• Home
    • Get the Podcasts
    • About
      • Contact Latinopia.com
      • Copyright Credits
      • Production Credits
      • Research Credits
      • Terms of Use
      • Teachers Guides
  • Art
    • LATINOPIA ART
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Film/TV
    • LATINOPIA CINEMA
    • LATINOPIA SHOWCASE
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Food
    • LATINOPIA FOOD
    • COOKING
    • RESTAURANTS
  • History
    • LATINOPIA EVENT
    • LATINOPIA HERO
    • TIMELINES
    • BIOGRAPHY
    • EVENT PROFILE
    • MOMENT IN TIME
    • DOCUMENTS
    • TEACHERS GUIDES
  • Lit
    • LATINOPIA WORD
    • LATINOPIA PLÁTICA
    • LATINOPIA BOOK REVIEW
    • PIONEER AMERICAN LATINA AUTHORS
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Music
    • LATINOPIA MUSIC
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Theater
    • LATINOPIA TEATRO
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Blogs
    • Angela’s Photo of the Week
    • Arnie & Porfi
    • Bravo Road with Don Felípe
    • Burundanga Boricua
    • Chicano Music Chronicles
    • Fierce Politics by Dr. Alvaro Huerta
    • Mirándolo Bien with Eduado Díaz
    • Political Salsa y Más
    • Mis Pensamientos
    • Latinopia Guest Blogs
    • Tales of Torres
    • Word Vision Harry Gamboa Jr.
    • Julio Medina Serendipity
    • ROMO DE TEJAS
    • Sara Ines Calderon
    • Ricky Luv Video
    • Zombie Mex Diaries
    • Tia Tenopia
  • Podcasts
    • Louie Perez’s Good Morning Aztlán
    • Mark Guerrero’s ELA Music Stories
    • Mark Guerrero’s Chicano Music Chronicles
      • Yoga Talk with Julie Carmen

latinopia.com

Latino arts, history and culture

  • Home
    • Get the Podcasts
    • About
      • Contact Latinopia.com
      • Copyright Credits
      • Production Credits
      • Research Credits
      • Terms of Use
      • Teachers Guides
  • Art
    • LATINOPIA ART
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Film/TV
    • LATINOPIA CINEMA
    • LATINOPIA SHOWCASE
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Food
    • LATINOPIA FOOD
    • COOKING
    • RESTAURANTS
  • History
    • LATINOPIA EVENT
    • LATINOPIA HERO
    • TIMELINES
    • BIOGRAPHY
    • EVENT PROFILE
    • MOMENT IN TIME
    • DOCUMENTS
    • TEACHERS GUIDES
  • Lit
    • LATINOPIA WORD
    • LATINOPIA PLÁTICA
    • LATINOPIA BOOK REVIEW
    • PIONEER AMERICAN LATINA AUTHORS
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Music
    • LATINOPIA MUSIC
    • INTERVIEWS
    • FEATURES
  • Theater
    • LATINOPIA TEATRO
    • INTERVIEWS
  • Blogs
    • Angela’s Photo of the Week
    • Arnie & Porfi
    • Bravo Road with Don Felípe
    • Burundanga Boricua
    • Chicano Music Chronicles
    • Fierce Politics by Dr. Alvaro Huerta
    • Mirándolo Bien with Eduado Díaz
    • Political Salsa y Más
    • Mis Pensamientos
    • Latinopia Guest Blogs
    • Tales of Torres
    • Word Vision Harry Gamboa Jr.
    • Julio Medina Serendipity
    • ROMO DE TEJAS
    • Sara Ines Calderon
    • Ricky Luv Video
    • Zombie Mex Diaries
    • Tia Tenopia
  • Podcasts
    • Louie Perez’s Good Morning Aztlán
    • Mark Guerrero’s ELA Music Stories
    • Mark Guerrero’s Chicano Music Chronicles
      • Yoga Talk with Julie Carmen
You are here: Home / Blogs / MIS PENSAMIENTOS with ALFREDO SANTOS – REFLECTIONS AT 70

MIS PENSAMIENTOS with ALFREDO SANTOS – REFLECTIONS AT 70

December 10, 2022 by wpengine

As this year comes to a close I look back on what has transpired in my life. First of all, I turned 70 years of age. I didn’t think I would make it this far because my father died at the age of 31. This was in 1958, I was six years old.

For many years I did not like to fill out school forms because when it came to listing my father, I did not want to write in the space the word “dead.” So I discovered the word “deceased.” For some reason it sounded better.

As I learned to live without a father,I substituted my paternal grandparents names with whom I lived with for many years in Stockton, California.

In Between The Tears

In my 30s I was back in Texas and it was during a telephone call from my grandmother to tell us that my uncle John had died in Stockton that I heard her tell my mother in between the tears that the reason she took me in was because she and my grandfather had felt so guilty that my father had died and left a widow and three small children. They believed they could help ease the economic hardship that would lay ahead for my mother.

My grandparents were born at the turn of the 20th century. My paternal grandfather was actually born in 1886 and my grandmother was born in 1907. My grandfather retired from the sheep shearing business in Stockton. With him at the house all the
time, I would hear him tell stories. He was a good story teller.

The Stockton Uvalde Connection

On the weekends my grandparents would receive visitors and spend hours out on the patio visiting. It was only later that I learned that many of these visitors were actually people who had come to Stockton with my grandfather in the 1940s to work in the canneries.

It was during World War II that my grandfather used his trucks to bring 400 people from Uvalde, Texas to Stockton, California to
work. Some settled in Stockton and others returned to Uvalde after the war. It was those who stayed that would come over to visit on the weekends.

My grandmother was a great cook and I would often see her in the kitchen making tamales, buñuelos at Christmas time or carne guisada with home made flour tortillas.During the summers my grandmother worked at a Del Monte cannery as a floor lady. This was like a supervisor.

Running Away from Myself

As I grew up I knew I was different from the other kids in the neighborhood. In fact, I was the only Mexican kid and I didn’t like it.
Oh, I ate my grandmother’s Mexican food, but I didn’t like being brown. I spent years running away from myself and I didn’t know why.

When I came back to Texas in 1965 for a “summer visit,” my mother informed me that I would not be returning to California.
At first I was furious. All my friends were back in Stockton. My mother explained that she was having a new house built out on Ft. Clark Road and that she wanted all her family to be together again.

So I began a new chapter in my life and began to learn Spanish. (Actually it was street Spanish and slang) I joined the Boy Scouts and when I got into high school, I played football.

The Chicano Movement

When the Chicano Movement came to Uvalde in 1968, I joined MAYO (Mexican American Youth Organization) It was during the weekly meetings that I began to understand why I didn’t like myself. It was also during these meetings that I began to learn the history of where I came from.

For some reason my mother or grandparents never told me these stories. Certainly I did not learn anything about my background in school. I returned to California in 1970 and got into college. After graduating from the University of California Berkeley in 1974, I went to work for Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers.

After many jobs over the years including school teacher, program administrator and taxi driver, I now find myself sitting on the side of the bed at 70 years of age, I never thought I would make it this far.

_________________________________________________

Copyright 2022 by Alfredo Santos.

Filed Under: Blogs, Mis Pensamientos Tagged With: Mis Pensamientos with Alfredo Santos

RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT 01.28.23 CRYSTAL CITY 1969

January 27, 2023 By wpengine

An Inspiring Latino Play: Crystal City 1969 David Lozano and Raul Trevino wrote Crystal City 1969 in 2009, a production which The Dallas Morning News called the “Best New Play” of 2009. Residents from Crystal City learned of its success by word of mouth, but individuals who contributed to the school walkouts that permanently transformed […]

RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT 01.20.23 OSCAR ALVARADO MASTER MOSAIC ARTIST

January 20, 2023 By wpengine

Oscar Alvarado: Latino Master Artist of Tile Mosaic On most days of the year, Oscar Alvarado steps out of the warehouse at his San Antonio Southtown studio, spaces that he shares with his twin brother Robert, to look over sections of nearly two acres filled with sand, tile, rock, glass, and steel. He treasures the […]

RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT AL RENDON AN ACCLAIMED LATINO PHOTOGRAPHER

January 14, 2023 By wpengine

Al Rendon: A Highly Acclaimed Latino Photographer Every American City has its favorite photographer who is able to produce revealing imagery that captures the mind and soul of its people, that documents the cultural attributes of its society, and that reveals the historical aspects of the region’s landscape. Large cities with diverse populations count on […]

RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT JOSÉ ESQUIVAL A CHICANO TRAILBLAZER

January 7, 2023 By wpengine

José Esquivel: A Chicano Art Trailblazer José Esquivel, one of the founding members of the Chicano art movement in America, passed away on December 16, 2022. He was 87 years old. A memorial to Esquivel is planned for Tuesday evening, January 3rd at the Centro Cultural Aztlan. Through his paintings Esquivel documented life in his […]

More Posts from this Category

New On Latinopia

LATINOPIA EVENT 1966 UFW PEREGRINACIÓN (PILGRIMAGE) MARCH

By Tia Tenopia on March 19, 2013

The effort to organize farm workers under a union contract has been a long and difficult struggle. In 1965, César Chávez and Dolores Huerta created what would become the United Farm Workers Union. From the onset they  faced many obstacles, not the least of which was how to get dozens of California grape growers to […]

Category: History, LATINOPIA EVENT

LATINOPIA MUSIC ANGELA ROA “TOCO DESAFINADO”

By Tia Tenopia on June 22, 2014

Angela Roa is a Chilean singer and lyricist residing in Los Angeles, California. Her songs are about the Latino experience in the United States and in Latin America. Here she performs an original song, “Toco Desafinado” (Out of Tune). She is accompanied by Fernando Losada, Rich Silva and Thiago Winterstein..

Category: LATINOPIA MUSIC, Music

LATINOPIA MUSIC LOS FABULOCOS “UNA PURA Y DOS CON SAL”

By Tia Tenopia on January 4, 2015

Delta Groove Music recording artist Los FabuLocos is a Southern California band whose unique sound, “Cali-Mex,”is a fusion of blues, Americana and Chicano soul music. Band members include Jesús Cuevas, accordion and vocals; Rubén Guaderama, guitar,bajo sexto, tres and vocals; James Barrios, bass and vocals; Mike Molina, drums and Kid Ramos, guitar( not in this […]

Category: LATINOPIA MUSIC, Music

© 2023 latinopia.com · Pin It - Genesis - WordPress · Admin