Alumni News – Dickinson College Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies Blog

“La Cucaracha” and Political Satire

Political cartoonist, satirist & television writer, Lalo Alcaraz

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

Stern Center, Great Room, 7 p.m.

Alcaraz will present an illustrated lecture on his cartoons, work in political satire, and writing/producing in Hollywood.

Lalo Alcaraz is the creator of the first nationally syndicated, politically themed Latino daily comic strip, “La Cucaracha,” which is read in American newspapers nationwide, including the Los Angeles Times. Lalo’s comics are syndicated by Universal Uclick, home of “Doonesbury” and “The Boondocks.” Lalo produced editorial cartoons for The LA Weekly from 1992-2010 and now creates editorial cartoons in English and Spanish for Universal. Lalo’s books include Latino USA: A Cartoon History (2000 by Basic Books), and Migra Mouse: Political Cartoons On Immigration,(2004). Alcaraz also authored the first collection of his daily comic strips, “La Cucaracha.” (2004, Andrews-McMeel Publishing.) His upcoming book is Imperfect Union: A Contrarian History of the United States (2014 by Basic Books). Lalo taught editorial illustration at Otis College of Art & Design in Los Angeles in 2013. Alcaraz was a writer and producer of “Bordertown,” the animated TV show on FOX, which

ran for one triumphant 13 episode season before being canceled. Lalo is also consultant on the upcoming 2017 Pixar film, COCO. Alcaraz was a segment producer on Al Madrigal’s (Daily Show) “Half Like Me” comedy special for Fusion/ABC. Lalo is also featured on the upcoming HBO Latino program “Habla y Vota” special along with George Lopez and Jorge Ramos.

Lalo Alcaraz has received five Southern California Journalism Awards for Best Cartoon in Weekly Papers, and numerous other awards and honors.

This program is sponsored by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and co-sponsored by the Departments of Latin American, Latino & Caribbean Studies, and Spanish & Portuguese.

On Nov. 5 and Nov. 6, 2016, Dickinson College successfully hosted Posada Conference 2016: Mocking the Status Quo: Sociopolitical Humor and Satire in Latin America, a two-day conference sponsored by The Central Pennsylvania Consortium, as well as Franklin & Marshall College and Gettysburg College. This international conference provided a forum to address the various and manifold developments in the fields of humor and politics in Latin America.
The conference keynote speaker is William Beezley (University of Arizona), noted historian of Mexico and Latin America and author and editor of numerous books, including Judas at the Jockey Club and Other Episodes of Porfirian Mexico(1987), Latin American Popular Culture: An Introduction (Linda Curcio-Nagy, 2000), and A Companion to Mexican History and Culture (2011).

Access to the whole speech can be found here.