By Howard Mintz
July 16, 2012

The endless rows of almond orchards dotting the landscape in this ranch town just outside Chico meant a future for Sergio Garcia’s family.
His father, a Mexican immigrant, harvested the cash crop, shaking the trees for bounty 12 hours a day through hot summer months. As a teenager, Sergio Garcia worked alongside his father, helping out when he wasn’t rising to the top of his high school class and positioning himself for college and, later, law school.
But the nation’s wrenching …

by Bill Chandler, Executive Director of MIRA
May 6, 2012
It is amazing the misinformation and ignorance that abounds about Latinos.  A sad but good example is that of the perception that Cinco de Mayo is “Mexican Independence Day.”  It is not. Mexican Independence Day is September 16, 1810. While Cinco de Mayo is sometimes promoted as such mainly to sell beer and tequila in the United States, that date had far reaching consequences not only for Mexico, but also for the U.S.
 
Cinco de Mayo celebrates Mexico’s victory over invading French …