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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UC Board of Regents votes to end affiliation with restrictive healthcare institutions
“University of California Board of Regents voted on a proposed amendment Wednesday to end the UC’s affiliations with hospitals and healthcare institutions that do not follow the University’s non-discriminatory policy by 2023.
The amendment, written by UC Board of Regents Chair John Pérez, stated the UC should only affiliate with organizations that offer non-discriminatory care and refrain from entering into new affiliations with institutions with discriminatory guidelines. The amendment also protects the freedom of UC personnel working in affiliate facilities to provide care without being prohibited by any discriminatory or religious restrictions and plans to terminate any affiliations with organizations unwilling to comply with the UC’s non-discriminatory policy by Dec. 31, 2023…”
Harris avoids optics of vaccine-for-immigration quid pro quo with Mexico
“Vice President Kamala Harris headed back to the U.S. after two days of high-level meetings in Guatemala and Mexico about corruption, human trafficking and migration, but one subject was only briefly touched upon: coronavirus vaccines…”
https://news.yahoo.com/harris-avoids-optics-vaccine-immigration-005249667.html
I left my home in Mexico to work as a farm veterinarian in America. But it was a trick.
“…But not all uncertainty is exciting or acceptable. While working at a dairy farm in Texas in 2019, I got a glimpse of how employers are profiting from the hopes and aspirations of Mexican veterinarians like me. U.S. farmers are luring Mexican animal scientists into exploitative jobs with the promise of professional development…”
Mexico’s Andrea Meza crowned Miss Universe from Chihuahua City, Mexico
“…Meza, who is from Chihuahua City, is a model and make-up artist and has a degree in software engineering, according to Miss Universe Organization’s news release.
She is also an activist, and “works closely with the Municipal Institute for Women, which aims to end gender-based violence,” the release said.Meza also serves as the official Tourism Brand Ambassador for her hometown of Chihuahua, according to Miss Universe Organization…”
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/17/entertainment/miss-universe-winner-mexico-andrea-meza-trnd/index.html
‘American Girl’ turns 35 and re-releases its first Latina doll: Josefina Montoya
“…The doll was developed with the guidance of an advisory board made up of historians, educators, curators and other professionals with academic knowledge of the American Southwest, according to the American Doll brand. She lives on a ranch near Santa Fe with her father and three older sisters, wears a braid with a flower, faux leather loafers, a white shirt with short puffed sleeves trimmed with lace and a necklace of crosses that the brand says came from Mexico City.
Josefina aspires to be a curandera, like her godmother Magdalena. She is an idealistic, loving and hopeful character and faithfully believes that “kindness really is the best medicine.”..”
Alumna-owned Stunner Jewelry brings together style and ethical manufacturing
“…Collaborating with small silversmiths, Chloe Moreno designs stunning jewelry.
In 2018, the UCLA alumna began designing jewelry pieces for her mom and has since developed her line into a small business, Stunner Jewelry. Along with building a website to launch later this year, Moreno said she is trying to get her jewelry into boutique stores and pop-up shops across the United States. Working with her mom who owns a small silver jewelry store based in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Moreno said she hopes to continue expanding Stunner Jewelry by making her products more accessible to her consumers…”
Meet Daniela
“…Daniela Santiago Martinez (guitar), 18, hails from Del Valle, Texas and is a senior at Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. She studies guitar with Matthew Cochran at Interlochen Arts Academy and has also studied music through the organization Austin Soundwaves. Daniela is part of the Draylen Mason Fellows Program which is a full scholarship initiative of Austin Soundwaves designed to help further the musical and personal development of high school musicians. In addition to playing classical music, Daniela loves playing Regional Mexicano music, especially Mariachi and Corridos…”
https://fromthetop.org/musician/daniela-santiago-martinez/
Gabriela Garcia’s ‘Of Women And Salt’ Connects Two Mother-Daughter Stories
“We are force. This sentence threads through the winding stories of generations in the new book “Of Women And Salt.” It’s Gabriela Garcia’s debut novel examining the history of two families, one Cuban, one Salvadoran, who come to the U.S. at different times and under different circumstances. Gabriela Garcia joins me now to talk about her book. Hi there…”
Knowing When It’s Time To Leave Your Job, According To A Google Alum
“Once a year, America acknowledges the egregious pay gap in which Latinas earn just 67 cents for every dollar a non-Latinx white man makes. It’s time we interrogate this fact year-round. The L-Suite examines the diverse ways in which Latinx professionals have built their careers, how they’ve navigated notoriously disruptive roadblocks, and how they’re attempting to dismantle these obstacles for the rest of their communities. This month, we’re talking with Google alum and founder of Eliment and Company, Eliana Murillo, about overcoming cultural pressures to stay in job, when it’s time to leave your full-time gig, and setting yourself up for success.,,”
Stories of family, culture inspire alumna’s floral bookmark business
“Rosalva Isidoro’s bookmarks hold pages and tell stories of their own.
The UCLA alumna began selling artistic bookmarks through her Instagram-based business @rosalva_floralmarks after meeting her maternal grandmother for the first time two years ago. On that trip to Mexico, Isidoro said she learned how to weave flowers – a cultural tradition of intricately twisting the stems of flowers into compact bundles of blossoms. Cherishing the moment of her grandma’s teaching, she turned this skill into a floral bookmark business that she said currently aims to support her education and community…”
https://dailybruin.com/2021/02/10/stories-of-family-culture-inspire-alumnas-floral-bookmark-business
‘Sí se puede’: Minnesota’s fast-growing Latino community is layered and complex
“Patricia Conde-Brooks is an immigrant, but she wants you to know that’s not the only thing that defines her.Conde-Brooks arrived in the United States in 1975 from Colombia. She was the first in her family to attend college and last year earned a doctoral degree in education. The Woodbury, Minn., woman has three grown sons and works at the University of St. Thomas, where she now helps first-generation students navigate college…”
These Philadelphia-area Latinos had significant achievements in 2020
“In 2020, we experienced the first pandemic in the last century. We saw a new social justice movement ignited. We heard loud calls for structural reform to achieve real equality.
In the Philadelphia region, Latinos, who make up 15 percent of the population, have suffered many losses: their jobs, economic stability, and their health and wellness…”
https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia-camden-latino-achievements-goals-2020-20201230.html
Meet Elora López-Nandam An evolutionary biologist dives into microscopic marine mysteries.
“Tucked into the labyrinthine recesses of the American Museum of Natural History in New York, among 32 million specimens and cultural artifacts, is the slow loris. Rather, century-old specimens of the petite nocturnal primate from Southeast Asia, with whom Elora López-Nandam became quite acquainted. After spending a summer extracting and decoding their DNA while an undergrad at Columbia, López-Nandam turned her attention to another sluggish creature, the sea cucumber, and the conservation implications of its genetic diversity in the coral reefs near Fiji. Along the way, she decided to devote her life to…”
https://stanfordmag.org/contents/meet-elora-lopez-nandam
Cordoba Corporation Welcomes Jacqueline L. Reynoso as Director of Programs and Policy
“I’m delighted to have Jacqueline join our team,” stated Cordoba Corporation Founder & CEO George L. Pla. “She brings tremendous public policy experience and an in depth understanding of diverse community needs and binational dynamics, which will assist our sectors in developing well planned, innovative, and equitable project solutions.”..”
The Community Web New book co-edited by UCSB scholar examines the role of digital communications in activism in Latin America
“For many Americans, digital media is a way to share personal news. But some indigenous communities in Latin America have harnessed its potential as a means of survival…”
Corona virus Economic Downturn Has Hit Latinos Especially Hard
“The coronavirus outbreak has significantly harmed the finances of U.S. Hispanics. As the nation’s economy contracted at a record rate in recent months, the group’s unemployment rate rose sharply, particularly among Hispanic women, and remains higher among Hispanic workers than U.S. workers overall. With Hispanic households absorbing lost jobs and wages, many have said they may not be able to pay their bills. Yet even before the outbreak, Hispanics were concerned about their economic situation despite near record low levels of unemployment through the end of 2019…”
How Black Lives Matter Made a Mexican-American Beer Writer Rethink Her Role in Craft Beer
“The first time I experienced a brew festival more than 10 years ago, my only expectation was to see a lot of people, try some new and interesting beers, and to enjoy myself. My vantage point was as a volunteer, serving beers to the masses along with my husband. Two of the first things I noticed immediately were: 1. The disproportionate number of men compared to the women in attendance; and 2. The fact that I was one of the very few people of color in attendance. As a second-generation Mexican-American from upstate New York, I have always been aware of my social surroundings wherever I am, and this was no exception.
Later, as I attended fest after fest across the Northeast, the disparities became hard to ignore. I’d say to my husband, whose family hails from Eastern Europe, “Do you notice that I’m the only brown person here?” to which he would reply, “No, I hadn’t really noticed.” Was I uncomfortable..”
Who is Jovita Idár? Google Doodle Celebrates Mexican-American Civil Rights Pioneer
“Jovita Idár, a pioneer of Mexican-American civil rights, is celebrated in today’s Google Doodle, on the anniversary of the week the First Mexican Congress was held, September 14—22, 1911.
Born in the border city of Laredo, Texas, in 1885, Jovita Idár lived at a time when Mexican-Americans faced rampant discrimination…”
Mexican ambassador to US discusses immigration, trade in Wednesday event
“Martha Bárcena Coqui, Mexican ambassador to the United States since December 2018 and the first woman to hold the position, spoke to Duke students Wednesday in a virtual event.Topics focused on United States-Mexico relations, increasing tensions due to immigration, the replacement of the North American Free Trade Agreement by the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and the impact of COVID-19 on an already-complex diplomatic relationship. “Be proud of your culture and what you represent,” Bárcena urged students as she reflected on the parallel trends of increasing opportunities for Mexican Americans and increased hostility toward immigrants.In the past 30 years, she argued, the United States and Mexico have gone from being almost distant neighbors to being essential trade partners, thanks to agreements such as NAFTA. Supply chains between the two—as well as Canada—have become completely integrated in areas ranging from pharmaceutical supplies to automotive parts. The free trade area encompassing Mexico and the United States is now valued at over $1.3 trillion, which, as Bárcena points out, is greater than the gross domestic products of some nations in the Group of 20…”
Unemployment rose higher in three months of COVID-19 than it did in two years of the Great Recession
“…Hispanic women had the highest rate of unemployment in May (19.5%), compared with other women or men among the nation’s major racial and ethnic groups. The unemployment rate among white women jumped nearly fivefold, climbing from 2.5% in February to 11.9% in May. A steep increase in the unemployment rate among Asian women also pushed their unemployment rate in May (16.7%) to near parity with the unemployment rate among black women (17.2%)…”
