The Legend of The Wolf Woman/La Loba, The Bone Woman/La Huesera (video)


La Loba, from film student Margarete Laue re-imagines the traditional Mexican folk tale popularized by Clarissa Pinkola Estés in Women Who Run With the Wolves:

She creeps and crawls and sifts through the mountains and dry riverbeds, looking for wolf bones.

We used to have a man in the White House we could be proud of; Joan Baez explains in ‘The President Sang Amazing Grace’ (video)


At the memorial service in Charleston, S.C. for the victims of a white wing racist terrorist, Barack Obama, the last real President of the United States, joined the congregation of mourners. What he did on that day became a song by Zoe Mulford, performed here by Xicana OG activist Joan Baez and animated in pastel watercolors by Jeff Scher. [EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s OK to cry.]

Video via The Atlantic.

In ‘Welcome to America’, undocumented Yeni González crosses the country to be reunited with her kids stolen by La Migra (video)


Yeni González is one of the mothers who suddenly found herself thousands of miles away from her children this spring, after the alt-white regime’s “zero-tolerance” immigration policy went into effect. This TIME Red Border Film documentary shows how grassroots activists banded together to transport González from a detention center in Eloy, AZ, to New York City, where her children were placed at a social service agency after the undocumented family crossed the U.S.-Mexico border and was apprehended by the Border Patrol in May.

At San Diego Comic-Con and Chicano Con, a good toon was had by all (photos)

San Diego Comic-Con International 2018 is one for the books — a glorious cosplay and comics extravaganza.

A personal highlight for POCHO Jefe-in-Chief Lalo Alcaraz was his first-ever spot on the Quick Draw panel, said to always be the funniest panel at Comic-Con. This year’s group featured the rapid-fire Sharpies of comics god Sergio Aragones (photo ^^) and “has drawn everything” cartoonist Scott Shaw:

Mas…At San Diego Comic-Con and Chicano Con, a good toon was had by all (photos)

POCHO HISTORY 101: Keep poor Irishmen, Italian gangsters, and English convicts OUT OF THE U.S.A! (toon)

Fear of immigrants has a long history in the United States. In this cartoon, published in 1891, illustrator Grant Hamilton draws a judge scolding Uncle Sam:

If Immigration was properly Restricted you would no longer be troubled with Anarchy, Socialism, the Mafia and such kindred evils!

From New York Harbor behind them comes a horde of arriving immigrants labeled “German socialist,” “Russian anarchist,” “Polish vagabond,” “Italian brigand,” “English convict,” and “Irish pauper.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENBIGGENATE.

Dave Alvin, Flaco Jimenez, David Hidalgo y Los Cenzontles: ‘Hey, Baby, It’s the Fourth of July’


Roots rock singer/guitar slinger and East Los homie (Downey) Dave Alvin sings a classic ode to America, folky roots, broken hearts, independence and Mexican kids shooting fireworks Hey, baby, it’s the Fourth of July! Alvin is backed in this version by Los Cenzontles, Tex-Mex accordion superstar Flaco Jimenez and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos.

Here’s the original music video, so old it’s in black and white!

Mas…Dave Alvin, Flaco Jimenez, David Hidalgo y Los Cenzontles: ‘Hey, Baby, It’s the Fourth of July’

WATCH: WB Merrie Melodies Cartoon from 1956: ‘Two Crows from Tacos’


Two Mexican singing crows are starving and try to catch a grasshopper in this 1956 animated short from Merrie Melodies/Warner Bros. What could possibly go wrong? It’s like a toon starring our hero Speedy Gonzales, Mexico’s fastest mouse, except no Speedy. Substitute crows for gatos and a grasshopper for Speedy and you get the idea.

One IMDB reviewer had a plot of praise for this toon:

Mas…WATCH: WB Merrie Melodies Cartoon from 1956: ‘Two Crows from Tacos’

Nixtamalization means fresh tortillas at South Philly Barbacoa (video)

When you bite into a taco, you are tasting the results of an ancient chemical process called nixtamalization. It’s a technique that hasn’t changed much since 1500 BCE, and along the way it helped the Aztecs rise to power and made tortillas softer, tastier, and much more nutritious. Today, Benjamin Miller and Christina Martinez are the only chefs in Philadelphia making their tortillas from scratch, which means they practice the ancient art of nixtamalization.

Mas…Nixtamalization means fresh tortillas at South Philly Barbacoa (video)