VivirLatino

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Yours,
The VLatin@ team

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~~VLatin@Team

My friend posted this on her facebook page today and I immediately went to the story. This is one of the first studies I’ve seen in a very long time where “[p]articular attention is paid to high-school graduation rates, infant mortality rates, unemployment rates, juvenile justice incarceration, and the amount of jobs created in relation to funds received by the Recovery Act.”

The creators of the list, ScoopDaily, identifies as a “groundbreaking news outlet that features original reporting by, for, and about America’s youth regarding politics, culture, and opinion trends.” They have partnered with Zogby International, a marketing research and polling company to provide their research. The first line of the study states:

in its commitment to calling attention to the Obama Administration’s continued neglect of urban America, ScoopDaily has compiled a list of the 5 worst cities for urban youth.

As La Macha wrote about experiences in the Midwest, this list is telling as Detroit, Ohio, and President Obama’s hometown, Chicago are included with Atlanta and Baltimore concluding the top 5 list. Now, I’ll admit that the list that was created focused exclusively on people who racially identify as Black in the US. So, I wonder how the term “urban” is being defined and used. Can we assume that similar findings crossover to Latino, Asian, working class White, and other under-resourced communities that may also be overrepresented in the areas of focus?

Another interesting aspect was the use of graphics when re-reporting this story. My homegirl posted a like from ABC News and after reading the story there I then went directly to the story on ScoopDaily. You’ll notice that ABC News chose a Getty Image to accompany this story of three headless, inked, light skinned people, who I read as biological men, walking in front of a graffiti mural. The caption under the foto is about FBI efforts to “dismantle” gangs in Chicago that have become “full-fledged criminal enterprises.”

What does this image invoke? I’ll admit that for me I read the images of the young people as Latino. However, when I read the story I realized that Latinos were not specifically represented. That’s when I went into my hardcore media literacy mode and asked myself: What messages and values does ABC News want to send that may not have been ScoopDaily’s original focus, as ScoopDaily did not have any fotos accompany the story? What message has ABC News constructed with the use of one foto? How are people with different perspectives going to read this article and interpret this foto?

What do you think?

Got this off of facebook:A personal portrait of Justice Sonia Sotomayor by her long time friend, who just so happens to be an editor at the magazine Latina.

Here’s an excerpt:

In her short tenure so far on the court, the justice we have witnessed is no shrinking violet. She asks tough questions and is not intimidated by her rookie status. Sotomayor’s charm and confidence surprise very few people who know her, including the man who nominated her. While President Obama’s staff was preparing Sotomayor for the confirmation hearings in a White House office called the War Room, the team covered all the potentially explosive questions and briefed her on every minute detail, including how to dress for the cameras. They even advised her to keep her nails a neutral shade, which she did. But on the day of the White House reception celebrating her appointment, Sotomayor asked the president to look at her freshly manicured nails, holding up her hands to show off her favorite fire engine–red hue. The president chuckled, saying that she had been warned against that color.

She sure had, but Sotomayor was not finished. She then pulled her hair back behind her ears, exposing her red and black semi-hoop earrings, a beloved accessory among Latinas across America—from the South Bronx to Houston to East Los Angeles.

Obama joked that she had been briefed on the size of the earrings as well. Without skipping a beat, Sotomayor replied: “Mr. President, you have no idea what you’ve unleashed.” He responded, “Justice: I know and remember it’s a lifetime appointment. And I and no one can take it back.” And that, as they say, is the final verdict.

You can read a longer excerpt at Latina!

Democracy Now! ran the following segment about the challenges women in the military are facing. It’s a horrifying and extremely important segment, I hope you listen to the whole thing.

One of the things that a lot of people don’t realize is women make up 15 percent of today’s military, so about one in seven soldiers are female. And the face of war has completely changed because of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Women are being used on the so-called front lines every single day. And commanders—and by that, I mean infantry commanders themselves—are violating DOD policy every single day by actually degrading women at the lowest levels of combat. So you have non-infantry support soldiers who are women, and male, serving with the infantry, attached to infantry units, doing combat patrols, kicking down doors.

And because of this need to sort of win hearts and minds on the ground, and because Afghan and Iraqi women are so critical in our relations on the ground with local villages, women are being used to sort of form those relationships on the ground. Women have access to local villages, to homes, that male soldiers don’t. And so, women are often taking off their helmets and going in with headscarves into local homes, doing the searches.

And it’s completely unprecedented. The DOD did not expect this, going into these wars, that women would be virtually fully integrated into the military on the ground. And so, congressional policy hasn’t yet caught up with what’s playing out in these conflicts.

As a queer in a state that pulled the same trick Maine just did, I know the only think that helped me feel better post election was a nice dose of scathing bitter humor.

Stephen Colbert delivers.

I must say, I love seeing a little male on male ass grabbing on national television. Thank You Stephen.

Ai, dios mio, what in the hell is going on with old people preying on youth??? The latest horror filled story reaching the air waves is the story of Kristy Sanchez-Trujillo, a teacher who allegedly “had sex” (i.e. raped) a 13-year-old child.

The surprising thing for me with this is that the woman is Latina. There have been many stories of women teachers raping their students, but almost universally, the teacher is a white woman raping a boy of color (think: Mary Kay Letourneau). I’m really not sure how to wrap my mind around a woman of color using her position of power to rape a child.

And let’s be clear on that, this is a rape (if something indeed did happen). I don’t care if she’s “muy caliente” or a “bad bad” teacher. If she had sex with a 13-year-old, she *raped* a 13-year-old, and we need to all stop pretending that young boys don’t get as violated and traumatized by rape as young girls do.

One of the biggest issues that seems to have come out of the “Latino in America” series is the question of identity. What, exactly, is a Latino? Some people were satisfied with Soledad O’Brien’s framing of “Latino,” others had real problems with it, including: there was a limited black Latino presence on the show, Puerto Ricans and Cubans were shown as oppositional to Mexicans, there was absolutely no mention of queer politics (including any mention of the huge losses that have devastated our communities) and the “boot strap” mentality (as in, pull yourself up by them) was normalized far too easily on the whole.

Regardless, I have been so excited to see a range of comments attempting to more clearly and broadly and specifically define that age old question, “What is Latino?”

The following is one of my favorite answers so far.

From the Latin Americanist:

I have my issues with CNN and many other network television news stations but felt compelled to watch their special.

Being born and raised in the United States from immigrant parents, I sometimes consider myself a “slashed American”. I do not view this term as something that breeds distrust and division but that adds to the plethora of diversity this country has long been know for and symbolizes.

My first language was Spanish. But when my family relocated to the suburbs of RI from the bustling metropolis that is NYC, I was slapped in the face with a huge culture shock. In the end I integrated well with my “American” counterparts. I learned the language, celebrated the American holidays, all the while still trying to remain true to myself.

It is a constant battle juggling both my Mexican heritage and my new found American self; trying to hold on to my family’s legacy while being pulled in the other direction to also embrace this new tradition as I continue to struggle with what it means to be an American.

Latino to me, comes from the joy I feel when I hear others converse about issues and topics relevant to me in the language I adore.

Latino to me, comes from the overwhelming sensation and urge to dance when I hear the Latin rhythm of salsa, cumbias, and merengue music.

Latino to me, comes from the overindulgences of my mother’s tamales, mole poblano, pastel de tres leches, and the plethora of tastes and flavors that make up the Latino pallet.

Latino to me, means that I am a vital part of this country, that I foster growth and tolerance and add to an ever growing diversity that make America rich and vibrant.

Latino to me is knowing that while I may be a “slashed” American I am no less than any whole person; that I am in no way deprived of any sense of self but lucky and even blessed.

It is my two distinct worlds that have shown me that I am not all that different from my Anglo brother, from my African sister, or from my Asian cousin. But has shown me that deep down we are all the same; with the same needs to love and care for one another and be accepted.. Once we find that common ground, can we truly unite to dispel this distrust and division among ourselves not only as Americans but as human beings, as a part to the overall whole.

Of course, I want to scream and yell and stomp my feet to this definition, because it encourages people in our communities to build on existing definitions, to explore outside of “nation/state” definitions, to think of lived experiences rather than corporate news.

So to this list, I would add:

Latino to me means glorious sexuality–it means Cherry Gallette, La Chica Boom, our own Mamita Mala, and so many others. It means naked and fat Virgin Guadalupes and in your face Butchlalis.

I am a queer Latina because I am Latina–I could not “come out” if I identified as white or mostly as white. I’m not really sure why that is. Being queer is being Latina to me, and vise versa, I couldn’t be one without the other.

What is “Latino” to you? What makes you–you?