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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Social Sciences

Flecha Azul Tequila Leads the Additive-Free Tequila Movement Abroad Launching in Australia

“Founded by Mexican-American professional golfer Abraham Ancer and Mexican entrepreneur Aron Marquez and backed by entrepreneur, actor, and producer Mark Wahlberg, the tequila is crafted from 100% Blue Weber Agave that is always harvested at full maturity and produced according to traditional methods at Orendain Distillery in Jalisco, Mexico.

“I’m here to shine the spotlight on the guys who are authentically creating additive-free tequila that’s of real quality and is true to its Mexican roots. Over my next few months in Australia, I look forward to dropping into local liquor stores, having a drink at some of Sydney’s best tequila bars and signing plenty…”

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240313591138/en/Flecha-Azul-Tequila-Leads-the-Additive-Free-Tequila-Movement-Abroad-Launching-in-Australia

Choir School of Delaware set to celebrate Mexican-American culture with Chicana Collaborative

“…Embracing and celebrating Latinx culture, this free event will include authentic Mexican cuisine, selections from a new Cuban-led musical, Aztec dancing, poetry written by Chicana poets and a panel discussion centered around what it means to be Chicana in the United States…”

https://udreview.com/choir-school-of-delaware-set-to-celebrate-mexican-american-culture-with-chicana-collaborative/

Views on the importance of language to national identity

“…Opinions are strongest in Hungary, Indonesia and the Netherlands, where 96% say speaking the most common language is important, and at least six-in-ten say it is very important. High shares echo this sentiment in Brazil and Kenya, where around three-quarters or more say it is very important. Even in the U.S. – where people are the least likely to place importance on speaking the most common language –…”

https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2024/01/18/views-on-the-importance-of-language-to-national-identity/?utm_source=Pew+Research+Center&utm_campaign=fc5b5c3b86-Weekly_1-20-24&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-fc5b5c3b86-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

Mexican Journalist Granted US Asylum After 15-Year Journey

Emilio Gutierrez Soto came to the National Press Club on Wednesday with a message of gratitude. Press freedom advocates came with a call to action.

The 60-year-old journalist fled with his son to the U.S.-Mexico border in 2008 seeking asylum after receiving death threats because of his reporting on Mexican military corruption.

After 15 years, the Board of Immigration Appeals ruled in favor of Gutierrez Soto.

He still needs to go in front of an immigration judge in March 2024 to receive his asylum papers, but his immigration lawyer said his case has been resolved…”

https://www.voanews.com/a/mexican-journalist-granted-us-asylum-after-15-year-journey/7379094.html

UCLA Spanish course explores culture through sensory experience

“…Cohen, a continuing lecturer in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, said he created the course Spanish M172XP: “Topics in Community Engagement: Cine Vivo: Community-Engaged Sensory Ethnography” to teach students about topics in community engagement, specifically within the field of sensory ethnography.

Sensory ethnography is the study of cultural and social interactions often through visual media to capture sensory data including sight, touch, smell, taste and sound. Throughout the quarter, students form groups to create a film project capturing the images and sounds of the human experience in Latino communities in Los Angeles…”

https://dailybruin.com/2023/11/24/ucla-spanish-course-explores-culture-through-sensory-experience

A Mexican American professor who struggled with impostor phenomenon helps others overcome it

“…Like many people of similar backgrounds who she meets through her research, Gutiérrez suffers from the affliction commonly known asimpostor phenomenon, a condition that Gutiérrez refers to as “impostorization.” It’s the uneasy, ever-present sensation that you’re a fraud, your successes aren’t deserved, and it’s only a matter of time before you’re unmasked as the failure you truly are.

Typically, and ironically, it tends to afflict high achievers. In the United States, impostorization also tends disproportionately to affect women, people of color and immigrants or their offspring…”

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-11-20/a-mexican-american-professor-struggled-with-impostor-phenomenon-now-she-helps-others-overcome-it

Undocu Open House highlights support systems for students without legal status

“…“For a lot of undocumented students, the biggest concern in terms of pursuing higher education has to do with financial aid and funding,” Moreno said. “Even though we have the California DREAM Act and AB 540 legislation, there are still a lot of students who are left out.”

According to the California Student Aid Commission, the California DREAM Act allows eligible students, including students without legal status, to pay in-state tuition at any public college in California and receive certain types of financial aid. Under California law Assembly Bill 540, eligible nonresident students who meet certain criteria can be exempt from paying nonresident supplemental tuition, according to the UC admissions website…”

https://dailybruin.com/2023/11/07/undocu-open-house-highlights-support-systems-for-students-without-legal-status

Mexican and Cuban experts to discuss diversification of the sugar agroindustry

“HAVANA, Cuba, Nov 3 (ACN) Experts and specialists of the Associations of Sugar Technicians of Cuba and Mexico (ATAC-ATAM) are meeting today in Havana for their 7th meeting on the flexibility and diversification of the sugar agribusiness in their countries and also in Brazil.

The deliberations will be held at the National Sugar Training Center, starting from the consideration of aspects common to their respective managements, especially for a space for analysis, reflection and exchange of experiences, ATAC reported exclusively to the Cuban News Agency.

Mainly, it added, to contribute to the reorientation and development of the productive chains of co-products and derivatives, in an efficient and effective way in the current conditions, taking into account the requirements of sugarcane agriculture that supports it…”

http://www.cubanews.acn.cu/economy/22843-mexican-and-cuban-experts-to-discuss-diversification-of-the-sugar-agroindustry

Meet the fellows: UC President’s and Chancellor’s postdoctoral fellows begin new award year

“Julio Orellana, English

President’s Postdoctoral Fellow  

A child of Guatemalan migrants who left Guatemala under dire structural conditions, Orellana joins UC Santa Barbara with a doctorate from UC Riverside. His research in Central American studies looks at forced migration in Guatemala.

“The study examines Guatemalan labor migrants from various racial and ethnic backgrounds, primarily Maya and mestizo/a/x ladino/a/x,” he said. “My family was part of these large migration streams that arrived in the U.S. beginning in the late 1960s and throughout the 1980s and 1990s during Guatemala’s 36-year civil war. People were forced to leave Guatemala for various reasons including those in search of dignified material conditions, along with those fleeing political violence, persecution and in the case of Mayan communities, state sponsored genocide.”…”

https://news.ucsb.edu/2023/021248/meet-fellows-uc-presidents-and-chancellors-postdoctoral-fellows-begin-new-award-year?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Read%20more%20about%20the%20fellows&utm_campaign=October%2031%2C%202023

San Antonio event discusses the barriers preventing Latinos from buying homes

“SAN ANTONIO — City of San Antonio leaders are working with federal partners to address housing barriers, particularly as it pertains to the Latino community.

According to research by the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, only half of Hispanic households are homeowners in the U.S. On Thursday, Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) hosted the housing forum to discuss the factors why…”

https://www.kens5.com/article/news/community/latino-housing-obstacles-san-antonio-texas/273-ca99e69f-f468-445f-81ab-059bf8d62d83

Review: Who are Mexican Americans? ‘American Homeboy’ at Portland Film Festival offers perspective

“Making use of 50 hours of illuminating restored archival footage, the film elicits an array of perspectives from Mexican American historians, scholars, artists, activists, a retired law enforcement officer, and cholos — members of a subculture associated with street gangs — to help viewers understand the origins and import of pachuco and cholo culture and Xicano experience…”

https://www.portlandtribune.com/lifestyle/review-who-are-mexican-americans-american-homeboy-at-portland-film-festival-offers-perspective/article_df6c0ba6-67b9-11ee-ae47-135efcc668e1.html

First-generation students discuss experiences, resources at UCLA

“There’s just a lot of fear of reaching out or asking a ‘dumb question,’” said Williams, who studies at the UCLA School of Education & Information Studies and taught a university studies class geared toward first-generation students. “It’s just that lack of confidence because you haven’t had these experiences or know anyone that’s had these experiences.”

First-generation students can also feel a lack of belonging compared to other students depending on their socioeconomic background.

According to the Brookings Institution, about 51% of students from low-income families go to college compared to about 89% of students from well-off families…”

https://dailybruin.com/2023/09/21/first-generation-students-discuss-experiences-resources-at-ucla

Consul General of Mexico in Raleigh addresses crowded Phyfer Auditorium

“It was standing room only when Claudia Velasco, Consul General of Mexico in Raleigh, N.C., addressed students, faculty, staff and visitors on Thursday, September 21 in Phyfer Auditorium. Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month, Velasco was sponsored by the Association of Latino Professionals for America – Clemson University Student Chapter, the Department of Management at the Wilbur O. and Ann Powers College of Business and the Consulate General of Mexico in Raleigh, N.C…”

https://news.clemson.edu/consul-general-of-mexico-in-raleigh-addresses-crowded-phyfer-auditorium/

The Multifaceted Latine Community and What Managers Can Learn

“I grew up in a Spanish-speaking household in Chicago raised by Mexican-born parents who worked to afford an annual trip to Mexico to visit family. I recognize that the act of traveling to Mexico was a privilege for my family because so many immigrants left their homes without the option to travel back until they were able to obtain legal status. I also recognize that Chicago is home to a diverse Latine community that makes up 33% of the city’s population….

In contrast to how I self-identify, there are Latine professionals who prefer not to be labeled as part of a group and instead lead with other professional experiences or personal interests…”

https://www.adweek.com/agencies/retain-bipoc-talent-latine-managers/

Latinos’ Views of and Experiences With the Spanish Language

“Most U.S. Latinos speak Spanish: 75% say they are able to carry on a conversation in Spanish pretty well or very well. And most Latinos (85%) say it is at least somewhat important for future generations of Latinos in the United States to speak Spanish….”

https://www.pewresearch.org/race-ethnicity/2023/09/20/latinos-views-of-and-experiences-with-the-spanish-language/?utm_source=Pew+Research+Center&utm_campaign=b03626f760-Weekly_9-23-23&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-b03626f760-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D

Editorial: Mexico decriminalizes abortion while U.S. states want to criminalize it

“The Mexican Supreme Court of Justice decision decriminalizing abortion last week is a landmark ruling in a country that has historically outlawed the procedure with harsh penalties for the women who sought it and the healthcare professionals who provided it.

The ruling, which governs federal law in a nation of states, makes abortion legal in federal health institutions and requires the public health service to offer it. The decision does not automatically make abortion legal in all of Mexico (the way that the Roe vs. Wade decision had made abortion legal in all of the United States). But it could speed up a movement by Mexican states to legalize the procedure. Currently, 12 out of 32 states have decriminalized abortion…”

https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-09-10/editorial-mexico-decriminalizes-abortion-while-u-s-states-want-to-criminalize-it

Opinion | Stepping into the world of investigative journalism as a Mexican American reporter came with challenges, but also many rewards

“I was destined to toil in the soil — even if my 10-year-old self would have rejected the idea. As a kid, I was determined to escape after-school and weekend weeding and raking alongside my father, a gardener who landscaped homes in Santa Barbara, California, where I was born and raised.

“Study and go to college,” my no-nonsense mom would say whenever I complained about getting up at dawn on Saturdays to work.

Mom worked as a housekeeper, and my sisters and I were expected to pitch in on both of my parents’ jobs. All I wanted was to bury my head in books. My favorite teacher, years later, recalled how he’d arrive at school in the morning to find my fifth-grade self patiently sitting outside the library waiting to check out another pile of books…”

https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2023/becoming-an-investigative-journalist-as-a-mexican-american-reporter/

Yahritza y Su Esencia: Mexican American Identity Is Complex

“By now, many have already heard hot take after hot take about the controversy surrounding Yahritza y Su Esencia, the Mexican American musical trio that specializes in the urban sierreño subgenre. Since the start of the controversy, Latinos, especially Mexicans, have endlessly scrutinized and reexamined how the sibling trio’s comments about Mexico reflect the often contentious topic of Mexican American identity. Many Mexicans have argued that Mexican Americans forget the “Mexican” part of their identity and instead choose to fully lean into — and sometimes weaponize — the “American” part. As a first-generation Mexican American, a part of me can’t help but agree…”

https://studybreaks.com/thoughts/yahritza-y-su-esencia-mexican-american-identity-is-complex/

 

Facts on Latinos in the U.S.

“There were 62.5 million Latinos in the United States in 2021, accounting for approximately 19% of the total U.S. population. In 1980, with a population of 14.8 million, Hispanics made up just 7% of the total U.S. population…”

https://www.pewresearch.org/hispanic/fact-sheet/latinos-in-the-us-fact-sheet/

 

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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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