Lalo Alcaraz

"Amid the controversy surrounding immigration and border control, the work of California cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz (b. 1964) has stood as an example of strident art from a Latino viewpoint. Of Mexican descent, Alcaraz fights for Latino rights through his creativity, drawing political commentary as well as underlining the ways Latinos confront discrimination in their daily lives. Through an analysis of Alcaraz's early editorial cartooning and his strips for La Cucaracha, the first nationally syndicated, political Latino daily comic strip, author Héctor Fernández L'Hoeste suggests that Alcaraz's art attests to the community's struggles. Alcaraz has become controversial with his satirical, sharp commentary on immigration and other Latino issues. What makes Alcaraz's work so potent? Fernández marks his insistence on never letting go of what he views as injustice against Latinos, when they represent the largest growing ethnic group. Indeed, the art serves as testament to a key moment in the history of the United States: the time when the country will cease being steered by a white majority, but rather by racial plurality--the very reason that Alcaraz seems bent on exposing the monocultural norm. Fernández's study provides an accessible, comprehensive view into the work of a cartoonist that deserves greater recognition, not just because Alcaraz represents the injustice and inequity prevalent in our society, but because as both a US citizen and a member of the Latino community, his ability to stand in, between, and outside two cultures affords him the clarity and experience necessary to be a powerful voice"--