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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Front Page Items

Mexico, US seek to boost student exchanges

MEXICO CITY — Young Americans wanting to study in Latin America have stopped looking so intently at Mexico, which has dropped from first to fourth for U.S. students going to university in the region over the last 10 years. Only about 4,000 U.S. students now study in Mexico, with crime and drug violence being the main deterrent. More go to Costa Rica, Argentina and Brazil…
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Hersey Club Takes Second Place at Annual Chicano College Bowl

John Hersey High School’s LASO (Latin American Student Organization) recently took 2nd Place at the Highland Park High School Hispanos Unidos Club 17th Annual Chicano College Bowl. Senior Kim Roman, juniors Ivett Delgado and Julian Lopez, and freshman Crista Mondragon competed against 11 other area high school teams to capture the award.
A fun and interactive way for students to learn about Mexican-American history, the Chicano College Bowl is based on the 1960s Chicano Movement. It is a knowledge bowl tournament that helps to create a positive cultural identity…
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After Various Close Calls, Lizette Salas Earns First LPGA Win At Kingsmill Championship

Lizette Salas didn’t have to wait long to be tested in her latest attempt at a breakthrough victory on the LPGA Tour.

The challenge came on the first hole Sunday in the Kingsmill Championship, after the Mexican-American was overly cautious with her first putt, leaving it nearly 10 feet short of the cup with a sliding, downhill test to save par.

She made it, the start of a day when she did little wrong on her way to a four-shot victory…
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Latino Director Roberto Orci Signs on With ‘Star Trek 3’ Film; JJ Abrams Will Still Have Limited Role

Mexican-American Roberto Orci will direct the first “Star Trek” not helmed by filmmaker JJ Abrams.

Paramount chose the screenwriter, who got his start writing for “Xena: Warrior Princess” and “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.” Alex Kurtzman is his longtime writing partner; they co-wrote “Star Trek” and “Star Trek Into Darkness…
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Ricardo Valverde: Experimental Sights, 1971-1996 (May 17 to Jul 26) – Vincent Price Art Museum

May 17 to July 26, 2014
Opening reception: Saturday, May 17, 4 to 6 p.m.

The late Los Angeles-based photographer and artist Ricardo Valverde (1946-1998) is featured in a career retrospective at VPAM. The exhibition is guest-curated by Cecilia Fajardo-Hill and highlights more than one hundred artworks spanning a twenty-five-year period of production…
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Hispanics Are Forgotten in Civil Rights History

Whenever civil rights has been covered in history class, or when I’ve seen a documentary or read an article concerning such, I have always been very aware of what is missing, and it is something that I am interested in and looking for. As an American of Hispanic descent, I never see any information related to my ethnicity’s cause for civil rights. Where is the plight of Hispanics represented in the civil rights discussion and history of the United States…
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Mexican-American Dreams by Marty Salgado

Complied and Published by the English Graduate …, 2014
83 Mexican-American Dreams Non-Fiction Marty Salgado I had a problem with being Mexican. …
The Albertson’s employees didn’t have ties, but their uniform was a casual short sleeve white
collared shirt, and a blue apron—less professional than Stater Bros., but more modern. …
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Millions of Americans changed their racial or ethnic identity from one census to the next

Millions of Americans counted in the 2000 census changed their race or Hispanic-origin categories when they filled out their 2010 census forms, according to new research presented at the annual Population Association of America meeting last week. Hispanics, Americans of mixed race, American Indians and Pacific Islanders were among those most likely to check different boxes from one census to the next…
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Health of Elderly Mexican American Adults and Family Caregiver Distress

Using newly available data on family caregivers from a large epidemiological study of elderly Mexican-origin adults (Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly [HEPESE], 2010/2011), we identify which types of impairment (functional, psychological, and cognitive) in the elderly individual are associated with family caregiver depressive symptoms. Results from ordinary least squares regressions using 626 caregiver–care recipient dyads demonstrate…
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From “Kickeando las malias” (Kicking the Withdrawals) to “Staying clean”: The Impact of Cultural Values on Cessation of Injection Drug Use in Aging Mexican-American

Drug use among older adults is a growing concern, particularly for the burgeoning Hispanic population. Older adults seeking drug treatment will double over the next decade to almost 6 million. Cultural factors influence drug use, and more specifically, Hispanic cultural values influence heroin use. This study explored Mexican-American injection drug users’ adherence to…
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Experiences with Violence in Mexican American and European American High School Dating Relationships

Violence in adolescent dating relationships has become increasingly normative in the United States, with the severity of the consequences increasing into adulthood. Minority youths are at an increased risk for experiencing moderate to severe forms of physical dating violence, yet they are less likely to seek professional services. This comparative study of Mexican American (MA) and European American (EA) youths…
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I say Hispanic. You say Latino. How did the whole thing start?

BERKELEY – From Hollywood actor Cameron Diaz to the late labor rights leader Cesar Chavez, the labels, “Hispanic” or “Latino” cover a strikingly diverse population of more than 50 million Americans.
In her new book, UC Berkeley sociologist G. Cristina Mora traces the commercial, political and cultural interests that colluded in the…
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Qualitative Exploration of Adolescent Discrimination: Experiences and Responses of Mexican-American Parents and Teens

The Integrative Model for the Study of Developmental Competencies in Minority Children argues that while discrimination and prejudice are normative experiences for ethnic minority children, promoting environments, family factors and adaptive culture may help minority youth develop effective coping strategies to deal with discrimination. Although this model emphasizes the critical role of family
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Ruben Salazar questioned his own Chicano identity

By Zita Arocha

During a television interview shortly before newsman Ruben Salazar was killed by cops during a 1970 Chicano Anti-War march in Los Angeles, the now legendary Mexican-American journalist asked: “Why do I always have to apologize to Americans for Mexicans and to Mexicans for Americans?”
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LEGAL MIGRATION AND FREE TRADE IN THE NAFTA ERA : BEYOND MIGRATION RETHORIC

This study analyzes the variation of legal migration flows between Mexico and the United
States (U.S.) from the entry into force of the North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA). As a product of the asymmetry in the size of the U.S., Canadian and Mexican
economies, migration flows, both from Canada and Mexico
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Host of NPR’s Latino USA to speak at DePaul University April 24

CHICAGO–(ENEWSPF)–April 21, 2014. DePaul University’s School for New Learning will welcome the host of NPR’s “Latino USA,” Maria Hinojosa, for a presentation on April 24 titled, “The Growing Number of Latinos in the U.S. and Its Implications.” The event will begin with a reception at 5 p.m., after which, Hinojosa will give a lecture and host a question and answer session at University Center, Lake Room, 525 S. State St., Chicago. Admission is free and open to the public
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Gender across family generations: change in Mexican American masculinities and femininities

How do conceptions of gender – attitudes, expectations, and behaviours – change from generation to generation in Mexican American families? The notion of gender as socially constructed allows for the possibility of change, yet existing studies documenting change provide insight into why gender changes occur but…
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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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