THIS WEEK ON LATINOPIA: SALOMON BALDENEGRO WITH “DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN,” EL ZOCOTROCO ON DOG POOP AND THE PUERTO RICAN ECONOMY, RICARDO ROMO’S TEJANO REPORT ON LUIS “CHISPA” GUERRERO, 2011 LIBROTRAFICANTES ARRIVE IN TUCSON, AND DR. EDWARD PADILLA THE ZOOT SUIT RIOTS.
We begin this week with Sal Baldenegro’s Political Salsa y Más. This week he looks at the continuance of banning of books by conservatives. This censorship has been going on for some time and goes back to 2011 when the school board of Tucson Arizona banned books related to Chicano Studies from the curriculum of the city schools. The Chicano community nationwide responded to this outrage by launching a national Librotraficante book caravan which transported copies of the banned books by bus from Houston to San Antonio to El Paso to Albuquerque and finally to Tucson to deliver the books to students there. We post here a video of the 2011 Librotraficante caravan as it arrived in Tucson, Arizona to deliver the banned books to Mexican American students.
El Zocotroco’s Spanish language Burundanga Boricua returns. This week he announces he has a new puppy and with comes doggie poop. Only José Umpierre could find in this a metaphoric opportunity to discuss the term “bregar,” to struggle, and apply it to how Puerto Ricans daily battle the island’s economic woes. Bregar la mierda, funny but oh so true.
Ricardo Romo’s Tejano Report looks at a new exhibit of the work of Luis “Chispa” Guerrero at the Centro Cultural Aztlan. Guerrero first started working with found objects but soon his art morphed into highly sophisticated pieces calling utilizing high tech equipment. Check out his eye popping work!
And last but not least. This week the Los Angeles City Council passed a resolution apologizing for allowing the city’s horrendous attack on Mexican American, Negro and Filipino youth dressed in Zootsuits during the infamous Zoot Suit Riots of 1943. We post here Dr. Edward Padilla explaining the factors that created the attack on the hapless youth. The apology is welcome, albeit eighty years too late!
Enjoy your week of blogs and videos on Latinopia.
Tia Tenopia