Memorial Day

This Memorial Day I’m thinking of my close friend and mentor, CR. Actually, I consider CR a member of my family. We are that close. CR is a veteran of the war in Vietnam. Like many Chicanos of his generation, he was drafted straight out of high school. Although there is no official “draft” anymore, I believe that there is still a “poverty draft”.

CR never really talks about his time in the Vietnam War. However, when I have asked, he has told me various stories of the war, including the absurdities of the war and the profiteering. CR was shot twice on Hamburger Hill and received a Purple Heart. CR came back home and later became a successful business and family man. CR, I am remembering you this Memorial Day, all those who have served, and all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice by having their lives taken on the battlefield.

 

Change is Inevitable

I visited my parents in Highland Park this weekend. Driving along York Blvd. I saw lots of changes to the neighborhood. The changes are even more profound when you don’t live there day to day. With all the changes to Eagle Rock in the last couple of years, it was only a matter of time before the barbarians broke through the gates. Highland Park is going upscale. I read that within the next few weeks York Blvd. will become the home of three new gathering spots: JOHNNY’S BAR at 5006 York Blvd., THE YORK at 5018 York, and MARTY’S at 5137 York Blvd. Marty’s will be a “steaks and cocktails” place. It will take the place of “El Chubasco” a grungy, old, seedy dive bar that I never stepped foot in. In fact, I never saw anyone ever enter or leave that place. Maybe change is good for the neighborhood. Only time will tell.

In Through My Ears

In through my ears and in my mind. I am currently listening to Chambao. Chambao is a flamenco-electronic band originally from Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, known for a Flamenco Chill sound that fuses flamenco sounds and palos with electronic music. The name of the band is taken from an improvised form of beach tent that is constructed as a means of sheltering from the wind and sun.

 

Singer María del Mar, affectionately known as “La Mari”, has a wonderful voice, just like an angel, and was featured on Ricky Martin’s Tu Recurdo. La Mari’s voice is like a butterfly dancing among the flowers on a bright sunny day.

Chicano English

I am bilingual. I speak English and Spanish. However, I have lots of Chicano friends who speak English, but do not speak Spanish. These persons are monolingual. Yet, many of my monolingual friends choose to mix in words in Spanish. Linguists have documented this as a dialect of English known as Chicano English. Originally people thought that Chicano English wasn’t even a separate dialect of English, that it was just the way that people spoke when their first language was Spanish (“making mistakes”, and with an “accent”). But while Chicano English is influenced by Spanish in a general way, we now know that it is its own separate dialect, not just a “Spanish accent” because there are monolingual English speakers who don’t know any Spanish, and yet still speak Chicano English. Chicano English is what I heard growing up in Highland Park, California. Take the Chicano English quiz here.

John Wayne’s 3 Wives Were All Latinas!

Photo Caption: Actors John Wayne and Mexican film actress Esperanza Baur applying for marriage license in Los Angeles, Calif., 1946.  Source: Los Angeles Times photographic archive, UCLA Library. Copyright Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.

In a recent 60 Minutes interview, CNN’s anti-immigrant, anti-Mexican xenophobe Lou Dobbs revealed that he is married to a Mexican-American (read: Chicana), the former Debbi Segura. In fact, Mr. “Broken Borders” revealed that he lives with 2 Mexicans and a Chicana (not counting the workers or seasonal ranch hands that may help out) at his Nuevo “Yersey” Rancho.

Yes! Dobbs lives with his esposa y los suegros! I love it! I can only imagine that Dobbs probably eats lots of comida Mexicana at home. Probably lots of tacos de carne asada, carnitas, tostadas, etc. are eaten at the Dobbs Rancho while some good Mexican music is playing on the estereo. You know, the kind of music heavy on the accordion, tubas and the tachun-tachun. Do you think “Meester” Broken Borders eats frijoles, too? Yo pienso que si! In fact, Dobbs’ suegros look like mi Tio Cornelio y la Comadre Chata. Dobbs’ suegro even has the Mexican-style razor-thin mustache on his upper lip, just like Pedro Infante used to sport. Can’t get more Mexicano than that. Read the connection to John Wayne after the bump.

For My Wife

Today, Sunday, May 13, 2007, is Mother’s Day in the US. In Mexico, el Dia de las Madres is celebrated on May 10th, no matter what day of the week it falls on. This is the first Mother’s Day that I can remember in which I have not been able to speak to my mother or visit her in person. The reason for this is because my mother and father are currently in Mexico to take care of some urgent family matters. I miss my mother. Siempre recuerdo a mi mama y la amo mucho, donde quiera que este. Un fuerte abrazo, Mama.

 

Speaking of strong women, yesterday I participated in the Revlon 5K Run/Walk for Women at the L.A. Coliseum. It was my first time participating in this event. I ran in loving memory of two very good people whose life cancer extinguished way too soon. All I can say is that it was a very emotional and moving event. Surrounded by women, I felt their strength, their power, and their pain as we marched through the streets of South Central L.A. Their is strength in numbers and on this day, the resiliency of the human spirit was clearly evident.

Espanol

Spanish. I love Spanish now. I love to hear it, I love to speak it, I love to read and write it. Spanish is the gift that my parents gave me, my birthrite as a Chicano. However, I never really knew how much Spanish was a part of me, how it defined me, how it made me feel, how it resides in my soul. I didn’t know how much Spanish loved me, and how much I loved her. El Espanol vive en mi Alma, en mi ser.

When we went to Espana in November 2005, we stayed in a really nice hotel in Madrid. In the hotel lobby one morning, I saw a bunch of what looked like business people or diplomats from different countries getting ready for a meeting. I listened intently as one man spoke in English, then easily switched to French, to German to Spanish to some Arabic language–all without missing a beat. Man, he was extremely fluent and fluid in all the languages he spoke. I found his language skills very fascinating. I was mesmerized by his power to express himself in so many different languages. It triggered something inside of me. A yearning to learn. I wanted to be like him. I wanted that same power, to be able to express myself in more than one language, to understand someone speaking another language.