Speaker: Ronnie Garza
Ronnie Garza is an artist, filmmaker, educator, and activist working out of the Rio Grande Valley. He has been working in video-journalism since 2014 covering issues on abortion access, immigration, and border issues. His first documenary, As I Walk Through the Valley, premiered at the 2017 South by Southwest Film Festival and has shown at Stanford University, the University of North Texas, and film festivals all around the work. He is working on two additional documentaries about the history of the Rio Grande Valley (currently in production). Pansy Pachanga covers the history of the LGBTQ community over the course of the last 50 years, tracking the growth of the community through the first gay bars, the community response to the HIV/AIDS crisis and the growth of a visible trans community. 11,000 Years of History in the Rio Grande Valley is a documentary series which covers the general history of the region including wiht the Native American history up to the present with a special focus on civil rights, culture, and Mexican American identity over time.