I always like to try to translate songs I already love into Spanish— especially those I see to be, dare I say, “modern classics” like this one. I also find it hilarious that it is the typical uncool white yuppie dad archetype.
But still, Del > Bell.
Before the month of May comes to an end, we pause to pay tribute to a true Mexican legend. Carlos Fuentes: The Real Life Most Interesting Man in the World. QEPD.
Es cierto. I’m lucky I got to meet this guy once and listen to him talk at UCLA. He told my dad where to get the best mole in D.F. One day I’ll have a beer there in his honor. Or tequila.
(Source: thinkmexican, via justlikemiel)
Ahora… me siento como este hombre…necesito más café.
¡Sólo un día más!
or in English:
Right now I feel like this guy. I need more coffee.
Just one more day!
At least that’s what I meant to say.
Mr. Chicano USA?
Cheech Marin is the undisputed face of East L.A. Chicanos in pop culture, but now he has ascended to be the biggest collector of Chicano art. Not only has he given back to his community by sponsoring artists, but he has given a group some amount of legitimate clout in a less than welcoming mainstream art market. Pretty rad for a guy who has probably gained the most fame from playing the part of a pot smoking loser.
Does banning the terms "Oaxaquita" (little Oaxacan) and "indito" (little indian) make a difference?
Above link: Read or listen to the story that spawned my question, covered by local public radio channel KPCC.
I suppose it’s a good measure to create awareness and perhaps stop bullying, but I’m not sure that banning these words can change the minds of the people that use them in an antagonistic fashion at all. I’ve personally heard these terms used in a form of endearment and jest amongst Oaxacans but know that, from a non-indigenous Mexican, they can be hurtful. It’s like the term “nigga” being re-appropriated by blacks in their effort to overcome the past years of inequality and the slavery before it that has scarred this country. In essence, the terms “nigger” or “negroe” were used in the same manner as “Oaxaquita” and “indito;” Americans of one ethnic background were bashing another group of Americans based on skin color.
In this case, it’s Mexican on Mexican antagonism based on the same notion of the non-indigenous group being ethnically “better.” However terrible for those that have been called any derogatory names, the problem will never be solved until there is a change in both countries’ societies. Can banning a few words, or any offensive word, do that? Not in my opinion, not to mention it conflicts with this country’s freedom of speech (note to readers: I don’t defend the use of any of these terms, but should they be banned according to the most vital foundations of the U.S.? ).
On another level, how are “white” people, (or non-Mexicans even) supposed to understand the significance of this measure without knowing the history of the caste system in Mexico? They’re not the ones who use it— the problem is among Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. The influx of both groups has caused an anti-slur campaign in a country outside of the origin of the very problem! Americans and Indians/Native-Americans have had considerable clashing, but because the Native populations were massacred then moved on to reservations, their fight has been quieter and mostly forgotten. The fact that there is such a strong Mexican influence in this country, and especially Southern California, is obviously why this is even a matter of interest in the first place.
Basically: General antagonism against all indigenous people has to be stopped before any group can stop being attacked based on their ethnicity and we’ll all probably be dead before that ever happens.
¡híjole!
Sorry about the age verification and the possible advertisement, gee thanks Hulu, but this was the best video I could find. I really wanted to find a clip that featured two of the songs which have so tremendously shaped and influenced my life. Maybe this will inspire you too.
Above photo is mine from a lovely excursion to the best pastor taco I have encountered in Los Angeles, at Tacos Leo. Though it was fresh, tasty, delicious, and straight off the trompo, my heart belongs to the beast of a pastor taco from Taquería San Jose, located in San Francisco’s Mission district.
Saying that I love tacos is an understatement. I hear you saying “Yeah, so what? A lot of people love them— look at the success of Taco Bell!” But It isn’t just a desire to eat a delicious little handheld snack, but really I have found that tacos bring everybody together. All Mexican cuisine is loved by everybody I know—except chapulines, those seem to be either adored or despised— but the taco and the endless possibilities of the fillings, toppings, sides, social settings, drink accompaniment, etc. seem to make everybody just feel a little better. If I had to pick a food to eat for the rest of my life, end world peace, or a fight with my mom, eat on my wedding day, and have catered at my funeral, it would have to be the mighty taco. “¡Ask a Mexican!” radio show host and column author Gustavo Arellano even wrote a book about my hero, the taco, and I can’t wait to pick it up. For now this L.A. Times review of Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America, will have to do. In some way, I think that the taco is a manifestation of who I am through food— a bizarre product of Mexican and European mixture originating in L.A., coveted by many but understood by few.
We have to be more Mexican than the Mexicans and more American than the Americans, both at the same time! It’s exhausting!
—Edward James Olmos as Abraham Quintanilla, Selena
Do "Los Doyers" love Chicanos back?
I wish this woman had continued that blog. Well anyway, here’s a story to follow that up: The banning the independently made “Los Doyers” shirts. I remember being pretty annoyed with some stuffy mega wealthy white people -still going through a giant ridiculous divorce-deciding to take out the Latino small businessmen making a profit off of their own culture. Then again, we have just learned that Chicanos love Los Doyers… and all team owners love money, so really I should have assumed this would have happened sooner.
