Entertainment

There’s An Actual Episode Of ’Saved By The Bell’ Where Slater Finds Out He’s Mexican

By February 24, 2016 at 6:18 pm
Saved By The Bell: The College Years / NBC

If you’re one of the (very) few people who watched “Saved By The Bell: The College Years” – it was canceled after one season – you may remember an episode where curly-haired jock A.C. Slater gets in touch with his Latino roots. In the episode, titled “Slater’s War,” we learn that A.C. Slater is Mexican, and his real name is actually A.C. Sanchez. It’s true.

It all kicks off when Theresa, one of Slater’s classmates, speaks to him in Spanish.

And she realizes Slater doesn’t understand a word.

BTW, this all happens during a class where students are discussing bias in media. California University was keeping shit waaaaaaay realer than Bayside High.

eurocentric
 Credit: NBC

Mr. Tuttle had nothing on Professor Hopkins.

K, back to Theresa and Slater. After a little bit of flirting…

Credit: NBC

They meet at the Eagle’s Nest, where Theresa asks Slater if he’s down to join the university’s Chicano student organization. Slater isn’t quite sure:

It becomes clear it isn’t the first time Theresa has heard that response.

Credit: NBC

“Knowing where you come from doesn’t make you less of an American.” ???

Then Theresa asks Slater a question that really gets the hamster in his head working:

Then she basically hits him with “Tienes el nopal en la frente.”

Credit: NBC

Slater realizes he has lots of questions that need to be answered. So when he tells Zack he’s going to a Chicano student meeting, things get awkward.

Mic drop in 3… 2… 1…

And of course, Zack responds in the most Zack Morris way possible:

Apparently, Slater ends up reading “I Am Joaquin” way too many times because he becomes super defensive:

During a meeting with Theresa and other students, Slater suggests a sit-in after learning that the school’s chancellor doesn’t want to create a Chicano studies department.

sit-in-savedbythebell

Credit: NBC

Admit it, that’s the most Latinos you’ve ever seen in an episode of “Saved By The Bell.”

Also, shout out to the extra in the back killing it with that vintage Selena “Amor Prohibido” look.

savedby-selena
Credit: NBC

Get it!

Eventually, Zack get pissed when Slater chooses the Chicano student sit-in instead of a ski trip to Lake Tahoe.

Credit: NBC

And he thinks Slater is doing it just for Theresa…

Credit: NBC

But Slater reveals the real reason he’s interested in Chicano studies: his last name is actually Sanchez.

And he tells Zack the reason his last name was changed to Slater.

But Zack still doesn’t get it.

We finally get to the sit-in, where Theresa, Slater and the rest of the students are told they’ll be arrested.

savedby-sitin-arrest

When Leslie tries to give Theresa a few pointers on activism, Theresa makes it clear she knows what she’s doing.

Credit: NBC

Bye. ???  BTW, did anyone think “Saved By The Bell” would be tackling Chicano identity and white privilege in the early ’90s?

And just when Zack arrives, thinking he’s going to save the day…

zack-sitin-savedby
Credit: NBC

After all, if they don’t listen to the tall blonde guy, who will they listen to?

A school administrator tells them the chancellor will meet with them to discuss a Chicano studies department.

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Credit: NBC

The celebration begins…

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Credit: NBC

Slater is now a proud Chicano…

Credit: NBC

And Zack makes up with Slater.

BTW, if you’re wondering what happened to Araceli Valdez, the actor who played Theresa, she most recently played a TV reporter in the movie “Machete.”

araceli-machete
Credit: Troublemaker Films

And Mario Lopez, who played A.C. Slater, remains a vampire who never ages.

mario-lopez-vampire
Credit: GEORGE DE SOTA AND JONATHAN LEIBSON / GETTY

READ: How Do They Never Age? Latino Celebrities Who Are Probably Vampires

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A Photographer Is Capturing New Mexico’s Chicanx Community Through Portraits

Culture

A Photographer Is Capturing New Mexico’s Chicanx Community Through Portraits

By May 22, 2020 at 8:04 am
BY  | May 22, 2020 AT 8:04 am
Courtesy of Frank Blazquez

Photographer Frank Blazquez is paying a loving homage to Chicanx culture in the Land of Enchantment. The photographer is showing the world what it looks like to be Chicanx in New Mexico to highlight the diversity in a shared experience.

Frank Blazquez wants to show the world what Chicanx culture looks like outside of California.

“I am an Illinois transplant, so I was fascinated, and eventually obsessed, with the differences in my ethnicity’s iconography,” Blazquez says about the inspiration behind his project “Barrios de Nuevo Mexico: Southwest Stories of Vindication.” “For example, in New Mexico, as opposed to the Midwest and East Coast, there is a strong connection to American geography. You’ll see Latinx people with New Mexico state symbols tattooed directly on their faces and skulls. But refreshing similarities such as hairstyle also struck me.”

The other reason Blazquez started to document these lives was because of the devastating and widespread impact of drug addiction.

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Sleepy with his Daughter

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Blazquez admits to once having a drug problem and eventually overcoming those struggles. Some of the people that he photographs are former drug users or others who have sought redemption.

“I started in 2016 just walking around Albuquerque’s Central Avenue in the War Zone earning my street photography badge. When I almost died a couple of times, I started to use my Instagram page more often to set up shoots and contact homies from my former days of opiate abuse,” Blazquez explains. “My friend Emilio created the random handle @and_frank13 and I kept it after he died in 2017 from drug complications; an event that made me work harder to present portraits of New Mexicans demonstrating faces of dignity, hence my project ‘Barrios de Nuevo Mexico: Southwest Stories of Vindication.'”

Photography was a passion for Blazquez that grew into something bigger than him as he learned.

Blazquez’s interest in photography and love of his culture combined to create a photo series celebrating the people in his life. Blazquez turned his lens to the people in his life to capture a beauty he saw in his own community that is often overlooked and ignored.

Blazquez is hoping to show people that Chicanx culture has spread farther than California because of an exodus.

“Homies escaping the three strikes law in California created an exodus in the ’90s that transferred new symbols from organizations, namely 18th Street, Sureños, and Norteños,” Blazquez explains about the Chicanx community in New Mexico. “As New Mexico is an expanse of serene beauty that attracts people to escape from former lives, in turn, symbols were exchanged such as black and gray tattoo and font styles with purist craft structure adhering to Southwest archetypes—fat ass cursive and serif fonts with ornate filigree stems.”

He acknowledges that California is known for its Chicanx and Latinx communities but there is so much more to teach people.

“LA fingers do not represent the millions of brown people outside of California and it certainly does not represent native-born New Mexicans,” Blazquez explains. “I learned the Latinx experience is entirely different in various locations—the California stereotype doesn’t carry itself across America. It’s enlightening to know that brown culture grows and adapts independently.”

The photographer also wants to teach people that the Latino community is vast and diverse.

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Homemade New Mexican Tattoos // #dukecity

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“That the Latin-spectrum in America is not pigeonholed to any sole category,” Blazquez says. “Knowing that the labels Mexican, Mexican-American, Chicanx (a/o), Latinx (a/o), Hispanic, Mexica (not Hispanic nor Latino), Indo-Latino, Afro-Latinx (a/o) are just several of the hundreds of labels available to classify my culture’s diaspora is important.”

“Duke City Diaries” is a mini-series on YouTube that Blazquez has produced to take you deeper into the lives of the people in his photos.

“I knew the profound faces from my 2010’s New Mexico experience would make great art and explain an important POC narrative at the same time,” Blazquez says. “Creating the short YouTube documentary series “Duke City Diaries” was also an offshoot from my portraiture and one that created distinct reception. The hateful and racist comments kept me moving forward to show a larger audience that racism still exists.”

Blazquez is currently working on a new photo series called Mexican Suburbs diving deeper into his themes of Chicanx culture and the opioid crisis.

READ: Photographer Diego Huerta Took An Update Photo Of The Most Beautiful Girl In Mexico

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New MexicophotographyChicanoCulture

Netflix’s ‘Gentefied’ Renewed For Season 2, Fans Overjoyed

Entertainment

Netflix’s ‘Gentefied’ Renewed For Season 2, Fans Overjoyed

By May 20, 2020 at 4:20 pm
BY  | May 20, 2020 AT 4:20 pm
gentefied / Instagram

Any and all news is welcomed right now and Netflix came through this week. “Gentefied” is coming back for a second season and this is absolutely not a drill. Soon we will be back in Boyle Heights with Ana, Chris, Erik, and the rest of the cast we have come to love so much.

Netflix has confirmed “Gentefied” for a second season.

The show is a fan favorite for Netflix with praise and love pouring in for the groundbreaking show. “Gentefied” is set in Boyle Heights and it is all about the fight against gentrification. The show premiered this year to big fanfare and excitement from Latino Netflix users. The show, created by Marvin Lemus and Linda Yvette Chávez, was picked up for an eight-episode run of the 30-minute show.

The show is one of the most relevant portrayals of the Latino experience in the 21st century.

The show highlights the plight of gentrification on communities across the U.S. Boyle Heights in Los Angeles has been the center of growing tension as the neighborhood slowly gentrifies. Rising rents have forced some residents and businesses to close and leave because of the changing demographic in the neighborhood.

Hearts are full as everyone celebrates the news of a whole new season.

The show originally premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival as a digital series. Lemus and Chávez debuted the show and it was an instant hit with festival-goers. After three years of waiting, the show was released by Netflix and became a national hit. The show has shone a light on the cost of gentrification for more Americans than knew about it before the show aired.

Low key, it has made for perfect binge-watching during this quarantine.

There isn’t a whole lot any of us can do at the moment. Most of us are at home because of self-isolation and social distancing guidelines designed to save lives during the pandemic. Might as well us some of your time to watch and support and very important moment in our community. This kind of representation is something that Latinos have been asking for.

While excited, some fans want more, like a cross-over with Starz’s “Vida.”

Now, just to be clear, we are not concerned with what it takes to make this happen. Netflix and Starz can come up with the actual plan. We are just going to be here waiting to be heard so we can all have the kind of cross-over the world deserves. Just imagine a chance for those two shows to collide in Latino excellence.

Now we wait for an air date.

We are patient. We will be here when you are ready. All you have to do is let us know when to tune in and you know we are coming through.

READ: I Watched ‘Gentefied’ On Netflix And These Are My Brutally Honest Thoughts

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Boyle HeightsentertainmentGentefiedGentrificationNetflixtelevision