Latino arts, history and culture
One of the advantages of being the living dead is that you don’t have to worry about getting sick. As I was growing up and began to have friends my age, I noticed that many of them would catch a cold, … [Read more...]
When I was thirteen I was asked to join a gang. And I found out a sad truth about myself. It was after the terrible Scouting Incident–and I’m not going to get into it here. Let’s just say it … [Read more...]
When I was twelve years old I joined the Boy Scouts and that’s when I learned about lying and just how difficult it was going to be for me to be a Mexican zombie AND a Boy Scout. One day when I was … [Read more...]
One of the worst things about being a Zombie is people think you are stupid. Have you seen those movies where the Zombies stumble about and come close to killing the hero of the film but somehow they … [Read more...]
PLAN OF ATTACK! “Oñate is vain,” Mr. Nez intoned, as he adjusted the display of a power point presentation projected on a large posterboard screen behind him. “It’s a weakness we will … [Read more...]
CAMP HASCAWALLA “Listen up! Everything you are going to learn in the next few weeks is a matter of life and death. YOUR life and death. We’ll soon be heading for the Oñate compound --pay attention … [Read more...]
ATTACK OF THE RED SASH. I was awakened by the blaring of a loud and persistent wailing alarm. I stumbled out of bed and made my way to the door. Alarm? What was going on here? I could hear … [Read more...]
KING OF TEXCOCO. The news that Mr. Nez, leader of the La Familia band of zombies, was indeed the legendary Aztec poet King Nezahualcoyotl was stunning. It made Pearl and I devoted students of “The … [Read more...]
THE RAID. We left the secret La Familia zombie training camp at Joshua Tree at two in the morning. Filomino Brancos, our combat trainer, estimated that the drive to the Oñate zombie compound at Big … [Read more...]
MOTHER DAY REDUX. “All aboard!” The van was running and ready to leave for the Mother’s Day picnic. The other zombies quartered at the secret Joshua Tree military training camp who were going to … [Read more...]
CAMP HASCAWALLA “Listen up! Everything you are going to learn in the next few weeks is a matter of life and death. YOUR life and death. We’ll soon be heading for the Oñate compound --pay attention … [Read more...]
THE WORSE DAY OF MY LIFE. At seven on the dot there was a group of about eight of us sitting around a large conference table in room 27 of the secret Mano Poderosa underground laboratory under the … [Read more...]
KING OF TEXCOCO. The news that Mr. Nez, leader of the La Familia band of zombies, was indeed the legendary Aztec poet King Nezahualcoyotl was stunning. It made Pearl and I devoted students of “The … [Read more...]
OLVERA UNDERGROUND. No sooner had I stepped through the doorway into Mr. Nez’s cavernous zombie hide-out hidden under Olvera Street than I heard a familiar voice. “Lazaro!” It was Pearl … [Read more...]
THE WATCH The meeting of La Familia, the secret society of Zombies, began with Mrs. Falcón rising from her seat to address the gathering. There were two hundred of us there. She took a moment to … [Read more...]
MORE REVELATIONS. Mr. Neza led us down a dark hallway to another door. He opened it and led Pearl and I down steep steps. At the bottom was a long corridor. But this corridor was much more fancy. … [Read more...]
MORE REVELATIONS. Pearl and I stood for a long silent moment in front of the One Hundred building at Wilson High. Around us a few students walked by, on their way to their Mexican American normal … [Read more...]
WHY SHOULD ZOMBIES VOTE? I learned the importance of voting when I was sixteen years old and I accompanied my mom to her swearing in as a United States citizen. For months ‘ama had been studying … [Read more...]
Mom grounded me for a month after she got me out of jail. As a fifteen-year-old zombie it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. I was already a loner, used to being by myself. It’s not like I missed hanging out … [Read more...]
WHAT I FOUND IN MY JAIL CELL. We arrived at the Northeast Police station on San Fernando Road and the two police officers walked me, still handcuffed, into the station. The cops were talking about … [Read more...]
By the middle of my first year at Lincoln Middle School, the buzz was all about tattoos. I was in the seventh grade then and everyone seemed to have them--gang boys, study boys, nerd boys and, yes, … [Read more...]
