How it really is-- from David Horsey, Seattle Times

Chicano/Mexican-American Artists and their benefactors

Cheech Marin

Cheech Marin teams up with city of Riverside and Riverside Art Museum to develop Chicano art center

Photo credit CBS News

Carmen Lomas Garza

photo credit Smithsonian Museum

More of her work at her website carmenlomasgarza.com

Carlos Almarez (claimed by AIDS in 1989)

Playing With Fire: Paintings By Carlos Almaraz

A Conflicted Psyche Revealed

Oral history interview with Carlos Almaraz, 1986 February 6-1987 January 29

Chicano Art Icon Carlos Almaraz Was the Ultimate Shapeshifter

Magic Green Stage, 1982

Echo Park Bridge at Night, 1989

Martín Ramírez

Self-taught artist, confined to a state mental hospital for the last 15 years of his life, diagnosed with catatonic schizophrenia.

Three VW Vans

So what is ICE up to these days?

This post is sort of a sequel to this one, and we really cannot, in good conscience, stop writing about it.

The Architect.

To start out, we need to talk about the person who set the tone for the abusive policy attitude toward all immigrants in the United States.  Not just from Mexico.  Not just from Honduras or Syria or Haiti.  Dreamers, refugees, children, disabled.  It is all the same to him.

That person is current Trump Chief of Staff John Kelly.  It would be hard to find a more repulsive,
racist man-- it is true, but the the important point is that he's Trump's boy, and like attracts like.

Examples of reporting on this topic are everywhere.  Here are a few.

John Kelly, Deacon of Deportation by Charles M. Blow

Jan. 17, 2018 People correctly direct their ire about Donald Trump’s hostile, racist, anti-immigrant policies at Trump himself because, after all, this starts at the top.

But there is someone else in the administration, behind the scenes and in the shadows, who deserves more scrutiny and more condemnation for this administration’s approach to immigration: Chief of Staff John Kelly....read full article

John Kelly’s Promotion Is a Disaster for Immigrants
In just six months, Kelly turned DHS into a deportation machine.

A quote from the article:

"On paper (if not always in practice), the Obama administration directed immigration agents to focus their energy on those who’d been convicted of serious crimes and to largely leave alone those who’d been convicted of no crimes. In February, Kelly wrote: “Unless otherwise directed, Department personnel may initiate enforcement actions against removable aliens encountered during the performance of their official duties.” Translation: Every undocumented and deportable immigrant would now be fair game."

As we've seen, ICE has taken this directive and put it into action with sickening zeal.

Has there been a slowing of the deportation machine? Has there been a return to "tiering" (kick out "the bad ones" first) ? Not at all. If anything, things are worse.

Perhaps we really only needed one John Kelly quote.  Talking to Laura Ingraham, he cut to the chase:

"But the lack of an ability to compromise led to the Civil War. And men and women of good faith on both sides made their stand where their conscience had to make their stand."

The Bullshit.

Look no further than the @ice.gov Twitter account. If you cast a net that drags in mostly peaceful, non-criminal immigrants you'll catch some bad guys, too. Law of averages. They love to crow about those.  MS-13, rapists, human traffickers, etc.

Joint Operation nets 24 transnational gang members, 475 total arrests under Operation Matador

We're not saying it's wrong to bring these people to justice.  We're saying they're damaging the fabric of our country by tearing families apart and persecuting innocent people.

The Reality.

All we could stomach for now, in no particular order, since Trump and his cronies got their hands on

the levers of power.  Some of these have been favorably resolved, but only because the spotlight tweaks their sense of how their jackboot tactics might possibly appear to decent people.

More than 500 pregnant women in ICE detention, after reversal of Obama policy

Immigration authorities have detained 506 pregnant women since December, when the Trump administration ended a policy to release most pregnant women while their immigration cases are pending...read full article

Video of woman being pulled away from her daughters in immigration arrest sparks anger

They said Ms. Morales was running a human smuggling ring.  Funny, she's one they released instead of prosecuting. Such a heinous crime, too.  Maybe ICE is soft on crime, or they lied again.  But it's OK to lie.  That's what they told Douglas Schwab.

Police answered immigrant's call for help, then gave him to ICE

Wilson Rodriguez Macarreno and his family heard an intruder so he called police for help. About an hour later, he was in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Rodriguez's detention Thursday sent shock waves through the Seattle suburb of Tukwila and is now garnering national attention from immigration advocates, warning that the way authorities handled the case could make immigrants scared to call police to report crimes...read full article

Mother and son's deportation pits senator against Homeland Security

US Sen. Bob Casey is lashing out at the Trump administration for deporting a Honduran mother and son who he says are at risk of getting killed by gang members

John Kelly's comment at the time...

"You can't pick and choose the laws that you obey.  And I can't pick and choose the laws that we're by law required to enforce.  We had a court order to remove her and we did."

This guy is scary.  Trump called him spectacular...read full article

Wife of 7th Special Forces Group vet faces deportation under tighter immigration rules

A Virginia immigration court on Monday could decide to deport the wife of an Army 7th Special Forces Group veteran, despite provisions in the law that allow her to remain in the United States.

Retired Sgt. 1st Class Bob Crawford, 52, and Elia, 44, married in 2001 when he was still on active duty and deploying regularly with 7th Group to conduct counter-narcotics operations and training missions in Latin America...read full article

Deported, divided: How a mom’s return to El Salvador tore her family in two

More than two months had passed since he’d last seen his mother, through a glass barrier in an immigration detention center in Williamsburg, Va. The U.S. government deported Liliana Cruz Mendez to El Salvador before her son, Steve Bermudez, finished fourth grade...read full article

Immigrant arrested by ICE after dropping daughter off at school, sending shockwaves through neighborhood

Romulo Avelica-Gonzalez had just dropped off his 12-year-old daughter Tuesday morning at her Lincoln Heights school when two black, unmarked vehicles surrounded his car.

As he pulled away from the school and got back onto the main road, the vehicles’ lights flashed. Avelica-Gonzalez, with his wife and 13-year-old daughter in the car, pulled over. Agents for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, wearing jackets that said “POLICE” on the back, detained the 48-year-old father of four...read full article

Follow up to the above:

How one L.A. father’s arrest put an entire neighborhood on edge

The air-conditioning system pumped cold air even during frigid winter nights on the high desert. To fall asleep under his thin blanket, Romulo Avelica Gonzalez, then 48, wore two pairs of socks, wrapped his feet in bath towels and tried to bring his mind to a warmer place...read full article


Often, reporting on immigration will refer to "Obama-era" policies, but this is not really accurate.  The policies, for the most part, are "Bush-era", "Clinton-era", and "Reagan-era".

Past administrations, both Republican and Democrat, understood the difference between campaign-trail rhetoric and policy in the real world.  They understood immigration policy is complicated because they weren't in the business of harassing and sowing fear among law-abiding immigrants, and more importantly, their vulnerable family members, whether documented or not.

Natividad Vácio: First in a series

Mexican-American character actors....who were they?

Remember Father Knows Best? Seen re-runs?  Aware of it's iconic status?  Whatever way you know it, you may have come across a character who appeared in 5 episodes.  His name is Frank, but they called him "Fronk", which we suppose was a bit of humor-- pronouncing an Anglo name as a native Spanish speaker might, if he spoke English with a heavy accent.  Perhaps it was an anglicized derivative of "Francisco", but we'll never know!  We know this actor was born in Texas.  Perhaps he spoke English without a Spanish accent at all.

He played the Anderson family gardener.

"Fronk" is Natividad Vácio (September 8, 1912--May 30, 1996)

His career spanned 41 years and 65 TV and movie appearances.  Yet, the vast majority of his roles were stereotypical Hispanics, especially in the early years. A large percentage of his roles contain only a first name or a descriptor such as "bartender", "waiter" and "vagrant".

Paco.  Chico.  Manuel.  Pedro.  Bricklayer.  Bootmaker.

He was never a president, a CEO, or even a riverboat scoundrel.

One of the more interesting facts we discovered was Vácio's close friendship with Superman actor and director George Reeves (then known as George Bessolo).  They were high school pals in Pasadena, California.

From a Sarasota, FL Superman conference

From imdb

"Born in El Paso, Texas, Natividad Vacio grew up in Pasadena, California. In high school he became friends with future actor George Reeves, who encouraged Vacio to join him at the Pasadena Community Playhouse. Vacio appeared in several plays there as an actor and musician. After military service in World War II he worked as a teacher, but with the encouragement of his best friend Reeves, appeared frequently in films and television." 

In turn, "Nati" taught George how to play the guitar. The two formed a vaudeville-style musical duo, but unfortunately-- no records of their performances seem to exist.

As was mentioned, Mr. Vácio was a World War Two veteran.  It is the only thing mentioned on his headstone at Forest Lawn.

We wanted to write a more complete profile of this prolific, talented man, but information is limited.

At Pasadena Playhouse

For example, we know his creativity on the stage abounded, and that he started Commedia del Artistes stage company of Padua Hills, California. (present-day Claremont)

The page linked below might refer to that effort, but we can't say for sure.  Although it is now a banquet hall, until the 1980s it was the home of "The Mexican Players".  It seems likely that Natividad Vácio would involve himself in something like that.

Padua Hills Theatre Home Page

It is true that many character actors live and die largely unnoticed, while being the backbone of every TV show, movie and stage play, it is far more true of those who play a select group of Hispanic stereotypes.  Our plan is to write more of these profiles interspersed with posts on other topics.

Hope-- Miguel Rivera

Murder at the Sleepy Lagoon

Before the 1943 outbreak of the infamous Los Angeles Zoot Suit Riots . . .there was the death of José Gallardo Díaz.

José Gallardo Díaz.

Known popularly as "The Sleepy Lagoon Murder", (legalese People v. Zamora)-- this was more than kindling for the ensuing riots. This was the lighter fluid, a combustible mixture of wartime paranoia, rampant racism in Los Angeles law enforcement and the judicial system, wild fear-stoking newspaper headlines, misunderstanding of 1940s Mexican-American youth culture, and celebrity activism-- in particular Anthony Quinn, Rita Hayworth and Orson Welles.

In writing this post, we were really struck by the fact that history is messy, and finding the truth can be confusing.  Textbooks and secondary sources must package things neatly, but it is clear the essence of some of the events is overlooked or obscured in the process.  Anyway, on to the story .  . .

On a still moonlit Sunday morning, August 2, 1942, 22 year-old José Díaz was found battered and dying by the fence of a dirt road in what is now Bell, California. This was the awful aftermath of what can only be described as a hellish series of events for all concerned.

The Sleepy Lagoon

A birthday party for one Mrs. Amelia Delgadillo-- given by her family and 20-30 invited guests, a reservoir on old Williams Ranch, and drunk, rowdy teenagers set the stage for the tragedy that formally ended in late 1944, when twelve wrongly convicted young men were released from San Quentin Prison.  We couldn't improve on this introduction to the case, so we'll use it.

credit: law.jrank.org 

Sleepy Lagoon Trials: 1942-43

"Late at night on August 1, 1942, eight to ten uninvited young men were ordered to leave a birthday party at the east Los Angeles ranch home of the Delgadillo family. The party crashers ended up half a mile away on a "lover's lane," where they assaulted several young people parked by a reservoir nicknamed "Sleepy Lagoon".

The victims of the beating returned to their own neighborhood, collected a large group of friends, and returned to confront their attackers. Finding no one there, they followed the sound of music to the nearby Delgadillo party. What happened when they arrived would never be clear, but a brawl erupted inside and around the Delgadillo house."

Upon discovery of Mr. Díaz (who died shortly after arriving at the hospital) LAPD officers descended en masse and rounded up about every young male caught outside in the barrio, from age 12 to early 20s, according to Lupe Leyvas, sister of main suspect Henry "Hank" Leyvas. Somewhere between 300 and 600 guys, as well as many young girls were caught up in the dragnet and interrogated.

Lupe Leyvas on PBS American Experience

As the police closed in on the most likely attendees at the brawl, the beatings by police during interrogation increased accordingly, coercing false statements, all of which became fodder for the jury and the press eager to stoke fomenting fear that these brash "foreigners" (all but two were US citizens) were actually subversive Axis or even Nazi agents undermining the fabric of the country while we were at war, all while wearing flamboyant attire who's style was borrowed from African-Americans, known as the "Zoot Suit".

via California Historical Society 

Whether Hank Leyvas and his friends from the "38th Street" neighborhood were actually wearing Zoot Suits that evening is unclear.  However, it doesn't matter. The Zoot Suit was a symbol, and the Sleepy Lagoon (sometimes shortened to "goon" in the headlines)Trial became inextricably tied to the riots that erupted in June 1943, occurring in a different section of Los Angeles and involving different groups of people.

Biased headlines stoke a spirit of revenge.

Most likely due to white resentment of Zoot Suit wearing Mexican-American guys leaving the confines of the barrio and embracing the LA jazz club scene in a big way, we saw prominent newspapers adopting a nativist tone in the months prior to the Sleepy Lagoon incident.

These stories conjured visions of a tsunami of lawlessness perpetrated by "pachucos"-- who were always portrayed as ruthless gangsters.  Our intention is not to delve into the pachuco topic, because it is very clear from the record that neither the "38th Street Gang" or the "Downey Boys" (those who initiated the melee after being ejected from the Delgadillo party) were hardened criminals.

An excerpt from the website Digital History

 "The Los Angeles papers started it by building for a "crime wave" even before there was a crime. 

MEXICAN GOON SQUADS.

ZOOT SUIT GANGS. 

PACHUCO KILLERS. 

JUVENILE GANG WAR LAID TO YOUTHS' DESIRE TO THRILL.

Those were...the headlines building for August 3rd.

On August 3rd the death of José Diaz was scarehead news. And the stories were of Mexican boys "prowling in wolf-packs," armed with clubs and knives and automobile tools and tire irons, invading peaceful homes....

On August 3rd every Mexican kid in Los Angeles was under suspicion as a "zoos-suit" killer. Cops lined up outside of dance halls, armed with pokers to which sharp razor blades were attached, and they ripped the peg-top trousers and "zootsuits" of the boys as they came out."

Out of all the potential culprits caught in the police dragnet, 22 young men were eventually tried in a highly unusual "group trial" for conspiracy to murder José Díaz on that night.

Judge Charles W. Fricke conducts a corrupt, racist trial.

The exact details of Judge Fricke's misconduct are painstakingly detailed in the appeal opinion overturning the verdicts, but we'll highlight just a few that struck us as most egregious-- beyond the basic fact that there was no evidence linking any of the defendants to whatever circumstances led to Jose Diaz' fatal injuries that night, much less a conspiracy.

There was inadequate to nonexistent legal representation allowed by the judge.

Those who were represented by counsel were not allowed to sit next to them and confer during court proceedings or court recess, as was and is standard procedure.

All of the defendants sat as a group, reinforcing the impression that the crime was committed by a group (a conspiracy murder).

They were not allowed to wear clean clothes or get haircuts, therefore the jury saw them dressed in the now disheveled clothing they wore when they were arrested and interrogated.

Blatantly prejudicial "expert" testimony was read to the jury including something called the Ayers Report, which included this statement:

"Mexicans, because of their Indian blood, have no concept of the value of human life, and when fighting have only a desire to kill, or at least let blood."

Not surprisingly, the outcome was as follows on January 12, 1943:

Three convicted of 1st degree murder and 2 assaults (sentenced to life imprisonment); nine convicted of 2nd degree murder and 2 assaults (sentenced to 5 years to life); five convicted of assault; five acquitted.

Now we come to the brightest side of a dark story-- a group of people who rode to the rescue and created the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee.  As we mentioned, a number of activists in other areas who became aware of the case were outraged by it, and determined to do whatever was needed to right the injustice.  An important part of this was the commitment of those people with the power to sway public opinion-- Hollywood stars.

Had they not done this, it seems highly likely that most of the wrongly convicted would have spent years, and perhaps life in prison.  An example of their work:

The Sleepy Lagoon Case-- Pageant of Prejudice by Alice Greenfield

In the end, an appeals court overturned all the convictions and reprimanded Judge Fricke, stating that the trial judge "...injured materially the defense of the appellants by his insulting remarks to defense counsel, by (unwarranted) rebukes, and by failing to make provisions for consultation between defendants and their counsel.

For more detail on that:

EXCERPTS FROM THE DECISION OF  THE SECOND DISTRICT COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA  IN THE SLEEPY LAGOON CASE  ENTERED OCTOBER 4, 1944

The twelve young men were released from prison on October 4, 1944.

Telles Family with Hank Leyvas in background via UCLA 10/4/44

As we searched and found information on this case, we couldn't help but have the impression that "the more things change, the more they stay the same", as we have chronicled in several of our posts-- the stirring of fear by the powerful, aggressive and intimidating law enforcement agents, a sensationalizing, biased media sector, injustice perpetrated on the powerless, and sometimes a reprieve coming from people with influence who can't stand to sit idly by and watch it all happen.

Further reading on the Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee from the Online Archive of California

Sleepy Lagoon Defense Committee Records, 1942-1945

I've started a new page containing a more extensive list of sources used in the writing of this post.  Click here for that:  Lots of Sources

Vicente Fernández-- the King of Ranchero

. . .deserves a Friday entertainment post all to himself.  He's retired now, but what a voice.  We have two videos from this beloved singer.  "Por tu amor maldito" (for your damned love--English translation at the bottom of the page) and "A Mi Manera" (Spanish language version of "My Way" from Mr. Fernández' last concert in 2016).

His last performance (2016) "A Mi Manera"

A touching story from Reuters Entertainment

Mexico's beloved Vicente Fernandez bids farewell with concert

Youthful Vicente does the smoldering eyes . . .

For your damned love 

The day I found you I fell in love

You know I've never disclaimed it 

Cruelly you managed to drive me crazy

And illusioned, I fell into your trap

Suddenly, all of that was over

You failed on the promise of adoring each other

You drowned me in oblivion for believing

That to you, the years would never come

For your damned love

I can't end with so much afflictions

I wish to blow up even my veins

For your damned love

For your damned love

Because of your damned love

I can't adjust my feelings

And my soul keeps draining

Because of your damned love

For your damned love

And now what do I want the grave for?!

If you already buried me in life

I don't want you ever to come back, no

I'd rather hold defeat between my hands

If yesterday I pronounced your name so many times

Look at me today, breaking my lips

For your damned love

I can't end with so much afflictions

I wish to blow up even my veins

For your damned love

Thanks to your damned love

I can't adjust my feelings

And my soul keeps being drained

Because of your damned love

Because of your damned love

Because of your blessed love.