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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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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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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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…”
Against Trump’s wishes, Mexican professionals keep visas in new trade deal
By Anita Kumar And Franco Ordoñez
August 28, 2018 04:35 PM
Updated August 28, 2018 11:12 PM
WASHINGTON
Tens of thousands of Mexican professionals who come to work in the United States will be able to keep their visas as part of the new U.S.-Mexico trade agreement, the Mexican government says, delivering a political loss to the Trump administration who sought to slash the number of visas as part of NAFTA re-negotiations.
The Mexican Economy Ministry told McClatchy that…”
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The Making of a Mexican American Mayor: Raymond L. Telles of El Paso and the Origins of Latino Political Power
MT García – 2018 – books.google.com
Raymond L. Telles was the first Mexican American mayor of a major US city. Elected mayor
of El Paso in 1957 and serving for two terms, he went on to become the first Mexican
American ambassador in US history, heading the US delegation to Costa Rica. Historian …
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Young Texas Latinos are an untapped voting goldmine
“…Nearly half of Texans under 18 are Latino and 95 percent of them are U.S. citizens — meaning they will be eligible to vote once they turn 18. Will they?…”
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Minority youth will keep America great, white anxiety will not
“The Census Bureau reported last month that the nation’s white population declined for the first time. This dip was previously not projected to begin until the next decade, though it will continue for much of this century.
Many white supporters of President Trump will view this as yet another sign of the end of the America they know, as the country inches toward “majority-minority” status. To them, this means relinquishing dominance and privileged status to browner and newer Americans, whom they perceive as competing with them for jobs and government resources, while distorting their way of life. This “white anxiety” underlies many proposals from Trump, such as the Mexican border wall and Muslim ban..”
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Trump Officials Reverse Obama’s Policy on Affirmative Action in Schools
“WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said Tuesday that it was abandoning Obama administration policies that called on universities to consider race as a factor in diversifying their campuses, signaling that the administration will champion race-blind admissions standards…”
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Mexico Presidential Election Results: Meet Anti-Trump Winner Andrés Manuel López Obrador
“Mexico has chosen left-leaning hopeful Andrés Manuel López Obrador to become its 58th president for the next six years, in what is considered the country’s largest election in history.
López Obrador of the Together We Will Make History coalition won the election with more than 40 percent of the votes, defeating Ricardo Anaya from centrist For Mexico to the Front coalition, who obtained 27.6 percent of the votes. José Antonio Meade of the Everyone for Mexico coalition only received 18.3 of the votes and Jaime Rodriguez Calderón “El Bronco,” who ran as an independent, acquired nearly 5.2 percent of the ballots. Mexico’s former first lady and independent candidate Margarita Zavala dropped out of the race last May because her campaign faced economic hardship and could not garner enough support of more than 10 percent of voters, according to some polls.
Eligible voters also cast their ballots for more than 3,000 posts at the state and federal level, which also include the election of eight governorships, 500 chamber of deputies and 128 Senate seats. López…”
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What you need to know about Mexico’s historic election
“Mexico holds an historic election on Sunday: its biggest to date in terms of the sheer number of races.
Eighty-eight million registered voters — many of whom are fed up with corruption and inefficiency under the administration of current president Enrique Peña Nieto — will get the chance to change the face of Mexico’s government, and affect the course of U.S. relations, with major border and trade issues at stake.
Beyond the presidential race, more than 1600 elected positions at the state and local level are up for a vote across 30 of Mexico’s 32 states — including Mexico City’s mayor — as well as its entire federal legislative body: 500 seats in the legislature, and 128 in its senate…”
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NAFTA talks focus on low wages for Mexican autoworkers
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump has promised to bring auto manufacturing back to the United States from Mexico.
The success of NAFTA negotiations could be determined by how willing the Mexican government is to let him try.
As top officials from Canada, the U.S. and Mexico scramble to come to some sort of deal on the continental free trade pact by next Friday, the overwhelming focus of their discussions is the complicated issue of auto rules…
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Being Mexican in NYC with Carlos Menchaca
New York City Councilman Carlos Menchaca became the first Mexican-American elected in the city when he won his Brooklyn seat in 2013. In Sunset Park and Red Hook, many of Menchaca’s constituents are ethnically Mexican as well, making up part of what he says is a majority foreign-born district. To mark the Cinco de Mayo celebration of Mexican culture, Menchaca talked to City & State about spending summers on a farm south of the border, the best Mexican restaurant in the city and how he has to deny working with President Donald Trump…
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Smithsonian Latino Center Accepting Applications for 2018 Young Ambassadors Program
The Smithsonian Latino Center is now accepting applications for the 2018 Young Ambassadors Program June 24 through Aug. 2. The application deadline April 9. The Young Ambassadors Program is a national program for graduating high school seniors that fosters the next generation of Latino leaders in the arts, sciences and humanities through an intensive training and internship program at the Smithsonian. The program receives major and continued support from Ford Motor Company Fund…
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New Latino Caucus launches in Virginia
RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — There’s a new group in the General Assembly. The Latino Caucus held its first meeting Thursday.
The group was formed by Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-Arlington).
It’s been a goal of his since he started serving in 2012.
“My dream when I first came to the House of Delegates was, just like the Black Caucus, just like Latino caucuses in other states, we would have a Latino Caucus here in Virginia,” he said.
Lopez said some of the topics the caucus will cover are drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants, health care and the Dream Act.
Since nearly one in every 10 Virginians is Latino, Lopez said representation matters…
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Mexican Views of the U.S. Turn Sharply Negative
Widespread dissatisfaction with economy and political leaders
By Margaret Vice and Hanyu Chwe
More Mexicans view the United States unfavorably than at any time in the past decade and a half. Nearly two-thirds of Mexicans (65%) express a negative opinion of the U.S., more than double the share two years ago (29%). Mexicans’ opinions about the economic relationship with their country’s northern neighbor are also deteriorating, though less dramatically: 55% now say economic ties between Mexico and the U.S. are good for their country, down from 70% in 2013…
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Unsurprisingly, Mexicans held a much more favourable view towards the United States before Trump
Within the last 30 years pro-American tendencies, from both Mexican authorities and the general public, brought the United States to be one of the most favored countries of Mexico. However, recent findings from Jesús Velasco show this tendency has reversed due to Donald Trump’s statements about Mexico during his presidential campaign. Today Mexicans are highly anti-Trump, and anti-American. Whether or not this pattern will change in the near future is difficult to say.
Donald Trump’s antagonistic rhetoric toward Mexico has caused an increase in anti-American sentiment among Mexicans.
Today, many in Mexico reject Trump’s policies and fear his administration, citing it as fascist, authoritarian, populist, dictatorial, xenophobic, misogynist or simply an aberration…
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How The First Latina Senator Is Putting Congress On Blast
Donald Trump’s presidential victory on Nov. 8, 2016 was an upsetting night for diversity advocates. However, the night was not without its silver linings — and the the election of freshman Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto was one of them.
“I’m proud to be Nevada’s 1st female and our nation’s 1st Latina senator,” tweeted Cortez Masto, who filled Harry Reid’s vacant seat, on election night. “It’s about time our government mirrors the diversity of our nation.”…
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Democrats Elect Thomas Perez, Establishment Favorite, as Party Chairman
ATLANTA — Former Labor Secretary Thomas E. Perez was elected chairman of the Democratic National Committee on Saturday, narrowly defeating Representative Keith Ellison of Minnesota to take the helm of a still-divided party stunned by President Trump’s victory but hopeful that it can ride the backlash against his presidency to revival…
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Trump puts U.S. food, farm companies on edge over Mexico trade
By Tom Polansek and Mark Weinraub | CHICAGO
U.S. food producers and shippers are trying to speed up exports to Mexico and line up alternative markets as concerns rise that this lucrative business could be at risk if clashes over trade and immigration between the Trump administration and Mexico City escalate.
Diplomatic relations have soured fast this month, as the new U.S. administration floated a 20 percent tax on Mexican imports and a meeting between the presidents of the two countries was canceled. U.S. President Donald Trump has also pledged to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) trade deal with Mexico and Canada…
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New Campaign Launched to Increase Latino Representation and Impact Across Greater Boston: Press Release
BOSTON, MA – The Greater Boston Latino Network (GBLN) today launched a new campaign to increase Latino representation and impact in local government, which will include digital outreach, discussion forums and the release of a new report.
“Latinos are the region’s fastest growing population, contributing billions to our local economy and tax base, but we are largely absent from decision-making positions,” said GBLN Steering Committee Member Alex Oliver-Dávila. “This campaign will help increase the voice, impact and representation of Latinos across Greater Boston.”…
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