Introduction of the "Zoot Suit"

The small theater, cramped with loud high school students from all over the Los Angeles County, silenced as the lights went down and the Pachuco emerged, taking the pachuco stance center stage. On Feb. 22, Samo students and other high schools gathered together to watch the 40th anniversary of the play “Zoot Suit” by playwright and director, Luis Valdez. Set in the streets of East Los Angeles, "Zoot Suit" recreates the social and political climate of the time around the real events of the Sleepy Lagoon murder by weaving in theatrical elements such as historical facts, big band music and choreography. According to theater teacher Kate Barraza, it was interesting to see how the play was brought to life. There were many well executed time travel scenes where the audience saw flashbacks and then were pulled back into the present. "[Mrs. Barraza] taught us about what it was like back in the early 40's and the tribulations that Latinos and Zoot Suiters endured. I learned about the racial diversity, the appreciation of how we live and how much easier it is to live with racial diversity nowadays," Liam Alba (’17) said.  Fifty years later, "Zoot Suit" opened it's doors again and welcomed students, but getting the tickets wasn't an easy feat to achieve as teachers had to submit an application. As luck would have it, three teachers: Chicano and California Literature teacher, Pete Barraza, Kate Barraza and Ethnic Studies teacher, Kitaro Webb would win the lottery. "I want students to know that theater is for everyone,” Pete Barraza said. “Because [Luis Valdez] worked so closely with Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta, it's such an important artistic component that goes with the political elements that we find ourselves trying to heal from, and maybe not find ourselves in the cycle again and again."Each teacher taught "Zoot Suit" in their own style. Kate Barraza taught "Zoot Suit" around the artistic components of theater, Webb taught it through a sociological standpoint and Pete Barraza taught it from a literary standpoint. All the teachers illuminated some of the local lore, history and music. "What I learned [from Mr. Webb] is quite simply that the conflict of the conscious is as debilitating and freeing as the individual perceives it to be," Alseth said. "Our greatest restraints are not the cells of jails but the shackles of injustice and the disparity of equality reinforced by a system that exists to corrode the spirits of the underrepresented."