Archive for the ‘children’ Category
Girl questions Michelle Obama about immigration
9:19 am By la Macha · children|Family|Immigration|Obama · 14 Comments
20 May 2010Michelle Obama went to an elementary school classroom yesterday, and a girl in the classroom posed some heartbreaking questions:
The student shyly raised her hand and said, “My mom … she says that Barack Obama is taking everybody away that doesn’t have papers.”
Mrs. Obama replied: “Yeah, well that’s something that we have to work on, right? To make sure that people can be here with the right kind of papers, right? That’s exactly right.”
The girl then said quietly, “But my mom doesn’t have any …” and trailed off.
Mrs. Obama replied: “Well, we have to work on that. We have to fix that, and everybody’s got to work together in Congress to make sure that happens. That’s right.”
Here is video of the exchange:
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go lay down and sob my brains out.
Arizona’s Brewer Keeps on Moving to the White
7:14 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · arizona|children|Education|Immigration · 60 Comments
13 May 2010On Tuesday, Arizona Governor Jan Brewer signed into law HB 2281, which bans schools from teaching classes designed for students of a particular ethnic group. The law goes into effect on December 30.
Since the signing of the law, I have read many people across the internet saying the same thing, how ridiculous this law is especially given the fact that the way history and language arts and almost everything is taught today in so many schools across the country is from a white EuroAmerican lens. Reading the law, so many school classes across the country would have to be banned. I’ll repost what I said when this law was moving through the Arizona legislature:
Of course this law only makes sense in the context of growing anti-Latino hate. Surely there will be no attempts to ban the teaching of the supremacy of the Europeans who came to what is now Arizona in order to “civilize” it. Certainly no one will object to the calls for people to organize against brown people or those with last names that end in z’s or make you roll your r’s. This law in itself is an example of resentment against a growing class of people : Latinos.
Sunday School Teacher That Killed 8-year-old Pleads Guilty
2:53 pm By la Macha · children|crime|Violence · 12 Comments
10 May 2010Vivir Latino has long covered the story of Sandra Cantu–the little girl brutally raped and murdered by a Sunday school teacher who happens to be white.
Well, I just found out that the woman who killed Sandra has made a plea.
A Sunday school teacher accused of kidnapping, raping and killing 8-year-old Sandra Cantu entered a surprise guilty plea to first-degree murder on Monday, sparing her the death penalty.
Melissa Huckaby of Tracy is expected to be sentenced to life in prison. As part of her plea in a Stockton court, all other charges – including rape, lewd acts with a child and poisoning another child and a man – have been dropped.
This made me sick to read. Because the sexual violence Sandra experienced–sexual violence directed at her by a white woman, was not considered important in the plea. The charges were dropped.
Which, in essence, says sexual violence against little baby Latinas, is ok. Not that bad.
Sure, Huckaby got life–but that doesn’t mean anything. Usually in 20 years, lifer’s come eligible for parole. And that parole board will no look at her record of sexual assault and pedophilia when making the decision to let her go or not.
They will only see a white woman who was a Sunday School teacher who killed a little girl nobody wanted any damn way.
And that makes me sick.
SB1070 Was Only the Beginning for Some
8:46 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · arizona|children|Education|Immigration · 17 Comments
27 Apr 2010Amigo Manuél at Latino Politico has a chilling post up about how for the author of SB1070 seems to just be warming up when it comes to his attempts to brownout Arizona.
Russell Pearce has another bill pending in the state legislature that would go even further to cause fear and panic in Latino and migrant communities – by pitting schools against the families they serve.
Senate Bill 1097 would create the following mandates on the Arizona Department of Education (ADE) and school districts:
1. Requires ADE to collect data on students enrolled in Arizona school districts who cannot demonstrate proof of legal U.S. residence.
2. Requires ADE to annually submit a report to the Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate and a furnish a copy to the Secretary of State which includes:
a) summary of the collected data on a district by district basis;
b) research on the adverse impact of the enrollment of students unable to show proof of legal residence;
c) total estimated total cost to Arizona taxpayers for their education; and
d) the total estimated cost to Arizona taxpayers for the education of students who are not U.S. citizens.
3. Authorizes the Superintendent of Public Instruction to withhold a school district’s state aid apportionment for non-compliance with the requirements related to data collection for students who cannot demonstrate proof of legal U.S. residence.
Announcing the Arrival of Don’t Leave Your Friends Behind #3
3:55 pm By Maegan la Mamita Mala · children|Family|Media|Zines · Comments Off
22 Apr 2010I love zines and secretly would love to have someone sit me down and walk me through making one (cuz I’m afraid of effing it up). In the meantime I’m happy to promote the zines of others especially if some of my favorite mamis and rwoc on the planet are a part of them, and yes I include myself.
“Don’t Leave Your Friends Behind” #3 is the third issue of a zine geared toward the non-parent radical community about how to be an ally to the parent(s) and children in their midst.
We made a PDF to better share it, so you can print, and distribute as you like: ithttp://issuu.com/strongwindsahead/docs/don_tleaveyourfriendsbehindzine3.bw.final
You can download the PDF for free pero you can also get a hard copy for $3. Click on the Don’t Leave Your Friends Behind Blog.
Inspirations : Whose Afraid of Anti-Immigrant Hate? Not these Children.
11:35 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · children|Immigration|Justice|mexico · 5 Comments
18 Apr 2010With the horrible things happening in Arizona, activists/writers/advocates/culture workers, and all of us really need doses of strong inspiration. We need hope, love and beauty.
This video, which apparently is kinda old, reminds me of all those things and of the lessons we teach our children by example.
Feliz Domingo
Mamis Are the Movements : The New Mythos Tour
11:02 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Activism|Allied Media Conference|children|Cities|Family|Gifts|Justice|Media|media justice|New Mythos Tour|Women · 4 Comments
16 Mar 2010
Mami is a core part of my identity, my life. It seeps into every letter, every post, everything I breath out and take back in. I am proud to announce that we are a part of The New Mythos Tour that is jumping off next week and ask all VL readers and supporters to extend their love and support as well.
Gloria Anzaldua says: “By creating a new mythos – that is, a change in the way we perceive reality, the way we see ourselves, and the ways we behave – la mestiza creates a new consciousness. The work of mestiza consciousness is to break down the subject/object duality that keeps her prisoner and to show in the flesh and through the images in her work how duality is transcended. The answer to the problem between the white race and the colored, between males and females, lies in healing the split that originates in the very foundation of our lives, our culture, our languages, our thoughts. A massive uprooting of dualistic thinking in the individual and collective consciousness is the beginning of a long struggle, but one that could, in our best hopes, bring us to the end of rape, of violence, of war.”
Women Workers Organizing Against Sexual Harassment
8:35 pm By la Macha · children|Family|Immigration|Violence|Women · 1 Comment
2 Mar 2010I watched this video about women farm workers with a lot of pride and interest. They have been organizing against the sexual harassment a seventeen year old girl was subjected to and the retaliation experienced by those organizing against the abuse. The video is of these organizers turning in a petition signed by over 16,000 people showing support for the workers.
It made me especially think of my co-blogger Mala’s many writings about the subject of the mamihood and organizing. Mami’s are organizing against the same violence and horror that Feminists With A Big F are organizing against–sexual violence, gender discrimination, etc–but we are doing it with a baby asleep on our shoulder and in Spanish. And without all the resources that Feminists With A Big F have.
These women are a tremendous inspiration–and deserve our continued support!
This Can’t Be Good, Right? Speedy Gonzalez, the Movie.
9:36 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Celebrities|children|Marketing|Movies · 22 Comments
25 Feb 2010
Can I get an “ay caramba!”?
Warner Brothers, historically known for their accurate and nuanced portrayal of people of color communities, is fast tracking a Speedy Gonzales live-action/CG hybrid feature, with George Lopez as the voice of the Mexican mouse.
Speedy, who comes with a history of stereotypical portrayals of Mexico and Mexicans, is supposedly redeemed by Lopez who is reclaiming the ratoncito and trying to make a hero out of him. Is such a thing even possible? Can one of the most famous Latinos in Hollywood now take a figure who has been used to malign an entire community/country be rebranded? Should this even happen? Or does doing this take away, erase the very reason a character like Speedy was created?
“We wanted to make sure that it was not the Speedy of the 1950s — the racist Speedy,” Ann Lopez [George's wife] said with a chuckle. “Speedy’s going to be a misunderstood boy who comes from a family that works in a very meticulous setting, and he’s a little too fast for what they do. He makes a mess of that. So he has to go out in the world to find what he’s good at.”
Good News for Cirila Baltazar Cruz and Her Daughter
8:20 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · children|Immigration|Justice|language|Mississippi|Women · 4 Comments
25 Feb 2010I love good news, especially when I hear about it from our amazing readers/amig@s. Last night Katie let us know that Cirila Baltazar Cruz, the Indigenous Mexican mujer who had her child taken away from her because of a mix of racist and sexist anti-immigrant actions in the name of the state of Mississippi, has been reunited with her hijita, Ruby.
There has been a cloak of secrecy surrounding this case which has made it nearly impossible to get any information or perspective directly from the people involved but according to an article I found on The Native American Times, Cirila and Ruby are headed back to Oaxaca.
Hola!
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