Latino arts, history and culture
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...]
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...]
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...]
THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. I’m befuddled, bewildered and, more often than not, amused when I hear American politicians on TV asserting that this or that is what the American people want or do not … [Read more...]
MICHAEL BROWN: COLOR AND CHARACTER IN AMERICAN RACIAL PROGRESS. More than fifty years ago on August 28, 1963, when my hair was black, I was a teacher of French at Jefferson High School in El Paso, … [Read more...]
THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD: HOW WE GOT HERE FROM THERE. At the outset let me say that as Chicanos we did not get here by turning the other cheek or by rolling over like good lap dogs for the … [Read more...]
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...]
RUMORS OF WAR AND BLOOD OF OUR CHILDREN. Everywhere in the nation there are rumors of war. In New Mexico, conversations eventually turn to the situation in Syria. Yes, one hears, Assad’s use of … [Read more...]
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...]
The country is beset these days with controversies of opposition—guns, immigration, abortion, national debt, profiling, civil rights, freedom of speech anent book banning, environmental justice, … [Read more...]
It’s not the 3 years I served in the Marines (Sergeant) during World War II (American, Pacific, and China theaters) nor the 10 years I served in the Air Force (Reserve Major) as a Threat Analyst in … [Read more...]
I’ve been a life-long student of languages moreso since my matriculation as a comparative studies major at the University of Pittsburgh from 1948 to 1952. That major included study of modern forms of … [Read more...]
A MORE PERFECT UNION—DOES IT INCLUDE HISPANICS? Like ever other y country in the world, the United States is a work in progress. Every day the nation confronts new and unique problems, … [Read more...]
RESTORING GERONIMO’S NAME AND PLACE IN THE ANNALS OF AMERICAN HISTORY Consciousness about my Apache Indian roots came to me late in my life not because I sought to occlude or exclude them but … [Read more...]
GUISES AND DISGUISES OF DISCRIMINATION. Discrimination functions on three levels, (1) the cognitive, (2) the emotional, and (3) the behavioral, manifest in forms oftentimes hard to detect. In … [Read more...]
AMERICAN HISPANICS AND THE CIVIL RIGHTS STRUGGLE: THE MEXICAN DIXON LINE AND NATIONAL AMNESIA -THE CHICANO EXPERIENCE According to an Epigraph by Brenda Payton to “Who’s the Leader of the Civil … [Read more...]
IN A MELLOW MOOD: ME, MRS. LUCY AND LATINO JAZZ. __________________________________________________________ Recently, I attended a jazz concert that stirred many memories of my days as a jazz … [Read more...]
TACO TRUCKS: “STREETAURANTS” AND LE BON PAIN. It seems to me that in the case of most life forms, if not all, food is a function of form. That is, life forms need sustenance to survive. From the … [Read more...]
DEATH IN DALLAS, et tu OSWALD By Felípe de Ortego y Gasca Fifty years ago on November 22, 1963, I was the French teacher at Jefferson High School in El Paso, Texas. That day, a death in Dallas … [Read more...]
THE POWER OF WORDS. It has been said, with considerable emphasis and conviction, that what distinguishes humans from other species is “language.” This is a highly lexocentric point of view. We’ve … [Read more...]
PASARON POR AQUÍ. New Mexico reminds me a lot of Spain, especially northeast Spain going towards Asturias. Maybe that’s why the early Spanish explorers and settlers sought to make New Mexico into … [Read more...]
