California | El Pachuco Zoot Suits

A tale of two cholos

By Christian Vasquez/Web Editor – TheProspectorDaily.com – Photo Gaby Velasquez. When people ask Kenneth Chacón why he still dresses like a cholo—a Chicano with a bald head and tattoos—as a tenured professor, he tells them, “when a homeboy or a homegirl...

From farm worker to U.S. ambassador, Phillip V. Sanchez’s life was ‘American dream’

By Carmen George – FresnoBee.com – Photo Carl Crawford/Fresno Bee file. Phillip V. Sanchez, who became the highest-ranking Hispanic official in the administrations of presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan as a U.S. ambassador and...

All-day eatery, the Longroom opens in Mentone

By Jane Ormond – GoodFood.com.au – Photo Phoebe Powell – Jalapeno and cheddar croquettes Mentone is beginning to bulge with a building boom, and with the increase in apartment-dwellers comes a growing demand for a smart little spot for good, all-day...

The Forgotten Story of Japanese American Zoot Suiters

By Ellen D. Wu – NikkeiChicago.com – Photo University of Southern California/Regional History Collection Young Japanese Hold Dance — Mess hall movies, little theatre activities and jitter-bugging to evacuee bands are popular forms of entertainment at the...

‘They Shoot Mexicans, Don’t They?’ leads a monthlong look at Latino representation

By Vera Castaneda – LATimes.com – Photo Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times Just a couple of months after costarring in the hit L.A. revival of “Zoot Suit,” Rose Portillo is reprising the role of another matriarch — leader of the Ramirez family in “They Shoot...