Award-winning political cartoonist Lalo Alcaraz joined MICASA and Puente for a plática, meaning conversation, Tuesday, Oct. 14 in the Social Justice Center in the afternoon.
Alcaraz explained his work, the key moments in his career and afterward took questions from the audience.
“I take down rich and powerful people, who deserve to be taken down,” Alcaraz said.
Alcaraz is famously known for his comic strip “La Cucaracha,” a nationally syndicated comic strip first published in 1992 in the LA Weekly, that explores “satirical, Spanglish-infused humor,” according to GoComics.
“It’s the first Latino political comic strip that really ever existed in the U.S nationally syndicated,” Alcaraz said.
From his political cartoons, Alcaraz has gone on to collaborate with big names, such as Disney in 2015, when he was hired as a cultural consultant on the Pixar film “Coco.”
He worked with Disney again in 2018 as a writer, cultural consultant and producer on the spin off series “The Casagrandes” from “The Loud House.”
“It was a great fun show… it’s important for our kids to see themselves reflected on TV,” Alcaraz said.
Alcaraz was born in 1964 in San Diego as a child of Mexican immigrants from Sinaloa and Zacatecas.
Growing up, he experienced racism and discrimination that led him to become a political cartoonist.
“I always would see how my parents were mistreated being Mexican immigrants…and I was treated exactly the same way,” Alcaraz said.
Throughout his career, Alcaraz has used his art to speak out against the political climate, highlighting cultural representation, discriminatory issues and the importance of being civically engaged.
“It’s always been important, and now you know, many of us have taken it for granted… it’s the people got to step up and be responsible for it,” Alcaraz said.
Sin Fronteras" on Oct. 15, wrap up the Hispanic Heritage Month. (Oriana de Quay | The Union)
His work has led him to many awards, winning six Southern California Press Awards for “Best Editorial Cartoon” according to The Pulitzer Prize website.
Most recently, he won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for Editorial Cartoons this year.
Students jumped at the opportunity to ask him about his career and political opinions.
“I feel like the people who were there really felt seen…I love that part of it was introducing students to a career path in the arts,” Social Justice Center coordinator Monica Delgado said.
Today, Alcaraz is working on a project called “Contra Ice,” a music album compilation that comes out next year.
The project benefits three nonprofits that support immigrants including Unión del Barrio, a nonprofit that seeks to empower and defend the rights of Mexican and Latin American communities, according to their website.
“I do have consequences [have recieved death threats] on my free speech… but I’m not afraid… now I’m firing on all cylinders,” Alcaraz said.
![El Camino College Human Resources Technician Ana Florentino holds a treat bowl at her desk Wednesday, Oct. 22, which was decorated in preparation for children on campus going trick-or-treating through the office. Florentino and Martha Lopez, who also works in the HR Department, are a part of a group in their office who always decorate. "We kinda decorate all the time for every season, and they told us they were going to do trick or treating for the kids coming so we tried to prepare for [them] coming in," Lopez said. (Seph Peters | The Union)](https://eccunion.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Peters_HALLOW_102225-55_EDIT-1200x800.jpg)