Monday, November 23, 2009

Hispanics playing more tennis

Tennis, anyone? More people saying 'yes'
More Americans are playing tennis, with Hispanics and blacks showing a marked increase.
Washington Post

The U.S. Tennis Association said in a survey released last week that 30.1 million people hit the courts this year. That's a 12 percent increase from 2008 and up 25 percent from six years ago.

The survey showed participation grew in all age groups under 50 and within all ethnic groups. The biggest increases were among Hispanics, with 32 percent more playing the game. Blacks had a 19 percent increase.

There were 7.1 million newcomers to the sport, a 19.5 percent increase from last year.

Regular players, those playing between four and 20 times a year, increased 26 percent this year to 14.8 million.

The sport is doing better at retaining players, with a 6.3 percent increase from the year before. Former players are returning to the game for the third year in a row, with nearly 7 million coming back this year. . . .

Andy Roddick is withdrawing from the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals, which begins Sunday in London, because of a left knee injury suffered at last month's Shanghai Masters. The ATP said that French Open runner-up Robin Soderling will take Roddick's spot in the eight-man field. . . .

American Sam Querrey is back practicing for his return to the ATP Tour after he cut two muscles in his right forearm on Sept. 28 after sitting on a glass table that broke in Thailand.

Latino group, churches offer meals program

Latino group, churches offer meals program
By KIM PREDHAM • FREEHOLD BUREAU • November 20, 2009

FREEHOLD — The borough's hungry will have another place to turn to this winter.

Starting today, free breakfasts and lunches will be offered every Saturday through March by the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey's Monmouth County chapter and a coalition of area religious organizations.

Meals will be served from 7 a.m. to noon. The first five Saturdays, meals will be provided at the First Presbyterian Church, 118 West Main St. The program will then move to the Reformed Church of Freehold at 67 West Main St., where it will operate until March 13.

A coat drive will be run in conjunction with the program. Organizers have also lined up a slate of speakers, including a local immigration lawyer and a H&R Block representative to discuss tax issues, said the program's co-chair, Ann Bagchi.


Many of the meal recipients are immigrants who may not know where to turn for help on these matters, Bagchi said.

"We're trying to bring the information to them," she said.

Now in its sixth year, the program got a boost this year with a $2,500 donation from the Graeme Preston Foundation for Life.

Contributions are still being sought, however, as the need for the program is expected to be acute this winter given the nation's economic troubles. Volunteers are also needed to staff the program.

Donations can be sent to the I Beseech Thee Community Development Corporation, the program's main funder, at: 133 Throckmorton Street, Freehold NJ 07728.

Anyone interested in volunteering can contact program co-chair Sandra Whitehill at (732) 863-7395.

The meal distribution, known as the sanctuary program, is not the only place area residents can go for a free meal this winter. St. Peter's Episcopal Church, at 33 Throckmorton St., provides lunches every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday throughout the year. Starting in December, lunches will also be offered on Tuesdays.

Kim Predham: (732) 308-7752 or kpredham@app.com

First Hispanic to represent U.S. at Vatican

Miguel H. Díaz is first Hispanic to represent U.S. at Vatican
BY JACQUELINE CHARLES, Miami Herald

ROME -- Deep in the heart of Vatican City, Cuban-born Roman Catholic theologian Miguel H. Díaz has managed to find an Italian version of a sandwich that reminds him of home: pan con lechón.

“They're Italian pork sandwiches but very, very close to pan con lechón,'' said the Miami-raised university professor who was plucked out of academia by President Barack Obama for one of the most sought-after jobs in the U.S. diplomatic corps: U.S. ambassador to the Holy See.

“The woman has just adopted the family,'' he chuckled. “We've gone in there several times, and she's like `L'ambasciatore Americano.' She knows exactly what I like.''

Since his official arrival in this historic city last month, Díaz, 46, has been seeking out the familiar while soaking in his new surroundings, from patronizing the shop that makes his favorite sandwich to hobnobbing with Catholic bishops and cardinals to sifting through endless invitations from curious Italians wanting to meet the man chosen to carry out U.S. foreign policy at the Vatican.

“There is so much hospitality accompanied by wonderful friendship and food that it's a wonderful challenge to have,'' Díaz told The Miami Herald in his first interview with a U.S. publication since arriving in the Italian capital.

But it's not all cocktail parties. Díaz will be working to shape policy on issues where the church and Obama administration share common goals: poverty, world hunger, human trafficking, the Middle East, HIV/AIDS, terrorism and the environment.

What he won't be doing: focusing on abortion or domestic problems confronting the Catholic Church, such as gay rights and the ordination of women priests.

“I am not here as a representative of the U.S. church nor a particular group, however noble that cause may be,'' he said. “I am here as a diplomat, as a representative of the U.S. government.''

An alumnus of Miami Coral Park High and St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens, Díaz is an academic religious thinker who has made history as the first Hispanic appointed to this ambassadorship. The United States and the Holy See -- the ancient central government of the Roman Catholic Church -- established full diplomatic relations in 1984.

One of three top U.S. diplomatic posts in Italy -- there is an ambassador to Italy and another assigned to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations -- this is considered a prized appointment that often goes to someone close to the president. Díaz was among several Catholic religious advisors to Obama during his presidential campaign.

“Once an opportunity like this comes around, you can't really say ‘No' to something like this,'' he said.

Those who know Díaz said he's more than capable of fulfilling his new role.

“He's very gifted in many ways,'' said the Rev. Steven O'Hala, academic dean at St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach, where Díaz worked from 1998 to 2003. He was academic dean for two years before leaving for an associate professorship at Barry University in Miami Shores.

“He's able to relate to many different kinds of people even though he's a theologian by trade,'' O'Hala said. “He's the kind of person who can easily relate to just about anybody.''

Díaz attributes the talent to his Miami experiences and humble roots as the child of Cuban immigrants.

“Since the beginning of my nomination, I have underscored that I want to be a bridge-builder,'' said Díaz, whose parents left Cuba for Spain when he was 9 before settling in Miami, where his father worked as a waiter. “As a Cuban-American I have lived ‘life on the hyphen,' bridging cultural, language and various other social experiences.''

MORE THAN HERITAGE

Still, Díaz doesn't want to be defined solely by his heritage.

“When people say I am the new face of Catholicism, I like to say in some ways I am the face that characterizes Catholicism. I'm not sure if it's new. It's the face that is part of our culture, our diversity,'' he said.

“I am the U.S. ambassador who is Cuban-American and is proud of that tradition,'' he said, “but who is able to precisely build bridges because of the way I was raised, and the experiences I have had in a city where most of my friends came from very different backgrounds and traditions.''

That experience, coupled with his professional background and love of languages -- he speaks fluent Italian and French as well and English and Spanish and reads German and Latin -- could be useful in key areas that may shape the Obama administration's foreign policy agenda with the Vatican, including the Middle East.

“I am hoping to build a lot on President Obama's Cairo speech,'' said Díaz, referring to Obama's June speech in Egypt in which he touched on inter-faith dialogue.

Still, Díaz's appointment wasn't without controversy. While some Catholics lauded it, others questioned where he stood on abortion given the Vatican's pro-life stance and Obama's pro-choice position.

“I've always stood for a consistent ethics of life from the beginning,'' he said.

As the U.S. representative, Díaz said he plans to be a set of eyes and ears on the litany of issues on which the church and the administration agree.

“The fact that we have the opportunity to engage the Holy See and the fact that the Holy See has such extensive relations worldwide gives us an opportunity to really serve as a listening post,'' he said, sitting in his spacious second-floor office overlooking the manicured grounds of the tiny embassy.

Meanwhile, he continues to adjust to life in Rome. He's prioritizing his agenda after co-hosting a conference with the Holy See on HIV/AIDS and getting to know his staff, which includes fellow Cuban American, Deputy Chief of Mission Julieta Valls Noyes.

His wife, Marian, who also has a doctorate in theology, and their four children, ages 5 to 15, are settling in, he said.

ON THE HOMERFRONT

In Miami-Dade's Westchester neighborhood, his parents, Félix and Silvia Díaz, laud their son's accomplishment. The family, including brother Jorge, traveled to Washington for the swearing-in ceremony, and his dad went to Rome to see him present his credentials to the Pope.

“It is a great honor for us,'' said Silvia, 73.

When she and her husband left Cuba, she said, they had just one goal: to work hard to give their children an education. Her baby Miguel, she said, has more than fulfilled their expectations.

“He was always an excellent student,'' she said. “He has a good heart. He's noble.''

Hispanic interest in NASCAR grows

Montoya the man of the Miami moment
By David Newton, ESPN, November 20, 2009

MIAMI -- The media and fans couldn't get enough of Juan Pablo Montoya on Thursday night as he and his wife made their way up the red carpet for their annual fundraiser gala. It was the same way earlier in the day at a news conference in nearby Coral Gables.

The circus around him was just as big Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the scene of Sunday's Sprint Cup finale.

The weekend might belong to Jimmie Johnson, who's on the verge of an unprecedented fourth straight championship.

The city belongs to Montoya.

"Well, it's actually a nightmare," the driver of the No. 42 for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing said with a smile. "It is. It's so many people. Everybody wants tickets. Everybody needs this. Everybody is your best friend.

"But in the same token, it's good to have that support and people paying attention."

NASCAR's first Colombian star has an iconic following here like nowhere outside of his native country. That he makes this his home, living on three floors of a luxurious high-rise near the Viceroy Icon at Brickell Miami where he held the gala, is a factor.

But it goes way beyond that. Montoya has touched a culture in the Hispanic community that NASCAR was unable to tap into before his arrival three years ago.

Nowhere is it seen more than Miami, where 62.4 percent of Miami-Dade County is of Hispanic or Latin origin.

"The closer you get to the equator, the more popular he gets," Ryan Newman said.

To fully appreciate Montoya's presence in South Florida, one must attend his gala, which has raised more than $1.5 million to benefit social needs in Colombia.

Let's just say it wasn't your typical NASCAR experience or crowd, although a lot of NASCAR fans and stars -- Johnson and Jeff Gordon, to name a few -- attended.

From a performance by Latin Grammy Award winner Jorge Celedon to a taped video message from megastar Shakira to a fashion show with bikini-clad, stiletto-stomping models to ads for Giorgio Armani, you knew you were a long way from Daytona Beach.

"Going to his gala opens your eyes to his life outside of racing," Montoya crew chief Brian Pattie said. "It's definitely a different atmosphere, whether you're at his house, on his boat or here."

It definitely was a long way from the "Redneck Riviera" in Talladega, Ala., or the red-dye hot-dog-eating crowd at Martinsville, Va.

"No question," said Felix Sabates, the minority owner at EGR. "He brings a higher class of fans than any other driver in NASCAR. I don't say that to be disrespectful. He brings the Giorgio Armani, the boutique type of fans, as well as the guy down in the gutter digging ditches.

"He brings a mixture I don't think any other driver out there does. Just look at [the gala] and all the millionaires. That was not your typical NASCAR crowd."

It definitely wasn't. After waiting more than an hour for a fellow scribe's rental car, I jokingly asked the valet whether he could find the only Chrysler PT Cruiser among all the BMWs, Mercedes-Benzes and Lexuses.

"There is an atmosphere you won't see at parties like that anywhere else on the circuit," Homestead-Miami Speedway president Curtis Gray said. "It's a whole South Beach atmosphere that this market brings."

Gray has done all he can to capitalize on Montoya's popularity. The track offered two ticket packages that included $42 donations to the driver's charity foundation. More than 2,400 were sold.

"It's making Homestead-Miami Speedway the gateway to international marketing for NASCAR," Gray said.

One could argue that Montoya, through his own popularity, has done more for NASCAR's diversity program than anything the governing body has accomplished on its own.

"Ultimately, we get graded on who makes it to the national divisions and then from there that drivers of diverse nature succeed," NASCAR chairman Brian France said. "Having Juan Pablo have the success he's had this year is very helpful to that.

"No question he has had an affinity with the Hispanic fan base."

Montoya's crew got a taste of that this past week. The former Formula One star flew them down Tuesday to spend time on his boat and enjoy the delicacies of Miami that you find few other places in the world.

"It's like being on the red carpet when you go to Hollywood," said Mike "Mongo" Bodick, a mechanic on the No. 42. "You get treated like royalty.

"He's not well-known in other parts of the country. Here, he really is an icon."

That'll be most evident when Montoya walks down pit road Sunday. There'll be more people around his car than perhaps Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s. There'll be more people waving Colombian flags in the stands than you'll see at all the other tracks combined.

"There's a lot of [Spanish-]speaking people," Bodick said. "You hear it. You know what they're talking about. You know you're being watched."

Montoya's popularity has risen to a new level because of his success this season. His five top-10s in the Chase equal as many as he had in his first two full seasons combined. His 18 top-10s are six times more than he had a year ago.

His sixth-place position in the points is 19 spots higher than it was a year ago, and it could have been much better without a wreck at Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte five weeks ago.

Before that race, Montoya had four straight finishes of fourth or better. He was third in points, only 58 behind Johnson. He was a serious contender for the championship.

"I don't think anybody here would go and say when we started in Daytona the 42 car is going to make the Chase," Montoya said. "We proved everybody wrong. There's a lot of potential on the team to get better. We've got to exploit it."

Beyond diversity and stiletto heels and fashion shows and Latin stars, that is why Montoya is in NASCAR.

"I'm not racing NASCAR to create Hispanic awareness about it, you know," said Montoya, who made his Cup debut here in 2006 with a wreck and 34th-place finish. "I race NASCAR because I want to kick everybody's butt."

And one day, maybe the city and the championship weekend will belong to Montoya.

David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at dnewtonespn@aol.com.

"Wall of Honor" to be unveiled

“Wall of Honor” to be unveiled
The Latino Journal E-News, Vol. 2, Issue 5

The Obregon CMH Foundation invites you to the unveiling of the “Wall of Honor” on Saturday, December 5, 2009 @ 11am PST at El Pueblo’s Father Serra Park in Los Angeles, CA.

Please feel free to share this invite with your individual networks!

For any additional questions on event sponsorship or to RSVP, please contact vramirez@rabengroup.com or (213) 236-3751.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Hispanics use social networks for support

This isn't just news, it's Hollywood.
By Katie Rogers, McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — As her fellow college graduates busy themselves with spamming every available e-mail inbox with resumes, 25-year-old Lizbeth Mateo keeps to the same Los Angeles coffee shop she's worked in for the past five years.

A native of Mexico and an undocumented immigrant who's lived in the U.S. for more than a decade, Mateo earned a bachelor's degree last year from California State University, Northridge. Though she said she'd like to find a job that would allow her to give back in some way to the low-income community where she grew up, Mateo's immigration status has put a cap on what she's able to achieve.

One could say that she's still waiting for a dream. "You're not allowed to work where you grow up or have a job that's related to your field," Mateo said of her undocumented status.

It's been just more than two years since the last version of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act failed to pass the Senate. Reintroduced in both chambers of Congress in March, the most recent incarnation of the DREAM Act would provide a path toward legal U.S. residency for students such as Mateo.

To mobilize supporters, Mateo and others in her situation have taken to the Internet's social media to spread their message. Using the Web to invite other supporters into the fray, undocumented bloggers and Tweeters across the country have formed a coalition called United We Dream. The group rolled out the countrywide "Back to School DREAM Act Day of Action" demonstration in September. Floridians hosted 13 demonstrations across the state in September, half of them in Miami.

Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog group, updates a "Corruption Chronicles" blog that tracks the progress of undocumented immigrants through higher education. He said that the DREAM Act threatened to draw even more immigrants to the United States illegally than immigrations bills that offered amnesty.

Matias Ramos, 23, a recent University of California, Los Angeles, graduate and Washington resident, said that undocumented people of his generation were becoming less afraid to speak out against what they saw as injustice. On the Web, as he is in person, Ramos is an unafraid activist, maintaining a blog on the topic and reaching out to his Twitter following to spread news.

Ramos and others hope that policy work on the DREAM Act will begin in earnest next year, either as part of more comprehensive immigration revisions or as a standalone bill.

"I think a lot of us are coming together and say enough is enough," said Ramos, who's a native of Argentina. "We're ready to lead this debate and say, 'This is what the undocumented population is about and what it's not.' "

Undocumented and born abroad, Mateo and Ramos defeated steep odds for their degrees. As a group, Latinos historically trail their classmates of other races, according to Pew Hispanic Center data, and being foreign-born widens the gap.

Though not necessarily undocumented, only 29 percent of young, foreign-born Latinos interviewed in Pew's 2009 National Survey of Latinos planned to pursue bachelor's degrees. That's compared with 60 percent of those who are native-born. After age 18, only one-fifth of foreign-born young adults surveyed remained enrolled in school, representing a presence that's half that of native-born enrollees.

Cinthya Alvares, an undocumented 22-year-old, hasn't been able to find time to get her GED after nearly a decade in the U.S. Smuggled with her parents by human traffickers from Honduras when she was a teen, Alvares is making her third attempt at earning a GED since she dropped out of high school at 17. She said she saw no way out of her two jobs, one at a cleaning service and the other at a restaurant.

Conservative groups such as Judicial Watch protest the progress of undocumented immigrants throughout the higher education system.

"There are people who are waiting to get into this country because they've patiently abided the law," Fitton said, "and those who cheat get these proposed benefits. Why would someone who is not a citizen be able to get resources that might otherwise be devoted to helping citizens?"

Qalim Cromer thinks there should be a better path. Cromer teaches a GED class at the Latin American Youth Center in Washington and works with first-generation and undocumented students.

He calls his work "plugging the dam," not fixing the problem of helping the undocumented access higher education but biding time until immigration legislation proceeds.

Unlike Ramos or Mateo, Alvares sees no path to college. If she thinks too long about her limitations, she panics. She doesn't dream; instead, she tells of the deportation nightmares that plague her.

"What if this is all I can do?" she asks Cromer in perfect English. "This is the max I can move on without papers."

(The Medill News Service is a Washington program of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Rogers, a graduate student in journalism from Elkhart, Ind., covers business and education.)

Latinos look to late night

Lopez adds Latino hue to late-night
Randy Cordova - The Arizona Republic, Nov. 9, 2009

George Lopez has proved himself to be a concert headliner. The Richard Pryor disciple is equally popular on TV with his self-titled sitcom ending a healthy six-season run two years ago.

His next challenge? The 48-year-old comic is launching "Lopez Tonight," a late-night talk show that takes some inspiration from early '90s fave "The Arsenio Hall Show." During a recent phone call, Lopez promised a party atmosphere and a possible guest star from the U.S. Supreme Court on his show, which premieres tonight.

Question: You mention Arsenio Hall in a lot of the show's publicity. Is that the kind of feeling you want the show to have?

Answer: It will have that kind of vibe. Because of viral (marketing) - the MySpace, the Facebook, Twitter - there is more diversity. Arsenio was very Black and White. Now, you've thrown in Asian, Middle Eastern, Latino. White and Black are really blending together well with Latino.

Q: You seem to be really using viral marketing to promote the show.

A: Look at what Barack Obama did with it, and what John McCain didn't do with it. Since I donated to Obama, as soon as he was done speaking, I'd get a message from him on the BlackBerry. It's a great way to get the message out. It's the one thing everyone has now: It's either on them, on their desk or in their house. You have your phone on even before your TV is on.

Q: It seems vital if you're trying to reach a young audience.

A: Young people aren't watching the news. I think I can offer them a little bit more color, high energy, a faster pace than what's on TV. Very much like Arsenio did. People that got it watched it, and people that really didn't get it watched it to see what everybody else was talking about.

Q: Arsenio is such an influence. Will you have him as a guest?

A: I hope so. I've talked to him. I've known him for 20 years. A couple of months back, all the ladies in church were telling him about how nice I was talking about him.

Q: You played at the White House recently. Did you ask Obama to guest?

A: I did. I asked him and Michelle and (Supreme Court Justice) Sonia Sotomayor. I think I'd be the most excited if Sotomayor did it, because she speaks to so few people.

Q: What do you think of the other talk-show hosts?

A: I love Jimmy (Fallon). I've been on his show, and he's great. Craig Ferguson is making some serious headway. And I've always been a fan of David Letterman. He's the king.

Q: Are you worried about competing?

A: Well, I start at 11, which is good because it's not the same time as Letterman.

Q: Growing up, you didn't see a lot of Hispanics on TV. Do you feel pressure now being so visible and such a role model?

A: I appreciate that (people) want someone to say, "We belong here, too." Kids want to aspire to be one of their own. All my idols were African-American. All the baseball players I liked were Black, and the comedian I liked was Black. Now, if you're a 10-year-old kid, you can say, "Hey, I want to be George Lopez," or Mario Lopez or Manny Ramirez or Eva Longoria. You can say, "Hey, I want to win an Oscar like Penélope Cruz."

Q: Was it difficult coming up in the business when Hispanics weren't so visible?

A: Look at the way I look. I'm not passable. If I looked like Mario Lopez, I don't know if I would have worked as hard. With beauty, the door opens a little bit wider. I didn't have that luxury. I had to be funny and self-deprecating (laughing). It took me forever.

Reach the reporter at randy.cordova@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8849.

Latinos win, Dobbs out!

Lou Dobbs resigns from CNN
L.A. Times, November 11, 2009

CNN host Lou Dobbs resigned from the network today, saying that he has been urged by political and business leaders to leave his television platform to “engage in constructive problem-solving” on national issues. He said today's show was his last.

“Over the past six months, it’s become increasingly clear that strong winds of change have begun buffetting this country and affecting all of us,” Dobbs said, adding that he’s considering pursuing a number of options.

“As for the important work of restoring inspiration to our great free society and our market economy, I will strive to be a leader in that national conversation,” he said.

Dobbs’ break with CNN comes after he worked at the network for more than a quarter century, starting with its inception in 1980, often clashing with network executives in the process. While he originally led the network’s business coverage, in recent years Dobbs developed a populist persona that has increasingly been out of step with the network’s emphasis on neutral reporting. He has railed about the country’s immigration policy and used his show to raise questions about the validity of President Obama’s birth certificate.

Several months ago, CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein discussed with Dobbs tamping down the opinion on his show, something he agreed to do. But his presence on CNN continued to be a source of friction within the network. Liberal groups have been calling for CNN to let him go and on Wednesday celebrated his resignation.

“Our contention all along was that Lou Dobbs – who has a long record of spreading lies and conspiracy theories about immigrants and Latinos – does not belong on the ‘most trusted name in news,’ ” said Roberto Lovato, co-founder of Presente.org, a national online advocacy organization coordinating BastaDobbs.com, a Latino-led coalition. “We are thrilled that Dobbs no longer has this legitimate platform from which to incite fear and hate.”

[Updated]: CNN President Jon Klein issued the following statement this evening: "Lou Dobbs is a valued founding member of the CNN family. For decades, Lou fearlessly and tirlessly pursued some of the most important and complex stories of our time, often well ahead of the pack. All of us will miss his appetite for big ideas, the megawatt smile and larger than life presence he brought to our newsroom, and we're grateful to have known and worked with him over the years. With charactertistic forthrightness, Lou has now decided to carry the banner of advocacy journalism elsewhere. We respect his decision and wish him, Debi, and his family the very best."

— Matea Gold