David Damian Figueroa’s El Oz
Illustration of Figueroa’s book El Oz by James R. Foster
David Damian Figueroa still clearly recalls the day more than 30 years ago when he first set foot in Los Angeles to chase a career in entertainment. He remembers coming over a big hill overlooking Interstate 10, with the Los Angeles skyline on the horizon. He thought of the Emerald City in “The Wizard Of Oz.”
That sense of belonging he felt the very first day stayed in the back of his mind and led to the idea of “El Oz,” a children’s book – a Latino adaptation – of L. Frank Baum’s original story.
“I said, oh my gosh…I'm in the right place. You know? So it was, for me, like a premonition, and I never lost sight of that,” Figueroa said about the first time he saw the L.A. skyline.
In 2020, through a partnership with the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and the Ford Foundation, Figueroa was able to turn the book idea born many years ago into a reality. Figueroa set out to write something for the entire family and not just for children. It’s designed to engage families on issues of migration, social justice, and perseverance. “It is really about following your heart, following your intuition, and keeping very, very close to the idea that the answers lie within,” Figueroa said.
Illustration from the book “El Oz” by James R. Foster.
“El Oz” follows 9-year-old Dolores and her chihuahua Pepito, as they follow the Talavera path. A path paved with pieces of Mexican mosaic, known for its vibrant colors and designs. The Mexican girl is on a quest to ask the wizard to reunite her with her family. Dolores is from El Pueblito de Los Milagros. She lives on a small ranch with her dog and her tía (aunt) Tonia and tíos (uncles) Ozvaldo, Wilfredo, Pablo, and Leonardo.
The family grows its crops but found itself struggling to compete with large corporations and a changing farm economy in Mexico. Dolores’ uncle Ozvaldo finally makes the tough choice to leave the family and head for the City of Angels to find work so that he can send money back home. The family faces more hardship, and during a terrible storm, Dolores awakens in a new reality where Pepito can speak, and a hummingbird appears as a guide who urges Dolores to follow her heart and the Talavera path toward Ozlandia, the realm of El Oz. On the way, Dolores encounters challenges and a number of characters who teach her valuable lessons.
‘It is a very subtle way of talking about migration through the monarch butterflies, through the hummingbirds’
The book is very personal for Figueroa, who used his mother’s name Tonia for one of the characters. He also borrowed characters and personalities from other members of his family. Among them is Wilfredo, who owns a recycling center. Wilfredo is made of hub caps. Figueroa was inspired by an uncle who worked with metals and a cousin who worked in recycling.
Figueroa wrote the book as a tribute to civil rights icon Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers Union. Over the years, Huerta has become a close friend and mentor to Figueroa. He also wrote this book to uplift his farmworker family in Yuma, Arizona. Throughout “El Oz,” Figueroa said he weaved in his personal experience of working in the fields as a child: “So I really knew how, what the upbringing was like, and the smells and the sense and all of that. So when I started to write, it was very, very helpful.”
In “El Oz,” the border and the issue of migration become the choices and challenges that Uncle Ozvaldo decides to take on. “It is a very subtle way of talking about migration through the monarch butterflies, through the hummingbirds, through the path … (Ozvaldo) has to find work and come back. There’s a lot of sacrifice in that. And I hope that that brings a better understanding.”
For Figueroa, this book is also an opportunity for schools to delve into the challenges of migration. So many children today can find commonality with characters seeking better lives.
“El Oz” is also a reminder of Figueroa’s many years of work in social justice.
In Arizona, Figueroa fought against the state’s harsh rules targeting immigrants and the notorious Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Author David Damian Figueroa. Courtesy Figueroa
“I grew up on the border in Arizona. I live very close to the border right now,” Figueroa said. “I've always lived (around) agriculture, and I've always worked in representing farmworkers and doing projects about farmworkers. Every project that I've ever done has had some ring or some tone to the injustice of the immigrant, the injustice of the separation of the border, and also to wage justice … everything that I've ever done has been about civil rights.”
Figueroa adds that “El Oz” is important for transforming narratives about the border region and its people. It takes on the complexities of migration, the border, and economic disparity and humanizes them through the experience of a little girl. As a tool for a new generation of students and storytellers, “El Oz” arrives at a time when ethnic studies on U.S. campuses are under attack.
“There are people that don't want us to share our stories,” Figueroa warned. “They don't want them in schools. They don't want 'em in libraries … The climate right now is such, and it always has been, that people do not want ethnic studies. They do not want Chicano studies. They do not want Latino studies. But we're very much a part of history, and (NAHJ) really went to bat for us. I'll never forget that.”
NOTE: “El Oz” can be found in paperback for under $10 through most major booksellers. The book is available to schools and libraries in the Coachella Valley in California, as well as through non-profits Figueroa works with. “I want people to have the book. That’s (more) important to me than making money.”
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Cora Cervantes-Orta was born in México and raised in Los Angeles. Growing up within a diverse community taught her to understand issues from different perspectives. She completed her undergraduate studies at Columbia University and her Master's degree in Multimedia Journalism at New York University. Her work has been published by NBC News Digital, Al-Jazeera, NPR's Latino USA, Salon, NAHJ: palabra and Narratively. She has produced stories for MSNBC and NBC News NOW. During her time at NBC Universal she has worked as Diversity Coordinator for NBC News and MSNBC, and as an Associate Producer for MSNBC’s Politics Nation with Al Sharpton. Currently, she is an Associate Coverage Producer for NBC News. Cora is passionate about equity in representation, in the media. She currently serves as Vice President of NAHJ’s Los Angeles Chapter. She resides in East Los Angeles, California.