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Showing posts from April, 2018
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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

Guitarra El Cartel de Tucson Arizona

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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.