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Six years ago today by Lourdes Colon

Lourdes Colon <[email protected]>

‎Feb‎ ‎14 at ‎4‎:‎15‎ ‎PM

Six years ago today I was with my husband Chris at Optimum Health Institute surviving on only 5% use of one lung with cancer throughout my body. Barely breathing we looked into each other’s eyes and said “Happy Valentine’s day. I love you” We were strong for each other, We new what it was going to take to pull through this dark road we faced. With love in our heart’s and hope in our souls we pulled through, and I have been able to help many others through the same situation. One person at a time.

Many don’t have the time to wait for one person at a time schedule. So I have started my campaign to help the masses in a grander scale by getting my story out. Showing many what it takes to get to the other side. What I did and what it took. Join me in this journey to helping millions of others around the world that are battling cancer and need that extra info to pull through successfully as I did.

Help me get my documentary completed with it’s final touches and out to the audience already.

Also here is a video of my favorite juice I enjoy daily to keep healthy

My mission in life has always been to be a difference in the world. I wasn’t sure years ago how that would play out. It is more evident now than ever before that it was through my journey with cancer and what it took to get rid of it completely even with days left to live.

I continue to share my story with those who have contacted me. I know now that it is time to get the full story out for all to watch. Join me in this historical move Create Option C. http://bit.ly/2ErtC6o

 

 

The White House Dreamer Deal Isn’t A Compromise. It’s A Racist Ransom Note.

Juan Escalante,HuffPost Fri, Jan 26 7:49 AM PST

As the White House’s senior advisor for policy, Stephen Miller seems to have one goal: to take a wrecking ball to the Statue of Liberty and shove the remains into the Upper New York Bay.

It’s no secret that Miller, along with Gen. John “Adult In The Room” Kelly, has been penning some of the most heinous immigration policies coming out of the White House. One might even wonder if Miller and Kelly, not President Donald Trump, are running the government from the sidelines ― exploiting Trump’s short attention span.

Which brings us to this moment, when the White House is preparing to erode America’s reputation as a nation of immigrants and replace it with toxic immigration policy, which it has disguised as a way to save young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country as children, known as “Dreamers.” The Trump administration has said it supports extending a pathway to citizenship for the roughly 800,000 Dreamers that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy currently protects from deportation and for other young immigrants who are eligible but don’t currently hold the protections ― an estimated 1.8 million people in total.

On Monday, you will hear White House officials present their outline as nothing short of a heroic attempt to reform our nation’s broken immigration system. Do not be fooled. What the White House is selling the American people is nothing but a nativist wish list that would reduce the number immigrants, especially people of color born in countries that Trump considers “shitholes.”

Remember, this is supposed to be a plan to deal with the Dreamer crisis that Trump himself created by ending DACA, a crisis that affects my family and me directly.

In addition to a Dreamer fix, the White House plan will likely include an extreme reduction of legal immigration and a complete end to the diversity visa program. It also would empower more agents to immediately deport people like my parents or children fleeing violence. The result of enacting all of these policies? Slowing down the browning of America ― or at least Miller can hope.

And then there’s the wall. The “big, beautiful wall,” Trump’s signature policy goal and maybe the only one he fully understands. What else can a $25 billion wall be than a big middle finger to Mexico and countries south of the border? Keep out and stay out, the wall says.

America loves the Dreamers, so this administration is using our lives as leverage to get everything else it wants.
With net unauthorized immigration already down to levels not seen in years, Trump’s wall is just a monument to his racism and xenophobia.
Of course, this comes as no surprise to anyone who watched Trump’s presidential campaign. He’s following through on a commitment to a white nationalist immigration agenda.

The White House thinks its strategy is clever. America loves the Dreamers ― a recent survey found an overwhelming majority supported legal protections for us ― so this administration is cynically using our lives and futures as leverage to get everything else it wants from Congress.

What Trump, Miller and Kelly don’t seem to understand is that Dreamers are also American, and we’re not going to let them trample all over our families and our values to be recognized as such.

We have all lived through too much pain and fear to merely sell our families out in this way. As people, not “illegal immigrants” or bargaining chips, we recognize that the values and promises that this country has to offer are rooted in the idea that hard work will eventually give us the opportunity to fully live the American dream. The same goes for our parents, the original Dreamers who left everything behind. They took a chance and even risked their lives to provide us, their kids, with a better life and better opportunities. As Dreamers, we will demand that their sacrifices not be made in vain.

The media, and anyone else watching this debate unfold, must resist any urge to label Trump and Miller’s immigration outline as a “deal.” It’s little more than a racist ransom note from a group of nativists who are willing to dangle 800,000 young teenagers and adults over a cliff while simultaneously replacing core American values with poison. This is as far as Republicans could ever be from a reasonable and fair negotiation.

Dreamers have been part of the immigration debate since 2001. We have helped to define the discussion on immigration over the past few years. There is no way that Dreamers would turn their backs on the people who raised them, helped them and encouraged them to be their best. And America shouldn’t betray Dreamers by paying the ransom that a handful of xenophobes are demanding in exchange for their protection.

Juan Escalante is an immigrant advocate and online strategist who has been fighting for the Dream Act and pro-immigration policies at all levels of government for the past 10 years.

Source: https://www.yahoo.com/news/white-house-dreamer-deal-isn-154909701.html

The Hip Hop World loses a Tupac Shakur Historian and founder of Thug Life Army

The Hip Hop World loses a Tupac Shakur Historian and founder of Thug Life Army & Music Director for CRNLive’s Studio B

PALM SPRINGS, CA – 12/13/2017 (PRESS RELEASE JET) — Robert “RB” Riddle, the founder of Thug Life Army, the most popular website on all things Tupac Shakur, passed away on October 20, 2017 at the age of 64. It’s hard to imagine how a Caucasian man born in Cincinnati, Ohio who left his home state as a hippie to live in a cabin in the woods in Kentucky and becoming a Mennonite for many years would become the foremost authority on Tupac Shakur and his music.

While a Mennonite he lived with no telephone, televisions, or radios for many years. He eventually moved back to Ohio, where probably through his daughter’s computer, he discovered Tupac Shakur. Something in Tupac’s message connected with Riddle in a profound way so he put most of his time and energy from then on into keeping Tupac’s ideas and legacy alive. He also teamed up with CRNLive.com‘s studio (B) as its program director later developing Thug Life Army radio which spread the Gospel of Tupac Shakur to an even larger audience.

“Anyone that knew Robert held him in very high esteem for his relentless dedication to helping unsigned artist get a break. This was his objective all along. He will be missed greatly as he served as a mentor to many including myself.” – Frank M. Miranda President/CEO

Source: https://thuglifearmy.com/index.php/news/4698-the-hip-hop-world-losses-a-tupac-shakur-historian-and-founder-of-thug-life-army.html

Media Contacts:

Company Name: Star Sound Music Group®
Full Name: Mark Guerrero
Phone: (213) 283-STAR
Email Address: [email protected]
Website: www.ThugLifeArmy.com

Anything but Mexican—still!

Hispanic, a catch all for anything south of the border.

It’s October, and we again find ourselves in the midst of “Hispanic Heritage Month.” I find the foundation of “Hispanic Heritage Month” objectionable on many levels, especially the artificial, manufactured construct of “Hispanic.” Hispanics: invented by Richard Nixon, promoted by Coors beer…

“Hispanics” don’t exist in the real world. They were invented in the 1970s by the Richard Nixon administration to, I believe, try to stop the momentum of the Chicano Movement and minimize the political influence of the Chicano-Mexican American community and to maximize the visibility and influence of the Cuban-American community in Florida.
When our movement first emerged, in the late 1960s, the white political establishment, as well as the Mexican American professional/middle class, dismissed us as a ragtag bunch of malcontents. But our critics soon realized that we enjoyed broad support in our barrios and among the working-class and that we were doers.
Indeed, we were fundamentally changing the educational, political, cultural and social landscape of our communities. Some of us quit college to become full-time organizers. We marched. We picketed. We rallied. We confronted politicians and bureaucrats. We stood up for workers and organized unions. Many of us were arrested doing these things. We were some folks’ worst nightmare: assertive Mexicans not only refusing to believe they were inferior but openly expressing pride in their heritage and being pushy about their rights.

Activists marched, rallied and picketed to bring about social change.
By the mid-1970s many members of the Mexican American professional/middle class openly supported our movement. That we were being successful and were expanding our support base scared the political establishment of both parties, including then-President Richard M. Nixon.
Nixon had generated some goodwill among Mexican Americans by appointing Mexican Americans to Cabinet and other positions. But this dissipated when he attempted to break the 1969 grape boycott led by Mexican American/Chicano icon César Chávez by ordering the Defense Department to increase six-fold the purchase of table grapes for the military.
Nixon was popular among the conservative and Republican Cuban Americans. But compared to Mexican Americans, Cuban Americans are a tiny and localized constituency. Mexican Americans (64% of the U.S. Latino population) outnumber Cuban Americans (3.7% of the U.S. Latino population) by a ratio of 17 to 1, and Mexican Americans have settled in the Midwest and other localities beyond the southwestern U.S., whereas the overwhelming majority (65-70%) of Cuban Americans are in Dade County/Miami, Florida.
So, Nixon created the “Hispanic” census category, which lumped together Cuban Americans and other groups (Salvadorans, etc.) with Mexican Americans. This allowed Nixon to be able to say that he supported “Hispanics” even as he favored Cuban Americans and disdained and worked against Mexican Americans.

The Nixon administration initiated the term “Hispanic” and it was soon adopted by the Coors Beer company.

My recollection is that the term “Hispanic” began to be bandied about publicly in the early 1980s, as part of a Coors Brewing Co. advertising campaign. In huge billboards in Chicano communities, Coors declared the 1980s “the Decade of the Hispanic.” The Coors campaign was frankly a cynical attempt to neutralize the impact of the boycott of Coors beer called by the Chicano Movement due to the company’s racist hiring practices and its anti-union policies.

Call me old-school, call me stubborn, or whatever, but I refuse to be defined by Richard Nixon or Coors beer. Chicana/o: a matter of self-determination…

A major thrust of the Chicano Movement was self-determination, starting with how we defined ourselves. Up through the 1960s, educators, politicos, scholars, etc. were hell-bent on telling us what we should call ourselves: “Spanish-speaking,” “Latin-Americans,” “Spanish-Americans.” Anything but Mexican. “Chicano/a” reflects our history. For, the term Chicano has been used by the Mexican people in the U.S., particularly the working class, since the early 1900s. Because we were sons and daughters of miners, laborers, truck drivers, assembly-line workers, and the like, we identified with the working-class. It was natural, then, for us to use a term to refer to ourselves that was used within the milieu in which we grew up.

By calling ourselves Chicanos/Chicanas we were asserting the power of our humanity.
Moreover, we grew up in the 1950s and early 1960s, when there was a concerted societal campaign to “de-Mexicanize” us, to make us feel ashamed of our heritage. Chicano connoted pride in being of Mexican heritage and counteracted that campaign. By calling ourselves Chicanos/Chicanas we were asserting the power of our humanity, a power that up to this point had been crippled by a racist society.

An oft-quoted passage by Chicano activist Bob Morales summarizes the Chicano Movement stance:
“In brief, contrary to what others say we are, we decide what we are and what we are becoming, because our self‑designation is both a statement of current reality and an implication that we are in a progressive transition, striving to better our social, political and economic situation.
“We first plant the flag of self‑description and allow it to fly defiantly in the winds of opposition. Symbolically we are saying, no more will others through governmental decree or anthropological arrogance arbitrarily label us …

“Fortunately many of us, and in growing numbers, are satisfied that truth is in the living of it, and we feel that to call ourselves what we feel we are is to let others know that no longer will we passively permit others to describe us, define us and to assign imagined traits of character to us; furthermore in referring to ourselves as Chicanos we are expressing a commitment to a cause, and that the cause merits support.” [Morales, Bob, “Chicano: Word Symbol of Confusion or Cohesion?,” Coraje (Chicano Press Association), Tucson, Arizona, Vol. 1, # 2, April 1969, p. 8.]

It bears noting that the term “Mexican American” is also a product of self-determination. Ethnographer Américo Paredes and others of the Mexican American Generation (which preceded the Chicano Generation) maintain their generation coined the term “Mexican American” to denote their Mexican heritage. MAG member Raúl Morin explains that,
“… our people … cannot be called Spanish, Mexican, or Latin American … because we are not from those places, and we are different (culturally, etc.) from the Anglo, so we cannot simply be called ‘Americans.’  Therefore,
“For this reason we have made the term ‘Mexican-American’ our choice.  We then imply that we are proud to be Americans, and at the same time are not trying to deny our Mexican ancestry.” (Morín, Raúl, “Among the Valiant: Mexican Americans in WWII and Korea,” Borden Publishing Co., Alhambra, California, 1963, p. 33).
Be proud … of being generic?

Ethnic pride, a powerful driver of political action, was central to the Chicano Generation’s insisting on the self-descriptor Chicano (and the MAG’s use of Mexican American). But Hispanics can’t be driven by ethnic pride, for “Hispanic” is a generic term, purposely bereft of any ethnic identity. The notion of being proud of being generic is oxymoronic nonsense. “Hispanic Heritage Month” is a throwback to the “Anything but Mexican” days. Ultimately, “Hispanic” comes down to never having to say you’re Mexican.
“Hispanic Heritage Month” is so far removed from our community that even President Trump, who launched his political career by characterizing Mexicans as murderers and rapists, sponsored a “Hispanic Heritage” event at the White House recently. Trump used the occasion to mock hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans. And to make sure everyone, including the media, got the anti-Mexican mood of the event, one of the attendees wore a “Build the Wall” hat.
Honor our history by continuing to make it…

Poster by Malaquias Montoya
Most certainly we should celebrate our traditions, literature, art, music, and other aspects of our culture. But we don’t need to be granted permission to do that or be “allowed” a period of time in which to do it. Celebrating who we are is something we should do every day. And it should be done independently of people who have a commercial or political interest in our community.

The best way to honor our history is to continue making it by beating back the reactionary forces that have coalesced to act against our interests. Ours is not a history of victimization. Our history is a history of achievement, a history that can and does inspire, a history whose foundation is self-determination.
Our history spans centuries, and it is complex and nuanced. A month-long symbolic event does not even begin to serve as preface to our story. c/s
____________________________________________________

Source: http://latinopia.com/blogs/political-salsa-y-mas-with-sal-baldenegro-10-22-17-anything-but-mexican-still/

Copyright 2017 by Salomón Baldenegro. To contact Sal write: [email protected]

Breaking the Secrecy debuts on CRNLive!

Breaking the Secrecy Sundays at 5:00pm PST on CRNLive.com

On Saturday 18, 2017 CRNLive rolled out its new special program “Breaking the Secrecy” to an enthusiastic listenership response. The first show featured a domestic violence survivor Julie Rae Dumas. Julie opens to a past of domestic violence that nearly costed her life. To many this is a pattern of violence too close to home. We are hopeful that this program will allow those to make a move to a better life. This show airs every Sunday at 5:00pm PST on www.CRNLive.com. Each show will feature another guest with relevant subject matter. Please tell your friends and family to tune it to the program. To contact the hosts Andy or Teresa email to [email protected]..

Thanks for listing to our programming since 1995.

CRNLive

 

Breaking the Secrecy

C/O Star Sound Music Group

121 22nd Avenue

San Mateo, California 94403

www.BreakingTheSecrecy.com

www.CRNLive.com

Action Alert: Tell the Senate to Oppose the Nomination of Betsy DeVos for U.S. Secretary of Education!

Tell the Senate to Oppose the Nomination of Betsy DeVos for U.S. Secretary of Education!
Send a letter to your Senators and help us urge them to oppose DeVos’s nomination.

The Senate will soon vote on the nomination of Betsy DeVos for Secretary of Education. During her confirmation hearing, she stated that the enforcement of federal education law protecting students with disabilities should be left up to the states and doubled down on her support for vouchers that take money from public schools. 
With students of color now representing the majority of students in our public school system, our parents and students need to have a champion in the U.S. Department of Education that will look out for their interests.  
We need a Secretary of Education that will be committed to implementing and enforcing laws protecting all students from discrimination in addition

Source: http://lulac.org/advocacy/alerts/Tell_congress_reject_betsy_Devos_secretary_education/

Tucson fight to Save MAS and to fight the MAS Book Ban … Salomon

Estimadas/os: This is an appeal to help us defeat the person who engineered the Mexican American Studies (MAS) Book Ban in Tucson Arizona … that person is running for a position in a predominantly Mexican American-Yaqui district … I hope you will help.

If you supported our Tucson fight to Save MAS and to fight the MAS Book Ban …
I hope you’ll be motivated to help Luis Gonzales in his campaign for a seat on the Pima Community College Board of Governors (District 5).

Pima Community College (PCC) is very important to our community. The overwhelming majority of Mexican American-Chicana(o)-Latino(a) students who pursue higher education in the Tucson area go to PCC. Some go for an AA degree or for a Certificate, others transfer to the U of A or other four-year school after PCC. Luis Gonzales played a key role in keeping the doors of PCC open to our students (more details on this below) and Luis was instrumental in undoing the Mexican American Book Ban engineered by his opponent Martha Durkin (details below)..
Salomon

Luis A. Gonzales for Pima Community Governing Board—District 5
Luis Gonzales has been serving our community for 40-plus years. He has lived in District 5 all his life … Luis grew up in Old Pascua Yaqui Village and is the first person from Old Pascua to be elected to the state legislature. Among his many contributions to our community, Luis was instrumental in undoing the Mexican American Book Ban engineered by Martha Durkin.

If you live in PCC District 5, or even if you don’t, you can  help!
Contact friends, family members, colleagues, etc., who live in PCC District 5 and ask them to vote for Luis .. and/or you can volunteer to help with the campaign (phone banking, canvassing, etc.) …  and/or you can contribute to Luis’ campaign. See the Link below!

You can attend the “Oldies” fundraising Dance and Rally on October 23, 2016, See the Attached Invite. This fundraising Dance and Rally is in conjunction with the Betts Putnam-Hidalgo for TUSD School Board campaign. I will soon issue an informative email about Betts Putnam-Hidalgo, an outstanding candidate who is very much needed on the TUSD Board.

Some important things to keep in mind about the PCC District 5 race:
Pima College District 5 is 58.11% Mexican American-Yaqui in composition …
And
Pima College enrollment is 43.2% Mexican American/Latino …
YET
There is not a single Mexican American/Yaqui/Latino on the PCC Board of Governors …
AND
There is an effort to keep Mexican Americans-Yaquis off of the PCC Board and to keep the predominantly Mexican American-Yaqui District 5 from having Mexican American-Yaqui representation.

Other things to keep in mind:
Martha Durkin worked hand-in-hand with TUSD Superintendent John Pedicone …
To dismantle the highly successful Mexican American Studies (MAS) curriculum in TUSD … and

To Ban the MAS books in TUSDàas you remember, TUSD administrators went into MAS classrooms, while classes were in session, and confiscated all the books, posters, etc. that had anything to do with Mexicans and Mexican Americans … and
To militarize TUSDàAt the May 3, 2013 meeting TUSD had over 150 Tucson police officers as well as helicopters and two “Paddy Wagons” for those who were arrested for protesting the dismantling of MAS … community advocate and MAS professor Lupe Castillo was arrested that evening for the “crime” of wanting to address the TUSD Board … several students were also arrestedà TUSD treated MAS supporters as criminals and made us go through metal detectors and had us wanded, etc. 
Martha Durkin has NEVER worked on behalf of our community, has absolutely no track record of being an advocate for our community and has in fact worked AGAINST our community.

In contrast, here’s a sampling of Luis Gonzales’ work on behalf of our community:
As a State Senator, Luis sponsored, co-sponsored and/or shepherded through the legislature significant pieces of legislation (the following is a sample and not a complete list):

* The AZ K-12 Bilingual Act, which mandated that any school with a certain percentage of Spanish-Speaking children had to have a bilingual curriculum; 

* Legislation that mandated culturally relevant testing for bilingual students regarding inclusion in “gifted” programs, which had a huge impact on Mexican American and Native American kids.

* Legislation that eliminated unfair testing for students for whom English was not their native language) for the 1st three academic years;

* Legislation that provided funding for the University of Arizona’s Mexican American Studies and Research Center (the Center was slated for extinction…this funding saved it);

* Legislation that prohibited balloon payments on home mortgages (predatory lenders sold, foreclosed and repossessed, and re-sold the same houses over and over again);

* Legislation that protected Priest -Penitent privilege (county attorneys were wanting to force priests and ministers to divulge things said during Confession or counseling sessions);

* Legislation that sought the repeal of Arizona’s Right to Work law;

* Legislation that provided free text books for AZ high-school students (shepherded law through the Senate for Rep. Carmen Cajero).
Luis’ contributions go beyond his work as a State Senator:

* Luis led the movement that brought about equitable representation of Mexican Americans in the state legislature and other bodies.

* Luis was instrumental in getting the U.S. Department of Justice to prosecute Patrick and Thomas Hanigan for the torture of Mexican farm workers in Cochise County.

* As a State Senator, Luis also played a huge, and key, role in the historic 1983 Copper Miners strike in Clifton-Morenci.
* Luis was a Coach for Western Little League (based in Joaquín Murrieta Park).
* Luis is an active member of the El Rio Coalition-II, which recently saved the Trini Alvarez El Rio Municipal Golf Course from destruction and saved Barrios Hollywood and El Rio from developers that would have changed the entire character of these barrios.

* Luis is a Charter Member of Los Vatos de la John Spring, which raises money for barrio-based projects such as the renovation of the historic El Casino Ballroom.
* Luis is a Charter Member of the Coalition For Accountability, Integrity, Respect, and Responsibility (C-FAIRR), which exposed the pervasive sexual harassment that was going on at Pima Community College and that has stood up for employees who were/are being mistreated at PCC and for the union (AFSCME) that is helping PCC employees.

* Luis played a key role in getting the Pima Community College Governing Board to reinstate its Open Admission policy, which kept PCC open to our community. Before the Open Admission policy was reinstated, 4,000 people, of which 2,880 were Mexican Americans-Yaquis, were denied admission to PCC.
* Luis was involved in the fight to save the MAS curriculum in TUSD. He attended TUSD Board meetings where MAS was discussed as well as Save MAS rallies. Luis and Los Vatos de la John Spring lobbied TUSD Superintendent Pedicone in support of MAS.

* Under Luis’ leadership, the Legislative District 3 Democratic Committee (Luis was the Chair) passed a Resolution on September 23, 2013, to formally request that TUSD  lift the 2012 ban of the MAS books (my wife Ceci Cruz made the motion). The LD3 action set off a chain of events that led to the un-banning of the MAS books on October 22, 2013.
The above is merely a thumbnail sketch of Luis’ achievements and his substantial and substantive contributions to our community over many years and his continuing contributions.
Luis has earned our support—not only in the form of voting for him but also in donating to his campaign and getting others (friends, family, colleagues, etc.) to vote for him.
The entire Democratic Party establishment is supporting the Book-banning, anti-MAS Durkin, whereas Luis’ campaign is a grassroots, organic effort.
With your help and support, we can win—Please contribute and help!
Thanks—
Salomon
HERES THE LINK TO CONTRIBUTE TO LUIS’ CAMPAIGN:
http://www.gonzales4pcc.com/donatee.html

With the help of people like you, we have a real chance to get Joe Arpio out of office, and to have an electoral race that we can get excited about.

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio stands for everything that we are fighting against this election.
 
He endorses Donald Trump for president, and calls him his “true political soul mate;” he boasts about having his own “concentration camp,” blatantly defied orders by a district judge to order his deputies to stop the unconstitutional racial profiling of Latinxs at traffic stops and at work, and has generally made his name from incarcerating, criminalizing, humiliating, and deporting brown and immigrant communities.
 
And now Arpaio’s approval rating is at the lowest point of his career
 
 
(one recent poll showed that 57% of voters in his county don’t like him). Now the organizations and the people that have worked for years to expose Sheriff Arpaio’s failures and cruelty are coming together to throw that final blow as part of the Bazta Arpaio Campaign.
 
It will be an uphill fight. Arpaio has many allies and $10 million in campaign funds. He is running in a state with a history of embracing fear-mongering politicians and electing them to office. And many of those that could get him out of office are young people, immigrants, Latinxs, and people of color, who tend to be dismissed.
 
That’s why we need all the support and volunteers we can get. So that when Arpaio loses in November, it won’t just be a victory for Maricopa County, it will be a victory for the fight for immigrant rights, for the fight against incarceration and criminalization of people of color, and a show that young people, immigrants, Latinx, and people of color can come together to organize and win.
 
With the help of people like you, we have a real chance to get him out of office, and to have an electoral race that we can get excited about.

Source: http://baztaarpaio.com/national-mobilization-arpaio/

Chicano Radio Network announces the launch of Studio B on September 29, 2016

Telephone 909-965-3695




Joe Ortiz & Associates Public Relations

Email [email protected]

Website http://www.CRNLive.com



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE



Frank Mills Miranda: A Radio Icon Who Broadcasts All Things Chicano Worldwide







Los Angeles, California – Little did he realize when he was five years old that Frank Mills Miranda would become an international Chicano radio icon. As fate would have it, watershed moments that often reveal our future life’s work come unexpectedly, even when one doesn’t recognize that that prescient moment marked the starting point of a much traveled life in the broadcasting and recording industry.

Miranda grew up on a poultry ranch where his parents worked in Tucson, Arizona; his closest neighbors were approximately ten miles away, therefore his best friend was the Sonoran Desert. There was little (if no) interaction with other kids so the only life he knew was with his family. It wasn’t until the weekends that he encountered other people when his parents took him into town to get a bowl of menudo. It was then that Frank not only had one of his favorite all time meals, he also had his first taste of the radio world.

Oftentimes a guy named Gabriel would also join the Miranda Family for a hearty bowl of his favorite Mexican breakfast; he was a close friend of his parents and relatives.

Frank can still remember at that tender age that when Gabriel would speak, he would be floored and in awe by the sound of Gabriel’s voice, a deep vibrato tone, and so filled with authority.

While growing up there was a protocol like in most Chicano families in their respective communities that you were to remain quiet not to chime in while adults were talking. One-day Frankie decided he would learn more about Gabriel when he joined the family for breakfast, that one Sunday morning and Frankie boldly (but respectfully) asked him what he did. Gabriel told Frankie that he worked at a local radio station. Frankie was all ears. After explaining what he did, Gabriel seeing a gleam in Frankie’s eyes and asked his parents if they could bring Frankie to the station, and he would show him around. At that age time moved too slowly for Frank as the seven days before the next weekend seemed like months.

When Sunday came around, Frankie was excitedly up early to see this radio station that was described the week before.

First Gabriel introduced him to the other air personalities and the rest of the staff. After a few friendly exchanges, Gabriel took him to one of the small broadcasting booths and then allowed him to talk into one of the microphones in the production room. When Gabriel played the recording back, Frankie’s eyes grew wide with excitement. Right then, in his mind, Frankie felt like he was the biggest star in the world. Little did he know then that in the future Frank Mills Miranda would eventually play a big part in the broadcasting arena, primarily to his fellow Chicanos throughout the Southwest, and now internationally, as the founder of the Chicano Radio Network U.S.A.






Photo taken behind Alice’s Bar (Grandmother) on 29th and I-10 in Tucson, AZ



JOA: Your broadcasting die may have been cast at the tender age of 5; but at what point did you see your dream becoming true?



CRN: “In 1982, right out of High School, I started Star Sound Productions, which became the umbrella of every -thing I would be doing in entertainment in the future. My objective in the beginning was simply to provide local entertainment with band promotions and disc jockey services around the Tucson area. At first it was a stage set-ups and disc jockey services. I would do concert set-ups where I provided all the sound equipment, speakers, microphones and I also ran the mixer board. Our local on-air personalities would be the disc jockeys or Masters of Ceremonies for events in the Tucson area.”



JOA: There must have been other folks around that could do that kind of work, what made you so unique?



CRN: “The uniqueness is that I would only hire my local on air personality friends. We owned the town during that period. Then we started distributing music. This is how I came to know Art Laboe, the legendary DJ who invented the Oldies but Goodies, Golden Oldies and Dedicated to you volumes. I would get record labels to give me exclusivity in my markets so that I would be the only one supplying those areas. Plus, I signed exclusive talent contracts as well.

Since the company’s early beginnings, we have done music publishing, record label releases, managed artists and everything radio. Among the many cool things we did were some very important collaborations like being the media sponsor for the ALMA Awards since 2006, Licensing for the East Side Story series (these series are a staple of Chicano’s everywhere), Thump Records, plus many others including movies just to name a few.








JOA: When did you decide to actually get involved with radio stations?



CRN: “In the mid-90’s, I Managed radio stations KOHT, KXEW, KTZR for the Art Laboe company. This was another blessing because I was able to run the very first radio station (KOHT) in the country to go bilingual English/Spanish. I wish I could take credit for it but that was the brain child of my friends the Manic Hispanic (James Rivas) and Rick Verdugo.

I can’t remember the call letters when I first stepped in to the KXEW 1600AM station at the age of five but when I managed it as an adult I changed the format from regional Mexican music to Tejano (Texan) music in 1994 overnight.

I remember getting so many positive messages for KOHT saying how ground breaking the format was. I even heard from a local professor who taught Spanish, saying, he instructed his students to listen to our station because it was the closest too full (Spanish and English language) assimilation.




Photo: The radio network was created on the second floor of my house in Dana Point, California in Orange Country.



JOA: When did you decide to start your radio network?



CRN: “In 1995, while living in Dana Point in Orange County, California I decided to start a new network for Chicanos by Chicanos, this would allow me the opportunity to see first-hand if my formula would work. I called it the Aztlan Radio Network. I had a transmitter under the low power FCC laws that was heard in Dana Point, San Juan Capistrano, Capistrano Beach and San Clemente, California

When I started the network we didn’t have streaming so our programming consisted of a one hour show in loop. Even when streaming was introduced, I would attend the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) conferences to see what was new in technology. About two to three years later, streaming was at the same quality that our loops were so we introduced it to our listeners. Since then, we broadcast our feeds in HD digital. During this time the issue of how the artists were going to be compensated was still up in the air.

I was always on a quest to find everything consistent with Chicano music, and I felt I was the only one who could pull it off. Plus, I had in past years represented some of the nation’s largest Chicano music publishing catalogs so I knew where to go when looking for certain tracks.”

JOA: All new ventures encounter road blocks in their journey, what were some of yours?



CRN: “The first two years were a bit prehistoric in the sense that streaming was years away and so we were limited to a one-hour show that would repeat. We would update that show once a month. Now, with streaming, unless it’s a special program that included a host and staff and artists, it is automated. We insert the shows when they are sent to us and the rest is programmed to reflect what our Chicano community’s ask for and enjoy. I would tell people if anyone listened to our network for just 10 minutes, they would be hooked. I still say that.

About four years into the network, we realized that most people didn’t know how to spell Aztlan, much less know what the name meant, so we changed the name from Aztlan Radio network to Chicano Radio Network. The name change was very specific to our Chicano community so more listeners were joining us.

“Then in 2001, I made it a point to reach out to other cultures by changing our name for the last time to CRNLive, which allowed us to have our artists showcased to a whole new demographic. The stage was set for us to reach higher than we had before because of the new listenership base.”



JOA: CRN is now networking not just with recording artists, but it appears that many major institutions have joined the party.



CRN:” Yes, we are proud that many Latino organizations realized that CRN had the power to get the Latino message out to the majority of the Latino community. LULAC (League of United Latin American Citizens) at the time reached out to us, we had great conversations and I decided later that I would allow CRN to network with LULAC and, so, to this day we continue to promote their efforts.



Obviously our exposure was impacting us more than we could imagine and many other entities (besides Latino groups) began contacting us. We became a media source for the American Library Association including NCLR, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association. The television game show, Jeopardy, became a constant caller to confirm Chicano and native related questions for their program. The last time they called was to confirm which of the Peruvian warriors was Tupac named after. We found out through his mother that it was the first Tupac Amaru (Thupaq Amaru) and not the son with the same name.


When Los Lonely Boys released their hit “Heaven” they had our network give tickets and meet and greets as they crisscrossed around the nation. We were the only Latino network solicited for the Lollapalooza. Record companies used our network to test market new Latino releases. Another example is when “The Mexicans” were the WWE’s (World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc.) hottest acts the WWE called and asked us if we can have a themes song written and produced for the wrestlers. When Eddy Guerrero one of the top wrestlers went solo, they called us back to have a theme song written and produced for him as well.




WWE Wrestling Champion Eddy Guerrero



In essence CRN became the sort of official entity to contact for all things Chicano. It is then when we knew we had arrived!”



JOA: Is this when you chose to become more involved with Chicano social issues?



CRN: “I’ve been a Latino activist all my adult life however, it didn’t take long for me to realize how CRNLive could be a platform to engage the government and people when the basic rights of Latinos were challenged. CRNLive was a constant presence at most events that challenged our oppressors. Sometimes coordinating street teams to join in the protests. In 2006, Latino advocates from coast to coast came together to fight against various acts of legislation that were not sensitive to the Latino community, such as the Jim Sensenbrenner Bill HR 4437.



We quickly set up our CRNLive Communications Center’s where we coordinated protests across the country with various national organizations and provided a news point for people to get the latest up to date information about rallies and protest marches. We helped defeat the bill but the win was bitter sweet as we saw that the law didn’t pass, but it made ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement), more aggressive with their raids.”




Photo taken at the Arizona State Senate with Attorney General Horn as he was ridding the state of Mexican American Studies


JOA: The word is out that that you didn’t just sit back in your radio console chair:




CRN: “Yes, not only did I participate in many of the protests, I personally contacted my neighboring states to meet its leaders and to have them come together and help because the next battle ground might be in their own back yard. The brotherhood that came out of that meeting is still strong today as we continue to be the ones being dehumanized.”



JOA: After those crisis situations, you had to go back and keep the ship afloat, right?



CRN: “Of course. For example, back in 2009, it was important to see my vision grow. I made another trek to California to meet with my movie star, musician and comedian friends to make them understand that like the era in the 60’s, when Dylan, Lennon and those music icons made songs to protest the war, I explained to them that today is our 60’s; if the message in our music is not heard loud and clear, the tide of hate against Mexicans can consume us all if we just let it run its course.



Some of the songs they recorded in that era are in rotation on our network to serve as a reminder of what can happen when we think of these things as someone else’s problems and then a knock comes to your door. Sadly, crisis situations against minorities, especially Mexicans and 3rd world immigrants are growing instead of abating.



At any given time CRNLive is working on as many as 5-10 issues at a time. I receive calls for help in issues of immigration, domestic violence, and many discrimination cases. We are thankful that those that need help find us through the various channels we developed where we work with other organizations to find solutions for whatever plight our people are experiencing at the time.



For example, when SB 1070 was introduced by the vile Russell Pearce out of Arizona, just like a fireman with his boots nearby, we strapped up for our next challenge. The remnants of this hate bill is still being worked out today. My home state of Arizona seems to be the proving grounds for hate bills from that time on, such as birthright, harboring the undocumented, and other laws designed to discount the nation’s future leaders.”



JOA: You have been in this war for over 20 years now, and I assume you will continue to helm the ship?



CRN: Yes! We have developed plans and programs to respond to most crisis situations. But, my Chicano music vision needs to be stoked on a daily basis to stay alive. Today we are poised to unleash our Studio B once again. At its first run there was plenty of movement in the area of Latino rap, and show out of LA (Pocos Pero Locos) was syndicated to other states where our Brothers and Sisters were being featured. There were many record companies large and small putting out some great music, stories, and production. Upstairs Records from Texas, Low profile from San Diego, Dead Silence out of East Los Angeles, to name a few. With our resources being exhausted with battling hate bills, we felt we would put Studio B on hiatus, so we did.



Now I feel our music development talents are stagnant, Record companies have abandoned their Chicano Hip Hop releases because of the lack of radio stations to play them. Not because we have none but because all our ways to promote it have fallen to the way side. That’s why we are resurrecting Studio B now. Another big reason is because now we can be heard in digital in your car, Smartphone, SmartTV and streaming which means you can start at Olvera Street in East Los Aztlan and drive all the way to New York without missing a beat. Our feed originated from 6th and Grand in downtown Los Angeles. In recent months we moved our servers to San Francisco. We upload in digital to all devices and in some areas we’re on your FM dial.


Studio B is un-cut, meaning that you will hear music in its entirety. Since we mix in a lot of variations you can hear something hilarious to something deep; this is truly the whole spectrum for our 18 plus listeners.”



JOA: Besides your advocacy and music aimed at your audience, what other projects do you have in mind?



CRN: I’m glad you asked that question. We are most excited about the relationship we have developed with the legendary Mark Guerrero, who is known not only for his Chicano music recording career, but for his historical archive of everything to do with the birth and history of Chicano music. Mark (son of legendary Chicano music icon Lalo Guerrero) is currently conducting a show on CRNLive, which includes interviews with a myriad of Chicano musicians and performers, which is called Chicano Music Chronicles. No one knows the history or the original performers of Chicano music like Mark Guerrero. It’s now our number one show. People just love it!



Also, we are courting a long time national radio talk show host to hopefully come out of retirement. We can’t mention his name but if we can get him to join us, it would be a major broadcasting coup for CRN and the entire Chicano community.”



JOA: You would think that a radio communications entity like CRN Live would (or should) have a large staff. How many people do you employ?



CRN: Besides a few devoted volunteers who come in and out on a regular basis, and assist us, it’s really a small operation. With four or five collaborators, unless it’s a special program with a host, all else is automated. We insert the shows when they are sent to us and the rest is programmed to reflect Chicano music and news pertinent to our respective community.”



JOA: To what do you attribute your success?



CRN: While I was growing up I’ve had many blessings in my life that allowed my life to be full and exciting.



I attribute it to the love and encouragement from my parents and later my wife and children. Just as important are the listeners, participants, volunteers and supporters we have throughout the world.”



Frank Mills Miranda and Mark Guerrero are available for interviews; Call 909-965-3695 or (480) 748-1793



[Joe Ortiz Associates is a full-service public relations company, founded by Joe Ortiz, an award-winning journalist and broadcaster. Ortiz has the distinction of being the first Mexican American to host a talk show on an English-language, commercial radio station, at KABC Talk Radio in Los Angeles]



Joe Ortiz & Associates 626 N. Dearborn St., Ste 165, Redlands, California 92374




To submit music for Airplay consideration please send to [email protected]




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2016 (c) Copyright CHICANO RADIO NETWORK U.S.A. a division of STAR SOUND MUSIC GROUP®

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“Young Latino Artists 21: Amexican@” at Mexic-Arte Museum

This exhibit is about being Mexican-American, but it will make things happen for you whatever your ethnicity

REVIEWED BY SAM ANDERSON-RAMOS, FRI., JULY 15, 2016

I’m Mexican-American, but I don’t know exactly what that means anymore. It seems to refer to the fact that my family is from Mexico. It also seems to have something to do with my skin color. The fact that I’m brownish definitely seems relevant to my Mexican-Americanness.

Mexic-Arte Museum’s “Young Latino Artists 21: Amexican@” touches on these things, but it also hits on stuff I don’t have anything to do with. Religion, for example. Take Vanessa R. Centeno’s series of prints, video, and sculpture. Saint Thing I and Saint Thing II are photos of becloaked women wearing dramatic makeup, metallic facial gear, and wild halos of what look like brightly colored sea worms. The images have thick, golden borders, like futuristic altarpieces. I’m Mexican, so I guess I’m supposed to care about Catholicism. Doesn’t matter. These alien saints talk to me, and anyway, Centeno isn’t through. Her video, the freaky Paint Thing, shows one of these saints rolling around in a funky glow. The undulating and throbbing, plus the twirling halo/sea worm crown, is starting to get to me. What’s Mexican about that? It still has the Catholic thing going on, I guess, but things go berserk with Keep It Up, a massive sculpture that takes the halo/sea worms to a bountiful level that goes beyond traditional iconography to a place that may need a fresh language just to understand. It’s a body surrounded by light, a bursting jelly sack. Looking at this, I could give a shit about “Mexican.” The series is ecstatic, organic, confident, and confused. It’s complex. Forget race for a moment. The series feels like a life.

But James Medrano’s El Barto, okay, it’s a guy making some graffiti, I get it, because Mexicans are into graffiti. We like to tag stuff. Now that’s some barrio shit, and I grew up in the barrio on Austin’s southeast side, so I know what I’m talking about.

Only this guy ain’t normal. He’s wearing a Bart Simpson mask, but the mask is going hallucinogenic. Multiple exposures. Now we’ve got this blurry cartoon face with the big eyes and wide mouth creeping me out like Centeno’s woolly blob. The graffiti guy is kneeling and painting “El Barto” in gold on a wall (it drips gold paint), which if you don’t know, that was Bart Simpson’s tag. The guy’s maybe a cartoon man, but his hand is rendered naturalistic with veins, and kind of dark, so maybe brown like me? I can’t say why he’s jacking Bart’s tag, why his face is all twisted up, but something about it, the piece is active, the piece is mean, like culture is mean, like tag is mean, like art is mean. Maybe the artist is mean, too. He’d have be a little mean to make such mean work.

As a Mexican-American, I come into this show thinking maybe I’ll learn something about myself. Because when I think how I’m Mexican-American/Chicano/Latino/Hispanic, all kinds of things happen. I get floppy like Centeno’s saints; I get mean like Medrano’s El Barto; I get beautiful like Chris Montoya’s Hood Rich; I get sicko like Essentials’ design. I’m going to bet most people, whoever they are, whatever ethnicity or whatever zip code they represent (’44!), that they get all those things, too.

Source: http://www.austinchronicle.com/arts/2016-07-15/young-latino-artists-21-amexican/