Chicano blogs

WORD VISION with HARRY GAMBOA JR. “WHITEWASH”

WHITEWASH During the late 20th Century, the following anonymous graffiti was spray painted across Southern California on surfaces of numerous buildings, sidewalks, freeways, freestanding … [Read more...]

VIEW FROM THE PIER with HERMAN SILLAS 11.29.15 “TEETH”

As a youth, I hated to visit the dentist. In fact I have never met anyone who said they love to visit dentists . . . or attorneys for that matter. But my teeth demand I see a dentist. That got me … [Read more...]

EL PROFE QUEZADA NOS DICE 11.27.25 THE FIRST THANKSGIVING IN NORTH AMERICA

November 27, 2025 By JT

The story of Thanksgiving in the United States is often tied to the Pilgrims of Plymouth in 1621, but history reveals that a similar celebration occurred decades earlier. In 1598, Spanish explorer Juan de Oñate led an expedition into what was then New Spain, near present-day San Elizario, Texas, and held a thanksgiving ceremony to […]

RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT TUCSON’S YA HECHO ART EXHIBIT

November 27, 2025 By wpengine

Tucson Museum of Art Highlights Borderland Latino Art–Ya Hecho: Readymade in the Borderlands. Ya Hecho: Readymade in the Borderlands, an exhibition at the Tucson Museum of Art and Historic Block, reflects the intersections of art, place, material culture, and lived experience. The prolonged U.S. government shutdown and disrupted airline flights prevented me from seeing the […]

RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT 11.21.25 EL MUSEO DEL WESTSIDE

November 21, 2025 By wpengine

A Latino Museum opens in San Antonio’s Westside: labor leader Emma Tenayuca among the honored. The Museuo del Westside opened its doors on October 18th with its inaugural exhibition, “Our Work Transforms the World,” which honors women in the community who were providers or embodied the community’s spirit through their work. The Esperanza Center, led […]

EL PROFE QUEZADA NOS DICE 11.14.25 LA SEMITA – A DELICIOUS MEXICAN CULTURAL HERITAGE

November 14, 2025 By JT

The cold winds sweeping through the streets today in San Antonio stir up cherished memories of my childhood in my beloved Barrio El Azteca during the 1940s and 1950s, where the comforting aroma of freshly baked Semitas was a winter staple. On brisk mornings, Mamá would send me out from our home at 210 Iturbide Street to […]

LATINOPIA ART SONIA ROMERO 2

By Tia Tenopia on October 20, 2013

Sonia Romero is a graphic artist,muralist and print maker. In this second profile on Sonia and her work, Latinopia explores Sonia’s public murals, in particular the “Urban Oasis” mural at the MacArthur Park Metro Station in Los Angeles, California.

Category: Art, LATINOPIA ART

LATINOPIA WORD JOSÉ MONTOYA “PACHUCO PORTFOLIO”

By Tia Tenopia on June 12, 2011

José Montoya is a renowned poet, artist and activist who has been in the forefront of the Chicano art movement. One of his most celebrated poems is titled “Pachuco Portfolio” which pays homage to the iconic and enduring character of El Pachuco, the 1940s Mexican American youth who dressed in the stylish Zoot Suit.

Category: LATINOPIA WORD, Literature

LATINOPIA WORD XOCHITL JULISA BERMEJO “OUR LADY OF THE WATER GALLONS”

By Tia Tenopia on May 26, 2013

Xochitl-Julisa Bermejo is a poet and teacher from Asuza, California. She volunteered with No More Deaths, a humanitarian organization providing water bottles in the Arizona desert where immigrants crossing from Mexico often die of exposure. She read her poem, “Our Lady of the Water Gallons” at a Mental Cocido (Mental Stew) gathering of Latino authors […]

Category: LATINOPIA WORD, Literature