THIS WEEK ON LATINOPIA: PACHUCOS! EL PROFE QUEZADA ON CALÓ AND BARRIO SLANG, RAUL SALINAS READS “HAIL PACHUCO!” JOSÉ MONTOYA ON THE VILIFICATION OF THE PACHUCO AND RICARDO ROMO ON TREVIÑO, GONZALEZ AND LUNA AT THE BLANTON.
This week we turn our attention to the phenomena of the Pachuco in our Latino/Mexicano culture. We begin with El Profe Quezada’s remembrance of how he first encountered pachucos in Laredo, Texas. El Profe highlights the use of caló, the special Spanish English argot that evolved originally in El Paso, Texas and spread throughout the Southwest in the 1940s. Be sure to check out the links to three books that will tell you all you need to know about caló and what all these crazy Spanglish words mean.
We compliment this with acclaimed poet the late Raul Salinas reading from his poem, “Hail Pachuco!” In this poem, read at the USC Flor y Canto Festival, you can hear the true sound of caló. And we also include legendary poet, muralist and artist José Montoya as he recalls how the pachuco of the 1940s and 1950s was scapegoated by American society as he read his original poem, “Pachuco Portfolio.”
Also this week Ricardo Romo’s Tejano Report returns with a look at three Tejano artists, José Francisco Treviño, Luis C. Gonzalez, and Heriberto Luna, currently on exhibit as part of the Gilberto Cardenas-Dolores Garcia collection at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin, Texas.
Enjoy your week on Latinopia!
Tia Tenopia