We recently caught up with Héctor Tobar to discuss his new book, Our Migrant Souls: A Meditation on Race and the Meanings and Myths of “Latino.” Our conversation included mention of the pathbreaking historian Vicki L. Ruiz,  [UCI Distinguished Professor Emerita of History and Chicano/Latino Studies],to whom Tobar dedicated Our Migrant Souls, as well as discussions on the literary influence of James Baldwin, the need for a revolution in how we talk about immigrants and immigration, Latino racial identity, and Tobar’s own life and travels. Tobar is a writer based in Los Angeles and is a professor of literary journalism and Chicano/Latino Studies at the University of California, Irvine.

For the full story, please visit https://www.publicbooks.org/writing-latinos-hector-tobar/.