Latino arts, history and culture
Hard to believe I’ve made it to this milestone age of 90—more than half of those years teaching in higher education—still teaching. There were a number of years when I was a high school … [Read more...]
The decade of the 70’s would be a momentous decade for me, starting with completion of my dissertation Backgrounds of Mexican American Literature. In February of 1970, Ray Small, Dean of Arts and … [Read more...]
The best way to start this piece is with a caveat that we’re all writers. Just as we’re all speakers (of whatever language), we’re all writers (of whatever language)—with the exception of those who … [Read more...]
THE FRYING PAN AND THE FIRE: IRAN AND THE ISIS THREAT “Decisions about national security are ours to make . . . that’s not simply our inheritance, it’s our responsibility” -Rachael Maddow, … [Read more...]
In 2014 there were 14,000 Mexican students studying in American colleges and universities. In an effort to improve that number, the Mexican government approved Proyecta 100,000—a goodwill … [Read more...]
I could not have known my search for America would begin at the University of Pittsburgh. In 1946 fresh from wartime service in the Marine Corps I went back to Pittsburgh where I had enlisted in 1943 … [Read more...]
GROWING OLD IN AMERICA: MEMORY AND THE GERIATRIC UNIVERSE Growing old in America is no easy matter. Worse still when age ravages one’s memory with Alzheimer’s disease or other memory … [Read more...]
In a recent episode of The View, co-star Kelly Osbourne attempted a riposte to Donald Trump’s bellowing in a clip about shipping all illegal Mexicans back to Mexico: “If you kick every Latino out of … [Read more...]
SEARCHING FOR AMERICA: LIVING ON THE MARGIN OF AMERICAN LITERATURE Before there was American literature in my life there was Mexica literature then a host of books from foreign countries in … [Read more...]
THE FUTURE FACE OF AMERICA AS REFLECTED IN LOS NIÑOS CENTRO-AMERICANOS AND AMERICAN IMMIGRATION POLICY. There’s no doubt that the face of America has been changing—more dramatically since the … [Read more...]
STEM,MASSH & p&t : WITHER GOEST THOU? This piece is really a continuation of my work on the History and Philosophy of Education (Scribd 2009) in which I sought to lay out an easy guide to … [Read more...]
EN EL RINCÓN DE UNA BIBLIOTECA In a recent piece for “Pensamientos Literarios” (Somos en Escrito: Latino Literary Online Magazine, May 2013) I wrote: “It occurs to me that most of my life has been … [Read more...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
