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Like Hijuelos’ best-known novel, “The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love” (1990), “Dark Dude” is about a Cuban living in New York City, only the protagonist is second generation and a teenager. He is also uncharacteristically fair-skinned — a “dark dude.” According to the definition that kicks off this book for readers ages 12 and up, that’s what “a male of light skin is derisively called by persons of color.”

That description most certainly applies to Rico, a 15-year-old Cuban American with blond hair, hazel eyes and freckles. The New York City teen is often jumped by hoods who think he’s white and, therefore, has money. But he doesn’t. His “Pops” works two jobs to keep the four-person family afloat, and they’re still scraping to get by because Pops likes to drink away his paychecks.

‘Dark Dude’ by Oscar Hijuelos - Los Angeles Times

As the photo collection approaches the late 1800s and the early 20th century, many photos appear from Baltimore portrait studios such as Reissert’s, J. Holyland, and Strauss’. Many of these portraits are first communion photos of young African-American and African-Latino girls. Two tintypes from the J. Holyland studio in the 1860s and ’70s show young women, clearly of mixed race, posing in conservative, almost gothic-looking black gowns. One wears a medal around her neck from the St. Frances Academy, and both images have been colorized after printing with red rouge on the girls’ cheeks, accentuating and whitewashing their features.

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Tags: Oblate, Sisters

Although a smaller project, Der Denison Herold is at the center of the discrimination story. The Latino contractor was the low bidder for the construction work. However, a contractor with close ties to the group pushing the conference center golf club offered to do the work on the Herold building for material costs only, thus undercutting the Latino contractor. In another fascinating twist to this tale, the contractor also proposed donating the value of this free labor to the golf club project.

Tags: Denison, Iowa

Enrique’s Journey The Story of a Boy’s Dangerous Odyssey to Reunite With His Mother Sonia Nazario Random
We meet Enrique on the eve of his mother’s departure for the States. He is 5; Lourdes is 24. Eventually, she finds work as a nanny in — where else? — Beverly Hills, where she cares for a child who has suffered an altogether different kind of abandonment. Her remittances arrive in Honduras, but they are not enough to ensure la vida mejor for her family. The only communication is the occasional phone call. “When are you coming home?” Enrique asks again and again, as several reunification plans fail.

El libro de Juan R. García “Mexicans in the Midwest” seguro que pronto saldrá al lado de “Apple Pie & Enchiladas: Latinos in the Midwest” de Jorge Chapa en los especiales de “Better Together” en amazon.com. El de Garcia se consentra en el período entre 1900 y 1932, mientras que el de Chapa es mas contemporáneo. Tengo entendido que también hubo un arreglo migratorio con Puerto Rico al principio del siglo pasado parecido al mexicano. No debe quedar duda que los Estados Unidos estimuló la ola migratoria hace cien años y lo utiliza como válvula de escape cuando no tienen a más nadie a quien culpar.

Aunque la experiencia de Guy Garcia es bastante atípica, su libro The New Mainstream es muy interesante. Pinta un futuro para los Estados Unidos en el cual puede salir mas triunfante que nunca, si sabe cortejar la ola inmigrante. Lo que si es seguro, es que el cambio ya empezó.

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