As Arizona prepares to begin a new chapter in their epic human rights movement, a look back down the road we've traveled reveals many things about our community. I believe there is a profound education for every American in our journey; the people we are, the community we've become.

The "Yo soy 132" or "I am 132" chants are rocking the Mexican political system during this 2012 Presidential campaign. As reported by Occupy Wall Street's website, thousands of student protesters are pouring into the streets of Mexico City to push back against their country's political corruption. The powerful Mexican...

Election Day is upon us in California. While the top race, the presidential primary, may be all but settled, all 53 of California's Congressional seats are up for election today, as is one US Senate seat, two statewide ballot initiatives and many local offices.

Tuesday's primary election also marks...

Let's be frank: our country is completely polarized and we have our federally elected officials to thank. Over the last eight years, we've forgotten what it means to listen and work together. This was a trend started by President George W. Bush, who steadfastly pushed his agenda on the American...

Award-winning broadcaster Tavis Smiley and one of the nation's leading intellectuals, Dr. Cornel West, recently released a new book called The Rich and the Rest of Us: A Poverty Manifesto (SmileyBooks, April 17, 2012), which challenges our assumptions about poverty. I got a chance to listen in on a...

By Kamren Curiel

If you haven't heard of Mexican acoustic guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela by now, you're sleeping. I got the chance to see them perform live at the Hollywood Bowl last year, and was blown away by their mastery of the guitar and strumming...

By Carli Eli

Whether your source of news comes from online media, TV or the latest tabloid, it's hard to ignore the media hype behind celebrity weddings and divorces. A few years ago, we gave our celebrity couples a few years of matrimonial bliss before they called...

By Kamren Curiel

No other artist represents today's bicultural Latino quite like singer-songwriter Gustavo Galindo. Born in Mexico City to an Irish/Scottish/French mother and Mexican father, who met in a swimming class at USC, the 30-year-old Latin pop rock artist spent his childhood between Mexico, Lake...

By Kamren Curiel

Although the May Day march in L.A. yesterday couldn't compete with the historical mass turnout for immigration reform on March 25, 2006, at least 1,000 demonstrators, many from the Occupy movement, convened in downtown to fight for immigration reform and workers' rights. Protesters...

With the fight to keep L.A. street art alive, Urban Legends comes to town to remind us all how important it is to have public spaces to create dialogue through various art forms. The public art auction and exhibition is being presented by the Estria...

By Jorge Steven Acuña

A typical day for a college student usually starts off with the constant snoozing of an alarm clock prior to our first class, but life as we know it doesn't always go as planned. What I thought was supposed to be an ordinary college...

By Pablo Rodriguez

More commonly known by those who love him by his sobre nombre, Jesse is a self-described Xota (jota) artist and community advocate. A BA in History, Chicana/o Studies, and Native American Studies from U.C. Davis, a master's in History from the University of Texas, and...

By Jacquie Marroquin

During the recent Women in the World Conference in Washington D.C., Liberian Nobel Peace Prize Winner Leymah Gbowee said,  "Women need to stop being politely angry."  She was referring to the ever-escalating war on women's access to reproductive care in the United States. This...

By Carli Eli

Last week, I was in Alabama for a work assignment and to my surprise it was such an eye-opening and heart-wrenching experience. Usually when one thinks of Alabama, the movie Forrest Gump or Lynyrd Skynyrd's song " Sweet Home Alabama" comes to mind. Unfortunately, for...

By Kamren Curiel

It's not everywhere you see graffiti pieces about immigration, but Brooklyn-based Chilean artist Nelson Rivas aka Cekis makes it a point to explore this theme based on his own personal experiences. His first open studio features a series of new works...

By Marcelino Quiñónez

Washington, DC - Today the White House honors farmworker and activist Rogelio Lona as one of ten leaders being recognized as Champions of Change who, like Cesar Chavez, have dedicated their lives to improving their community and the nation. The Champions of Change program was...

By Andrea Gutierrez

The University of Texas at Austin has always been at the forefront of the battle to use race as a college admissions criteria, and this year is no different. UT Austin's admission policies and the decision made in Gutter v. Bollinger (2003) to allow...

By Viva Samuel Ramirez

Have you ever felt like you were watching history unfold before your eyes? Like the words you were hearing and the people you were meeting were constructing historically significant events for generations to follow? That was the feeling I had in Tucson...

By Marcelino Quiñónez

It's often said that imitation is the greatest form of flattery. This country has definitely seen its share of a repeated behavior. For the greater part of the last 50 years, anytime injustice has been committed against a minority, the people who identify with that...