News (Noticias) Tagged ‘Chicano’

Cesar Martinez is one of the most collectible Chicano artists in the country. His paintings of cool, colorful vatos and rucas hang in national museums.”*

My sports heroes in the 1960’s were shortstop Aurelio Rodriguez of the then-California Angels, Bobo Brazil and Mil Mascaras of TV wrestling, Honey Sanchez and Ralphie Baladeras of the L.A. Thunderbirds roller derby fame, boxers like Ernie “Indian Red” Lopez, “Battling Torres”, Stevie “The Vulture” Cesena, and the most chinnon of the time … MANDO RAMOS.”*

For nearly four decades, Juan Felipe Herrera has documented his experience as a Chicano in the United States and Latin America through stunning, memorable poetry that is both personal and universal in its impact, themes, and approach. Often political, never fainthearted, his career has been marked by tremendous virtuosity and a unique sensibility for uncovering the unknown and the unexpected.

Through a variety of stages and transformations, Herrera has evolved more than almost any other Chicano poet, always re-inventing himself into a more mature and seasoned voice. Now, in this unprecedented collection, we encounter the trajectory of this highly innovative and original writer, bringing the full scope of his singular vision into view. Beginning with early material from A Certain Man and moving through thirteen of his collections into new, previously unpublished work, this assemblage also includes an audio CD of the author reading twenty-four selected poems aloud.”*

After more than seven years on the road, the Chicano art collection of Cheech Marin has finally come home. Its last stop is the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the hometown venue that initially turned down a show that toured nationally and drew large crowds as “Chicano Visions.” A scaled-down version, titled “Los Angelenos/Chicano Painters of L.A.,” opens Sunday at LACMA West. It features almost 50 paintings by some of the most influential members of the first generation of Chicano artists, including Patssi Valdez and three of the original members of Los Four — Frank Romero, Carlos Almaraz and Gilbert “Magu” Lujan — the collective featured in what is considered the country’s first major Chicano art exhibition, shown at LACMA in 1974.

For Marin, who championed Chicano art as his personal crusade, it’s not only a triumphal homecoming but a vindication for his campaign to place these artists squarely in the American mainstream. “With LACMA, it’s been love-hate toward the Chicano community since the beginning,” says Marin, best known as half of the comedy team of Cheech and Chong. “We’ve always been treated as the stepchildren. But I think that attitude is turning around now. . . . They can’t ignore us anymore.”"*

The sixth annual National Latino Writers Conference that convened May 21, 2008, at Alburquerque’s National Hispanic Cultural Center was an envy-producing experience for a writer out of Los Angeles.

El Lay lacks anything like the NHCC. Not at UCLA, nor USC, not in outlying places like UCSB nor CSUN does a person find a facility dedicated to Chicana Chicano Latina Latino arts. The NHCC’s art gallery and museo, theatre, exquisite lecture halls, the uniquely fashioned Torreón, full-service restaurant, gift shop, administrative offices, library, and upcoming classroom wing, in a single location, define what a cultural center should be while reflecting what public-private commitment looks like. And self-respect. And love.”*

More than a hundred demonstrators marched more than three miles from Valley High School to the UNLV Alumni Amphitheater May 23, in support of the DREAM Act – proposed legislation to grant undocumented students a path to citizenship through higher education or military service.

The demonstration, organized by UNLV’s MEChA chapter – a national Chicano student organization, along with the United Coalition for Immigrant Rights, included community supporters, UNLV students and high schoolers around the city.”*

Cal State’s Latino students are scheduled to celebrate academic success June 8 at the university’s annual Chicano Commencement at the campus’ Doré Theatre. The event was organized by the campus chapter of the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán, or MEChA.

MEChA’s mission is to help Hispanics succeed in higher education despite the silly attempts of the state of Arizona to brand the organization separatist and ban it from college and high school campuses. The group was born in the late 1960s, so if it really advocates violent revolt — as some of its hyperventilating critics suggest — it’s been biding its time for quite a while.

The Chicano Commencement is bilingual, has been held for more than 25 years, and 30 to 50 students typically participate, according to Professor Thomas Martinez, chairman of the university’s department of public policy and administration.”*

Author Henry David Thoreau once said, “Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.”

Those famous words have never been more appropriate than when telling the story of Latin rock originators El Chicano — a band of friends from East L.A. who, practically overnight in 1970, went from nightclub jammin’ to the world stage.

Performing live at the Kern County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Latin Food Festival and 10th annual Menudo Cook-Off on Sunday, June 1, at Stramler Park — most fans of the band might be taken aback when they hear their story. “*

A series of protests in East Los Angeles, known commonly as the Chicano Blowouts, roiled Southern California in opposition to unequal conditions in Los Angeles-area schools.

What began with a dissatisfaction in education became a conflagration of issues whipped together in a turbulent time. Civil rights, the Vietnam War and Chicano equality created a volatile cocktail.

A local teacher named Sal Castro courted history. He stirred students and organized protests, and was ultimately arrested for his role.”*

I was perusing Hispanic Tips’ Blogante News when an article from La Prensa San Diego jumped out at me. The headline read: “Bush Signs Legislation for National Museum of the American Latino.”

My first reaction was a sense of pride and a desire to show all kinds of support. After all, shouldn’t there be a National Museum of the American Latino? Then, I started to hear voices. Not the multiple personality kind of voices, but rather the voices of non-profit board and committee members from several other Latino museum projects that either have opened or have tried to open throughout the U.S. over the past decade or two. “*

and this great paragraph that perfectly summarizes a discussion I had yesterday:

“Back to the voices. At first, they are full of pride and enthusiasm. Soon, however, these board, committee and staff members are angry and frustrated. They divide up into factions; factions that are an unfortunate, but perhaps unavoidable part of the U.S. Latino experience. One voice drowns out the other. “It’s too Mexican.” “It’s not Mexican enough.” “Too chilango.” “Not Mexican-American enough.” “Too Cuban.” “Why no Brazilians? Just because we speak Portuguese?” “Is the Chicano movement represented?” “Don’t use the word Chicano.” “Too much Spanish.” “Too much English.” “Spanglish? You can’t be serious!” “Too brown.” “Too white.” “What about black Hispanics. And Asian?” “Too upscale.” “Too downscale.” “Too foreign born.” “Too U.S. born.” “Spain doesn’t count.” “Spain is the motherland.” “It can’t be called Hispanic.” “It can’t be called Latino.” And on and on and on. Y más y más y más.

Internationally recognized molecular biologist and founding member of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS), Dr. Lydia Villa-Komaroff, has been named MOSI’s 2008 National Hispanic Scientist of the Year.

Mexican American, Dr. Lydia Villa-Komaroff is deeply committed to the recruitment and retention of minorities in science. As founding member of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, Villa-Komaroff has served as both a board member and vice president of the organization. She makes frequent presentations to students of all ages and provides lab research opportunities for high school and undergraduate students. She currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Cytonome, Inc., a company building the first optical cell sorter of human cells for therapeutic use. Villa-Komaroff was a key member of the research team that first demonstrated that bacterial cells could produce insulin, pioneering work that is widely cited in the book “Invisible Frontiers: The Race to Clone the Insulin Gene” by Stephen Hall.

During her 20 year research career, Villa-Komaroff has held positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University, University of Massachusetts Medical School and Harvard Medical School. As a science administrator, she has served as Vice President for Research at Northwestern University in Illinois and the Vice President for Research and Chief Operating Officer of Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“With all of the hardships facing today’s youth, we are honored to celebrate the accomplishments of such a gifted Hispanic professional in science and education who is working to inspire successful career and life choices,” concluded Wit Ostrenko, MOSI President.

For eight years, MOSI (Museum of Science & Industry) has recognized nationally distinguished Hispanic science and engineering professionals to serve as role models and mentors for Tampa Bay’s Hispanic youth. Past honorees include a former U.S. Surgeon General, a Nobel Laureate of Chemistry, a NASA astronaut, a marine biologist, a Harvard professor of pathology and former chief of immunogenetics at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, a seismologist and former director of the Carnegie Academy for Science Education (CASE), Washington, D.C., and most recently, an industrial engineer and the first Hispanic to serve as acting head of the Engineering Directorate at the National Science Foundation (NSF).

This year MOSI will present the National Hispanic Scientist of the Year Award to Dr. Lydia Villa-Komaroff during a gala award ceremony on Saturday, October 11, 2008.

The mission of the MOSI National Hispanic Scientist of the Year Award is to recognize outstanding Hispanic scientists who promote a greater public understanding of science and motivate Hispanic youths’ interest in science. Proceeds from the event help to fund scholarships for at-risk youth who participate in MOSI’s Youth Enriched by Science program.

The Youth Enriched by Science, “YES!” Team, is a career and educational enrichment program designed to help at-risk youth, between the ages 13 to 17, develop and progress in a supportive peer-group environment. Established in 1992, the focus of the program is to provide an opportunity for students to develop self-confidence, improve communication skills, build self-esteem and exhibit leadership skills. In addition, students are encouraged and motivated to pursue science both as a career and as an essential element of their total education. Mentors train students on science education, critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, and incorporating their ideas into museum programs. Since 1996 about 90% of “YES!” Team participants have gone on to attend college.

In the year 2000 the Hispanic dropout rate rested at 27.8%, compared to 7% for White, non-Hispanic students and 13% for Black, non-Hispanic students. These statistics are significant when considering the rapid population growth experienced by the Hispanic minority group. Studies show that in the year 2000 Hispanics comprised 12% of the total U.S. population, and it is estimated that this number will increase to 25% by the year 2050.

Former MOSI National Hispanic Scientist of the Year Award honorees
Dr. Louis A. Martin-Vega (2007), industrial engineer; Dr. Inés Cifuentes (2006), seismologist; Dr. Edmond J. Yunis (2005), physician, researcher, Harvard professor; Dr. Antonia Coello Novello (2004), former U.S. Surgeon General; Dr. Mario Molina, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (2003); Fernando “Frank” Caldeiro, NASA Astronaut (2002); and Dr. Alejandro Acevedo-Gutiérrez, Marine Biologist (2001).

# # #

MOSI is a not-for-profit, community-based institution and educational resource dedicated to advancing public interest, knowledge, and understanding of science, industry, and technology. With a total size of over 300,000 square feet, MOSI is the largest science center in the southeastern United States, and home to the only IMAX® Dome Theatre in the state of Florida.”*

As a former teacher in Tucson Unified School District’s hotly debated ethnic studies department, I submit my perspective for the public’s consideration.

During the 2002-2003 school year, I taught a U.S. history course with a Mexican-American perspective. The course was part of the Raza/Chicano studies department.

Within one week of the course beginning, I was told that I was a “teacher of record,” meaning that I was expected only to assign grades. The Raza studies department staff would teach the class.”*

An innovative exhibition that traces the genesis and evolution of Chicano and Latino music over the past 70 years is currently on view at the University of California, Santa Barbara and is accessible via telephone. “Sounds Latino!” continues through June 30 and highlights renowned singers and groups whose papers and other collections are represented in the California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives ( CEMA ) located in UCSB’s Davidson Library.

The bolero, mambo, corrido, swing, boogie, Tex-Mex, and even punk rock are woven into the fabric of Latino cultural heritage, and the multidisciplinary exhibition engages visitors through the visual and theater arts as well as recorded music.

“We bring to life some of the music that many people may not have known was part of the historical chronology of Latino music over the last seven decades,” said Salvador Güereña, director of CEMA. “It’s important for younger people to know the impact it had on music across the spectrum.”

Vintage recordings were brought back to life for the exhibition –– which also includes interpretive texts, photos, artifacts, and historical documents –– and Güereña included the telephone component because he wanted “Sounds Latino!” to appeal to young people and engage them through the music. Over 40 music selections can be accessed by telephone, including pieces by Lalo Guerrero, whose archives are housed at UCSB; Tito Puente; Perez Prado; Adelina García; Ritchie Valens; Don Tosti; and the Chicano punk rock group The Brat.

“Not everyone has an iPod or an iPhone, but pretty much everyone has a cell phone,” he said. “Also, Latino music lovers aren’t limited by the four walls of the exhibition room. They can pick up a phone anywhere and at any time call in for a bolero or mambo or boogie and listen to their heart’s content.”

More information about the exhibition, including directions for accessing the recordings, is available at cemaweb.library.ucsb.edu/cema_exh_present.html”*

COOL - Use your cell phone and enter phone number (805) 357-4694, wait for prompt, and then enter selection number followed by the pound sign. These are mainly vintage recordings transferred from original disks, including hisses and pops. Go to this page to see what you can listen to.

Nurturing the desire for college and keeping it on track is the purpose of Comienza con un Sueño ( It Begins with a Dream ), a major college outreach event taking place this month at UCSD. Aimed at Latino and Mexican American students, parents and families, this free event will be held Saturday, May 31 from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in various stages on Library Walk, Center Hall and Geisel Library terrace.

More than 700 attendees from San Diego and Imperial counties are expected.

In a cultural atmosphere replete with keynote addresses and presentations by Latino role models, the event will center on empowering 6th through 12th grade students and their parents with key information on academic preparation, how to succeed in college and how to prepare for the hot careers of today, say Comienza’s organizers.

“Like other major ethnic minority groups, the college-going rate of Latinos and Mexican Americans remains significantly low,” says Rafael Hernandez, director of UCSD’s Early Academic Outreach Program ( EAOP ) who is spearheading the coordination of the event with Carri Fierro, director of UCSD’s TRIO Outreach Programs under Student Educational Advancement. “Many students at the event will be the first in their family to attend college upon high school graduation,” Hernandez continues, “so it is important that students learn early what it takes to develop good study skills, excel and graduate once admitted to college.”

Adds Fierro: “Another goal of Comienza is to let students know about life beyond college graduation – such as tips on succeeding in their careers, pursuing an advanced degree, and how students can return to the community from which they came to serve as role models to others.” This is the first of what will be an annual event, Hernandez and
Fierro say.

Comienza—a collaboration between UCSD and a host of community partners—will also feature interactive sessions specifically for parents, including bilingual workshops on finding money for college, help with the college application process, and how parents can be strong advocates for their children’s education. Latino and Mexican American art, dancing and music will add a genuine flair to the day.

“We want this event to be a special one both educationally and culturally,” says Fierro. “It’s a golden opportunity for us to showcase the many hallmarks of UCSD, including its academic opportunities, and to let students know we want them to succeed here.”

Comienza is a joint partnership between UC San Diego’s Office of the Chancellor, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs, Center for Research on Educational Equity, Assessment, and Teaching Excellence ( CREATE ), Chicano/Latino/Arts & Humanities Minor, TRIO Outreach Programs, Early Academic Outreach Program ( EAOP ),Office of Academic Support & Instructional Services ( OASIS ), Academic Enrichment Programs ( AEP ), Student Educational Advancement ( SEA ), SHAPES, Cross-Cultural Center, and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers; and community partners, including the Price Charities; the Parent Institute for Educational Equity; Fidelity/ScholarShare; the Lemon Grove School District; and the San Diego County Office of Education.

The event evolved from the success of other major UCSD-sponsored outreach events to underrepresented populations. These include the Dare to Dream College event ( held for the first time last November for the African American community ), and I’m Going to College ( held for the American Indian reservation communities ). Both are annual events.

For more information on Comienza and to register, visit:

Ersi Arvizu was on vacation in Hawaii a few years ago when she heard that some guy named Ry Cooder was looking for her. She got the news from colleagues who knew her from her long-gone glory days as lead singer of El Chicano, the 1970s East Los Angeles band famous for her version of the classic old bolero “Sabor a Mi.”

No way, shot back Arvizu, who had long before moved to Arizona. Besides, she was “fit to be tied,” she said, over a money dispute involving a previous El Chicano comeback concert. She was in no mood to get back in the business.

Her colleagues insisted this was the chance of a lifetime. How many veteranos wouldn’t want to work with the producer who had turned a bunch of aging, forgotten Cuban musicians into the international superstars called the Buena Vista Social Club?”*

Appropriating a gringo icon to celebrate Chicano culture is just one of the many over-the-top quirks of El Vez, The Mexican Elvis.

There’s also the flashy wardrobe and greasy pompadour, channeling The Elvis Presley’s Las Vegas-era lounge act.

There are the female back-up dancers, the El Vettes, appropriately named Priscilita, Gladysita, Lisa Maria and Que Linda Thompson.”*

Ersi Arvizu was on vacation in Hawaii a few years ago when she heard that some guy named Ry Cooder was looking for her. She got the news from colleagues who knew her from her long-gone glory days as lead singer of El Chicano, the 1970s East L.A. band famous for her version of the classic old bolero “Sabor a Mi.”

No way, shot back Arvizu, who had long before moved to Arizona. Besides, she was “fit to be tied,” she says, over a money dispute involving a previous El Chicano comeback concert. She was in no mood to get back in the business.”*

The first big amphitheater show of the year is Saturday at Usana Amphitheatre, where radio station U92 is hosting the top Chicano rappers in America in honor of Cinco de Mayo.

“We try to book Hispanic and Chicano rappers for the show, but usually we don’t have this many Chicano artists,” said Kevin Cruise, assistant program director and music director at U92. “It just happened to work out for us this year.” “*

Daniel Chacón, acclaimed author of and the shadows took him and the short-story collection Chicano Chicanery, guest edits the new issue of In the Grove. It is a special issue devoted to the life, poetry, and influence of the late Andrés Montoya, whose book the ice worker sings and other poems won the American Book Award posthumously and has been the subject of great respect and study for poets across the country. The University of Notre Dame established a memorial prize in his name, and there have been remarkable poets to win the prize–Sheryl Luna, 2004 (awarded by judge Robert Vasquez) and more recently Gabriel Gomez, 2006 (awarded by Valerie Martinez).”*

While publishing a collection of poetry is an accomplishment in and of itself, publishing a bilingual book of poems in the U.S. is a feat. Javier Huerta did just that.

Javier O. Huerta is the author of “Some Clarifications y otros poemas” (Arte Publico 2007), which won the Chicano/Latino Literary Prize from UC Irvine. A native of Nuevo Laredo, Tamualipas, Mexico, he currently lives in Oakland, California and studies bad poetry as a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley. Read his blog at

A three-day conference honoring the late Guillermo Hernández, a professor of Spanish and Portuguese at UCLA and a leading scholar of Mexican narrative ballads, will take place at the University of California, Santa Barbara in May. “The Sixth International Corrido ( Mexican Narrative Ballad ) Conference” will also celebrate the work and memory of composer and vocalist Lalo Guerrero.

The conference begins at 9 a.m. on Thursday, May 8, in the McCune Conference Room, 6020 Humanities and Social Sciences Building, and continues at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 9, in UCSB’s MultiCultural Center. Free and open to the public, the conference includes panel discussions and a special reception at UCSB, a corrido contest and dance at Casa de la Raza in Santa Barbara, and a daylong festival at Chase Palm Park.

Conference participants include scholars from the United States, Mexico, and Siberia who will explore corridos as a musical composition form that traces its origins to Spanish romance and became popular during the Mexican Revolution. Among the presentations –– some conducted in English and others in Spanish –– is a keynote address by John McDowell, chair of the Folklore Institute at Indiana University. In addition, Salvador Güereña, director of UCSB’s California Ethnic and Multicultural Archives ( CEMA ) will give a presentation on the “Sounds Latino!” exhibit currently on view at UCSB’s Davidson Library. The exhibit recognizes some of the legendary music makers whose collections were established in CEMA.

The conference is co-sponsored by UCSB’s Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor; Office of the Associate Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity, and Academic Policy; Office of Equal Opportunity; Chicano Studies Institute; Chicana and Chicano studies department; Latin American and Iberian studies program; UCSB libraries; Luis Leal Endowed Chair; and MultiCultural Center. Other sponsors include Casa de la Raza, The Arhoolie Foundation; Radio Bronco; La Preciosa; and Telemundo.

For more information about the conference, including a complete listing of all events, visit www.ucsb.edu/events/conferences/images/Corrido-Conf-Program.pdf or call the UCSB Chicano Studies Institute at ( 805 ) 893-3895.
“*

Speak Spanish to Me is culture-clash satire about a romance between two freshmen, one Anglo and one Latino, at Arizona State University. If that sounds tailor-made for a Valley audience, it is.

“I was looking for a certain kind of play and couldn’t find one,” says Matthew Wiener, artistic director of Actors Theatre. “It’s being written to spec, kind of.”

The world-premiere comedy was written by Bernardo Solano, who was born in Colombia and raised in the States with an Ivy League education. It was “kind of ” written to spec because it started as a one-act from his college days, inspired by the true story of a Chicano student at Harvard who responded to the pressures of his own culture-clash experience by robbing convenience stores. “*

*From: http://www.azcentral.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish

While Los Angeles County celebrates Chicano art with the fabulous “Phantom Sightings” exhibition at LACMA, Orange County deals with its own brown Botticellis the way it always has: with dismissals, ignorance and a can of paint thinner.

Last week, Fullerton City Councilman Shawn Nelson stated during a council meeting that the city should remove a set of 1970s-era murals on a pedestrian overpass spanning a stretch of Lemon Street just south of Valencia Drive. Nelson claimed that the depictions — classic lowriders, sultry girls in sombreros and fedoras, stylish pachucos and the Virgin of Guadalupe — might make people think Fullerton sanctions gang activity. The words “The Town I Live In,” currently emblazoned on a stairwell, are also dangerous, Nelson said; he’s seen gang members sporting them as tattoos. Rubbing out those murals, Nelson insisted, would help the city combat juvenile delinquency.”*

*From: http://www.latimes.com
Traducido: usando Google o Altavista/Babel Fish