This is Barrios, in his own words, recorded in 2012 on the weekend before Veteran’s Day, in his Tijuana apartment.

–

Hundreds or possibly thousands of military veterans have been deported for life from the United States. No one knows exactly how many. No U.S government agency keeps track.

An estimated 70,000 non-citizens served in the U.S. military between 1999-2008, according to the Center for Naval Analysis (CNA). They can enlist, as long as they’re legal permanent residents with green cards. According to the CNA, once enlisted, non-citizens stay in the military longer than their citizen counterparts.

The group “Banished Veterans” estimates the number of deported U.S. military veterans to be between 8,000 and 40,000. They say they have personally spoken to at least a hundred deported vets who now live in countries including Costa Rica, Italy, Jamaica, Bosnia, and Mexico.

Immigration law reforms implemented in 1996 require the permanent deportation of every non-citizen convicted of a long list of criminal offenses. These offense range from nonviolent crimes like fraud to more serious crimes like murder.

The 1996 changes eliminated judicial discretion in deportation proceedings. Even in cases where a legal permanent resident has a U.S citizen spouse or children and has served in the military, a judge’s hands are tied. The person must be deported. Even if a judge wanted to grant an exception to this deportation rule, he or she cannot.

The range of Rodriguez’s art is as varied as the places that claim one of her works. From state capitols, college campus museums and bank lobbies to the National Hispanic Cultural Center in New Mexico and even animal shelters, Rodriguez’s distinctive style, subject matter and use of color make her work stand out in whatever location and elevates the conversation into many areas beyond art.

In this video, Rodriguez explains how she looks at life and tries to find the patterns and rhythms that exist in reality but too often in dimensions invisible to the human eye — but not to her artist’s eye.

Mitt thinks he’d have a better chance of become president if he was Latino. In the first video of the Actually… series Rosie Perez explains why it will take more than being Latino for Mitt to win the election.

Like cultural ambassadors, Los Cenzontles have spent the past 20 years recording songs that reflect and modernize the culture, history and musical traditions of Mexico. They’ve also shone a light on some of the bigger problems facing Mexican-Americans in California, where the band runs an arts center for local Latino youth.

Drug violence has been a longstanding problem on both sides of the border. Today, American Songwriter is proud to premiere the music video for “The Silence,” a new Los Cenzontles song inspired by those who’ve lost their lives in the drug war.

“It is estimated that more than 47,000 have been killed in Mexico to control the drug supply to the United States,” says Eugene Rodriguez, the band’s founder and frontman. “For a situation of such magnitude, so close to us, and with so much culpability to spread around, it astounds me how little we hear or talk about it. So I wrote about this subject from that perspective and called it ‘The Silence.’

Jackson Browne lends his vocals to the song, as does Los Lobos co-founder David Hidalgo. With those stars on board — and with a heartbreaking video to match — Rodriguez has been reaching out to social justice organizations and human rights groups, hoping to partner up with other activists to bring more attention to the song’s release. He hasn’t had much luck.

“I would hope that the song and video would help raise awareness about the subject and provide viewers a way to make an impact in some way,” he explains. “However, I have been unsuccessful. Amnesty International, for instance, responded that they do not deal with this issue for security fears. My concern is that the release of ‘The Silence’ will encounter its own silence. Too many people have died and continue to suffer. And for what?”

Pre-order the band’s new album, Regenaration, featuring “The Silence” here.

On Thursday’s match against Juventus, Oscar scored two goals, one of which was rather impressive.

Check out the 21-year-old’s top-corner, perfectly arced shot against Juventus goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon, who later said, “Oscar turned on a sixpence and put his shot under the bar.”

“I will not say it’s nice to concede a goal but it’s nice to be part of a great goal like that, compliments to him.”

In the end, the match ended in a 2-2 draw.

At 15, Inocente refuses to let her dream of becoming an artist be caged by her life as an undocumented immigrant forced to live homeless for the last nine years.

Her escape from a life that includes “a father deported for domestic abuse, an alcoholic and defeated mother of four who once took her daughter by the hand to jump off a bridge together, and an endless shuffle year after year through San Diego’s overcrowded homeless shelters.”

The film shows how Inocente uses color to paint herself a new reality, a reality where her talent is finally getting her noticed. It’s her talent that is her ticket out of the only world she’s ever known and into another that she has only imagined.

INOCENTE is already an award-winning film but is on Kickstarter to raise money to help finish paying for added expenses to make the film available for community screenings and making free downloadable companion curricula for teachers and creating an arts workshop template for community organizations.

This film will usher you into the secret life she returns to at the end of every day, where she navigates the instability, despair, and neglect of a situation she must endure through no fault of her own. The challenges are staggering, but the hope in Inocente’s story proves that her circumstances not define her—her dreams do.

Raised in San Francisco’s Mission District, Alegria is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and received her MA in Education. She is a teacher, organic gardener, seed activist, Aztec dancer, performer and an inspirational role model to a new generation or readers.

Reposted from Latina Lista

Tucson’s Mexican American Studies program has been under attack following the passage of a bill which prohibits schools from offering ethnic studies courses. Arce maintains he was fired because he spoke out against what he saw as a discriminatory law targeting Mexican Americans and Latinos. “I, along with many others, stood up and [saw] this law as unconstitutional,” Arce says. “And because we stood up, the district has retaliated.”