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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Social Sciences

Unraveling the Yarn: Self-Reflection, Critical Incidents, and Missteps Leading to Continued Growth as a Culturally Sensitive Art Educator

Teacher reflection has been shown to have a positive influence on educators’ professional growth. This article features the author’s autobiographical reflection on his eight years working at an elementary school within a predominantly migrant Mexican AmerTeacher reflection has been shown to have a positive influence on educators’ professional growth. This article features the author’s autobiographical reflection on his eight years working at an elementary school within a predominantly migrant Mexican American community, with specific attention paid to his mistakes while implementing a lesson on the indigenous Huichol culture of Mexico. Through the author’s critical self-reflection, a number of common missteps in multicultural instruction are discussed, including the selection of lessons that call for shallow reproductions of cultural artifacts, the error of false assumptions of cultural homogeneity, and the culturally-insensitive practiceican community, with specific attention paid to his mistakes while implementing a lesson on the indigenous Huichol culture of Mexico. Through the author’s critical self-reflection, a number of common missteps in multicultural instruction are discussed, including the selection of lessons that call for shallow reproductions of cultural artifacts, the error of false assumptions of cultural homogeneity, and the culturally-insensitive practice…
Link to abstract and PDF copy

The Elusive Bicultural Latino Audience

According to Horowitz Associates’ Focus: Latino 2014 report. Bicultural Latinos, Hispanics who feel strong cultural ties to both their U.S. and Hispanic identities, represent 53% of America’s Hispanics.
Biculturals, who tend to be more educated and make more money than average Hispanics, are a highly desirable target demographic for advertisers. Additionally, compared to total Hispanics and TV content viewers overall, biculturals are younger, more entertainment-oriented, and very tech-savvy. Many media companies and their advertisers are now working to develop effective strategies for engaging them…
Link to article

Musical Interests of a Middle – Income Mexican – American ( Natural or Naturalized) in the Western United States from Birth to Old Age

Two interviews were conducted; one with a 30 year old mixed Caucasian Mexican American male
with a family of five, Jimmy,studying music in Idaho and another with an
elderly couple from the baby boom cohort included a 68 year old Mexican
American female,Candelaria,who moved to the U.S. in 1963 and a 74 year old Mexican-
American male Cayetano,who moved to the U.S. permanently in 1948, both naturalized in 1977. Although the
instructions were to interview only one person from the older group, both husband and wife
intervened in the conversation.
Both interviews were done via Skype.
Both generational cohorts indicate…
Link to article

MEXICAN AMERICAN/CHICANO GANG MEMBERS’ VOICE ON SOCIAL CONTROL IN THE CONTEXT OF SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY: A CRITICAL ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY IN STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA

S Jesse – 2014
Page 1. MEXICAN AMERICAN / CHICANO GANG MEMBERS’ VOICE ON SOCIAL CONTROL
IN THE CONTEXT OF SCHOOL AND … By Jesse S. De La Cruz July 2014 Page 2. CERTIFICATION
OF APPROVAL MEXICAN AMERICAN / CHICANO GANG MEMBERS’ VOICE …
Link to dissertation

Latinos moving up to own, run farms

WATSONVILLE, Calif. — When he was 15, an immigration raid at a Japanese flower nursery turned Arturo Flores’ life around. The owners needed a new group of workers to replace the ones removed by immigration officials, and Flores landed a job cutting flowers.
He slowly worked his way up to packaging and delivering them. In the mid-1980s, he got a call from two businessmen looking to start their own cut-flower business. They asked him to manage deliveries and distribution. Today Flores, 50, is the president of Central California Flower Growers in Watsonville, a distributor in Santa Cruz County that sells more than 100 varieties of flowers and other plants…
Link to article

The United States and Mexico: Forging a Special Relationship

Should the United States and Mexico establish a “special relationship,” similar to those the US maintains with Great Britain and Israel? For Samir Tata, an increasingly self-confident and politically active Mexican – American population means that the historical, geographical, demographic and economic case has never been more compelling…
Link to article

The Population With a Bachelor’s Degree or Higher by Race and Hispanic Origin: 2006–2010

This report examines people aged 25 and over with a bachelor’s degree or higher among racial and Hispanic-
origin groups. As the U.S. population becomes more racially and ethnically diverse, it is important to exam-
ine educational attainment among population groups,which is a strong predictor of economic well-being.
Also, government agencies require data on educational attainment for funding allocations and program plan-
ning and implementation, while local government use information on educational attainment to attract
potential employers to their areas…
Link to report

NAVARRETTE: Boundaries of identity

SAN DIEGO – Who’s afraid of a little ‘ol hyphen?
Apparently, some of my readers. What sets off many of them is when I refer to myself as a “Mexican-American.” What sets me off is when they have the audacity to confront me over it.
The latest skirmish started with a column urging Americans not to emulate Mexico’s strict immigration policies lest we wind up a Third World country with a second-rate economy. At one point, I casually identified myself as “Mexican-American.”…
Link to article

Mexican and American: The challenges of belonging to two cultures

Fourteen years ago, Maria del Rosario Jasso from Coahuila, Mexico, realized her dream of moving to the United States with her husband and son. The couple had three more children after moving to the states and had to face an unexpected challenge: teaching their children Spanish and Mexican culture while residing in the United States.
Mexicans are the largest group of immigrants in the United States. Mexican immigrants to the U.S. added up to 11.4 million in 2008 (30.1 percent of the immigrants in the country), which meant about 10 percent of the Mexicans in the world, according to migrationpolicy.org…

Link to article

Former Marine and Self-Described ‘Proud Mexican American’ Finally Finds His Way to Career of His Dreams

CLAREMONT, Calif., July 30, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Pharmacy is not Antonio Silva’s first career, but he is certain it will be his last. In the past, the 34-year-old Riverside, California, resident has served in the U.S. Marine Corps and owned and operated his own small business. However, he could never forget what he was really passionate about―science, medicine and, most importantly, helping sick people feel better…

Link to article

Decoding ethnic labels

If you are of Latin American descent, do you call yourself Chicano? Latino? Hispanic?
As an undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Carlos Hipolito-Delgado, PhD, knew instinctively that the ethnic labels his fellow students chose said something about their perception of themselves and their values.
“There was a very clear understanding that if you identified as a member of one group, you were not a member of the other groups,” Hipolito-Delgado said. “If you called yourself Hispanic or Latino, then…
Link to article

Included in Communication Learning Climates That Cultivate Racial and Ethnic Diversity

OI Davis, JM Martinez, TK Nakayama – … : Learning Climates That Cultivate Racial and … – ERIC
16 days ago – … As an African American, a Mexican American, and an Asian American who teach
and conduct research in performance studies, inter- cultural communication, and rhetoric,
respectively, we bring an array of differ- ences together in our professional lives at Arizona State …
Link to essay

Students take pride in their heritage by showing #WhatLatinosLookLike

The Latino community wants the world to know #WhatLatinosLookLike.
When The New York Times reported “more Hispanics are declaring themselves white,” Latinos took to Twitter and Instagram to highlight the diversity of their community. Using the hashtag #WhatLatinosLookLike, Latinos posted pictures of themselves to refute the claim…
Link to article

Yahoo Diversity Figures Show Lack of Blacks, Hispanics

Yahoo has released information on the diversity of its workforce, and like Google it has a lot of room for improvement.
Last month, Google revealed that only 2% of its workforce was Black, 3% Hispanic and women only 30%.
Yahoo has followed suit by publishing its workforce diversity figures, and they are along the same lines. Women make up 37% of the overall workforce, with blacks representing 2% and Hispanics 4%.
In leadership positions at Yahoo (defined as VP and above), the story is even more lopsided. 77% of those posts are held by men, 2% are held by Hispanics and only 1% by Blacks…

Link to article

Reflections of a Latino in the Social Work Profession

This is a first-person account of seminal events that have helped shape the rich history and cultural heritage of the social work profession. In examining these events, the author has provided some personal history as a Mexican American growing up in South Texas that provides a historical and value context for his participation in these events. He also discusses his leadership experiences in serving on the national staff of NASW and volunteer leadership experiences in a number of professional organizations during critical times for the profession.
Link to abstract

Mexican-American Boys’ Positive Outcomes and Resilience: Importance of Social Support and Individual Attributes

LA Chapin – Journal of Child and Family Studies
… Published online: 27 May 2014. Abstract. Qualitative interviews with 12 Mexican-American
adolescent boys and two adult professionals contributed to … 1. How do Mexican-American boys
define positive outcomes? … Vito. 18. Grad. Mechanical engineer and professional boxer. …
Link to article


  

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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