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,”
Read More…
Criminal Violence in Mexico
“…AMLO’s tactics have largely failed to curb violence. Though homicide rates have dropped marginally, the country still reports over thirty thousand crime-related deaths per year. Mexico’s 2021 midterm elections were its most violent in decades, attacks on journalists rose to record highs, and anti-corruption reforms have floundered…”
https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/criminal-violence-mexico
Stanford Law Dean Inspires Students Interested in Studying Law October 6, 2020 By Stephanie Ashe
“…The award was presented to Martinez during the HNBF’s virtual Future Latino Leaders Summer Law Institute that took place July 14-16, 2020. The program was designed to inspire students to pursue careers in law and provided an opportunity for the sixty high school attendees from across the country to engage with Latinx leaders in academic, corporate and judicial roles. During her acceptance of the award and a Q&A with students, Martinez talked about her experiences in law school and practicing law and the importance of the rule of law in civil society…”
https://law.stanford.edu/press/stanford-law-dean-inspires-students-interested-in-studying-law/
How Latino health care may suffer after Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling
“…They found a concerning lack of diversity in the country’s health workforce. While Mexican Americans make up the largest Latino subpopulation and nearly 11% of the country’s workforce, they make up less than 2% of physicians…”
Mexican president taps UN veteran Barcena to be foreign minister
“MEXICO CITY, June 13 (Reuters) – Mexico’s president on Tuesday picked veteran U.N. diplomat Alicia Barcena to be the country’s new foreign minister after the incumbent resigned to campaign for the leftist ruling party’s candidacy in next year’s presidential election.
A trained biologist, Barcena served for nearly 14 years as executive secretary of the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), and has been Mexico’s ambassador to Chile since last September…”
Buttigieg to meet Mexico’s president, aviation rating in the air
“MEXICO CITY/WASHINGTON, June 7 (Reuters) – U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg traveled to Mexico on Wednesday to meet with the country’s president and cabinet members to discuss transportation, as Mexico awaits U.S. approval to regain a coveted air safety rating.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said talks would center on his country’s efforts to recover the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Category 1 rating, which would allow Mexican airlines to open new U.S. routes..”
.
Waxing and Waning Relations Between the Jewish and Mexican-American Communities in Los Angeles
“…Beyond Alliances contains four biographical essays in rough chronological order. Genevieve Carpio wrote the first one about Jewish attorney David C. Marcus, one of whose most important clients was the Mexican Consulate in Los Angeles and whose second wife, Yrma, was a political refugee from Mexico and a devout Catholic. In 1943, he successfully defended the Bernals, a Mexican-American family whose Orange County neighbors wanted them evicted because their presence violated a racially restrictive housing covenant that stated that property should not be “used, leased, owned or occupied by any Mexicans or persons other than of the Caucasian race.” Five years before the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed racially restrictive covenants in Shelley v. Kraemer, Marcus was able to persuade the court that there was no such thing as a “Mexican race,” and that therefore the restriction was (in words that sounded like television’s Perry Mason objecting to D.A. Hamilton Berger’s question) “incompetent, irrelevant, and immaterial.” Marcus noted that the status of Mexicans as Caucasians had permitted him to marry Yrma, notwithstanding California’s laws that at that time had prohibited miscegenation. Furthermore, the restrictions went contrary to President Franklin Roosevelt’s “Good Neighbor Policy” with Latin America, which was part of the nation’s wartime defense fabric. The judge ruled in favor of the Bernals…”
Black And Mexican Americans Displaced From Palm Springs, California, Neighborhood Seeking Reparations
“Lawrence W. McFarland grew up on a parcel of land on a Native American reservation in Palm Springs, California. One day, the family was told to leave their home. As a little boy, McFarland, his mother, and his brother packed their belongings and moved to Cabezon, California.
McFarland told The Associated Press that his childhood home had been burned down and destroyed.
“We thought they were just cleaning up some of the old houses,” McFarland said to The AP.
In 2021, Palm Springs City Council voted to apologize to former residents for the city’s decision to displace them during the 1960s. The Native American reservation known as Section 14 was the home of Black and Mexican families, the outlet reports…”
Mexican kidnappers targeting American tourists have ‘no code’ curbing ruthlessness: expert
“Kidnapping Americans in Mexico was “a business” executed by professionals with a law enforcement or military background – and was more prevalent during the 1980s than any other time in history – renowned private investigator Jay Armes III told Fox News Digital.
Abductions were “run as operations” that targeted the elite and wealthy with average ransom demands of $25 million, and they kept the victim alive if the family paid up, he said. If they didn’t pay, the victim was dead…”
US-Visa-Online Offers E-Visa For All People.
“Us-Visa-Online is pleased to announce that we are now offering an online visa service for those traveling to the United States.This new service provides a convenient and hassle-free way to apply for a visa, and we are committed to providing our customers with the best possible experience.We have a team of experienced professionals who are available 24/7 to assist with any questions or concerns you may have.We believe that this new service will be a valuable resource for those planning to travel to the United States, and we are excited to offer it to our customers…”
https://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/news/us-visa-online-offers-e-visa-for-all-people-
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/
Latin America Roundup: Mexico, Colombia and Cuba press for Pan-American regulatory body
“A frequent post-pandemic theme among Latin American agencies has been coordination and harmonization among regional regulators.
Earlier this year the Mexican government formally backed the creation of a Latin American Medicines Agency, a pan-Latin America body modeled after the European Medicines Agency, that would “lead to health self-sufficiency and guarantee access to quality, safe and effective medicines for the region.” Mexico Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard cited the pandemic as a rationale for the effort, noting that “we do not want to forget the lessons of the pandemic … we risk facing something similar again at any moment.”
The push toward a regional super-agency is being spearheaded by Mexico’s Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks (COFEPRIS), with strong support from Colombia’s National Institute of Food and Drug Monitoring (INVIMA), and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC)…”
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.”…”
U.S. demands formal talks with Mexico over GMO corn dispute
“CHICAGO/WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) – The United States requested formal trade consultations with Mexico on Monday over U.S. objections to its southern neighbor’s plans to limit imports of genetically modified corn and other agricultural biotechnology products.
The U.S. Trade Representative’s office announced the request for technical talks after months of informal discussions with Mexican officials over their plans to ban GMO corn for human consumption failed to satisfy U.S. trade officials…”
Biden administration unveils broad asylum restrictions at U.S.-Mexico border
“…Under the new rules, migrants who do not schedule an appointment at a U.S. border port of entry or use humanitarian programs available to certain nationalities would be ineligible for asylum except in certain cases. They must also first seek and be denied protection in countries they pass through to be able to claim asylum once in the United States…”
Experts: Death of DPS agent at Texas-Mexico border was preventable
“At the top, the driver took a wide turn and ran off the road into a 3-foot ditch obscured by plants. As the truck tipped over, Salas slid and the vehicle landed on him. Several of the migrants were injured. Salas was airlifted to a San Antonio hospital where he died the next day…”
To advance ‘North American Idea,’ fortify bond between Canada, Mexico, experts say
“…Canada could also be taking a more active role in working with Mexico to protect against some of the threats to democracy that exist in Latin American countries like Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba, Boehm added.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s last day in Mexico City was dedicated entirely to reinforcing ties with Mexico, beginning with a speech to business leaders that portrayed Canada as a free-trade champion and a wise place to invest.
Already, foreign direct investment in Canada in the last year has fuelled the growth of electric vehicle manufacturing and critical minerals development that has created some 17,000 jobs, Trudeau told his audience…”
Monthly encounters with migrants at U.S.-Mexico border remain near record highs
“The number of monthly migrant encounters had fallen to 16,182 – the second-lowest total in more than 20 years – in April 2020, shortly after the coronavirus outbreak forced the closure of the southwestern border and slowed migration across much of the world.
But encounters with migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border have soared since then, with 206,239 reported in November 2022, according to the latest available monthly data from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the federal agency that encompasses the Border Patrol. Recent monthly totals far exceed the peak reached during the last major wave of migration at the U.S.-Mexico border in May 2019 and are roughly on par with the previous peak reached in March 2000…”
Mexico City, “fragile sanctuary” for South American journalists threatened with death
“On the fourth floor of a discreet building in southern Mexico, a door opens: “My life depends on your silence”warns Ezequiel Flores Contreras, inviting The world to enter this apartment without stamp. The tense smile, this reporter for the investigative weekly Process firmly holds the collar of a large, short-haired St. Hubert who serves as her guard dog. Like him, dozens of journalists threatened with death across Mexico took refuge in the capital. The gigantism of this megalopolis of more than 22 million inhabitants offers, at first sight, a form of protective anonymity in the deadliest country in the world for media professionals…”
As ‘Three Amigos’ meet in Mexico, experts call on leaders for North American vision
“With Canadian and Mexican manufacturers added in the 11th hour to Biden’s plan to encourage the sale of climate-friendly electric vehicles, there will be room to talk about more familiar irritants like trade disputes and U.S. protectionism…
…As a country that’s not immune to the influences of irregular migration and the flow of fentanyl at the U.S.-Mexico border, Canada will need to be part of that conversation as well, one that’s widely expected to dominate the agenda…”
