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Lunes Libro for los Chicos Edition : Al Galope

10:00 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Books| children · No Comments

16 Nov 2009

9780761154150 This is Poroto’s (my toddler) new favorite book, the recently released by Workman Spanish translation, Al Galope! by Rufus Butler Seder.

Warning : blatant use of my kid ahead

Poroto Peeps Al Galope from VivirLatino on Vimeo.

What makes Al Galope! so much fun for the pre-school set (the ideal age for this book, in my opinion) is it features animals and what they do, adding a touch of a self-esteem in it’s final pages. But what sets this book apart and even had my 12 year old saying “that’s cool” is its use of “scanimation”, a mix of optical illusion and animation that makes the animals “move”. The author explains it best.

Al Galope! retails for $12.99.

Monday Morning Cuteness

9:21 am By la Macha · Funny| children · No Comments

2 Nov 2009

From Mexico, we get this warning to wash our hands! Or, !Lavarse las Manos!

And with the latest news about the H1N1 virus not looking so good, washing your hands is such a good idea!

Update on Nashville Family that Lost Children to State after Surviving Violent Attack

2:51 pm By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Family| Immigration| Nashville| Women| children · 1 Comment

7 Oct 2009

It reads like a bad novela if it weren’t the real nightmare that so many families are living in the United States. First, Maria Gurrola is violently attacked and her newborn, Yair Anthony Carillo, is abducted by a woman claiming to be an ICE agent. Then, once reunited with her baby, Maria lost Yair and her other three children, this time to State authorities who cited vague “safety issues”.

Yesterday, the petition to remove the children from the home was withdrawn and Gurrola has been reunited with all of her children.

Tuesday’s hearing was planned at Juvenile Court to discuss allegations that the family may have known of a plot to sell the baby for $25,000. Court documents did not detail who made the allegations.

Metro police spokesman Don Aaron released a press release saying that Metro police agree that the children should be returned to the parents after extensive interviews by Metro, TBI and the FBI over the last day. All the agencies are in agreement, he said.

“At this time, (authorities) do not believe the parents, Maria Gurrola and Jose Carrillo, are involved,” Aaron said. “Significant unanswered questions remain, however, including why Gurrola and her newborn son were chosen by alleged kidnapper, Tammy Renee Silas. Statements made to law enforcement by Silas are part of the continuing investigation.”

Now if only all the babies can be reunited with their mothers, like Cirila and Angeline.

Via / USA Today

Knowing more makes you stupid

1:10 pm By la Macha · Bilingualism| Education| Immigration| children · 6 Comments

7 Oct 2009

One of my biggest pet peeves about anti-immigration pro-nativist rhetoric is how it has created this universal idea in U.S. culture about what “stupid” really is, especially in the area of language. Specifically, if you don’t speak English, you are actually (among other things) stupid. Irritating logic to say the least, but somewhat understandable how easily racism can twist lack of comprehension into stupidity.

What is beyond fathomable–what just destroys my faith in humanity every time I hear it, is the idea that being *bilingual* (or speaking more than one language), means you are stupid. Or “lagging behind.” Or somehow unable to keep up with the world or simply unprepared for life.

Witness: This very interesting clip from CNN that showcases a white family that decided to send their white children to a school that teaches it’s kids in Spanish. Which means that the kids are fluently bilingual before they graduate.

Notice how many times the reporter let us know that the kids are not “lagging behind?” And that there is a waiting list to get into the school? And that, holy Jesus, it’s actually a GOOD thing to know more? That when you know more, you are actually SMARTER?

I’ve said it a thousand times, and I’ll say it again here. Only in the Good Ol’ U.S. of A. could the population be so blinded by racism that we actually refuse to be educated in the attempt to ‘be smart.”

Only here could we honestly take pride in and form a national identity around ignorance.

Update on Child Abducted by Fake ICE Agent

12:25 pm By la Macha · Family| Immigration| children · Comments Off

6 Oct 2009

Remember Maria Gurrolla of Nashville, Tennessee? The woman whose son was kidnapped by a woman posing as an ICE agent? Well, in what has to be described as the most inane bullshit that could only happen in the good ol’ U.S.A., William Bennet let’s us know in comments that Gurrolla got her son back, only to lose him AND HER THREE OTHER CHILDREN in the same day.

A kidnapped newborn is safe in foster care and an Alabama woman suspected of taking him is in custody, but investigators say the case of 4-day-old Yair Anthony Carillo is far from closed.

Among the questions still unanswered are whether a woman who posed as an immigration agent and stabbed the baby’s mother was working alone and why state child welfare workers took the baby and three siblings into custody shortly after the family was reunited.

Child welfare officials would say only that Maria Gurrolla’s children were placed in foster care for “safety” reasons. The department said in a statement Monday that a juvenile court hearing is expected in Nashville Tuesday.

…

He said the caseworkers saw something in this situation that made them concerned enough that they felt the safest thing to do was find a foster home for the children. He declined to say what caseworkers were concerned about or whether complaints had been filed against the family.

He said most of the time when DCS takes children, they are eventually returned and the agency always explains to the family what they can do to regain custody.

I wonder what it was that made the caseworkers feel “concern” about. Was it, as was the case with Cirila Baltazar Cruz, that the mother couldn’t speak English? Or, did a family member, as the AP is reporting, attempt to sell the baby?

Sources familiar with the case of a kidnapped Tennessee newborn tell The Associated Press that the boy and three siblings are in foster care after allegations that a family member tried to sell the infant.

The thing about cases like this, is that you never can know for sure. ICE *has* stolen babies from their birth parents for no other reason than English not being a first language in the home. Ex-partners *have* hired people to pose as ICE agents to scare and intimidate women they think still “belong” to them. There is no singular-agreed-upon-written-out-in-multiple-languages method for the government taking children from parents who are in the country without proper documentation.

Terror fuels the government led war against immigrants, and it’s tearing families apart, leaving women stabbed and without their children, and immigrant families criminalized when they are the legitimate victims. I am not a big fan of reform, but if reform at least gets a set singular process in place for ICE agents who are removing children to do so–sweet Jesus, let’s get moving.

No mother, no child, no human being should have to live with this terror hanging over their heads.

Fake ICE Agent Kidnaps Infant, “Misrepresenting how the Government Works or Behaves in this Country”

3 Oct 2009

ALeqM5jmKc6IsGwelpJZpUA6AiJRxvKq2g Four day old Yair Anthony Carrillo and his mother, Maria Gurrolla of Nashville, Tennessee were doubly victimized by the fear that is the current immigration system in the United States on Tuesday, when the infant was kidnapped by a woman claiming to be an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.

The fake official slashed Gurrolla after she initially refused to hand over the child though in the end Carillo was taken away from her.

As if having your newborn child violently taken from your arms weren’t traumatic enough, enter Yuri Cunza, president of Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and publisher of La Noticia, a Spanish language newspaper in Nashville who instead of connecting the long history of how immigration enforcement separates parents from their children, from Elvira Arellano to Cirila Baltazar Cruz, asks Latino immigrants communities to trust law enforcement and other state agencies who act as de facto ICE agents.

“I am really concerned about the possibility of newborn babies and Hispanic women can be targeted because of a level of vulnerability,” Cunza said…

Cunza said that the suspect posing as an immigration officer will create a chilling effect for Hispanics who regularly interact with immigration authorities. “It is misrepresenting how the government works or behaves in this country,” he said.

From Postville to Patchogue, the cries of immigrant mothers and children tell what is just another day on the job for those who continue to terrorize Latino immigrant communities and the carriers of hate who spread their racist gospel via the mainstream media. It is why children at a young age learn to stay close to their mothers in immigrant communities and maintain a low gaze in the presence of law enforcement. It doesn’t even matter if the ICE badge is real or not, just ask el espiritu de Brisenia Flores and her father. Yair Anthony Carrillo, with four days on this earth, is learning how to live in fear when he should be in his mother’s loving care and Latina motherhood is criminalized and victimized.

Updated: Late last night, after I wrote this post, Yair was found safe.

Via/ The Latin Americanist, Standing Firm, The Unapologetic Mexican

Latin@ stars support child rapist

1 Oct 2009

roman Roman Polanski is a child rapist, right? He gave drugs and alcohol to a 13-year-old girl, and then molested and raped her vaginally and anally (trigger warning, transcript of court hearings at link).

And yet, even as he raped a little girl, Polanski can’t seem to get enough support from stars everywhere–including a whole slew of the top rung of Hollywood Latin@s. A petition of support of Polanski has been making the rounds the past few days:

On September 16th, 2009, Mr. Charles Rivkin, the US Ambassador to France, received French artists and intellectuals at the embassy. He presented to them the new Minister Counselor for Public Affairs at the embassy, Ms Judith Baroody. In perfect French she lauded the Franco-American friendship and recommended the development of cultural relations between our two countries.

If only in the name of this friendship between our two countries, we demand the immediate release of Roman Polanski.

And everyday, more Latin@s are signing on, including:

Pedro Almodovar (Spanish),
Penelope Cruz (Spanish),
Guillermo del Toro,
Gael Garcia Bernal,
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
Richard Pena (who is the director of the NY film festival, which VL has promoted)
Harold Alvarado Tenorio

Now, technically, the point *could* be made that the petition is calling for international film festivals to be “neutral” sites that exist outside of legal jurisdictions:

Filmmakers in France, in Europe, in the United States and around the world are dismayed by this decision. It seems inadmissible to them that an international cultural event, paying homage to one of the greatest contemporary filmmakers, is used by the police to apprehend him.

By their extraterritorial nature, film festivals the world over have always permitted works to be shown and for filmmakers to present them freely and safely, even when certain States opposed this.

The arrest of Roman Polanski in a neutral country, where he assumed he could travel without hindrance, undermines this tradition: it opens the way for actions of which no-one can know the effects.

But there are two things that keep me from buying that:

This section:

His arrest follows an American arrest warrant dating from 1978 against the filmmaker, in a case of morals.

and this:

Filmmakers, actors, producers and technicians – everyone involved in international filmmaking – want him to know that he has their support and friendship.

Is drugging and raping a 13-year-old child really a case of morals? Does it show the best morals in the world to support and give friendship to a man who drugs and rapes a child? To advocate for that man’s freedom? Is a rapist’s freedom really more important than recognizing the crime of rape? Is friendship with a rapist really more important than standing in solidarity with women and girls (and men and boys) worldwide that are raped, have been raped and/or will be raped?

Do these “stars” have no responsibility at all to the young girls that watch their films?

On a different note, the girl that Polanski raped was also a worker–she was raped by him while on a shoot. Her career was finished the moment she told what happened–why is it more wrong to be arrested for a crime you admitted to committing while at a work party, than it is to be raped by your boss while at work? Why does Polanski have more right to a career than that girl did? Why do the careers of women seem predicated on their ability to keep their mouths shut about the violence and power male colleagues and bosses exert over them?

Do no workers owe their solidarity to a fellow worker who was assaulted and then blacklisted?

What is most disappointing about the list of Latin@ stars is that Gael Garcia Bernal is on it. Coming from a background of radical activism, and having appeared in several movies with leftist politics, I expected more of him.

But when has a belief in radical politics ever made men more inclined to stand against gender based violence?

Violence against women and girls, and sexual violence against children is endemic throughout the world. It is not progressive, radical or liberatory to stand in support of a rapist–it is the norm. It is saying it is ok for child rape to be a normal part of the world.

Latina women and children deserve more, and expect more.
The survivor of Roman Polanski’s assault deserves more.
These “stars” should be ashamed of themselves.

The Story of Angeline Hassell : The Double Victimization of Survivor’s of Domestic Violence

11:05 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Family| New York City| Violence| Women| children · 4 Comments

30 Sep 2009

Angeline’s story isn’t new to us here at VivirLatino. Her struggle to assert her mami rights and her struggle against violence perpetuated first by her partner than by the family court system here in NYC is something I’ve posted on before.

Here’s Angeline, in her own words, with her own voice speaking about domestic violence and not from a place of theory but from her own personal experience. Angeline goes back to court here in Queens, NYC on October 19th.

Roman Polanski: The Illegal?

1:26 pm By la Macha · Celebrities| Immigration| children| race| society · 3 Comments

29 Sep 2009

roman Anybody who follows the immigration debate knows the tired old explanation as to why undocumented immigrants are really “illegals” or “aliens.” They committed a crime! They are here illegally! They deserve the label!

Well, as I am sure many of you have heard, director Roman Polanski is currently in the news because 30 years after committing the crime of raping a 13-year-old girl, he was arrested in Switzerland and is awaiting extradition to the U.S. He has continued his life since his arrest and admission of guilt in a pretty unadulterated way. He works. He lives in multiple houses. He won a prestigious award. He has friends and supporters. And he lives (and has lived) quite openly as a man who likes to fuck young girls.

In short, if the U.S. really wanted him, the U.S. could’ve gotten him. And yet…it didn’t. And as I mentioned, after committing a crime, Polanski received no small level of support from others, up to and including “liberal” presses like NPR calling his crime “sex with a thirteen-year-old” rather than “rape.”

So, you have the case of families coming to the U.S. to get a job and help support families here and in other countries–and those people are no longer people. They are illegals. They are aliens. They deserve what they get.

You have the case of a man who *admits* to drugging and raping a thirteen-year-old child, and you have a “troubled genius” who, well, maybe isn’t that bad. I mean, not a rapist rapist. Just a regular rapist. A not bad rapist.

What is up with this difference? Why isn’t Glen Beck going after this scumbag? Why isn’t Lou Dobbs? Why isn’t the U.S. mobilizing an entire department to go after all the rapists? The illegal rapists? Why don’t we have an entire system of detention centers set up exclusively for all the rapists and their families to sit in until we can figure out what to do with them? If the rapists didn’t want their children locked up, they shouldn’t have raped, right?

I am not the only one who notices the differences in standards here. What I am wondering is will any of the “they are illegals” troupe be brave enough to account for the differences? And lest men think they are not the problem here, will any men be brave enough to account for why crimes against women and girls are so easy to forgive?

Back to School Edition: Catching up on the Gossip

12:25 pm By la Macha · Bizarro| Celebrities| Controversia| children| society · Comments Off

8 Sep 2009

I admit, I have occasionally watched Jon and Kate plus 8. The show is not that engrossing–your basic family of 10 experiencing the day. But it’s something safe to watch with the kids, and somewhat interesting just to see “how the hell does one stay organized with 10 people in the family?”

But now, the kids are back at school, and I’m too tired to trudge through depressing stories of parents fainting over Obamadoctrination and poor people saying they don’t want free health care. Because then…we’d all be pinkos. Or something.

So, instead, I am turning to the gossip columns. And boy, was I rewarded. Turns out Jon and Kate are not the organized put together couple we all thought they were.

Accusations of abuse don’t surprise me here. Rumors of Kate’s aggression have run rampant for a while (including accusations of child abuse). I have to wonder though, at how much of the reaction to Jon’s statements is colored in the fact that he is a man.

Everybody knows that Kate has acted questionably. And yet, when Jon *says* he was abused, suddenly everybody is all concerned about how the kids are going to react to this news–and *cautioning* Jon about “tit for tat” antics. He doesn’t want to make the kids hate him, right?

But..what happens if the kids are getting the sharp end of Kate’s “tat,” too? And what happens if in 20 years, one of them tries to say, “yes, my mother hurt me,” and *can’t* because everybody believes the t.v. illusion?

Why do we believe that Jon is being bullied by his wife…until he calls it abuse? And then we think it’s just “messy” divorce?

Is it because we think that being “pussy whipped” is funny? Because we think that Jon has the male god given right not *not* be abused if he really wanted it? So he must secretly like it?

And what does any of this reaction have to do with the fact that he is Asian and Kate is white? (And before any men’s rights folks come here moaning about how unfair life is, let me just point to how Kate has been treated in all of this. And how it’s mighty easy to get caught hitting your kids when you are the primary caregiver.)

Ai, maybe ‘escaping’ in celebrity gossip isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be?

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