I’m starting this draft on the Fourth of July, 2026 in the Northern California redwoods. The phrase “250 Years of Independence” inundates my social media feed, though most people posting the phrase chide the intended meaning, highlighting the contradictions of the euphemism, some the outright lie. And yet here I sit, excitedly making plans to watch the U.S. men’s soccer team take on Belgium in a couple days. (And my god was my Chicano goth heart conflicted as Mexico and England played the day before!) My key requirement in choosing a venue: one that is loud and friendly, but yet won’t be filled with the kind of supporters shouting USA!
I can’t think of a better example of being Latino in the United States at this fraught moment of our history. So what does all this have to do with Latinx literature or Latine identities? And the previous sentences are a perfect literary example of my own psychological ambivalence about the subject matter: my inability to settle on one descriptor.
Is it Chicano, Hispanic, Latino/x/e, (I still love the brief moment when Latin@ was in fashion)? I once had an editor reject my essay because I shifted between using those terms without explanation. I love the discomfort, the confusion, the chaos that those words engender, so I mix and match Latino, Latinx, Latine consciously.
Though perhaps I am being disrespectful, minimizing the importance of self-definition, of pride, arming those in power with ways to chide or ridicule our discourse. Do I root for the USA or Mexico or or or? Need more statistical proof?
According to Fernanda Figueroa, researching U.S. Latinos for AP News in 2025: “this growing community is far from being a monolith. From shifting identities, increasing educational attainment and growing political influence, Hispanic Americans continue to be a major part of the nation’s tapestry.” A few years ago, I sat down at a cafe table during the LA AWP 2024 Conference next to an unassuming elder sipping coffee.
After I settled, I realized the elder was none other than Luis Rodriguez. I can’t begin to express how much his book Always Running affected my life as a young father during my early twenties. Of course, I wanted to immediately share that with him, but I waited; instead, we chatted: conferences, LA freeways.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
