Album Review: ‘Despertar’ by Ratas En Zelo
‘Despertar’ by the all-Latina punk band Ratas En Zelo is a visceral yet bouncy, angry but upbeat album that reminds us of the ideals that punk was founded on: confronting an unjust society that feeds on exploitation.
Nancy Sánchez on Merging Cultures Through Music
The music of Nancy Sánchez, who was born in Toluca, Mexico but immigrated to California when she was three, reflects both sides of her culture in a style she’s coined “regional alternativo.”
Liberals Swipe Left on Conservatives
Surveys reveal that over 70 percent of Democrats would never date a Trump voter, most likely because “bigotry just isn’t sexy, and few people seek partners who don’t acknowledge their full humanity.”
Book Review: ‘Things to Pack on the Way to Everywhere’
For author Grisel Yolanda Acosta, as an Afro-Latina in the U.S., she has always embodied this idea of punk: that which doesn’t conform to the strictures and norms dictated by American society, nor to those expectations of what it means to be Latinx and Black.
Do the Oscars Reflect America?
More than anything, the Oscars indicate our political divisions and highlight our shortcomings. They are shiny golden metaphors for how America is not a unified culture, nor even a unified country.
Gentrify Your Mind
If you’re a Latino looking to expand your mind and reach cosmic levels of awareness, there’s a strong possibility that you will get arrested. In contrast, wealthy investors dabbling with hallucinogenic research can build respectable “careers, organizations, and for-profits by mining the ancient and contemporary pasts of non-white cultures.”
Book Review: Cristina Henríquez’s ‘The Book of Unknown Americans’
Panamanian American author Cristina Henríquez’s novel tackles immigration issues that still have valence today, but complicates the stereotypical narrative of Mexican immigrants crossing into the U.S. illegally that often dominates Latinx immigration stories in popular media.
The Republican Rebound
We have a situation where right-wing lunatics with an ironclad base just need to persuade a few suburban women that critical race theory is coming to eat their children. And that’s all it takes to defeat the scrambling, ineffectual Democrats.
The Colonizer Next Door
The colonizers may be able to buy el Viejo San Juan, but it will never belong to them.
The Roots of Republican Paranoia
People who feel like they’re under attack will look for any reason to fight. So fighting is what the Republicans are now all about.
Film Review: Brazil’s ‘The Pink Cloud’
Written in 2017, shot in 2019, and now theatrically released, ‘The Pink Cloud,’ with its backdrop of a worldwide crisis that forces everyone into lockdown and isolation, feels terribly prescient. And by keeping the story so focused on its two main protagonists, Brazilian fillmmaker Iuli Gerbase has delivered an unnerving and disquieting view of the times in which we live.
Monsieur Periné’s ‘Nuestra Canción’ Becomes Everyone’s Favorite Song
The song “Nuestra Canción” by Colombian band Monsieur Periné has become a TikTok and social media sensation. Sandra Treviño talks to lead vocalist Catalina García and Santiago Prieto about their newfound fame, their new single “Volverte a Ver,” and what’s to come.