CHICANO RADIO NETWORK U.S.A. Blog

Déjà vu: Bernie Sanders reincarnates Eugene McCarthy…
Eugen-McCarthyPD_200As Yogi Berra noted, it’s déjà vu all over again. As it did forty-eight (48) years ago, the Democratic Party elite-establishment has declared war on its members, particularly the youth and their champion. The target in 1968 was Minnesota Sen. Eugene McCarthy. In 2016, the target is Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders

1968: The young folks “…brought the country back into the system…”

In 1968, Minnesota Sen. Eugene McCarthy, a “labor union socialist,” ran for president, inspiring the country’s young people and harnessing their energy and idealism. America’s youth were demanding an end to the Vietnam War. Young people were also fighting for civil rights for people of color and women, for worker rights (e.g., the farm worker struggle led by César Chávez), and for a clean environment. They were totally disenchanted with the power brokers, the “establishment,” and loathed the total control that rich donors, special interests and lobbyists, and corporate lackeys exerted over politicians. They sought to put “demo” (the people) back into the Democratic Party.

The Democratic establishment insisted McCarthy was too radical, a one-issue candidate, and “unelectable,” lines parroted by the media. Then came the New Hampshire Primary. Propelled by a huge surge of young people, McCarthy came within 230 votes of defeating President Lyndon Baines Johnson. McCarthy told his ecstatic supporters that evening:
“People have remarked that this campaign has brought young people back into the system. But it’s the other way around. The young people have brought the country back into the system.” (Al Eisele, “New Hampshire 1968: A Primary That Really Mattered,” HuffPost Politics, May 25, 2011)
The Democratic Party elite-establishment panics…

LJB quit the race because of McCarthy’s success.
McCarthy’s strong showing panicked the Democratic Party establishment. LBJ quit the race, and the Democratic Party establishment conspired to have a bunch of “favorite son” candidates run and lock up their respective states’ delegates and “give” them to Johnson’s Vice President, Hubert H. Humphrey, who had not run in any primary, assuring his nomination.
Robert F. Kennedy also ran in 1968, and after Kennedy’s assassination, South Dakota Sen. George McGovern entered the race and rallied the Kennedy forces. Despite the fact that 80 percent of the primary voters had voted for McCarthy and Kennedy, McGovern, McCarthy and their supporters were marginalized by the party establishment at the Democratic Convention.

The Humphrey nomination manifested the corrupt nature of establishment politics. Over 10,000 people, virtually all youth with a smattering of “oldsters,” gathered in Chicago in August, 1968, to protest the Democratic Party convention. They were met by 23,000 police and National Guardsmen who proceeded to attack the protesters, injuring hundreds and arresting close to 600.
Democratic Party made changes, but…

In spite of the Chicago protests, Hubert Humphrey was nominated.

After that disastrous convention, the Democratic Party made the nomination process more responsive to the voters. But the party establishment believed the changes gave too much power to voters, and in 1982 the Democratic Party created the “superdelegates,” a new word for an old concept: party bosses.
In a February 12, 2016, CNN interview Debbie Wasserman Shultz, chair of the Democratic National Committee, said outright that the purpose of the superdelegates is “…to make sure that party leaders and elected officials don’t have to be in a position where they are running against grass-roots activists.” Translation: the Democratic Party wants to keep its elite separate from the Democratic riffraff.

Former Vermont governor (and former DNC chair) Howard Dean makes the disconnect between the “superdelegates” and rank-and-file Democrats very clear: Saying that “superdelegates don’t represent people,” Dean plans to cast his superdelegate vote for Clinton, in spite of the fact that Sanders won the Vermont Primary by 72.5 percentage points (86.1 % to 13.6 %). (Ben Swann, “Reality Check: Democrats have a Superdelegate problem,” Freedom Outpost, March 12, 2016)
2016: DNC: “an arm for the Clinton campaign”…

Debbie Wasserman Schultz, once Hillary Clinton campaign co-chair now head of the DNC.
The Clinton coronation campaign began in 2011, when Clinton’s 2008 campaign co-chair, Debbie Wasserman Shultz, became the Chair of the Democratic National Committee, which former Virginia U.S. Senator Jim Webb describes as “an arm for the Clinton campaign.” Amanda Girard detailed occasions that Wasserman Shultz tried to steer events in favor of Clinton (Amanda Girard, “5 Times Debbie Wasserman Schultz Violated DNC Rules and Stacked the Deck in Favor of Clinton,” U.S. Uncut, December 20, 2015). These include:
Scheduling only six debates and at times guaranteed to have low viewership (e.g., opposite NFL playoff games), which limited voters’ exposure to Sanders. The DNC chief financial officer organized a fundraiser for Clinton in San Antonio, Texas, in clear violation of DNC rules.
The DNC allowed the Clinton campaign to have its headquarters in the DNC offices in Nevada. Pete Voelker reported that, “With its walls papered with Hillary Clinton signs … it was hard to tell where the Democratic Party’s office ended and the Clinton office began … (and) there weren’t any (signs) that mentioned the two other Democrats running for president.” (Pete Voelker, “Is the Democratic Party Rigging the Election for Hillary Clinton?” The VICE Guide to the 2016 Election, December 19, 2015)
The people running NGP VAN, the system all Democratic campaigns use to monitor voter patterns and conduct outreach, mistakenly allowed access, for a few minutes, to Clinton’s campaign data to Sanders staffers. The Sanders staffer who saw the data was immediately fired, but the DNC nevertheless cut off the Sanders campaign’s access to the voter database, a fatal blow to any campaign. Sanders had to sue to regain access to the database.
And the DNC helped the Clinton campaign line up “superdelegates” for Clinton months before the Democratic primary debates began.
2016 “superdelegates” are 1968’s “favorite sons” and yet…

Is Hillary orchestrating something with superdelegates?
Candidates can essentially “buy” superdelegate support. Superdelegates are overwhelmingly elected officials (members of Congress, governors, etc.), and many receive campaign contributions from presidential candidates. Sheila Krumholz of the Center for Responsive Politics notes that the center’s research found a high correlation between presidential candidates’ campaign contributions to superdelegates and superdelegate endorsements.

As of March 3, 2016, Clinton had won 771 delegates in primaries and caucuses, and Sanders had won 552. Since a large majority of states have yet to hold their primaries/caucuses, the race is pretty close by delegate count. However, the media keep reporting that Clinton has 1,220 delegates but do not explain that 449 of Clinton’s 1,220 tally are endorsements by “superdelegates” and not delegates she won in an election or caucus. Marc Rubin characterizes Clinton’s so-called delegate “lead” that includes the “superdelegates” as “a complete fraud … Initiated by Clinton and the DNC” and aided and abetted by “reporters (who) simply swallowed what was thrown at them.” (Marc Rubin, “Hillary Clinton and the DNC’s Super Delegate Fraud,” Tom In Paine, February 23, 2016)

The “superdelegates” seem to be playing the same role for Clinton in 2016 that the “favorite sons” played for Humphrey in 1968.
In spite of this direct attack by the DNC and the party elite and bosses, in a year’s time Sanders has risen 36 points in the polls, from 4.1% to 41%, a gain of approximately 879%, playing havoc with the DNC’s planned coronation of Clinton.
The media holds hand with the DNC…

Is the Democratic elite branding Sanders as “unelectable?”
So as to develop a negative image of Sanders, the Democratic elite slipped a few phrases into the media’s lexicon: Sanders is a one-issue candidate. Sanders is “unelectable.” Clinton is sensible and pragmatic while Sanders is too radical and only has big and impractical ideas. Only white people support Sanders. It’s almost obligatory that any article, column, news piece, roundtable discussion, etc., by the Washington Post, New York Times, and all the major networks throw in some or all of the above phrases.
The title of Lee Fang’s article (The Intercept, Feb. 25 2016) exposes another issue: “TV Pundits Praise Hillary Clinton On Air, Fail to Disclose Financial Ties to Her Campaign.” Fang details many instances where people who are paid consultants to Clinton’s campaign appear on networks such as CNN, MNBC, ABC, NBC to discuss the presidential campaign. They are introduced as “political strategists” or “political contributors,” but their ties to the Clinton campaign are not revealed. Clinton thus gets millions of dollars of free publicity.

“History is being made today…which side will you be on?”
The dynamics of 1968 parallel exactly the 2016 dynamics:

McCarthy responded to the Vietnam War, Bernie Sanders is responding to the causes of the 2008 economic recession.
Both McCarthy and Sanders were/are demonized for exciting young people and bringing new voters to the party, something the party claims it wants to do but doesn’t. Both were/are demonized and called “radical” for articulating positions and ideas that the majority of Americans support. In 1968, as today, young people and others were/are rebelling against the political establishment. McCarthy generated huge voter turnouts, as does Sanders. The Democratic Party elite-establishment, on the other hand, benefits from, and wants, low turnouts.

1968 was not about merely tweaking the status quo, and neither is 2016. In 1968, the Vietnam War, civil rights dynamics, huge social and economic changes that were occurring, etc., demanded that candidates come forth with bold new ideas, not warmed-over ones reflecting failed policies. In 2016, economic inequality and the anxiety that causes, American soldiers dying overseas, a new wave of civil rights unrest (immigration, Black Lives Matter, etc.), huge cultural and demographic changes, outrage at the banks and others who caused the 2008 recession and ruined the lives of millions of people, etc., also demand bold solutions.

Indeed, 2016 is a fundamental-change election, a bottom-up phenomenon driven by the grass roots rather than the usual top-down dynamics dictated by the party elite-establishment. This is as true on the Republican side as the Democratic, as witnessed by outsider Donald Trump soundly beating all the establishment candidates.

Florence Reece’s words still ring true today.
The chorus to the 1931 union song by Florence Patton Reece, “Whose side are you on?,” comes to mind. The following lyrics from Reece’s song are very relevant to the situation at hand, as the grass roots takes on the political bosses:
“Don’t scab for the bosses,
Don’t listen to their lies,
Us poor folks haven’t got a chance
Unless we organize.”
Come next year, when a new president is being sworn in, people will be asking: whose side were you on when it mattered—the bosses or the people? c/s

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Copyright 2016 by Salomon Baldenegro. You can contact Salomon at: [email protected]. Florence Reece photo used under the fair use proviso of the copyright law. All other photos in the public domain.

By: Heather Gies

TeleSUR spoke with Guatemalan hip hop artist, Rebeca Lane, about her music as a tool in the struggle for women’s empowerment.

Rebeca Lane is a feminist rapper, poet, artist and activist based in Guatemala City whose art and resistance as a woman and an anarchist has been shaped by her country’s long and ongoing history of gender violence.

TeleSUR spoke with Lane while in Mexico as part of her Central American tour called Somos Guerreras, or We Are Warriors, about how her hip hop music is fighting for space for women’s issues in Central America and beyond and on how she is part of bringing women together to resist oppression and empower themselves.

Right now you are on the Somos Guerreras tour in Central America. What does Somos Guerreras mean for you as an artist and as a feminist?

Somos Guerreras is a process through which some artists from Central America have successfully linked up the art that we do with activism. And this involves processes of knowledge transmission, processes of spreading the work we are doing, holding discussions, going on television and radio programs, etcetera.

And it includes something really important for us which is events production, that is, creating spaces through which women in hip hop culture have a space to present the art that we make without being discriminated against or having less important spaces because of the fact that we’re women.

This content was originally published by teleSUR at the following address:
“http://www.telesurtv.net/english/opinion/Guatemalan-Feminist-Rapper-Tearing-Down-Walls-20160312-0043.html”. If you intend to use it, please cite the source and provide a link to the original article. www.teleSURtv.net/english

Tonight! Thursday night at 7 pm Pacific Time / 8 pm Mountain Time / 10 pm Eastern Time, we embrace the Chicano arts with Tejano music, Blues and Jazz to name a few.

Click here to tune in>>> http://tunein.com/station/?StationId=235787

For segment 1 of our show, our first guest is a lover of Tejano music. Al Muniz not only was a presenter last year for the Tejano Music Awards, but he is also a VOCALIST, MUSICIAN, COMPOSER,  ARRANGER, PRODUCER, PROMOTER, VOICE-OVER ARTIST and ACTOR. He was born in San Pedro CA, grew up in Santa Fe NM, and has resided in Albuquerque NM for over 25 years. Throughout all of that he also considers himself a part time resident of San Antonio. Muniz has been involved in the Tejano Industry for over 15 yrs. While in the music Industry for over 40yrs.  The first time Muniz heard Tejano music at a very young age, it immediately grabbed his attention because it reminded him of Mariachi music, but orchestrated. Tonight we talk about his new album coming out. For his new album, Muniz is working with Gilbert Velasquez (Quincy Jones of Tejano music) who is a renowned producer who has won 13 Grammies and is known for working with legendary Tejano musicians (to include Selena).

I will be playing one of Al’s songs titled: El Solitario at the end of segment 1 — A song Muniz worked with Gilbert lopez … Heir to Jerry Lopez who is a member of the well known New Mexican band via Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns! Out of all the MP3 song files Al sent me, this is my favorite and I can’t figure out why.

I will play another song of his after Segment 2 interview with Raydeance titled Me Lo Dijiste, too.

Our 2^nd guest is the beautiful Raydeance. Raydeance Light is a Blues/ jazz singer, an Actress, a Model (for pin up, the runway, and more), and she is the Editor for Ink & Rhythm Magazine, too! Tune in to this up and coming artist who is working on a new album in Seattle, Washington. She will give us a little acapella during the interview. She discusses the charitable organizations she is involved with and much, much more! Be sure to visit Raydeance’s website at: http://www.raydeance.com/ !

Tonight, Thursday, December 10, 2015 at 7 pm Pacific Time / 8 pm Mountain Time / 10 pm Eastern Time, we embrace the arts via music as we highlight two dynamic Chicano musicians via Rick Phoenix Manzo and KJ Melgoza.  KJ and I talk a bit about Scott Weiland who was a former singer of Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver in light of his recent passing.  RIP Scott Weiland.

Click here to tune in>>> http://tunein.com/station/?StationId=235787

Rick Phoenix Manzo is a melodic hard rock singer-songwriter from Mercedes Texas (South Texas). Former bands he has been known from are Orions legacy, Drain of life, Faultered State, Fates Armada and his main band A day of ashes (2007 – 2014) which released their debut CD titled Turmoil in 2009.A song we will be playing tonight is titled “Breathless” from the Turmoil album. Bands music is at Reverbnation.com/Adayofashes

Rick Phoenix recently left A day of ashes to pursue his solo project called “I, Beyond Scars”. At the moment he is writing new music for a 5 song demo EP to be released in 2016 and he is searching for musicians to collaborate with on each song. Rick also writes for two magazines from South Texas. He writes for the local music scene and for national touring acts feature called Rockland revolution. He is also writing for Xtreme magazine of Texas featuring hot models and cars and entertainment. Rick has also done a little bit of amateur acting in some features playing an extra in a movie which had actor Danny Trejo in it.

KJ Melgoza is an Arizona native from Phoenix now living in Sweden. He started playing music when he was 14. He also works on hotrod cars since he could hold a wrench. KJ was the front man of Arizona Metal band Warhead in High school where he was nicknamed Kjaris from Michael –a close High school friend. KJ lived in Hollywood, then moved to Sweden with his girlfriend Hanna. Currently he offers music lessons both online and privately, and he also offers services to write/record and produce music. His information can be found on various sources most notably YouTube.com/kjaris and his webpage www.kjaris.com.

On tonight’s Que Onda Show that will air on the Chicano Radio Network U.S.A., we have Ed Archie NoiseCat, Fine Artist, and Alicia Lopez who is the founder of Trucha Gear.  We will also highlight a deported veteran who was deported in 2003 via Vale Sangster who also served our military with honorable discharge.

A little bit about Ed NoiseCat from Manitou Galleries: “NoiseCat draws on the stories of his ancestors and contemporary issues pertaining to Indigenous peoples to create innovative images executed with extraordinary craftsmanship.

NoiseCat grew up in British Columbia’s remote, mountainous interior with his mother’s people, the Canim Lake Band of Shuswap Indians. He draws inspiration from his mother’s plateau culture, and from his father’s people, the Stlitlimx, closer to the coast. NoiseCat graduated from the prestigious Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, B.C., where he studied printmaking. In 1986 he moved to New York to work as a fine art lithographer at print shops including world-renowned Tyler Graphics. Ed has lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico since 2001.  NoiseCat thrives on exploring new ground and pushing the limits of his abilities.”

Next on the show we have the Founder of Trucha Gear via Alicia Lopez. Alicia and I discuss the French Designer’s blouse from Marant’s Etoile collection that appears to be plagiarizing women living in an indigenous community in Mexico.   Isabel Marant was singled out by the community of Santa Maria Tlahuitoltepec, which believes it bears striking resemblance to their traditional costume.

Trucha Gear is an Arizona based company from the brain child of Alicia Lopez. Always having a passion for fashion since she was a little girl Alicia an average 9 to 5 working Chicana decided to start her own little clothing line in hopes to achieve a lifelong dream of having a her own successful clothing line. “I take some of my own personality and style and put them into my design,” says Alicia. Trucha Gear offers a unique style. It’s a tough yet stylish line with a little attitude. Not only do we offer clothing, but various accessories as well, including hair flowers in many designs and colors as well as hair bows. People will find the apparel very eye-catching. Guaranteed to get a second look. Right now, Trucha Gear is a small company that is just starting out.

Last but certainly not least as I stay on course to leave no man behind, tonight we will highlight a deported veteran via Vale Sangster who was deported back in 2003 after he served our U.S. Armed Forces with HONORABLE DISCHARGE. He will be giving a shout out to his beautiful wife and loved ones who are still living in the states while he lives in Panama.  Special thanks to Hector Barajas of Deported Veterans Support House for staying the course on his mission to do what he can to bring those who served our Nation in the Armed Forces back to their families that are living here in our Nation.

I wasn’t sure how the Rocky Movies were going to tie into the new Creed Movie … and I went into the movie expecting to be a bit picky.  I’m a big fan of the Rocky movies.  In fact, I believe Sylvester Stallone brilliantly wrote that script from a place of humility and inspiration.

One of the best inspirational movie quotes of all time for me was when Rocky Balboa said:

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now, if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain’t you. You’re better than that!

Though the Creed movie writer is different, I was searching for the penetrating movie quotes and there were a couple of them.  The most moving movie quote was when the son of Apollo Creed needed to prove to himself that he wasn’t a “mistake.”   The other great line was when Balboa was telling the young Creed (pointing in mirror) the toughest opponents in life were essentially ourselves, and it is true not only in the [boxing] ring, but in life.

Both Ryan Coogler (director/writer) and  Aaron Covington  (Screenplay writer) get two thumbs up for tying the Rocky movies all together, resurrecting Apollo Creed and connecting both the “OG’s” (those who grew up with and  enjoyed the original Rocky movie series) as well as creating this synergy towards the X generation movie goers.

Additionally, I thought it was brilliant for Tecate to be the ultimate sponsor of the “big fight” because everybody knows how the Mexican American / Chicano loves boxing.  Not only are we the fastest growing demographic, we are an economic force within the movie ticket sales arena, too.

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant!

Mao Kanto, guitarist with S7N will be a future guest on the Que Onda Radio Show Program that will air on the Chicano Radio Network USA!  We are excited to learn more about their music, and the ultimate Rock En Espaniol Fiesta.  It will be the largest one in the USA and it will take place in Arizona.

I love my Latin Brothers and Sisters from around the globe and am deeply saddened when I hear of yet another plight effecting my beautiful people.

As for the Latin Grammy’s I being Chicano (Mexican/American) was very excited about another award ceremony done on our name. However, when I quickly noticed the program seemed to cater to the east coast labels I found myself a bit disillusioned. I feel if we are going to hang a sign to promote our Latin communities then the largest American demographic should certainly be represented which is not the case with the exclusive labels on the east coast.

Years ago when the Grammy’s decided to go Spanish only that added to my disappointment. As a Chicano (Mexican/American) I am of two cultures one American and Mexican (hence, an American from Mexican decent) Chicanos communicate in English and Spanish however, some don’t speak Spanish and some don’t speak English. This is why I don’t agree with an all-Spanish show. I think it should be in both languages so that a Chicano artist who only speaks English won’t feel disenfranchised by the politics of the show. There are countless awards for only Spanish speaking artists on Spanish language Television.

Again, I like the idea of more awards for and from our Latin world, it’s great but don’t exclude based on how proficient our communities are in language. Or just call it for what it is. A night of Sony’s Tommy Mottola and Estefan awards.

Su Amigo,

Frank M. Miranda
President/CEO

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This Thursday night at 7 pm Pacific Time / 8 pm Mountain Time / 10 pm Eastern Time, we embrace the arts via filmmaking and music! heart emoticon

Click here to tune in>>> http://tunein.com/station/?StationId=235787

Our 1st guest is Edwin “El Miedo” Pagán is the Founder-In-Chief of LATIN HORROR. Pagán is a writer, filmmaker (with over 20 years production experience in the narrative and documentary film sectors), photographer/cinemotographer, curator, cultural activist, and life-long horror fan.

Pagán has curated the New Latino Filmmakers screening series at Anthology Film Archives for the past 10 years, where he also now hosts LATIN HORROR’s ‘The HORRORphiles’ fear series several times during the year, including its annual MIEDO MASHUP that celebrates the website’s anniversary.

In 2008 he founded LATIN HORROR, an online niche market website specializing in Latin-influenced horror, its documentation, and promotion as a distinct genre. Pagán is at the forefront of the Latin “Dark Creative Expressionist” movement, a term he coined as a means of identifying the millions of lost souls who live outside the rim of mainstream society and whose lifestyle and work is grounded in horror, the macabre, and gothic arts.

Currently, he is penning a book entitled ‘MIEDO – The History of Latin Horror.’
Edwin can be reached directly at LATIN HORROR at: [email protected]

Our 2nd guest comes from an interview we had with Chicano musician, Victor DeLeon, who is part of the Legacy DeLeon Brothers Band from the State of Colorado (also known as Corky Gonzales country). At the end of our show, I play a song from their Chicano music CD titled “You Are My Sunshine”, and it was my favorite song because of the ‪#‎BLUES‬ -like guitar introduction of the song … that went into an OG type of Chicano music vibe.

A bit about the DeLeon Brothers Band — In the late 40’s going forward to the mid 80’s there lived a musician named Esequiel DeLeon, Sr. This was an unassuming – nondescript trumpet player that would become the Patriarch to a clan and live to share and instill his passion for music and his value for familia with many. Over time, these two elements would be fused, shared, and nurtured to eventually produce a seven decade long legacy with the Patriarch being blessed to see much of it unfold before being called home and leaving the vision in the care of his sons and descendants.

The DeLeon Brothers are blessed to have access to some of Denver’s best veteran musicians who in their own right share a community music legacy and history. They have expanded the DeLeon Brothers Band to also include the larger DeLeon Brothers Legacy Band which includes seasoned veterans as well as some old and new friends. We acknowledge and thank their members Bobby DeLeon (Vocals), Phil DeLeon (Vocals), Vic DeLeon (Vocals/Lead Guitar), Mr. Mark Gonzales (Bass/Vocals), Mr. Nick Carranco (Lead Guitar/Vocals), Mr. Toby Rivera (Drums/Percussion), Mr. Ramon Gordon (Lead Sax/Vocals), Mr. Joey Mora (Sax/Vocals), and Mr. Brandon Barnes (Trumpet.)

A message from the Brothers to our familia. The DeLeon tradition and legacy belongs to you. It is your heritage as well as a responsibility. For the generation already coming up and pursuing accomplishments in music or reaching for your dreams, we are proud of you. Know that life will continue to bring both challenge and opportunity as you stay on this journey. Know that we will always be here for you, but also remember that the standard of integrity and character that our family legacy and tradition embraces will need your thoughtfullness, patience, and the willingness to go that extra mile to embrace humility … never giving up.

Cruise To The Capitol