THIS WEEK ON LATINOPIA: MORE FROM THE TEXAS INSTITUTE OF LETTERS, CHRISTOPHER CARMONA READS RECENT POEMS, RUBEN DEGOLLADO READS FROM THE FAMILY IZQUIERDO, SAL BALDENEGRO’S ON WE ARE NOT AFRAID, RICARDO ROMO ON THE AMERICAN INDIANS IN TEXAS AT THE SPANISH COLONIAL MISSIONS AND, FOR MOTHER’S DAY, POET PAT MORA READS MI MADRE.
Lots of good stuff this week. We continue with our celebration of the prestigious Texas of Letters. The organization was founded in 1936 as a non-profit Honor Society to celebrate Texas literature and to recognize distinctive literary achievement. The TIL’s elected membership consists of the state’s most respected writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, journalism, and scholarship. Recently new Latino members Christopher Carmona and Rubén Degollado were inducted into the organization and as part of their induction they read from their works. Here Carmona reads from recent poems and Degollado reads from his novel The Family Izquierdo.
Also this week, veteran journalist and social activist Salomon Baldenegro returns with his Political Salsa y Más blog. This week he reminds us that We Are Not Afraid, pointing to how younger generations of American activists are not backing down in the face of current political challenges. Check out Baldenegro’s wise counsel.
Dr. Ricardo Romo, art aficionado and activist, brings us another profile of an important Mexican American artist. This week he looks at the work of Ramón Juan Vasquez and the American Indians in Texas at the Spanish Colonial Missions [AITSCM]. Vasquez has been the director of the AITSCM center since 1998, where he speaks daily to visitors about a rich history of the San Antonio Mission Indians, a topic that has long been misunderstood or taught as an afterthought in Texas classrooms.
And, no we haven’t forgotten Mother’s Day. Check out Pat Mora’s poem Mi Madre for a slightly different look at celebration of Mother’s Day.
Enjoy your week on Latinopia!
Tia Tenopia