Immigration
We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us.
Las Cafeteras: ‘If I Was President’ (audio)
East Los musicians Las Cafeteras have long made political progress a signature element of their sound and the band’s new single continues the tradition.
If I Was President — released on Monday, Presidents Day — starts with the son jarocho song Señor Presidente and “then flows into a bilingual hip hop-folk fusion, with lyrics that make you dream, think, come up with alternatives.”
In America, debate over refugees, priorities continues (#TBT 2015 toon)
This started out as just text on Facebook, and then he made it into a cartoon.
Oral History: ‘I came to the U.S.A. in 1962 as a bracero’ (videos)
When labor was short in 1950s and 60s, the American and Mexican governments worked together to import laborers across the border to work as “braceros.”
The American Friends service Committee explains:
Mas…Oral History: ‘I came to the U.S.A. in 1962 as a bracero’ (videos)
When stopped by La Migra, KNOW YOUR RIGHTS! (photo)
[Public domain photo by Customs and U.S. Border Patrol.]
Encyclopædia Britannica: Immigration to the U.S.A. (1946 video)
This 1946 educational film from Encyclopædia Brittanica presents a period look at immigration to the New World. “Negroes” are mentioned once, Native Americans are invisible, and Mexicans don’t show up until the very end, but it’s an interesting film pitching the “nation of immigrants” meme. Good public schools are important for the Melting Pot, they note, the quest for freedom brought many persecuted refugees here, Congress started blocking “undesirables” (Asians, Southern and Eastern Europeans) in 1924, and yet there’s the Statue of Liberty who lifts her lamp beside the golden door. History: You’re soaking in it.
Watch the commercial that won the Super Bowl: 84 Lumber
You didn’t see this on FOX! A mother and daughter make their way to El Norte in the long version of the commercial that won the Super Bowl. Thank you, 84 Lumber!
How will Mexicans deal with Trump’s border wall? (video)
Mexican cartoonist Patricio mocked the idea of a border wall in 2009 with this episode of La Enchilada Completa — the Whole Enchilada. [Those voices at the end? A happy customer sure does like that high quality scrap metal and our hero remarks that thousands more kilometers of metal are available.]
Donald Trump to Mexico: This is a Declaration of Wall! (toon)
[Max Espinoza toons for the BabyLonBros.]
Can Donald Trump use his own resources to pay for a wall? (toon)
[Payton Hoegh toons regularly at Weekly Political dot com.]
Mariachis vs Pink Floyd: Another brick in the wall? Nunca! (video)
Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, for example Mariachi Cabos vs Pink Floyd’s Another Brick In the Wall. Winner: MARIACHI CABOS!
Lalo Alcaraz on WGBH/PRI: ‘U.S. is becoming Mexico’ (audio)
POCHO Jefe-in-Chief Lalo Alcaraz stopped by WGBH in Boston today to record an interview (audio and video) for Public Radio International’s The World with Carol Hills.
It sounds like he made some new friends in Boston:
Alcaraz is a strong believer in laughing during hard times. And that’s where satire comes in. Coping with humor is something he learned from his Mexican parents. “It’s kind of the Mexican national pastime. I was just telling my Uber driver that the US has become Mexico. That’s why we all have 10 jobs.”
Here’s the audio:
Mas…Lalo Alcaraz on WGBH/PRI: ‘U.S. is becoming Mexico’ (audio)
LatinoUSA NPR Audio: The 1% and 99% of Mexico meet in NYC
LatinoUSA’s Antonia Cereijido writes the intro:
If you go to a high-end restaurant in New York City, there’s a good chance that you’re dining among some of the wealthiest Mexicans in the world and being served by some of the poorest. This story was produced in collaboration with Round Earth Media. Tyler Kelley is a co-reporter on the piece.
[Mariachi Restaurant in Astoria, Queens, NY, photographed by Aude. Some rights reserved.]
Mexico fears Trump means deportations, end of remittances (video)
As the inauguration of Donald Trump gets closer, our friends and families south of the border are getting increasingly concerned.
Mas…Mexico fears Trump means deportations, end of remittances (video)
