Why this blog?

If you're Latino and not screaming right now, check your pulse. Regardless of where you stand on the immigration issue, it's our issue and the time to act is upon us. Don't think for a second this fight is just for "immigrants in question," to borrow from Dr. Otto Santa Ana, a linguistics professor at UCLA.

This blog is designed to invite any American that doesn't want to see our country make the same mistake twice. As Americans, we should have learned our lesson of treating people--without exception--with dignity and respect through the Civil Rights Movement. Yet all around us, you hear CNN and MSNBC celebrity journalists like Lou Dobbs and Chris Matthews using such offensive terminology like "these people" and "these aliens" when referring to Latino illegal immigrants. This needs to stop.

Latinos that have a voice and are not living in the shadows--regardless of where we stand on the immigration issue itslf--need to demand respect. We have much to learn from our African American brothers and sisters. Do you think for a second they would put up with being referred to as "them" or "those people?

So this blog was fueled by a hunger to try to wrong a right. Hopefully, we can continue to raise some awareness and recruit apathetic young people who need to get involved.

Having said that, I'm also a music-cionado. From Johny Cash to Café Tacvba, my music taste should indicate that I'm a first generationer through and through. I live here and love my country, but my Latino roots run deep thanks to my immigrant parents' upbringing. "Never forget where you come from," they always said. I haven't and in these troubling times music can help in redefining our identity and for this reason this is also a music blog.

Thanks for your time and your visit.