Jose Antonio Soto
Bio
Welcome! I'm Jose Soto, a writer born and raised in the border community of El Paso, Texas and Ciudad Juárez, México. I write stories, blogs, essays, and poetry that explores what it means to be human; nuances, complexities and all.
Stories (41)
Filter by community
A Brief Emancipating Moment
If you've ever gone out for a run or a jog underneath a blazing sun wearing too many layers, then you know the feeling of liberation well. It comes once you extricate your body from the clenching of the sweat-drenched workout clothes and your anatomy can finally appreciate a zephyr caressing your moist skin. You've been longing for that exact moment all throughout the treacherous workout and when it arrives, it's unfettering.
By Jose Antonio Soto4 years ago in Pride
Pride 2021 Playlist
Coming off of the tumultuous and grim year that was 2020, it is only natural and expected that LGBTQ folks around the country and the community's allies want to go big during this year's Pride festivities. We're welcoming a sense of normalcy during Pride by heading to the dancefloors, hitting up a parade, or perhaps a small and intimate party. Whatever the case, a loud and proud playlist is essential for all and every Pride occasion. Music has always been at the forefront of queer celebration, providing a sonic landscape for LGBTQ folks to let loose and be free amongst each other. From classic dance tracks to modern hits, every Pride playlist has to include iconic staples as well as current queer anthems.
By Jose Antonio Soto5 years ago in Beat
Thanksgiving? No Thanks
Family, friends and acquaintances convene every year on the fourth Thursday in November dressed in their Sunday best. They gather around a dining table–or the living room television–to commit the cardinal sin of gluttony while watching football or a televised parade. They prepare and indulge in an elaborate feast, all while sipping on wine and beer, bantering about this year's football season, bickering about politics and intruding in personal matters like your cousin's dalliances and your brother's weight gain. Thanksgiving, almost single-handedly, kicks off a nearly two-month period of utter commercialism, consumerism and blatant debauchery normalized by the vast participation of all of us and mere tradition.
By Jose Antonio Soto5 years ago in Families
Revisiting John Carpenter's 'Halloween'. Top Story - October 2020.
There was an uncanny spectral element to the film. The vintage aesthetic, the way the camera maneuvered throughout its entire duration. Its minimal use of spectacle and special effects. Its impeccable flow; transitioning from scene to scene without losing a grasp of my attention.
By Jose Antonio Soto5 years ago in Horror
Celebrating My Heritage: Sometimes in English, Others in Spanish. Top Story - September 2020.
When I was around four-years old, my family and I moved into our first rented home in El Paso, Texas, a city a mere mile or so north of Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Having moved to El Paso from Juárez two years prior, I was introduced at an early age to the binational, bicultural, and bilingual phenomenon that people living in El Paso and Ciudad Juárez are accustomed to.
By Jose Antonio Soto5 years ago in Families
The Pandemic, Quarantine,Netflix, and International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia
Today, March 17, is International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, a day to create awareness of violations and crimes against the LGBTQ community while advocating for increased equality and support. A day to remind people to be accepting of other’s differences and sexual/gender identity, to be good beings, and not commit hate crimes against their fellow humans. To treat others with respect. A simple message delivered in a complicated time.
By Jose Antonio Soto6 years ago in Families
Pomegranate Seeds And Hardened Dirt
The dirt from the backyard of Guillermo's aunt Silvia's house was holistic and dense. It was hard to break apart and wasn’t mixing well with the water he had brought out in a coffee mug. Guillermo wanted to sculpt a small mud castle for his abuelita, or grandmother. Right before he started online schooling, Guillermo's art teacher was teaching the kids ceramics using mud. Guillermo had sculpted a turtle, which his teacher then baked in an oven to harden. Guillermo now wanted to sculpt a castle for his abuelita.
By Jose Antonio Soto6 years ago in Families
Weddings: the most overrated, obligated, and forceful rite of passage of them all.
At some point in our lives, most of us, if not all, have had to endure attending a wedding. Perhaps it was for a close friend, a family member, or even your own wedding. Maybe you were even part of the court as a bridesmaid or groomsman. Personally, I've had to endure all of the above. My siblings are both married and I was part of their courts. I've attended numerous family weddings throughout my life. My best friends have also gotten married. I was in their courts as well. It is as if weddings are as inevitable as puberty and losing your baby teeth, and equally as unfavorable.
By Jose Antonio Soto6 years ago in Marriage
Casting dark shadows over cultural brilliance
There are approximately nine to ten miles between the El Paso Museum of History, located in downtown El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. The two binational metropolitan cities, however, are strikingly intertwined. They are not only bound together geographically, historically, and culturally, but artistically as well. Their influence on each other is literally quite apparent, especially while gallivanting through the downtown streets of either side of the border.
By Jose Antonio Soto6 years ago in Photography
Prickly Elder: An Epicenter For Both Familiarity and Innovation
Isolated at the farthest western tip of Texas is a desertic and mountainous gem. With over 500 miles between it and Austin, its closest major Texan city, El Paso, Texas, has become a flamboyant hybrid of the American Dream and Mexican culture. Two miles south of El Paso is Ciudad Juárez, one of the most populous cities in Mexico. The only dividing apparatuses between the two major cities are the Rio Grande and four international bridges of entry.
By Jose Antonio Soto6 years ago in Proof
