Latino arts, history and culture
“Let’s Get Stupid on Crime” For Latinos and African Americans, it seems like we’re living in the surreal world of the Racism Mambo: one step forward, two steps back. Politicians and pundits … [Read more...]
Thanksgiving Day has come and gone, leaving lots of leftovers – both actual and metaphorical. Above the din of football game crowds emanating from the nonstop television in the next room, there were … [Read more...]
HOW I ENDED UP BEING FERNANDO VALENZUELA’S HOMIE 40 YEARS AGO Wow! How time flies. It’s been 40 years since Los Angeles (and the Chicanada throughout the country) was mesmerized by Fernandomania. … [Read more...]
Adios to Trump, the Pendejo-in-Chief Our long national nightmare is over – well, ya mero. And ya era tiempo. And Latinos played a positive role in putting an end to a presidency that … [Read more...]
This is not just a matter of “a few bad apples” in the police department The televised killing of George Floyd has slapped this country awake. It has forced this country, among other things, to … [Read more...]
Remembering Bobby Lee Verdugo I was excruciatingly sad to learn that Robert (Bobby Lee) Verdugo died this week. I got a call from his wife, Yoli. He had a heart attack, following other serious … [Read more...]
Thanksgiving Day has come and gone, leaving lots of leftovers – both actual and metaphorical. Above the din of football game crowds emanating from the nonstop television in the next room, there were … [Read more...]
World Premiere of Play Based on Esteemed Memoir “Always Running” It got a standing ovation on opening night recently and it was well deserved. It just may keep pulling in satisfied audience by … [Read more...]
Trump’s Racist Words and Actions Fan Flames of Mass Shootings It sounds like a bad Quentin Tarantino movie: “Massacre in El Paso.” That’s what newspaper headlines screamed and cable news network … [Read more...]
I recently attended an event to honor peripatetic educator, journalist and broadcast executive Frank Cruz. The evening at downtown L.A.’s LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes (they insist on the upper case “A” … [Read more...]
Women Helping Women in Hollywood: How about Latinos helping Latinos? Very recently there was a thought-provoking article in the Calendar section of the Los Angeles Times. Basically, it was a … [Read more...]
A bit like Claude Rains in “Casablanca,” I’m shocked. Shocked at news of the scandalous college admissions scandal. Wow! Stop the presses: it’s news that wealth, position and prestige confer … [Read more...]
“I am a nationalist.” That’s what Trump shouted at one of his bullshit rallies recently. All he needed was the brown-shirted “heil” salute. How much clearer could this be? We should understand his … [Read more...]
Just when you think El Mero Pendejo Trump can’t do anything more insidious and evil than he’s already done, he proves you wrong. We are in the midst of his latest pernicious pendejada: the separating … [Read more...]
Trump Has Lost Any Semblance of Moral Authority By Luís Torres It’s time to call for Donald Trump to resign the presidency. Given the maniacally egotistic nihilistic that he is, it is of … [Read more...]
How to say “No” to Donald Trump Cornel West has described Naomi Klein as “One of the few revolutionary public intellectuals of great integrity and vision.” And he is correct. Klein is also a … [Read more...]
It’s difficult to believe that it’s been twenty-five years since the L.A. Riots. Or Rebellion. Or Revolt. Or Uprising. Whatever you choose to call those events of late April and early May, 1992, the … [Read more...]
Donald Trump on Twitter: “I have just learned that Barack Obama married a giraffe! What a bad (sick) guy. Sad.” Washington Daily Chronicle: (Dateline Washington, March 11, 2017) The White … [Read more...]
“Fake News” Causes Real Scariness in the Trump Election More than a month after the shocking and horrifying election of snake oil salesman Donald Trump, lots of folks are shaking their … [Read more...]
IS HISTORY MORE THAN JUST A MYTH AGREED UPON? Recent political chingazos about the teaching of history in our public schools got me to recalling a crazy comment a woman in Texas made a few years … [Read more...]
I now have a little granddaughter and I’m thinking that when she’s old enough she just might ask, “What did you do in the Chicano Movement, grandpa?” I should live that long. She’s one year old. I’m … [Read more...]
