LATINO IMMIGRANTS AND MORE LATINO IMMIGRANTS THIS WEEK ON LATINOPIA!

Hola my Latinopia hermanos y hermanas, brothers and sisters, frijoles y frijolas! Your Tia Tenopia is all aflutter with the constant bombarding of the Sochi Olympics–TV, radio, internet. Hay, ya parale, no?  Although we are keeping Jackie Hernández in our prayers, pobrecita, did you see that fall? But in spite of the Olympics, we got our own serio issues back here in the States. Like that Immigration bill that everyone seems to be backing away from. Por Díos!

Amid the Olympic bruhaha you may not have noticed that, according to John Boehner, Republican have decided to stall any possible legislation going through Congress this year on Immigration.  Que Nuevas. Well this immigration issue is not new and will not go away. For this reason we focus this week on two takes on the immigration situation in CINEMA and LITERATURE.

In CINEMA we visit with Chicano filmmaker José Luis Ruiz. I asked my Tio Braulio about him and he says Ruiz is one of the firme pioneers of Chicano cinema. Well, you be the judge. Check out his interview about the landmark documentary he made on the plight of Latino immigrants in the United States and he did this awesome film way back in 1975! Talk about being ahead of his time!  And check out what he says about the current Washington debate on immigration. As my Tio Braulio would say, ‘sta bien pesao!”

In Literature, Austin poet Mónica Teresa Ortíz shares her poem, “Human Resources,” also about the immigrant struggle. She read the poem at the 2010 Flor Y Canto Literary Festival convened at the University of Southern California by scholar/activist Michael Sedano. Not to be missed.

And check in with our regular bloggers. This week Sal Baldenegro weighs in on the controversy about César Chávez and his view of undocumented migrant workers. You’ll recall that back in the day, growers were enlisting Mexican immigrants to break the strike by the United Farm Workers union. Well Check out Sal’s take on all of this. Para pensar, for real. Don Felípe Ortega returns with his take on the proliferation of taco trucks in the United States. Is this the way Latinos will conquer America, one taco at a time?

And don’t miss Angela Ortiz’s new photo this week on her blog Angela’s Photo of the Week. Sergio Hernández returns with Arnie and Porfi and their Valentine’s Day antics. The hunt is still on at Zombie Mex Diaries for the traitor in the La Familia zombie clan. So much to enjoy this week on Latinopia. Well, as they say in Norway, HAZLO!

Tia Tenopia