5 min readby Cesar (CeAZe) Aguirre Hip Hop is a passion of mine… I love all music, but Hip Hop is something I have a real deep connection with. I can feel it pumpin’ in my heart and runnin’ through my veins. I grew up listening to what is labeled as ‘gangsta rap’. Today’s mainstream Hip Hop (or Hip Pop as I like to call it) is heavily influenced by gangsta culture. Many rappers now put up a front, try to project a persona that may not really be who they are because that is the only way to make it big.

5 min readby Brian Flagg and Cesar Aguirre Congratulations to Santa Cruz and St. Johns schools for being “recognized as part of the White House’s Bright Spots in Hispanic Education initiative. “The schools are part of the Notre Dame ACE Academies, which work to increase access to educational excellence for Latino students.” They are 2 of the “more than 230 Bright Spots nationwide.” (Page A5 Daily Star 12/15/2015) This is great but in our barrio, Barrio Libre, which encompasses more or less the City of South Tucson, very few, if any local students attend Santa Cruz, even though Barrio Libre is 100% within the

< 1 min readFrom the Southside to Tucson High School to the U of A to Casa Maria! … where she is in the process of transforming the garden! The project kicked off on Saturday, December 5, with the help of master gardener Luis Herrera from the Food Bank, the youth group from Southside Presbyterian, Tito and friends from the group Flowers & Bullets (puro Barrio  Centro) and many others. They busted caliche out of the ground, built two raised garden beds, got other plots mixed with compost and got it all ready to plant! I know Christy as the daughter of Nancy

2 min readAlicia has lived and worked here at Casa Maria since last July. She is President of the 3rd Order Discalced Carmelites at Santa Cruz Catholic Church. Her daughter Isabel is a freshman at Pueblo High School. Hi, my name is Alicia Nunez. I’ve had 4 months working at Casa Maria. This time has been a blessing for my daughter and I. Same as it was a blessing and an act of faith when I accepted this job. I’m a divorced, single mother with a teenager at home (15 years old). When I was looking for a job according to my

< 1 min readThanks to Dave Slutes and Club Congress and all who attended the Casa Maria Benefit Concert last Tuesday at Club Congress. Thanks also to the musicians who donated their time. The Ronstadt Generations band featuring Michael Ronstadt, Amo Chip, Bongo Man Jim Lipson and an incredible stand up bass player were most enjoyable. Michael Ronstadt sang a bunch of songs en espanol! They ended with Amo Chip getting down on the sax on ‘volver, volver’! Carlos Arzate, a truly sincere and humble man with a rockin’ electric band closed the show. A highlight was when he sang The Ballad of