Woo hoo! AmericanPupusa shows up on Racialicious!!!

Oy oy!!! My piece "Elements of Diversity" is featured on Racialicious, introducing me as a guest contributor! Shouts to Latoya Peterson and the rest of her crew as they bring in very cool intersections related to the discourse of social issues and race that you don't normally see. Drawing pop culture, comic books, and sci-fi will be covered inna bit when I write my next piece on Junot Diaz's visit to Georgetown earlier this week.

boh!!!

My main homie Quique along side some heavy hitters...

 A great ally and friend of mine, Quique Aviles, is a Salvadoran DC playwright, performer, and activist. I had the honor of working with him for "Los Treinta: Celebrating 30 Years of Salvadorans in D.C." for the Gala Hispanic Theatre. He will be among many this week at Georgetown University for "Writing Dangerously in Immigrant America: Violence, Politics, Diasporic Histories and Poetics of Survival" symposium."

Here you go Quique.... 

AmericanPupusa on Facebook and Twitter - Housecleaning ensues...

If you are on the Facebooks... make sure you head over there after reading this, and "Like" the AmericanPupusa Soundsystem Fan Page. This helps alot for many reasons...

1. You are on Facebook more anyway
2. You'll get "Songs of the Day" and articles tossed up there via my stream-of-consciousness
3. The blog (what you are reading now) will still be active as the host of original writings, beats, and mixes Its all convergence-y and what not...

You can also follow a brother up in the twitters with @juicenajera

US accused of holding terror suspects on prison ships

This is absolutely disgusting... but then again, I'm pretty much duped like everyone else to believe what the U.S. does is 'better' than the rest, when in fact, the U.S. is just as violent, corrupt, and cruel as anyone else (under the guise of being right). I know that folks that actually do the imprisoning are socialized to do so in a way that they can sleep at night. But what I find sickening is that folks who weren't trained command others to do this, they STILL can sleep at night.

Yet we are passive about this.... no one protests anymore unless its 'cool'

CNN: 'Uncontacted tribe' sighted in Amazon

Article here

LEAVE THESE UNTOUCHED TRIBES ALONE!! I don't want to see them tainted by the dirty mitts of western civilization... what good has that done for anybody!!!!

South Africa: Countrywide marches against xenophobia

Article here

We need some anti-xenophobia marches here... and support from the government for our 'new' brothers and sisters in this country. Unfortunately, this article does show that xenophobia is pervasive across the world, and it does lead to violence... its not just about 'whats right' its about keeping this country safe.

Nueva cara del voto hispano en Florida... and my response...

Article here....

I kinda like this article... I appreciate the way it describes the 'routine' for politicians to denounce Castro, promising to 'free' it, and what not...sort of like house chores... I also appreciate the new piece of how there are more Latino Democrats registered in FL than Republican. I've read, years ago, how the demographic shift is changing the views of politics in FL... so I'm excited to see people are paying attention to it... better late than never I guess.

So, to cause controversy and to see what people think, I'll go ahead and tell you what my view is. I think its everyone's right to think how they want to think, to follow any particular context or paradigm or ideology you please (with the understanding that you will face resistance disagreement, etc.) But what I haven't appreciated in my many conversations with others about Castro/Cuba... is the complete dichotomy of the conversations, in particular with those who are against Castro... its a 'believe me, or you're full of shit" black/white argument that goes no where. Maybe I haven't met the right person to talk to about this...

I understand you hurt, I understand that you are passionate, but many of times... the Anti-Castro crowd comes at me like fascists... forcing me to agree, putting me down if I don't see it 100% of the way they do. It no longer becomes a conversation, but a lecture, a mandate, a one-sided ideological imposition that is being shoveled down my throat.

This reminds me of an incident when I was working at a Latino cultural center in Philly, and a student group wanted to put on a "Che" event and talk about how he has done good for poor folks. So, I get a call from an alum who goes on to say "I don't agree with you putting this event on, this is so one-sided... I can't believe it!! This is wrong to put on, and I think you shouldn't include this in your calendar" (he admits to me he is Cuban). My response to him was, "As a center for education, I value the voices and viewpoints of others... despite the fact they differ from my own. And, if you feel that another voice is needed in this larger discourse, I encourage you to come to me with an event that shares your viewpoint, and I'll be happy to put the event on the calendar."

Did I get a call back... nope