migrant

[Short Story] Listen to Me

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By DANIEL A. OLIVAS

Listen to me. I’m not feeling very patient right now and you seem to be thinking about being somewhere else. But listen to me. Look over there. No, not there. There. See? See him? Yeah. His name is Marco. He has a wife, Octavia, and two sons in this pueblo just outside of Guadalajara.

Mas…[Short Story] Listen to Me

Let’s get one thing straight: No human being is ‘illegal’

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immigrationmarch600“Could the president grant deferred removal to every unlawfully present alien in the United States right now?”

That’s how Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts referred to individuals lacking the proper documents to be in the country during a recent hearing on DAPA (Deferred Action for parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents).

“Alien” is the legal term to describe these individuals, but Justice Sonia Sotomayor also referred to them as “undocumented immigrants.” She objected to the phrase “illegal immigrants”, which she considers too harsh. Justice Sonia Sotomayor even explained that “illegal immigrants” associates them with “drug addicts, thieves, and murderers.”

Mas…Let’s get one thing straight: No human being is ‘illegal’

Dear Mom: Don’t worry, everything is great here in New York (video)

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In The Letter, based on a 1947 short story La Carta by Dominican-Boricua-Mexican Marxist author José Luis González, a migrant writes home to Mom.

“Everything is super here in New York,” he tells her.

Seventy-two years later and an ocean apart, the story is as true now for the African protagonist of this video as it was for the original Puerto Rican migrant.

Did you read this short story in school? Here is the complete text:

San Juan, Puerto Rico 8 de marso de 1947

Qerida bieja:

Mas…Dear Mom: Don’t worry, everything is great here in New York (video)

What does the farmworker see at the supermarket? (audio)

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produceaisleYou say tomato, I say tomahto, and when a migrant farmworker visits the produce aisle at a local supermarket he sees an entirely different picture.

PRI’s Monica Campbell reports:

In the produce aisle of a supermarket in Madera, in California’s rural Central Valley, Francisco surveys the fruits and vegetables on display in the produce aisle. He’s 40 years old and stocky. He’s also undocumented, and he asks to use his first name only.

 

 

Produce photo by Jaskam Dhatt

‘Testimonios’ of the undocumented (Lalo Cura music video)

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Testimonios tells the stories of undocumented immigrants and the “American Dream” — soulful rock en español from Lalo Cura. No one is illegal.

Lalo Cura is Sonny Carreño on drums, Adam Carter on guitar and backup vocals, Rafael Chávez y Moreno on guitar and vocals, Adam Hartung on bass and Sam Que on sax and backup vocals. Video by Sophia Vergara. Music and lyrics by Rafael Chávez y Moreno.

Behind the scenes at the L.A. County Museum of Art (photos)

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lacmapostcard04POCHO amigo Ramiro Gomez, a SoCal guerrilla artist who we first met when he started placing cardboard cut-outs of previously-invisible immigrant workers around Beverly Hills and Hollywood, now has his work in art museums (as well as in the homes of private art collectors.)

Recently, he visited to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) where he saw more immigrant laborers toiling tirelessly behind the scenes to keep the museum clean and tidy.

Gomez snapped some photos of the museum custodians and then painted their images onto postcards from the LACMA gift shop, like this postcard of the Urban Light sculpture/assemblage.

He described the image this way on Facebook:

I am greatly inspired by the way The Impressionists saw a scene, and by the Social Realists who wanted to draw attention to the everyday conditions of the working class. The figures I paint are my impressions of people I’ve seen working. In places like LACMA, the art on the walls is not what captures my full attention, but rather, my eye is also drawn to the people walking around maintaining the space. If there is anything I’ve learned from art history, is that my job as an artist is to capture what life is like in my time period, and scenes like this, I feel, best represent what I see. [Custodians near Urban Light, LACMA 4″ x 6″ acrylic on postcard]

Can you match the laborers on the postcards with the janitors in the photos?

Mas…Behind the scenes at the L.A. County Museum of Art (photos)

‘To the Bone’ explores the lives of migrant farmworkers (video)

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A pre-teen migrant farmworker attempts to rebel against the status quo with unintended consequences for herself and her family. Both a coming-of-age story and a window into the world of child migrant farmworkers in the U.S., To the Bone is an intimate film about one family that represents the struggles of so many. Starring Naomie Feliu, Jaime Alvarez, Carlos C. Torres, Maria Elena Laas, Eliezer Ortiz. Directed by Erin Li.

Talk radio guy blows the lid off ‘Mexican swimming lessons’ (video)

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If you’ve been wondering why the internationally-lauded public school system in Mexico makes sure all the kids get swimming lessons, talk show guy AND education expert Rick Rantz of 1270AM WQTT in Union County, OH, has the answer. Advertising Sales Manager Mike Schnell is at 614.935.1038 if you have more questions.The radio station’s Programming Department is at 614.425.9633, or you can email grivers@icsohio.com.

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