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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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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Latina Elected Officials Make History in States like Colorado, Illinois
Latina elected officials are making strides not just on the federal level with the first Latina elected to the U.S. Senate and sworn in on Tuesday, but on the state and local level.
Colorado in particular stands out: It’s making history in 2017 with two Latinas in top positions.
Democrat Crisanta Durán becomes the state’s first-ever Speaker of the House. Fellow Democrat Lucía Guzmán was re-elected Senate Minority Leader…
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San Gabriel Valley Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio appointed first Latina chair of human services committee
State Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio, D-Baldwin Park, has been appointed as the first Latina chair of the Assembly’s human services committee, her office announced Tuesday
The committee oversees child welfare services, foster care, CalWORKs, developmental disabilities services, adult protective services and other human services programs.
Rubio, who was elected to her first term in November, was appointed to the position by Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon…
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WeHo’s John Duran Elected Chair of Latino Elected Officials Group
NALEO today announced the election of Duran as chair of its board and of two new members on the 15-member board. They are Jessica Herrera-Flanigan, executive vice president of government and corporate affairs at Univision Communications Inc. and Joseph “Pep” Valdes, executive vice president and director of new business development for Parking Company of America…
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Latino voters will reshape American politics as we know it — and here’s the proof
Twenty years ago, neither Democrats nor Republicans saw Latinos as a voting bloc worth wooing. Instead, they often pursued policies that actively played into xenophobia. In 1996, Bill Clinton signed into law the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, which according to a recent Human Rights Watch report, set into motion today’s mass deportation. In that same year, future Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel wrote a memo urging Clinton to “claim and achieve record deportation of criminal aliens.”
Over the last decade, the Democratic Party has changed its tune, and started trying desperately to woo Latinos. Today, leading Democrats overwhelmingly support a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, and are using executive orders to halt deportations, while Republicans, led by Donald Trump, continue to demonize Latinos and promise harsh countermeasures to stop undocumented immigrants from entering the country…
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Mexico President: NAFTA Benefits Both Sides of the Border
LIMA, Peru – Several U.S. allies expressed worry over what changes could take place when it comes to trade under president-elect Donald Trump’s administration at a summit of Asian-Pacific leaders in Peru on Saturday.
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto said NAFTA benefits workers and companies on both sides of the border. He expressed concern that the U.S. could be turning its back on a bilateral trade relationship responsible for moving $1 million worth of goods every minute…
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New mayor seeks cooperation, also higher developer fees
Developers with projects in the pipeline can expect to be asked to provide more affordable housing and a stronger community benefits package before being approved, Mayor-elect Jesse Arreguín said Monday during a far-ranging interview with Berkeleyside.
Now that the self-described progressives have the City Council majority (see below for more details) the “previous approach” to development will change, he said.
“I do think the voters wanted a change,”Arreguín said at PIQ on Shattuck Avenue. “That’s one of the reasons I was elected by such a large margin. One of the issues I heard throughout the city of Berkeley was a concern about the major demographic changes, the changes to the character of the place, long-time businesses being displaced, the scale of development.”
“I think the voters of Berkeley want more equitable, responsible growth,” he said. “That is not to say everything is going to come to a grinding halt. We need to create more housing so, certainly, under my administration, we are going to encourage the construction of transit-oriented development in Berkeley.”…
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The First Latina Senator is Ready to Be “One Hell of a Check and Balance” on Donald Trump
Former Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto made history on Tuesday night when she became the first Latina to be elected to the Senate in U.S. history — and she’s already making it very clear she’s more than willing to go head-to-head with Donald Trump once she arrives in Washington, DC.
“Our government is built on a system of checks and balances, and I will promise you this: I will be one hell of a check and balance on him,” she said during her victory speech on Wednesday. “Tonight we start our fight together… The diversity here is our strength and we will continue to be strong.”…
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English graduate student wins Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship
Cesar Soto wants to know how the spark of political revolution can transform religious concepts of community and inclusion.
To better understand the issue, he’s turning to the literature of England, Ireland, and Mexico in the late 1700s and early 1800s.César Soto wants to know how the spark of political revolution can transform religious concepts of community and inclusion.
Soto, a Ph.D. candidate in Notre Dame’s Department of English, has been awarded a Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship for 2016-17 to support his project.
The fellowships recognize graduate students who have demonstrated superior academic achievement, show promise as future scholars and teachers at a college or university level, and are prepared to use diversity as a resource to enrich the education of all students…
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