Event Navigation
The San Antonio Book Festival, in partnership with Alamo Colleges District and Texas Public Radio, proudly presents author and Emmy-award winning journalist PAOLA RAMOS with her new book, DEFECTORS: The Rise of the Latino Far Right and What It Means for America, at Texas Public Radio. Laura Garcia, managing editor of the San Antonio Report, will moderate the conversation.
Author signing to follow with book sales provided by Nowhere Bookshop. This event is free and open to the public. No registration required.
Event Details
- 7PM Presentation
- 8PM Book sales and signing
Parking Information
- Free parking at City Tower garage (60 N. Flores)
- Select “TAKE TICKET” upon entry. Do not insert credit card.
- Bring ticket to event for validation.
“…From Miami and the Bronx to Arizona, New Mexico and the Rio Grande Valley, Paola shows us why the Latino vote is not just increasingly powerful, but increasingly in flux. It turns out the answers are there if you ask the right questions, and that is exactly what Paola does in this terrific book.”
—Rachel Maddow, Emmy-award winning host of The Rachel Maddow Show and NYT bestselling author of Prequel
ABOUT THE BOOK
Democrats have historically assumed they can rely on the Latino vote, but recent elections have called that loyalty into question. Now, journalist Paola Ramos pulls back the curtain on these voters, traveling around the country to uncover what motivates them to vote for and support issues that seem so at odds with their self-interest. From coast to coast, cities to rural towns, Defectors introduces readers to underdog GOP candidates, January 6th insurrectionists, Evangelical pastors and culture war crusaders, aiming to identify the influences at the heart of this rightward shift. Through their stories, Ramos shows how tribalism, traditionalism, and political trauma within the Latino community have converted some voters who, like many of their white counterparts, are fearful of losing their place in American society.
Cross-cultural and assiduously reported, Defectors highlights how one of America’s most powerful and misunderstood electorates may come to define the future of American politics.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Paola Ramos is an author and Emmy-Award winning journalist. She is a contributor for Telemundo News and MSNBC, where she is the host of “Field Report.” Ramos is a former correspondent for Vice News. Prior to her career in journalism, Ramos was the Deputy Director of Hispanic Media for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, a political appointee during the Obama Administration, and served in President Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. She is also a former Hauser Leader in the Center for Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School, where she received her Master’s in Public Policy, and recently joined the board of trustees of her alma mater, Barnard College. She is the author of Finding Latin-X: In Search of the Voices Redefining Latino Identity. Ramos was born in Miami to Cuban and Mexican parents, grew up in Madrid, and currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.
ABOUT THE MODERATOR
Laura Garcia is the managing editor at the San Antonio Report. A former evening news editor at The Texas Tribune, Garcia previously reported on the business of health care at the San Antonio Express-News and has bylines at the Victoria Advocate, The Roanoke Times, Corpus Christi Caller-Times and the Longview News-Journal, as well as The Ranger at San Antonio College. She graduated from Texas State University. Garcia is a past president of the San Antonio Association of Hispanic Journalists and is a regional coordinator (Texas/Oklahoma) for the Society of Professional Journalists.
