A Short Story of Mine

Check out "Estado de los Muertos" on Amazon

On this blog, I have a great deal of posts related to the strange, and twisted Arizona politics that control the minds and bodies of Latin@s. With that said, it's only natural that I would write a short story that addresses this socio-political landscape that continues to operate under the mythos of the Southwest, despite the pre-existing historical trajectory of Latin@ occupation and migration through the borderlands of the US.

Taking place on Dia de los Muertos, "Estado de los Muertos" incorporates elements and knowledge from Mesoamerican culture that is often dismissed by those fetishizing representations of the Southwest visible in such popular culture manifestations as those in the cowboy-western genre, and, specifically noted in "Estado de los Muertos," Tony Hillerman novels.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention a recent news story regarding Disney and Dia de los Muertos covered on Pocho.com: http://pocho.com/walt-disney-inc-wants-to-trademark-dia-de-los-muertos-toon/

Some nice Dia de los Muertos images:

Prop 107 bans Affirmative Action in Arizona

More Bad News from Arizona

A few friends went to the All Souls Procession yesterday and one of the local news channels said a few people found the procession to be a good place to vent about Prop 107 banning affirmative action in AZ (http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=13460971).

(photo from coachella.com website)

It's only slightly ironic that the channel is K-OLD when in fact the Souls Procession is linked to the Dia de los Muertos celebration of those friends and family members who've passed away because it is a kind of show of respect many times for elders who are no longer with us. But the disappointing situation with the passing of 107 means that much of the progress to reverse structural inequality that makes it difficult for people of color to succeed in higher education will be lost. NPR has a good story on the current debate (http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129216337) and what seems to be overlooked many times by students who claim to have their places in school 'taken by less qualified students of color' is that less qualified non-students of color (athletes, legacies & children whose parents make endowments) might be taking their spots. Still, it's easier for these entitled students to argue for what should come to them, even though affirmative action was started to offset the balance of educational inequality in public schools. It's too bad voters are the last to know that 'pulling oneself up by their bootstraps' is a myth because it doesn't account for the support of others or the presence of a functioning educational system.