Mas…La Cucaracha: Ah. Is this the right room for an argument?
parents
Mexican immigrant parents: From my shame to my pride
When I first applied to UCLA, I wrote in my personal essay that I didn’t have any positive role models in my violent neighborhood.
Having grown up in East Los Angeles’ Ramona Gardens housing project, I wrote that most of the adults represented gang members, drug dealers, thieves, tecatos (heroin addicts), alcoholics, felons and high school dropouts (or push-outs). I also wrote about my disdain for housing authority officials and government workers for behaving like prison wardens and guards toward us: project residents who depended on government aid or welfare.
Moreover, I decried the police abuse that I had witnessed and experienced, like the time when a cop pointed a gun at me. My crime: being a 15-year-old making a rolling stop while learning how to drive.
Born in the USA: The secret downside of espeaking Spanglish
“Wow, it’s so cool you can speak Spanish,” people tell me after they hear me on the phone with my mom.
I say thanks and try to shrug it off, but I worry that letting them think that gives a mistaken impression.
I mean, yes. I can speak Spanish.
My parents taught me Spanish when I was growing up in California because it was the only language they had to give.
Like a lot of children of immigrants, I grew up in a Mexican immigrant bubble – my tias and tios spoke only Spanish. My baby primos spoke Spanish with me when we watched Plaza Sesamo and ate conchitas.
Mas…Born in the USA: The secret downside of espeaking Spanglish
Local girl crumbles under stress of learning cousins’ names
(PNS reporting from EL MONTE) The pressure was too much for Marisol Cruz, a fourth grader at Fernando Valenzuela Elementary, who collapsed on the playground Friday afternoon.
Friends said Marisol was a total stressball since her mother told her to memorize all of her cousins’ names before her upcoming primera comunión fiesta.
“I have like 80 cousins!” the Penn Mar Avenue resident told PNS after she had calmed down and accepted a bag of Takis as an incentive to talk.
“It’s not my fault Mama and Papa have like 20 brothers and sisters each! I just can’t remember them all. Call me ‘Mari’ by the way.”
Mari listed the names:
Mas…Local girl crumbles under stress of learning cousins’ names
Talk with your kids about cooties, before it’s too late (video)
They didn’t think it could happen to them! Speak to your kids about cooties…before cooties speak to them first.
Colbert to Romney: Run this commercial to get Latino votes
It’s no secret that Mitt “Self Deportation” Romney is not Latinos’ favorite presidential hopeful. Stephen Colbert explains the political realities and introduces a new Mitt Romney TV commercial.
POCHO has a Mexican Mitt Romney commercial too — and it’s a music video (below).
Mas…Colbert to Romney: Run this commercial to get Latino votes
Around Our Town: Ñews from your neighbors
WEDDING: Mr. and Mrs. Julio Santiago of Pocho Estates are pleased to announce the marriage of their daughter Suzanne to Samson Lei of Monterey Park, son of Mrs. Chin Louie of San Francisco and Mr. Stagger Lei of New Orleans. After a honeymoon in Hawaii, the couple will be moving far away from both sets of parents to live their own damn lives free of drama, race-baiting, and a legacy of never-ending bullshit from control freaks.
‘Mom, Dad – I was born this guey’
It took Mark a long time to screw up the courage to talk about it with his parents, but finally, thank God, finally, he was ready.
He sat them down on the couch and pulled up a chair. “Mom, Dad,” he said, “I have something to tell you.”