Kip Austin Hinton

"Our Founding Illegals" by William Hogeland New York Times, December 26, 2006 [not only are we a nation of immigrants - we are a nation of illegal immigrants. undocumented workers. including our "greatest" european ancestors.] America’s pioneer values developed in a distinctly illegal context. In 1763, George III drew a line on a map stretching from modern-day Maine to modern-day Georgia, along the crest of the Appalachians. He declared it illegal to claim or settle land west of the line, all of which he reserved for Native Americans. George Washington, a young colonel in the Virginia militia, instructed his land-buying agents in the many ways of getting around the law. Although Washington was not alone in acquiring forbidden tracts, few were as energetic in the illegal acquisition of western land... Washington harbored no fond feeling for breakers of laws that he too had recently flouted. “It is hard upon me,” he lamented without irony, “to have property which has ...

The Alamo 2004: Everybody in Texas is Going my master's thesis has been bound and shelved. it is in the University of Texas at San Antonio library. you know, in case anyone might want to read it. here is the global cataloging link: worldcatlibraries.org/oclc/75182820?tab=details it has my abstract. which is, i hope, easy enough to understand. i tried to avoid jargon and theory crap (difficult with this sort of topic, but i think most people know most of these words). ABSTRACT The Alamo narrative tells Texas’ creation myth, and has in the past been a symbol of unity for “Americans” by displacing San Antonio’s Mexican/Tejano origin. After September 11th, Disney’s The Alamo was conceived as a blockbuster epic to reshape history. It would unite all Texans, justify and glorify war, and entertain families. Though a dozen films of the Alamo have succeeded, Disney’s 2004 version flopped. This thesis examines Tejano marginalization, bicultural society, anti-Mexican stereotypes, and Ameri...

it was very funny. and repulsive. and, somehow, sweet. that's the schtick: this guy is so sweet, seems so sincere (even when he's spouting hate against Jews and women), that people want to give him the benefit of the doubt. and then he pushes it to far over the edge of acceptability, people are forced to reject him anyway. the concept exploits people's tendency to think the best of people. on the other hand, some of those he talked to, egged on, are hateful motherfucks who deserve to be revealed for what they are and ostracized. my feeling is that most of the audience understood that borat's hate speech was a put-on, and they didn't take pleasure in the hate itself as much as in seeing people's discomfort. whether it is socially a "good" thing or not is open to debate. the jewish couple in the film, they are so friendly and nice, it is obvious Cohen chose them for this reason. and the anti-semites and gay-bashers in the film talk like morons (the rodeo...

did a presentation on Douglas Kellner's book, Media Culture . focus on what is called - by Cultural Studies writers, at least - "the Text": any creation that can be watched, read, listened to, or otherwise consumed in a cultural (rather than nutritive) way. movies, sitcoms, the news, fashion magazines, videogames, hip hop, action figures, and cappuccinos* are all Texts. - The Text: Kellner's Multiperspectival Reading (presentation slides) Texts are things with legible cultural content , which can be "read" for intentional as well as ideological messages. there is always context. everything created was created by somebody, and their understandings of culture can be expressed - and everything consumed is consumed by somebody, and their understandings of culture can also be expressed. example: the song "Dixie" was, it turns out, quite possibly written by the Snowden family , popular Free Black performers in Ohio, during the Civil War era. they never...

fall quarter started. exciting and overwhelming. so many books to read. fanon, freire, hooks, mukudi, solorzano, kellner... if i'd read douglas kellner before my master's thesis, i would've used him as a source. he gets at the way media -- especially film -- fits into ideologies about nation and power. ni modo, tengo bigger fish to fry. went to san francisco (or as eddie izzard mockingly calls it, "the city... so what's oakland, just a collection of houses??"). first time. saw "what are you doing tonight?", a play starring a bunch of my talented friends. best performance so far was at Teatro Campesino. Amalia and Nicolas do this broken relationship scene based on militarizing the border, and i almost cried. then we went to get rowdy at the only bar in San Juan Bautista. now it's ucla. even for fun: last night Amalia and I went to a ucla salsa party. with legendary cuban drummer Francisco Aquabello. i didn't step on her toes, but i clipped her...

we now live in north inglewood. drove out from san anto, stopped to visit Amalia's brother Jose, in el paso. moved in, a cute little guest house. tight but sufficient. rest of our stuff in storage, returned the rental truck only a few hours late (70 bucks extra). got lost on 110, 101, 10, and 5 in the late afternoon. migas likes her new home, good places for a cat to walk. we like it too. hope i figure out a good way to campus. here goes nothing.

we went to los angeles, to scope it out, see the sights, maybe find a place to live. instead, someone broke into my rental car. stole my computer, amalia's books and CDs (including a zora neale hurston voodoo book she just bought). i had a backup CD with all my files on it. in case my computer crashed, you know. better safe than sorry. well, i kept that backup in the same computer bag. for being smart, i'm not so smart sometimes. the computer was a compaq presario 2104US. it was likely stolen by these guys Amalia and Lamar saw, outside a pawn shop, 3100 block of santa monica blvd. so if you're checking out LA pawn shops and see a presario, send me an email . god knows the LAPD doesn't care. they wouldn't even send a car out, i had to drive to the police station to get a copy of the report for my insurance. and LA detectives don't work weekends (budget cuts), so i would've had to wait a few extra days to even get them to investigate (not that they would serio...

i wrote/acted in an impromptu play last night. at the guadalupe theater. cruz ortiz, juan ramos, and adriana garcia went to an ice house. they each drew something on a napkin. then, i joined marisela barrera, lisa anaya, and adriana to adapt these ice house ideas into a fifteen minute play. we wrote it in 90 minutes. 3 scenes. it needed more work, of course, but was fun. we got some good evaluations (and some mediocre ones). the first scene was titled "his chorizo is after everything." it involved true-ish stories from each of the women. in each, i played the role of the schmuck. the second was a myspace-based blind date, which ends after only 7 seconds. the last scene is four friends on their way to an ice house, stuffed into a honda hatchback. i have a history monolog: A hundred fifty years ago, san anto was HOT. Not like today, no, no. because today there’s always air conditioning to look forward to. Ahh. It’s late june, you’re walking through HEB, and you got goose-bumps....

i was accepted into the Cultural Studies in Education Ph.D. at ucla . that's very good, i wish it wasn't expensive. one of my professors suggested i have a phobia about money. because i am not happy about taking out tens of thousands of dollars to pay for this. because -- and here's the crazy part -- i could get a Ph.D. at a less prestigious university and actually MAKE money on the proposition. i don't know. ucla, it's going to be hell the first year. they charge an extra 14000 per year just because i'm out of state. this is only the first year, i'll get residency after that. but still. 14000? that's what my entire master's degree cost. i'm just afraid of getting ripped off. and afraid of being in debt. i don't like owing anything to anyone. i owe lots to my family and friends, of course. but in a non-monetary way. that's best, because money causes sadness and strife. so i wish i could avoid it, and i wish ucla would jsut pay for everyth...

I am receiving my master of arts on saturday, may 13. here's my online graduation announcement and party details. i took my written and oral comprehensive exams - and passed. with honors, even. so tired. these last two weeks are perrón.

what did you do monday? here's what i did. when my ancestors got here, all they had to do was get off a boat, and POOF! they got legal status. America became great by being the land of opportunity. not a xenophobic Fatherland. today's laws are unjust. unless you're rich you must wait years before even getting your application read (new slogan: "America, land of opportunity for transnational executives"). Native Americans and immigrants are the most American of us all. if the Sensenbrenner bill passes, my job, teaching English to immigrants, will become a crime. (why do our representatives want to punish immigrants for learning English?) we are all immigrants. About 18,000 protestors march downtown 04/10/2006 07:21 PM CDT Express-News An estimated 18,000 protestors, irate over Congressional proposals addressing the country's illegal immigrant population, took to the streets of downtown San Antonio on Monday afternoon, hoisting Mexican and American flags, while ...

at the premiere party for Iungo magazine ( goiungo.com ) last night. lot of fun, there were music and poetry performances, food and good coffee. it was at the new Ruta Maya on the river downtown. i loaned them my computer for site/video demonstrations. i wrote one article for the first issue, and i'll probably contribute more later. but for the next month, it's thesis, comps, graduation. i was accepted to UCLA's Ph.D. in education .

saturday april 1 is the 14th(?) quasi-annual miss southtown pageant. miss southtown, the only all-gender pageant in texas. i may or may not be a member of the planning committee. i did produce and edit a short video (3 minutes), based on the ourvoir (how you spell that?) of a certain singing cowboy. don't wanna give anything away, think of it as a qualitative analysis of supressed sociocultural issues within mass media. the pageant is at Oscar Alvarado's " Wiggle Room ," on south presa. between the tracks and the HEB. what time? maybe 10pm. sepa la mo. pero be there and be square.

i was asked - last minute - to play at Jump-Start theater on saturday. no problem. i can play guitar and sing with little preparation. i just don't not very often. too many commitments. ni modo. it went well, dressed up like eddy arnold and played country stuff. a minor key variation on "comin' round the mountain." this was my grandpa's favorite song, but i changed lyrics asi: _________________ she'll be drivin' six white hosses when she come. drivin' six white hosses when she come. drivin' six white hosses, menfolk filin' for divorces. she'll be drivin' six white hosses when she come. _________________ yeah we'll all come out t' meet 'er when she come. all come out t' meet 'er when she come. all come out t' meet 'er, lak a whisky-soaked saint peter. yeah we'll all come out t' meet 'er when she come. you get the idea. it was fun. i also did "en tu birthday te diste mi troca," (for your b...