On August 31, 2023, the surviving sisters of Sean Monterrosa, Ashley and Michelle, gathered on the steps of Vallejo’s City Hall, after news broke that Jarrett Tonn — the Vallejo police officer who killed Sean in a Walgreens parking lot in June of 2020 — was being fully reinstated by the Vallejo Police Department after […]
Posted inMultimedia
Ojos, No. 3
This image is part of the ‘Ojos’ bi-weekly series. Ojos is a photo-letter that honors people, their merits, the environment and connects our human experience to community with the use of a camera—here in the Bay Area. Vidal Bidal asked for this portrait—a moment of self-worth and pride. It was still the morning time, so […]
Posted inLatin America
The exploitation of the Indigenous Nicaraguan Mayangna needs to end
Colonization is often thought of as something of the past, but to the Indigenous people of Nicaragua, it continues today. Indigenous groups along the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua are having their rights, culture, and traditions violated at the hands of violent loggers, miners, farmers and enterprises. Nicaragua’s Caribbean Coast is occupied by three different Indigenous […]
Posted inNews
How journalism, and El Tecolote, changed my life
For me, El Tecolote was born at exactly the right time. When the first edition appeared 53 years ago this month, on August 24, 1970, I was a young man in transition. I had just graduated from Jefferson High School in Daly City, where I had discovered journalism at the last minute, and I was […]
Posted inDevil's Advocate
Alfonso Maciel and his colorful “paliacates”
Recently, Azucena and I had the good fortune to visit a good friend, Mexican artist, Alfonso Maciel. Now living in México, Maciel lived in the city of San Francisco for quite a few years. In our Mission District, he became a well-known and respected member of the artistic community — he was director of the […]
Posted inMultimedia
Ojos, No. 2
This image is part of the ‘Ojos’ bi-weekly series. Ojos is a photo-letter that honors people, their merits, the environment and connects our human experience to community with the use of a camera—here in the Bay Area. “It’s not true that we only come here to sell drugs — anything but,” Carlos said underneath the […]
Posted inNews
Community mourns the death of Damien González
Last Friday, Damien González — a recent graduate of Civic Center Secondary School who volunteered with the Latino Task Force — was fatally shot at the Mission Rec Center. He was 18. González was reportedly playing basketball when he was targeted by a masked suspect. Police responded to a reported shooting at around 3 pm […]
Posted inNews
ALAS: A Decade of Advocacy for Latinx Farmworkers in Half Moon Bay
Sam Garzon is El Tecolote’s Report for America Corps Member who reports on mental health and healthcare inequality in the Latinx community. Recognizing that farmworkers in rural communities are oftentimes underappreciated and invisibilized, Ayudando Latinos a Soñar (ALAS) — an organization serving Half Moon Bay — is a beacon of support and advocacy for farmworkers […]
Posted inNews
La Reyna, 24th street’s iconic panaderia celebrates 46 years
The sights and sounds that once defined San Francisco’s Mission District five decades ago are hardly recognizable these days. Gentrification can do that to any vibrant and bustling neighborhood. But look — or smell — closely, and some relics of a bygone era remain. The Mission’s long-standing La Reyna Bakery began baking its pan dulce […]