In stereotypical Chicano households, fathers go out into the world in hopes of making a living for their families, and mothers stay behind to watch after their kids. With luminous imaginations, the sky is the only limit to anything that crosses the mind of these inquisitive children. Yet, instead of coming across books and literary works, most kids in lower socioeconomic communities fall to misfortune, misguided into other troubled life forms. This is not due to bad parenting but naive parenting, based on the parents' own lives, a cycle that, sadly, has kept the Latino community within the United States stuck in the lower socioeconomic class for decades. However, not all hope is lost, for small and independent publishing houses, such as the Cinco Puntos Press, substantially help these communities combat the lack of books and magazines, begging the question, how did Cinco Puntos Press compete against the frail literacy level within lower socioeconomic Chicano communities?
Incorporating bilingual books for the Chicano community has dramatically impacted their children's education. Ley Iha Auile, from Publishers Weekly, reports that Lee Byrd, copublisher of Cinco Punto Press, stresses that "there are still librarians and educators who prefer that a book be available in both languages but published in separate Spanish and English editions." Lee Byrd elaborates on how critical it is to have multiple editions of books. Librarians and educators, who are vital to a child's education, know what's best for the student's learning and development, more specifically, in the diverse Chicano community. Having bilingual books helps expand children's vocabulary in more than one language, most commonly English and Spanish.
Image caption: Lee Byrd and Bobby Byrd outside offices of Cinco Puntos Press. Courtesy of Robert Moore, El Paso Matters.
The bilingual books Cinco Puntos Press offered for our Chicano culture in El Paso are of extraordinary variety. In an interview with Angela Korchega of KTEP radio, co-publisher and husband, Bobby Byrd says, "Because of where we Iive, our books have this fronterizo flavor. They reflect the border, they reflect El Paso. El Paso has this unique flavor, and New York City never recognized that. We rode the Mexican diaspora wave to get our books out into the world." One image can say more than 1,000 words, and by looking at pictures Cinco Puntos Press provided, the diverse work they offered is greatly appreciated. Published by Cinco Punto Press, Joe Hayes' La Llorona, a popular book among kids that has sold between 900,000 and a million copies, pointed the press toward publishing bilingual books. With the help of the Byrds, bilingual books are works Chicano children can read to expand their literacy skills, thus, learning about their culture and folklore.
Prioritizing passion and dedication describe how Lee and Bobby Byrd felt about their commitment to writing and publishing books. "Publishing, like writing," says Lee Byrd, "is an organic process. We don't know exactly what the book will become when we first see it in manuscript." Their feelings on how the writing process comes about can make anybody want to read their book, which will impact children's learning due to the authors' eagerness about their books and work. When people and children see this kind of dedication, work, and heart put into a project or product, the shared love for literature passes on to the reader.
Making national news is not an easy feat, but if 2019 is any example, one of Cinco Puntos Press's published books, the Sergio Troncoso short story collection A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant's Son, emerged as one of 15 highly sought-after books by Latinos. Rigoberto Gonzalez states in the Select website about Troncoso's collection:
These poignant short stories shed a startling light on the middle-class experience of Chicanos in New York. An Ivy League education and job security in a cosmopolitan city far from their youth in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands doesn't mean the American Dream has been realized without further conflict. Some struggle with the feeling of dislocation, some begrudge being seen as foreigners when they visit their beloved border towns, and others are struck by the harsh reality that even in a liberal multicultural setting they're not spared from violence, prejudice and the anti-immigrant noise.
Troncoso's work is a profound example that overcoming frail literacy in the Chicano community is possible and achievable. Regardless, the role-modeling Chicano children now have sets up their future for success. Books like this give the working-class hope of not giving up on dreams, for good things do come to those who never give up.
Early intervention in children's education significantly impacts their literacy level for the rest of their lives. Our Chicano community must work hard to make money to prioritize education. "Individuals with low levels of literacy are more likely to experience poorer employment opportunities and outcomes and lower income," says Amanda Low and Nicola Miranda from the World Literary Foundation. Reading books can be a great start, but many people here don't necessarily speak fluent English. Cinco Puntos Press published many bilingual and multicultural books that helped combat that issue.
Cinco Punto Press' accomplishments are pioneering in developing multicultural books in the borderland. "They've brought attention to El Paso and the border and multicultural books in ways that it's hard for people to appreciate," says Bill Clark, co-owner of the local book shop Literarity. Clark expresses that the country received a multicultural shock when Bobby Byrd and Lee Byrd brought attention to El Paso and its Chicano community, an accomplishment that shouldn't be taken lightly, as many can look forward to reading as a direct association with their success, thus raising the literacy level among the community.
Shelter in Books, a program launched by Cinco Puntos Press, helps teachers get more books into their classrooms. "We wanted to put in place an actual program so that more teachers could get more books to their classrooms," a Cinco Puntos Press publicist tells ABC-7 in 2020. Shelter in Books is a product of serendipity when a teacher reached out to Cinco Puntos Press for help acquiring books for her students. At the same time, a donor asked the publishing house if they could support them during El Paso's stay-at-home order during the onset of the pandemic. In turn, donations he! p cover the cost of book requests a teacher might have. This effort ensures the El Paso Chicano community can nurture education despite the pandemic's impact on every aspect of life. Cinco Puntos Press generously engages in helping and giving back to our community.
Since arriving in El Paso, Bobby Byrd and Lee Byrd became heavily involved in the local Chicano community. El Paso, Inc. reports Clark of Literarity saying, "Cinco Puntos Press acts locally, but thinks internationally. Because the Byrds are so engaged in our community and often publish local authors, some people perceive Cinco Puntos as a small, local business. But it's important to recognize that Cinco Puntos is a publisher with national distribution and global impact. You'll find Cinco Puntos books in libraries and bookstores around the globe, but they are still strongly rooted in and committed to El Paso's binational community." The dedication Bobby Byrd and Lee Byrd had, and their legacy continues to have, in our community is unfathomable, having had an "outsider's perspective," Lee Byrd says. She hails from New Jersey and Bobby from Memphis. They produced multicultural books due to the local cultural diversity and support.
Image caption: The Storefront of Cinco Puntos Press at 701 Texas St. in El Paso, Texas. Courtesy of Michaela Esparza.
The impact Cinco Puntos Press had in the community dove even deeper with the publishing of Dealing Death and Drugs, co-authored by gubernatorial candidate Beto O'Rourke and the Byrd's daughter Suzie Byrd, in which they make a case for legalizing marijuana. We can see the considerable influence this small local publishing company had. With such a huge impact, their reputation made national headlines far enough to make them a well-known publisher. O'Rourke and the publishing company worked together to better these communities in need of direction.
To love writing and reading as much as the Byrds did and do, one must be a writer. Lee is a novelist, while Bobby dabbles in poetry. The idea to kickstart a publishing house originated in Galveston, when a playhouse fire in which their children were involved prompted them to reevaluate their lives and search for new beginnings. "We decided to be publishers," Lee Lee Byrd and Bobby Byrd outside offices of Cinco Puntos Press Byrd says. "We discovered publishing is a lot like writing," Bobby Byrd added, "It's an act of self discovery. We started by publishing friends. That led to other friends. Little by little, one book led to the next, organically." Their humble beginnings started in 1985 in their home in El Paso's Five Points area, and from that point forward, the small publishing house launched the careers of many award-winning authors.
Like any story, there is always a final chapter, whether it be a happy ending or not. Only time will tell for the Byrds. However, the 36-year-long story of Cinco Puntos Press arrived at its final chapter in the summer of 2021 with the sale of the local publishing house to New York publisher Lee and Low Books. Even so, Bobby and Lee will never fade from this community. They were dedicated to "creating space" for Chicanxs and Pasenxs "whose voices needed to be put into print," says Estefania Mitre of the online El Paso Herald-Post. The opportunity Lee and Bobby Byrd gave to local writers and artists will continue to provide the young reader with something to relate to.
Heavily influenced by the Chicano community, Cinco Puntos Press became known as a reliable publisher of English and Spanish books for the community. Lee and Low Books, a one-time small multicultural publishing house, grew considerably over the last ten years, "acquiring Children's Book Press, Shen's Books, and Tu Books, targeted acquisitions that have allowed it to expand its reach without losing sight of its mission to publish books by and about people too often overlooked," comments Vicky Smith of the Kirkus website. Smith states that Cinco Puntos Press "[was] a good fit. .. having carved out its niche as an early publisher of bilingual English/Spanish books for children and having a robust list of Latinx and other diverse titles."
Lee and Bobby Byrd may have moved on to their next chapter in life, but Cinco Puntos Press remains an imprint of Lee and Low Books, never to be forgotten for its immense contribution to the binational community of El Paso, propelling it to national status.
