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How about those talk show hosts and bloggers who compare the Henry Louis Gates incident with the questioning of Bob Dylan, and conclude that Dylan knew how to behave himself but Gates pulled the "race card"? Is white privilege so blind that the differences between the two situations aren't readily apparent, even to right-wing agitators?

Or the health reform"protester" on NPR who said that in the old days at the emergency room you either paid for your care or you died and "that seemed to work okay"? Pay or die – sounds like a bad Tarantino flick.

Common Dreams reports: "Proving that Taiwan is not America, Taiwanese leaders are facing a political firestorm for their inadequate response to a natural disaster - Typhoon Morakot, which killed hundreds and did massive damage. Blasted by critics, facing the resignation of senior officials and promising an investigation, President Ma Ying-jeou began a press conference by bowing in apology to the people." Katrina? George Bush bowing in apology to the American people? Yeah, right.

The Denver Post says: "Colorado's lowest-paid workers could make even less money next year. That's because the state has an adjustable minimum wage that may become the first in the nation to drop slightly along with the cost of living. Colorado is one of 10 states where the minimum wage is tied to inflation. The indexing is thought to protect low-wage workers from having flat wages as the cost of living goes up. But because Colorado's provision allows wage declines, the minimum wage could actually drop 3 cents an hour next year. If the wage is reduced by state labor officials in September as expected, it would be the first minimum wage decrease in any state since the federal minimum wage law was passed in 1938." The rich get richer and …

Meanwhile, Colorado casinos reported $76.1 million in adjusted gross proceeds in July, the second best month in Colorado gaming history, trailing only the $76.5 million recorded in July 2007. … the poor get fleeced.

Police in Ohio say officers using a new Taser stun gun briefly set a homeless man on fire while trying to subdue him. The police chief said his officers acted appropriately. The homeless man was charged with abusing harmful intoxicants and other counts. There's something really wrong with that picture.

You've got to see this to believe it: Woman at Vegas town hall yells "Heil Hitler" at Jewish man. We are on the brink.

CHILE HARVEST FESTIVAL

This post is motivated by similar articles I've read lately about why it's great to be a Latino in the U.S. or particular cities, etc. Lacking any brilliant inspiration for today's edition of La Bloga, I decided to steal the idea and give you my own list. No particular order, just how the pieces came to me. I have more than five reasons, but I ran out of time. Maybe I'll continue with my list in future posts. If you have your own suggestions, send them in. Click on the comments link below.


1. Canción Mexicana - this radio program has been on the air for 24 years, an amazing run, and it's still as strong as ever. The show is broadcast on Denver's public radio jazz station, KUVO, 89.3 FM and on the Internet at www.kuvo.org. The show is hosted by Florencia Hernández-Ramos and Debra Gallegos every Sunday from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm (Mountain).

Here's what the KUVO website says about this very popular show that has become a cultural icon in the Rocky Mountain West: New Mexico, Colorado and Tejano music with information excerpts from Latino USA and News From Our Community. Canción Mexicana has dominated jazz89 KUVO's Sunday line-up in both audience and business support. The best of the best in Tex-Mex music, Canción Mexicana has been frequently recognized in Denver's major newspapers. The program consistently ranks in the top five slots on Sunday mornings in the Denver metro area and has enjoyed the number one spot. It's cumbia, it's rancheras, and a little bit of mariachi - it's all that and more; it's Canción Mexicana with the best New Mexico, Tejano and Colorado music. There's music on Canción Mexicana as well as reports from Latino USA with a glimpse into what's happening in the community. Get ready to dance!



2. La Raza Rocks - this show follows Canción Mexicana at 1:00 pm, Sundays, on KUVO. Pocho Joe and Gabe are the incredibly knowledgeable hosts of an hour of the best of Latino rock - new and old - Sunny & the Sunliners, Santana, Los Lobos, the Iguanas, Los Lonely Boys, and Dr. Loco and his Rockin' Jalapeno Band. Interviews and information are part of the show's presentation. Pocho Joe and Gabe like to dig deep into Chicano rock, coming up with groups like Thee Midniters, Tierra, Little Julian Herrera, El Chicano,War, the Blendells, Cannibal & the Headhunters, and the Premiers, but they also present the latest groups and singers. Over the years, this show has introduced Denver to Ozomatli, Quetzal, Alejandro Escovedo, the Blazers, and many more. As Pocho Joe likes to say, the show covers the "roots and branches" of Chicano soul music. It'll tear you up.


3. Su Teatro - this theater group sprung from the Movement more than thirty-five years ago (1971) as traveling agit-prop, consisting mostly of long-haired students. Today it is a well-established production company that every year amazes Denver audiences with the diversity and brilliance of Latino and Chicano theater. Under the direction of the long-haired Anthony Garcia, El Centro Su Teatro is about to enter a new phase with a multi-million dollar facility that promises to continue to enrich the Denver cultural scene with outstanding plays and events. In recent years, Su Teatro has presented remarkable theater such as Rudy Anaya's Bless Me, Ultima; Ollin; El Sol Que Tú Eres (Daniel Valdez and Tony Garcia collaborated on this Chicano version of the myth of Eurydice and Orpheus); Las Chicas de 3.5” Floppy; Death and the Maiden; and Catastrophe by Samuel Beckett. Annual events include the Neruda Poetry Festival (10 years), The XicanIndie Film Festival (11 years), and the Chicano Music Festival (12 years).


4. A bevy of writers and a strong literary tradition. Denver became the home for beloved poet Abelardo "Lalo" Delgado, author of one of the most famous Chicano poems ever published, Stupid America. Lalo probably is the best known Denver Chicano writer, but the city and the state have a long history of writers who have proudly preserved the history of Colorado's Chicanos, and made a little of their own while they were at it. Names that immediately come to mind include Margie Domingo, Flor Lovato, Ramon Del Castillo, Anthony Vigil, Joe Navarro, and Corky Gonzales for I Am Joaquin, a classic bit of Chicano lit. (The Denver Public Library has arranged for a Rudolfo "Corky" Gonzales Exhibit at the Central Library, June 2 through September 20, 2009. A special reception to honor the exhibit is set for June 18 from 7 - 9 pm at the Central Library, 10 West 14th Avenue Parkway.)

The tradition continues and there are young poets reading and writing all over the city, with readings and slams happening at places like the Taza de Café where Café Cultura did a regular thing, Cafe Nuba, the Chicano Humanities and Arts Council, the Neruda Poetry Festival, Art From Ashes, etc. We got fiction writers, too - Mario Acevedo, Aaron A. Abeyta, Rudy Garcia, Emma Perez, Angel Vigil, Reneé Fajardo, and yours truly, to name a few. Denver is a city that loves to read; it has great independent bookstores and many author events. Now if we could just get a permanent book fair.


5. The Chicano Humanities and Arts Council (CHAC) and the Museo de las Américas. These two institutions sit on Santa Fe Drive in Denver's West Side. They provide art, artifacts, history, and venues for performance artists, poets, film-makers, and sculptors. CHAC has been around for thirty-one years, created by a group of artists who saw the need for their own space, devoted to their understanding of art and the creative process. That spirit still lives on at CHAC. The Museo has consistently presented world-class exhibits of Latino, Chicano and Latin American art, and has developed a national reputation for its adherence to its mission. As the website says, the Museo educates our community about the diversity of Latino Americano art and culture from ancient to contemporary through innovative exhibitions and programs. With the Latino population growing exponentially in the Denver and wider communities, the Museo plays an important role in building pride in the Latino community's heritage and promoting understanding among cultures. Other history and art museums in Denver cannot focus on one segment of the community in a sustained or comprehensive manner. The Museo was organized to fill this important niche in the cultural milieu. Under the leadership of newly-appointed director Maruca Salazar, a celebrated artist in her own right, the Museo should make an even bigger impression on the art-loving Denver residents.

The cool thing about this list is that you don't have to be a Chicana or a Chicano to enjoy the music, art, writing or history. We like to share.

Like I said, send in your own suggestions for this list - is it really great to be a Chicano or Chicana, wherever you live? If so, why?



Later.

As part of my ongoing efforts to spread the word about Hit List: The Best of Latino Mystery, this week I have an interview with Sarah Cortez, one of the editors of Hit List. Sarah is quite an interesting person with a varied background, which we get into a bit in the Q&A below. Anyone who proclaims on her website that her two greatest loves are policing and poetry should be interviewed. I was intrigued about the idea of a cop also functioning as a poet and an editor, and Sarah responded quite well; I think you will find her answers informative and helpful, especially for someone considering a life in the literary world. You can find out more about Sarah, her books and her other projects on her website.

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You are a writer, poet, police officer, editor, and teacher. Quite a résumé. What kind of writer are you – how would you describe what you write? How did you get to the point where you said, “Yes, I am a writer”?

Even though I was first published in fiction, I consider poetry to be my métier. My poetry has been described as “tightly-muscled,” as well as, “Searing. Sexy. Stunning. Blunt.” by no less a poet than Naomi Shihab Nye. I am a devotee of concise language and precise visceral imagery. You ask how I arrived to the point of considering myself a writer. Well, I was fortunate to be mentored by two of the great contemporary American poets: Edward Hirsch and Naomi Nye. By taking classes with them and with other talented teachers, I furthered my craft and my practice. Of course, as with many other writers, I found the first book contract quite convincing. Winning prizes and awards also added to my sense of being a professional writer. However, I would be the first to insist on the “democracy of the blank page.” Whether one has had eight books published or none, in front of the blank page we’re all equal.

Yes, equal and fearful - nothing like a blank page to stir up insecurities.

It’s not unheard of, of course, that law enforcement people would segue into something creative such as writing. In your opinion, though, has the police background helped or hindered your creative urges?

The policing background greatly augments my writing practice, particularly in poetry. One of the poet’s greatest and most formidable tasks is putting the inexplicable into words. One must attempt to translate the unknowable onto the page. In policing, you are slammed with the inexplicable all the time. In fact, it rains down on you. I am most productive in my writing when working the streets as a cop. The negotiation (both internal and external) required due to the amazingly different roles and concomitant discursive spaces is impossible for a civilian to understand.


You recently helped put together Hit List: The Best of Latino Mystery, along with Liz Martínez, your co-editor. What attracted you to becoming an editor? How would you describe editing in comparison with writing a short story or a poem?

What attracted me to editing is much the same as what attracted me to teaching. While editing’s ultimate goal is producing an artistic whole that is publishable, the editor often helps the writer grow and learn. So, in both the teaching of creative writing and the editing, you are assisting the student/writer further his/her vision and craft. I would even go so far as to say that you can’t be a truly effective creative writing teacher without being an excellent editor. In terms of the differences between editing vs. writing your own work, I would say that in writing your own poem or short story you create from the get-go. Your primary excitement and joy is in the creative act, then later in the “revision” act. In editing, the editor has to totally enter into the author’s vision. The editor must carry inside him/herself a thorough understanding of the form, a keen eye for grammatical and syntactical snafus, and an exquisitely honed appreciation for the appropriate payoffs for the future reader, which of course, vary by form. Added to all of this is an impeccable ear for language and all those additional elements composing the standards of the form, e.g. in fiction, plot, characterization, dialogue, pacing, tone.

How did Hit List come about? Where did the idea originate? Who helped make the idea a reality? Why do you think it is important to have such an anthology

The original idea for Hit List came from Liz Martínez. She saw that while there were anthologies of short mystery for other ethnic or cultural groups that there wasn’t one for Latino authors. She came to me because I had the professional contacts to obtain a contract with a prominent publisher and I had the editing skills necessary to ensure a quality product. Plus we both had loved mystery since childhood.

Both Liz and I owe Dr. Nicolás Kanellos, the founder and director of Arte Público Press, an immense debt because he unhesitatingly and enthusiastically took on the project. You know, he is renown for being a brilliant visionary. He’s the publisher who started Denise Chávez, Ana Castillo, Gary Soto, Sandra Cisneros, and Pat Mora on their international writing careers.

It is important to have such an anthology for numerous reasons. First, the book showcases many excellent Latino/a writers. Secondly, the book lets the reader enjoy the widely varied applications of the mystery apparatus by Latino authors. Another important subtext for me as an editor is to let the multi-faceted cultures and sub-cultures of the characters shine forth. It is this richness, I believe, that may lead the reader to perceive that Latinos come from many different types of neighborhoods, different economic strata, etc. For instance, my story in Hit List, In My Hands, is set in an affluent Houston suburb and has only Anglo characters. I grew up in an Anglo neighborhood adjoining a ritzy enclave.

We don’t often hear about young people wanting to become an editor. Cop or writer, yes, but seldom editor. Give us a quick pitch as to why more students should look at editing as a way to become involved in literature or the arts in general, or even as a career path.

I would guess we don’t hear more about students becoming editors for two reasons. The first reason is that youthful dreams tend to lead the dreamer into starring roles. In the literary world, the starring role at this point in time is that of the author. The second reason is that if you take the general rule of thumb as true that it takes about ten years to become proficient writing in a form (and, BTW I believe that it is necessary to be extremely proficient in a form before you try to edit others’ writing in that form), then after those initial ten years, a young writer has to develop the eye and the ear for editing. Well, you can see how time-consuming the process will probably be.

When you read the submissions for Hit List, did your police experiences (your “real life”) “get in the way” of letting you escape into the stories, or maybe it was the other way around – because you have been a cop were you able to enjoy the stories at a certain level of reality that other readers might not recognize?

You ask if my experience as a cop interfered with my enjoyment of the Hit List stories, or help me enter the imaginative space of the authors. As a street cop, most of the calls for service don’t involve homicide, which is the preeminent crime of interest in mystery. However, a good cop is very intuitive and a master at reading body language and subtle shifts in minuscule details, e.g., breath, pupil dilation, hand movements, voice, etc. So, this eye for human behavior can really serve you well as an author, poet, or editor. I would say that the times when I would get pulled out of an author’s compelling fictional landscape would be when a tactical, ballistic, or equipment question came up. For instance, is that type of duty belt or nylon rig used that way, is the caliber correct, did that manufacturer make a weapon with that type of finish in that caliber in that year, etc. Fortunately, I have shot many of the weapons referenced by crime authors and ballistics fascinate me.

Your poetry was featured in the first issue of Lineup, a magazine devoted to crime poetry. What is crime poetry and how is it different from other kinds of poetry?

I’m glad you asked about Lineup, the chapbook series so wonderfully edited by Gerald So, with Patrick Shawn Bagley, R. Narvaez, and Anthony Rainone. The poetry featured deals with some aspect of criminal behavior whether from the victim’s, criminal’s, or another’s perspective. In trying to define what is different about crime poetry from other poetry, I would say that the subject matter focuses the poet’s eye very particularly. So that in trying to accomplish that “great” poetic task we talked about above – putting the inexplicable into words – the poet must unflinchingly hone in on physicality, whether the physicality of the crime scene, the victim, the suspect, and so on. What I see when I read poems from Lineup is the unremitting eye of each poet beginning in the sensory world of the crime’s occurrence. And, of course, the higher the emotional content of an event, the harder it becomes to write about it with elegance. Writers, especially fiction writers, joke about how hard it is to write love/sex scenes and have them turn out well. That’s because of the high emotional content and the enormous number of hackneyed clichés surrounding love/sex scenes. Well, crime scenes carry a lot of those same burdens for the writer/poet. The poets chosen for Lineup do a fantastic job.

I think Lineup is an innovation with much potential power to dramatically change the poetry/crime fiction scene. I hope more readers find it. I'm delighted to note that I have a poem in the upcoming second issue, due later this summer.

What other projects are you working on?

Thank you for asking about my current projects. I’m finishing up editing Indian Country Noir for Akashic Books, another of the projects that Liz Martínez and I have done together. I am also collecting essays by current or retired law enforcement officers for a collection of literary writing by America’s cops. I’ve been busy traveling to colleges and universities to show both composition teachers and creative writing teachers how to use Windows Into My World: Latino Youth Writer Their Lives in the classroom. You can tell people to contact me on my web site www.poetacortez.com if they’re interested in learning more about these projects. Thanks, Manuel. I’ve enjoyed talking with you!

Thank you, Sarah - I hope we meet in person one day, as long as you're not arresting me.


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BITS AND PIECES

TENTH ANNUAL NERUDA POETRY FESTIVAL

Thursday night 4/16, 7pm: A moving spoken word tribute to Flor Lovato and Margie Dominguez, featuring Su Teatro actors and local artists and scholars. $12, $10 student/senior

Friday night 4/17, 7pm: Barrio Slam competition—$500 grand prize attracts the best talent in the city. $250 for 2nd, $175 for 3rd, fun for everyone! Only $5

Saturday afternoon 4/18, 5:30pm: Tacos and Words Literary Salon featuring The Anaya Project. Creative responses to the work of Chicano literary legend and author of Bless Me, Ultima, Rudolfo Anaya. $12

This program features:
John-Michael Rivera, professor,writer and poet
Gabe Gomez, poet
Jennifer Rincon, playwright,writer, actor
Paul Flores, performance artist, writer
Maria Melendez, poet and teacher
Manuel Ramos, writer
Harrison Fletcher, professor, writer
J Michael Martinez, teacher, poet
Cecelia Aragon, playwright, professor, writer

Saturday night 4/18, 8:05pm: ¡Representa! featuring Paul S. Flores and Julio Cardenas. $18, $15 student/senior

For more information, or to purchase tickets, call El Centro Su Teatro at 303.296.0219 and check out our new and improved website: www.suteatro.org.
All events at El Centro Su Teatro, 4725 High Street, Denver, CO 80216


SUPER ESTRELLAS

Presenting the ultimate artistic extravaganza. artistes "super" estrellas features the ultra-cool urban art of: tony vecchio, gems, j.g. medina, jolt, josiah lee lopez a.k.a. zepol, and sev

n...

CHAC north gallery, 774 santa fe blvd., denver, april 1 - 25.

come one, come all, art to entertain the masses!