The Southland's hidden Third World slums
In the Coachella Valley, hundreds of trailer parks house desperately poor Latino workers amid burning trash, mud, contaminated water.
By David Kelly, Times Staff Writer
March 26, 2007

THERMAL, CALIF. - Like most of their neighbors in the sprawling, ramshackle Oasis Mobile Home Park, the Aguilars have no heat, no hot water. On cold nights, the family of eight stays warm by bundling up in layers of sweaters and sleeps packed together in two tiny rooms.

Bathing is a luxury that requires using valuable propane to boil gallons of water. So the farmworker clan spends a lot of time dirty.

Link to streaming MP3 of a Latino-focused NPR program exploring Morrissey's appeal in Southern California & interviews with documentarian William E. Jones and Morrissey impersonator Jose Maldonado. The common themes of immigration, religion, and class struggle are offered as unifying Morrissey with Latinos, along with the idea of Morrissey as an outsider that has always framed his popularity. Morrissey's response to the fanbase are mentioned, such as in songs such as "The First of the Gang to Die" about a LA gang member, and "Mexico", which compares life on opposite sides of the border.