 "Photo: Eliot Meyer")
Los Angeles Times reporter Sam Quiñones recounted the life of Delfino Juarez, a young Mexican punk rocker-turned-immigrant to the United States, who was one of the subjects of a talk Thursday at the Texas Union.
Quiñones discussed his book, "Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream: True Tales of Mexican Migration," to a packed audience as part of the Center for Mexican-American Studies' Platicarte Series. Quiñones is one of many who will participate in the series, which aims to highlight the artistic expression of Latinos, said Dolores Garcia, public programming coordinator for the center.
Quiñones described the inspiration for his story. Juarez, a young, poor boy from a small Mexican village, immigrated to the U.S. to work.
Delfino embodies Quiñones' theory that Mexicans cross the border to escape the humiliation of poverty and submission that comes with their socioeconomic status.
"The process of immigrating changes a person," Quiñones said as he sat with his legs crossed on the South Mall in an interview before his presentation. "They leave a small village and find themselves with much more opportunity, and return to Mexico with a sense of entitlement."
Delfino's story began when he moved to Mexico City as a young teenager to work and became immersed in the punk rock scene. He returned to his village with a Mohawk, studded choker and leather jacket and was mocked by older men, but was the vision of cool to the younger boys in the village, Quiñones said.
Their paths crossed when Quiñones visited an outdoor club in Mexico City to observe adolescents partying during their one day off for the week. Delfino was the only boy who held his head high as Quiñones spoke to him.
The young boy's bold personality extended to the origins of his dance skills, Quiñones said. Delfino was once the only boy in a crowd of 200 to ask a drag queen to teach him a popular Mexican dance that he had yet to learn.
Delfino's is one of many compelling immigrant stories Quiñones has discovered in his 20 years as a newspaper and freelance reporter in California and Mexico.
Omar Garcia, a Mexican-American studies graduate student, saw Quiñones' first-hand experiences in Mexico as an asset, which is why he listened to Quiñones speak on Thursday.
"I came today because any information, especially from his experiences, is relevant to current events and just really interesting," Garcia said.
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