Sounds of Belonging: U.S. Spanish-language Radio and Public Advocacy (Critical Cultural Communication, 33)

**How Spanish-language radio has influenced American and Latino discourse on key current affairs issues such as citizenship and immigration.** **Winner, Book of the Year presented by the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education Honorable Mention for the 2015 Latino Studies Best Book presented by the Latin American Studies Association** The last two decades have produced continued Latino population growth, and marked shifts in both communications and immigration policy. Since the 1990s, Spanish- language radio has dethroned English-language radio stations in major cities across the United States, taking over the number one spot in Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, and New York City. Investigating the cultural and political history of U.S. Spanish-language broadcasts throughout the twentieth century, Sounds of Belonging reveals how these changes have helped Spanish-language radio secure its dominance in the major U.S. radio markets. Bringing together theories on the immigration experience with sound and radio studies, Dolores Inés Casillas documents how Latinos form listening relationships with Spanish-language radio programming. Using a vast array of sources, from print culture and industry journals to sound archives of radio programming, she reflects on institutional growth, the evolution of programming genres, and reception by the radio industry and listeners to map the trajectory of Spanish-language radio, from its grassroots origins to the current corporate-sponsored business it has become. Casillas focuses on Latinos’ use of Spanish-language radio to help navigate their immigrant experiences with U.S. institutions, for example in broadcasting discussions about immigration policies while providing anonymity for a legally vulnerable listenership. Sounds of Belonging proposes that debates of citizenship are not always formal personal appeals but a collective experience heard loudly through broadcast radio. The last two decades have produced continued Latino population growth, and marked shifts in both communications and immigration policy. Since the 1990s, Spanish- language radio has dethroned English-language radio stations in major cities across the United States, taking over the number one spot in Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, and New York City. Investigating the cultural and political history of U.S. Spanish-language broadcasts throughout the twentieth century, Sounds of Belonging reveals how these changes have helped Spanish-language radio secure its dominance in the major U.S. radio markets. Bringing together theories on the immigration experience with sound and radio studies, Dolores Inés Casillas documents how Latinos form listening relationships with Spanish-language radio programming. Using a vast array of sources, from print culture and industry journals to sound archives of radio programming, she reflects on institutional growth, the evolution of programming genres, and reception by the radio industry and listeners to map the trajectory of Spanish-language radio, from its grassroots origins to the current corporate-sponsored business it has become. Casillas focuses on Latinos' use of Spanish-language radio to help navigate their immigrant experiences with U.S. institutions, for example in broadcasting discussions about immigration policies while providing anonymity for a legally vulnerable listenership. Sounds of Belonging proposes that debates of citizenship are not always formal personal appeals but a collective experience heard loudly through broadcast radio. -- Amazon.com Acoustic allies : early Latin-themed and Spanish-language radio broadcasts, 1920s-1940s Mixed signals : developing bilingual Chicano radio, 1960s-1980s Sounds of surveillance : U.S. Spanish-language radio patrols La Migra Pun intended : listening to gendered politics on morning radio shows Desperately seeking dinero : calculating language and race within radio ratings. "Sounds of Belonging provides insightful, original research on important developments in Spanish-language radio and makes a unique contribution to the field. Casillasenriches our understanding of U.S. radio history and Latino culture."--Joy Hayes, author of Radio Nation: Communication, Popular Culture, and Nationalism in Mexico Investigating the cultural and political history of U S Spanish-language broadcasts throughout the twentieth century, this book reveals how these changes have helped Spanish-language radio secure its dominance in the major US radio markets.