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,”
Read More…
La Raza group harnesses local community interest
By Christian Urrutia, Photo Editor
May 17, 2015
Filed under Campus Beat, News
One of the multiple clubs on campus utilizing cultural advocacy, La Raza Student Union serves as the active arm of the La Raza studies department and centralizes a lot of its efforts based off the content that is covered in the program.
La Raza Student Union member Maria Lara said the club serves as a place where students can come and share opinions about what is going on in the local community and abroad, for example the economic and political turmoil taking place in Mexico…
Link to article
Nevada Gov. Sandoval signs bill allowing Dreamers to get teaching licenses
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) – Gov. Brian Sandoval signed a bill Wednesday that would make it easier for immigrants with temporary legal status to get a Nevada teaching license, saying it would help meet the needs of a “new Nevada.”
Among the people who flanked the Republican governor as he signed AB27 was Uriel Garcia, a 22-year-old Nevada State College student and recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program who was previously denied a license. He said he plans to re-apply as soon as possible to get started on his student teaching and move toward his goal of teaching 2nd grade English language learners…
Link to article
Rise In Latino, Black High School Grad Rates Boosts National Numbers
National graduation rates reached a record high of 81.4 percent in 2013, in part due to the increase of graduation rates among minority and low-income students.
Over the last decade, 1.8 million additional students have graduated from high school, according to a report released by America’s Promise Alliance, Civic Enterprises, Everyone Graduates Center, and the Alliance for Excellent Education.
GradNation, a campaign by America’s Promise Alliance, was launched in 2010 to focus individuals, organizations and communities on decreasing dropout rates. They adopted a goal of raising the national average on-time high school graduation rate to 90 percent by 2020…
Link to article
SF State awarded $17 million by NIH to enhance workforce diversity in biomedical research
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 22, 2014 — San Francisco State University has been awarded $17.04 million to address issues of workforce diversity in biomedical research, the National Institutes of Health announced today.
The effort is called SF BUILD, which stands for Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity. Professors in biology, chemistry/biochemistry, psychology, geography & environment, and other fields at SF State working on the project are seeking to upend the presuppositions about members of minority communities — that they may not have the aptitude or the background to excel in the sciences. “We are funded to prime institutional transformation,” said Professor of Biology Leticia Márquez-Magaña, the principal investigator for SF BUILD. “Let’s fix the institution, instead of fixing the students and not recognizing their assets.”…
Link to article
Mayor Nelda Martinez, Woman of Distinction
Corpus Christi Mayor Nelda Martinez was honored by the Texas Association of Mexican American Chambers of Commerce at the 4th annual Women of Distinction Awards in Austin.
Mayor Martinez was one of 12 Latinas from across the state that was recognized for their professional accomplishments, community contributions, and leadership. “I am humbled and honored to receive this recognition from such a prestigious state organization as The Texas Association of Mexican American…
Link to article
Two Latino Activists Divided by Years, Joined By Their Cause
ASHEVILLE, N.C. — They sat on opposite ends of the room and didn’t know each other. One is considered the old guard, while the other is the fresh young face. One is Puerto Rican and Dominican, born in New York; the other is Mexican American, born in the U.S. but raised in Mexico. One works on the West Coast, the other the East Coast…
Link to article
UNC reinstates Mexican-American studies after protests
GREELEY – After students, alumni and community members staged protests in and around the University of Northern Colorado campus over the suspension of the Mexican-American Studies program, university leaders lifted the suspension…
Link to article
When I ‘came out’ as Mexican
(CNN)On Sundays, I make tacos and my famous guacamole for my family. Food bonds us, and it’s a way for me to keep in touch with my Mexican heritage. And yet, although my childhood was full of culture, adventure and happiness, for years I denied that I was Mexican. In fact, I finally came out as Mexican only a few years ago…
Link to article
Why aren’t more Latinos going to UC, CSU schools?
By Fidel A. Vargas
For those of us working to empower Latino families and help young people attain the American dream through higher education, there is cause to celebrate: The high school dropout rate among Latinos declined by about half between 2000 and 2012. More Latino high school graduates are going to college than ever before; 19 percent of all university students in the United States are Latinos.
While this surge of college-bound Latino students is encouraging, some troubling patterns persist. Latinos are less likely than non-Hispanic whites to attend a four-year university and to graduate from college…
Chicano Batman on Selena, Touring with Jack White, and the Politics of Bringing Cumbia to Coachella
With lyrics in English, Spanish and sometimes Portuguese, L.A. quartet Chicano Batman has a sound that is hyper-local but also global in a very deep way. Their laid-back tunes mix well with sun and summer, but underneath the surface lies a deeper dimension of sly pop culture references, unapologetic Latin pride, and the thoughtful exploration of popular music’s all pervasive black roots…
Link to article
Hispanic Media: Fact Sheet
At 54 million in 2013, Hispanics account for 17% of the U.S. population and are responsible for half the nation’s growth between 2000 and 2012. Much of this growth since 2000 has come from the births of Hispanics in the U.S. rather than the arrival of new immigrants. As a result, English use among Hispanic adults is on the rise. Today, about six-in-ten U.S. adult Hispanics (62%) speak English or are bilingual…
Link to article
Essay: Latino Today, But What About Tomorrow?
CHICAGO – There are two kinds of Hispanics in this country.
Those who are Latino only by others’ definitions of them, who have unique identities of their own tied to either their parents’ home country or their own experience of growing up in a specific region of America. They probably identify more with their personal areas of interest – foodie, Catholic, parent, marathoner, IT professional, knitter – than they do with an overt statement of their heritage…
Link to article
History Professors New Book Shows Power of Hispanic Politics on New Mexico’s History
For nearly 50 years, one man dominated the political scene of Hispanics, Anglos and American Indians in northern New Mexico: Emilio Naranjo. This new book explores the controversial political figure, who some refer to as a self-serving, corrupt boss and others hail as a folk hero, convincing a generation of northern New Mexico residents to use the power of the ballot box. Conflict swirled around this powerful Democrat, reaching his highest power in the 1960s and ’70s when he was sheriff in Rio Arriba County…
Link to article
Tejanos in College: How Texas Born Mexican-American Students Navigate Ethnoracial Identity i al I de n t it y
… often called it a tostada. Another way that I felt different from my Mexican-American Page 14.
4 … My Tejano identity formation was as a young professional who had the opportunity to reflect …
My conversations had all been with graduate students and professionals. Page 15. 5 …
Link to dissertation
Photo Flash: Milagro Presents the Portland Premiere of AMERICAN NIGHT: THE BALLAD OF JUAN JOSE
Milagro is thrilled to present the Portland premiere of American Night: The Ballad of Juan José. The wild odyssey of American Night: The Ballad of Juan José by the acclaimed Latino actor, writer and filmmaker Richard Montoya, member of the comedy troupe Culture Clash, features a multi-talented and diverse cast of ten actors all under the visionary directing style of the award-wining Elizabeth Huffman (Oedipus el Rey, Mary Stuart), wrapping up Milagro”s 31st season of premieres. Check out photos of the show below!
History is made every day by all members of society, but not all of it is recorded in the history books. In American Night: The Ballad of Juan José, Montoya successfully mixes diverse elements, events and public figures that have shaped American history to create a kaleidoscopic, moving tapestry of America”s journey. 0As a theatre company engaged in risk-taking and cultural awareness, Milagro”s selection of this bold and relevant production was not only natural, but perfectly timely: recent social and political events have brought to light painful truths and uncomfortable conversations rooted in the history of the country, whether that history is true or not..
Link to article
How class background affects Mexican Americans’ experiences of subtle racism in the white-collar workplace
Abstract
This research examines three questions. First and most broadly, how are professional Mexican Americans received in white-collar workplaces? Second, do their professional accomplishments buffer them from subtle racism? If not, what are the strategies they employ to manage subtle racism while at work? Finally, do experiences of subtle racism vary depending on whether one grows up poor or middle class? Based on 59 in-depth interviews with 1.5 and second-generation Mexican American professionals, results show those from poor backgrounds report more persistent experiences with subtle racism and they employ specific strategies to manage. This research adds to the literature by examining whether and to what extent class background heightens or minimizes Mexican Americans’ experiences of interpersonal racism in the white-collar workplace. This research also addresses larger debates and theories about whether boundaries between Mexican Americans and whites remain salient once Mexican Americans enter the middle class…
Link to journal
UCLA professor brings Chicana/o, Latina/o culture to Hill residents
On the Day of the Dead each year, Charlene Villaseñor Black goes to the cemetery with her family to reconnect with her ancestors. She then goes to the Hill to see through the Day of the Dead celebration, watching participants and guests create altars in honor of friends and family who have died.
Residents of Sproul Hall wave and smile back at Black each day as she walks past the dorm rooms on the second-floor Chican@/Latin@ Studies theme community, which she brought to Sproul Hall five years ago when she was a faculty-in-residence there…
Link to article
Am I Mexican? American? Or Both?
“You’re not Mexican enough” is a phrase I have heard one too many times growing up in a predominately white area. Both my parents migrated to the U.S. when they were eighteen and since then have worked extremely hard to give my sisters and me a very comfortable life, yet I have received backlash for it. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but I have heard that the whole point of migrating to the U.S. for many people is to better one’s life and be successful and to live out the “American dream?” America insists that immigrants assimilate into American culture but when we actually do, phrases like “white-washed” or “coconut” are used and honestly it is quite insulting…
Link to article
Help-Seeking and Help–Offering for Teen Dating Violence among Acculturating Mexican American Adolescents
Abstract
Help-seeking sources, motivations, and barriers concerning teen dating violence are rarely co-examined alongside help-offering processes and messages, and both are understudied among minority youth populations. This study sought the perspectives of Mexican American adolescents (ages 15 to 17) concerning their preferences and experiences with both help-seeking and help-offering. Twenty focus groups (N= 64 adolescents) were divided by gender and by acculturation level to allow for group comparisons. Friends and supportive family members were primary sources of help…
Link to abstract
New Book Suggests Political Models to Empower Latinos, Mexicanos
RIVERSIDE, Calif. – A new book by UC Riverside political scientist Armando Navarro examines the current state of Latino and Mexicano politics in the United States, and outlines models for change that would alter U.S. boundaries and empower a population he contends is politically and economically powerless…
Link to article
