Votes Supporting SB1070: a Starting Point for Voter Education

The elections are coming up faster than any of us would like. I hope you are feeling uneasy about what's ahead because I don't think the support against SB1070 is going to be strong enough to make the changes many Arizonans would like to see. It's all up to us to make the change we want to see. One way to start thinking about how you will vote is to look at how your senators and house members voted on SB1070. It's a pretty easy task, in this case. If they are Republican, they supported Russell Pearce and his tragic SB1070. Look at the list and see who is up for re-election. Look to see if they are running for a different office.

Happy Birthday Frida Kahlo

Happy Birthday to beautiful Frida Kahlo. I discovered her 50 plus years ago when I visited her home "Casa Azul" in Coyoacan with my father. She was my muse and inspiration from that time forward to embroider art into my life. Her portrait sits over my desk where she watches me with stern eyes pound out my novels, paint my dreams and create a "juicy" theology of life. Frida inspires us to never be afraid of who we really are even though it may makes others uncomfortable. She never apologized for being real.

Worst Racist This Week: Barry Wong

Congratulations Barry Wong. You made it! The First Person on the True Mexican “List of Who is Not Worthy of the Latino Vote in Arizona”. Warning sign number one is demonizing a racial minority and using that to power your campaign. Barry must really be in dire straights to use this technique. This is politics at its lowest and filthiest. In the AZ republic there was a great editorial about this, an Open Letter from Glen Hamer who is the CEO of the AZ Chamber of Commerce and Industry and a column by Mr. Montini. Please take time to read them. They really say it all. Barry really needs to re read the history of the Chinese Immigrant in America.

Bottoms Up !

cc photo of Flor de Jamaica courtesy of Omarsan on Flickr

Happy Summer Solstice everyone! I actually took a vacation in Cali by the ocean while my partner in crime was back here in Aztlan fighting the good fight! Well, still no update on that appropriation money for the Santa Rita Center. Never fear True Mexican will not give up on getting answers. We are just getting warmed up.

While on the beach and drinking lots of fermented blue agave, I started thinking about all the amazing plants we use in our culture and decided to do a little “Marta Sanchez” moment. We having been dealing with such intensity and before we start drilling candidates about why “Latinos” should vote for them I thought a bit of whimsy and a recipe might help.

Prove You're Worth the Latino Vote!

cc photo courtesy of Steve Rhodes on Flickr

In 1992, I helped lead a grassroots movement that proved the power of the youth vote. We proved, through Clinton's election, that grassroots organizing with youth could get a President elected. During Obama's campaign, the same strategy was used to get students voting and to try and win the Latino vote. It worked. However, with the 2010 election season running full speed, candidates seem to have forgotten how important the Latino vote is to their success. We are hoping to change that.