By David Magallanes /Guest contributor Many years ago, I tried to return home. I was going about separating from my wife, I was flat broke, and I felt that my life was going downhill—in flames. So I tried returning home — the…
Category: Opinion
Bilingual commentary: The Fine Arts
By David Magallanes /Guest contributor I have just had the privilege of attending the 25th Anniversary of the Carnegie Art Museum in Oxnard. There is something special about being amongst people who are interested in, dedicated to, intrigued by and simply…
CLU’s José Marichal to speak on ‘Does Facebook Make us Better Citizens?’ on Oct. 24
José Marichal, CLU associate professor of political science, will speak on: ‘Does Facebook Make us Better Citizens?’ during the next Center for Equality and Justice Lecture Series discussion at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 24 at California Lutheran University, 60 W. Olsen Drive, Thousand…
Deadline approaching for Nov. 1 print edition calendar items, advertisements
The deadline is 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 22 to submit calendar notices, news briefs, community photographs and other items for possible inclusion in the Nov. 1 print edition of Amigos805. The 10,000-copy publication is distributed throughout Ventura and Santa Barbara…
Commentary: Latinos, religion and the Campaign of 2012
Survey says: Catholics strongly favor Obama. Evangelicals divided. Rapidly growing Latino support for same-sex marriage By Frank X. Moraga / Amigos805 After a lively political debate this week, President Barack Obama and Republican presidential challenger Mitt Romney have been busy hitting key…
Commentary: Why pink makes me cringe
By Mona AlvaradoFrazier / Guest contributor It’s not Pink, the singer, that stirs up ambivalent feelings in my soul. It’s the color pink linked to October’s Breast Cancer Awareness month. It’s all the pink stuff beyond the commemorative ribbons. It’s pink deodorant…
Bilingual commentary: Rules, Freedom and Consequences
By David Magallanes /Guest contributor As American citizens, or residents, of this great country, we are accustomed to think in terms of the freedom that we enjoy in this society. Throughout the history of the United States, more and more sectors…
Bilingual commentary: Surrounded by teachers
By David Magallanes /Guest contributor We have a tendency to think of our “teachers” as those who dedicate themselves to teaching us in the classrooms of our schools, in elementary schools as well as at the colleges and universities. We believe…
Bilingual commentary: Our schools — State of emergency
By David Magallanes /Guest contributor The red lights are flashing. The giant waves continue weakening — and soon knocking down — what was, once upon a time, our glory in the Golden State during the years that I was passing through…
Commentary: Rationale for presenting the demographic history of the United States
By Gilbert G. Cuevas / Guest contributor Based on the lifetime work of Nobel prizewinner Edward O. Wilson, who has explored the biological origins of the human condition and concluded that mankind is tribal in nature, our students should have…
Commentary: Upcoming events celebrate Hispanic heritage
By Mona AlvaradoFrazier / Guest contributor “Our history defines and strengthens us,” said Alejandro Fernandez, the famous Mexican singer, when narrating the recent four-hour mini-series on the History Channel. It is important to know that the designation for Hispanic Heritage Month is…
Bilingual commentary: A sense of the infinite
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor Last Saturday, I decided to take my grandson and his family to see the stars at a party. No, we did not go to some extraordinary event in Hollywood or Beverly Hills, but rather to…
Guest commentary: Ventura County Latino community loses longtime community advocate
By Frank P. Barajas & Jess Guitierrez / Guest contributors Ventura County lost a person who provided a media voice to the Latino community since the 1960s. He was Javier R. Santana— journalist, civic activist, mentor, and, as one of his…
Bilingual commentary: Little white lies: Do they cause harm?
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor I enjoy watching Mexican, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and French films. If we watch them focused on their content and message and, even more importantly, if we reflect on them after seeing them, we gain another…
Bilingual commentary: Cultural, health, social and political events dominate upcoming calendar
By Frank X. Moraga / Amigos805 Between Hispanic Heritage Month activities, an annual cross-border health education program and the end of the 2012 political campaign season (thankfully), residents in the 805 region will have plenty to do during the next…
Bilingual commentary: Escaping from the cycle
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor On one recent Sunday, I went to see a film, short but at the same time intriguing, powerful and incisive. It showed an aspect of our society that we might prefer to ignore or about…
Bilingual report: Extend your summer
By Stacey Wittig / Vagabonding Chica – Travel writer When the long-anticipated Cars Land opened this past June at Disney California Adventure Park, avid fans waited six to seven hours to experience new, exciting rides at the 12-acre theme land.…
Last chance to advertise in our Amigos805 special Hispanic Heritage Month print edition
Time is running out to advertise in our Amigos805 special Hispanic Heritage Month print edition. The edition will include an update on all activities and events celebrating this special time of year for the Latino community, including upcoming Fiestas Patrias…
Bilingual commentary: Why college is still important
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor It makes me laugh when I think about how a cousin, many years ago, expressed his disdain for my other, closer cousins — as well as for me — in a collegially offensive manner:…
Bilingual commentary: Is it worth it to go to college?
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor In the newspaper from today, Sunday (I continue to be one of those dinosaurs that still reads the newspaper), a political cartoon with a disturbing message by cartoonist Steve Breen caught my eye. I…
Bilingual commentary: My Path to Digital Citizenship
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor Just as with obtaining national citizenship, to achieve digital citizenship, an “outsider” — a digital immigrant — like me needs to be willing to accept a long, hard, difficult journey replete with frustrations. A large…
Bilingual commentary: Digital Natives and Immigrants
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor I am an immigrant. This world in which I find myself seems so strange sometimes. It’s nothing like the land from which I hail, where I grew up, and where I used to feel so…
Commentary: Oxnard College deserves equal representation
By Frank P. Barajas / Guest contributor For my study of the Chicano Movement in Ventura County, I learned that before Oxnard College’s opening in 1975, Vietnam veterans and newly minted high school graduates from the Oxnard Plain rode buses…
Bilingual commentary: A powerful weapon in our hands
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor If we were to commit the idiocy of handing a gun to a child, we shouldn’t be surprised if said child, in all innocence, were to hurt (or something worse, which we don’t even want…
Bilingual commentary: Keeping calm … But how?
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor During my time in London last month, I came across one of those useful phrases to which one can go whenever necessary — a phrase that has the power to make our life enormously easier and…
Bilingual commentary: Five ways to prepare for the new school year
By Mona AlvaradoFrazier / Guest contributor It’s true that summer can be just as busy as the school year. Often it’s too short for kids and too long for parents. It is a brief stop between the end of school, day camp,…
Bilingual travel story: Off the Beaten Path – Discovering Tubac
By Stacey Wittig / Vagabonding Chica – Travel Writer Tubac, Arizona was established by the King of Spain as a presidio in 1752, thirty years before the Santa Barbara Royal Presidio. Tubac, the first European settlement in Arizona, is known for outfitting…
Bilingual letter to the editor: The importance of the Latino vote
Our community understands the need for jobs. We need a representative from Ventura County that understands our economic challenges. Farms contribute over $2 billion dollars to our local economy sustaining over 31,000 jobs in our community. Under this current administration Latinos…
Guest column: Business leverage and the networking nomad
By Shawn McCarthy / Guest Contributor Leverage is the essence of why leading sales professionals and small business owners invest their valuable time in business networking activities. J. Paul Getty once said, “I’d rather have one percent of the effort of…
Bilingual report: Community organizations call for Friday, Saturday protests to demand support for CA Trust Act from Das Williams
Open letter addressed issued to Das Williams following support for notorious DHS-ICE “Secure Communities” program OXNARD — Oxnard-based Todo Poder al Pueblo Collective has called for a protest to be held in front of Assemblyman Das Williams’ office at the…
Das Williams responds to controversy over California Trust Act: AB 1081
SACRAMENTO — When the Assemblymember last had the first version of AB1081 bill before him for a vote, which was May 2011, there were a number of questions concerning the legislation that could not be answered. Due to that fact, Assemblymember Williams abstained, the…
July 24 is the deadline for information, advertisement submissions for August print edition
The deadline for submission news and calendar event media releases and advertisements for the August print edition of Amigos805 is 5 p.m. Tuesday, July 25. Amigos805 is also offering a summer business card-size advertisement special for the month of August…
Bilingual commentary: “The Tube” of London … In Oxnard?
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor Imagine if here in Oxnard we had a transportation system that allowed us to travel below ground as if we were gophers, from the southern part of the city to the most northern regions such…
Bilingual commentary: State Assemblyman Das Williams draws fire for opposing CA Trust Act, supporting S-Comm
Community organizations call for July 28 protest at?Assemblyman’s offices in Oxnard and Santa Barbara OXNARD — Assemblyman Das Williams (D-35th District) is walking a tightrope among his constituents in this sensitive election year after provoking outrage among migrant justice advocates…
Summer business card-size advertisement special
Amigos805 will be offering a summer business card-size advertisement special for the month of August for all our social media users. For a discount price of $50, your business card will appear in August on our website, e-newsletter and in…
Hernandez issues response to VCCCD accreditation issues and perceptions
By Arturo Hernandez / Board Trustee, VCCCD This statement is in response to the recent public accusations against me in the April 16th, 2012 Report from the Accreditation Commission for Community and Junior Colleges, released by the commission on July 2, 2012.…
Commentary: Homeless at 9, artist at 15
By Mona AlvaradoFrazier / Guest contributor 1 in 45 kids is homeless in the U.S. What can you do for 1? This is Inocente… “In San Diego, a young teenage girl’s eyes stare into a compact mirror. She paints a dramatic black…
Bilingual commentary: Why so quiet?
By David Magallanes / Guest contributor Last week, I introduced the topic of my recent trip to London, England. The following is not necessarily fact, but rather what I managed to make out during that recent visit. These are my perceptions…
Bilingual commentary: Call for candidates!
By Denis O’Leary / Guest contributor We have all heard about the Presidential election of November 2012. We also survived the June primary elections to decide the candidates who will face off for county, state and federal positions. Yet, local…
Bilingual report: Local activists respond to ruling on Arizona’s law
Groups announce plans to challenge remaining portion of law on other constitutional grounds By Cesar Arredondo / Amigos805 The recent Supreme Court ruling on Arizona’s controversial immigration law has been received with mixed feelings by some Latino leaders in Ventura County.…