Jose "Joe" Barerra

Joe Barrera, Ph.D., is a lecturer on many topics, including Chicano Studies, Mexico-U.S. Border Studies, American Literature, and U.S. Military History. 

He is originally from the Rio Grande Valley town of Mercedes, Texas, a small town established on an original Spanish land grant, and named for the grant given to settlers through la Merced, or mercy, of the king of Spain and the Spanish Viceroy in Mexico City. 

The Rio Grande Valley of Texas was historically part of the Spanish-Mexican colony known as Nuevo Santander, founded in the 1750's. These deep roots have informed Joe's awareness of Mexican American history, culture and traditions in the United States. Joe is a frequent lecturer on the history of the Spanish Northern Frontier, what is now the U.S. Southwest, and the Mexican and Native American people who have inhabited the land for many generations. Joe's presentations on history, Chicano culture, and U.S. Military History are interactive and illustrated with many PowerPoint slides and of interest to both academic and lay audiences.

Joe is a combat veteran of the Battle of Dak To and the Tet Offensive, well-known engagements during the Vietnam War. As a combat veteran of those hard-fought battles, Joe feels a special kinship with all active-duty soldiers and veterans, especially the infantry soldiers who do the actual fighting. He has presentations on the history of the Vietnam War and other U.S. wars.

Joe Barrera is the publisher of an independent journal, La Revista Almagre, the Almagre Review, and welcomes submissions from CALMA authors.