INTERNATIONAL JAZZ DAY: JAZZ AND DEMOCRACY
By Andy Kingston
“The irony was not lost on many artists that a nation struggling with racial segregation at home should turn to those denied full participation in American democracy as ambassadors of American ideals abroad.”
IDA B. WELLS: THE POWER OF THE PEN
By Ina Jane
“Today, the legacy of her work continues as countries all over the world chant the words, ‘Black Lives Matter!’”
ENCOUNTERING NEW MEXICO
By Darryl Wellington
“I was aware that New Mexico was heavily Indigenous and Hispanic. It did not lack people of color. But I soon learned I was not completely mistaken in immediately worrying how race was constructed here, in terms of post-colonial oppression, and whether the absence of blackness might mean the preeminence of whiteness.”
THE LAST MLK DAY
By Hakim Bellamy
“Dr. King gets significant and deserved credit for being one of the greatest orators of the 20th century, however he never gets his just due as a poet.”
A SWEET AND SPICY MEMORY: BISCOCHITOS IN NEW MEXICO CULTURE
By Vanessa Baca
“Biscochitos have a far deeper significance than being just sweet treats. They represent family roots. It is the rare Hispanic New Mexico family that does not have its own recipe for biscochitos.”
CELEBRATING THE DEAD: DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS AND ALL HALLOWE’EN
By Nicolasa Chávez
“Many people do not know the origins of this fun – and fright-filled night, nor of the similarities its origins share with Día de los Muertos.”
MIGUEL TRUJILLO
By Gordon Bronitsky
“What was it about the postwar situation in New Mexico that encouraged Indians – and Trujillo in particular — to push for the right to vote?”
WHY IS EL PASO IN TEXAS?
By Ellen Dornan
“Today, Southern New Mexicans frequently cross the border to El Paso, TX to enjoy shopping and entertainment, perhaps appreciating the culture without understanding the long history of why El Paso feels so much more familiar than other Texas communities. Arguably, El Paso is the oldest New Mexican settlement. So how did it end up in Texas?”
HISPASIAN
By Melissa Auh Krukar
“The questions are always the same: ‘Where are you from?’ or worse, ‘Where are you really from?’ or worse yet, ‘What are you?'”
GROWING UP “COYOTA” IN NEW MEXICO
By Nicolasa Chávez
“Did being a coyote make me any less New Mexican? What exactly did it mean to be a ‘Coyota’ in New Mexico?”