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You are here: Home / Tia Tenopia / ASK TIA TENOPIA 7.24.11

ASK TIA TENOPIA 7.24.11

July 24, 2011 by Tia Tenopia

Mis Queridos! What a great range of videos we have for you this week: cinema, literature and news!

Now, it’s possible you younger generation Latinopians may not know who Ritchie Valens was. But way back in the 1950s, he was the very first Latino to score big national rock and roll hits like Oh Donna and La Bamba. Sadly,  Ritchie Valens, whose real name was Richard Valenzuela, died at age 17 in a tragic plane crash in 1959 along with two other rock legends, the Big Bopper (que tambien se llamaba J.P. Richardson) and Buddy Holly. The story of  Ritchie’s brief career was told in the motion picture La Bamba, written and directed by Luis Valdez. What few people know, however, is that it was Luis’s brother, actor/musician Daniel Valdez, who spent many years pursuing the Ritchie Valens story and finally getting permiso from Ritchie’s familia to tell the story of his brief life. This week Daniel Valdez recounts for us how La Bamba came about.

In literature we have author Luis J. Rodríguez reading from his coming of age novel, Always Running.  This powerful memoir chronicles Luis’s adolescence which was steeped in vicious gang life and drug addiction. Luis miraculously survived his years as a gang member, overcoming many obstacles, and went on to become a nationally acclaimed author. What a true inspiration!  And if you don’t believe me, go out and buy his book!

And for you news hounds, we showcase Newstaco.com, an on-line website featuring Latino news and public affairs. With reporters in San Antonio, Texas and Los Angeles, California, it covers a range of stories pertaining to Latino life in the United States. Editor and journalist Sara Inés Calderón tells us about Newstaco.com.

And speaking of news, many of you by now have received the premier edition of the Latinopia.com newsletter. We will be using the newsletter to update you on doings at Latinopia as we continue to expand our videos and print postings. So if you haven’t already done so, please sign up for the newsletter. And tell your friends! Bueno, time to let you enjoy this week’s postings. Oh, and be sure to browse your favorite topic page (history, art, lit, music, theater, cinema, food) to make sure you haven’t overlooked a tasty video or informative print posting. Abrazos to all! Tia Tenopia.

Filed Under: Tia Tenopia

THIS WEEK ON LATINOPIA 9.13.25

September 13, 2025 By wpengine

THIS WEEK ON LATINOPIA: WHAT IS MEXICAN INDEPENDENCE DAY? SALOMON HUERTA’S MASKED MEN AND SWIMMING POOLS AND ON BEING PIGEON-HOLED,   RICARDO ROMO ON JUAN MIGUEL RAMOS, AND EL PROFE QUEZADA ON LA ADELITA. It’s that time of year again, Mexican Independence Day. For a reminder of what it’s all about, we post an event profile […]

RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT 9.13.25 JUAN MIGUEL RAMOS

September 13, 2025 By wpengine

Latino Artist Juan Miguel Ramos Returns to Making Art An enthusiastic crowd of San Antonio art lovers greeted Juan Miguel Ramos’s return to Artpace’s Hudson Showroom last week [August 28, 2025]. A few of the guests were present twenty-three years ago when Ramos participated in  Artpace’s 2002 Texas Artists residency as part of the International […]

EL PROFE QUEZADA NOS DICE 9.13.25 THE REAL LA ADELITA

September 13, 2025 By JT

A very important historical event will occur on Monday, September 8, 2025, which marked the 125th anniversary of the birth of Adela Velarde Pérez, also known as La Adelita.  When I was growing up in my beloved Barrio El Azteca in Laredo, Texas, during the 1940s and 1950s, I often heard the song, “La Adelita,” that […]

LE PROFE QUEZADA NOS DICE 9.05.25 CURANDERISMO IN THE BARRIO

September 5, 2025 By wpengine

Curanderismo (folk healing) is an integral component of the fabric that is very much a part of the Mexican American cultural, social, and historical heritage.  My paternal grandmother, Doña Emilia, or Memia as we fondly called her was a curandera (healer).  Her older sister, Doña Ester, was a renowned curandera in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, […]

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