Throughout my adult life, I have participated in organized political struggle. I have been active in dozens of popular efforts defending the interests of the Mexicano-Latino communities of San Diego and beyond. This work has included advocacy for educational rights, barrio youth, Chicano Park, prisoners, women, ending police and border-related abuses, organized labor, Latin American solidarity, independent electoral campaigns, community media, and many other issues.
Current community work, partial list.
- 2017 – Present. Editor-in-chief of La Verdad Publications.
- 1997 – 2002; 2018 – Present. Member of the Chicano Park Steering Committee.
- 1991 – Present. Active participant in the work of Somos Raza Barrio Youth Project. 1992-1997, Editor of Somos Raza Magazine, publication of Somos Raza. 1992-1995; 2018 – Co-organizer of Escuela Aztlan, a community-based Saturday School to help youth develop critical political and cultural consciousness. Current editor and webmaster of Somos YouTube Channel.
Past community work, partial list.
- 2019 – 2020. Co-founder and Producer for the The “PA” Podcast.
- 2020. Director/ videographer/ editor/ writer of A People’s History of the Mexican War of Independence, the 16th of September, & “El Grito”, a brief video history of the Mexican Independence created for high school youth. As of 2021, this video has over 11k views.
- 2013. Director/ videographer/ editor/ writer of A People’s History of the Mexican Revolution, a brief video history of the Mexican Revolution created for high school youth. As of 2021, this video has over 340k views.
- 2000 – 2008. Co-founder and original community advisor to the Association of United Housekeepers (AUH) – an attempt to form an independent “minority union” for hotel housekeepers in San Diego. This effort was born out of the struggles to organize the housekeeping departments of the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina in 2000 and the Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego in 2006. Awarded the 2008 UCLA Miguel Contreras Labor Program Award for this work.
- 1994 – 2007. Co-founder and leading member of the Association of Raza Educators (ARE).
- 1999. Independently edited and published the book Stolen Revolution, a collection of articles and documents focused on political struggles in Mexico from 1930 to 1996.
- 1996 – 1999. Coordinator and leading member of the Chicano Press Association (now the RPMA).
- 1998. Independently edited and published the book Un Pueblo Sin Fronteras.
- 1992 – 1996. Co-founder and first editor of Pueblo Unido, the newspaper of the Raza Rights Coalition.
- 1996. Co-founder of the Comité de Mujeres Patricia Marín (CMPM).
- 1992 – 1995. Editor of ¡La Verdad! newspaper.
- 1995. Independently edited and published the book EZLN: Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional, a collection of articles and documents detailing the first two-years of public struggle taken on by the EZLN.
- 1993. Co-founder of the Chicano Mexicano Prison Project (CMPP), and first editor of Las Calles y La Torcida, an educational and advocacy publication for prisoners.
- Independent publisher, editor, and author of numerous web pages, dozens of pamphlets/ booklets, and hundreds of flyers.
- Outreach Coordinator in multiple independent electoral campaigns for 8th City Council District in San Diego, and in National City.
- 1996 – 2007. Teacher and advisor to MEChA at Memorial Junior High School.
Lowriding.
I’ve been into classic cars for a long time, and I’m especially preferential toward old chevy trucks. Currently, I have a 1965 El Camino, the ultimate old-school Chicano-style cruiser.
Throughout the years I have been lucky enough to have been able to build three more of these classic Chevys but did not keep any except for my ’65 El Camino. I did however set up websites for these trucks and created a website for a local barrio-based auto restoration/repair shop. I created most of these web pages from scratch, which explain their “old school” feel.
