Mental Menudo – A Last Super
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Have you ever been in a place and wondered how you got there? The photo above was such a moment for me.
How I came to stand next to brilliant minds discussing Latino culture and arts was bit of a puzzle for me. Although looking back, my path to this photo started when I simply walked into a gathering billed as “Mental Menudo”.
A few years ago, in a basement converted into an art gallery, about thirty people of all ages and every shade of brown sat in the circle of chairs. The central figure or rather the Sheppard of the group was a respected man, topped with white hair, with a laugh like a cartoon character and a name to match. The man, who I learned of few meetings later, was Gilbert “Magu” Lujan, a member of the luminary “Los Four” group.
Unsure of what was going to happen in the gathering, I was soon intrigued and pulled into the dynamics of the meeting. Everyone was allowed to speak as long as the current speaker was shown respect and courtesy to speak their mind. As the discussion grew, people began to open up and voice their thoughts. Soon, too many hands were raised, as people were biting their lips to hold their tongues. The dialog bounced like a heated molecule. The energy intensified and pulled everyone to the edge of their seat.
The subject of this particular ” junta”, as Magu refers to the dialog, was focused on graffiti. Specifically, the question was posed… is graffiti art? Now having graffiti artists and muralists in the same room is like throwing lit matches into a box of dynamite, at some point a fuse is going to get lit!
Sure enough, someone got lit! One determined and passionate muralist stormed out of the meeting in a huff, fuming and slamming doors. A few people, like myself, drew our breath anticipating mayhem, but as any good Sheppard would do, Magu corralled the meeting back into a path of enlighten and ponderance. Needless to say, I was hooked on Mental Menudo!
The meeting had worked my nerves into frenzy. I was fired up with creativity, passion and a call to take action for my community.
After the discussion, I excitedly called Angel. It was about this time that we were wondering if we should launch Bullfighter’s Café, and I told Angel that the Cafe was on! I told her it was going to work, and more importantly, it was needed!
I had witnessed a call for Latinos to have a platform to express their ideas, concerns, and experiences. Latinos needed to share, evoke and understand each other’s perspectives and commonalities. While questions were asked, some answers didn’t come to light, but nevertheless, it was critical and beneficial that Latinos had communicated with each other.
In other words, it was Latino culture in the process of evolution. It was American Latino culture being displayed, exercised, develop and broken down all at once! Culture is what brought us together in the art gallery, which gave us a foundation to relate, communicate, and in the end, rejoice in our common fibers of being Latino!
After attending many more Mental Menudos and a few reconfigurations of Bullfighter’s Cafe, my resolve remains but my mission has expanded. I am going to do my best to reflect my experiences from the Mental Menudos so that my fellow Latinos can share in the communal dialogs.
Perhaps it’s not really a mystery as to why I am in the photo with writers, educators, artists, politicians and community leaders. The universe brought me to the Last Supper so that I can bring your voice to the table, as well as pass the expressions of Latino culture to you the reader.
with gratitude,
Pablo M
(TOP LEFT in photo: Daniel Cano, Pablo Martinez, Andres Montoya, Mario Guerrero, Manuel Urrutia, Serge Hernandez, BOTTOM: Mario Trillo, Diane Hernandez, Gilbert “Magu” Lujan, Angel Guererro, Michael Sedano, and Naiche Lujan. Photo by Gil Ortiz)
