Author: Joe Barrera

Word has come down that the acclaimed Taos writer, John T. Nichols, has died. He was my friend, and I am fortunate that I had the privilege to know him and learn from him. I remember Nichols, in sorrow that he’s gone, but also in gratitude that he taught us so much about the people…

Thanksgiving is my favorite American holiday. The theme of gratitude for material and spiritual blessings appeals to me. And, of course, I like the feast. Nothing beats the great food at Thanksgiving. But because I’m an “intellectual,” that category of humans which is blamed for much of what is wrong in this country, I am…

War is never far away in our time. No need to enumerate the present wars, nor the recent ones, nor the ones we think are finished but who linger and still flare up sporadically. We know them all very intimately and we remember them well. For those of us fated to serve as soldiers in…

It’s been a tough month for the country and for the world. In spite of the willful oblivion of many who ignore the news because it’s too “depressing,” disasters have a way of commanding our attention. At the risk of causing even more depressed readers to run for the hills, we can catalog some of…

Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept.15-Oct. 15, is upon us. Hispanic, Latino, Chicano, Mexican Heritage month is one of many ethnic months. Some people object to Hispanic Heritage Month because they fear Mexicans and other Latinos. That’s what happens when there is a constant propaganda barrage about the “crisis at the border,” when border guards push mothers…

To understand the culture wars and the dangerous political chasms that divide us, we can realize that it’s too early to tell if the experiment called America will be successful. We sincerely believe in the idea, but E Pluribus Unum is not yet a reality. We have made positive gains but we have not yet…

Now that Cinco de Mayo is here, we would be wise to remember that Mexico has endured many hardships: revolutions, invasions, defeat in wars, insurrections, banditry, dictatorships, betrayals, corrupt governments, catastrophic plagues, and a permanent state of inequality and oppression which is the legacy of a Spanish caste system rooted in the medieval culture of…

We know why thousands flee the chaotic country next door. They run from Mexico and the impoverished countries in Central America. We can now add once-wealthy Venezuela to the list, the oil-rich country ground down by the misguided dreams of Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro. We know that it is simply impossible for masses of…

I sat down and talked with my friend Rich Fierro, the hero of Club Q. By now the media have detailed his actions Nov. 19 and those of the other hero, U.S. Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Thomas James. The news reports have convincingly explained his actions. We know that he’s a modest unassuming man…

It’s Veterans Day again. How fast the year has passed. On Veterans Day I think of comrades lost in my war, Vietnam, and the young men I have seen depart for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, many of whom we’ll never see alive again. Veterans Day is about the living and the dead who…