DON’T MISS! Latino Comics Expo this weekend at MOLAA (toons)

expologoTomorrow and Sunday the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach hosts the fifth annual Latino Comics Expo.

Featured artists include POCHO contributor Eric J. Garcia, POCHO Jefe-in-Chief Lalo Alcaraz, New York’s Stephanie Rodriguez and more.

Javier Hernandez of Love and Rockets fame, is the ringleader.

KCET’s Matt Stromberg explains the cultural significance of Latino cartoonistas and the political history they pioneered:

As box office figures can attest, comic books are big business, with successful cinematic adaptations proving that superheroes have made the leap from pop cultural niche to mainstream entertainment. Despite their wide appeal, however, comic books, at least the established titles that usually become big screens franchises, are still predominantly filled with white, male characters, especially in leading roles.

A new exhibition at the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) in Long Beach, “Artists Assemble! Empowerment and Inspiration in Contemporary Comics,” aims to challenge that narrative by focusing on mainly Latino artists who are using the medium to explore cultural and political issues that have meaning for them.

Mas…DON’T MISS! Latino Comics Expo this weekend at MOLAA (toons)

In Long Beach, an empty lot became a theater for the people (video)


“On a Saturday afternoon in late summer, in the midst of a Long Beach multicultural neighborhood inhabited mostly by Cambodians, Latinos and African-Americans, an empty lot came alive. Families walking with their children, teenagers running on skateboards and curious drivers slowed down their pace to watch live performances by an Hispanic theater group made up of day laborers, and by a group from CSULB’s Dance Department.” — Filmmaker Rick Meghiddo.