Author Watch: Jose Angel Gutierrez

Looking to write a preface to the press release from MALDEF posted below, I went looking through my vintage copy of the Gringo Manual by Jose Angel Gutierrez. It doesn’t cover redistricting, but in the final trick of the book, the author wisely foresees the needed flexibility:

PILON CATEGORY

Trick Number 141: THERE’S MORE TO COME

Finally, the tricks discussed in these pages don’t cover all the techniques gringos use against us now. You could never cover them all. But the next book in the series will tell about more gringo tricks and also tell about some tricks we Chicanos can use to extend our power. Watch for the next book, THE CHICANO MANUAL on how to handle Gringos.

And there is more to come from Gutierrez, too. A review of his author page at Amazon shows that the Gringo Manual and the Chicano Manual are still in print along with his autobiographical Making of a Chicano Militant and his translation of the Reies Lopez Tijerina autobiography, They Called Me King Tiger. Forthcoming this summer is an update of the Gutierrez autobiography, Making of a Civil Rights Leader. And a Fall release is being planned for his biography of fellow Cristal prodigy Severita Lara.

As Texas politics continues to unroll endless spools of stupidity and backlash, we recommend a summer season of books. Suggesting another special session under present circumstances is like begging to see one more trick in the book. And listening any more to the Governor is like drawing a bath for your brain in a toxic tank. Enough we say, time to rinse and spin.