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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“According to the census report, more than 80% of the people who live in the El Paso metropolitan area identify as Hispanic.
Yet Hispanic students are underrepresented in health care education, as reported by the Mexican American Hispanic Physician Association.
Las Palmas Del Sol Healthcare and the University of Texas at El Paso recently announced a new partnership that aims to improve that representation in advanced education…”
“In contrast to the waves of immigrants drawn by the American El Dorado, 38-year-old Gabriel Zarate has left San Diego and California to live in Tijuana, the Mexican border city.
Like Zarate, an increasing number of Americans are moving to Mexico, where they find life less expensive and smoother, despite the risk of upsetting Mexicans deprived of their purchasing power.
“I’ve been in Tijuana for four years,” says the man who crosses the border to work in San Diego as an English teacher for foreign students and returns in the evening.
“One of the main reasons is the cost of living,” explains this Chilean-American. It is less expensive than California.”
“In San Diego, I lived in a studio for $1,275 a month,” says his colleague Mike Rashval, 36, who also teaches English in San Diego but works remotely from Tijuana. Here I pay about half of the amount.”
“I love Mexicans, and Mexican food,” continues Gabriel Zarate, who lived in Latin America for several years…
https://globeecho.com/politics/mexico-promised-land-for-american-immigrants/
“…To be federally designated as an HSI by the U.S. Department of Education, at minimum 25% of the university’s undergraduate enrollment must be from Hispanic or Latinx-identifying students. But at its current rate of growth – 0.41% increase per year – UCLA won’t reach the requisite 25% until 2029, despite its projected target of becoming an HSI by 2025…”
“University receives two major awards to bolster STEM programs at Hispanic Serving Institutio
Over the many years she’s been teaching, Dolores Inés Casillas has noticed that a lot of Latinx students majoring in STEM disciplines gobble up her survey course on Chicana and Chicano culture at UC Santa Barbara. That natural enthusiasm to engage with issues that are familiar to one’s lived experience got her thinking. Would more Latinx students graduate with STEM degrees if it was more personal to their lived experience?”
“Linda Ronstadt, the queen of California cool, recalls her heyday and the formative years that inspired her new book Feels Like Home: A Song for the Sonoran Borderlands — published in early October, amid Hispanic Heritage Month.
When I apologize Linda Ronstadt for having to reschedule our interview after what turned out to be a relatively mild strain of COVID blew through our household, she tells me not to worry….”
“The UCLA Latinx Film and Theatre Association is making space for Latinx artists.
Founded in 2004, the organization seeks to provide a space for Latinx students to explore their interests in both film and theater. It works to produce student-created short films and plays that premiere at its annual showcase called “Night of Cultura.” Fourth-year communication student and LFTA co-chair Alan Gallardo said if students have no experience or are unfamiliar with film and theater, LFTA can provide a safe space for them to learn about the arts.
“If they don’t know how to write, we will support them and teach them how to write. … If they have a good idea, it’s a good idea, and we are here to help them make that idea a reality,” Gallardo said…”
“Mexico.- The 22-year-old young actor and digital creator Gabriel Santoyo Navidad, originally from Mexico City, said that having been part of the cast of the Mexican series Kipatla and Señora Acero, although he had a lot of fun in both, clarified that they were two totally different projects.
“Kipatla is about values, empathy, about what it means to be a human being in the fullest sense of the word, and it teaches you to be good, unlike Señora Acero, which is a narco-series that shows action scenes, drug addiction, prostitution and murders.
Of his challenges in his role as an actor, Gabriel Santoyo recalled that the role he enjoyed the most was his character in the movie “Game of Heroes” where he had to play a child with cerebral palsy…”
https://d1softballnews.com/mexican-actor-gabriel-santoyo-will-launch-as-a-soloist-pressperu/
“An estimated 400,000 Mexican Americans served in the US armed forces during World War II and compared to other ethnic and racial groups in the United States, Mexican Americans served in disproportionately high numbers in frontline combat positions. Despite their efforts and sacrifices for their country during the war, these men continued to face discrimination when they returned from war.
Join the Pritzker Military Museum & Library and authors Carlos Harrison and Dave Gutierrez on Thursday, October 6th from 6-7pm for a conversation moderated by Hernan Fratto, news anchor with Telemundo Chicago as they discuss the role of Mexican American soldiers during World War II, the communities that they came from, and how these men fought, not just in battle, but to be accepted in an American society that remained biased against them even after they returned home as heroes…”
“The 2022 Latinx Welcome: “Sembrando Comunidad” was a historic, campuswide culmination of efforts to promote inclusivity at UCLA and was open to all students, said Alfred Herrera, assistant vice provost for academic partnerships. The event – which hosted a variety of academic departments, programs and student organizations – also helped further UCLA’s commitment to becoming a Hispanic-Serving Institution by 2025, he said…”
https://dailybruin.com/2022/10/04/ucla-holds-latinx-welcome-event-in-efforts-to-promote-inclusivity
“…Ada Limón was born in Sonoma, California, in 1976 and is of Mexican ancestry. She is the author of six poetry collections, including “The Carrying” (Milkweed Editions, 2018), which won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry; “Bright Dead Things” (2015), a finalist for the National Book Award and the National Books Critics Circle Award; “Sharks in the Rivers” (2010); “Lucky Wreck” (Autumn House, 2006); and “This Big Fake World” (Pearl Editions, 2006). She earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from New York University and is the recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the New York Foundation for the Arts, the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, and the Kentucky Foundation for Women…”
“…Through social media, and specifically targeting young people looking for flexible or remote jobs, Kruger has started its search for talent in the U.S.
From Kruger is highlighted how its collaborators do not require a university degree, since in just nine months the company is able to train professionals to handle the necessary tools and software.
“The desire to learn and experience come together to create a professional in the technological area,” noted Kruger…”
https://aldianews.com/en/leadership/entrepreneurs/tech-experts-demand
“…The universities are reaching out to students, aiming to engage first-generation students and underrepresented minority students, Martin said, adding that both groups have historically high stopout rates.
UCR identified about 6,600 students who stopped out of their university with good academic standing between 2008 and 2020, Martin said. The program’s goal is to serve 800 students over the next two years, aiming for 50% to be underrepresented minorities and 45% first-generation students, she added…”
“Commemorating more than 25 years of service to Pasadena, the Pasadena Mexican American History Association Sunday celebrated two “local heroes,” as they honored 99-year-old Herlinda Ruiz, the oldest supporter member of the organization, and South Pasadena Police Detective Lieutenant Shannon Robledo, during a luncheon event at Mijares Restaurant, itself a long time supporter of the non-profit organization…”
“Cultural aspects of leadership can be very different,” Vargas said. “I wouldn’t speak up as much as others or call attention to myself.”
Her role with Medtronic was her first American corporate job, coming after an eight-year career at a company in Switzerland. That shift made the Mexican-born professional unsure about how to navigate the corporate world. “The shift to working with people who didn’t understand me, my culture,” she said. “It was the first time I realized that I was different.”…
https://www.yahoo.com/now/hacr-partnership-helps-medtronic-develop-121500788.html
“Tony Gonzales is proud of his heritage as a third-generation Mexican American, but it wasn’t until he was diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment in 2021, at age 47, that he learned that Hispanic Americans are at higher risk for cognitive decline compared with those of other racial and ethnic groups….”
“The Autonomous University of Querétaro has opened Mexico’s first labor center with support from the UCLA Labor Center.
The Centro Laboral UAQ, which opened in August, seeks to provide more resources to workers in Mexico by supporting working class mobilization, assisting in contract negotiation and helping workers understand how to unionize, according to UCLA Newsroom…”
“Ellen Bennett was at her company’s factory in Vernon, California, in March 2020 when she found out Los Angeles County was going into lockdown because of Covid-19.
For her company, Hedley & Bennett, which makes kitchen gear like aprons for professional chefs, the future was suddenly in doubt — the lockdown effectively meant customers could no longer dine in restaurants or go to bars. But with the same colorful fabric her company used to make aprons, Bennett was able to pivot…”
https://www.nbcnews.com/select/shopping/latino-owned-businesses-shop-ncna1281477
“…“They love the climate,” she said. “They love the people, the culture, the food, the beauty.”
“Yes, of course, safety can be an issue. … And when I say quality of life, I mean of course, we can’t avoid the fact that your dollar goes a long way in Mexico,” she added.
According to data from the U.S. Department of State, there are over 1.6 million U.S. citizens living in Mexico, but that number only includes people who have applied for legal residency, which some remote workers do not do.
Mexico City’s tourism agency said more than 1.9 million foreigners arrived at the capital city’s international airport during just the first half of this year. They spent almost $2 billion in hotel stays there….”
https://vigourtimes.com/mexico-draws-young-american-professionals-working-remotely/
