Chicano culture flows from border in new book

By Tonya Suther, The Deming Headlight

LAS CRUCES >> Religious pilgrimages and lowriders are two cultural aspects of the Mexican-American culture captured in a new book by New Mexico State University Spanish professor Spencer Herrera, New Mexico Centennial Poet Laureate Levi Romero and photojournalist Robert Kaiser.

“Sagrado: A Photopoetics Across the Chicano Homeland,” is a collection of personal essays, poems and photographs, inspired by the building of the fence along the U.S-Mexico border. The book, which will be published in October, may be pre-ordered online.

“I wanted to show that despite fences and laws, the flow of culture could not be restricted,” Herrera said. “You can’t stop culture; it permeates borders.”

The book, published by University of New Mexico Press, gives an intimate look at Chicano cultural practices and beliefs using 117 color photographs, dozens of personal narratives and poems. The photographic journey across the Chicano Southwest features quinceaneras, charreadas (Mexican rodeos), cultural icons, migrant farm worker stories, portraits of everyday people and much more.\

Click HERE to read the full story.