Email Author Marcos Najera

2008 Stories by Marcos Najera

• The Beautiful Brown Diva

  published September 25, 2008

  Forget any notions you've ever had of a fat lady singing opera onstage. Mezzo-soprano Olga Perez looks more like she belongs in the cast of... More >>

• The Whiz Kids of Robotics

  published September 25, 2008

  You might remember the story of four young Latino men from Carl Hayden High School who built an underwater robot named "Stinky" in 2004. They... More >>

• “The Mexican American Mirror” at Phoenix Museum of History traces Phoenix’s Latin roots

  published August 14, 2008

  Trinidad Escalante was a mojada. A wetback. Un illegal. Actually, I can't prove that. But I can say with total confidence... More >>

• Guadalupe firefighters tackle wildfires and raise money with eBay

  published July 17, 2008

  Perhaps we should all just admit it. There are only three times we pay attention to the Town of Guadalupe. The first is when we use Avenida del... More >>

• Efrain Robles can’t cast a ballot, but that doesn’t mean he can’t rock the vote

  published July 3, 2008

  The guy can't even cast his own ballot. But Efrain Robles still rocks the vote. Big-time. Robles, a Phoenix resident from Mexico, is here... More >>

• Marcos Najera wants a Latino cultural center in Brown Town

  published June 19, 2008

  Wendy Weston is one fierce chick. She's loud, proud, and puro Native-American badass. I want to be her. More to the point, I want a... More >>

• Stuff White People Like has Marcos Najera culturally confused

  published May 22, 2008

  Okay, admit it: You are one of those tragic hipsters who sends Web links and clever e-mails to your friends with that disclaimer: I usually... More >>

• Marcos Najera wonders what Brown Town would have been without his nona-Nana

  published May 8, 2008

  It was the strangest day of my life. It was one of the best days of my life. On a Saturday in early April, I went to a funeral, a wedding, and a... More >>

• Marcos Najera asks the Fifth Question – am I a Jew?

  published April 24, 2008

  Not long ago, I went to a play in East L.A., where I ran into a fantastic young Latina filmmaker named Almudena Carracedo ( More >>

• James Garcia's Dream Act puts the spotlight on the obstacles immigrant children face in the fight for citizenship

  published April 10, 2008

  Thank God for people like James Garcia. He's a friend and colleague, so it's not hard to sing his praises. But this time, I must do so publicly.... More >>

• Resurrecting gimmicky coverage aimed at Latinos is good for the bottom line, not for the residents of Brown Town

  published March 27, 2008

  I didn't grow up crazy poor or drowning in gangsta crime, but life for me did start in a neighborhood that was far, far away from fancy. I'll call... More >>

• Hollywood needs to unlearn what it's learned about Latinos

  published February 28, 2008

  [Fade up from black] I'm running through Sky Harbor Airport. I drop my suitcases. Tense music pounds. Quick shots cut from uniformed... More >>

• Feeling unwelcome in his hometown, our new columnist finds an unlikely haven for Latino immigrants in the Iowa heartland

  published February 14, 2008

  It hit me in Muscatine, Iowa: My native Arizona has become the meanest patch of dirt in the Union. Go ahead; accuse me of blaring sweeping... More >>

• Our new columnist finds plenty to love about being brown. (Just don't call him Hispanic)

  published January 31, 2008

  I hate it when people fly into Phoenix Sky Harbor for the first time. They always emerge from the plane to say, "Wow, the city is not exactly what... More >>

• Our new columnist, a self-professed "immigrant b-side," welcomes you to Brown Town

  published January 24, 2008

  Not too long ago, I lost a very lucrative job here in Arizona because I speak English. That's right. I had a great offer from a worldwide... More >>