No Grad Student Left Behind: The Personal is Political

Skateboys, 1993. Photo Credit: Kathryn Ortiz Skateboys, 1993. Photo Credit: Kathryn Ortiz I took this photo in fall 1993.  On the sidewalk in front of Amoeba Records, Berkeley, CA.  I am sorry that I did not get the names of the skaters or others in the photo.  Taken at a live remote broadcast was held that day to raise funds for  KFJC-FM, the radio station that is part of Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, CA. KFJC is a nationally ranked, an award-winning college radio station.  The station has a month-long fundraiser each October. Each DJ programs his or her own show with the caveat that 33% of the playlist must come from the Current Playlist for any given period of time.  The Current Playlist is updated every Wednesday night. The programming exceptions include live bands, interviews, talk shows, and specialty programming, usually of a particular genre of music.  Find the station at 89.7 FM in Los Altos Hills, CA. It's on the web. 

April 13, 2018 Alonzo Amador is The Man With the White Guitar Hoping to learn more about the man with the white guitar, I returned to the McDonalds the next morning at 7:30 a.m. on my way to an 8:15 a.m. class. Again, there was little time to chat, but he is a regular at this location for his morning "Senior Discount" coffee. That's my usual coffee order too. Between my not perfect Spanish and his more than adequate English, we spoke for a few minutes.  When I asked him about why he wrote the names of El Cartel on his guitar, he said that he writes corridos about the adventures of these drug bosses.  Corridos are stories told in song. What separates this song form from others is its Mexican origins and the subject matter common to the stories. With origins in the Mexican Revolution, the stories do not usually include tales of a broken heart. The stories serve a purpose -- to speak out against injustice or to share the ways people survive the har

Humans of Tucson, Arizona April 12, 2018 This is what happens when you skip the drive-through at the McDonald's on Irvington in the Spectrum Center, Tucson, Arizona. You park your car, go inside, and meet a man with a white guitar. A white guitar handpainted with a list of names of El Cartel bosses. Included in the upper right-hand corner is a small photo of Malvede, and an image   of St. Jude  Thaddaeus is  on the back of his guitar.  I could not stop and hear his story because I did not want to be late for the writing class I teach at Pima Community College Desert Vista Campus.  I hope to meet this man again on another early morning coffee run on my way to campus.  I want to know his story.