Latino arts, history and culture
“César Chávez fought Scabs, not immigrants…” Arizona Congressman Paul Gosar is sponsoring a bill to create a commemorative coin minted in César Chávez’s honor. Hopefully, his bill will die a quick … [Read more...]
The pandemic and racism… We’re living in dangerous times. Much of that danger is either created or facilitated by Donald J. Trump, the president of the United States, an inveterate liar, virulent … [Read more...]
Latinopia Plática features conversations (pláticas) with key Latino and Latina individuals commenting on issues pertaining to the Latino community. Here bloggers Sal Baldenegro, Ricardo Romo and José … [Read more...]
As the coronavirus rages throughout the United States Latino communities are some of the hardest hit. Latinopia Platica bloggers Sal Baldenegro, Ricardo Romo and José "Gugo" Umpierre respond to host … [Read more...]
Coronavirus and culture change In addition to the known damage the Coronavirus pandemic is currently visiting on us, it can potentially wipe out an important feature of Mexican American—actually, … [Read more...]
Proud Yaqui Gabriel Ayala is multi-layered yet simple... I was thrilled to have a front-row seat at a recent performance by Gabriel Ayala, award-winning, internationally known and acclaimed … [Read more...]
Liberals: a strong force in history… The mid-term elections are over. No more annoying, lying ads. And no more “Friend” emails. For some inexplicable reason, the right-wing Trump cultists—who … [Read more...]
Indigenous political representation… Arizona recently made history by electing three Indigenous women—Jamescita Peshlakai (Navajo), Victoria Steele (Seneca), and Sally Ann Gonzales (Pascua … [Read more...]
History is not a spectator sport… I taught Chicano history at the University of Arizona, and to make the material more relevant, whenever I could I gave a Tucson perspective to historical dynamics. … [Read more...]
If you swim in the sewer… “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with … [Read more...]
Spanish is a lovely tongue... Some recent incidents involving the use of Spanish (more on these below) brought to mind an essay entitled “Saints and sinners all agree…” I wrote several years ago. I … [Read more...]
The Republican party, aka Trumpian cult... I’ve written on this topic before, but I’m not being repetitious mindlessly. I believe that every time the phenomenon I discuss here emerges we need to … [Read more...]
Democrats-liberals and Republican-conservatives may be on opposite sides of the political spectrum, but if the dozens of political emails I receive daily are any guide, they seem to use the same … [Read more...]
Listen to the children… As I write this, young people are in the frontlines of political change. High-school students, survivors of the Feb 14 massacre in Parkland, Fla., are confronting … [Read more...]
Special-ed placements: we get it from both sides As they say: “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” The Trump administration is looking to delay an Obama-era rule meant to counter … [Read more...]
A “warrior nation” produces a warrior legislator… Today’s politics are simultaneously depressing and infuriating. From President Trump on down to Republican-dominated state legislatures, right-wing … [Read more...]
The times call for action, not platitudes… The times we live in—when innocents are being slaughtered by the dozens—demand leadership and decisive action to prevent future horrific events. Instead, we … [Read more...]
The arc of the moral universe is long … Arizonans recently experienced two doses of good news. One was the determination by a federal judge that the banning of Tucson Unified School District’s … [Read more...]
Whom would Jesus stand with? One would think that denouncing racism and murder in the service of white supremacy and denouncing those who defend such things would be a super easy call for truly … [Read more...]
Sacred Goals—The MAS struggle in Tucson My son Salomon (aka Sal, Jr.) and his colleague Fausto Olmos (more on them below) are producing a film, “Sacred Goals,” highlighting the fierce and inspiring … [Read more...]
The war against the working class and poor… A multi-faceted war is being waged on the working class and the poor. On some of the fronts in this war, Democrats are holding hands with Republicans. … [Read more...]
