Urban Latino Cultures

"Urban Latino Cultures is a superb, multidimensional study of place and identity in Los Angeles. Recognizing that the transnational character of Latino realities is often realized in local expression and control of space, the book offers a useful lesson for those seeking to understand the ongoing transformations of many American cities, including San Antonio, Miami, and elsewhere and will be required reading for analysts of the new Los Angeles."  

--Manuel Pastor, Jr., Chair, Latin American & Latino Studies,

Merrill College, University of California

In public venues and in their homes, Latinos are asserting their cultural identities and changing the face of American cities. This book records the voices and visions of poets, cartoonists, photographers, architects, geographers, designers, playwrights, musicians, and filmmakers as they testify to the new vida latina in Los Angeles. They uncover the transformation of Latino memory, identity, and destiny in the social spaces of the barrio. Using Spanish, English, and Spanglish, contributors mingle the jingle of palatero trucks with sweatshops, in-your-face cartoons, rock music, family photos, hard-edged reporting, videos, and lyrical laments. The result is a joyful celebration of a pivotal moment in Latino history in the USA.