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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Getting College Students to the Finish Line
“…More than 2 million high school graduates begin college every year. Yet only 60 percent of four-year college students finish their degree within six years, and less than 40 percent of community college students graduate or transfer to four-year institutions. UC Berkeley professor David Kirp, who details these issues in his latest book “The College Dropout Scandal,” believes colleges a…”
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Persistence: The Success of Students Who Transfer from Community Colleges to Selective Four-Year Institutions
One of several key findings;
“…Community college students who transfer to selective institutions have equal to higher graduation rates as students who enrolled directly from high school or those who transferred from other four-year institutions. They graduate in a reasonable amount of time, earning their degrees within two and a half years, on average…”
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La Profesora del Mundo
“…Sara Poot_Herrera as long had one foot in the U.S. and the other in Mexico. A professor in UC Santa Barbara’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese, she’s been a powerful champion of Mexican and Spanish-American literature. Her scholarship and support of literatura iberoamericana have brought her numerous awards, including some of the most prestigious honors Mexico bestows…”
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First draft of state ethnic studies curriculum ‘falls short,’ board says
“…California’s proposed ethnic studies curriculum “falls short and needs to be substantially redesigned,” said state education leaders as more ethnic organizations called for revisions Tuesday.
Earlier, the draft sparked opposition among many Jewish groups, who have been joined by organizations representing Armenians, Greeks, Hindus and Koreans in calling for changes.
The draft curriculum is being developed as state lawmakers are poised to make ethnic studies a graduation requirement in high schools.
But the draft did not meet the goals to be “accurate…”
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Their U.S. roots date back centuries, but these Latinos still wonder if it’s enough to belong
By Esmeralda Bermudez, Paloma Esquivel
Aug. 16, 2019
“It’s a tricky thing, what makes up an American.
There are Latinos whose families have been on this land since long before the Statue of Liberty greeted newcomers from New York Harbor, before the Civil War and the Declaration of Independence.
In the days since the El Paso massacre, many have found themselves reflecting, wrestling with their place in society and asking questions about how their heritage, their language and their skin color has shaped them and the way other Americans perceive them…”
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On the US-Mexico Border, Craft Beer Diplomacy Is Bringing Brewers Together
‘Sick of battling it out on southern California’s legendarily congested freeways, Ryan Brooks packed his bags and headed south. “I was living about an hour north of San Diego, commuting an hour each way, and I thought, ‘This is stupid, I hate it,’” he said. “So I went to TJ and spent 100 bucks a month to stay at my buddy’s house.”
That’s “TJ” as in Tijuana, Mexico, a breezy 15- to 20-minute drive from Coronado Brewing Co., where Brooks was working as a brewer in 2011. “The same border guy waved me through every day because I was like the one white guy crossing [from Mexico into the US] at 5 in the morning,” he remembered…”
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Andres Garcia-Amaya
“…Andres Garcia-Amaya founded Zoe Financial with the goal of improving people’s relationships with their personal finances.
His childhood was spent on a farm in Colombia before his parents moved their family to New York when he was a young teenager. Andres later graduated from Villanova University where he met his wife. After completing his undergrad and a stint as an institutional trader at Morgan Stanley, he went on to study at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, where he received his MBA on an academic achievement scholarship…”
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Money Concepts Regional Director, Gilbert Mercado Receives Recognition for Texas Association of Mexican American Chamber of Commerce Businessman of the Year
“Money Concepts Regional Director, Gilbert Mercado, won the Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce Businessman of the Year Award from a Small Chamber.
Gilbert joined Money Concepts in February 2006 as a President and in March 2017, he became a Regional Director for the Del Rio, Texas area. His independent organization focuses on holistic planning including tax preparation services.
Money Concepts President & CEO, Denis Walsh stated, “It is such a pleasure to see someone so committed to helping others receive a well-deserved recognition. Gilbert is a total professional and his true concern for others shines through in everything he does.”
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A New Home
“…The UC Santa Barbara Library and La Casa de la Raza have reached a new accord that signals another milestone in the preservation of local community history.
At a public reception July 11 at La Casa de la Raza, representatives from the library and from La Casa signed an agreement that will ensure the historical records of this community-based organization will be archived, preserved and made accessible in the library’s Special Research Collections.
Approximately 50 community residents, elected officials and represent…”
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UC admits all-time record number of freshmen, transfer students for Fall 2019
“…The composition of the freshman class is similar to that of last year. Chicano/Latino students increased slightly as a proportion of admitted students from 33 percent to 34 percent, while Asian American students remained the largest ethnic group of admitted students at 35 percent. The proportion of white students stayed flat at 22 percent. The proportion of African American students also stayed flat at 5 percent, while American Indian students remained at 0.5 percent…”
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In the Wake of Art
“…From 1944 to 1956, the Cuban journal Orígenes was the most important arts and literature periodical in the Spanish-speaking world. Co-edited by a pair of cultural luminaries, José Lezama Lima and José Rodríguez Feo, the publication featured a cosmopolitan array of contributors: Cuban writers like Eliseo Diego and Virgilio Piñera, Mexican poet Octavio Paz, American poet Wallace Stevens and many others…”
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Bicultural Biography, Ana Maria Salazar
“…Ana Maria Salazar ’89 always notices the surprised looks. Salazar, deputy assistant secretary of defense for drug enforcement policy and support, gets that reaction often on the job. Someone in her position is not supposed to be a civilian, not supposed to be young, not supposed to be a woman. But, as a Mexican American woman who easily traverses different cultures, she knows her presence at the table helps many countries stem the spread of drugs.
“It’s surprising for them to see a woman walk in heading a delegation of generals and colonels and uniformed men and women in the different services, but at the same time, I come in, I speak the language and understand them,” said Salazar. “Being bilingual and bicultural has been one of the most important assets I bring.”…”
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HOOLIGAN makes a splash with ‘The Little Mermaid’ rendition,Sylvia Camacho
“…Sylvia Camacho, a first-year English student who plays Ariel in the show, said some of her earliest memories come from her experiences singing in a church choir. Camacho never formally took vocal lessons; however, singing has always been a part of her life, making her in some ways similar to Ariel, the mermaid princess whose voice is the driving force in the musical’s plot…”
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Hector Cantú, Mexican American cartoonist
“…We did it! Thanks to the super efforts of founders and organizers Javier Hernandez and Ricardo Padilla [and their families!], the first Latino Comics Expo was a truly special event! The Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco was a great host and we all had a wonderful time meeting fellow comic fans and hosting panels on creating comics. We’re hoping to do it again in May 2012. I’ll keep you posted…”
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New Jobs Report Shows Record Unemployment Lows for Hispanics, Women May 3rd, 2019
“…At 4.2% the Hispanic unemployment rate is the lowest it has ever been, and at 3.1% the adult women unemployment rate reached its lowest since 1953…”
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Paying for college: What you need to know
‘If you have a college-bound senior, now is the time to start the search for financial aid. This week, applications are accepted for FAFSA, the federal form most schools and states use to determine who gets loans, grants and work study awards. Senior Personal Finance Correspondent Sharon Epperson explains what they need to know about your financials, and what you need to know to cut that tuition bill…”
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Mexicans decline to less than half the U.S. unauthorized immigrant population for the first time
“…Number of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. declined over the past decadeThe number of Mexican unauthorized immigrants in the United States declined so sharply over the past decade that they no longer are the majority of those living in the country illegally, according to new Pew Research Center estimates based on government data. In 2017, there were 10.5 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S., including 4.9 million Mexicans…”
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The Washington Post’s Carlos Lozada wins the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism
“…Washington Post Nonfiction Book Critic Carlos Lozada has won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Criticism for his ambitious and innovative essays that range across politics, presidential history, immigrant memories, national security reporting and feminist analysis to probe national dilemmas.
“The frenzied presidency of Donald Trump has upended countless norms of political and national life. Understanding it requires a critic who can sift through the clashing ideas and agendas, pushing through the noise to find the signal underneath. Carlos Lozada, The Washington Post’s nonfiction book critic, is the interpreter we need. Rather than remain hostage to the publishing industry with weekly reviews of one-off books, Lozada gathers armfuls of new or related volumes and grasps the themes, arguments and urgency pulsing through them,” wrote Martin Baron, executive editor of The Washington Post, in his letter of support.
Lozada’s writing has explored the role of identity in political and cultural life, how anti-Trump conservatives contributed to the destruction of the…”
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Here’s why the US census citizenship question stokes mistrust
“Census experts, social scientists and immigrant advocates have warned for years that adding a question on citizenship to the 2020 survey would scare immigrants — no matter their legal status — from participating. And this week, a New York federal judge issued a decision that blocks the Trump administration from asking it.
The question would have required respondents to answer whether they and everyone in their household is a US citizen. The Justice Department has filed a notice to appeal. There’s a small chance it could still end up on the census if the Trump administration can convince the Supreme Court to step in on its behalf. That would all need to happen by the June deadline for finalizing questions so the questionnaires can go to print…”
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California Vs. Texas: Education — Comparing The Two States 1 In 5 Americans Call Home By The Honorable Chuck DeVore|
“California, with 39.5 million people, and Texas, with 28.3 million, are two of America’s four majority-minority states, the other two being Hawaii and New Mexico. As such, the education systems’ effectiveness in the two most diverse states that 1-in-5 Americans calls home is of vital interest to the rest of the nation.
Because of the high stakes involved in public education—student achievement as well as billions of dollars ($72.6 billion in taxpayer dollars were spent in California in 2016 and $45.9 billion in Texas) the rhetoric surrounding the issue tends to obscure facts on the ground—by design…”
