Efrain Pa'lante

Demand that Oscar López Rivera be freed.

Originally published in Pa’lante Latino on September 23, 2011 We live in a time where revolutionary sentiments unite people under one cause to help them topple dictatorships, sanguine regimes and challenge government policies.  It is no surprise that such outcry is spreading around the world. From Egypt to Libya to Wall Street, people have become aware about the power of collective demonstrations. […]

This morning I was sent a link which caused me to question the professionalism and motives of the New Jersey State Police. Myfoxphilly.com released photos from 2009 of state troopers holding a Puerto Rican flag and sitting behind drugs seized in a raid in Camden, New Jersey.  Camden Latino activist Angel Cordero is outraged and stated: "You are saying […]

On Palm Sunday, March 21, 1937, The Puerto Rican Nationalist Party peacefully marched to recognize the ending of slavery by the governing Spanish National Assembly in 1873 and in protest of the imprisonment of Nationalist leader Pedro Albizu Campos by the U.S. government in Ponce, Puerto Rico. Days before the peaceful march, organizers received legal permits by the mayor of Ponce José […]

Though initially I wanted to follow the Tucson Unified School District's ban on Mexican studies classes and related books, as it unraveled, given the many conflicting versions and accounts of what was taking place, I gave up on covering it altogether. That was until yesterday when I decided to attend a presentation by Librotraficante at John Jay College in Manhattan. […]

Blogging attracts like-minded folks just as much as dissenting foes. It is part of the game, and in my own experience, the criticism I have received (of any kind) is always better than indifference. Yes, I have been criticized by Latinos from all sides with much of the criticism and/or disagreement ending up in a mutual respect. After […]

In 2010 I was racially profiled and it wasn't in Arizona. I was living in Connecticut at the time (yes, the same state where East Haven police officers were arrested for harassing Latinos) and on my way to work with a friend. As we approached the exit, we were stopped by a state police officer. […]

On Monday, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights expressing "grave concern" over  the Arizona Revised Statute §§ 15-112 that subsequently banned the TUSD MAS program. In the letter the Congressional Hispanic Caucus urged the Office for Civil Rights to investigate due to "the language […]

Here is an update from Tucson Unified School District on the book ban.    From TUSD: Reports of TUSD book ban completely false and misleading Tucson Unified School District (January 17, 2012) Tucson, AZ, Jan. 17,2011 – Tucson Unified School District has not banned any books as has been widely and incorrectly reported. Seven books […]

The Ethnic Studies Ban has made headlines across the nation. Detractors have called the ban unconstitutional and  “have defended the Mexican-American studies program as no different than African-American or Native American studies classes.” Here at Latino Rebels we decided to give you a bit of an in-depth look at some of the books that are […]