THIS WEEK ON LATINOPIA: RICARDO ROMO ON JOSÉ ESQUIVEL AND MARGARET GARCIA, MARK GUERRERO’S EAST L.A. MUSIC STORIES WITH ART BRAMBILA AND DIANE LOPEZ ON “QUINCENUNCA: NEVER FIFTEEN.”
Christmas is almost on us but with comes some sad news. Latinopia is saddened to hear of the loss of acclaimed San Antonio artist José Esquivel. José was a founding member of the pioneering Con Safo art collective of the 1960s. His body of work is impressive and chronicled by Ricardo Romo in this reposted Tejano Report.
Ricardo also reports on the work of artist, muralist and art historian Margaret García in the latest of his Tejano Reports, Margaret García Latina Portrait Artist, Muralist, and Chronicler of Los Angeles History.
Also this week, musicologist and musician/performer Mark Guerrero visits with Art Brambila, a producer and music activist, who produced such early Chicano music groups as Yaqui and Tierra. Check out this interview in which Brambila talks about rising from gang life in the barrio of Lincoln Heights to achieve success as a music producer of such albums as Si Se Puedo, the music of El Teatro Campesino and the United Farm Workers.
Also this week, we feature Diana López reading from her story, “Quinceanunca: Never Fifteen.” Diana is a Texas author whose works include the adult novella, “Sofia’s Saints,” as well as her middle school books “Confetti Girl, and Choke.” In her short story, she recalls her childhood experiences of being introduced to the realities of the “birds and the bees.” For many Mexican American girls, adolescence is not just about the impending Quinceanera, a lavish coming of age tradition, but also about how to cope with body changes you never expected.
Enjoy your week on Latinopia!
Tia Tenopia