- PREVIOUSLY ON LALO ALCACRAZ PARKING VALET: Standing While Brown: A white lady tried to get me to valet her car
Immigration
We didn’t cross the border, the border crossed us.
POCHO’s Lalo Alcaraz and Al Madrigal debut on Latino USA (audio)
It’s POCHO Jefe-in-Chief Lalo Alcaraz and POCHO Migrant Editor Al Madrigal — on the public radio’s Latino USA. Uh oh — they’re talking about Sen. Ted Cruz.
Califas will issue driver’s licenses to the undocumented
Fox Latino, which puts “undocumented” in their headline but “illegal” in their story, reports:
California, home to the nation’s largest immigrant population, would become the 11th state to grant immigrants who are in the country illegally [sic] the right to a driver’s license under a bill that passed the Legislature late Thursday and that Gov. Jerry Brown supports.
The success of the legislation comes after years of setbacks for Democratic lawmakers and Latino activists.
The state Assembly approved the bill on a 55-19 vote late in the evening, hours after the Senate passed it on a 28-8 vote. The Democratic governor issued a statement indicating he would sign it into law.
Rebel Diaz: ‘I’m An Alien’ [music video]
From Chicago to the Bronx, Rebel Diaz makes music that fights racism and celebrates indigenous people. Is there something familiar about this song’s chorus? I’m An Alien includes a sample from Sting’s Englishman in New York.
- PREVIOUSLY ON NEW JACK CITY:
Quetzal wants to make sure you watch out for the ‘MIGRA’ (video)
Latinopia writes:
Quetzal is an East Los Angeles Chican@ band whose music reflects the social, political and cultural struggles of Latinos in the United States and Latin America. Founded in 1994 by Quetzal Flores, the group won a Grammy for their album Imaginaries in 2013. They performed their original song, “Migra,” about the plight of Mexican immigrants crossing into the United States to seek a better life, at the Levitt Pavilion in Pasadena’s Memorial Park on August 14, 2013. The lead singer of the group is Martha Gonzalez. This video was produced, is owned an copyrighted by Barrio Dog Productions, Inc. and is posted on vimeo and Latinopia.com by permission.
Swimmer Diana Nyad tows 400 balseros from Cuba to USA
(PNS reporting from FLORIDA) Diana Nyad walked onshore here Monday, becoming the first person to swim from Cuba towing 400 escaping balseros. The 64-year-old Nyad swam up to the beach just before 2PM EDT, about 53 hours after she began her journey in Havana.
As she approached, spectators waded into waist-high water and surrounded the Cuban refugees, and offering them water. “I have three messages. One is, we should never, ever give up. Two is, you’re never too old to chase your dream. Three is, all you Cubans better pay me the smuggling money you owe me.”
“I have to say, I’m a little bit out of it right now,” Nyad said. She gestured toward her swollen lips, and simply said “Cubans.”
MAS Whitewashing: Tucson OKs textbook list with NO Chicano authors
Let me tell you a joke. Ready? The Tucson Unified School District. Get it?
No? Allow me to me explain.
On Tuesday night the TUSD approved a textbook list for their now defunct Mexican-American Studies program, which they have dubbed “Culturally Relevant US History and US Government.” The list, which consists of 25 books, has absolutely ZERO Chicana/o authors on it.
Go ahead and read that again.
If you have been following the divine comedy in Tucson at all then you already know that they not only destroyed their wildly successful Mexican-American Studies program but that they also banned a laundry list of books by Chicana/o authors, closed barrio schools and fired MAS teachers.
Mas…MAS Whitewashing: Tucson OKs textbook list with NO Chicano authors
Dreams Without Borders: I am going to grad school in London
On August 5 I launched a fundraising effort which I named Dreams Without Borders.
It is about a dream that had been buried along with many other aspirations for some time. After graduating from college when residing in the U.S., I knew I wanted to earn a graduate degree.
I had not figured out exactly what I would pursue but I was sure it had to be aligned with my life purpose; a work in progress that was halted the day I returned to Mexico.
Nancy Landa was brought to the U.S. without papers when she was a child and grew up in Southern California. She graduated with honors from Cal State Northridge where she also served as student body president. And then she was deported. She introduced herself in this POCHO story.
Some of us experience life-altering moments, those in which we see our dreams fall into pieces right in front of us. In my case, a border became the physical and emotional barrier to a future I had once envisioned.
Some of my friends encouraged me to look for options to continue my education in Mexico. Given that it was my country of nationally, it was assumed I would be able to pursue opportunities I was not easily afforded as an undocumented immigrant in the United States. Right?
Mas…Dreams Without Borders: I am going to grad school in London
Flaco Jimenez vs Los Gabachos: ‘El Mojado Sin Licencia’ (music video)
The wetback drove from Laredo to San Antonio to see his girl — and that’s when the trouble started.
Illegal American and European boat people heading for Peru (video)
They’re coming on boats and rafts from the United Estates and the Eurozone to this country on the Pacific Coast of South America — a representative democratic republic divided into 25 regions — to live The Peruvian Dream.
Moses y Jesús team up in ‘Prophetic Fight for Immigrant Rights’ (video)
When Moses attracts the attention of the MIGRA, he seeks out his amigo Jesús for some help. Can this Holy Tag Team come up with a miracle to defeat the haters? [Written and produced by: Josh Healey. Directed by: Yvan Iturriaga. Starring: Corey Fischer (Moses), Richard Montoya (Jesús), and Jeri Lynn Cohen (Zippy). Produced by: Favianna Rodriguez. Executive Produced by: Culture Strike.]
POCHO Jefe Lalo Alcaraz Yelps about the border on NPR (audio)
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A few weeks ago we featured some astounding videos of actors’ (dramatic) readings of Yelp customer reviews — customer reviews of US-Mexico border crossings.
NPR’s Latino USA with Maria Hinjosa snagged Jefe-in-Chief Lalo Alcaraz last week to find out if he had anything to add to the discussion.
Listen here to learn if he did! 😉
Mas…POCHO Jefe Lalo Alcaraz Yelps about the border on NPR (audio)
Eric Holland’s back with another borderland music video: ‘Amnestia’
Eric Holland is just an ordinary guy — a former Arizona ESL teacher — who writes amazing songs about the border. This is his latest, Amnestia. [Video by Danny Worms.]
Previously, POCHO published Holland’s stark and moving Juan Do — Dame agua/Give me water:
Mas…Eric Holland’s back with another borderland music video: ‘Amnestia’
Defense contractors on immigration bill: ‘Time to get a new Beemer’
(PNS reporting from WASHINGTON, DC) The Senate’s approval of a bipartisan “immigration reform” bill Thursday — a bill which Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) says will create “the most militarized border since the Berlin Wall” — has defense contractors talking, and drooling.
The hot topic? The untold millions of dollars that may become available if Uncle Sam gets serious about “security.”
It’s the inevitable transition, cynics say, from Eisenhower’s old-school military-industrial complex to the new Post-Millennial MIGRA-Industrial Complex. But government contractors and suppliers have a more nuanced view.
Mas…Defense contractors on immigration bill: ‘Time to get a new Beemer’
Flash: ‘Foxy Farmworkers’ set for Fall premiere on Fox
(PNS reporting from HOLLYWOOD) Hoping to capitalize on the Devious Maids buzz, Fox will jump on the stereotypical Latino programming bandwagon with a new entry this fall called Foxy Farmworkers.
The show will follow a quirky group of “young, single and ready-to-mingle” Mexican farmworkers as they make their way from the impoverished US-Mexico border to fields in Washington, Oregon, Montana, Michigan.
Between backbreaking 14-16 hour days in the sun and working in the fields, the young men manage to get themselves into a world of trouble chasing after petite, white women in the towns they pass through, breaking hearts along the way.
Flash: Bob Esponja reveals he’s an undocumented immigrant
(PNS reporting from HOLLYWOOD) SpongeBob SquarePants is an undocumented immigrant whose family drifted into Bikini Bottom, Hawaii, from Mexico when he was child, the Nickelodeon star revealed this morning.
SquarePants (real name: Bob Esponja) made the announcement at packed press conference called by Animal Actors for Reform and Fairness (AARF), a pro-immigration reform group.
The reality TV actor plans to apply for President Obama’s Deferred Action program so he can work and drive legally.
“Sure — I’m absorbent. And porous. And as yellow as can be,” he said, his voice cracking, “but that doesn’t mean I should live in a piña under the sea.”
Mas…Flash: Bob Esponja reveals he’s an undocumented immigrant
Flash: Worker slips into Canada, becomes first NAFTA mojado
(PNS reporting from CANADIA) David Pérez became the first NAFTA mojado when he crossed illegally into Canadia Saturday.
The undocumented worker from Jalpa, Zacatecas first crossed the Rio Grande into the United States near San Elizario, TX, 10 years ago seeking employment in El Norte.
After working in El Paso for a year doing construction, he continued north, staying with relatives in Denver, Chicago, and Minnesota.
“I kept searching for El Norte and there was always more Norte to explore,” Pérez told PNS.
Mas…Flash: Worker slips into Canada, becomes first NAFTA mojado
Xochitl Julisa Bermejo: ‘Our Lady of the Water Gallons’ (video)
Xochitl Julisa Bermejo is a poet and teacher from Asuza, CA who volunteered with No More Deaths, a humanitarian organization providing water bottles in the Arizona desert where immigrants crossing from Mexico often die of exposure. She read her poem Our Lady of the Water Gallons at a Mental Cocido (Mental Stew) gathering of Latino authors.
Immigrant-loving John McCain sings: ‘You’re Our Guest!’ (music video)
The Republican Senator from the Hate State of Arizona, John McCain, is one of the “Gang of Eight” senators behind the new immigration reform bill. Today his office released this love song to the “new voters” he wants to legalize.
Talk radio guy blows the lid off ‘Mexican swimming lessons’ (video)
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.
Breaking: Congress to probe ‘illegal immigrant sneaker code’
(PNS reporting from WASHINGTON, D.C.) Rep. Randolph Snopes (R-AL) plans committee hearings next week to investigate reports that “illegal immigrants” from Mexico are encoding secret messages in sneakers hanging over telephone wires — messages about how to avoid police, sell drugs and promote terrorism, PNS has learned.
Snopes, chairman of the Unamerican Activities Committee, maintains that evidence of “sneaker-encoded propaganda” has been covered up by “high echelons of the Obama Administration,” according to leaked committee documents circulating on Capitol Hill.
Mas…Breaking: Congress to probe ‘illegal immigrant sneaker code’
Colbert Report: Do Hispanics cost trillion$ and have low IQs? (video)
It takes an ace newsman like Stephen Colbert to get to the bottom of the barrel of reasons why the Heritage Foundation’s report on immigration says legalization will cost us six trillion dollars and the entire Hispanic race has lower IQs than native white Americans.
Obama says ‘F★ck it’ in tricky bid for GOP immigration reform votes
(PNS reporting from WASHINGTON, D.C.) President Barack Obama gave up his efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform this week, informing Republican leaders that he didn’t care about reform anymore.
“Fuck it!” Obama reportedly told Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in a conference call Tuesday.
“I don’t care about reform anymore, are you happy? Don’t pass it, see if I fuckin’ care!”
Washington insiders say that the president’s sudden change of heart on immigration has less to do with his actual desire to see reform pass and more to do with tactical consderations. Every time the president wants to pass legislation, Republicans balk — so if he doesn’t want to pass immigration reform, the thinking goes, conservatives will play along.
Mas…Obama says ‘F★ck it’ in tricky bid for GOP immigration reform votes
Stoner Latino student calls woman’s mom a ‘wetback’ on Facebook
(PNS reporting from SAN MARCOS, TX) Seventeen-year-old San Marcos High School senior Byron Chavez called someone’s mother a “wetback” in a comment on a Facebook photo yesterday — Mothers Day.
Chavez, the grandson of Mexican immigrants, used the W-word in response to a widely-circulated picture of a young woman at an immigration reform rally holding a sign reading “Fuck Weed. Legalize My Mom.”
Chavez posted “Fuck your wetback mom! Legalize Weed!” 30 minutes after his cousin Lauren Saucedo posted the image on her timeline .
“I was taken aback by his comment,” Saucedo emailed PNS. “Our grandparents were immigrants who came from Mexico looking for a better future.”
Mas…Stoner Latino student calls woman’s mom a ‘wetback’ on Facebook
The Daily Show unmasks ‘The Real Cinco de Mayo’ (video)
Jessica Williams goes to Dallas, Tejas, so she can report on the real Cinco de Mayo for Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show.
I was a DREAMer before it was cool — and I got deported
The immigrant rights movement has reached one of the most important milestones of the last two decades. Finally, politicians are responding to the demands of advocates asking to reform a broken immigration system that has marginalized millions of undocumented immigrants.
We see this in the form of Senate Bill 744 proposed by the Bipartisan Senate Coalition referred to as the “Gang-of-Eight” which is by far the most comprehensive piece of legislation we have seen in recent years. Such progress is due to the masses of brave DREAMers (undocumented youth) who came out of the shadows to declare their legal status for the purpose of telling their stories to the American public.