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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“I have known Rubén Martínez for many years, including when he was one of the co-hosts of ‘Life & Times’ that aired on KCET in Los Angeles in the early 1990s,” said Garcia, the organizer of the annual Leal Award. “I was always struck by how astute, articulate and charismatic Ruben was. He has always provided critical observations of U.S. society, culture and politics….”
“…Canales wasn’t the only underclassman who finished in the top 20, as freshman Zoe Antoinette Campos posted her second-best score of the season, finishing 2-over 146 and tying for 17th overall…”
”For USC Gould alumni Elizabeth E. Atlee (JD 1993), and Steve Atlee (JD 1990), giving back has always been a shared goal. The couple achieved that aim in a personally meaningful way in March 2021 by establishing the Elizabeth and Steve Atlee Endowed Scholarship, an endowed fund that supports Latino students at USC Gould.
Liz, the senior vice president, deputy general counsel and chief ethics and compliance officer at commercial real estate firm CBRE, comes from a line of lawyers in both Mexico and the U.S. — “It’s kind of the family business,” she says.
In 2019 she was recognized as one of the 50 Most Powerful Latinas by the Association of Latino Professionals for America in collaboration with Fortune magazine. She also received the professional achievement award from the Mexican American Bar Foundation the same year. In addition, she is a member of USC Gould’s Board of Councilors…”
“…The city of Houston and the family of a Mexican American Vietnam War veteran beaten to death by police in May 1977 — a killing that sparked a deadly riot and ushered in police reforms — have agreed on a memorial…”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/houston-build-memorial-mexican-american-171028970.html
“… Like other populist regimes, Mexico’s federal government has refused to face reality and has instead downplayed the magnitude of the crisis while accusing adversaries of exaggerating it for political purposes. This bodes ill both for overcoming the pandemic and for Mexican democracy, as the attempt to generate an alternative narrative perpetuates Mexico’s poor management of Covid-19—now irrefutably one of the most deficient in the world, with a death rate of 252.7 per 100,000 inhabitants. The federal government’s release of the corrected pandemic figures, however, is good news. The revised data is consistent with the death toll for Mexico City, published a few months ago by different groups of experts, who sounded the alarm on the underreporting of deaths from Covid-19. It is encouraging that decades of investments in independent information systems financed by Mexican taxpayers, such as those of INEGI and the National Council for the…”
https://www.thedialogue.org/analysis/how-effectively-is-mexico-fighting-the-covid-pandemic/
“…According to recent data from the National Student Clearinghouse, Hispanic enrollment in higher education fell by 5.4 percentage points last fall amid the pandemic. When we look at differences by sector and level, those declines become even more dismaying. While enrollment at public four-year colleges fell nearly two percentage points, enrollment at community colleges fell 10.6 percentage points overall and nearly 17 percentage points among Latinos, versus a decline of 6.2 percentage points for Latinas. These declines are particularly troubling, since over 52% of Hispanic higher-education students attend community colleges. The decline in first-time enrollment among Hispanic students — which sank nearly 20 percentage points across all sectors — should,,,”
“On his walk home from work, Dr. Eduardo Peña Dolhun passes people living on the sidewalk along Polk Street and Broadway. He’d made that walk hundreds of times before one evening when on a whim he stopped at a man resting on the sidewalk and said, “Hello sir, I’m a community doctor. Are you homeless?”…
..
https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/mexican-christmas-food/
“She lived the education gap. Now the CEO of the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement is working to help under represented women close pay gaps on the way to the next level in their careers…”
“…”Istmo Energy is pleased to have the option to leverage our onsite de-ethanizers to produce hydrogen from ethane for our hydrotreaters, while at the same time offer additional clean hydrogen sales in the Permian region,” said Alex Gutierrez, Principal and Co-Founder of Istmo Energy…”
https://www.yahoo.com/now/proteum-energy-istmo-energy-sign-120000729.html
“…With the publication of his first book, “Caras Viejas y Vino Nuevo” in 1975, Alejandro Morales signaled the arrival of a bold, powerful voice in Chicano literature. Francisco Lomelí(link is external), a UC Santa Barbara professor emeritus of Chicana and Chicano studies who would later translate the book into English, called it a “highly experimental barrio novel that explored how an urban space devolves and gets mired in violence while experimenting with a story told backwards.”…”
“…The Chicano Movement of the 1960s and ’70s, like so much of the period’s politics, is best known for its radicalism: militancy, distrust of mainstream institutions, demands for rapid change. Less understood, yet no less significant in its aims, actions, and impact, was the movement’s moderate elements. In the Midst of Radicalism presents the first full account of these more mainstream liberal activists—those who rejected the politics of protest and worked within the system to promote social change for the Mexican American community…”
“…Percentage of latinas with a master’s degree
Latinas have the lowest percentage of graduate degrees compared to all women of other non-Hispanic racial groups combined. In 2013, just 4 percent of Latinas had completed a Master’s degree or higher by age 29 compared to nearly 5 percent of black, 11 percent of white, and 22 percent of Asian women.27 A decade earlier less than 2 percent of Latinas held a graduate degree, so this represents more than a doubling of graduate degree holders. However, as with bachelor’s degrees, this progress has not been sufficient to close the significant gaps between Latinas and other women…
https://www.hispanicoutlook.com/articles/graduate-school-realities
“…As a percentage of the entire student population, the White or Caucasian demographic has decreased by 34.5% since 1976.
“Latinx students are graduating high school and enrolling in higher education at historically high rates, but they continue to experience barriers enrolling in and graduating from four-year colleges, according to a recent report about California’s Latinx student population…”
“The 22nd annual Latin Grammy Awards were held in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Thursday night. The ceremony honored Latin music released between June 1, 2020 and May 31, 2021.
Roselyn Sánchez, Ana Brenda Contreras and Carlos Rivera hosted; Gloria Estefan, Christina Aguilera, Bad Bunny, Ozuna, Rubén Blades and C. Tangana were among the many performers…”
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/18/arts/music/latin-grammys-winners-list.html
“…On December 27, 2020, legislation passed calling for the Smithsonian to establish the National Museum of the American Latino. The new museum will be the cornerstone for visitors to learn how Latinos have contributed and continue to contribute to U.S. art, history, culture, and science. Additionally, it will serve as a gateway to exhibitions, collections, and programming at other Smithsonian museums, research centers, and traveling exhibition services…”
“Alejandra Rodríguez has found her rhythm.
The third-year dance and political science student performed in a commercial for Fox Deportes, a division of Fox Sports broadcast in Spanish, that aired Oct. 26. The commercial celebrates the 25th anniversary of the network with newscasters and dancers moving to the song “Fuego” by Bomba Estéreo. This was her first appearance on a large national network and one of her first dance jobs since the COVID-19 pandemic, she said.
“There was a time where we couldn’t do what we love the most,” Rodríguez said. “To get work off of something that you love and is your passion – it’s a complete blessing.”…”https://dailybruin.com/2021/11/10/ucla-student-takes-dance-moves-to-national-level-in-commercial
“…More than nine million Americans served from Nov. 1, 1955, to May 15, 1975. Six million are still living, but commemorative partners can do more.
“These patriots and their families deserve the nation’s gratitude,” said Phil Waite, chief of strategic engagement for The United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration. “Our partners are the backbone of this national commemoration. We would be privileged to have your organization come alongside us in this noble mission.”…”
https://blogs.va.gov/VAntage/94075/how-to-make-veterans-day-more-meaningful-for-vietnam-vets/
“…Comparing white (non-Hispanic) and nonwhite (or Hispanic) employees, executives have the largest annual race/ethnicity pay gap per employee of about $12,700, followed by officials & managers (of about $10,400) and professionals (of about $7,800). The smallest race/ethnicity pay gaps per employee were found in service and laborers (both about $800).,,”
