Califorence Mexican American literature.
Julian Segura Camacho
THE BOOKS
Julian's books have been adopted by all the UC libraries: Berkeley, UCLA, Davis, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Riverside, Merced, Irvine and San Diego, in addition to the Bancroft Library Collection of the West. Other notable library adoptions are Oxford University, Stanford including the Special Collections Unit for Huevos y la Mujer Latina, University of Texas Benson Library, including the Law Library.
If Jesus Could Not Save Himself, How Would He Save Me?
ISBN-13:978-0761858836
As the country recognizes the 101st birthday of former President Ronald Reagan, this memoir offers insight into a local Anglo-Protestant community in Westchester, California, that was but one grain of sand in a sea of change that led to the Reagan Revolution. In the early 1980s, this cohort of Anglo-Protestants reached out to neighborhood youngsters in a dedicated attempt to “save” them from hell. Julian Segura Camacho, a Mexican American teenager living in California at the time, soon found himself attending an all-white church, primarily upper class but still sprinkled with less fortunate ones. This Assembly of God church became a family and much like any relationship, Camacho found pleasure and anguish as different personalities played themselves out.
As a member of this communal religious and racialized space, Camacho was able to see firsthand how the Reagan Revolution attracted those who felt the US was becoming too secular. Yet this book is not political; it is simply a story of a Mexican American boy engaged in a seven-year routine of bible study, youth and boy scout activities, and camping trips, along with sermons about the coming of Christ, and the evils of Darwinism.
Chalino: A Chronicle Play of Fulgor and Death
ISBN-13: 978-1888205121
With "Chalino", Julian Camacho writes about a raw, unflinching Mexican icon with an unapologetic honesty only he can provide. He excels at bringing this story to larger than life tale because he possesses one of the most experienced voices among his contemporaries. Oscar Barajas, Author, "True Tales from the Wireless Clothesline" Rosalino "Chalino" Sanchez was a Mexican immigrant from the Mexican state of Sinaloa who came to the US in search of opportunity. In his pursuit of perseverance his gift and talent for writing corridos for the common working class man initiated a world wind phenomena that appealed to Mexican-American youth in Los Angeles, California. Chalino's corridos provided a cultural medium in which Chicanos identified with their own roots. Chalino's contribution to the musical genre of corridos bridged Mexican immigrant music of the Mexican corrido with Mexican-American youth. Chalino's corridos and music has forever changed the social fabric of Chicanos in the music scene in Los Angeles. His music helped many Chicanos have a cultural reaffirmation of who they are allowing Mexican youth in Los Angeles to immerse more deeply into their own Mexican Norteño culture. Chalino's unique singing style turned him into a legend that many have tried to imitate, but there will never be another man like him. Chalino defied the odds and became successful starting his own legacy as the king of corridos. Through his art form Chalino left behind his fame and a corrido legacy that was materialized and created in el rancho de Los Angeles, California. Marcos A. Ramos,University of California, Berkeley In the vacuum of Mexican American leadership because of accommodation or negotiation, Chalino emerged as that cultural icon very much needed at a time that Mexicans suffered the single largest decline of income since the great depression of any group in the US from 1989-92. When hope was lost, and I lived through the LA Riots in front of my house in Lennox, Chalino was that inspiration so much needed at that time. Prayer, employment, and government assistance had all failed to make my heart happy, and eventhough Chalinos' music did not fill my hunger, it satisfied my heart at a time it needed nourishment. Ricardo Camacho, A Chalino Fan!
Huevos y la Mujer Latina
ISBN-13:978-0979645747
Huevos is not a politically correct articulation of the plight of Latino men in this era of so called gender equity and diversity. The author contends that while White women have made progress, Latinos, particularly Mexican men, have been entirely ignored; they have become the epitome of the poor working class. Ambitious and upward mobile Latinas often look down upon Latinos, and particularly Mexican males' lackluster economic success preferring other males. Latino males have been left out of any gender or racial discussion, yet suffer the highest work related death rates, lowest college attendance and graduation rates, high incarceration rates, the highest poverty even though they have the highest labor participation rates. The Latino male have become the Sisyphus's of America condemned to low wages by globalization, to ignorance by mediocre, highly-unionized schools, and destined to be marginalized of any equity-political-solution. The progress of White women has maintained White power by driving the diversity dialog, praxis, and remedy away from Latino males-the working, and uneducated poor. As Latino men have been relegated to a caste style social gender structure-the hard working indigent-Latinas have been blinded into believing that feminism and Chicanisma are positive, weakening Latino traditional social fabric and support system, while simultaneously ignoring the societal divide distressing Latinos, and especially Mexican males. "Huevos! Ya era hora! In an era of such political correctness, the timing couldn't be better. Once again Julian Camacho tackles the issues that are relevant in this truly academic discipline of Latino Studies." John J. Morales Jr. Chair and Professor of Chicano Studies, L.A. Mission College "Julian Camacho's work is thought provoking and it is bound to create deep conversations and debate. Thank you for addressing the real challenges Mexican man face everyday in US society." Marcos Ramos, College of Letters and Science. University of California, Berkeley "An exciting and enthralling design to educate the body and stimulate the mind. Destined to be one of the most discussed books in 2007!" Oscar Barajas, Author of soon to be realized book "Tales From The Wireless Clothesline"
Societal Suicide
ISBN-13: 978-0761835141
Societal Suicide is a cultural-racial analysis of the enduring legacy called Animus Americana, which affects the psyche of Mexicans in the United States, specifically Los Angeles. This work is a compilation of factors, experiences, and realities that make one suicidal both from a societal and familial perspective. This timely and deeply personal exploration into the roots of suicidal tendencies in Mexicans living in the United States is a revealing study of culture, assimilation, social pressures, and identity.