barrio

The reason Trump wants to build a wall? To keep America white

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Emilio is a childhood friend of mine who we appropriately call Malo (mean).

Usually, Malo and I converse about old times; friends we have lost and experiences we shared growing up. So it surprised me the other day when he asked me, “Poule, why does Donald Trump want to build a pinche (damn) wall?”.

I gave him a short shrift answer that it was his solution to end unlawful border crossing.

Malo replied indignantly, either to my casual and shallow observation, or to Trump’s callousness:

I don’t have any fancy letters after my last name, Poule, but chale (no), that’s not the real reason he is trying to separate us from Mexico. Trump knows this country is changing in color, culture, and influence and he wants to stop it.

Mas…The reason Trump wants to build a wall? To keep America white

Hey, Trump! Come down to my barrio and say that again

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trumpanzeeOn the first day of class, I always inform my university students that I hold two PhDs — one from a premier research institution, UC Berkeley, and the other from one of the toughest neighborhoods in the country, East Los Angeles’ Ramona Gardens housing project or Big Hazard projects (named after the notorious gang).

While I’ve relied on my research and analytic skills to criticize Donald Trump, as the Republican presidential nominee, I’ve also depended on my street smarts to deconstruct his extremist politics and erratic behavior. While political foes, pundits, cable news anchors and journalists are bewildered by Trump, I grew up with his type: Wannabe tough guy, bully and hustler. To deal with Trump, we must view him through these typologies, among others, such as xenophobe, racist, money-grubber and liar.

Mas…Hey, Trump! Come down to my barrio and say that again

Bienvenidos a Minneapolis, Minnesota, Aztlan (photos)

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zootsuitsDuring the National Association of Black Journalists Convention in Minneapolis last weekend I decided to take a break and visit East Lake Street.

That’s the heart of the city’s Mexican and Somali immigrant communities. I had tacos at Taqueria Los Ocampo then strolled down East Lake and discovered scenes one might find in East Los Angeles, Houston’s Northside or Albuquerque’s South Valley.

The murals were a reflection of a people who came north…way north.

I like these photos especially:

Mas…Bienvenidos a Minneapolis, Minnesota, Aztlan (photos)

Gentrification Notes from Technotopia, SF:
 On the Cruelty of Indifference


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taxtherich

By GUILLERMO GÓMEZ-PEÑA

Dear Ex-local artist, writer, activist, bohemian, street eccentric, and/or protector of difference…

Imagine a city, your city and your former “hip” neighborhood, being handed over by greedy politicians and re/developers to the crème de la crème of the tech industry. This includes the 7 most powerful tech companies in the world. I don’t need to list them: their names have become verbs in lingua franca; their sandbox is the city you used to call your own.

Mas…Gentrification Notes from Technotopia, SF:
 On the Cruelty of Indifference


POCHO Poetry Corner: Chicano Love and Barrio Streets

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thecholafiedviergin
A rose grows among the cracked sidewalks, of
the tear stained barrio streets, where happiness
is a luxury and can easily be lost forever. While
deep in their thoughts a young Chicano couple
are falling in love.

A painting of the Virgin looks down upon streets
which are so far from heaven, yet not so far away,
from hell. Young men strut like roosters, each
wanting to rule for the day, while their women
willingly look to sell their soul for the poison
which temporarily takes the pain away.

Mas…POCHO Poetry Corner: Chicano Love and Barrio Streets

Anaheim police brutality protest t-shirt fundraiser

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I created the above image as a response to the outrageous and murderous police brutality by the Anaheim Police Department recently against two young men in the Anaheim barrio. The families are not only dealing with protesting against the Anaheim PD and City Hall, but also the costs of funerals for these two men, arguably executed by the Anaheim PD.

Mas…Anaheim police brutality protest t-shirt fundraiser

Black & white history: Juvenile delinquents ‘Ask Me, Don’t Tell Me’

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Ask Me, Don’t Tell Me (1961, 22 mins.) Adult suspicion, pompadours, cigarettes, chromed cars, pool halls, the jitterbug and pinball machines conspire to turn kids into juvenile delinquents, but earnest do-gooders can save the day! Great rock ‘n’ roll soundtrack and candid footage make late 1950s early 1960s gang life look sweet — in the days before guns and drive-bys.

The camera follows the day-to-day lives of San Francisco teenage gang members (AKA “jacket clubs”) — white, Asian, Mexican, black — and the unfriendly world they inhabit. The documentary was produced by the American Friends Service Committee, which wanted to set the kids on the right path with community service projects.

Letter to the Editor: The Ghetto Manifesto by Lady D (NSFW audio)

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It came in exactly this way via our handy SUBMIT form. (On the go? There’s a NSFW two-minute audio podcast version we created at the bottom of this article):

This is to every person who wants to get out and break free to be human and not be a fucking stereotype. I call it the Ghetto Manifesto. I was bred from a culture that lives in fear to succeed. We were once the Gods of the Temples- the living legends standing proud on the steps of Tenochtitlan- Now we are on our knees glorifying the filth around us. Our streets are filled with soldiers of ignorance and rage- fighting brother against brother- for what? A piece of land that we don't even own? For the love we did not receive at home? We call out names- spill our hateful rhetoric, beat each other to be let in to an exclusive group of clowns with silly names. Taking family trips in to unknown territories using hurtful toys to shed innocent blood. The family. What a fucking joke.

Mas…Letter to the Editor: The Ghetto Manifesto by Lady D (NSFW audio)

Scientists ID Chicana who hasn’t seen ‘Blood In Blood Out’ (video)

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bloodin(PNS reporting from ALTA CALIFORNIA)  Ethnic anthropologists recently discovered the last living Chicana who has never seen the coming-of-age movie Blood In Blood Out.

The woman, not named in the report, was spotted and identified last summer in the Los Angeles suburb of Cudahy, according to a study published in the prestigious journal Science.

The subject, 32, had no explanation for not seeing the film that is “required viewing” for a true Chicano or Chicana, according to the paper, although scientists have been analyzing her brain for abnormalities in her “cholo receptors:”

Mas…Scientists ID Chicana who hasn’t seen ‘Blood In Blood Out’ (video)

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