CHICANO RADIO NETWORK U.S.A. Blog

  Days before the release of Sheila E.’s autobiography, news spread that she was once engaged to Prince. The bigger bombshell, however, didn’t get nearly as much attention. “Pretty much, I was engaged to Carlos Santana. That was huge and no one knew about that,” said the 56-year-old drummer, who dated a married Santana when she was 18. “I thought people would be talking about that, and it’s more about, `She was engaged to Prince!’ Really?” Sheila E. said Santana, who was 36 at the time, was her first love, calling it “a wonderful romance.” Exclusive Video Premiere: Sheila E.’s ‘Lovely Day’ “The Beat of My Own Drum,” the musician’s memoir released through Simon & Schuster’s Atria Books earlier this month, features stories that range from working with Marvin Gaye, Ringo Starr and Lionel Richie to being raped at age 5. Dating Prince and Santana made her realize she had a thing for guys with guitars, she said. “And there were some that I did not put in the book,” she said, laughing. Could they appear in another book? “I’ll be able to share more stories on the next three to five books,” she said. The Grammy-nominated star said writing her first book — completed with co-writer Wendy Holden — has inspired her to write more, including children’s books. “When I first approached (Simon & Schuster), I said I wanted to do a bunch of books,” she said. Sheila E. first began writing “The Beat of My Own Drum” in her 30s, and said the process felt “devastating.” She said coming back to the writing process two years ago gave her a fresh perspective. Sheila E. Honored @ Moja Moja Awards When writing about being raped – a topic the performer has discussed over the years – she thought she could share her story without hardship. “The beginning stages of it, because I had been talking about it for so long, it wasn’t hard, but when I really had to dig in and really get in detail about it, when I read it back, that’s when it hit me, like, `Wow. OK,'” she said. “I really have to go in deep to explain really what happened, and to explain it in a way that I think that I remember it at five years old, not how I remember it now.” Sheila E., whose hits include “The Glamorous Life” and “A Love Bizarre,” released the album ICON last year. She says she wants to adapt her book into a movie. She’s already spoken to the person she wants for the Sheila E. role. “I’m not going to tell you who it is,” she said with a knowing smile. “They were very, very interested and excited.”

Source: http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/the-juice/6259376/sheila-e-talks-relationships-with-prince-santana-wants-to-turn

Deputy Sheriff Bartley Brown of East Los Angeles inspects the haircut of prisoner Alex “Largo” Rodriguez, who is wearing an $85.00 zoot suit June 7, 1943.

El Paso has the ability to turn around Texas statewide elections with the mere Chicano / Latino voting population. [Pay attention candidate Wendy Davis.]  Data shows 33 percent of El Paso registered voters haven’t voted in almost a decade, and experts havediscussed solutions.  According to the Board of Hispanic Caucus Chairs, “… The role of Hispanics and the Hispanic vote in Texas has become increasingly clear over the past decade. The growth of the Hispanic electorate in particular signals the growing need for political parties, candidates, and political pundits to consider the impact of this electorate on the shape of politics to come…”

El Paso has a serious history with regard to Chicano Movement history.  In fact, the term Pachuco is said to have come from El Paso, Texas, where it moved westward, following the line of migration of Mexican railroad workers (“traqueros”) into Los Angeles, where it developed further.  It was the Pachuco Zoot Suit riots that became a turning point for Chicanos and Latinos.  The riots began in Los Angeles, amidst a period of racial tensions between Anglo American servicemen stationed in Southern California and Los Angeles’ Mexican-American population. Although Mexican-American men were over-represented in the military as a percentage of their population, many European-American servicemen resented the sight of Latinos socializing in clothing considered extravagant.

According to the Texas State Historical Association, El Paso is also the place where the first national conference regarding La Raza Unida meeting was held, and tremendous Chicano Power came from Texas ranging from La Raza Unida to the American GI Forum via Dr. Hector P. Garcia.  More Mexican American / Chicano / Latino power will continue to come from El Paso particularly when we have witnessed Canadian-born and son of Cuban immigrant Republican Senator Ted Cruz use his authority to kick Mexican Americans and their families down.

On Sunday, September 28, 2014, we will encourage Chicano / Latino voters to vote on November 4, 2014 — Election Day.  We will remind the lowrider culture just how powerful our vote can be by giving them the facts with regard to our El Paso voting demographics.   As such, we invite you to attend Lincoln Park Day — a Chicano Art and Car Show where we will be directly asking the lowrider culture to participate in voting and the Cruise To The Polls.

C/S

Via Somos Independents a Chicana-led independent voter group:

It is a well known fact that many died for our right to vote, and we must not squander that away.  Therefore, we believe in utilizing all creative measures necessary in order to overcome voter apathy within our community.

Cruise To The Polls is a national campaign encouraging Chicano and/or all other lowrider owners to remember election day on November 4, 2014.  Somos Independents is an independent voter group led by American women of Mexican descent, and we are  concentrating our efforts in the southwest leading up to a national campaign via “Cruise To The Polls” that targets Chicano and lowrider owners to remember to vote on November 4, 2014, election day.  The campaign will kick off on November 1, 2014, as several lowrider clubs will participate in a lowrider cruise in key high Chicano / Latino markets that will send a message with regard to how important our voting responsibility is.  Often times, Tea Party Republicans make the mistake of lumping all brown people together and believe we should all go back to Mexico — even though we were born here and indigenous to the United States long before the Mayflower landed near Plymouth Rock.

Cruise To The Polls creatively revives the Chicano movement and raises awareness to the expanding lowrider culture.  It embraces Chicano art, music and more.

For lowrider car clubs who are interested in participating in Cruise To The Polls, please contact:  (480) 200-3748.

2014 1st edition Cruise To The Polls artwork created by El Moises

I believe Con Safos Magazine should be revived because it embraced pride in who Chicanos are and all the positives.

Here is a teaser trailer for the upcoming documentary film, “CON SAFOS: Reflections From Up On the Hill”. This trailer premiered at the dA CENTER FOR THE ARTS, honoring Filmmaker Jesus Salvador Trevino on Oct. 12, 2013. This documentary explores the impact, significance of the groundbreaking Chicano Con Safos magazine of the 60’s and 70’s.

Pleae click below image for teaser trailer.

Get Out The Chicano / Latino Vote Event In Albuquerque, New Mexico

Raul Reyes 4:14 p.m. EDT August 27, 2014
Ferguson, Mo., shooting is not unlike similar incidents in Hispanic communities.

Peaceful protesters under siege by armed officers. A minority community roiled by issues of race and social justice. Allegations of law enforcement misconduct, conspiracies and cover-ups. These circumstances could all apply to the recent unrest in Ferguson, Mo. Sadly, they go back as far as Aug. 29, 1970.

Forty-four years ago Friday, a huge crowd turned out for a march through East Los Angeles to protest the number of Mexican Americans dying in the Vietnam War. Although the gathering was largely peaceful, a few scattered reports of looting led the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to move in with tear gas, and the march degenerated into a melee. Scores of people were arrested, and three were killed.

Among them was Ruben Salazar , 42, the most prominent Latino journalist of his day. Salazar died after a sheriff’s deputy fired a tear gas projectile into a bar, striking him in the head and killing him. An inquest was later held, but the deputy who killed Salazar was never charged. Even today, there are lingering questions about his death .

Although they occurred more than a generation apart, the deaths of Ruben Salazar and Michael Brown are linked together by the common thread of alleged law enforcement brutality in minority communities.

That’s what makes the results of a new Pew Study troubling. Pew looked at the response to the Ferguson police shooting among whites, African Americans and Hispanics. African Americans were about twice as likely as whites to say that Brown’s shooting raised important issues of race that need to be discussed. A majority of Latinos agreed that Brown’s killing raised important racial issues. But only 18% of Latinos said that they were following the Ferguson news closely.

Yet Latinos should be following the Brown case closely. Like African Americans, Latinos are disproportionately policed and incarcerated . What’s more, Latino communities have too many of our own Michael Browns. Los Angeles police are investigating the death of Omar Abrego, 37, after he died in an altercation with two sergeants. Andy Lopez, 13, was shot and killed by sheriff’s deputies in Northern California because he apparently was carrying a pellet gun. Manuel Diaz, 25, was unarmed when he was shot and killed by police in Anaheim, Calif. in 2012. In fact, the deaths of Hispanics at the hands of law enforcement officers literally stretch across the country – from California to Oklahoma to New York City .

To their credit, a coalition of 39 leading Hispanic advocacy organizations issued a statement condemning the excessive use of force by police in Ferguson. The League of United Latin American Citizens, National Council of La Raza and the Hispanic Federation were among the groups expressing their solidarity with the Brown family, and calling for a full investigation into their son’s death. As Marisa Franco of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network wrote at MSNBC.com , “When Latino and immigrant constituencies see the case of Michael Brown, we should recognize this problem well.”She’s right. Hispanics, along with African Americans, share the struggle for full equality under the law.

Decades ago, Ruben Salazar wrote , “Mexican Americans … are on the lowest rung scholastically, economically, socially and politically. Chicanos feel cheated. They want to effect change. Now.” Switch out the words “Mexican Americans” and Chicanos” for “African Americans” and “Blacks” and Salazar could have been writing about the tensions in Ferguson. So there is no better way to honor his legacy than to continue the struggle against the discrimination, police brutality, and profiling that still plagues minority communities today.

Hispanics ought not to ignore the Michael Brown case. Latinos have a stake in Ferguson because we have a stake in ensuring justice for all.

Raul Reyes is an attorney in New York and a member of USA TODAY’s Board of Contributors.

In addition to its own editorials, USA TODAY publishes diverse opinions from outside writers, including our Board of Contributors. To read more columns like this, go to the opinion front page or follow us on twitter @USATopinion or Facebook .

Social Security, which provides retirement income to millions of elderly Americans, is largely stable – at least for now – thanks in part to the more than 3.1 million people who are working and paying taxes in the U.S. using fake or expired social security numbers. Every year, undocumented immigrants have collectively paid as much as $13 billion into the system while only receiving $1 billion in benefits in return.

The contributions are starting to add up. In total, undocumented workers have contributed more than $100 billion over the last decade while living in the shadows, says Stephen Goss, chief actuary of the Social Security Administration (SSA).

“You could say legitimately that had we not received the contributions that we have had in the past from undocumented immigrants … that would of course diminish our ability to be paying benefits for as long as we now can,” Goss told msnbc.

In 2010, the agency estimated that as many as 2.7 million undocumented immigrants have social security numbers on the books – and are earning credit to their names for potential benefits in the future if ever granted legal status – either because they have temporary authorization to work, have overstayed their visa or obtained work by using fraudulent documents. Another 3.9 million other immigrants are estimated to be working in the U.S. but in the underground economy.

Since the 9/11 terror atacks, Goss says the SSA has cracked down on fake IDs, which were often obtained in the mid-1980s through fraudulent birth certificates. But there remains a significant amount of money contributed to the Social Security system by undocumented workers that continues to go unclaimed.

Those contributions are crucial as more and more of America’s baby boom generation reaches retirement age. The Social Security Trust Fund released its annual report last month finding that there are major causes for concern for the program down the road. Unless Congress reforms the system, the retirement trust funds will be depleted by 2033 and the revenue coming in will only be able to cover 77% of benefits.

One of the solutions proposed to offset the diminishing funds has been comprehensive immigration reform. In a study commissioned by Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican member of the Senate’s Gang of Eight architects for immigration reform, found that the legislation would have boosted GDP by 1.63% and created more than 3 million jobs.

Adriana Kugler, a former chief economist of the U.S. Department of Labor under the Obama administration and a professor at Georgetown University, said lifting undocumented immigrants into the legitimate workforce would have a significant impact on Social Security’s long-term future.

“The net contribution over the next 30 to 40 years will be very crucial in alleviating the pressure on the system,” said Kugler. “That’s really key because it’s a time when a lot of people will be retiring.”

Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren has made the same argument, saying that comprehensive immigration reform is vital to preserving the program.

“One of the ways we can save Social Security is to pass comprehensive immigration reform,” Warren said speaking before the National Council for La Raza (NCLR) conference last month. “Bring more workers and bring more people out of the shadow economy and into the fully paid economy where everything is above the table.”

While hopes of immigration reform languish in Congress, President Obama is expected to take executive action by the end of the summer that could protect 5-8 million people from deportation. The actions under consideration could temporarily grant work permits to some undocumented immigrants, allowing them to get jobs and pay taxes.

In 2012, Obama instituted the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, known as DACA. Under DACA, more than 580,000 so-called DREAMers – young immigrants brought into the U.S. as children – are protected from deportation under a two-year, renewable program eligible for DREAMers who have lived in the U.S. continuously since 2007.

The immediate economic impact has been a boon for the young immigrants and their communities, according to a study released earlier this summer by American Immigration Council. More than 60% of DACA recipients were able to find a job after receiving their benefits, and those jobs translate into more taxable revenue for the state.

Goss said the impacts of the president’s pending executive action would be relatively modest in terms of additional revenue for the Social Security Trust Fund, but still a net positive.

“We estimated that a good number of those people would remain in the country and would remain in the above ground economy,” Goss said.

Source: http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/undocumented-workers-are-keeping-key-benefit-program-afloat

James Cosner activist and Blogger

Spiritually, politically, and scientifically speaking, the nature of disease is that it spreads and proliferates throughout the human body and the human family.
More specifically, capitalism and classism, patriarchy and sexism, white supremacy and racism, colonialism and parasitism, imperialism and conquest, greed and consumption constitute the most deadly diseases in our world today.
Likened to colossal cancers, the aforementioned have intertwined and saturated the very fabric of societies all over and are currently sweeping the earth, affecting people everywhere, inflicting the vast majority of the world’s peoples with profound suffering.
Nevertheless, human beings can be inoculated and immunized from these vastly sweeping diseases.
Education, wisdom, knowledge, understanding, love, respect, resistance, resilience, action, and more highlight the cure to the disease.
More importantly, the divine law of equality underscores the most powerful and potent cure for all the aforementioned diseases.
A mastery and on-going application of the law of equality in its truest form can ultimately end these diseases for ever and ever.

by Alisa Valdes

The question on every Latino’s mind this week?
Why is the César Chávez biopic, directed by the amazing Diego Luna and starring powerhouse actors Michael Peña and Rosario Dawson, failing so badly at the U.S. box office?

The film had a huge promotional budget and push. Everyone knew it was coming. Yet the film barely made $3 million on opening weekend, according to Deadline. Movie critics from coast to coast have been unanimous is saying the film is dull, boring, quiet.
I’ve seen the film, and it’s very good. So why the paltry reaction?

I have a theory: César Chávez doesn’t fit the stereotype for a “minority” civil rights leader in the U.S. media, so critics missed the point.

In US pop culture the paradigm for “American Civil Rights Leader” always presents such people as being like Martin Luther King Jr. – gifted and passionate orators, cut from the Black Southern Preacher cloth, men (and very occasionally women) who comfortably command a room and are at ease in the spotlight.

César Chávez was a different – but equally effective – type of leader.
Most importantly, Chávez was a leader from an indigenous American cultural heritage, a Mexican American from the Southwest – meaning he hailed from an ancient and noble culture of resistance rooted in quiet Native American concepts of power and leadership.
The United States media and its critics don’t understand this culture; all they see is a “boring” man. This is not because the film failed. It is because the critics are ignorant about Latinos in general, and American Indians in particular.

An article by Linda Van Hamm in the Journal of American Indian Education describes the same issue as it pertains to the misunderstanding by whites of Native American pupils.
In contrast, in silence communicates mutual respect and a sense of unity. Reticence and nonverbal forms of communication are greatly valued (Boseker & Gordon, 1983; Hoeveler, 1988; Mitchum, 1989; Sanders, 1987). In the American school system, unfortunately, this communicative reticence often results in American Indian children being viewed as either very shy and withdrawn or as passive, unmotivated, and uninvolved in the learning process (Reyhner, 1992; Yates, 1987).

César Chávez understood this. So did Diego Luna and Michael Peña.

Chávez organized indigenous and Mexican American workers through his quiet power and humility; that’s why it worked. How tragic and unfortunate that American critics have blasted this lovely film for its reserved and taciturn hero.

They’ve missed the point.