Mexican New York

There are about 3 or 4 places I go to buy cafe, cookies, pizza, and mexican food-not because these spots are particularly great or even cheap, but because the Mexicans that work there are always friendly. We converse about the weather, talk about their place of origin, my families place of origin, and exchange smiles. Occasionally I'll get a free slice, an extra cookie, tecate, or asked what song I would like to listen to. On those particularly long and isolating (alienating) days of school these encounters are uplifting and provide much needed energy.  I wonder if I get more out of these encounters than they do. Maybe so. 

After about 18 months of living in NYC, I finally headed to Queens-the place where "all the Mexicans are." Not knowing what to expect I was struck by what I encountered on roosevelt avenue. An entire street filled with Mexican joints: restaurants, bars, dance and pool halls. It was the similarity of each of these places that hit me: in all of the spaces entered I encountered young males, cervesa in hand and listening and contemplating the words of some of the most beautiful written songs ever: tragos amargos, reloj, que casualidad, amor eterno, cien anos, ella, and many more. Was this street an aberration; reflection of an overwhelmingly male migration to New York along with the absence of Mexican migration in the past? While bars filled with males is not uncommon, the amount of these spaces seemed significantly different from what I have seeing in Los Angeles, Guadalajara, or Mexico City. Is this space the production of larger structural factors? Gender norms (discrimination)? Not sure. Yet, roosevelt street, I think, is linked to Mexican male migrants all over the country and throughout the years:  expressing and feeling loneliness, melancholy, and friendship via music and with a cervesa in hand. I leave you all with Antonio Aguilar's Paso del Norte:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWgpH8klkMM

(you tube: paso del norte). 

And Jose Jose's El Triste

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skCZCaThiuM

Pueblo en Vilo: History as longing for Home

[In Image: Grandma, Great Grandfather, Tio, and Pops]

 

Don Luis Gonzalez Gonzalez is often labeled one of Mexico’s greatest historians. At the young age of 12 he left his small town of San Jose de Gracia for the then sprawling city of Guadalajara. For migrants and son/daughters of migrants his experiences as a rural migrant to GDL resonate: he describes being made fun of for his attire and speech. He would go onto study with Fernand Braudel of the French Annal school and produce in the 1960s a history of a village that did not take part or benefit from the Mexican revolution:  a slap in the face to the PRI and a much needed corrective to state narratives of the Revolution.

 

As an arrogant and naïve undergraduate at UCLA I often frowned upon the entrance of romanticism and nostalgia in academic works. Little did I realized that my entire academic pursuit is guided by both…

Below are two quotes from Gonzalez:

 

From the traditional microhistory spoken or sung by the old ones has evolved the microhistory written by numerous village enthusiasts. Mexico abounds in local histories by persons who do not see themselves as intellectuals. These are microhistorians unacquainted with universities but well acquired with community life. They are found in the cafes and bars rather than in classrooms. But beyond this, they are difficult to define; microhistory attracts people from widely disparate walks of life. Nevertheless, one general characteristic is notable among them—their romanticism.

 

            To quote, “Sentiment, not reason, stimulates the study of microhistory. Microhistories most common flow from a love for one’s origins,” as from the love for a mother. “Unimpeded, the small world which nourishes and sustains us is transfigured into the image of mother….Thus, the so-called patria chica would be better called the matria, and the narrative which reconstructs its temporal dimension ca be known alternately as microhistory or as historia matria. The spontaneous microhistorian works “toward the clearly unhealthy goal of returning to a lost time, to his roots, to the illusory Eden, to the womb.”

 How does one write a history of  Zacatecas, Guadalajara, Mexicalli, El Monte, Pico Rivera, Goleta, and Pomona--a history of what Americo Paredes called "Greater Mexico." One that is outside of both nation-states...thats the journey.

 

 

A dream come true: Pink Floyd A le mexicana (cabrones!!!)

Its 5am, drinking pacifico at my apartment with the one and only froylan..

IN New York listening to the mother fucken pink floyd....its like a damn pocho dream or nightmare, you decide....

BUT here it is. from pocho heaven, saludos a todos!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1zbjVHk_oM&feature=player_embedded

there is no border.....from greater mexico,

rg

Haiti: What is to be done?

By now we have all read countless stories of the haiti earthquake and seen numerous images of its aftermath. Sadness and a profound sense of hopeless engulf us. We immediately think about how we can help: we google organizations, scroll newspapers for cool international organizations, and ask our more knowledgeable friends. In doing so, some of us (my friend JT in particular) are troubled and infuriated by the frame from which funds are being framed and funneled. Along with aid come ideas of the backwardness of Haiti and solutions to its political and economic problems. In short, a form of US Empire (Read Empire by Negri and Hardt). Where to donate and how to respond to a "soft" form of US Empire????

I leave you all with a not so brief, but important excerpt:

Today, the United States began surveying the damage inflicted by a devastating earthquake in Haiti this week. In addition to providing immediate humanitarian assistance, the U.S. response to the tragic earthquake should address long-held concerns over the fragile political environment that exists in the region.

The U.S. government response should be bold and decisive. It must mobilize U.S. civilian and military capabilities for short-term rescue and relief and long-term recovery and reform. President Obama should tap high-level, bipartisan leadership. Clearly former President Clinton, who was already named as the U.N. envoy on Haiti, is a logical choice. President Obama should also reach out to a senior Republican figure, perhaps former President George W. Bush, to lead the bipartisan effort for the Republicans.

While on the ground in Haiti, the U.S. military can also interrupt the nightly flights of cocaine to Haiti and the Dominican Republic from the Venezuelan coast and counter the ongoing efforts of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to destabilize the island of Hispaniola. This U.S. military presence, which should also include a large contingent of U.S. Coast Guard assets, can also prevent any large-scale movement by Haitians to take to the sea in dangerous and rickety watercraft to try to enter the U.S. illegally.

Meanwhile, the U.S. must be prepared to insist that the Haiti government work closely with the U.S. to insure that corruption does not infect the humanitarian assistance flowing to Haiti. Long-term reforms for Haitian democracy and its economy are also badly overdue. Congress should immediately begin work on a package of assistance, trade, and reconstruction efforts needed to put Haiti on its feet and open the way for deep and lasting democratic reforms.

The U.S. should implement a strong and vigorous public diplomacy effort to counter the negative propaganda certain to emanate from the Castro-Chavez camp. Such an effort will also demonstrate that the U.S.’s involvement in the Caribbean remains a powerful force for good in the Americas and around the globe.

To assist Red Cross Relief Efforts, go to www.redcross.org (from the Heritage Foundation)

Any ideas of where to donate would be much appreciated.

paz a todos.

A Midnight Stroll in the Suburbs

It was a little past midnight. I couldn’t sleep, my stomach hurt and my mind was far from at ease. No movie, television show, or novel would do, I needed something else. Having worked on a bike the past few days I decided to take a midnight stroll through the hills of chino. I convinced my cousin and off we went. He rode my younger brother’s fixie and I an old, beat up mountain bike that we found in my tio’s backyard. We headed towards the golf course, the physical divide between new and old chino hills. After about 20 minutes I realized I had no clue where we were. We slowed our pace to look for familiar signs and conserve energy. Lost, cold, and tired I felt a strange calm. The dim street lights allowed the moon and stars to shine brightly. The wind hitting our sweaty skin took me pack to adolescents in hotels: jumping into a cold pool after some minutes in the jacuzzi. The absolute silence reminded me of kicking the ball into the home made soccer goal in the old Pomona house. We finally found a sign for the 71 and followed it, going under the freeway, into Chino, towards the state prison, and back up towards chino hills. While my chain feel and the mechanism that adjust the length of it got stuck in the spokes, making me carry the stupid bike up hill for about 200 yards it was a nice ride. 

Solve the tequila crisis and you'll solve the bike crisis

Christmas was fast approaching and my sister grew anxious, as the jacket she bought her boyfriend had not arrived. When it did arrive, on the 24^th her anxiety only grew: poorly constructed and flimsy the jacket was not what she hoped for. After browsing the internet I convinced her to buy a single speed road bike from some cat in Fontana. In person of course the bike was not as clean as it appeared on the internet. To make matters worse after buying the bike, it slipped off the bike rack, hitting the asphalt at 45 miles per hour and making the back tire and rim completely useless.  In the middle of a crisis, we immediately dialed our older brother, an engineer and the so-called “genius” of the family. He offered simple, yet dumfounding advice: “solve the tequila crisis and you’ll solve the bike crisis. I have to go. Good luck.” Useless as usual I thought. What the hell does tequila have to do with a bike. After a brief scroll through my phone, I dialed our tio Raymundo. Not only does he make the best asada ever, he can build anything. He gave us a list of things to buy at home depot and told us to arrive early to Pico Rivera the next day. When we arrived to his house, he had a 12 pack of dos equis, and a set of tools out waiting for us. We took the bike apart, sanded and then painted the frame. And bought and fixed several parts. When the bike was finally complete (many days later) we toasted to the most interesting man in Pico Rivera with a 12 pack of dos equis. 

development in Pomona (DF, NYC)

Since moving to NY this is problably the longest i've been at my parents house (Chino Hills) and kicked it in Pomona: my hometown...
As I drive to my friend hector's pad for some futbol or to pick my sis up at the amtrack, I naturally feel nostalgic for my hometown. "Sunday" leaque soccer with men that should have hung up their cleats years ago, the house parties with the same 10 banda songs, coaching at pomona high, the pool hall on second street, etc...Yet, like many parts of Brooklyn and the historic center of Mexico City, "development" is coming to Pomona. Second street and its surrondings continues to see the opening of restaruants, galleries, and bars that cater to denizens from surrondings neighberhoods (read white and middle class). While on hold there is a current project to build condiminums for US (young educated professionals). As part of a cohort of educated, young, and liberal individuals I both enjoy and frequent second street, the historic center, and Brooklyn...Yet I am troubled that consumption is what passes and guides "development" in all of these areas. With consumption come higher rents and the slow displacement of the working class, . Sadly, I dont see a competing vision of "development" or even a hint of ambivalance/resentment/anger in those that partake in these activies. Intellectual bankruptcy?