BRAVO ROAD with DON FELÍPE 6.09.13
EN EL RINCÓN DE UNA BIBLIOTECA In a recent piece for “Pensamientos Literarios” (Somos en Escrito: Latino Literary Online Magazine, May 2013) I wrote: “It occurs to me that most of my life has been … [Read more...]
BRAVO ROAD with DON FELIPE 10.04.15 “LOST IN THE STARS”
LOST IN THE STARS: CHICANOS AND THE LATINO GALAXY A dozen years ago I wrote: Ideologically, Mexican American Chicanos say the term Hispanic [now Latino] diminishes their demo-graphic priority … [Read more...]
BRAVO ROAD with DON FELIPE 4.19.15 “A MODEST PROPOSAL”
A MODEST PROPOSAL There was a time when most Americans and most American educators believed that the purpose of American education was to prepare students for life. Alas, life has become more … [Read more...]
THINKING LATINA with SARA INÉS CALDERÓN 3.01.15 “SANS RACKSPACE AND JULIÁN CASTRO”
SANS RACKSPACE, JULIAN CASTRO, WHAT'S THE BACK-UP PLAN FOR SA? San Antonio has been booming the past few years. You see the city on all of these lists — fastest growing, booming, etc. — and for … [Read more...]
MIRÁNDOLO BIEN with EDUARDO DÍAZ 2.09.15 “NATION TO NATION TREATIES”
What Might Have Been; Treaties and Nation-Building "Great nations, like great men, should keep their word." - Hugo Black, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Nation to Nation; Treaties Between the … [Read more...]
THINKING LATINA with SARA INÉS CALDERÓN 01.25.15 “AUSTIN’S GENTLEMAN’S AGREEMENT”
THE PRICE OF AUSTIN'S 'GENTLEMAN'S AGREEMENT'? CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT. Recently I was telling a friend about Austin’s “Gentleman’s Agreement” to only allow one Latino and one black … [Read more...]
BRAVO ROAD with DON FELÍPE 01.11.15 “JE SUIS CHARLIE”
JE SUIS CHARLIE. The rampant massacre of 12 persons (11 wounded) at the offices of the satirical French newspaper Charlie Hebdo by Islamic fundamentalists ostensibly motivated by the … [Read more...]
TALES OF TORRES 01.11.15 “BLOODY CHRISTMAS”
CURRENT DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST POLICE BRUTALITY RECALL THE INFAMOUS "BLOOD CHRISTMAS" CASE IN LOS ANGELES. As this new year gets rolling, scattered protests and lots of grumbling continue over the … [Read more...]
POLITICAL SALSA Y MÁS with SAL BALDENEGRO 12.22.14 “I LIKE YOUR CHRIST, BUT…”
I like your Christ, but… How things change. When I was growing up, religious folks railed against the commercialization of Christmas. They believed and taught that publicly, Christmas was to be … [Read more...]
TALES OF TORRES 11.02.14 “IS HISTORY MORE THAN JUST A MYTH?”
IS HISTORY MORE THAN JUST A MYTH AGREED UPON? Recent political chingazos about the teaching of history in our public schools got me to recalling a crazy comment a woman in Texas made a few years … [Read more...]
POLITICAL SALSA Y MÁS WITH SAL BALDENEGRO 10.19.14 “CHANGE THE MASCOT”
CHANGE THE NAME...CHANGE THE MASCOT. The movement to get the Washington NFL team to change its racist logo and name has come to Arizona. On October 12, about 150 people—members of tribes from … [Read more...]
TALES OF TORRES 8.03.14 “CHILDREN OF GAZA & THE U.S.MEXICO BORDER”
The bloodied, shrapnel-punctured body of a little boy dangling from a makeshift stretcher on a rubble-strewn dusty road in Gaza. The sad, terrified look of a little boy in ragged clothes peering out … [Read more...]
TALES OF TORRES 6.01.14 “BEN DEJO ON HILLARY CLINTON”
Hello. I’m Luís Torres. As you must know by now, by virtue of the fact that you are reading this, I regularly write the blog “Tales of Torres.” This time around, I’ve decided to step aside and let a … [Read more...]
TALES OF TORRES 12.08.13 “THE YEAR IN REVIEW”
THE YEAR IN REVIEW. This year is drawing to a close. What kind of a year has it been for Latinos here in what 1960s African American activist Frank Greenwood referred to as “the Land of the Free … [Read more...]
BRAVO ROAD with DON FELÍPE 12.08.13 “AMERICAN BY MANIFEST DESTINY”
AMERICANS BY MANIFEST DESTINY AND FIAT, NOT IMMIGRATION. The old saw in American mythology is that we’re all immigrants, Not true! Not true by any stretch of the imagination. In particular, Native … [Read more...]
MIRÁNDOLO BIEN with EDUARDO DÍAZ 11.10.13 “LATINOS IN ATYPICAL DESTINATIONS”
LATINOS IN ATYPICAL DESTINATIONS. Annually, as the eve of Hispanic Heritage Month dawns, I field around 10 requests to speak on a variety of Latino cultural topics, to groups representing … [Read more...]
TALES OF TORRES 11.04.13 “PLANE WRECK AT LOS GATOS”
THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR NAMES AND OUR STORIES. In 1974 a teenager named Jaime Ramirez made his way from a tiny town in Mexico to the city of Pasadena, California. He got a job as a dishwasher. It was … [Read more...]
THINKING LATINA WITH SARA INÉS CALDERÓN 8.11.13 “WENDY DAVIS”
3 WAYS WENDY DAVIS RUNNING FOR GOVERNOR OF TEXAS WOULD AFFECT LATINOS. Wendy Davis, according to my sources and the hints she’s been dropping, is going to make a run for Texas governor. The state … [Read more...]
MIRÁNDOLO BIEN with EDUARDO DÍAZ 7.21.13 “MANY JOURNEYS OF MAIZ”
THE MANY JOURNEYS OF MAIZ. Innovation is, among other things, the act of introducing something new. In 1932, with this country in the throes of the Great Depression, a restless C.E. Doolin walked … [Read more...]
BRAVO ROAD with DON FELIPE 7.04.13 “MYTHS & TROPES”
MYTHS AND TROPES OF HISPANICITY. Perhaps like Albert Camus’ stranger, we’re all strangers to each other despite consanguinity. It may not be the most long-lived estrangement in history, but the 400 … [Read more...]
TALES OF TORRES 6.30.13 “NOT CINCO BUT CUATRO”
NOT CINCO DE MAYO BUT CUATRO DE JULIO. Celebrations of the Fourth of July and this country’s Independence Day are booming all around us. In my neighborhood that’s literally the case, with mocosos … [Read more...]