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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Authors consider own backgrounds in portrayals of refugee and immigrant experiences
“…In the early 1990s, writer Viet Thanh Nguyen read a book about the Mexican-American border he found timely: “Across the Wire: Life and Hard Times on the Mexican Border,” by Luís Alberto Urrea. Twenty years later, the two authors will join forces to discuss refugees and immigrants.
The two hail from drastically different cultural backgrounds – Nguyen is a refugee from Vietnam while Urrea, who grew up in Tijuana, has an American mother and Mexican father. Their conversation Thursday in Royce Hall will detail both their personal histories and the influences behind their writing. They are both known for writing about these topics, from Urrea’s “Into the Beautiful North” and Nguyen’s “The Sympathizer;” they also know each other, as they first met when they were finalists for the 2016 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. Their desire to humanize the immigrant and refugee experiences grounds both writers, though the contrasting pathways that preceded their works lead to different writing styles, Urrea said.
“We both have a serious intent and we are always representing (immigrants and refugees),” Urrea said. “It’s important for us to make a stand for our people, particularly in this environment now.”
Urrea saw the arts as a way of understanding where he fit in. His background made him feel isolated at times from both Latinos and Americans, he said, so he pursued poetry, songwriting, drawing and theater. During his senior year of college, his father died violently in Mexico. Urrea didn’t have any way to process it other than writing about it, he said. His bilingual skills and firsthand understanding of the American-Mexican border gave him an opportunity to share new stories of immigrants…”
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Hawaii’s Growing Latino Population
“…In 2017, one in every 10 Hawaii residents was Hispanic or Latino, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. While this number may seem small, it doesn’t provide the full picture of the rapid growth of Hawaii’s Latino population.
Standing at an estimated 159,737 in 2018, the Hawaii Latino population has increased over 80 percent since 2000. The bulk of the growth of the individuals of Hispanic or Latino origin took place between 2010 and 2018 as the increase over the 2000-2010 period was “just” 37.79 percent.
But wait, there’s more. That is, more Latinos in Hawaii.
According to data from a recent study, Hawaii’s Hispanic population is poised to reach 186,611 or 12.29 percent of the projected total Hawaii population in 2023. That’s a projected 16.88 percent growth in Hawaii’s Latino population from 2018 to 2023 compared to a much smaller 0.79 percent increase for the total Hawaii population…”
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Smithsonian Adds Gallery Honoring Latino-American Culture
“…The Smithsonian Institution announced on Thursday that it will add a gallery dedicated to honoring Latino-American experiences to the National Museum of American History. The addition was made possible by a $10 million lead gift from five members of the Molina family, who made the donation in memory of their father, Dr. C. David Molina, the founder of Molina Healthcare Inc.
The 4,500 square foot Molina Family Latino Gallery is scheduled to open in 2021 and will focus on sharing the stories of Latino communities through multimedia activities, artifacts and first-person narratives. The inaugural exhibition, “Making Home: Latino Stories of Community and Belonging,” will explore the history of various Latino cultures in North America and their influence in the United States and elsewhere…”
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Latin Albums Are Now More Popular Than Country Albums in the U.S.
“…Latin artists were responsible for eight of the 10 most viewed videos on the planet in 2018. But Latin music’s striking display of streaming power was not limited strictly to video, according to a new year-end report from BuzzAngle, a data company which tracks music consumption.
The genre accounted for 9.4 percent of all album listening in the U.S. in 2018 — measured by combining physical and digital sales, song downloads (10 downloads is equal to one album) and on-demand streams (1,500 to one). This is notable: The growth means Latin albums are now more popular here than their counterparts in country music, which took up 8.7 percent of all album consumption. (Last year, country’s share of album-listening exceeded Latin music’s, 8.1 percent to 7.5 percent.) Latin artists are off to a strong start in 2019 as well, as fans continue to stream X100Pre, the captivating Christmas Eve release from Puerto Rican star Bad Bunny…”
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California’s high cut score leads to disproportionately low pass rate on bar exam
“…Hundreds of law students fail the bar exam in California, but would pass with the same score elsewhere due to varying standards between states.
California has the second-highest cut score, or minimum score required to pass the exam. California students must score a 1440 out of 2000 to pass, compared to the national average of 1350.
The state also has the second-lowest pass rate for the bar in the nation, after the District of Columbia. Less than half of students taking the California bar exam passed in 2018, the lowest pass rate since 1951.
Jennifer Mnookin, dean of the UCLA School of Law, said she thinks California would be better off if it lowered its cut score…”
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Students, faculty react to attempt to promote diversity to UCLA’s hiring process
“…UCLA administrators implemented changes to the hiring process in hopes of fostering greater diversity within the faculty.
All prospective UCLA faculty were required to complete Equity, Diversity and Inclusion statements beginning the 2018-2019 academic year. An EDI Statement is a statement in which a candidate describes their past, present and future contributions to equity, diversity and inclusion, according to the EDI office.
Scott Waugh, UCLA executive vice chancellor and provost, said he implemented the policy to gather information about equity, diversity and inclusion more consistently by using an institutional approach. Prior to this mandate, only certain departments required an EDI Statement, while others made it optional.
The EDI office described the new mandate in an email statement as a tool that better positions UCLA to live up to its ideals, but acknowledged the measure offers only a modest attempt at resolving the campus’ lack of faculty diversity…”
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Latinos Won Big Victories At The Golden Globes Last Night But Our History At The Show Is Too Short
“The 2019 Golden Globes have come and gone, and the two things that we learned from the 3-hour long show is that a) Latinos in Hollywood are still very much underrepresented and b) if it wasn’t for Alfonso Cuarón’s “Roma” the whole show would have been a much dire situation for Latinos. Cuarón’s film did take home two top-notch awards including Best Motion Picture: Foreign Language, and Best Director.
We didn’t have the Latino representation we had hoped for, it got us to thinking about the Golden Globes of yesteryear. Here are some of those memorable moments of past Latino winners following the new class of Latino Golden Globes winners…”
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Latinos show record gains in Congress, though numbers are still low
By Suzanne Gamboa
AUSTIN, Texas — Although the new Congress will have a record number of Latino members, their numbers will fall far short of matching the share of the U.S. population that is Hispanic.
When the 116th congressional session begins in January, there will be at least 36 Latinos in the House and four in the Senate, according to the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund.
But the nation’s 57.5 million Hispanics are about 17.8 percent of the U.S. population. If the share of Latinos in the 435-member House matched the share in the population..”
Posted in Front Page Items, News and Information, Political Science, Politics
Key takeaways about Latino voters in the 2018 midterm elections
“Latinos make up an increasing share of the U.S. electorate. A record 29 million Latinos were eligible to vote in this year’s midterm elections, accounting for 12.8% of all eligible voters, a new high. While it’s too soon to know how many voted and their turnout rate, Latinos made up an estimated 11% of all voters nationwide on Election Day, nearly matching their share of the U.S. eligible voter population (U.S. citizens ages 18 and older). Here are key takeaways about Latino voters and the 2018 elections…”
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Other Voices, Other Worlds
“…Anthology of Latino speculative fiction co-edited by a UCSB scholar wins an American Book Award…”
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Media Life Magazine: How Hispanic culture is changing America
“…Last month, Univision Deportes Network beat every other cable sports network in primetime among the key demos of adults 18-49 and 18-34. It finished ahead of Fox Sports 1 and NBC Sports Network, which is an accomplishment of itself. But it also beat cable sports’ big dogs, ESPN and ESPN2.
UDN carried the Copa America Centenario in June, which explains the big ratings, while the other networks were in a rare summertime lull between major events like NASCAR and the Tour de France. But still, a Spanish-language network beating a bunch of English-language ones in the major sports demos?
A few years ago, that would have been unthinkable. In fact, five years ago, UDN didn’t even exist. The rapid rise of UDN, and the growing popularity of soccer in general, speaks to the continued mainstreaming of Hispanic culture…”
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A Journey of Service
“…Father Luis Olivares had it made. As treasurer of the Claretians, a congregation of Catholic missionaries, he was wined and dined by the titans of Wall Street. They flew him to New York first class, put him up in five-star hotels, took him to the best restaurants and treated him to Broadway shows.
“He even played up the part in the way that he dressed,” said Mario T. García, a UC Santa Barbara professor of Chicano and Chicana Studies. Velvet suits, French cuffs, Gucci shoes — Olivares cut a fine figure. “In fact, some people began to..”
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Online thrifted clothing platform offers affordability, convenience to students
“Myrka Vega thrifted for clothes out of necessity growing up.
Now, she thrifts out of enjoyment, sharing her hobby with the UCLA community through an online thrift store she founded with friends.
1997 Thrift launched Nov. 16, with UCLA students Myrka Vega, Maria Amaya Morfin and Terii Sanchez at the lead.
Morfin, a fourth-year international development studies student, said the concept of the store is simple: The group purchases clothing from various thrift stores in the area, currently offering one of each piece, with the goal of finding styles that cater to all UCLA students…”
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2017 annual report on Mexican American Professionals
Despite some gains, Mexican Americans continue to lag behind the general population in college enrollment, degrees and professional occupations. This has been the primary focus on my web site [https://mexican-american-proarchive.com/] and my annual reports. Herein lies the reason for my taking the time to write them.
As a Mexican American Professional (retired educator), when I first looked at the dismal numbers which compares Educational Attainment between Mexican Americans and the total populations, I was dismayed at the disparity.
The annual Community Survey published by the Census Bureau shows the following results for this year and the prior year.
The American Community census reports on college enrollment:
It is simple to observe that the total population college enrollment has decreased by .3% from years 2016 to 2017 but compared to Mexican American enrollment for 2016 the total population is 8.4% higher than the Mexican American college enrollment. On the positive side, college enrollment has gone up for Mexicans American from 19.3% to 19.6%. We will take that.
NAFTA renegotiation signals little change for HE so far
“…In his United States presidential campaign in 2016, Donald Trump announced his intention to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and to potentially withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a trilateral agreement between Canada, Mexico and the US which has been in effect since 1994.
Trump kept his promise to end the US’ participation in the TPP and in January 2017 signed an executive order to withdraw from the agreement.
However, in the commercial interests of the major economic industries of the US, he agreed to begin the renegotiation of NAFTA. Talks took place between August 2017 and September 2018. The new agreement, which is to be revised and ratified by the three countries, includes important changes regarding rules of origin, wages, the review or renewal mechanisms, agriculture and e-commerce…”
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Verses and Flows: Migrant Lives and the Sounds of Crossing
“…Dr. Alex E. Chávez (Anthropology, Notre Dame) will present a talk titled “Verses and Flows: Migrant Lives and the Sounds of Crossing” on Wednesday, November 7, 2018 from 3:30-4:45 pm in Music Room 1145. Dr. Chávez will cover his new ethnography of Huapango music and US-Mexico border migration, Sounds of Crossing: Music, Migration, and the Aural Poetics of Huapango Arribeño (Duke 2017). Co-sponsored by the Department of Music’s Ethnomu’sicology and Musicology/Theory forums, the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Music (CISM), and the Department of Anthropology…”
Editorial: Kevin De León for U.S. Senate
“…The confirmation of Justice Brett Kavanaugh. The passage of a self-serving, $1.5 trillion tax cut for the well-off. Numerous attempts to politically ax a now-cornerstone of the American health care system.
Californians have a lot of reasons to look indignantly at the United States Senate. Compromise is a thing of the past, values continue to be undercut and representatives grow more disconnected from those they represent.
And yes, that includes Democrats. Key among them: incumbent senator Dianne Feinstein.
The fourth-term senator has held the senate seat longer than many UCLA undergraduates have been alive. In her 26-year tenure, she’s spearheaded notable legislation, including a 10-year assault weapons banned passed in 1994. She voted in support of gay marriage against the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act and stands as the ranking Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee…”
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Mariachi de Uclatán performance to celebrate life and honor dead
“…The majority of UCLA is gearing up for the night of Oct. 31 with jack-o’-lanterns and cobwebs, but members of Mariachi de Uclatán will spend the evening making music and decorating altars with flowers and photographs.
For its upcoming Día de los Muertos performance Wednesday night, the student mariachi band ensemble will play a number of songs dedicated to remembering late musicians, as well as loved ones who have passed away. Its show at UCLA’s Fowler Museum, an installment of the Fowler Out Loud concert series, will feature musicians and dancers in traditional face paint resembling skeletons and altars that are constructed as a gateway to the afterlife. Even though students will pay homage to the dead, the spirit of the show is that of joyful remembrance rather than sorrowful mourning, said Elisa Quiñonez, a fourth-year history student and a co-musical director of Mariachi de Uclatán…”
Posted in Arts & Entertainment, Education, Front Page Items, News and Information
Starting From the Bottom: Why Mexicans are the Most Successful Immigrants in America
Who’s more successful: The child of Chinese immigrants who is now a prominent attorney, or a second-generation Mexican who completed high school and now holds a stable, blue collar job?
The answer depends on how you define success.
In fact, according to a study by University of California, Irvine, Sociology Professor Jennifer Lee and UCLA Sociology Professor Min Zhou, contrary to stereotypes, Mexican-Americans are the most successful second-generation group in the country. The reason is simple: The study considered not just where people finished, but from where they started.
The report serves as counter-point to arguments raised by Amy Chua, a Yale Law School professor better known as the Tiger Mom. In a new book, The Triple Package, Chua and her husband, Jed Rubenfeld, argue that some groups—namely Chinese, Jews, Cubans, and Nigerians—are more successful than others because they possess certain cultural traits that enable them to be…”
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As Democrats Court Latinos, Indifference Is a Powerful Foe
“…By Jose A. Del Real and Jonathan Martin
Oct. 21, 2018
LAS VEGAS — Children ripped from their parents’ arms and held in sweltering tent cities. Immigration raids outside hospitals, schools and courthouses. An onslaught of ads and speeches delivering insults and racist remarks.
With the hard-fought midterm elections less than three weeks away, Democratic Party strategists hope Latino voters who are angered by the Trump administration’s policies and divisive language will help deliver resounding victories in many of the races that will decide political control in Washington. If ever there were a time to cast protest ballots, they reason, it would be with President Trump in the White House…”
