March 31 is the birthday of Cesario Estrada Chavez, the Chicano labor union organizer who gained fame in the 1960's and 70's for his achievements in the farm fields of California and the five-year-long grape boycott. After service in the U.S. Navy, Cesar, with Dolores Huerta and other activists, created the United Farm Workers, the UFW, the first viable agricultural worker union in the country. The UFW is eclipsed now, but it did have a strong impact on worker rights in the U

I teach American Ethnic Studies, an academic discipline which gave rise to the current bugaboo, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. DEI unfortunately is grossly misunderstood. Those three letters are enough to scare lots of people. Because it's perceived as un-American and dangerous, the Trump administration has banned DEI. The ban has made Trump even more popular than he was before January 20. Trump, of course, can infallibly read the public mood. When DEI is proposed the rea

Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept.15-Oct. 15, is upon us. Hispanic, Latino, Chicano, Mexican Heritage month is one of many ethnic months. Some people object to Hispanic Heritage Month because they fear Mexicans and other Latinos. That's what happens when there is a constant propaganda barrage about the "crisis at the border," when border guards push mothers and babies back into the water, balloon obstacles float in the water and chains and razor wire lace el Rio Grande, the Big R

Recently, I was asked how I decided what to write and how I approach the subject. I had never given this much thought but it appears I write about what is happening where I am. During the height of the Chicano Movement, I wrote and presented my poetry at rallies, meetings, and evening sessions with other poets. In the 1980s I worked on a Ph.D. and wrote three thirty-page term papers every three months to fulfill the requirements for my doctorate. Before I retired as a tenured