POLICE BRUTALITY CONTINUES IN OUR COMMUNITIES. WE NEED BETTER COPS. The year started with the ugly but not necessarily unexpected news that a couple of cops who apparently beat a man to death were … [Read more...]
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...]
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...]
POLITICAL ANNIVERSARIES WE COMMEMORATE AND WHY. The observance of the 50th anniversary of the historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom and the annual observance of Labor Day (regrettably, … [Read more...]
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...]
RANDOM OBSERVATIONS ON RECENT NEWS I once offered the notion that pretty soon nobody will be reading blogs, because everybody will be busy writing blogs. Maybe. But let’s plow ahead, guided by the … [Read more...]
REMEMBERING SAL CASTRO. Some 45 years ago Sal Castro told me, “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders – for a guerito – go out and do something good for yourself and for your gente.” He said it … [Read more...]
JACKIE ROBINSON. Not long ago something happened that really had me scratching my head. I accompanied a friend of mine who went to Tucson to shoot a little film about the political scene in … [Read more...]
LET'S GET TOUGH ON ILLEGAL BORDER-CROSSERS! That’s it! I’ve had enough. All this talk about immigration reform. All this talk about “Let’s just accept the fact that they’re here and let’s give them … [Read more...]
STARTING A SUPPORT GROUP CALLED "GUEROS ANONYMOUS." I’ve sometimes thought about starting a semi-secret organization, complete with decoder rings and speakeasy-like murmured passwords. I’ve … [Read more...]