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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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…”
Jessica Gonzalez Discusses Recent Hispanic Representation in Mainstream Media and Its Impact on Culture
“Holland & Knight’s Diversity Council and Hispanic Affinity Group are proud to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month and pay tribute to the generations of Hispanics who have enriched America’s history and continue to play a role in its future success. Since last year, we have taken time to speak to some of our Hispanic attorneys, who have shared their stories with us. We now present the 2023 video series showcasing some of these conversations. We hope that the stories conveyed in these videos inspire those struggling with recognizing their roots and shine light on the contributions that Hispanics have provided to the United States…”
https://www.hklaw.com/en/insights/media-entities/2023/10/jessica-gonzalez-discusses-recent-hispanic
Eddie Jauregui Shares How His Hispanic Heritage Has Been A Strength in His Legal Career
“…In this video, Hispanic National Bar Association member Eddie Jauregui, a partner in our Los Angeles office, shares how drawing from his Mexican heritage has been a strength in his legal career. He also discusses the importance of never losing sight of your Hispanic culture…”
OPINION Mexico outpaces U.S. in women’s rights September 15, 2023 at 12:00 a.m.
“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.eldoradonews.com/news/2023/sep/15/mexico-outpaces-us-in-womens-rights/
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…”
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..”
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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…”
