Michael is an editor and multimedia journalist born to Mexican parents who started their own Domestic Violence counseling center in Southeast Los Angeles. His mentorship has provided youth opportunities to share their stories online on NPR, KCET, the Long Beach Post, and other national websites. His articles have been syndicated and translated into multiple languages via New America Media and ImpreMedia, the nation’s largest Spanish-language news publisher. He was a fellow with UCLA's Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies, and has recently been a Votebeat Reporter for CalMatters and the Long Beach Post. Michael graduated from CSULB in 2011 with research honors in Sociology and a Journalism minor. Follow his work @chicanochico on Twitter and @thechicanochicoreport on Instagram.
As cities across California implement Prop. 47, Long Beach residents have recently expressed concerns over local police officers’ commentary at community meetings.
Although American Samoa has been a U.S territory for over a hundred years, being born there does not come with the same privileges as being born in the U.S.
“I think [Serra's sainthood is] horribly tragic,” said Bryan Brightcloud, a Long Beach resident who is full Apache. “I think they really made a mistake.”
What makes Latinos so susceptible to immigration scams is that many scammers describe themselves as “notarios,” commonly known in Latin America as attorneys. But many posing here as “notarios” may not be attorneys at all.
The LB Police Department has taken steps recently to improve relations with the communities it serves. But amid a backdrop of complaints over racial profiling and use of excessive force, many question whether enough is being done to repair ties.
The law is expected to bring a number of positive changes, from immigrants’ ability to get to school and work without fear of being stopped, to improving driver’s safety in general. But some say the road ahead isn’t as smooth as they thought it would be.
The tragedy that rocked the Mexican state of Guerrero has had reverberations in Long Beach, where many families come from that region. More than 162,000 Mexican Americans live here, and many have ties to Guerrero.
Voter turnout in Long Beach’s last election in November was an abysmal 22.1 percent. VoiceWaves spoke to local campaign managers here to zero in on what is and isn’t working in getting voters to the polls.
What does Obama's executive action mean for immigrant healthcare? Experts on immigration and health care access, as well as Californians directly impacted by these issues address this question.
In the wake of a nationwide uproar around the policing of black communities, VoiceWaves took a look at a local police oversight agency to ask, “What can be done to hold police accountable?”
Michael is an editor and multimedia journalist born to Mexican parents who started their own Domestic Violence counseling center in Southeast Los Angeles. His mentorship has provided youth opportunities to share their stories online on NPR, KCET, the Long Beach Post, and other national websites. His articles have been syndicated and translated into multiple languages via New America Media and ImpreMedia, the nation’s largest Spanish-language news publisher. He was a fellow with UCLA's Laboratory for Environmental Narrative Strategies, and has recently been a Votebeat Reporter for CalMatters and the Long Beach Post. Michael graduated from CSULB in 2011 with research honors in Sociology and a Journalism minor. Follow his work @chicanochico on Twitter and @thechicanochicoreport on Instagram. 
