by Daniel Cubias I watched my mother hammer a nail into the wall. She missed, hitting her thumb. A stream of Spanish obscenities leaked out of her. I was alarmed, and not just because she was shaking her hand and hopping around. I had never heard so many undecipherable words at once. Then again, I Read More

Daniel Cubias is a staff writer. He became involved with BL because “I’ve been blogging about Latino issues for years, and during that time, I ran into Lance Rios online. I liked his vision for Being Latino, so I asked to get in on the ground floor.” Twenty random things you didn’t know about…

by Daniel Cubias Imagine my surprise. I’m a huge baseball fan, and I take pride in knowing some of the more arcane figures and obscure facts in its history. So when I recently read a list of top Latino players in baseball history, I expected to see names such as Clemente, Marichal, and Pujols. But Read More

by Daniel Cubias Just a short drive from my apartment in Los Angeles stands a monument to religious excess. It is the Crystal Cathedral, built back in the 1970s when an evangelical preacher named Robert H. Schuller had a great idea to rake in the parishioners. All he had to do was spend millions on Read More

by Daniel Cubias We Latinos love our horror movies. If there are shrieking demons, knife-wielding maniacs, or bloodthirsty poltergeists up on the screen, there are probably lots of Hispanics watching it. Ulises Silva pointed this out a few months ago, and I also devoted a post to the topic.

by Daniel Cubias One of the best movies of last year was the Coen Brothers remake of True Grit. Among the film’s many charms is the archaic, bizarrely formal speech of the characters. I have no idea if real people of the era said things like, “You give out very little sugar with your pronouncements” Read More

by Daniel Cubias Yes, you’ve heard the code phrases. People often disguise their prejudices by explaining that they’re not filled with fear or hatred toward a particular group; it’s just that they want that group to act, you know, more “normal.” In this context, “normal” means avoiding any behaviors that indicate different perspectives from the Read More

by Daniel Cubias As we all know, Hispanic culture has contributed much to the United States. A quick glance at the artistic, political, and social makeup of the nation confirms that Latinos are prime instigators when it comes to plotting the direction of the country.

by Daniel Cubias I’ve written before about how several members of my family have been naturalized. My mother studied English and U.S. history simultaneously to earn her citizenship. My cousin got shot at in Iraq and Afghanistan to earn his.

by Daniel Cubias When I was a kid, my mother provoked a controversy in our neighborhood by demanding more funding for local schools. She even got in the mayor’s face about it during a public hearing. Our neighbors, as well as the people who went to our church, were scandalized. It wasn’t that anyone disagreed Read More