The Unapologetic Mexican

is the name of a blog and a character/persona. I, the writer of this blog, am an American citizen by birth (2nd generation, born in Los Angeles), and a Xicano/Latino of Mexican descent (as well as Eastern European on the other side of my family which immigrated here two generations ago from what is now Russia).

The blog name is taken not to confuse you as to my whereabouts or citizen status, but to put emphasis on Mexico; the very opposite of what I did growing up as a child in a culture and locale that despises Mexico and Mexicans. It is my proud statement of identity, and not one denoting my country of residence. The assumption in much of everyday USA society remains that mi gente, my people, are inferior. That the land from which my father and his father came deserves to be poor and torn by violence. That all there is to Mexico is crime and drugs and that when we come here, we are the cause of crime and drugs. This is very selective (racist and anti-indigenous) spin produced by USA media outlets and government agents who want to obscure the hand of the USA in so much of Mexico's failings as well as the interconnected roles and systems that wed colonizer and colonized; conqueror and oppressed; empire and those in the shadow of the empire; corporate needs and labor forces; elites and peasants.

I do want to make it clear that I am not here to pretend to be a voice for those who live in Mexico or for those who come here (to the USA) directly from Mexico. Theirs is a different culture and framework and experience. My experience is that of a person who is (like many Mexican nationals) made from both Indian and "white" backgrounds; a mestizo who has grown up absorbing USA media and society's whispers that are rife with loathing for many peoples and kinds of peoples, Mexicans being one of these peoples. I am here to speak back to that tidal wave, to empower myself and others like me, and to fight and stand for truth (when I manage to recognize it) and progressive values that do not rest upon electoral situations, possibilities, or parties—but principles.

This blog is not related to or representative of the current government or people of Mexico. This blog can not be considered a general statement of the pro-immigration movement, those who migrate back and forth across the "border" or in any other way indicative of much more than a xicano cat sniffin round his roots and shoutin out brown pride.

the background art (and also "Zapata" on another page) is by David Alfaro Siqueiros.

longer bio