During the political season, politicos and others wail and whine about low voter turnout among Mexican Americans. The same laments are made about Native Americans. The implication is that we, and the … [Read more...]
Do what I tell you … or the Cucuy will get you! By now I figured I had said everything I wanted to say regarding the current presidential campaign. But then came the onslaught of emails, Facebook … [Read more...]
Forget history—let’s drink some beer! Let’s celebrate what we don’t know… Americans love to celebrate—even when they do not exactly know what it is they’re celebrating. The Fourth of July, for … [Read more...]
The Associated Press and lobbyists elect Clinton … Don’t bother voting … we’ve made up your mind… In their classic song, the Mamas and Papas warned us about Monday: “Monday, Monday, can’t trust … [Read more...]
Women organizers in our history: great role models… The moral force of young people at work… Recently, we have witnessed the moral and political force that young people represent, i.e., young … [Read more...]
Racism and politics… It is very disappointing to see that racist undertones, overt and covert, on the Republican side as well as on the Democratic side, permeate the 2016 presidential campaign. … [Read more...]
Déjà vu: Bernie Sanders reincarnates Eugene McCarthy… As Yogi Berra noted, it’s déjà vu all over again. As it did forty-eight (48) years ago, the Democratic Party elite-establishment has declared war … [Read more...]
The stench of political hypocrisy… The contradictions and outright hypocrisy permeating contemporary politics are staggering. Hillary Clinton, for example, is the antithesis of what progressives … [Read more...]
Terrorists posing as ‘patriots’… Rallying in support of two ranchers convicted of arson on federal land and who are accused of child abuse (“Oregon Rancher ‘Heroes’ Accused of Child Abuse,” The … [Read more...]
The silence of the sheep… One of the most exciting aspects of this political season is presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. He is addressing issues that really matter to regular folks, such as … [Read more...]
“Barrio Dreams” A while back I wrote about “La plebe de John Spring,” a group of 1950s junior high-school classmates from different Tucson barrios who formed inter-barrio friendships at John Spring … [Read more...]
We’ve been priced out of higher education… In the recent Democratic Presidential Debate, self-proclaimed “Democratic Socialist” Sen. Bernie Sanders reiterated his call for free college tuition. … [Read more...]
Unions and civil rights go together Worker-rights and civil-rights dynamics often intersect. An example of the symbiotic relationship that often exists between unions and civil rights is a … [Read more...]
Barrio self-determination An underlying principle of all Liberation movements—labor, women, civil rights, etc.— is the most fundamental civil right, self-determination: the right of people to … [Read more...]
The secret “leaders” amongst us… Circa 1988 I wrote an essay entitled “Why are we so mean to our heroes and heroines and so nice to the vendidos?” in which I lamented the tendency of many … [Read more...]
Everybody loves Mexicans… The political season is upon us, and everybody in the political world all of a sudden loves Mexicans. Republicans will pretend to take a break from demonizing us, and … [Read more...]
HISTORY MATTERS IN POLITICS. Historian Rudy Acuña periodically reminds us that history matters. Indeed it does, and it behooves us to remember that during the political season. Our history teaches … [Read more...]
SANTA ROSA DE LIMA. For the past 85 years, the Santa Rosa de Lima Mission in Tucson’s Old Pascua Yaqui Village has been a spiritual and community anchor of the village. The Yaquis—whose term for … [Read more...]
TRUE PATRIOTS PRACTICE THE CONSTITUTION! The perversion of what is a “patriot” by right-wingers and racists is breathtaking. Case in point: is it “patriotic” to aim loaded guns and rifles at … [Read more...]
WW II GENERATION GETS IT DONE! It is beyond ironic that teaching young people about the patriotism of the Mexican American community—e.g., that Mexican Americans/Latinos have earned more … [Read more...]
Chicano History Week? Should there be a Chicano History Week? Members of a Listserv I subscribe to were recently asked to lobby their respective legislatures to designate the week of February 2-8 as … [Read more...]
