Every Day is Magic: Ada Limón

In her 2015 collection, Bright Dead Things, a National Book Award finalist for poetry, Ada Limón writes of moving to Kentucky: “Confession: I did not want to live here.” It’s perhaps not a surprising sentiment coming from a coastally oriented person who was raised in Northern California, attended college in Seattle, and then spent over a decade in New York City.

 

But Limón and her husband, Lucas, have been in Lexington for seven years now and the effects of settling into this place are noticeable in her new book, The Carrying (Milkweed, Aug.). It’s a phenomenally lively and attentive collection replete with the trappings of living a little closer to nature. While Bright Dead Things is marked by a preponderance of light, such as images of fireflies and neon signs, The Carrying features numerous appearances by various trees, birds, and beetles. Limón also demonstrates a greater willingness to be explicit in naming colors, particularly green. “It’s crazy green, the whole book,” she says. “Lexington is the greenest place I’ve ever lived.” Similarly, where in Bright Dead Things, Limón tells a lot of stories and anecdotes, in The Carrying she is very present in her thoughts and experiences.

As it turns out, these shifts in focus have another, altogether unexpected source. While putting Bright Dead Things together, Limón was diagnosed with chronic vestibular neuronitis, which can cause bouts of vertigo. “If I’m really having vertigo, it’s pretty intense and I really have to focus,”
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Health

Activists’ network in Mexico helps U.S. women get abortions

“CHIHUAHUA, Mexico (AP) — Marcela Castro’s office in Chihuahua is more than 100 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, yet the distance doesn’t prevent her from assisting women in the United States in circumventing recently imposed bans on abortion.

From the headquarters of Marea Verde Chihuahua, an organization that has supported reproductive rights in northern Mexico since 2018, Castro and her colleagues provide virtual guidance, as well as shipments of abortion pills for women who want to terminate a pregnancy on their own…”

https://www.metro.us/activists-network-in-mexico-helps-u-s-women-get-abortions/

Dominican Health Professionals Commit to ‘Rise Up and Shine’ Read more at: https://adventistreview.org/news/dominican-health-professionals-commit-to-rise-up-and-shine/

“…More than a hundred physicians, bio-analysts, nurses, psychologists, physical therapists, pharmacologists, nutritionists, and other health professionals networked, enjoyed various learning experiences, took part in spiritual reflections, and impacted the community.

The event included specialized topic presentations by Franck Généus, health ministries director for the Inter-American Division of the Adventist Church; Chiapas Mexican Union health ministries director Faustino de los Santos; and North Mexican Union health ministries director Roel Cea. Cea also coordinates health ministries at Montemorelos University…”

https://adventistreview.org/news/dominican-health-professionals-commit-to-rise-up-and-shine/

 

Chicano/a studies chair Aída Hurtado named a fellow of American Education Research Association

“…Hurtado is among 24 individuals named to the 2023 AERA Fellows Program which honors scholars for their exceptional contributions to education research. Her work has focused on intersectional feminisms, particularly the effects of gender on educational success. In a novel way, she has looked at educational achievement with a focus on Latinas and Chicanas, ultimately disproving the idea that traditional Latino families just want their children to get married and have more children…”

https://www.news.ucsb.edu/2023/020868/marching-ahead?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Marching%20Ahead&utm_campaign=March%2016%2C%202023

Explainer: What is the US-Mexico GM corn dispute about?

“…March 8 (Reuters) – The U.S. has requested formal trade consultations with Mexico over the Latin American country’s plans to restrict imports of genetically modified corn.

The North American neighbors will inch closer to a full-blown trade dispute under the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade (USMCA) if there is no resolution during the talks, which Mexico says will last one month.

-old native varieties and has questioned their impact on human health….”

https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/what-is-us-mexico-gm-corn-dispute-about-2023-03-08/

This Mexican Activist Is Helping Americans Defy Abortion Bans, Time Magazine Woman of the Year

“For Verónica Cruz Sánchez, the past year has felt like traveling back in time. Since 2000, Cruz’s feminist activist network, Las Libres, has transformed the experience of getting an abortion in Guanajuato, a deeply conservative Mexican state that had criminalized abortion in almost all circumstances. Cruz and her colleagues have worked to distribute misoprostol, a WHO-approved abortion pill, across Guanajuato, helping women feel confident in its safety, and inspiring similar networks in other Mexican states. But north of the border, the mood is more tense. “In the U.S., the women we see are terrified,” Cruz says. “They have very little knowledge about the pills.”…”

https://time.com/6259106/veronica-cruz-sanchez/

Letter to the Editor: UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences combats racial inequity

“…The medical school includes the development of a Social Medicine Collab that uses human-centered design to bring integrated mental health and primary care to youth-serving organizations in primarily Latino and Black neighborhoods in South LA, using cultural and athletic events as a platform…”

https://dailybruin.com/2023/02/26/letter-to-the-editor-ucla-department-of-psychiatry-and-biobehavioral-sciences-combats-racial-inequity

 

Politicians say they’ll stop fentanyl smugglers. Experts say new drug war won’t work

“…Even if China and Mexico were willing or able to help fight the cartels, stopping fentanyl smugglers would still be incredibly difficult.

The U.S. is actually seizing record amounts of fentanyl in drug busts, but the drug is so cheap to manufacture, the cartels just make more.

That doesn’t mean the fentanyl crisis is hopeless. According to Trone, a more promising strategy is to focus on reducing American hunger for drugs.

“That’s the only chance we’ve got,” he said. “Without the Mexican government’s help, without the Chinese government’s help, we can’t win [against the smugglers]. So we have to go on the demand side, work on all the things with education, work on treatment, work on prevention.”…”

https://www.gpb.org/news/2023/02/21/politicians-say-theyll-stop-fentanyl-smugglers-experts-say-new-drug-war-wont-work

Stark warning Britain may be on brink of becoming a ZOMBIELAND: Experts fear explosion of fentanyl — a drug 50 times stronger than heroin which has ravaged America — as Mexican cartels seek to reap billions from an untapped European market

“Britain faces being gripped by its own fentanyl epidemic, according to experts who fear that the devastating zombie-esque scenes plaguing US cities are coming soon to a high street near you.

EU drug enforcement chiefs believe that Mexican cartels are seeking to expand their billion-dollar empire beyond American shores, putting Europe’s untapped market in their crosshairs…”https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11727627/Is-UK-brink-fentanyl-crisis.html

Study finds Mexican American stroke survivors were less likely to receive intensive rehab

“Mexican American stroke survivors in a South Texas study, were more likely to use less intensive forms of rehabilitation services than their non-Hispanic white peers, and nearly one-third of all the stroke survivors did not receive any rehabilitation within 90 days of their stroke, according to preliminary research to be presented at the American Stroke Association’s International Stroke Conference 2023. The meeting, to be held in person in Dallas and virtually Feb. 8-10, 2023, is a world premier meeting for researchers and clinicians dedicated to the science of stroke and brain health…”

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-02-mexican-american-survivors-intensive-rehab.html

 

How Black and Hispanic Americans view clinical trials

“…The views of Black and Hispanic adults on this question are especially notable because these Americans were underrepresented in clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines. Black and Hispanic participation in other kinds of clinical trials has often been too low to adequately assess whether new treatments are safe and effective across all racial and ethnic groups…”

https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/11/29/how-black-and-hispanic-americans-view-clinical-trials/?utm_source=Pew+Research+Center&utm_campaign=6be89ab57e-Weekly_2022_12_03&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-6be89ab57e-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

Opinion: Pursuing Greater Representation in Health Care

“According to the census report, more than 80% of the people who live in the El Paso metropolitan area identify as Hispanic. Yet Hispanic students are under-represented in health care education as reported by the Mexican American Hispanic Physician Association…”

https://goodmenproject.com/featured-content/opinion-pursuing-greater-representation-in-health-care/

Pursuing greater representation in health care

“According to the census report, more than 80% of the people who live in the El Paso metropolitan area identify as Hispanic.

Yet Hispanic students are underrepresented in health care education, as reported by the Mexican American Hispanic Physician Association.

Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare and the University of Texas at El Paso recently announced a new partnership that aims to improve that representation in advanced education…”

https://www.elpasoinc.com/news/local_news/pursuing-greater-representation-in-health-care/article_c02fd4f8-4d29-11ed-8b53-efb548c22930.html

HACR Partnership Helps Medtronic Develop Hispanic Talent

“NORTHAMPTON. MA / ACCESSWIRE / September 29, 2022 / Alina Vargas had leadership goals from the moment she began her career at Medtronic more than six years ago. But her road to success has been winding. Vargas knew she had the skills and the willingness to lead but was sometimes challenged by the Hispanic cultural norms she grew up with. They didn’t always translate in a corporate setting.

“Cultural aspects of leadership can be very different,” Vargas said. “I wouldn’t speak up as much as others or call attention to myself.”

Her role with Medtronic was her first American corporate job, coming after an eight-year career at a company in Switzerland. That shift made the Mexican-born professional unsure about how to navigate the corporate world. “The shift to working with people who didn’t understand me, my culture,” she said. “It was the first time I realized that I was different.”…

https://www.yahoo.com/now/hacr-partnership-helps-medtronic-develop-121500788.html

 

2 Hispanic Americans Speak Out About Dementia in Their Communities

“Tony Gonzales is proud of his heritage as a third-generation Mexican American, but it wasn’t until he was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment in 2021, at age 47, that he learned that Hispanic Americans are at higher risk for cognitive decline compared with those of other racial and ethnic groups….”

https://www.everydayhealth.com/alzheimers-disease/two-hispanic-americans-speak-out-about-dementia-in-their-communities/

Report: Cuban Doctors Brought to Mexico Work in Slavery Conditions

“…A REPORT by the NGO Prisoners Defenders assured on Thursday that the members of the Cuban medical missions, which include 650 health professionals sent to Mexico, work in conditions of “slavery” and that 80% of their salaries are stolen by the authorities of the regime…”

https://elamerican.com/report-cuban-doctors-brought-to-mexico-work-in-slavery-conditions/

Mexican professionals provide health care in tragedy in Cuba

‘ “As part of the aid provided by the Mexican Government to deal with the damage caused by the fire at the Supertanker Base, 10 medical professionals from Mexico’s National Defense Secretariat arrived in Matanzas on Sunday,” Cuban Public Health Minister Jose Angel Portal said.

“Upon receiving them in Matanzas, we updated them on the situation in the province, exchanged experiences for the care of this type of injuries and explained the organization of the National Health System,” Portal wrote on his Twitter account…”

https://www.plenglish.com/news/2022/08/08/mexican-professionals-provide-health-care-in-tragedy-in-cuba/

 

With Lack of Opportunities for Mexican Doctors, Should They Join the Export Revolution?

“The outlook is pretty dim for doctors working in Mexico. The job market offers limited opportunities for health professionals in the country, who believe that only through policy support from the federal government, things will then turn positive.

Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador got grilled in early May after announcing the hiring of 500 Cuban health professionals to be enrolled into the ranks of the country’s public health system. López Obrador claimed it as a necessary measure to combat Mexico’s deficit of health specialists, but doctors and universities argued otherwise, pointing to the long lines of unemployed nationals who wait for a shot at working in one of the country’s several public health institutions..”

https://nearshoreamericas.com/with-lack-of-opportunities-for-mexican-doctors-should-they-join-the-export-revolution/.

Study associates affirmative action bans with decreases in medical school diversity

“…The authors analyzed the diversity of 21 public schools in eight states with affirmative action bans and compared them to 32 public universities in 24 states that have no bans, Ly said. UCLA, UC San Francisco and the University of Michigan were some of the institutions examined in the study, he added.

Although he had hypothesized that state bans would reduce the diversity of medical schools, Ly said he was surprised to find that enrollment of underrepresented students had decreased by more than one-third of its pre-ban amount within five years…”

https://dailybruin.com/2022/05/16/study-associates-affirmative-action-bans-with-decrease-in-medical-school-diversity

 

Mexican border town sees an increase in sales of abortion drugs to women from the US

‘Since Texas passed a strict anti-abortion law in September, more and more women along the southern border have been going to unregulated pharmacies in Mexico to get abortion pills. Border health professionals fear the Mexican pharmacies have become a last resort for some women. Observers say it’s a sign of what’s to come if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.

The main street of Nuevo Progreso, Mexico — just across the sluggish Rio Grande from Weslaco, Texas — is a chaotic border bazaar that caters to American day-trippers looking for bargains and exotica. The street is packed with businesses that sell prescription eyeglasses, dental care, switchblades, tequila shots, statues of ghoulish drug saints and over-the-counter medicine.

You can buy many medications in Mexican pharmacies without a prescription, including the pills that have transformed the way women are ending pregnancies. Today, more than half of all abortions in the United States are achieved by what’s called a medication abortion, as opposed to a traditional surgical abortion…”

https://www.npr.org/2022/05/09/1097210654/mexican-border-town-sees-an-increase-in-sales-of-abortion-drugs-to-women-from-th

 

CO2 GRO Inc. and Mexico Partner Rancho Nexo to Exhibit at GreenTech Americas in Mexico April 27-29, 2022 Read more: https://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/co2-gro-inc-and-mexico-partner-rancho-nexo-to-exhibit-at-greentech-americas-in-mexico-april-27-29-2022

TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / April 21, 2022 / Toronto-based CO2 GRO Inc. (“GROW” or the “Company“) (TSX.V:GROW)(OTCQB:BLONF)(Frankfurt:4021) is pleased to announce CO2 GRO and their Mexico marketing and sales partner, Rancho Nexo will be exhibiting CO2 Delivery Solutions™technology at the GreenTech Americas Conference hosted in Queretaro Centro de Congresos QRO, Mexico from April 27-29, 2022. This is the second edition of the GreenTech Americas Conference designed for all professionals involved in horticultural technology in Mexico and the Latin America region. The exhibition focuses on the front-end of the horticultural production chain.


  

Poem
“…And would it have been worth it, after all,
Would it have been worth while,
After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor—
And this, and so much more?—
It is impossible to say just what I mean!
But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen:
Would it have been worth while…”

T.S. Eliot
The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Mexican American Proarchive Annual Report for 2022

The American Community Survey is an annual survey administered by the federal government to help local officials and community leaders and businesses understand the changes that take place in their communities. It includes percentages of our population’s graduate school attainment and the employment of Mexican Americans in various occupations.  These important factors influence the allocation of federal resources. Mexican American Proarchives uses the data provided by the American Community Survey to better understand how Mexican Americans compare to the general population.

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