Book Review by Abel M. Salas In a brilliant follow up to his break-out bestseller, Mexican American Boxing in Los Angeles , writer, historian and genuine L.A. boxing raconteur Gene Aguilera is back with a new blockbuster book, Latino Boxing in Southern California . A community bank vice-president by day, Aguilera has pursued one of his life’s greatest passions— boxing as a both a competitive and commercial sport—with an intensity and zeal more akin to that of a single-minded, indefatigable scholar than that of even the most fervent aficionado or enthusiast. Given his intimate familiarity with boxing history and his vast reservoir of knowledge and understanding vis- à -vis the sport he has been enamored with since childhood, it was really only a matter of time before Aguilera provided us with a fascinating new window into the world of championship boxing and its untold histories.  His first book, Mexican American Boxing in Los Angeles (Arcadia Publishing, 2014) is arguably t...

XTECA, the world's first Mexican American lager, has quietly become a Southern California craft beer success story. Photo courtesy of Fred Sotelo. by Abel M. Salas Motivated by their shared passion for cultural expressions—among them the Lowrider custom car and lifestyle traditions as well as Golden Oldies R & B music—rooted in California’s Mexican American and Chicano communities, a group of San Diego entrepreneurs has successfully, if somewhat quietly, introduced Cerveza XTECA to SoCal craft and microbrew enthusiasts after three years of research and development. Made available on tap at a number of the most popular pubs and tap rooms across San Diego County in February, 2018, XTECA, the world’s first Mexican-American lager, is the flagship brew from the eponymous craft beer company co-founded by business and civic leader Fred Sotelo, creative director and artist Mario López and nationally syndicated radio personality Xavier “The X-man” Soriano. XTECA, the craft beer...

Charter academy founder Rubén Alonzo (r.) tables at Mariachi Plaza to pitch the school to parents. Photo courtesy Exelencia Academy  By Richard Vásquez One place you never hear the term Chicano is on Spanish-language media in Los Angeles.  Because Los Angeles was ground zero for the historic Chicano movement, it strikes me as rather odd that this should be the case.  We have four over the air, twenty-four hour a day, Spanish-language television broadcast stations and dozens of radio stations, with corresponding digital bandwidth covering the Los Angeles Metropolitan region, a market indicator zone generously mapped to include as Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange and most of Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. A powerful demographic aggregate, it is synonymous with the definition of “Hispanic media” in the U.S. and the number one Hispanic market in the nation, comprising nearly 12 million Latinos. In terms of scale, the L.A. Metro Area is home to over one-fifth of th...