousness. You want to cheer for the kids, cheer for their passion for learning and their desire for a better life but you can’t help but be suspect of the outcome when those leading the charge are so driven by their personal motives.
In the late stages of the film as a group of Mexican-American Studies Program supporters peacefully and enthusiastically march towards Phoenix where the final vote on the bill to end the program will take place they pass a used car lot. For me the name of the car lot summarized the totality of the film incredibly well. The issues raised in Precious Knowledge are real and the solutions remain in doubt. In the words of Crystal “the struggle continues” and as they march past the “Ugly But Honest” used car lot we can’t help but wonder when it will end.
Reveiwer Rafael Nevares is a LSU Political Science graduate, former corporate CEO, Music Industry Executive and International Business Consultant. He enjoys combining his passion for films with his business and political analysis background.
Sunday, July 8, 2012 at 11:58PM 
Reviewed by Lily Williams
