THIS WEEK: REMEMBERING GILBERT “MAGU” LUJAN WITH A MAJOR EXHIBIT, REIES LÓPEZ TIJERINA PASSES, HECTOR TOBAR NOMINATED BY NY BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE, JULIE CARMEN’S YOGA TALKS, SAL BALDENEGRO ON CHICANO HISTORY WEEK, EDUARDO DÍAZ ON MAMBO AS A METAPHOR FOR US CUBAN RELATIONS AND, OF COURSE, ANGELA ORTIZ!
Mi querdia gente! Your Tia Tenopia is delighted with this week’s offering to you. We begin with two videos. The first is a visit to a major exhibit of Chicano art at the Santa Paula Museum of Art. Vanessa Acosta and Xavier Montes invited 36 artists from throughout the Southland and as far away as Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to produce works of art honoring the late, great Gilbert “Magu”Lujan. Check out this fun video and especially the great works of art! You won’t be disappointed.
In our second video Yoga therapist Julie Carmen returns with her monthly Yoga Talk video on breathlessness. How can yoga help you when you’re in a panic? Check it out!
This week we also have good news and bad news. On the good news front, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Hector Tobar has been nominate as one of thirty finalist for the New York Book Critics Circle Awards for his recent non-fiction novel Deep, Dark, Down. The book tells the story of the 33 Chilean miners who were trapped underground for 69 days but miraculously were rescued. Check out his Latinopia interview about how he wrote the book. And congrats to Hector, dale gas, vato!
Our sad news is the passing of legendary New Mexico land grant activist Reies López Tijerina (September 21, 1926 – January 19, 2015). Tijerina came to prominence in 1967 when he conducted the infamous “courthouse raid” in Tierra Amarila, New Mexico. What was the raid about? Check out the Latinopia video “1967 Tierra Amarilla Courthouse Raid.” Que en paz descanse.
And speaking of Chicano history, Sal Baldenegro takes a decidedly confrontational look at the idea of a Chicano History Week. What’s wrong with that, you might ask? Is that the kind of recognition we always wanted? Well check out Sal’s insightful and thoughtful notion that Chicano history should not be ghettoized.
Eduardo Díaz, director of the Smithsonian Latino Institute, isn’t just sitting around in DC waiting for the cherry blossoms to sprout. In this latest blog he talks about the influence of the mambo dance craze in his life and how it may be a metaphor of renewed US Cuban relations.
And, of course, or favorite, weekly, blogger Angela Ortiz returns with another great visual treat. This week: “Sunset and Lamps.”
Enjoy!
Tia Tenopuia