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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Center for Mexican American and Latino/a Studies Receives $1.2M to Advance Graduate Study
“Federal de Electricidad, has awarded $1.2 million to the University of Houston’s Center for Mexican American and Latino Studies (CMALS).
The funds will go to the Lydia Mendoza Graduate Fellowship Program and be used to help recruit and retain graduate students interested in studying the experience of Mexican Americans and Latinos in the U.S. All students studying in any field are eligible for up to two years of funding. The program began recruitment Feb. 1 for the first fellowship year, 2024-2025…”
https://uh.edu/news-events/stories/2024/february/02192024-cmals-award-graduate-studies
Immigration: USC experts available to discuss America’s most polarizing topic
“There’s a dichotomy in the visibility of Latinos, being hyper-visible in some aspects while remaining invisible in other dimensions of our society,” said Natalia Molina, distinguished professor of American studies and ethnicity at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.
“The influence of Latino culture is widespread, exemplified by a recent Pew Foundation study indicating that approximately 1 in 10 U.S. restaurants serve Mexican food. This study emphasizes the active role of Latinos in shaping American culture, not merely being shaped by it,” she said….”
https://today.usc.edu/immigration-usc-experts-available-to-discuss-americas-most-polarizing-topic/
The Mexican American
“I had gone through school from the first grade through law school speaking English, learning at an early age that Spanish was not to be used in school. Then, as I started my law practice, my first clients were Spanish speaking. I had to try and relearn the language we had spoken at home when I was an infant. Soon, young Chicano teachers and students challenged the Los Angeles District’s racist tactics of stripping children of their heritage, language, and culture. The accusation and the public debate that followed caused many of us to ask “What am I?”…”
https://www.languagemagazine.com/2024/01/16/the-mexican-american/
SWE’s Second Virtual Event in Mexico: Fostering Women’s Professional Development
“SWE Mexico held a “Strengthening the Network” virtual event series which took place on 14, 21, and 28 Sept. 2023, consisting of two-hour sessions each day. A testament to the growth of networking in Mexico, there were 577 registrants from industries all over Latin America.
Five companies participated in the event: Cummins, PepsiCo, John Deere, Honeywell, and ABB. Two leading universities, La Salle University and UACJ (Universidad Autónoma de Ciudad Juarez), also participated. Attendees had the opportunity to learn about SWE, create connections, acquire significant knowledge and share experiences across various STEM fields with fellow Spanish-speaking participants…”
https://alltogether.swe.org/2024/01/swe-mexico-virtual-event/
A Philly dance group is helping Mexican American children connect to their roots
“Andrea Garcia was a professional folklore dancer in her native Mexico. But, after moving to Philly in 2016, she became a domestic worker. As a way to help her three kids connect with their Mexican identity and take a break from electronics, she cocreated Ñuuxakun in 2021. The dance group offers a bilingual and bicultural experience for kids in South Philadelphia, and has developed a following over the last year, with several forthcoming holiday performances…”
https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/philadelphia-dance-group-nuuxakun-20231216.html
Compendium on Chicano poet laureate Juan Felipe Herrera strikes gold
“For fans of Juan Felipe Herrera, the praise rings true — the famed Chicano writer and poet laureate is as versatile and experimental as he is resourceful and prolific. Despite his popularity and renown, however, an anthology of critical essays on the significance of his work had yet to exist.
To fill that void, UC Santa Barbara Professor Emeritus Francisco Lomelí and Osiris Aníbal Gómez, PhD ’20, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota, co-edited a wide-ranging book on Herrera’s 50 year career. Their effort, “Juan Felipe Herrera: Migrant, Activist, Poet Laureate” (University of Arizona Press, 2023) recently won an International Latino Book Awards gold medal…”
https://news.ucsb.edu/2023/021277/compendium-chicano-poet-laureate-juan-felipe-herrera-strikes-gold
Thunderbird at ASU announces regional Center of Excellence in Mexico
“November 29, 2023
In a move that signaled a significant step forward in its commitment to fostering innovation and global, digital leadership in Latin America, the Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University, in partnership with Cintana Education and the Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara (UAG), has announced a new regional Center of Excellence in Mexico…”
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
UK DMA student elevating opportunities for Mexican, Mexican American compose
“LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 21, 2023) — Juan Saldivar Jr., D.M.A. student in the University of Kentucky School of Music, is elevating opportunities for Mexican and Mexican American composers through a new initiative.
Saldivar, a native of border town Laredo, Texas, co-founded the trombone duo, Border Bones, with friend Alex Lopez Velarde, principal trombonist of the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico. Through Border Bones, Saldivar and Velarde aim to increase trombone duet repertoire from rising marginalized and underrepresented composers…”
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…”
CWC Global: Corazón Azul
“Science-fiction drama Corazón Azul (2021) immerses viewers in an alternate reality where Fidel Castro—one of the foremost leaders of the Cuban Revolution and long-time President of the post-revolutionary Cuban state—uses genetic engineering to build a new kind of man and save his socialist utopia. Castro’s brazen experiment, however, eventually fails as these new beings prove to be highly intelligent but also cruel and uncontrollable. Rejected by their creators, a group of these engineered outcasts organizes a series of terrorist actions and sows chaos across the island. Along the way, one of its members, Elena (Lynn Cruz), traces the origin of her genes and begins a journey to try to discover her humanity.”
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…”
t News to Share? Send 2 FREE Releases ↓ NATIVE AMERICAN/HISPANIC STUDENTS & PROFESSIONALS SHINE-SACNAS 2023 NATIONAL DIVERSITY IN STEM CONFERENCE #2023NDiSTEM
“Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science holds nation’s first, all-Native American/Indigenous session focused on mathematics.
We’re investing in the current and future workforce. We want to help lead change at the highest level.”
— Juan Amador, FASAE, CAE, SACNAS Executive Director
PORTLAND, OR, USA, October 28, 2023 /EINPresswire.com/ — SACNAS (Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics & Native Americans in Science) will continue its National Diversity in STEM (NDiSTEM) Conference at Oregon’s Portland Convention Center on Saturday. Friday’s highlights included the nation’s first-ever all-Native American/Indigenous session focused on mathematics, Indigenous Perspectives in…”
From the archives: UCSB Library showcases community art collection
“An exhibit of groundbreaking prints dating back to the inception of California’s Chicano Civil Rights Movement opens on Oct. 25 at UC Santa Barbara Library.
The event, “Cultura Cura: 50 Years of Self Help Graphics in East LA,” highlights the library’s Special Research Collections extensive archive of art, records and related ephemera from Self Help Graphics & Art (SHG), an intergenerational Los Angeles-based nonprofit that has been facilitating and promoting printmaking and other art media by Chicano/a, Latinx and other BIPOC artists since 1970. SHG was founded by artists Carlos Bueno, Antonio Ibañez, Frank Hernandez and Sister Karen Boccalero…”
Gene Block and administrators discuss equity and diversity, campus expansion and more
“…The university has also increased diversity throughout Block’s tenure, but there is still a long way to go, he said. In 2008 – the first incoming class Block oversaw as chancellor – Black students made up 5% of the incoming class of freshmen, with Chicano/Latino students making up 16% and Native American students less than 1%. The fall 2022 incoming class was made up of 8% Black students, 22% Hispanic students and 1% Native students…”
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
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…”
Meet Joe Molina
“For Joe Molina, role models matter. The second-year MBA student was raised early on by a single mom on the outskirts of San Diego, sandwiched between the beach and the desert. When he was 7, his mom married his stepdad, a Navy SEAL. The family rode dune buggies and camped together in the desert. “My stepdad kind of saved the family,” he says. “He took in two kids and really taught me what kind of father I should be.” Molina joined the military right out of high school, became a decorated Navy SEAL like his stepfather, got married, and had a daughter. At 32 and 27, respectively, he and his wife, Stephanie, enrolled at the University of San Diego, becoming first-generation college graduates…”
First-generation graduate Anabel Rocha Ambrosio builds a better life with education as the foundation
“In early January of 2004, Anabel Rocha Ambrosio moved to the U.S. with her parents and both sets of grandparents. She was two-and-a-half years old at the time, and has no memory of her first home in Tijuana, Mexico. Like many immigrants, the family was seeking a better life, especially for young Anabel…”
Living and learning in a bilingual world The World
“English has long been the lingua franca of US higher education. But in a country where 40 million people speak Spanish, is it time to think more bilingually? WLRN’s Elisa Baena visits educators who argue that teaching only in English is excluding talent that the US needs.”
https://theworld.org/media/2023-06-19/living-and-learning-bilingual-world
