In between your 15th tamale and sixth spiked cup of ponche, you're going to have to buy regalos for Christmas or whatever pinche holiday you celebrate. Okay, you don't have to, but you should, to support all those great indie businesses suffering during this Great Recession. Behold, then, your ¡Ask a Mexican! Xmas shopping list, a Mexican-approved cavalcade of chingones that will teach your kith and kin about Mexis, whether via literature, music, art, or other mediums. Enjoy!
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Lalo Alcaraz: The great Chicano cartoonista is back with his annual calendar, and he promises the 2012 edition is a "RECONQUISTAPOCALYPSE" edition simultaneously celebrating the takeover of Aztlán and the Mayan prophecy proclaiming the end of the world. And did any of your local Occupy protests feature a poster of a mob taking down a statue of Monopoly's Rich "Uncle" Pennybags? That was Lalo. www.laloalcaraz.com.
La Santa Cecilia: This group of hepcats were my resident house band back when I had a radio show, and they've gone on to bigger and better things since. Their music has made appearances on Weeds and Entourage, a wonderful mestizaje of klezmer, Django Reinhardt, funk, samba, conjunto norteño, and all the great music that makes the modern Mexican-American experience — and they're politically conscious! Best of all: Each CD cover is handmade by the band, a wonderful combination of DIY ethics and rascuache. www.lasantacecilia.com.
Sam Quinones: The Los Angeles Times staff writer is the greatest chronicler of post-1970 Mexico ever. Buy all his books, read all his articles — and he's one of the people you can blame for getting me into journalism. www.samquinones.com.
Carey McWilliams: Anything by the great progressive historian, of course, but specifically North from Mexico: The Spanish-Speaking People of the United States.
Calacas: Great Chicano shop in my 'hood that has everything from beautiful artesania imported from Mexico to hilarious Chicano-themed T-shirts ("Estar Guars" instead of "Star Wars," anyone?), an impressive collection of Día de los Muertos statues — and they're tireless supporters of DREAM Act students. Pinche mensches all the way. www.calacasinc.com.
Ethnic Studies: How do you gift a discipline? Easy: monitor the battlegrounds in which Know-Nothings are trying to ban it. First, Arizona; next, the United States — you've been warned. And sit in on a class at your local community college or university — or, better yet, buy all the books of Chicano Studies pioneer Rudy Acuña, a Korean War vet who's never met a pendejo chickenhawk politician he can't dress down with a few choice historical anecdotes.
Me!: Totally shameless self-promotion, but still: Give the gift of the Mexican! Turn people on to my columna, like me on Facebook, or — better yet — save your pesos for April 10, 2012, when my long-promised Taco U.S.A.: How Mexican Food Conquered America finally publishes. Felíz Navidad, and, as always: ¡A la chingada con Arpayaso!
