Bienvenido to another issue of La Voz Newspaper.

Here is what’s on my mind. First, it’s hot outside. Casi no salgo en el dia por el calor. In
the summers I turn into a night person. Bueno, so much for the weather.

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Someone asked me the other day why I don’t have more stories or commentary on President Donald Trump. I didn’t have too think about to long to come up with an answer. The reason we don’t carry a lot of Donald Trump news is because we are a monthly publication and by the time we come out, all the other media have already carried the story.

The other reason we don’t carry a lot of Trump news is because a lot of folks are just plain tired of hearing about all the crap that is associated with what ever he is up to. There are days when I watch the news and it is actually depressing.

To be sure, President Trump is very smart and knows how to manipulate the media. There are times when he throws things out there so that reporters can run around and chase issues that are really distractions from bigger issues. The news is increasingly turning into entertainment. Well, that’s my opinion.

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Here is something else I would like to share with you. I am finding that increasingly there are community activists who are chasing issues that are manufactured.

They are manufactured by those (politicos) who believe that they can wear people out by putting them on boards, commissions and task forces. What ends up happening is that these activists spend their precious time trying to come up with solutions to problems that others (city and county staffers for example) get paid to do on a full time basis.

I guess when I was young and new to the challenge of being a community activist, I didn’t think twice about the game that was going on.
Ahora de viejo, I am real tight with my time. The other day at a Raza Round Table meeting, I heard my good friend Gilbert Rivera express this same sentiment and threaten to re-evaluate some of the entities that he is currently involved in.

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In this issue of La Voz you will find on page 4 part two of a story that former Austin mayor Gus Garcia has been sharing. The man is writing about most certainly left an impression on Mr. Garcia and it is evident as you read the story of Don Pion. Another story you
will find in this issue is an excerpt from Ernesto Calderón’s new book Mañana is Today. With Mr. Calderón’s permission we will be
bringing you periodic excerpts from his almost 500 page autobiography.

For me it has been a fascinating read to learn about his growing up in the Waco area, his military service and his participation with La
Raza Unida Party in the early 1970s.

Having grown up in South Texas, I read Mr. Calderón’s stories and find myself looking for similarities in my own upbringing. For me his book both fills in gaps in my knowledge about the Chicano Movement and validates things I have wondered about in my own
life. I high recommend this book for your library.

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Final thoughts. As some of you already know, I came down with a cancer diagnosis this summer. After two operations and radiation
therapy scheduled for next month, I have been laying low como dicen. Being ill is never fun but I have good doctors and we have a plan.
If I don’t return your phones as quick as I used to it is because I am in a place where I can’t get to a phone or I am just plain out of it.

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Copyright 2017 by Alfredo Santos. Mr. Santos is editor and publisher of La Voz, a bilingual monthly publication serving the greater Austin and Southwest Texas Latino community. You can subscribe to this free publication by going to www.lavoznewspapers.com