El Podcast de El Profe Palacios

"Hola mi gente, bienvenidos to another episode of El Podcast de el Profe Palacios , I am your host, El Profe Palacios. Today, I am honored to share this plática I had recently with Mx. Joy Diaz-Noriega, she is an elementary dual language immersion teacher. Mx Joy, as her students call her, is also a doctoral student at the University of San Francisco. I invited Mx Joy to be a guest in the show bec...

In this episode of El Podcast de El Profe Palacios , community organizers from Safe Return Project, United Latino Voices and the Concord Immigrant Protections Network, and Reimagine Richmond discuss their pathways into activism and organizing. The panel explores immigrant rights, educational equity, youth mentorship, trauma healing, police accountability, and community empowerment. Through persona...

How do our earliest memories and family roots shape our academic and professional lives? In this episode, I sit down with the brilliant Profesora Lilia Soto for a thoughtful conversation on migration, identity, memory, and the complexities of navigating academia. Lilia reflects on her early childhood growing up between Napa and Zinapécuaro, Michoacán, and how those experiences have shaped her inte...

In this episode I sit down with a former student of mine, Cinthya, who has an amazing story, we talked about her journey across the US-Mexico border, about going to school as an undocumented student. She recently receiving her Masters in Spanish from San Francisco State University. I think her story has a lot to teach us about perseverance and resilience, and I encourage you to share it specially...

In this episode, I sit down with Dr. David Martinez — licensed psychologist, associate professor at the University of San Francisco, and Director of Mental Health at ALAS (Ayudando Latinos a Soñar). David shares his journey from growing up in East Salinas to earning a PhD in clinical psychology. We talk about growing up in Salinas and Michoacán, about losing his father at a young age and being rai...

In this episode, I sit down with my longtime friend Rudy Tovar, someone I’ve known since our middle school days in Salinas. We talk about growing up in a working-class immigrant family and eventually becoming a business owner. We also talk about his passion for running and his role as a youth coach. We talked about fatherhood and what it means to raise boys with compassion. Finally, Rudy reflects...

Today I have the privilege of sharing with you an interview I did recently with Dr. Mayra Padilla—Mayra has an amazing story and I am very honored that she accepted to be a guest in the podcast. In this plática we talked about her family’s migration from Jalisco, about growing up in Richmond, in a low-income barrio and having to deal with some of the gang violence and drugs in the neighborhood but...

In this episode, I’m joined by Professor Rafael “Rafa” Solórzano—social movements scholar and organizer. We talk about his childhood, activism, and how the places he has lived and made community have shaped his work. Rafa takes us from growing up Chicano in Santa Ana, Orange County during the era of Proposition 187, 209, and 227, to organizing with MEChA, and multiracial youth coalitions in the Ba...

In this “Thanks-taking” special, I talk about being thankful despite all the MAGA pendejadas. I talk about labor shortages, growers voting against their interests, and ICE’s ongoing cruelty toward immigrant communities. And I share what I’m personally grateful for this year—from my family to my students to the immigrant workers who keep this country running. Music Jazzaddict’s Intro by Cosimo Fogg...

In this episode, I break down Zohran Mamdani’s powerful victory speech after winning the New York City mayoral race. I have to say, I really needed this win. His victory gives me hope in our future. Mamdani’s campaign was grounded in affordability, and inclusion. As a Democratic Socialist, he is unapologetically pro-worker and pro-immigrant. Mamdani’s win is more than NYC’s victory — it’s also a r...

In this episode I am joined by Dr. Alexandro J. Gradilla, professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies, for a plática about his life, his schooling, his journey through academia, and becoming an activist-scholar. Gradilla reflects on growing up in 1970s San Diego in a Mexican immigrant household, the impact his teachers and professors made on him, and what it was like living near the US-Mexico border....

Education is never neutral, and as Howard Zinn reminds us, “you cannot be neutral in a moving train.” Schools can either reproduce inequality or serve as spaces for critical thinking and transformation. In this episode, I talk about our responsibility as educators to foster class consciousness as we teach about capitalism and wealth inequality. We urgently need to teach class consciousness if we w...

In this episode of El Podcast del Profe Palacios , I reflect on the start of a new semester, on how I am incorporating AI into my teaching as well as in-class writing. I am going both old-school and new school. I am assigning more group project in my online classes, and using tools like Padlet to encourage participation and cooperation. I also talk about how I refuse to be a cop, and I am trying t...

This episode is not polite, balanced, or nice—it’s a rant. I rant about MAGA, especially Latino MAGA. I talk about the pinche ICE budget (bigger than the military of entire nations), about Mexican American migra who are deporting people just like their own parents. I take jabs at MAGA’s fake obsession with “protecting children” while ignoring child deaths at the border and in Gaza. I rant about: 1...

Hola bienvenidos to another episode of El Podcast de el Profe Palacios. I am your host, El Profe Palacios. Today, I have the honor to sit down with the one and only Carlos-Manuel. He is an accomplished playwright, director, and professor at Contra Costa College. In our plática we talk about his childhood, his family’s migration story, the teachers who shaped his path, and how he became the chingón...

In this capirotada-style episode of El Podcast de el Profe Palacios , I provide some commentary on the current state of affairs—from ICE recruitment, to the Superman’s immigrant story, and Miss Rachel’s activism for Palestine. And hey, I had a visitor; a hummingbird came to my window! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes...

In this episode, tengo el gusto de compartir una plática I had with my colleague and neighbor, Dr. Dani Ahuicapahtzin Cornejo. Dani is the Chair of the Ethnic Studies Department at Diablo Valley College. In this plática, Dani reflects on his life, his complex heritage that includes Chile, Mexico, and a Quaker grandfather. He talks about growing up in a primarily Black neighborhood in Denver, Color...

In this episode, I sit down with my colega Norma Valdez-Jimenez, an academic counselor at Contra Costa College. Norma shares her story—from her childhood experiences growing up in San Pablo, California, to her academic journey at CCC and San Francisco State. She shared about the importance of being present and serving our students. We also explore her path as a poet, and the insight and growth tha...

On June 14, No Kings Day, I took to the streets of San Pablo and El Sobrante, California, in the SF East Bay to uplift the voices of those who showed up to say No to Trump’s politics of fear and hate—and Yes to community, solidarity, and hope. In this episode, I talk with organizers, families, and community members about why they demonstrated. Together, we reflect on the power of collective action...

In this episode, I sat down with Melina Lozano, president of La Raza Student Union and Contra Costa College student. Melina shares her story of growing up in Richmond, California as the daughter of immigrant parents, and her journey navigating the education system as a first-generation college student. We talk about some of the challenges she faced, as well as how her discipline and hard work pays...

In this episode, I reflect on why Palestine matters in Chicano Studies and Ethnic Studies. I open with a poem by Naomi Shihab Nye, drawing connections between displaced peoples, ancestral land, and the deep love and longing for home. I share personal memories—of fig trees, nopales, and sacred land. From poetry to praxis, I explore how Ethnic Studies teaches us to name settler colonialism, analyze...

In this episode, I explore the promises and challenges of artificial intelligence through the lens of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire. I reflect on what it means to teach — and learn — in the coming age of AI. Drawing from Freire’s ideas on conscientization, problem-posing education, and the need to read both the word and the world, I ask: how do we keep our students from becoming passive consumer...

In this episode, I talk about why it’s essential to teach our students and our children to respect LGBTQ people. What we put into the world eventually comes back to our family and our kids. I share some personal stories of myself as a parent and educator. It is our responsibility to model respect and affirm LGBTQ identities in meaningful ways. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss...

In this episode, I respond to the escalating attacks on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and Ethnic Studies by the Trump administration and its cronies. Why are they so afraid of educated Chicanos/as/x? Why does the truth about United States history make them uncomfortable? Join me as I share my thoughts on this topic. Music Jazzaddict's Intro by Cosimo Fogg (201) https://soundcloud.com/cosi...

Hola, bienvenidos to El Podcast del Profe Palacios, a podcast about Ethnic Studies, education, and issues affecting our Latino/e students and communities. I am your host Dr. Agustín Palacios, professor of Chicano/Latino Studies for more than 15 years at the community college. In this podcast we will talk about how Ethnic Studies is more than an academic subject; it is a practice grounded in commun...