Latino Crime Spree

Manuel Ramos

Hate-mongers and racists have come out in force recently here in Denver. Their vitriol is directed at undocumented immigrants, the Spanish language and Latinos in general. There are days I get depressed as hell. It's reached a point so low that a big problem for some folks is that a high school yearbook has some Spanish (and English) - in a school that is 87% Hispanic.

I was going to write an essay entitled "What's Really Changed?" but decided that was a step backward.

I'd rather note that Crime Spree Magazine #6 is about ready to hit the streets and, under the guidance of Jon Jordan, the magazine pays tribute to Latino Books Month (May) by having an article on Latino detectives written by Steven Torres in Spanish (the English version is on the web). Jon Jordan is a very cool fella - knows crime literature in depth, has an unabashed love for books and respect for writers, and supports writers and their works in tangible ways - Crime Spree being one of the most prominent. Muchisimas gracias, Jon.

Steven's article, El Detective Latino - Vida en el borde, The Latino Detective - Life on the Border, had its genesis in a panel that took place at Left Coast Crime in El Paso earlier this year, and he does a very good job of connecting the dots among the books of Michele Martinez, Alicia Gaspar de Alba, his own novels, and a couple of mine. I think it is a great follow-up to an essay I wrote a few years ago (The Postman and the Mex: From Hard-Boiled to Huevos Rancheros in Detective Fiction) and that you can still find on my website.