Latino social network site promotes community
By Nilki Benitez, Contributing Writer
At Qoobole!, the Latino community now has an online home where they can come together to share their stories, ideas, and most importantly, their spirit of community involvement.
Bay Area’s Frank Flores co-founded the Latino social network Qoobole! in 2009 to unite Latinos in the spirit of community involvement and support. Originally from El Salvador, Flores wanted to get involved with the Bay Area community, but he found it hard to track down all the different organizations and their events. He saw the need for a dedicated space where Latinos could come together and find all the resources they needed to become involved with their community.
Many Latino social networking sites exist online, but Qoobole! is one of the few that seamlessly merges the fun and easy-going platform of a social networking site with the serious business of creating a positive impact in our communities. Its focus revolves around building the community, supporting the younger generation through the networking possibilities, and ad revenues. In addition, Qoobole! promotes mentorship programs that connect successful Latino community leaders and business owners with younger generations, providing a system of support while simultaneously instilling a culture of giving back in our future leaders.
By providing a platform where community members, businesses and organizations can learn about each other, Qoobole! hopes to facilitate organic partnerships between these entities, and in doing so, create opportunities that support economically disadvantaged youth with their aspirations of higher education. An example of this was Qoobole!’s partnership with Pro Wrestling Revolution to support their fund-raising event for San Francisco’s John O’Connell High School in January which raised funds for after-school academics and sports in hopes of helping keep youth off the streets and continuing their education.
Qoobole! also hopes to reach and inspire youth through the arts by supporting various performing arts and cultural events in the community. In March, Qoobole! partnered with The Chavez Family Vision Foundation and Si Se Puede! Learning Center in Hollister, CA to sponsor a student field trip to the musical drama “Let the Eagle Fly-The Story of Cesar E. Chavez”. Forty students and ten adults from a low-income housing unit operated by the UFW were able to attend this inspiring musical about Cesar Chavez and the grape boycott.
Currently, Qoobole!’s main focus is on increasing their site’s visibility in the Latino community as well as forming strategic partnerships with community leaders.
Qoobole!’s interactive social networking site allows users to view events by location or date and includes content videos, and much more.
We recently spoke with Qoobole! co-founder Frank Flores:
Q: What is Qoobole!'s mission statement?
A: To connect the Latino community to leaders, organizations, programs and causes by way of events and social tools.
Q: Why did you create Qoobole!?
A: I created Qoobole! because I was having trouble finding places where I could volunteer and connect with my community. I also wanted to reach out to leaders who are not exposed to the youth and to the community at large about their efforts.
Q: What is your vision for Qoobole?
A: My vision for Qoobole! is to create a down to earth social network that truly connected to its people no matter where they are. It could be the Bronx, the Mission, Little Habana or Little Mexico in California - it doesn't matter no matter what, we are Latinos and if we can connect on large scales, we can move mountains. Qoobole! wants to provide the platform for positive causes, connections and community involvement.
Q: There are many other Latino social networks out there-how is Qoobole different?
A: I love meeting new people, love positive movements and really love connecting people. Qoobole! has that essence and while we Latinos like to also have fun, Qoobole! is about real causes, action and motion to drive help to those people and organizations who need it.
Q: What sets Qoobole! apart?
A: Our personable approach sets us apart from the rest. I talk to everyone one of my members. I want to know what they want, what they need, and how I can help them in their efforts.
Q: Why is Qoobole! important?
A: It’s important because social networks today have become one too many, and somehow diluted to that powerful essence of moving mountains. Social networks are a virtual way for us to communicate and if we can help improve our daily real lives by using virtual social media tools, this is where Qoobole! wants to be very instrumental.
Q: What areas/departments will Qoobole! focus on?
A: Qoobole! will focus in the areas of local community, reaching out to local organizations that help low income students reach college. We also want to reach out to organizations that want to reach the Latino community though performing arts as I feel very strongly about and think that youth need to be exposed to these things as it will be another way for them to learn their history that they won't otherwise learn in schools, at least spark an interest. Qoobole! also wants to engage with local community leaders so that they can become mentors to our youth in our local communities and therefore inspire future leaders in our communities.
Q: Who is your audience?
A: Our audience is all Latinos who are interested in local community, who participate in local organizations, are involved in one or more non-profits, run their own businesses and still find time for friends and family. Our audience also enjoys music, sports, gossip and politics.
Q: Who makes up Qoobole!?
A: Frank Flores, Co-Founder and Director of Business Development and Community volunteer and advisor. I run the day-to-day operations of the site's exposure on the Internet and off-line. I am also the Director of business Development as my job is also to interest potential partnerships with other non-competing companies.
Nathaniel Burnett, Co-Founder and Lead Programmer who is the author of the design of Qoobole!. Nathaniel is also involved in the community volunteering and has a big interest in the Latino community. He runs the daily technical operations of Qoobole!'s backend.
Mary McKinnon, Community Manager. Mary is our community manager and marketing and sales contact. She is in charge of answering ad sales and also performs research about the industry that Qoobole! is a part of and how we can improve.
Jorge Chamorro, Events Manager. Jorge is our events manager. In the near future, Qoobole! wants to reach businesses to gather for socials where coming together will mean helping out causes which will benefit the Latino community.
Nilki Benitez is an independent writer. Follow her blog at http://nilkibenitez.blogspot.com/
Showing posts with label Latino Life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Latino Life. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Young Hispanics reshaping Chicago
Nuevo Chicago: How young Hispanics are reshaping the region
BY KARA SPAK AND DAVE NEWBART, Chicago Sun-Times, February 19, 2010
The wedding dress. The cake. The church. The props for la hora loca.
Alex Bellorin is planning a Chicago wedding that is part American, part Venezuelan and part Chinese in honor of her groom, Calvin Wong.
Her wedding would be incomplete without la hora loca, the Venezuelan crazy hour, she said.
"For one full hour, they mix all these Venezuelan songs, and people bring out bags of funny glasses, funny hats, noisemakers and horns and just go crazy," she said.
Bellorin, a 25-year-old Spanish teacher at Huntley High School, was born in the United States, the daughter of Venezuelan immigrants. She graduated from Northern Illinois University and lives in Schaumburg.
"I would say I'm Venezuelan, but I was born here, in the U.S.," she said. "I do consider myself American, but the way I was brought up, the culture, I feel a close connection to [Venezuela]."
She's not alone. In high school cafeterias, college dorms, Loop offices and River North nightclubs, a new generation of Latinos is rising, pushing toward success and often seamlessly weaving together elements of their heritage into the mainstream culture.
Overwhelmingly U.S. born, bilingual and optimistic about the future -- though lagging in education levels and facing a stubborn teen pregnancy rate -- Latinos are the largest and youngest minority group in the United States, according to a recently released report.
A minority ethnic group has never before made up such a large share of the youngest Americans. More than two-thirds of this group claim Mexican ancestry, according to the Pew Hispanic Center's report, "Between Two Worlds: How Young Latinos Come of Age in America."
About 7.5 million people between the ages of 16 and 25 -- 18 percent of all young adults in the United States -- are Latino. More than 320,000 young adults in Illinois are Hispanic, the fifth-largest concentration in the country.
The growing number of Latino youth has big implications for the future, experts said.
"By 2050, we project the Hispanic population overall will make up 30 percent of the U.S. population,'' said Mark Lopez, the Pew Hispanic Center's associate director and report co-author. "There is going to be a huge impact, and it's largely driven by U.S.-born Hispanics.''
Indeed, the report notes that two-thirds of young Latinos in the United States are natives. Many are children of immigrants who came to the United States since 1965, considered the third "great wave'' of immigration in the country's history.
"It's our baby boom,'' said Allert Brown-Gort, associate director for Latino Studies at Notre Dame.
Brown-Gort, co-author of an earlier report called "The State of Latino Chicago,'' pointed to the Chicago Public Schools, where more than 40 percent of students are Hispanic.
"When these kids come to maturity it's going to change the game, and we are not sure how,'' Brown-Gort said. "Where are we going to find ourselves when the work force goes from one in eight Latinos to one in four or one in three? If we look at the educational outcomes we have today, it's a little worrisome.''
While the Pew national survey of 1,240 Latinos 16 to 25 years old found the group valued career achievement, hard work and education, Latinos in this age group are less likely to be enrolled in high school or college and more likely to become teen parents than any other demographic.
The education gap is worse for Latino men, a recent study by the American Council on Education found. While Hispanic women and other groups have increased their bachelor's degree attainment rate, the rate for males has remained stable at 10 percent, the lowest of any group.
DePaul sophomore Quintilliano Rios, 20, who emigrated from Mexico City when he was 9, says Latino men are less likely to start or finish college because of family pressure to work and gang activity.
Rios, who graduated with straight A's from Thomas Kelly High School in Brighton Park, said his mom would come home after a long shift in a factory and remind him to stay in school. Now that he is in college, he is often the only Latino man in his classes.
"Guys don't have a lot of education traditionally," he said. "Guys would just start working.''
Coupled with the fact that Hispanic women have the highest rate of teen pregnancy of any group, both males and females end up having trouble staying in school.
"There are many things that have gotten in the way,'' the Pew Hispanic Center's Lopez said. When the center asked why Hispanics left school, "the top reason is they need to support their families. Another reason is they can't afford to go to school.''
A lack of money was why Dalmina Arias, a senior at Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville and daughter of Mexican immigrants, said her father was unable to finish college in Mexico. And it's why he now pushes her to do well in high school.
"He tells me to get good grades, and you'll get a scholarship and that means money," Arias, 17, said. "He always tells me the sky is the limit."
But as the first one in her family headed to college, she has spent hours wading through confusing paperwork to get into school and find a way to pay for it.
"I did the [federal financial aid form] by myself, I did the college applications by myself," she said. "It was really hard, and I felt really, really pressured."
Having to go it on their own is all too common, Notre Dame's Brown-Gort said.
"We have an awful lot of kids that are going to college, but they are the first in their families to do so,'' he said. "They don't have any experience in going to college, and a lot of them don't finish.''
Despite the bleak statistics, 89 percent of young Latinos reported in the 2009 National Survey of Latinos recognize an education is necessary to get ahead.
Eberto Mora, who has worked at Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville for 13 years, said he has seen a sea change in the attitudes of Latino students, who now make up about 40 percent of the student body at his school.
Mora, an associate principal, said the numbers of Hispanic students continues to increase, but those seeking English as a Second Language classes are declining.
"They are being pushed from home" to succeed academically, he said. "Just because mom and dad didn't do it doesn't mean you can't. We are becoming more of an established community and not just an immigrant community."
At Farragut Career Academy in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood, faculty pushed 17-year-old senior Angel Reyes to join Escalera, a program through the Instituto de Progreso Latino to guide young Latinos through the college process.
Reyes credits his family for keeping him on the college track, though they did not go.
"Ever since I was a little kid, they would tell me to go to school," he said.
Living with his grandfather, who is in his 60s and continues to work as a landscaper, is also motivating, he said.
"It makes me want to get ahead and go to college and make life easier for my kids," he said. "If [my grandfather] is still around, I would like to make it easier for him, not make him work."
Latinos who make it through college and into the professional world are finding that their bilingual skills and easy ability to move between two cultures are increasingly sought-after workplace assets. And young Latinos are optimistic that their lot is going to improve: About 95 percent say they are "very'' or "mostly'' satisfied with their lives, while 72 percent expect to be better off financially than their parents.
"We have a lot of opportunities out here, being Mexican and American," said Monica Rodriguez, an 18-year-old American-born senior at Dundee-Crown High School. "We speak Spanish and English. We should try our hardest to finish high school, go to college and become something."
Businesses are taking note of this growing customer base.
"What is going on is an uprising of Latinos," said Vanessa Quintana, 22, a marketing major at Columbia College who has interned for several businesses geared toward Hispanics. "The Latino marketing segment is going to be a huge niche market."
Spanish teacher Bellorin, who has followed in the steps of her professionally successful parents, knows she is helping all of her Huntley High School students get ahead by teaching them Spanish.
"I'm preparing these kids for a more global environment," she said. "It's exposing kids to these different cultures."
BY KARA SPAK AND DAVE NEWBART, Chicago Sun-Times, February 19, 2010
The wedding dress. The cake. The church. The props for la hora loca.
Alex Bellorin is planning a Chicago wedding that is part American, part Venezuelan and part Chinese in honor of her groom, Calvin Wong.
Her wedding would be incomplete without la hora loca, the Venezuelan crazy hour, she said.
"For one full hour, they mix all these Venezuelan songs, and people bring out bags of funny glasses, funny hats, noisemakers and horns and just go crazy," she said.
Bellorin, a 25-year-old Spanish teacher at Huntley High School, was born in the United States, the daughter of Venezuelan immigrants. She graduated from Northern Illinois University and lives in Schaumburg.
"I would say I'm Venezuelan, but I was born here, in the U.S.," she said. "I do consider myself American, but the way I was brought up, the culture, I feel a close connection to [Venezuela]."
She's not alone. In high school cafeterias, college dorms, Loop offices and River North nightclubs, a new generation of Latinos is rising, pushing toward success and often seamlessly weaving together elements of their heritage into the mainstream culture.
Overwhelmingly U.S. born, bilingual and optimistic about the future -- though lagging in education levels and facing a stubborn teen pregnancy rate -- Latinos are the largest and youngest minority group in the United States, according to a recently released report.
A minority ethnic group has never before made up such a large share of the youngest Americans. More than two-thirds of this group claim Mexican ancestry, according to the Pew Hispanic Center's report, "Between Two Worlds: How Young Latinos Come of Age in America."
About 7.5 million people between the ages of 16 and 25 -- 18 percent of all young adults in the United States -- are Latino. More than 320,000 young adults in Illinois are Hispanic, the fifth-largest concentration in the country.
The growing number of Latino youth has big implications for the future, experts said.
"By 2050, we project the Hispanic population overall will make up 30 percent of the U.S. population,'' said Mark Lopez, the Pew Hispanic Center's associate director and report co-author. "There is going to be a huge impact, and it's largely driven by U.S.-born Hispanics.''
Indeed, the report notes that two-thirds of young Latinos in the United States are natives. Many are children of immigrants who came to the United States since 1965, considered the third "great wave'' of immigration in the country's history.
"It's our baby boom,'' said Allert Brown-Gort, associate director for Latino Studies at Notre Dame.
Brown-Gort, co-author of an earlier report called "The State of Latino Chicago,'' pointed to the Chicago Public Schools, where more than 40 percent of students are Hispanic.
"When these kids come to maturity it's going to change the game, and we are not sure how,'' Brown-Gort said. "Where are we going to find ourselves when the work force goes from one in eight Latinos to one in four or one in three? If we look at the educational outcomes we have today, it's a little worrisome.''
While the Pew national survey of 1,240 Latinos 16 to 25 years old found the group valued career achievement, hard work and education, Latinos in this age group are less likely to be enrolled in high school or college and more likely to become teen parents than any other demographic.
The education gap is worse for Latino men, a recent study by the American Council on Education found. While Hispanic women and other groups have increased their bachelor's degree attainment rate, the rate for males has remained stable at 10 percent, the lowest of any group.
DePaul sophomore Quintilliano Rios, 20, who emigrated from Mexico City when he was 9, says Latino men are less likely to start or finish college because of family pressure to work and gang activity.
Rios, who graduated with straight A's from Thomas Kelly High School in Brighton Park, said his mom would come home after a long shift in a factory and remind him to stay in school. Now that he is in college, he is often the only Latino man in his classes.
"Guys don't have a lot of education traditionally," he said. "Guys would just start working.''
Coupled with the fact that Hispanic women have the highest rate of teen pregnancy of any group, both males and females end up having trouble staying in school.
"There are many things that have gotten in the way,'' the Pew Hispanic Center's Lopez said. When the center asked why Hispanics left school, "the top reason is they need to support their families. Another reason is they can't afford to go to school.''
A lack of money was why Dalmina Arias, a senior at Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville and daughter of Mexican immigrants, said her father was unable to finish college in Mexico. And it's why he now pushes her to do well in high school.
"He tells me to get good grades, and you'll get a scholarship and that means money," Arias, 17, said. "He always tells me the sky is the limit."
But as the first one in her family headed to college, she has spent hours wading through confusing paperwork to get into school and find a way to pay for it.
"I did the [federal financial aid form] by myself, I did the college applications by myself," she said. "It was really hard, and I felt really, really pressured."
Having to go it on their own is all too common, Notre Dame's Brown-Gort said.
"We have an awful lot of kids that are going to college, but they are the first in their families to do so,'' he said. "They don't have any experience in going to college, and a lot of them don't finish.''
Despite the bleak statistics, 89 percent of young Latinos reported in the 2009 National Survey of Latinos recognize an education is necessary to get ahead.
Eberto Mora, who has worked at Dundee-Crown High School in Carpentersville for 13 years, said he has seen a sea change in the attitudes of Latino students, who now make up about 40 percent of the student body at his school.
Mora, an associate principal, said the numbers of Hispanic students continues to increase, but those seeking English as a Second Language classes are declining.
"They are being pushed from home" to succeed academically, he said. "Just because mom and dad didn't do it doesn't mean you can't. We are becoming more of an established community and not just an immigrant community."
At Farragut Career Academy in Chicago's Little Village neighborhood, faculty pushed 17-year-old senior Angel Reyes to join Escalera, a program through the Instituto de Progreso Latino to guide young Latinos through the college process.
Reyes credits his family for keeping him on the college track, though they did not go.
"Ever since I was a little kid, they would tell me to go to school," he said.
Living with his grandfather, who is in his 60s and continues to work as a landscaper, is also motivating, he said.
"It makes me want to get ahead and go to college and make life easier for my kids," he said. "If [my grandfather] is still around, I would like to make it easier for him, not make him work."
Latinos who make it through college and into the professional world are finding that their bilingual skills and easy ability to move between two cultures are increasingly sought-after workplace assets. And young Latinos are optimistic that their lot is going to improve: About 95 percent say they are "very'' or "mostly'' satisfied with their lives, while 72 percent expect to be better off financially than their parents.
"We have a lot of opportunities out here, being Mexican and American," said Monica Rodriguez, an 18-year-old American-born senior at Dundee-Crown High School. "We speak Spanish and English. We should try our hardest to finish high school, go to college and become something."
Businesses are taking note of this growing customer base.
"What is going on is an uprising of Latinos," said Vanessa Quintana, 22, a marketing major at Columbia College who has interned for several businesses geared toward Hispanics. "The Latino marketing segment is going to be a huge niche market."
Spanish teacher Bellorin, who has followed in the steps of her professionally successful parents, knows she is helping all of her Huntley High School students get ahead by teaching them Spanish.
"I'm preparing these kids for a more global environment," she said. "It's exposing kids to these different cultures."
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Hispanic student stands as role model
Martinez stands as Hispanic role model
By Andy Marso • amarso@stcloudtimes.com • January 31, 2010
Like many high school wrestling coaches, Melrose's Vaughn Glasener is struggling to keep his numbers up.
Apparently grueling practices and restricted diets aren't all that appealing to the children of the most obese, television-loving nation on Earth. Go figure.
Glasener had 26 wrestlers last year and only one was a senior.
But this year, only half that many showed up.
"We've kind of scratched our heads a little bit," Glasener said. "We had a couple injuries and we had one kid move away, so that's three or four of them.
"But with the others, I don't know. It was kids who had kind of paid their dues (that didn't come back), too."
That being the case, Glasener would like to tap into a new demographic with the help of a role model that's hard to miss.
He's hoping junior heavyweight Donaldo Martinez, the son of Mexican immigrants, can help inspire more of the town's Hispanics to wrestle.
Remember the old "Be like Mike" Gatorade commercials featuring Michael Jordan?
Consider this a "Sea como Donaldo" campaign.
"He's been very positive for our team," Glasener said. "We're trying to get more Latino kids involved in extracurriculars and his family's been really supportive, which is great."
Martinez' parents both work at the Jennie-O plant in Melrose, but do their best to get to his meets. It's been harder this season, as apparently turkey is one sector of the economy untouched by the recession.
"One of the saddest things is that his parents have probably only been able to see him wrestle three or four times this year," Glasener said.
Hispanics made up 12 percent of Melrose's population in the 2000 census — a number that will likely be higher in this year's count. And Martinez seems like the right guy to get them interested in wrestling.
He went 26-12 last year and finished fourth at sections. He started this year 18-2, establishing himself as one of Central Minnesota's best 285-pounders.
He's willing to help recruit, too. He brought in his cousin Diego Hernandez, a 140-pounder who has stuck with the sport for three years even though he acknowledges practices aren't a romp through a field of daisies.
"(I'm) very tired after all the conditioning and live wrestling and everything," Hernandez said. "(Cutting) weight is kind of hard too. I like to eat a lot."
Being a heavyweight, Martinez doesn't have to worry about that nearly as much.
"I can pretty much eat what I want," he said with a grin that suggests he's fully aware of how much that infuriates his teammates.
That being said, Martinez, who also plays football and is a thrower for the track team, admits that conditioning might be his biggest weakness.
He's not a cut, intimidating heavyweight, but that sometimes works to his advantage because opponents tend to underestimate him. All of a sudden, he's on them much quicker than they thought possible.
"He's a little bit more than what you think he is when you first see him," Glasener said. "He has really good feet for a 285-pound kid. You can tell he's played some soccer."
Aside from conditioning, Glasener said he'd like to see Martinez work on his killer instinct. Physically he's like a dancing bear on the mat, but his personality tends more toward teddy bear.
He's shown flashes of no-mercy intensity, though. His propensity for pulling off clinching wins in tight duals without a hint of nerves has earned him the nickname "Iceman" and he pinned one opponent this year in nine seconds.
"Right off the whistle I saw what he looked like and in my mind planned out what I was going to do," Martinez said. "Pretty much just overpowered him."
Perhaps Martinez' sense of urgency is growing as he gets closer to the day when college coaches can start recruiting him.
He would be the first in his immediate family to go to college and said he feels some pressure to make sure it happens. His parents have carved out a good life for him and his brother by working long shifts at the plant, but they don't want that life for him, and he doesn't want it either.
"I want to do something where I only have to work eight hours (a day)," Martinez said.
Specifically, he wants to be a college wrestler, study criminal justice and eventually start a career in law enforcement.
Glasener said all three goals are within reach if Martinez keeps up his studies. He noted that good heavyweights are hard to find and said that Martinez' size, laid-back personality and ethnic background would make him a natural for law enforcement.
"The main security guy over at Wal-Mart in Sauk (Centre), he's already asked me about him," Glasener said. "They'd love to have a guy like Donaldo who's big, strong and bilingual."
Being a law enforcement ambassador to the Hispanic community can wait, though.
Right now he's got his hands full being Melrose wrestling's ambassador.
By Andy Marso • amarso@stcloudtimes.com • January 31, 2010
Like many high school wrestling coaches, Melrose's Vaughn Glasener is struggling to keep his numbers up.
Apparently grueling practices and restricted diets aren't all that appealing to the children of the most obese, television-loving nation on Earth. Go figure.
Glasener had 26 wrestlers last year and only one was a senior.
But this year, only half that many showed up.
"We've kind of scratched our heads a little bit," Glasener said. "We had a couple injuries and we had one kid move away, so that's three or four of them.
"But with the others, I don't know. It was kids who had kind of paid their dues (that didn't come back), too."
That being the case, Glasener would like to tap into a new demographic with the help of a role model that's hard to miss.
He's hoping junior heavyweight Donaldo Martinez, the son of Mexican immigrants, can help inspire more of the town's Hispanics to wrestle.
Remember the old "Be like Mike" Gatorade commercials featuring Michael Jordan?
Consider this a "Sea como Donaldo" campaign.
"He's been very positive for our team," Glasener said. "We're trying to get more Latino kids involved in extracurriculars and his family's been really supportive, which is great."
Martinez' parents both work at the Jennie-O plant in Melrose, but do their best to get to his meets. It's been harder this season, as apparently turkey is one sector of the economy untouched by the recession.
"One of the saddest things is that his parents have probably only been able to see him wrestle three or four times this year," Glasener said.
Hispanics made up 12 percent of Melrose's population in the 2000 census — a number that will likely be higher in this year's count. And Martinez seems like the right guy to get them interested in wrestling.
He went 26-12 last year and finished fourth at sections. He started this year 18-2, establishing himself as one of Central Minnesota's best 285-pounders.
He's willing to help recruit, too. He brought in his cousin Diego Hernandez, a 140-pounder who has stuck with the sport for three years even though he acknowledges practices aren't a romp through a field of daisies.
"(I'm) very tired after all the conditioning and live wrestling and everything," Hernandez said. "(Cutting) weight is kind of hard too. I like to eat a lot."
Being a heavyweight, Martinez doesn't have to worry about that nearly as much.
"I can pretty much eat what I want," he said with a grin that suggests he's fully aware of how much that infuriates his teammates.
That being said, Martinez, who also plays football and is a thrower for the track team, admits that conditioning might be his biggest weakness.
He's not a cut, intimidating heavyweight, but that sometimes works to his advantage because opponents tend to underestimate him. All of a sudden, he's on them much quicker than they thought possible.
"He's a little bit more than what you think he is when you first see him," Glasener said. "He has really good feet for a 285-pound kid. You can tell he's played some soccer."
Aside from conditioning, Glasener said he'd like to see Martinez work on his killer instinct. Physically he's like a dancing bear on the mat, but his personality tends more toward teddy bear.
He's shown flashes of no-mercy intensity, though. His propensity for pulling off clinching wins in tight duals without a hint of nerves has earned him the nickname "Iceman" and he pinned one opponent this year in nine seconds.
"Right off the whistle I saw what he looked like and in my mind planned out what I was going to do," Martinez said. "Pretty much just overpowered him."
Perhaps Martinez' sense of urgency is growing as he gets closer to the day when college coaches can start recruiting him.
He would be the first in his immediate family to go to college and said he feels some pressure to make sure it happens. His parents have carved out a good life for him and his brother by working long shifts at the plant, but they don't want that life for him, and he doesn't want it either.
"I want to do something where I only have to work eight hours (a day)," Martinez said.
Specifically, he wants to be a college wrestler, study criminal justice and eventually start a career in law enforcement.
Glasener said all three goals are within reach if Martinez keeps up his studies. He noted that good heavyweights are hard to find and said that Martinez' size, laid-back personality and ethnic background would make him a natural for law enforcement.
"The main security guy over at Wal-Mart in Sauk (Centre), he's already asked me about him," Glasener said. "They'd love to have a guy like Donaldo who's big, strong and bilingual."
Being a law enforcement ambassador to the Hispanic community can wait, though.
Right now he's got his hands full being Melrose wrestling's ambassador.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Top ten signs your Tia won't make it on American Idol
TOP Ten signs your Tia won’t make it on American Idol
By Al Carlos Hernandez (Special to the Latino Journal)
10. She wanted to do a tune by Maria Hairy.
9. She told Simon don’t give me no lip, cause you don’t have a top one.
8. Was too Panzonna to play her accordion.
7. Once she sang "Volver", she knew she wouldn’t.
6. Told Randy the only Dogg in here is your face, Stupit!
5. Tried to fix Kara up with her cousin Barnabell.
4. Fell off her Payless pumps during her pop lock dance interlude.
3. Brought Posh the spice girl a plate of food and some vitamins.
2. Called Seacrest, DeGeneres.
1. Refused to sing, didn’t trust anybody to hold her purse.
By Al Carlos Hernandez (Special to the Latino Journal)
10. She wanted to do a tune by Maria Hairy.
9. She told Simon don’t give me no lip, cause you don’t have a top one.
8. Was too Panzonna to play her accordion.
7. Once she sang "Volver", she knew she wouldn’t.
6. Told Randy the only Dogg in here is your face, Stupit!
5. Tried to fix Kara up with her cousin Barnabell.
4. Fell off her Payless pumps during her pop lock dance interlude.
3. Brought Posh the spice girl a plate of food and some vitamins.
2. Called Seacrest, DeGeneres.
1. Refused to sing, didn’t trust anybody to hold her purse.
Latinos to be recognized
Hispanic Network to honor Reyes, Vega on Jan. 19
Napavalleyregister.com, January 12, 2010
The Napa County Hispanic Network will honor the recipients of its annual Lifetime Achievement and Friends of the Network Awards on Jan. 19 at the Napa Valley Opera House. This year’s Lifetime Achievement Awards honorees are Maria Vega and Arturo “Arty” Reyes.
Vega is a Spanish teacher at Napa High School who has mentored and inspired many Latino and migrant students to excel in college preparatory and honors curriculum. Reyes, the host of the popular N.A.P.A. Show (Newest Arty Party Adventure) on Napa TV, has helped people with disabilities for more than 20 year and is an employment specialist with Napa Valley Support Services /Napa Personnel Systems.
The recipients of the Friends of the Network Awards are: Jill Schrutz, director of the Financial Aid and EOPS Office at Napa Valley College, and Peggy Suckow, retired bilingual speech therapist for Napa County Office of Education. The awards reception, which is free and open to the public, will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 19 at the Napa Valley Opera House, 1000 Main St., Napa.
Napavalleyregister.com, January 12, 2010
The Napa County Hispanic Network will honor the recipients of its annual Lifetime Achievement and Friends of the Network Awards on Jan. 19 at the Napa Valley Opera House. This year’s Lifetime Achievement Awards honorees are Maria Vega and Arturo “Arty” Reyes.
Vega is a Spanish teacher at Napa High School who has mentored and inspired many Latino and migrant students to excel in college preparatory and honors curriculum. Reyes, the host of the popular N.A.P.A. Show (Newest Arty Party Adventure) on Napa TV, has helped people with disabilities for more than 20 year and is an employment specialist with Napa Valley Support Services /Napa Personnel Systems.
The recipients of the Friends of the Network Awards are: Jill Schrutz, director of the Financial Aid and EOPS Office at Napa Valley College, and Peggy Suckow, retired bilingual speech therapist for Napa County Office of Education. The awards reception, which is free and open to the public, will be held at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 19 at the Napa Valley Opera House, 1000 Main St., Napa.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Hispanic club helps Modesto student redirect life
Hispanic club helps Modesto student redirect life
By Michelle Hatfield, modbee.com, Dec. 3, 2009
Ricardo Marentes-Hernandez is one of those high school students who was slipping through the cracks.
As a Beyer High School freshman, he was going through the motions. Marentes-Hernandez wasn't in a gang and didn't act up, but he was drifting. Without a change, he was in danger of becoming another dropout in Stanislaus County, where one in five high school students don't graduate. The rate is one in four for Latinos.
"I didn't really have any problems at school. I had problems at home," Marentes-Hernandez said. "Last year, my mom was deported, I had no transportation. My attendance wasn't too good. I was getting labeled as a bad kid."
But Marentes-Hernandez wanted to be a role model for his younger siblings. That pushed him to focus on his education. He also joined Beyer's Hispanic Youth Leadership Council his sophomore year and found a mentor in the club's adviser, teacher Linda Hernandez-Rosenthal.
Their relationship shows how important personal connections are for many students. Marentes-Hernandez said his advisor's gentle pushing and encouraging him to try made the difference.
Now a senior, Marentes- Hernandez, 17, is co-president of the council and is on pace to graduate from high school. He wants to enroll in Modesto Junior College's firefighting program.
"It takes courage for a young man in high school to stand up and be a man, to stand up and believe he has a future," Hernandez-Rosen-thal said.
Graduating is 'the beginning'
Joining the leadership council helped connect Marentes-Hernandez with other teens overcoming similar circumstances. The club's mission of developing leadership skills has resonated with its members.
"There is a vision, there is a hope. I tell them there's more to our lives than just graduating high school. That's not the end, it's just the beginning," Hernandez-Rosenthal said. The club meets weekly, and many members will be the first in their families to attend college, she said.
Marentes-Hernandez's involvement in the leadership council proved fruitful.
But his family's struggles still weigh heavily. He has trouble talking about his mom's deportation, tears welling up in his eyes when he describes how he and his siblings weren't given a chance to hug her good-bye.
Oldest brother went to work
Before she was sent back to her home state of Michoacán in Mexico, Marentes-Hernandez's mom worked two jobs to make ends meet. The family has six children — ranging in age from 13 to 27, all U.S. citizens. Their dad has never really been in the picture, Marentes-Hernandez said.
To help his single mother, Marentes-Hernandez's oldest brother, José, dropped out of high school at age 15 so he could work and bring in a paycheck.
"Just to keep a roof over our heads for my mom, it was hard. Basically, my brother sacrificed his education for us, like a father," said Marentes-Hernandez. He and his two younger siblings now live with his oldest sister, Maritza.
"The club was something for me to get away from my situation, be here with friends and have fun," he said quietly, slowly, deliberately. "Through the club, I found out about college opportunities. It brought a lot of things to my attention, helped me set goals in my life."
Marentes-Hernandez urges other struggling teens to push through hardships, because the light at the end of the tunnel is bright and rewarding. His teacher noted that having a goal is also key.
"You have to have drive. You can not go through life without direction," Hernandez-Rosenthal said. "Everybody has a story — it doesn't matter where you come from."
Bee staff writer Michelle Hatfield can be reached at mhatfield@modbee.com or 578-2339. Read Hatfield's education blog at thehive.modbee.com/ExtraCredit.
By Michelle Hatfield, modbee.com, Dec. 3, 2009
Ricardo Marentes-Hernandez is one of those high school students who was slipping through the cracks.
As a Beyer High School freshman, he was going through the motions. Marentes-Hernandez wasn't in a gang and didn't act up, but he was drifting. Without a change, he was in danger of becoming another dropout in Stanislaus County, where one in five high school students don't graduate. The rate is one in four for Latinos.
"I didn't really have any problems at school. I had problems at home," Marentes-Hernandez said. "Last year, my mom was deported, I had no transportation. My attendance wasn't too good. I was getting labeled as a bad kid."
But Marentes-Hernandez wanted to be a role model for his younger siblings. That pushed him to focus on his education. He also joined Beyer's Hispanic Youth Leadership Council his sophomore year and found a mentor in the club's adviser, teacher Linda Hernandez-Rosenthal.
Their relationship shows how important personal connections are for many students. Marentes-Hernandez said his advisor's gentle pushing and encouraging him to try made the difference.
Now a senior, Marentes- Hernandez, 17, is co-president of the council and is on pace to graduate from high school. He wants to enroll in Modesto Junior College's firefighting program.
"It takes courage for a young man in high school to stand up and be a man, to stand up and believe he has a future," Hernandez-Rosen-thal said.
Graduating is 'the beginning'
Joining the leadership council helped connect Marentes-Hernandez with other teens overcoming similar circumstances. The club's mission of developing leadership skills has resonated with its members.
"There is a vision, there is a hope. I tell them there's more to our lives than just graduating high school. That's not the end, it's just the beginning," Hernandez-Rosenthal said. The club meets weekly, and many members will be the first in their families to attend college, she said.
Marentes-Hernandez's involvement in the leadership council proved fruitful.
But his family's struggles still weigh heavily. He has trouble talking about his mom's deportation, tears welling up in his eyes when he describes how he and his siblings weren't given a chance to hug her good-bye.
Oldest brother went to work
Before she was sent back to her home state of Michoacán in Mexico, Marentes-Hernandez's mom worked two jobs to make ends meet. The family has six children — ranging in age from 13 to 27, all U.S. citizens. Their dad has never really been in the picture, Marentes-Hernandez said.
To help his single mother, Marentes-Hernandez's oldest brother, José, dropped out of high school at age 15 so he could work and bring in a paycheck.
"Just to keep a roof over our heads for my mom, it was hard. Basically, my brother sacrificed his education for us, like a father," said Marentes-Hernandez. He and his two younger siblings now live with his oldest sister, Maritza.
"The club was something for me to get away from my situation, be here with friends and have fun," he said quietly, slowly, deliberately. "Through the club, I found out about college opportunities. It brought a lot of things to my attention, helped me set goals in my life."
Marentes-Hernandez urges other struggling teens to push through hardships, because the light at the end of the tunnel is bright and rewarding. His teacher noted that having a goal is also key.
"You have to have drive. You can not go through life without direction," Hernandez-Rosenthal said. "Everybody has a story — it doesn't matter where you come from."
Bee staff writer Michelle Hatfield can be reached at mhatfield@modbee.com or 578-2339. Read Hatfield's education blog at thehive.modbee.com/ExtraCredit.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Kennedy Center Hispanic outreach program honored
Kennedy Center Hispanic outreach program honored
Vanderbilt.edu, 11/27/2009
The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center’s Hispanic outreach program was honored by the Association of University Centers on Disabilities with the Multicultural Award for Leadership in Diversity.
The award was presented at the association’s 2009 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., in November, in recognition of the development, collaboration, and expansion of Camino Seguro and Camino Seguro West, a database of Spanish-speaking staff working in Tennessee’s disability service agencies. The project has made services more accessible to Spanish-speaking families and serves as a model for other states.
Vanderbilt.edu, 11/27/2009
The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center’s Hispanic outreach program was honored by the Association of University Centers on Disabilities with the Multicultural Award for Leadership in Diversity.
The award was presented at the association’s 2009 Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., in November, in recognition of the development, collaboration, and expansion of Camino Seguro and Camino Seguro West, a database of Spanish-speaking staff working in Tennessee’s disability service agencies. The project has made services more accessible to Spanish-speaking families and serves as a model for other states.
The Cholo-themed Thanksgiving Dinner
TOP Ten Signs You Are at a Cholo-themed Thanksgiving Dinner
Keep him away from the cranberries
By Al Carlos Hernandez, LatinoLA, November 25, 2009
More....
Keep him away from the cranberries
By Al Carlos Hernandez, LatinoLA, November 25, 2009
More....
Monday, November 23, 2009
"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.
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.)
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.)
Friday, October 23, 2009
Hispanic civil rights leader honored
Albert Armendariz, Hispanic civil rights leader, honored with federal courthouse
Dallas Morning News, Oct 21, 2009
Rep. Silvestre Reyes is a busy guy. This morning alone, as chairman of the House intelligence committee, he's presiding over closed-door hearings on Mexico and the Patriot Act.
But, like other mortals in Congress, every now and again Reyes tries to get a post office or federal courthouse named. On Monday, President Barack Obama signed a Reyes bill naming El Paso's new federal courthouse after Albert Armendariz Sr., a local judge and civil rights leader.
Armendariz, who died two years ago at age 88, served as national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens and of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
In 1954, during his tenure as LULAC president, he helped argue Hernandez vs. the State of Texas, a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that established Latinos as a distinct class entitled to protection under the 14th Amendment.
"This is a proud moment for the El Paso community and for Hispanics around the nation," Reyes said Tuesday. "Judge Armendariz's contributions to the advancement of civil rights helped change the landscape for Hispanics throughout America.... I hope future generations of El Pasoans will not only appreciate his important contributions to our country but also be inspired by his life story and achievements."
Dallas Morning News, Oct 21, 2009
Rep. Silvestre Reyes is a busy guy. This morning alone, as chairman of the House intelligence committee, he's presiding over closed-door hearings on Mexico and the Patriot Act.
But, like other mortals in Congress, every now and again Reyes tries to get a post office or federal courthouse named. On Monday, President Barack Obama signed a Reyes bill naming El Paso's new federal courthouse after Albert Armendariz Sr., a local judge and civil rights leader.
Armendariz, who died two years ago at age 88, served as national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens and of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
In 1954, during his tenure as LULAC president, he helped argue Hernandez vs. the State of Texas, a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case that established Latinos as a distinct class entitled to protection under the 14th Amendment.
"This is a proud moment for the El Paso community and for Hispanics around the nation," Reyes said Tuesday. "Judge Armendariz's contributions to the advancement of civil rights helped change the landscape for Hispanics throughout America.... I hope future generations of El Pasoans will not only appreciate his important contributions to our country but also be inspired by his life story and achievements."
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
"Latino in America" to show on CNN
CNN's O'Brien is extraordinary in Latino documentary
"Latino in America"
By David Zurawik | Baltimore Sun, October 18, 2009
One of the great joys of TV journalism is seeing first-rate correspondents matched up with subject matter that they are passionate about. Think of the late Ed Bradley sitting down to interview a pop culture pioneer whom he admired like Lena Horne, or NBC's Richard Engel in the line of fire covering a war.
CNN's Soledad O'Brien achieves that kind of stature with "Latino in America," a four-hour, two-night documentary series on the experiences of the nation's largest and fastest-growing minority, beginning Wednesday night at 9.
Some might argue that the 43-year-old journalist had already arrived in that elite company with "Black in America" in 2008 and "Black in America 2" this year. But while I think her work was first-rate in those shows, there is something extraordinary about O'Brien's performance and presence in the new Latino documentary.
She is in total command of the subject matter and seems so finely tuned to the nuances of assimilation, multiculturalism and changing notions of identity that you can't help but trust her after just a few minutes of watching. And she forges that same kind of bond with the people she is interviewing and reporting on in the film, getting sullen-looking teenage boys to confess their ethnic insecurities and clinically depressed adolescent girls to talk openly about the pain they feel in being caught between two cultures.
Conversations about race and identity do not come easily in this country, and members of the media do not achieve the kind of rapport O'Brien does by hot-dogging in for on-camera interviews after all the documentary grunt work has been done by producers and other reporters.
"I traveled for a lot of this year six days a week to do this documentary, which is really hard," O'Brien says. "I mean, I love to travel. It's one of the things I love about being a journalist. But six days a week is an insane travel schedule. A lot of the travel was to the West Coast, and I was doing three red-eyes a week."
But there was no other way to get beneath the safe and superficial way the media and minority members often talk about race when the cameras are on except to put in the time to build credibility and trust.
"I don't know how else to do these kind of stories unless you're personally there and totally engaged," says O'Brien who describes her own identity as "black and Cuban, Australian and Irish."
"How do you do a conversation about race?" she asks rhetorically. "It's not a court case. You don't jump in, read the transcript of the trial, and we're all caught up. It's about getting people to sit down and talk very honestly about perceptions and things that are so intangible."
The first two hours of the documentary find O'Brien chronicling the journeys of people named Garcia, now the eighth most popular surname in the United States - ahead of Wilson and Taylor, and gaining on the most popular, Smith.
The stories O'Brien tracks range from that of Lorena Garcia, a star TV chef on Univision looking for a crossover audience, to Bill and Betty Garcia, a professional baby boomer couple who moved from a Dominican neighborhood in New York City to Charlotte, N.C., decades ago, and are now wondering about the price they paid in loss of roots identity for mainstream success and assimilation. She's from the Dominican Republic, and he's Puerto Rican, and one of their teenage sons just flunked high school Spanish.
Perhaps, the most compelling saga is that of Cindy Garcia, a high school senior of Guatemalan descent who is struggling to graduate from high school in the underfunded Los Angeles public school district while working long hours in her single mother's clothing store.
No spoilers here, but just when you think you know where Cindy's life is headed, it suddenly swings in another direction - as only true life can. And O'Brien is there every step of the way, listening to and deftly questioning the girl as she tries to make sense of the place where her dreams and reality collide.
"I think that especially because of my background in a way I have a lot of personal interest, but also a lot of credibility in these questions about race and ethnicity and identity. You know, I relate to a lot of the stories in this documentary personally," says O'Brien, whose black, Cuban-born mother was brought to Baltimore as a girl in 1947 by the Oblate Sisters who ran a mission in Cuba.
Her father, who did his undergraduate studies in his native Australia, came to Baltimore in the late 1950s to earn a doctorate in engineering at the Johns Hopkins University.
"I sat down with the boys in the Bill and Betty Garcia story and I said to one of them, 'You know, your mom thinks you're embarrassed by her [ethnicity],' " O'Brien recalled. "And he said, 'No, you don't get it. I'm embarrassed that I don't speak Spanish well enough. I'm embarrassed of me.' "
O'Brien, herself a mother of four, says she had the same kind of issues related to her mother that the teenage Garcia boy did with his.
"You know what, I'm embarrassed of me that I don't speak Spanish well enough," says the veteran CNN correspondent and anchor. "And here I am talking to a 16-year-old boy, and he and I are saying exactly the same thing. We are both this sort of first-generation, born-in-this-country, don't-speak-the-language, trying-to-figure-out-what-it-means-to-be-Latino among parents who see themselves as very Latino in a community that's not really sure what you are because you kind of look different and they don't know what that means."
If that sounds complicated, that's because American identity has become so in these multicultural times. And in the end, thanks in large part to O'Brien's own fearlessness, the triumph of "Latino in America" is that it honestly faces, engages and ultimately embraces that complexity in its contradictions, energy and glory.
On TV
"Latino in America" airs at 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday on CNN.
"Latino in America"
By David Zurawik | Baltimore Sun, October 18, 2009
One of the great joys of TV journalism is seeing first-rate correspondents matched up with subject matter that they are passionate about. Think of the late Ed Bradley sitting down to interview a pop culture pioneer whom he admired like Lena Horne, or NBC's Richard Engel in the line of fire covering a war.
CNN's Soledad O'Brien achieves that kind of stature with "Latino in America," a four-hour, two-night documentary series on the experiences of the nation's largest and fastest-growing minority, beginning Wednesday night at 9.
Some might argue that the 43-year-old journalist had already arrived in that elite company with "Black in America" in 2008 and "Black in America 2" this year. But while I think her work was first-rate in those shows, there is something extraordinary about O'Brien's performance and presence in the new Latino documentary.
She is in total command of the subject matter and seems so finely tuned to the nuances of assimilation, multiculturalism and changing notions of identity that you can't help but trust her after just a few minutes of watching. And she forges that same kind of bond with the people she is interviewing and reporting on in the film, getting sullen-looking teenage boys to confess their ethnic insecurities and clinically depressed adolescent girls to talk openly about the pain they feel in being caught between two cultures.
Conversations about race and identity do not come easily in this country, and members of the media do not achieve the kind of rapport O'Brien does by hot-dogging in for on-camera interviews after all the documentary grunt work has been done by producers and other reporters.
"I traveled for a lot of this year six days a week to do this documentary, which is really hard," O'Brien says. "I mean, I love to travel. It's one of the things I love about being a journalist. But six days a week is an insane travel schedule. A lot of the travel was to the West Coast, and I was doing three red-eyes a week."
But there was no other way to get beneath the safe and superficial way the media and minority members often talk about race when the cameras are on except to put in the time to build credibility and trust.
"I don't know how else to do these kind of stories unless you're personally there and totally engaged," says O'Brien who describes her own identity as "black and Cuban, Australian and Irish."
"How do you do a conversation about race?" she asks rhetorically. "It's not a court case. You don't jump in, read the transcript of the trial, and we're all caught up. It's about getting people to sit down and talk very honestly about perceptions and things that are so intangible."
The first two hours of the documentary find O'Brien chronicling the journeys of people named Garcia, now the eighth most popular surname in the United States - ahead of Wilson and Taylor, and gaining on the most popular, Smith.
The stories O'Brien tracks range from that of Lorena Garcia, a star TV chef on Univision looking for a crossover audience, to Bill and Betty Garcia, a professional baby boomer couple who moved from a Dominican neighborhood in New York City to Charlotte, N.C., decades ago, and are now wondering about the price they paid in loss of roots identity for mainstream success and assimilation. She's from the Dominican Republic, and he's Puerto Rican, and one of their teenage sons just flunked high school Spanish.
Perhaps, the most compelling saga is that of Cindy Garcia, a high school senior of Guatemalan descent who is struggling to graduate from high school in the underfunded Los Angeles public school district while working long hours in her single mother's clothing store.
No spoilers here, but just when you think you know where Cindy's life is headed, it suddenly swings in another direction - as only true life can. And O'Brien is there every step of the way, listening to and deftly questioning the girl as she tries to make sense of the place where her dreams and reality collide.
"I think that especially because of my background in a way I have a lot of personal interest, but also a lot of credibility in these questions about race and ethnicity and identity. You know, I relate to a lot of the stories in this documentary personally," says O'Brien, whose black, Cuban-born mother was brought to Baltimore as a girl in 1947 by the Oblate Sisters who ran a mission in Cuba.
Her father, who did his undergraduate studies in his native Australia, came to Baltimore in the late 1950s to earn a doctorate in engineering at the Johns Hopkins University.
"I sat down with the boys in the Bill and Betty Garcia story and I said to one of them, 'You know, your mom thinks you're embarrassed by her [ethnicity],' " O'Brien recalled. "And he said, 'No, you don't get it. I'm embarrassed that I don't speak Spanish well enough. I'm embarrassed of me.' "
O'Brien, herself a mother of four, says she had the same kind of issues related to her mother that the teenage Garcia boy did with his.
"You know what, I'm embarrassed of me that I don't speak Spanish well enough," says the veteran CNN correspondent and anchor. "And here I am talking to a 16-year-old boy, and he and I are saying exactly the same thing. We are both this sort of first-generation, born-in-this-country, don't-speak-the-language, trying-to-figure-out-what-it-means-to-be-Latino among parents who see themselves as very Latino in a community that's not really sure what you are because you kind of look different and they don't know what that means."
If that sounds complicated, that's because American identity has become so in these multicultural times. And in the end, thanks in large part to O'Brien's own fearlessness, the triumph of "Latino in America" is that it honestly faces, engages and ultimately embraces that complexity in its contradictions, energy and glory.
On TV
"Latino in America" airs at 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday on CNN.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Latinos went from sugar beet fields to baseball fields
Sugar beets to baseball: Northern Colorado's Hispanic baseball league
Adam Chodak, 9News.com
GREELEY - According to the movies, baseball can grow out of cornfields. But in Northern Colorado, baseball emerged alongside fields of sugar beets.
Advertisement
This story starts right around the turn of the 20th century.
Great Western Sugar Company had begun aggressively recruiting Mexican-Americans and Mexican natives to work its sugar beet fields in the West.
By 1920, thousands of the company's workers were of Hispanic heritage.
Great Western eventually built adobe homes for the workers. With the homes grouped together, the Spanish-speaking workers called these small communities "las colonias."
To pass the time in between backbreaking shifts, the male workers started playing baseball.
Teams were then formed; one per colony. A league then formed. They called it the Rocky Mountain League of National Semi-Pro Baseball Congress, but most folks called it the Sugar Beet League.
"We always had uniforms," said Ricardo Lopez who played for the formidable Greeley Grays in 1950s.
Lopez's father was one of the first to play in the league. All 13 of his boys would follow suit, all playing for the Grays.
For the Lopez family, like so many others attached to the Sugar Beet League, baseball was everything.
"You had baseball for breakfast, lunch and dinner," Lopez said.
While the Grays could always brag about their record, never could they boast about their field.
"We called it the Home of the Brave because you'd have to brave the rocks," Lopez said with a laugh.
Lopez and his brothers have told anecdotes like that at family functions for years. Gabriel Lopez, Lopez's nephew, always had trouble believing them.
A Hispanic baseball league in Colorado just seemed too odd. But then he and his wife, Jody, started a small investigation.
"Within an hour, we had proof," he said.
From the Greeley Tribune, they found blurbs that gave the results from games and pictures of various players.
They soon had a enough pictures and articles to fill an exhibit at Centennial Village Museum in Greeley and a book titled, "From Sugar to Diamonds: Spanish/Mexican baseball 1925-1969."
In both, the Lopez's talk about the dedication of the players, who were willing to travel across the state to take on any team.
There's also evidence of how good these ballplayers really were.
"They played against the Metropolitan League in Denver ... and they held their own," said Gabriel Lopez.
Some of the players even went on to play professional ball.
But to Gabriel Lopez, one of the most respectable aspects of the league was its acceptance of anyone who wanted to play.
"To them, there was no race," he said.
There was only that field; the field that arose out of the sugar beets; the field of rocks and dreams.
"It was just love of the game," said Ricado Lopez, who is now in his 70s. "We lived for that."
This story is one of several produced by 9NEWS in recognition of Hispanic Awareness Month.
Adam Chodak, 9News.com
GREELEY - According to the movies, baseball can grow out of cornfields. But in Northern Colorado, baseball emerged alongside fields of sugar beets.
Advertisement
This story starts right around the turn of the 20th century.
Great Western Sugar Company had begun aggressively recruiting Mexican-Americans and Mexican natives to work its sugar beet fields in the West.
By 1920, thousands of the company's workers were of Hispanic heritage.
Great Western eventually built adobe homes for the workers. With the homes grouped together, the Spanish-speaking workers called these small communities "las colonias."
To pass the time in between backbreaking shifts, the male workers started playing baseball.
Teams were then formed; one per colony. A league then formed. They called it the Rocky Mountain League of National Semi-Pro Baseball Congress, but most folks called it the Sugar Beet League.
"We always had uniforms," said Ricardo Lopez who played for the formidable Greeley Grays in 1950s.
Lopez's father was one of the first to play in the league. All 13 of his boys would follow suit, all playing for the Grays.
For the Lopez family, like so many others attached to the Sugar Beet League, baseball was everything.
"You had baseball for breakfast, lunch and dinner," Lopez said.
While the Grays could always brag about their record, never could they boast about their field.
"We called it the Home of the Brave because you'd have to brave the rocks," Lopez said with a laugh.
Lopez and his brothers have told anecdotes like that at family functions for years. Gabriel Lopez, Lopez's nephew, always had trouble believing them.
A Hispanic baseball league in Colorado just seemed too odd. But then he and his wife, Jody, started a small investigation.
"Within an hour, we had proof," he said.
From the Greeley Tribune, they found blurbs that gave the results from games and pictures of various players.
They soon had a enough pictures and articles to fill an exhibit at Centennial Village Museum in Greeley and a book titled, "From Sugar to Diamonds: Spanish/Mexican baseball 1925-1969."
In both, the Lopez's talk about the dedication of the players, who were willing to travel across the state to take on any team.
There's also evidence of how good these ballplayers really were.
"They played against the Metropolitan League in Denver ... and they held their own," said Gabriel Lopez.
Some of the players even went on to play professional ball.
But to Gabriel Lopez, one of the most respectable aspects of the league was its acceptance of anyone who wanted to play.
"To them, there was no race," he said.
There was only that field; the field that arose out of the sugar beets; the field of rocks and dreams.
"It was just love of the game," said Ricado Lopez, who is now in his 70s. "We lived for that."
This story is one of several produced by 9NEWS in recognition of Hispanic Awareness Month.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Latinas still stay-at-home moms
Most Stay-at-Home Moms Start That Way, Study Finds
Many Are Younger, Less Educated, Hispanic
By Donna St. George, Washington Post, October 1, 2009
A first census snapshot of married women who stay home to raise their children shows that the popular obsession with high-achieving professional mothers sidelining careers for family life is largely beside the point.
Instead, census statistics released Thursday show that stay-at-home mothers tend to be younger and less educated, with lower family incomes. They are more likely than other mothers to be Hispanic or foreign-born.
Census researchers said the new report is the first of its kind and was spurred by interest in the so-called "opt-out revolution" among well-educated women said to be leaving the workforce to care for children at home.
"I do think there is a small population, a very small population, that is opting out, but with the nationally representative data, we're just not seeing that," said Diana B. Elliott, a family demographer who is co-author of the U.S. Census Bureau report.
The report showed that mothering full time at home is a widespread phenomenon, including 5.6 million women, or nearly one in four married mothers with children younger than 15. By comparison, the country's stay-at-home dads number 165,000.
Researchers noted that the somewhat younger ages of stay-at-home mothers could partly explain their lower education levels and that less family income would be expected with just one parent in the workforce.
Even so, the profile of mothers at home that emerged is clearly at odds with the popular discussion that has flourished in recent years, they said.
The notion of an opt-out revolution took shape in 2003, when New York Times writer Lisa Belkin coined the term to describe the choices made by a group of high-achieving Princeton women who left the fast track after they had children.
It has since been the subject of public debate, academic study and media obsession. It has been derided as a myth but has never quite gone away in an era when women still struggle to balance work and family and motherhood's conflicts have been parodied and probed in everything from Judith Warner's book "Perfect Madness" to television's "Desperate Housewives" and "The Secret Life of a Soccer Mom."
The census statistics show, for example, that the educational level of nearly one in five mothers at home was less than a high school degree, as compared with one in 12 other mothers. Thirty two percent of moms at home have at least a bachelor's degree, compared with 38 percent of other mothers.
Twelve percent of stay-at-home moms live below the poverty line, compared with 5 percent of other mothers. On the other end of the economic scale, about one-third of moms at home had family incomes of $75,000 a year or more, whereas roughly half of other mothers did.
Given this portrait, mothers at home appear to be "the more vulnerable women, for whom I would argue the issue is lack of opportunity," said sociologist Pamela Stone of Hunter College. "They have a hard time finding a job and finding a job that makes work worth it."
This may well be illuminating for many observers of family life, she said, because "the attention is always focused on this erroneous perception about the women at the top."
Stone, who studied successful women who left their careers for a 2007 book called "Opting Out?," said some shift course and focus on their children but "not at the numbers people think. Even among this advantaged group, there is no upward trend of staying at home."
The census report was based on nationally representative data from 2007, predating the current economic crisis.
Kathleen Gerson, a sociologist at New York University who studies families and the labor market, said the census figures come as a reality check.
Opting out, she said, "is not and never has been and will not be a revolution," she said. "Far more women are in the workplace than not, and there is no evidence to show that that will turn around."
For many women who stay home, low earnings and high child-care costs are part of the decision, she said. "Women with less education and fewer job opportunities were always more likely to withdraw or not be in the labor force," Gerson said. "The economic calculus is different."
The report did not show a proportionately high number of married African American mothers staying at home, but Kuae Mattox, a national board member of Mocha Moms, a nonprofit support organization for stay-at-home mothers of color, said she sees "a quiet revolution" of highly educated, professional African American women choosing to do so. This comes in spite of long family histories of women working, she said.
"I think this is a segment of the population that has been overlooked in the whole opt-out revolution in this country," she said.
The report showed that about 27 percent of stay-at-home mothers were Hispanic, compared with 16 percent of other mothers, and about 34 percent were born outside the United States, as compared with 19 percent of other mothers.
Stay-at-home mothers were more likely than other mothers to have an infant or preschooler in the house.
For the report, stay-at-home mothers were defined as those who did not work in the previous year, said they were home to care for their families and had a husband employed all 52 weeks.
Historically, the Census Bureau's annual population survey shows that there are more mothers at home now than in the mid-1990s.
In 1994, 19.8 percent of married-couple families with children younger than 15 had a stay-at-home mother. Last year, it was 23.7 percent of families -- an increase that Elliott said was statistically significant. "I don't think we exactly know why," she said.
In other findings, the census reported that 54 percent of District households with children younger than 18 were headed by single parents. In Maryland, 26 percent of such families were headed by single parents. In Virginia, the figure was 25 percent.
Many Are Younger, Less Educated, Hispanic
By Donna St. George, Washington Post, October 1, 2009
A first census snapshot of married women who stay home to raise their children shows that the popular obsession with high-achieving professional mothers sidelining careers for family life is largely beside the point.
Instead, census statistics released Thursday show that stay-at-home mothers tend to be younger and less educated, with lower family incomes. They are more likely than other mothers to be Hispanic or foreign-born.
Census researchers said the new report is the first of its kind and was spurred by interest in the so-called "opt-out revolution" among well-educated women said to be leaving the workforce to care for children at home.
"I do think there is a small population, a very small population, that is opting out, but with the nationally representative data, we're just not seeing that," said Diana B. Elliott, a family demographer who is co-author of the U.S. Census Bureau report.
The report showed that mothering full time at home is a widespread phenomenon, including 5.6 million women, or nearly one in four married mothers with children younger than 15. By comparison, the country's stay-at-home dads number 165,000.
Researchers noted that the somewhat younger ages of stay-at-home mothers could partly explain their lower education levels and that less family income would be expected with just one parent in the workforce.
Even so, the profile of mothers at home that emerged is clearly at odds with the popular discussion that has flourished in recent years, they said.
The notion of an opt-out revolution took shape in 2003, when New York Times writer Lisa Belkin coined the term to describe the choices made by a group of high-achieving Princeton women who left the fast track after they had children.
It has since been the subject of public debate, academic study and media obsession. It has been derided as a myth but has never quite gone away in an era when women still struggle to balance work and family and motherhood's conflicts have been parodied and probed in everything from Judith Warner's book "Perfect Madness" to television's "Desperate Housewives" and "The Secret Life of a Soccer Mom."
The census statistics show, for example, that the educational level of nearly one in five mothers at home was less than a high school degree, as compared with one in 12 other mothers. Thirty two percent of moms at home have at least a bachelor's degree, compared with 38 percent of other mothers.
Twelve percent of stay-at-home moms live below the poverty line, compared with 5 percent of other mothers. On the other end of the economic scale, about one-third of moms at home had family incomes of $75,000 a year or more, whereas roughly half of other mothers did.
Given this portrait, mothers at home appear to be "the more vulnerable women, for whom I would argue the issue is lack of opportunity," said sociologist Pamela Stone of Hunter College. "They have a hard time finding a job and finding a job that makes work worth it."
This may well be illuminating for many observers of family life, she said, because "the attention is always focused on this erroneous perception about the women at the top."
Stone, who studied successful women who left their careers for a 2007 book called "Opting Out?," said some shift course and focus on their children but "not at the numbers people think. Even among this advantaged group, there is no upward trend of staying at home."
The census report was based on nationally representative data from 2007, predating the current economic crisis.
Kathleen Gerson, a sociologist at New York University who studies families and the labor market, said the census figures come as a reality check.
Opting out, she said, "is not and never has been and will not be a revolution," she said. "Far more women are in the workplace than not, and there is no evidence to show that that will turn around."
For many women who stay home, low earnings and high child-care costs are part of the decision, she said. "Women with less education and fewer job opportunities were always more likely to withdraw or not be in the labor force," Gerson said. "The economic calculus is different."
The report did not show a proportionately high number of married African American mothers staying at home, but Kuae Mattox, a national board member of Mocha Moms, a nonprofit support organization for stay-at-home mothers of color, said she sees "a quiet revolution" of highly educated, professional African American women choosing to do so. This comes in spite of long family histories of women working, she said.
"I think this is a segment of the population that has been overlooked in the whole opt-out revolution in this country," she said.
The report showed that about 27 percent of stay-at-home mothers were Hispanic, compared with 16 percent of other mothers, and about 34 percent were born outside the United States, as compared with 19 percent of other mothers.
Stay-at-home mothers were more likely than other mothers to have an infant or preschooler in the house.
For the report, stay-at-home mothers were defined as those who did not work in the previous year, said they were home to care for their families and had a husband employed all 52 weeks.
Historically, the Census Bureau's annual population survey shows that there are more mothers at home now than in the mid-1990s.
In 1994, 19.8 percent of married-couple families with children younger than 15 had a stay-at-home mother. Last year, it was 23.7 percent of families -- an increase that Elliott said was statistically significant. "I don't think we exactly know why," she said.
In other findings, the census reported that 54 percent of District households with children younger than 18 were headed by single parents. In Maryland, 26 percent of such families were headed by single parents. In Virginia, the figure was 25 percent.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Senator helps launch Hispanic history project
Udall helps launch Hispanic history project
PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tom Udall, D-NM, today helped launch a new initiative to preserve the stories and experiences of Hispanic Americans through the StoryCorps Historias oral history project – which will visit several New Mexico cities over the next year.
Udall, a member of the Senate Democratic Hispanic Task Force, joined members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and others on Capitol Hill for StoryCorps Historias’ official launch. StoryCorps Historias will record the stories of nearly 1,000 Hispanics and Latinos over the next year through visits to 10 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. New Mexico stops are planned for Albuquerque, Taos and Alamosa.
Udall, a longtime fan of the StoryCorps project, originally broached the idea of a Hispanic- and Latino-focused initiative several years ago while a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. At the time, Udall and fellow members of a House subcommittee were hearing an update by StoryCorps on a separate project focusing on the stories of African Americans, called the Griot Initiative. Udall encouraged StoryCorps representatives to explore a similar project for Hispanic Americans.
“I am so pleased to see that idea come to fruition with today’s announcement of StoryCorps Historias,” Udall said. “As Senator from a state where almost 45 percent of residents are of Hispanic descent, I know firsthand how important the lives and experiences of Hispanics are in telling America’s story.”
StoryCorps was founded in 2003 with a mission to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening. In partnership with National Public Radio and the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, StoryCorps has recorded more than 27,000 interviews with over 50,000 participants from across the nation to date.
"Since StoryCorps first started its work in 2003, the aim has been to create a growing portrait of who we are as a nation. At 50+ million strong, Hispanics represent 15 percent of the U.S. population and are the fastest-growing segment, which is why it is so important that we record and preserve their stories,” said StoryCorps Founder and President Dave Isay.
For more information on StoryCorps Historias: http://www.storycorpshistorias.org
PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tom Udall, D-NM, today helped launch a new initiative to preserve the stories and experiences of Hispanic Americans through the StoryCorps Historias oral history project – which will visit several New Mexico cities over the next year.
Udall, a member of the Senate Democratic Hispanic Task Force, joined members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and others on Capitol Hill for StoryCorps Historias’ official launch. StoryCorps Historias will record the stories of nearly 1,000 Hispanics and Latinos over the next year through visits to 10 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. New Mexico stops are planned for Albuquerque, Taos and Alamosa.
Udall, a longtime fan of the StoryCorps project, originally broached the idea of a Hispanic- and Latino-focused initiative several years ago while a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. At the time, Udall and fellow members of a House subcommittee were hearing an update by StoryCorps on a separate project focusing on the stories of African Americans, called the Griot Initiative. Udall encouraged StoryCorps representatives to explore a similar project for Hispanic Americans.
“I am so pleased to see that idea come to fruition with today’s announcement of StoryCorps Historias,” Udall said. “As Senator from a state where almost 45 percent of residents are of Hispanic descent, I know firsthand how important the lives and experiences of Hispanics are in telling America’s story.”
StoryCorps was founded in 2003 with a mission to honor and celebrate one another’s lives through listening. In partnership with National Public Radio and the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, StoryCorps has recorded more than 27,000 interviews with over 50,000 participants from across the nation to date.
"Since StoryCorps first started its work in 2003, the aim has been to create a growing portrait of who we are as a nation. At 50+ million strong, Hispanics represent 15 percent of the U.S. population and are the fastest-growing segment, which is why it is so important that we record and preserve their stories,” said StoryCorps Founder and President Dave Isay.
For more information on StoryCorps Historias: http://www.storycorpshistorias.org
Friday, September 25, 2009
Hispanic leaders highlighted in podcast series
MillerCoors Launches 2009 Lideres Featuring New Podcast Series
PRESS RELEASE
CHICAGO, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15), MillerCoors launched today its 2009 Lideres program, which celebrates and fosters leadership in the Hispanic community. Each year, the program recognizes stand out Hispanic leaders, as well as the important work and contributions they are making in their communities.
"Through Lideres, MillerCoors hopes to inspire the next generation of Hispanic leaders, while showcasing those who are taking on leadership roles within their community," said Javier Soler, Regional Vice President & General Manager, MillerCoors.
This year, in addition to highlighting notable Hispanic leaders, MillerCoors is launching a new Lideres podcast series on MillerCoorsLideres.com. The company asked past Lideres to share their experiences related to leadership and personal and professional development which will be available for download from the website providing a more interactive leadership development tool for visitors.
The Lideres podcast series will offer a variety of topics with high profile national Hispanic leaders, including:
* Community Service and Volunteerism - Betty and Roberto Cordova, known as "Team Cordova," are husband and wife educators based in Greeley, Colorado, who are actively involved in local organizations, including their local League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) chapter. In a time when the country has a renewed commitment to community service, these veteran volunteers will share tips on how volunteering can help you hone your leadership skills while still making a difference in your community.
* Role of Social Media in Professional Development - Octavio Hinojosa is the executive director of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI), an organization dedicated to advancing Americans of Hispanic and Portuguese descent. In response to today's demand for social media networks like Facebook and Linked-in, Hinojosa will share the top ways social media also serves as a networking tool to further leadership development.
* Interview and Job Seeking Tips - Carlos Orta is the executive director of the Hispanic Association for Corporate Responsibility (HACR), an advocacy organization that advances the inclusion of Hispanics in Corporate America. For people looking to break through today's tough job market, Orta will share his top eight interview do's and don'ts.
Team Cordova, Hinojosa and Orta were recognized as Lideres in 2008 and 2007 by MillerCoors.
The Lideres podcast series will feature three additional Lideres sharing their insight on leadership topics in November. In addition, information and resources related to these leadership topics are available on www.MillerCoorsLideres.com.
Launched in 2006, Lideres provides visibility and resources to dozens of current and emerging leaders within the Hispanic community. In 2007, Lideres partnered with the Gallup Organization to host the Lideres Training Workshop series in six cities across the country. Nearly 500 individuals from 21 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico participated in these trainings.
In 2008, MillerCoors highlighted 12 Lideres through a national print advertising campaign. The hard work of these leaders has encouraged the next generation of leaders to improve their business skills, expand their networks and become leaders in their own right. Since 2006, Lideres has spotlighted nearly 60 Hispanic business, political and community leaders through a national advertising print campaign in major publications.
PRESS RELEASE
CHICAGO, Sept. 23 /PRNewswire/ -- In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15), MillerCoors launched today its 2009 Lideres program, which celebrates and fosters leadership in the Hispanic community. Each year, the program recognizes stand out Hispanic leaders, as well as the important work and contributions they are making in their communities.
"Through Lideres, MillerCoors hopes to inspire the next generation of Hispanic leaders, while showcasing those who are taking on leadership roles within their community," said Javier Soler, Regional Vice President & General Manager, MillerCoors.
This year, in addition to highlighting notable Hispanic leaders, MillerCoors is launching a new Lideres podcast series on MillerCoorsLideres.com. The company asked past Lideres to share their experiences related to leadership and personal and professional development which will be available for download from the website providing a more interactive leadership development tool for visitors.
The Lideres podcast series will offer a variety of topics with high profile national Hispanic leaders, including:
* Community Service and Volunteerism - Betty and Roberto Cordova, known as "Team Cordova," are husband and wife educators based in Greeley, Colorado, who are actively involved in local organizations, including their local League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) chapter. In a time when the country has a renewed commitment to community service, these veteran volunteers will share tips on how volunteering can help you hone your leadership skills while still making a difference in your community.
* Role of Social Media in Professional Development - Octavio Hinojosa is the executive director of the Congressional Hispanic Leadership Institute (CHLI), an organization dedicated to advancing Americans of Hispanic and Portuguese descent. In response to today's demand for social media networks like Facebook and Linked-in, Hinojosa will share the top ways social media also serves as a networking tool to further leadership development.
* Interview and Job Seeking Tips - Carlos Orta is the executive director of the Hispanic Association for Corporate Responsibility (HACR), an advocacy organization that advances the inclusion of Hispanics in Corporate America. For people looking to break through today's tough job market, Orta will share his top eight interview do's and don'ts.
Team Cordova, Hinojosa and Orta were recognized as Lideres in 2008 and 2007 by MillerCoors.
The Lideres podcast series will feature three additional Lideres sharing their insight on leadership topics in November. In addition, information and resources related to these leadership topics are available on www.MillerCoorsLideres.com.
Launched in 2006, Lideres provides visibility and resources to dozens of current and emerging leaders within the Hispanic community. In 2007, Lideres partnered with the Gallup Organization to host the Lideres Training Workshop series in six cities across the country. Nearly 500 individuals from 21 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico participated in these trainings.
In 2008, MillerCoors highlighted 12 Lideres through a national print advertising campaign. The hard work of these leaders has encouraged the next generation of leaders to improve their business skills, expand their networks and become leaders in their own right. Since 2006, Lideres has spotlighted nearly 60 Hispanic business, political and community leaders through a national advertising print campaign in major publications.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Latino recognized for environmental work
Latino to receive award for work in Environmental Justice
The Latino Journal E-News, August 24, 2009
In 2008, Congress deliberated a bill called the "No Child Left Inside Act" which would encourage the development and inclusion of curriculum for children to learn the importance of conserving and preserving the environment. It received bipartisan support, passing with a vote of 293 for and 109 against.
This new Act could not have passed without the leadership and commitment of Alberto "Abby" Ybarra, whose coordinating efforts brought people together from all walks of life. The Coalition established was comprised of more than 745 member organizations, with a minimum of one from each of the 50 states, representing well over 40 million people.
Because of his leadership in the passage of the No Child Left Inside Act and his continued activities in California and Maryland, where he taught children the importance of conserving and protecting the environment, Ybarra will be the first Latino to have the honor of being bestowed with the "Rosa Parks and Grace Lee Boggs Outstanding Service Award."
The Rosa Parks and Grace Lee Boggs Outstanding Service Award is presented annually to an individual in recognition of their leadership to educate about and promote action that addresses environmental justice concerns at the local, regional, or global levels. The award recognizes a person that demonstrates the values and inner strength of Rosa Parks and Grace Lee Boggs. These individuals were unwilling to stand by as they and others suffered injustices because of their skin color or heritage. Rosa Parks worked tirelessly to address social injustices while Grace Lee Boggs continues working to remedy environmental injustices at 90+ years of age.
Ybarra is being recognized for making significant contributions to working with and addressing environmental concerns of culturally diverse communities, including:
* Used environmental issues or situations for motivating culturally diverse youth to reach their highest potential by providing them with hands-on experiences that build practical day-to-day life skills.
* Used environmental education for empowering community residents to address local environmental concerns.
* Dedication to service and leadership that encourages the participation of multicultural audiences in environmental education.
* Made visible contributions in environmental education by promoting diversity and justice through research, innovations, curricula, legislation, publications, activism, or advocacy.
* Demonstrated excellence in educating the public about environmental issues as they relate to social justice, health and well-being, and environmental justice through print, electronic, or visual media.
Historically, environmental education has not recognized the education efforts of persons working on the social (environmental health, environmental justice) and economic (poverty, jobs) components of sustainability. In part this is because environmental educators in developed countries have tended to focus on nature education, which is a much more limited perspective than how environmental education is defined in the 1977 Tbilisi Declaration. Furthermore, many of the people working in these areas are persons of color, and the environmental education field has under recognized their leadership and achievements thus far. To help address this under-recognition the Rosa Parks and Grace Lee Boggs Award was established.
The Latino Journal congratulates Mr. Ybarra for his continued work in educating the young about conserving and preserving the environment.
The Latino Journal E-News, August 24, 2009
In 2008, Congress deliberated a bill called the "No Child Left Inside Act" which would encourage the development and inclusion of curriculum for children to learn the importance of conserving and preserving the environment. It received bipartisan support, passing with a vote of 293 for and 109 against.
This new Act could not have passed without the leadership and commitment of Alberto "Abby" Ybarra, whose coordinating efforts brought people together from all walks of life. The Coalition established was comprised of more than 745 member organizations, with a minimum of one from each of the 50 states, representing well over 40 million people.
Because of his leadership in the passage of the No Child Left Inside Act and his continued activities in California and Maryland, where he taught children the importance of conserving and protecting the environment, Ybarra will be the first Latino to have the honor of being bestowed with the "Rosa Parks and Grace Lee Boggs Outstanding Service Award."
The Rosa Parks and Grace Lee Boggs Outstanding Service Award is presented annually to an individual in recognition of their leadership to educate about and promote action that addresses environmental justice concerns at the local, regional, or global levels. The award recognizes a person that demonstrates the values and inner strength of Rosa Parks and Grace Lee Boggs. These individuals were unwilling to stand by as they and others suffered injustices because of their skin color or heritage. Rosa Parks worked tirelessly to address social injustices while Grace Lee Boggs continues working to remedy environmental injustices at 90+ years of age.
Ybarra is being recognized for making significant contributions to working with and addressing environmental concerns of culturally diverse communities, including:
* Used environmental issues or situations for motivating culturally diverse youth to reach their highest potential by providing them with hands-on experiences that build practical day-to-day life skills.
* Used environmental education for empowering community residents to address local environmental concerns.
* Dedication to service and leadership that encourages the participation of multicultural audiences in environmental education.
* Made visible contributions in environmental education by promoting diversity and justice through research, innovations, curricula, legislation, publications, activism, or advocacy.
* Demonstrated excellence in educating the public about environmental issues as they relate to social justice, health and well-being, and environmental justice through print, electronic, or visual media.
Historically, environmental education has not recognized the education efforts of persons working on the social (environmental health, environmental justice) and economic (poverty, jobs) components of sustainability. In part this is because environmental educators in developed countries have tended to focus on nature education, which is a much more limited perspective than how environmental education is defined in the 1977 Tbilisi Declaration. Furthermore, many of the people working in these areas are persons of color, and the environmental education field has under recognized their leadership and achievements thus far. To help address this under-recognition the Rosa Parks and Grace Lee Boggs Award was established.
The Latino Journal congratulates Mr. Ybarra for his continued work in educating the young about conserving and preserving the environment.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Hispanic group offers free school supplies
Hispanic association's fair to offer free school supplies
By FRANK FERNANDEZ, News Journal Online, August 13, 2009
DELTONA -- Need free back-to-school stuff, including backpacks, notebooks, pencils, haircuts and immunizations for your little Albert Einstein or Madame Curie?
The Volusia County Hispanic Association is sponsoring a back-to-school fair Saturday where kids can get school supplies and more at no cost while supplies last, said David Santiago, a member of the association's fair organizing team.
The event was a big success last year and the group only expects it to get bigger, Santiago said.
"We certainly expect a large turnout this year, given the economic conditions," he said. "We are worried that we are not going to be able to serve everyone that will show up, but we are going to do our best."
The turnout was so large last year at the Harris M. Saxon Community Center that the fair has been moved to Wes Crile Park at Norbert Terrace and Fort Smith Boulevard in Deltona to have more room, Santiago said.
"It's one of our most rewarding events because it's where people come out and get everything for free," he said.
Parents whose children need immunizations must bring the child's immunization records. The shots won't be given at the park but at a nearby Volusia County Health Department clinic.
Santiago said organizers didn't want to mix fun with needles.
"We didn't want to make it intimidating for the kids to see people getting shots," he said.
While the event starts at 10 a.m., Santiago recommends people arrive early since he said the freebies will be given out only while supplies last. Lines formed early last year.
While the Volusia County Hispanic Association is sponsoring the event, you don't have to speak Spanish to attend, said the organization's president, Carlos Rivera.
"It's open to anyone," Rivera said.
Rivera said lots of parents will probably want their kids to take advantage of free haircuts, to be provided by stylists from Platinum Styles in Deltona and by students from Daytona State College.
"It saves a lot of money," Rivera said.
frank.fernandez@news-jrnl.com
By FRANK FERNANDEZ, News Journal Online, August 13, 2009
DELTONA -- Need free back-to-school stuff, including backpacks, notebooks, pencils, haircuts and immunizations for your little Albert Einstein or Madame Curie?
The Volusia County Hispanic Association is sponsoring a back-to-school fair Saturday where kids can get school supplies and more at no cost while supplies last, said David Santiago, a member of the association's fair organizing team.
The event was a big success last year and the group only expects it to get bigger, Santiago said.
"We certainly expect a large turnout this year, given the economic conditions," he said. "We are worried that we are not going to be able to serve everyone that will show up, but we are going to do our best."
The turnout was so large last year at the Harris M. Saxon Community Center that the fair has been moved to Wes Crile Park at Norbert Terrace and Fort Smith Boulevard in Deltona to have more room, Santiago said.
"It's one of our most rewarding events because it's where people come out and get everything for free," he said.
Parents whose children need immunizations must bring the child's immunization records. The shots won't be given at the park but at a nearby Volusia County Health Department clinic.
Santiago said organizers didn't want to mix fun with needles.
"We didn't want to make it intimidating for the kids to see people getting shots," he said.
While the event starts at 10 a.m., Santiago recommends people arrive early since he said the freebies will be given out only while supplies last. Lines formed early last year.
While the Volusia County Hispanic Association is sponsoring the event, you don't have to speak Spanish to attend, said the organization's president, Carlos Rivera.
"It's open to anyone," Rivera said.
Rivera said lots of parents will probably want their kids to take advantage of free haircuts, to be provided by stylists from Platinum Styles in Deltona and by students from Daytona State College.
"It saves a lot of money," Rivera said.
frank.fernandez@news-jrnl.com
Hispanic online education moves to next step
Partners for Digital Equality (PDE), The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) and the National Hispanic University (NHU) Announce Strategic Alliance
PRESS RELEASE
ATLANTA, Aug. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Partners for Digital Equality(TM) (PDE), The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) and The National Hispanic University (NHU), a HACU member higher learning institution, today announced a strategic alliance to support initiatives funded through broadband stimulus funds that will educate and empower Hispanics, other minorities, women, and the underserved in the communities surrounding HACU member institutions.
"Today's announcement represents a significant leap forward in our roll-out of programming for Hispanic audiences across the nation," said Partners for Digital Equality Chairman Julius H. Hollis (Mr. Hollis is also Chairman of The Alliance for Digital Equality(TM), a 501(c) 4 consumer advocacy organization). "There's great strength in partnerships and we could not have selected better allies to help extend our reach into the educational sector."
"The digital divide remains a major stumbling block for minorities to prepare themselves for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields that are vital to our nation's future," said HACU President and CEO Dr. Antonio Flores. "Through this strategic alliance with Partners for Digital Equality(TM), we aim to build STEM capacity at our member institutions and to enhance their students' and communities' access to online technologies."
In addition, The Partners for Digital Equality(TM) and The National Hispanic University's goal is to implement specially designed projects which provide early childhood development and K-12 online tutorials, GED and Workforce development training, in addition to virtual language translation (Spanish to English) online applications for education and workforce- related initiatives.
Dr. Lopez, President of NHU said, "The National Hispanic University and Partners for Digital Equality(TM) will partner and take the leadership role in developing and teaching Latino families about the usage and ownership of technology. Given that the majority of students in California public schools are Latinos our effort is not only a moral imperative but an economic reality. The digital divide for Latinos in California must be closed if we are to remain nationally and globally competitive."
PRESS RELEASE
ATLANTA, Aug. 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Partners for Digital Equality(TM) (PDE), The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) and The National Hispanic University (NHU), a HACU member higher learning institution, today announced a strategic alliance to support initiatives funded through broadband stimulus funds that will educate and empower Hispanics, other minorities, women, and the underserved in the communities surrounding HACU member institutions.
"Today's announcement represents a significant leap forward in our roll-out of programming for Hispanic audiences across the nation," said Partners for Digital Equality Chairman Julius H. Hollis (Mr. Hollis is also Chairman of The Alliance for Digital Equality(TM), a 501(c) 4 consumer advocacy organization). "There's great strength in partnerships and we could not have selected better allies to help extend our reach into the educational sector."
"The digital divide remains a major stumbling block for minorities to prepare themselves for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields that are vital to our nation's future," said HACU President and CEO Dr. Antonio Flores. "Through this strategic alliance with Partners for Digital Equality(TM), we aim to build STEM capacity at our member institutions and to enhance their students' and communities' access to online technologies."
In addition, The Partners for Digital Equality(TM) and The National Hispanic University's goal is to implement specially designed projects which provide early childhood development and K-12 online tutorials, GED and Workforce development training, in addition to virtual language translation (Spanish to English) online applications for education and workforce- related initiatives.
Dr. Lopez, President of NHU said, "The National Hispanic University and Partners for Digital Equality(TM) will partner and take the leadership role in developing and teaching Latino families about the usage and ownership of technology. Given that the majority of students in California public schools are Latinos our effort is not only a moral imperative but an economic reality. The digital divide for Latinos in California must be closed if we are to remain nationally and globally competitive."
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Latino History resource is full of activities
A Kid's Guide to Latino History
Jeff Rivera, MEDIA BISTRO, Aug 10, 2009
Valerie Petrillo's A Kid's Guide to Latino History is my choice for the day's Book of Color Pick of the Day. A resource to be used in the classroom, A Kid's Guide to Latino History is chock full of over 50 activities designed to teach children about the people, experiences, and events that helped shaped Hispanic American History. The book is divided into sections, each dedicated to covering the descendants of the separate countries, Spanish colonial history, immigration, and much more. Children are also given a hands-on experience by engaging in one of the many activities listed throughout the book.
Valerie Petrillo is also the author of A Kid's Guide to Asian American History and Sailors, Whalers, Fantastic Sea Voyages: An Activity Guide to North American Sailing Life. She lives in Andover, Massachusetts.
Valerie Petrillo's A Kid's Guide to Latino History is my choice for the day’s Book of Color Pick of the Day. A resource to be used in the classroom, A Kid's Guide to Latino History is chock full of over 50 activities designed to teach children about the people, experiences, and events that helped shaped Hispanic American History. The book is divided into sections, each dedicated to covering the descendants of the separate countries, Spanish colonial history, immigration, and much more. Children are also given a hands-on experience by engaging in one of the many activities listed throughout the book.
Valerie Petrillo is also the author of A Kid's Guide to Asian American History and Sailors, Whalers, Fantastic Sea Voyages: An Activity Guide to North American Sailing Life. She lives in Andover, Massachusetts.
Jeff Rivera is the author of "Forever My Lady" and the founder of GumboWriters.com.
Jeff Rivera, MEDIA BISTRO, Aug 10, 2009
Valerie Petrillo's A Kid's Guide to Latino History is my choice for the day's Book of Color Pick of the Day. A resource to be used in the classroom, A Kid's Guide to Latino History is chock full of over 50 activities designed to teach children about the people, experiences, and events that helped shaped Hispanic American History. The book is divided into sections, each dedicated to covering the descendants of the separate countries, Spanish colonial history, immigration, and much more. Children are also given a hands-on experience by engaging in one of the many activities listed throughout the book.
Valerie Petrillo is also the author of A Kid's Guide to Asian American History and Sailors, Whalers, Fantastic Sea Voyages: An Activity Guide to North American Sailing Life. She lives in Andover, Massachusetts.
Valerie Petrillo's A Kid's Guide to Latino History is my choice for the day’s Book of Color Pick of the Day. A resource to be used in the classroom, A Kid's Guide to Latino History is chock full of over 50 activities designed to teach children about the people, experiences, and events that helped shaped Hispanic American History. The book is divided into sections, each dedicated to covering the descendants of the separate countries, Spanish colonial history, immigration, and much more. Children are also given a hands-on experience by engaging in one of the many activities listed throughout the book.
Valerie Petrillo is also the author of A Kid's Guide to Asian American History and Sailors, Whalers, Fantastic Sea Voyages: An Activity Guide to North American Sailing Life. She lives in Andover, Massachusetts.
Jeff Rivera is the author of "Forever My Lady" and the founder of GumboWriters.com.
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