POCHO1 bio.

Visualizing Movement -- Pocho One Photography - New America Media

Visualizing Movement -- Pocho One Photography - New America Media

pocho1 bio.

International Liberation Photographer Pocho1 was born in Oxnard Ca, where his parents were union organizers for the UFW, at age four Pocho1 and his family moved to Santa Rosa Ca, where his parents organized the first all Latino fishery and factory workers union. Disgruntled with poverty, mixed race identity, and personal trauma, Pocho1 joined a gang at age 11 and the main gang at age 15, after years of violence, drug abuse/dealing, and using women for there bodies, Pocho1 saw the contradictions in his life and how he was destroying himself, his family and his community, with the help from his family, he began to transform himself and began to fight for his communites, he moved to LA to Attend Cal State Northridge where he studied under Rudy Acuna and many others who were founders of the first Xican@ studies department, he graduated with honors in Xican@ studies and History, he moved back to his beloved Bay Area, to attend San Francisco State University to get Masters in Ethnic Studies at the only college of Ethnic Studies. In the fall, he will start his 2nd Masters, in teaching and teacher credential at the University of Southern California; he resides in Oakland Califonia and is an educator in East Oakland teaching critical pedagogical English History, Ethnic studies and Photojournalism. His photography is a mixture of community documentation and digital manipulation; he pushes colors to the limit to expose the emotions and humanity of the movement for social justice. You can catch him shooting and donating to community events, walking and talking like cholo and thinking like a community activist and critical intellectual. He adds that he still makes his mom cry, but not in terror like before, but now she cries in happiness for the positive life he leads and the youth he empowers.