El Sol Latino | June 2019 | 15.7

June 2019

Volume 15 No. 7

Un Periรณdico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper

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Editorial / Editorial

contents

El Sol Latino will soon be celebrating 15 years!

Let the countdown begin…

On November 2004, the first edition of El Sol Latino was printed at the no longer in existence Star Press in Holyoke. This November, our newspaper will celebrate its 15th year of existence.

When we launched El Sol Latino, very few people would have believed that this Puerto Rican/Latinxowned newspaper would be celebrating its 15th year in business. The reality was that our chances for making it were rather tenuous, at best, given the fact that dozens of other Latinx-owned newspapers that had been published in Western Massachusetts had only lasted a few years, none of them surpassing the 10-year mark.

We see this 15-year celebration as a reflection of the support of our sponsors, readers, and friends. We also see it as a testament to hard work, perseverance, resiliency, and consistency in delivering a high quality bilingual publication with an open commitment to diversity and inclusion.

In our first editorial, published on November 2004, we stated that, we aspire to become the journalistic voice of the Puerto Rican/Latino point

of vew and a trustworthy news resource to both the Hispanic and non-Hispanic readers about issues and happenings in our community.

We made the commitment to be … an information source that provides readers with crucial facts, trustworthy, stimulating and valuedriven information. We believe that by publishing grassroots success stories and inspirational narratives alongside hard-hitting critiques of policies, investigative reports and expert analysis…We will try to fulfill the greater than ever public need and claim for independent news that better reflect our pluralistic cultural reality.

2 Editorial / Editorial El Sol Latino will soon be celebrating 15 years!

Let the countdown begin…

3 Portada / Front Page Latino Scholarship Fund 28th Annual Celebration 4 The Ethnic Studies Pop Out: A Block Party at Holyoke High School 5 Let the countdown begin… Highlights of El Sol Latino 2004 - 2006 7 Economic Crisis and Hurricanes worsen Puerto Rico’s “Demographic Winter” Centro Partners With Puerto Rico Research Hub To Host Florida Conference

All these years El Sol Latino has strived to remain faithful to its initial vision and to its committemt to the community that it serves. Beginning with this June edition, we will be reproducing highlights of some of our memorable front pages, stories, editorials, and other material that epitomize our trajectory as a different kind of newspaper.

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¡Gracias por su apoyo!

11 Tinta Caliente

Foto del Mes/Photo of the Month

Reconocen a Richie Rivera y Zulma Febo

8 Opinión / Opinion “Too little food, too much month” Libros / Books Love War Stories: An Interview with Ivelisse Rodríguez on Her Debut Short Story Collection

12 Educación / Education STCC announces ‘Flex Terms’ for fall 2019 13 Armanis Fuentes: History in the Making New HCC student-mentoring program opens campus office 14 Deportes / Sports OPENING DAY Springfield Old Timers Softball League 15 OPENING DAY Holyoke Old Timers Softball League

Founded in 2004

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Volume 15, No. 7 ! June 2019

Editor

Mimbros del equipo de sóftbol de Hoyoke, Tira y Tápate reconocieron al jugador Richie Rivera #17 (tercero de izquierda a derecha) y a Zulma Febo (al centro), ambos sobrevivientes de cáncer.

Manuel Frau Ramos manuelfrau@gmail.com 413-320-3826 Assistant Editor Ingrid Estrany-Frau Managing Editor Diosdado López Art Director Tennessee Media Design Business Address El Sol Latino P.O Box 572 Amherst, MA 01004-0572

Editorial Policy

Cita del Mes/ Quote of the Month “The reason women are critiqued for being too loud or too meek, too big or too small, too smart to be attractive or too attractive to be smart, is to belittle women out of standing up publicly. The goal is to ‘critique’ into submission and that applies to anyone challenging power.”

Alexandria Ocasio Cortez Twitter@AOC - May 28, 2019

El Sol Latino acepta colaboraciones tanto en español como en inglés.

Nos comprometemos a examinarlas, pero no necesariamente a publicarlas. Nos reservamos el derecho de editar los textos y hacer correcciones por razones de espacio y/o estilo. Las colaboraciones pueden ser enviadas a nuestra dirección postal o a través de correo electrónico a: info@elsollatino.net.

El Sol Latino welcomes submissions in either English or Spanish.

We consider and review all submissions but reserve the right to not publish them. We reserve the right to edit texts and make corrections for reasons of space and/or style. Submissions may be sent to our postal address or via electronic mail to: info@elsollatino.net.

El Sol Latino is published monthly by Coquí Media Group.

El Sol Latino es publicado mensualmente por Coquí Media Group, P.O Box 572, Amherst, MA 01004-0572.

Portada / Front Page

El Sol Latino June 2019

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Latino Scholarship Fund 28th Annual Celebration by MANUEL FRAU RAMOS The 28th Annual Celebration of the Latino Scholarship Fund was held at the Log Cabin in Holyoke on May 21, 2019. The annual event is organized to celebrate and honor the achievement of high school graduating students and outstanding community leaders. During the banquet, 12 Latinx graduates who were accepted at college and universities to pursue post-secondary education were recognized. Each student received a $1,500 scholarship.

The 2019 twelve student recipients are - Leonidas Acosta (Holyoke High School – Boston College), Ruth Arzuaga Rodríguez (Holyoke High School – American International College), Nathan Cruz (Holyoke High School – Springfield Technical Community College), Nashali Pagán (Holyoke High School – Western New England University), Mikayla Villegas (Holyoke High School – Elms College).

From Easthampton, Fernando Tenesaca (Easthampton High School – University of Massachusetts Amherst).

From Springfield, Adai Estrada (Sabis International Charter School –– Western New England University), Jada Ficarra (Sabis International Charter School – Smith College), Gabriela Harris (Sabis International Charter School – Wesleyan University), Gladys Herrera (Putnam Vocational Technical Academy– College of Saint Rose), Arianna Pérez (Springfield Central High School – Smith College), and Maralis Feliciano González (Springfield High School of Science and Technology – University of Massachusetts Lowell).

Anna Rigali was a Guidance Counselor at Holyoke High School and is currently working at Northampton High School. Ms. Rigali has three years of experience as a guidance counselor, and nine years of experience in college counseling. She speaks fluent Spanish. Ms. Rigali received her Bachelor’s Degree from Fordham University and her Master’s Degree from American International College. She is well known for her consistent advocacy and work with Latinx students pursuing post secondary education.

Carlos Alberto Vega immigrated with his family to Holyoke form Ecuador when he was 5 years old. An independent and critical thinker from a young age, Carlos consistently found himself sensitive to any unfairness or inequality he perceived in the world around him. Over the course of his life Carlos endeavored tirelessly to benefit the disenfranchised people within the city of Holyoke. The focus of his community organizing ran the gamut of housing rights, cultural celebration, education and economic development.

In each endeavor he championed the needs and voices of the growing Latino community in Holyoke.

Since its inception in 1991, the local based organization Latino Scholarship Fund, Inc. has awarded thousands of dollars in scholarships to over two hundred Latinx students from high schools across the Pioneer Valley. The scholarships have helped the recipients to go on to study at area colleges, as well as other higher education institutions throughout the country and Puerto Rico.

“Our scholarship support and public celebration make evident that we believe in our young people and in their capacity to help shape the future,” said Madelaine Márquez, President of the Latino Scholarship Fund.

This year the Carlos Vega Community Champion Awards went to Jossie Valentín and Anna Rigali. Valentín was recognized for her exceptional efforts in support of the community she serves, and Rigali for her outstanding efforts to ensure that students persist and thrive in school.

Jossie Valentín, who is originally from Puerto Rico, came to Massachusetts in 1998. She graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Puerto Rico – Río Piedras, followed by a Master’s Degree in Forensic Psychology from American International College in Springfield. She has been a Holyoke resident since 2005.

Valentín has worked as a Bilingual Senior Academic Counselor at Holyoke Community College since 2006 and first got elected to the Ward 4 City Council seat in Holyoke in 2013 and won re-election since. She recently left the HCC job, announcing that she would not seek re-election because she became Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren’s state presidential campaign director.

After hurricane María hit Puerto Rico on September 20th, 2017, the urgent need for help to provide food, water, and shelter to the people of Puerto Rico inspired Myriam Quiñones and Jossie Valentín to organize the “Boricua Care Packages Project” to assist families on the island.

Jossie Valentín, Angel Nieto Romero, and Anna Rigali

Angel Nieto Romero, Alicia López, and attorney David Hoose

Carlos served as Executive Director of Nueva Esperanza for many years, a Holyoke based community development agency he helped found. He also helped create, worked with or served on the board of many other organizations in the area, including The Holyoke Children’s Museum, Latino Scholarship Fund Association, One Book Holyoke, HAP, Western Mass Jobs for Justice, Western Mass Legal Services, Enlace de Familias, Nuestras Raíces, National Priorities Project, Project Vote, Holyoke Teen Pregnancy Prevention Coalition, and Valley Opportunity Council.

The Antonia Pantoja Award 2019 for distinguished achievement was presented to Angel Nieto Romero, educator, social activist, and poet. Nieto is a native of Cuenca, Spain.

Moving to Massachusetts in 1975, he held several part-time positions, including teaching Spanish at Hampshire College, Greenfield Community College, and the New England Language Institute before taking a full-time job as a bilingual teacher, and later a Spanish teacher, in the Holyoke Public Schools, where he published or co-published several student poetry and cultural journals such as La Campana, El Imán, and Revista Tu Cultura.

He has been a community activist in the Pioneer Valley, and was a founder of what later became the Latino Scholarship Association, today known as the Latino Scholarship Fund of Western Massachusetts. Attorney David Hoose said a few words about Angel and told the story of how the Latino Scholarship Fund came into being some 30 years ago thanks to what he called Angel’s passion for the Puerto Ricans and other students he taught in continued on page 10

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Portada / Front Page

El Sol Latino June 2019

The Ethnic Studies Pop Out: A Block Party at Holyoke High School by MANUEL FRAU RAMOS On May 3rd, 2019 Holyoke High School – North Campus hosted the first ever Holyoke High School Festival Block Party to celebrate the Holyoke Public Schools Ethnic Studies program. A coalition of Holyoke High School and Mount Holyoke College students organized this community event.

The Ethnic Studies Pop Out: A Block Party looked to celebrate and bring awareness to ethnic studies in the Holyoke schools and community. The event included food, performances such as music, poetry, and social justice literature exhibits.

The Ethnic Studies (ES) program spans 7th- 11th grade as part of Social Studies, Humanities, and ELA courses. It reaches nearly 1,000 students in the Middle Schools and in both High Schools (North Campus and Dean Campus).

The ES Program was organized during the 2015- 2016 school year and was implemented with two main goals, First, to address the critical transition period from middle school to high school that is considered an important developmental period because of the negative impact it has on youths’ academics, especially among African American and Latinx students.

The second goal is to deal with and respond to the high percent of Latinx High School students, mostly Puerto Ricans, who leave (drop out) of Holyoke High School without a diploma. However, in most cases this appears to be a push out and rather than a dropout.

Students of the Ethnic Studies Program

ZV: The purpose of this Block party was to bring the community together in order to show everything that Ethnic Studies has done and is capable of. I think the event not only accomplished this, but went beyond those standards.

ESL: What motivated you to enroll in the Ethnic Studies Program?

ZV: I was placed into the Ethnic Studies program once I moved here my freshman year because it was the program with the least amount of people.

But I think that I got lucky when I was placed in here.

ESL: How has this program helped or benefitted you? What has been the most interesting learning experience you’ve had in this program?

ZV: This program has helped shape my worldview, and my perspective overall. The most interesting learning experience I’ve had was actually enjoying what I’m learning and being actively engaged.

ESL: In the past, an elective course on the History of Puerto Rico was offered at HHS. Almost all the students who took it were Puertorriqueños. The rest of the student population saw this course as something that was relevant only to Puerto Rican students. Is this the same situation that is happening in the the Ethnic Studies Program where only people of color enroll?

ZV: When I was in 9th grade, we definitely had a higher concentration of white students who took the class. Yet, as the years went on, less and less white students would take the class. I feel like since they don’t understand or know what the class is about, that is why these white students aren’t signing up for it.

Cartagena was recognized for her valuable and unconditional support of the Ethnic Studies program.

Students may be pushed out of school because their presence in the school creates difficulty in meeting some goal of the school. For example, in the case where funding for the school is dependent upon scholastic achievement of the students, if the school can get rid of low-performing students, average test scores on academic performance tests will go up, thus increasing funding. Schools may push out truant students, who formally enroll in classes, but then refuse to attend.

El Sol Latino interviewed Zaiell Vargas

Zaiell Vargas, one of the student organizers of this event to share her experience as a Latinx student at Holyoke High School.

ESL: Where were you born and where are your parents from?

ZV: I was born in Northampton, Massachusetts, raised in Bronx, New York.

And both of my parents are from New York.

ESL: Where did you study elementary and middle school?

ZV: I studied both elementary and middle school in the Bronx.

ESL: Are you bilingual (Spanish-English)?

ZV: I speak both, but I am not fluent in Spanish.

ESL: What grade are you in?

ZV: I am in 11th grade.

ESL: What was the purpose of organizing the Ethnic Studies Pop Out: A Block Party on May 3rd? Do you think that you accomplished the goals for this event?

ESL: Do you feel that other non-Latinio teachers and staff at HHS value the program HHSEthnic Studies program as a legitimate academic offering?

ZV: Most non-Latino teachers do value our Ethnic Studies program, but there are a select few that always have something to say.

ESL: What other courses would you like to see offered at HHS? ZV: I would like to see a variety of Ethnic Studies classes, maybe even an AP class for Ethnic Studies.

ESL: One of the main reasons that the program was established was the high drop-out rate among Latinx students, mostly Puerto Ricans. In a study conducted in 1993 entitled I Was an Outsider: An Exploratory Study of Dropping Out among Puerto Rican Youths in Holyoke, one of the students interviewed was an eleventh grade drop out who had been a Holyoke student since kindergarten. He implied that he dropped because he was neither able to benefit from his educational and social experience at HHS nor build on his culture and language to help him succeed. Based on your experience as a Latinx student at HHS, do you think that this is still happening among your fellow Latinx students?

ZV: I believe that HHS has definitely improved in offering more opportunities for Latinx students and has done a better job at making them feel welcome.

Yet, I also feel like HHS can always do more. They need to make the school look and feel like a place where every kid wants to go.

ESL: Do you believe that the lack of diversity among facuty and staff at HHS would make a difference in the educational and social experiences in school among Latinx students?

ZV: For sure, this factor has a huge impact on Latinx students. We as Latinx students feel underrepresented because of the fact that our staff does not reflect us. We need to hire more teachers and staff of color so our students feel welcome.

Portada / Front Page

El Sol Latino June 2019

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Let the countdown begin…Highlights of El Sol Latino 2004 - 2006 Note of the editor – The following are excerpts of stories that appeared in the pages of El Sol Latino from 2004 to 2006. They reflect some of the issues impacting Latino community at the time. The selections are edited and not exact reproductions of the original articles.

November 2004 / First Edition

A New Beginning at Holyoke Community College: Conversation with Dr. William Messner

In our first edition we interviewed the recently appointed (May 25, 2004) HCC President Dr. William Messner. We were interested in talking to the new President as during the hiring process the issue of racial and ethnic diversity became a priority or hot topic.

At the time there was a long-standing concern about the lack of diversity within the College. Heriberto “Herbie” Flores, trustee of HCC then said, “As a Puerto Rican, I have to ask, where has the College been for years? This College at this point does not reflect the African American community or the Puerto Rican community.”

November 2004 / First Edition

The BCP at 30… Creating Opportunities in the Face of Challenges

The Bilingual Collegiate Program (BCP) at the University of Massachusetts - Amherst, created in 1974, celebrated its 30th anniversary facing some of the old challenges that had characterized its existence. We quoted Dr. Benjamín Rodríguez, first director of the BCP, “The history of the BCP at Umass has been long and difficult, and has been marked by years of struggles, resistance, negotiations, and ultimately by rewarding and meaningful results.”

The number of Hispanic students attending UMass was ridiculously low.

Even more alarming continued to be the fact the very few Latinos from Springfield and Holyoke were able to pursue higher education opportunities at this PUBLIC institution.

March 2005

Still Struggling for Respect at UMass

The story behind this article was a series of emails discovered by the Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) exchanging information between some administrators at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst and a small number of students regarding an administrator and two Latino students.

One of the students exchanging emails was the Speaker of the Student Government Association (SGA).

The topic of these emails was the Office of African, Latino, Asian and Native American Affairs (OAA, or Office of ALANA Affairs). The emails talked about its day to day operations and the “legality” of the seats reserved for ALANA students in the ALANA Caucus, part of the Student Government (SGA). The Director of the Office of ALANA Affairs, Nelson Acosta, and two Latino student leaders, Eduardo Bustamante and Gladys Franco, were the focus of the emails.

June 2005

The Quest for Diversity at UMass and the role of “El BCP”

This is an extract of the address given by Dr. Manuel Frau Ramos, adjunct faculty of the School of Education, in honor of the Bilingual Collegiate Program

(BCP) graduating class at the UMass Amherst graduation on May 6, 2005.

For more than 30 years, El BCP, created in 1974, has been at the forefront of recruitment, retention and graduation of Latino and other minority students at UMass. It has always been one of the few places on campus where the linguistic, cultural, and racial diversity of our students is valued. It has achieved all this, in spite of not having adequate economic resources or the necessary institutional support.

As Ben Rodríguez, first Director of EL BCP said years ago, “The BCP has been treated like an institutional foster child so long, being made to feel that it did not belong, that it had no power, and that it was of little consequence and importance. The history of the BCP at UMass has been long and difficult, and has been marked by years of struggle, resistance, and negotiations.”

According to a recent report by the Commission on Campus Diversity (March 2005, Diversity and Inclusion at UMass Amherst: A Blueprint for Change), the lack of diversity and inclusion among the student body, faculty, staff, administration continued to be a long-standing issue impacting all aspects of campus life.

These findings were not a surprising to the Latino community at UMass Amherst.

Back in 1993 the Hispanic Faculty and Professional Staff Association had met with UMass President Michael Hooker to demand that steps be taken to remedy this problem. We stated that, “We are here to demand fairness, to demand equal treatment that the University recognize the Hispanic presence, to demand that the University go beyond rhetoric and begin to take actions to ameliorate the climate for Hispanics, to state that a University which aspires to become a world class institution cannot become so, unless it is willing to recognize that it must be more ethnically diverse, and, thus, can not continue to do business as usual. Business as usual would mean keeping Hispanics as invisible as possible. That is simply not acceptable anymore.”

The concerns expressed by the Association in 1993 continue to be relevant in 2005. It is not surprising to hear students’ comments about how the UMass faculty does not reflect them.

While life at UMass continues as “business as usual” or “con la misma vaina”, meaning that Latinos continue to be invisible, EL BCP has always been a channel for making sure that Latinos ARE visible on campus. Now, as you graduate and go out into the real world you need to make sure that we continue to be visible, because being invisible is no longer acceptable.

March 2006

The Irish Diaspora Also Speaks Spanish

The article highlights the Irish immigration to Puerto Rico during the 19th century and the strong presence of the Irish element on the island up to this day. The 1840’s Irish Potato Famine, which killed nearly one million people, provoked a massive migration that was calculated in nearly two-million.

These refugees went to the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Argentina, Mexico, and, among other places, the Caribbean. One of the islands that many Irish emigrated to in large numbers was Puerto Rico. continued on next page

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Portada / Front Page

El Sol Latino June 2019

Let the countdown begin…Highlights of El Sol Latino continued from page 5 Today, the Irish element in Puerto Rico is very much in evidence.

Surnames such as O’Neill, O’Ferral (O’Farrell), Murphy, and Sullivan are common. Examples of famous Puerto Ricans with Irish surnames include: Hiram Bithorn- baseball player, Roy Brown- folk singer, Deborah CarthyDeu- Miss Universe 1985, Angelita Lind, track and field athlete, Ana María O’Neill, women’s rights advocate, Héctor O’Neill García, former mayor of the city Guaynabo, Julita Ross, singer, Michael Stuart, singer, ad Kenneth McClinctock, former President of the Senate of Puerto Rico Another notable Irish descendant population can be found in Argentina.

Distinct Irish communities existed, including Irish schools and a newspaper, and today there are about 500,000 people of Irish ancestry in Argentina. One famous member of this diaspora was the revolutionary, Ernesto “Che” Guevara, whose grandmother’s surname was Lynch.

Guevara’s father, Ernesto Guevara Lynch, said of him: “The first thing to note is that in my son’s veins flowed the blood of the Irish rebels.”

Probably the most famous Irishman ever to reside in México was Wexfordman William Lamport, better known to most Mexicans as Guillén de Lampart, precursor of the Independence movement and author of the first proclamation of independence in the New World. His statue stands today in the Crypt of Heroes beneath the Column of Independence in Mexico City.

June 2006

‘Transformation’ At Holyoke Community College

‘Transformation’, the 40-foot long canvas mural of the Latino Mural Collaborative Project that depicts daily life in the city of Holyoke was unveiled at HCC on May 10th. Latino youth, most of them Boricuas residing in Holyoke, worked on this project under the direction of author and painter Deborah Savage.

The mural’s images and message undergo a transformation, from the negative to the positive. To the left, the intense colors, and the dark, poorly defined images appear to represent and transmit a negative message about the experience of growing up in Holyoke. The colors and the figures become lighter and better defined as the transformation towards the positive unfolds. The transformation ends in a note of hope with an angelical figure, and Latino youth looking towards a better future.

The inclusion of the Puerto Rican flag in the positive section of the mural highlights the message of ‘transformation’ with more than one interpretation: a better future for the city of Holyoke, and a new phase of Holyoke Community College as an educational institution for all.

September 2006

Puerto Ricans: “An Uncertain Future”?

In this edition we published a summary of the important report Puerto Ricans in the Continental United Sates: An Uncertain Future. The report was originally published by the United States Commission on Civil Rights in 1976, and gathered data and documented the socio-economic and educational status of Puerto Ricans in the continental United States.

The report highlighted the high rates of poverty, unemployment, and under-employment of a significant number of Puerto Ricans, concluding that they “are not only below the U. S average in key socioeconomic areas, but also below major Hispanic groups.”

According to the report, Puerto Ricans had been studied “to death” by social scientists. It emphasized that due to the fact that they had already been included in the classification of “problem groups”, it was not necessary to study them further in order to prove that they needed “special attention.”

The Commission on Civil Rights documented the fact that the precarious situation of the Puerto Ricans continued to worsen due, in part, to the fact that the laws and programs designed to help them and other minority groups, the so-called “traditionally disadvantaged”, had failed to meet their goals.

El Sol Latino - Memorable Front Pages 2004- 2006

Portada / Front Page

El Sol Latino June 2019

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Economic Crisis and Hurricanes worsen Puerto Rico’s “Demographic Winter” NEW YORK, NY | CENTRO: THE CENTER FOR PUERTO RICAN STUDIES | May 7, 2019 —: The Center for Puerto Rican Studies (Hunter College of the City University of New York) has issued a revealing report highlighting the critical situation facing the school system in Puerto Rico as a result of the dramatic drop in the pre-school age population, and calling for the urgent formulation of a Master Plan to address school closures that minimizes potential harm to childhood education, the communities those schools may be in and the quality of education in Puerto Rico overall, in light of this steep population decline.

The report—Population Decline and School Closure in Puerto Rico —reveals a steep decline in the school-age children enrollment in schools in Puerto Rico, coupled with a decline in the population under 18 years of age. The number of children under age 5 in Puerto Rico decreased 42 percent between 2006 and 2017, from 251,000 to 146,000. The population of school-age children (between 5 and 19 years) declined 30 percent, from 883,000 to 609,000, during the same period. School enrollment declined 44 percent, from 544,000 students in 2006 to 306,000 students at the beginning of the 2018 school year.

“The fact is that Puerto Rico is experiencing deep demographic changes that adversely affect its economy and its development. As a consequence, it is undeniable that the capacity of the government to provide services to the people will be affected,” explained Professor Edwin Meléndez, director of Centro. “The decline of the working-age population may lead to economic disadvantages for the island, including a reduction in government allocations targeting children.”

Meléndez explained that demographically the child-age population as well as the working-age population will continue to decline, while the older age groups will grow. These trends are driven by the exodus of persons in reproductive age categories or families with children, particularly after hurricanes Irma and Maria, and as a result of the low birth rate. All of these trends lead to serious social and economic repercussions for the island, which will continue for the next few years.

“This situation we refer to as a ‘demographic winter in Puerto Rico’ demands an urgent reassessment of social and economic needs in order to carry out public policies that tend to all population groups effectively in anticipation of the negative impacts that can be anticipated,” stated Meléndez.

“We need a more holistic and comprehensive focus in order to appropriately respond to these trends and their consequences. In other words, we recommend a master plan that takes into consideration the closing and repurposing of existing educational facilities, and the construction of new ones, in the context of present demographic needs as well as those given by future projections, in order to meet the changing needs of the population,” he added.

LINK TO REPORT: https://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/research/data-center/ research-briefs/population-decline-and-school-closure-puerto-rico Center for Puerto Rican Studies (Centro, Hunter College, CUNY (Centro) is the nation’s leading university-based institution devoted to the interdisciplinary study of the Puerto Rican experience in the United States. Centro is dedicated to understanding, preserving and sharing the Puerto Rican experience in the United States. Centro also collects, preserves and provides access to library resources documenting Puerto Rican history and culture. Centro seeks to link scholarship to social action and policy debates, and to contribute to the betterment of our community and the enrichment of Puerto Rican studies. https://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/

Centro Partners With Puerto Rico Research Hub To Host Florida Conference by CENTRO Staff

Reprinted with permission from Centro Voices - Center for Puerto Rican Studies | April 2019

“Here in Florida,” continued Dr. Melendez, “there is a sense of urgency to address the challenges facing the more than one million Puerto Ricans living in the state. It was imperative for our two research institutions to come together and find solutions.”

The event comes just months after the Puerto Rico Research Hub was officially inaugurated on the one year anniversary of Hurricane Maria. “We’re excited about partnering with El Centro,” echoed Dr. Rivera.

“In Pursuit of Puerto Rican Studies” was preceded by a pair of workshops led by Centro staff the day before. “The response we had was great, especially in terms of capacity building,” said Centro data researcher Jennifer Hinojosa. “We shared some data on the Puerto Rican population in Florida, including interactive maps, as well as some of the digital resources available from Centro.”

Earlier this month, the Center for Puerto Rican Studies and the newly created Puerto Rico Research Hub at the University of Central Florida (UCF) hosted a day-long conference in Orlando entitled “In Pursuit of Puerto Rican Studies.” The event, as noted by Fernando Rivera, founding director of the Puerto Rico Research Hub at UCF, “allowed different stakeholders to develop the research agenda for Puerto Ricans in Florida.”

“In Pursuit of Puerto Rican Studies” also marked the 14th overall event organized by El Centro as part of the Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans series launched in 2016 in response to the ongoing fiscal crisis.

“Since we launched [Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans], our goal has been the same: to convene Puerto Ricans from the diaspora and on the Island and find solutions to the problems we are facing,” said Centro director Edwin Melendez. “Which is why we have gone to places like New England and Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico, to offer this platform.”

“There was a definite thirst among attendees for the knowledge and resources that El Centro can offer,” said Carlos Vargas-Ramos, Director of Public Policy, Development, Media, and External Relations at Centro. “As always, Centro’s role is to not only convene, but to empower those who are working toward solutions for our communities.”

“Having the expertise and knowledge of El Centro,” added Dr. Rivera, “is vital for the success and sustainability of the Puerto Rico Research Hub.” The next day, following welcoming and introductory remarks, two sets of concurrent panel discussions were held, bookended by opening and concluding plenaries. Conversations ranged from Central Florida’s population boom of the past decade to the response to Hurricane Maria.

Overall, education and mental health were among the most pressing needs. continued on page 11

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Opinión / Opinion

“Too little food, too much month”

by MIGUEL ARCE and WALTER MULLIN

There are people in the United States who live without regular access to food. They live without enough food to make it to the end of the month. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) maintains statistics on the numbers of people in the country who do not have regular access to reasonably priced healthy food. In defining food security/insecurity, they emphasize that (1) people should be able to access food at all times and (2) there must be enough food for an active healthy life for all household members. Several indicators of food insecurity include being worried that food would run out, skipping meals, eating less than one should, being hungry for an entire day, and not eating so that others can eat. Food insecure families are likely to spend on just enough food to meet their needs. In fact, 69 percent of people living with food insecurity had to choose between food and utilities; 67 percent between food and transportation; and, 57 percent between food and housing.

There is an important distinction to note about food insecurity. The reality is that food insecurity is connected to being poor and without resources. It is not simply just about people’s drive for healthy eating. For example, although worried about access to the right food, a “foodie” who does not have a free trade cappuccino—espresso mixed with organic milk with imported Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese that can only be purchased at Williams-Sonoma or $20 perfect loaf of Micha bread for breakfast would not meet the definition of food insecurity. The people who live with food insecurity include children arriving to school and immediately going to the cafeteria for a school funded breakfast. There is a distinction between having fresh, nutritious foods that might be considered a luxury by others.

Feeding America, a non-profit organization of food banks in the United States, keeps statistics on the numbers of people across the country who live with food insecurity. In May 2019, they reported that in Hampden county, 10 percent of the population is food insecure, while in the entire state of Massachusetts 9% of the population is food insecure. In the country as a whole, 12.5% of the population is food insecure. While percentages are important, hard numbers show the reality. Feeding American notes that in Massachusetts, there are 616,000 people who live with food insecurity while in the country, there are 40 million people.

The report that Hampden county has 10 percent of the residents who are living with food insecurity, the problem of food insecurity is consistent with other reports on economic indicators. Hampden county has high rates of unemployment and persistent poverty, lower homeownership and low median income as compared to other counties.

The Food Action and Research Center has framed the connections between living with a myriad of social problems connected to living in poverty and the lack of access to affordable, healthy foods. For example, low-income neighborhoods notoriously lack full-service grocery stores where residents can purchase a variety of high-quality fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products. Therefore, if a resident does not have reliable transportation, he or she can only easily shop at small convenience, corner stores where fresh produce and low-fat items are limited. Without transportation, residents have no choice. Food purchases may be limited by how much a person can carry when walking or using public transit. Travel time can be substantial.

Another example has to do with the circular nature of healthy activities and healthy eating with one constantly reinforcing the other. Low-income children are less likely to participate in organized sports. The expense and transportation problems are barriers to children participating in physical activities. The questions are easily asked: Does this occur because food insecurity leads to less activity? Does this occur because the resources are not available? Is it both?

El Sol Latino June 2019

Locally, while there are efforts such as the Holyoke Safe Neighborhood Initiative (HSNI) that provides organized sports, there tends to be fewer easily accessible physical activity resources in poor neighborhoods than in higher income neighborhoods. Attractive parks, green spaces and recreational facilities making it easy to lead a physically active lifestyle and reinforce the importance of being food secure in life. Also, locally, both the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department’s HSNI and District Attorney, working with the Boys and Girls Club of Holyoke, work to eliminate crime and unsafe common barriers to structured, supervised safe areas. Those living in unsafe areas are more likely to stay indoors and engage in sedentary activities putting them at greater risk for chronic health problems such as obesity and diabetes.

Healthy, fresh foods tend to cost more than packaged or processed foods.

Households with limited incomes tend to buy less expensive, energy-dense, lower nutritional quality foods which have been linked obesity and diabetes.

Since urban low-income neighborhoods tend to have fast food restaurants, buying food there is an alternative. Eating pizza or hamburgers can be cheaper than buying more expensive fruits and vegetables, although foods purchased there can be high in calories and low in nutrients.

Public and private charitable food assistance programs play a critical role in meeting the needs of the food insecure family. Despite the heroic emergency health promoting systems by non-profit food banks and pantries, it is not enough. The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts distributed 10.5 million pounds of food last year. Local pantries like Margaret Pantry, Lorraine’s Pantry and Gray House in Holyoke and Chicopee and Springfield, respectively, work to meet the growing needs. These private charitable efforts remove barriers and facilitate access to food. They address the results of the structural problems that lead to food insecurity without solving the root causes.

Public schools across Hampden County have adopted community eligibility free breakfast and lunch for students at no charge. While this is an attempt to address the problem of child hunger, children who rely on this food are not able to access it in the evening, on long weekends or during the summer.

Federal nutrition assistance programs are the front line defense against hunger and food insecurity. One of the main programs is Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as food stamps). It is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program. Approximately 40 million people use the program. SNAP has dramatically reduced the extent of severe hunger. Another program, Women, Infants and Children (WIC) contributes to healthier babies, better health care for children and subsequently higher academic achievement. While these programs have enormous success in reaching food insecure people, they are subject to political processes. According to a December 20, 2018 report by the Center for Budget Policy and Priorities, President Trump is proposing alterations that make the federal program eligibility requirements stricter.

The consequences and costs of food insecurity for all ages make addressing the issue is a moral, as well as an economic and social, imperative.

Inadequate nutrition can permanently alter brain architecture and affect learning, social interaction and productivity.

So, the answers lie in macro solutions; that is, the social commitment that all people should have access to healthy food at all times. The political realities do not appear to bring us there these days. Instead, we note that the problem is serious and worthy of attention. It has existed for many years and does not seem to be disappearing. The numbers of people with food insecurity remain constant each year. In the end, for now, we stand to applaud the major efforts locally, statewide and nationally to address the rights of people to be “food secure.”

This guest opinion is one in a series on living in poverty. DR. WALTER MULLIN (wmullin@ springfieldcollege.edu), Professor of Social Work and MIGUEL ARCE (marce@ springfieldcollege.edu), Associate Professor of Social Work at Springfield College.

Libros / Books

El Sol Latino June 2019

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Love War Stories: An Interview with Ivelisse RodrĂ­guez on Her Debut Short Story Collection

by NÉSTOR DAVID PASTOR s 2EPRINTED WITH PERMISSION FROM Š #ENTER FOR 0UERTO 2ICAN 3TUDIES 0UBLISHED IN Centro Voices 21 August 2018.

IR: It’s interesting because in the back of my mind, I always worried about whether anyone would care about the Puerto Rican girls and women in my book because they are Puerto Rican. I read Victorian literature, it’s one of my preliminary exam areas for my PhD, so I can read global literature because I am coming from a very humanistic perspective. But people of color are so dehumanized and seen as such others that some non-POC readers feel like they can’t connect. “It’s interesting because in the back of my mind, I always worried about whether anyone would care about the Puerto Rican girls and women in my book because they are Puerto Rican.�

Last month saw the release of Love War Stories, the debut short story collection of Ivelisse RodrĂ­guez. In it, the Arecibo-born, Holyoke-raised RodrĂ­guez explores love in all its forms, for better or worse, as it relates to the premise that Puerto Rican women are conditioned, from an early age, to pursue romance through an idealized, almost fatalistic lens. However, as the title alludes to, love is paired with the consequences of this common thread, one which gives the author license to touch upon universal issues of intergenerational trauma, sexism, body image, violence, diaspora, and so on; within a distinctly Puerto Rican framework.

Below is a Q&A with the author in which she discusses the nine stories that compose her acclaimed collection; everything from the book’s relationship to different settings, from New York to Holyoke to Puerto Rico and back; as well as the her literary and cultural influences, future projects, writing process, and more. *This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

Centro Voices (CV): Can you discuss the origins of Love War Stories, how the project evolved over time, and the process that led you to publication?

Ivelisse RodrĂ­guez (IR): I started this collection twenty years ago, and I worked on it through graduate school. It developed in the sense that the stories were revised and revised, and even through August of 2017, I was still revising it as I had to submit final edits to my editor. My writing process is very messy—I start with a small idea, and then just start typing away to see what emerges, and somewhere in the middle of the process, I start to do an outline and a literary analysis (like a professor would do). And then I keep revising from there. For example, in “La Hija de ChangĂł,â€? it was in the 11th hour that I realized what the character really wanted. I sometimes need to step away from a story in order to get distance from it as I get blinded by the story I want to tell, which may not be the story the character is trying to tell.

In any case, for those writers out there, don’t get daunted by the twenty years; I didn’t write most of that time. Besides learning how to write, I also had to overcome the fear of writing, and learn how to take more pride in my work. Taking pride in my work meaning being meticulous and sending work out when I thought it was ready. So I wasted a lot of time focused on getting published versus being focused on writing the best prose I could write.

Anyway, lessons learned, and I am a better writer for it.

CV: Representation is a large part of the media discourse in the United States, as well as the stories of women. Can you speak to both and how your collection of stories fits into this particular cultural moment, especially in regard to the visibilization Puerto Rican and Latina women?

In terms of the cultural moment for women, I think the stories and themes of Love War Stories will endure beyond this moment as long as heterosexuality and gender norms are executed in the same way.

Heterosexual women are indoctrinated to believe in and pursue love as the major accomplishment of their lives, and heterosexual men are socialized to elude love. What we need is for these two groups of people to be allowed and offered new narratives.

CV: Arecibo, Puerto Rico, the place where you were born; and Holyoke, MA, the place where you raised; are featured prominently throughout the collection, whether as the setting of a story or as a reference for a series of allusions. What does it mean to you to write about these two places and what were some of the essential qualities you hoped to convey?

IR: My first story is in Arecibo because I wanted to mimic the migration process, and I can’t help but wonder what my life would have been like if I had been raised in Arecibo. Of course my version is idealized—I would have been raised in a world that was entirely Puerto Rican, and I wonder what it is like to not grow up in a country that dislikes you. And I just happen to really, really love Puerto Rico. I’m not being biased here; I also really love Turkey. There are just some places you go to and as soon as you land, love is in the air. “Holyoke has given me something that few places have—a Puerto Rican world. And I wanted to put this enclave on the map as there is no other Puerto Rican literature that I am aware of set in Holyoke.�

Placing stories in Holyoke, MA and other parts of Western Mass was imperative for me because I always get this bewildered look when I tell people outside of the area about the throngs of Puerto Ricans who inhabit this area. While I wonder what life would be like if I had been raised in Puerto Rico, I grew up in a very Puerto Rican world while I was still in Holyoke. And I lost that when I went to boarding school when I was 13. And then I regained it when I went to Columbia for undergrad. And then lost it again by moving to other cities, and even when I came back to NYC to teach, I had very few Puerto Rican students. So Holyoke has given me something that few places have—a Puerto Rican world. And I wanted to put this enclave on the map as there is no other Puerto Rican literature that I am aware of set in Holyoke.

CV: Were there any specific influences, literary or otherwise, that you feel were important for the writing of these stories?

IR: Absolutely, I love the poetic voice of Sandra Cisneros—as a college student, I loved how she made her own sentences and how indulgent her poetry was. The book Loose Woman really touched me and has always stayed with me, especially in regards to what Cisneros describes as love.

Down These Mean Streets by Piri Thomas is hugely important to me as it was the first book by a Puerto Rican I read, and it always felt contemporary, continued on next page

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Libros / Books

El Sol Latino June 2019

Love War Stories: An Interview with Ivelisse Rodríguez continued from previous page no matter the decade I read it in. I also will forever love Drown by Junot Diaz. That book felt like it was written for me, one of many who came up from impoverished neighborhoods but ended up in higher education. I read it at the start of my MFA program, and it gave me a tiny bit of hope that a story like mine could be told.

CV: The short story is somewhat of an undervalued format in American literature. Can you discuss your approach to the short story and some of the aspects that you find most appealing as a fiction writer?

IR: I started writing short stories as I needed to learn how to write and that seemed like the logical place to start. And I figured that writing a novel would be like writing a longer short story (not true!). When I started writing these stories, short story collections were in, so it was only later that I learned that short stories are the underdog. But for most of us in MFA-land, that is what we are workshopping, and that is what we are trying to get published in literary journals. Though, I was just on a panel with two other debut authors of short story collections, and we all told an audience member to start a novel if she wanted an agent and a book deal. I think that realization really hits home about short stories after you finish your MFA program, not while you are in it.

CV: You dedicate a story to the Puerto Rican poet (and Latina feminist icon) Julia de Burgos. How did it occur to you to (re)interpret her life through the lens of fiction? And what is her connection to the overall theme of Love War Stories?

IR: I was reading Jack Agüeros compilation of Burgos’ poems, The Song of the Simple Truth, and I was intrigued by his perception of her, which differed from all the other interpretations about her that I had read. As I state in my story, “The Simple Truth,” Agüeros offers this interpretation of de Burgos where she is this strong woman who is not done in by her lover Dr. Jimenes Grullón. So that is what kicked off my story—the ways of seeing someone.

Plus, I already had a deep love for de Burgos, and I wanted to highlight her—an amazing Puerto Rican writer and resurrect her like Agüeros does.

“If I could shake Julia de Burgos, I would tell her about her achievements and how they are so much more than this love she can’t have.”

Latino Scholarship Fund

Her connection to the overall theme of Love War Stories is that she, like so many of my girls and women, is hopeful to a detriment about love. And she can be so valiant in other phases of her life, but she fails in love and somehow this is the thing that some say does her in (a reason why she is an alcoholic).

So if I could shake Julia de Burgos, I would tell her about her achievements and how they are so much more than this love she can’t have.

CV: There are some allusions to your background as a scholar in Love War Stories. How was this an asset to your writing and in what ways did it complement your voice as a fiction writer?

IR: Being a scholar allowed me to read a variety of literature by Puerto Ricans and Latinxs in general; thus, I could easily trace the trajectory of Puerto Rican literature from the continental US. I could then see common themes in Puerto Rican literature and seriously think about where I wanted to situate myself. I think it is important as a writer to really have an understanding of the type of literature you are embarking on; otherwise, you may not be moving the literature forward in any way.

CV: You are in the process of working on a novel. Would you like to share any updates on that project and if there are any parallels to the subject matter of Love War Stories?

IR: Right now, the novel, The Last Salsa Singer, is about two friends who are members of a salsa band, and the salsa singer Vicente is dismayed that his best friend, Richie, is about to take responsibility for Lucy and her unborn child. Vicente and the orquesta decide to play this song that pokes fun at Richie’s love story with Lucy. The song is meant to get Lucy out of their lives by humiliating both Richie and Lucy, but the song instead becomes their biggest hit; so in many ways, they can’t shake Lucy off. So it’s about sexism in salsa music, it’s about friendship, and it’s about failing in you artform.

Love War Stories

By Ivelisse Rodríguez New York, NY: Feminist Press, 2018 ISBN: 9781936932252 200 pages; $13.95 [paperback]

continued from page 3

the Holyoke public schools.

A poet for many years, Angel has had several children’s books published by Scholastic, as well as numerous poems, in both Spanish and English.

Dr. Antonia Pantoja (1922-2002), born in Puerto Rico, was an educator, social worker, feminist and leader of civil rights. She created the National Puerto Rican Forum to promote the economic self-sufficiency of Latinos, and ASPIRA, an organization that promotes educational success, cultural awareness and leadership development among Puerto Ricans and other Latinos in the United States and Puerto Rico.

Pantoja helped create Boricua College, an institution of post-secondary studies in New York City, and a research program known as the Puerto Rican Research and Resource Center. Upon her return to Puerto Rico, she founded Producir, an organization that provides economic assistance to small businesses in poor rural communities. In 1996, Pantoja received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Tax-deductible contributions can be made to: Latino Scholarship Fund, P.O. Box 6706 Holyoke, MA 01041-6706 or donate on-line by going to www. latinoscholarshipwesternmass.org. For more information, contact the Fund at latinoscholarshipfund413@gmail.com

The Latino Scholarship Fund Board Members are Myriam Quiñones, Wilma Ortiz Marrero, Jay Breines, Doris Ortiz Nieves, Madelaine Márquez (seated), Isabel Espinal, Yadilette Rivera Colón, Kevin McAllister, (Mark Nasjleti, not a board member) and Teresa Castaño. Lucy Pérez is absent.

El Sol Latino June 2019

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continued from page 7

OT TINTNATE H INK CALIE

por MANUEL

S

FRAU RAMO

In Connecticut...

a bill requiring that courses on African American and Puerto Rican/Latinx Studies be part of every Connecticut public high school curriculum by 2022 was recently approved by the House. The bill passed the House 122 to 24, and now heads to the Senate.

We are very impressed that fellow Puerto Ricans in Connecticut are making progress in the educational social justice agenda. With such a high number of Puerto Rican students in our public schools, we believe it is time for Puerto Rican educators and politicians in Holyoke and Springfield to discuss, advocate, and take the necessary steps to also make this a reality in our schools.

For years, the lack of course offerings about Puerto Rico and Puerto Ricans at the high school level speak volumes about the lack of diversity and inclusiveness in the curriculum. We believe it is time for the Puerto Rican experience to be an integral part of the school curriculum.

Publish your bilingual ad in El Sol Latino!

Call us today at (413) 320-3826.

Summer at STCC The most affordable option!

5-week Day, Evening, and Online classes start July 8th

Register Now! www.stcc.edu/summer

755-4321

Centro Partners With Puerto Rico Research Hub “There was serious concern in light of the trauma experienced by those affected by Hurricane Maria for culturally-competent mental health counseling,� said Dr. Vargas-Ramos.

Notes from each of the panels will be used to develop additional recommendations based on areas of research identified during the conference. “It was a great opportunity to collectively come with recommendations to address the welfare of the Puerto Rican community. Florida continues to be the epicenter of the current Puerto Rico population movement in ways that resemble the movement of Puerto Ricans to New York in the mid-20th century,� said Rivera. “We’re going to be working closely going forward in order to leverage our collective resources and better meet the needs of the Puerto Rican community in Florida,� added Dr. Vargas-Ramos.

The next Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans event will be a diaspora youth summit in June in New York City. For more information, visit the Centro NationBuilder page. More updates to come.

Center for Puerto Rican Studies (Centro, Hunter College, CUNY (Centro) is the nation’s leading university-based institution devoted to the interdisciplinary study of the Puerto Rican experience in the United States. Centro is dedicated to understanding, preserving and sharing the Puerto Rican experience in the United States. Centro also collects, preserves and provides access to library resources documenting Puerto Rican history and culture. Centro seeks to link scholarship to social action and policy debates, and to contribute to the betterment of our community and the enrichment of Puerto Rican studies. https://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/

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EducaciĂłn / Education

STCC announces ‘Flex Terms’ for fall 2019 SPRINGFIELD, MA | SPRINGFIELD TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE | May 17, 2019 –Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) this fall will offer two “flex terms� which allow students to begin and end classes on dates outside of the regular semester schedule.

At seven weeks, the terms are half as long as the traditional 14-week semester. This means students can complete two courses in the time it takes to finish one traditional course.

For fall 2019, the first flex term runs Sept. 3 through Oct. 22.

The second flex term runs Oct. 23 through Dec. 13.

El Sol Latino June 2019

s 4HE LATER START TIME FOR THE SECOND SESSION MIGHT APPEAL TO STUDENTS WHO are not prepared to begin a fall or spring term when classes customarily start. s &LEX TERMS MIGHT BE IDEAL FOR STUDENTS WHO WANT TO MORE PRODUCTIVELY complete coursework by focusing on fewer courses at a time. s 3TUDENTS MAY WANT TO INCREASE THEIR CREDIT LOAD DURING THE SEMESTER Students enrolled in the shortened terms also have the option of completing a two-course sequence within a single term. For example, they can complete Accounting 1 and 2 over the course of the two Flex Terms.

Because each course meets for only seven weeks, daily class time for onsite classes is doubled that of a traditional class, but online and hybrid options (for example, onsite classes with an online component) are also available.

Students can choose from among 17 courses for Flex Term 1, and from 19 courses for Flex Term 2.

STCC Dean of Academic Initiatives Matthew Gravel said there are a number of reasons why students may want to enroll in one or more flex-term courses:

To see the full schedule of classes and to enroll for the fall, visit stcc.edu/ flexterms. For questions, call STCC Admissions at (413) 755-3333.

STCC wrestling program inspires student from Kentucky to follow his dream

general studies classes last fall and began practicing with the wrestling team and making friends.

SPRINGFIELD, MA | SPRINGFIELD TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE | May 7, 2019 – A passion for wrestling brought Mike Clark from Louisville, Kentucky, to Springfield Technical Community College.

In Kentucky, Clark was coaching high school and college wrestling. He already had gone through college and earned an associate and bachelor’s degree. While he did some wrestling when he was in college, he felt he never lived up to his potential. He loved coaching, but still dreamed about training and winning a championship.

In March, at the end of the season with the STCC Rams, Clark and his teammates went to Allen, Texas, and competed in the 2019 National Collegiate Wrestling Association (NCWA) championships. STCC placed fifth out of 77 colleges.

At 27 years old, Clark was named All-American for capturing seventh place.

He also earned All-Academic team honors for having a 3.25 grade point average or higher. “Academics is an important part of our program,� said wrestling coach Alberto Nieves. “We talked to him about working on a degree. He stuck to it, and he’s academic all American this year.�

But it wasn’t an easy path for Clark. Early in the season, he felt he wasn’t improving as a wrestler. He had two wins and eight losses.

What’s more, Clark was struggling to keep up financially as he worked parttime jobs while going to school. “I thought maybe I had done too much,�

Clark said.

Thoughts of quitting entered his mind. Maybe he would drive the van back to Kentucky, he thought. But his coaches encouraged him not to give up and to keep following his dream. “Coach Castelly and I knew he had dreams – and he had goals behind those dreams,� Nieves said. “In January, he said, ‘Hey, coach, I’m going to quit.’ I said, I’m not going to accept that.�

Instead of quitting, Clark agreed to take two weeks off to think about his future. When he returned, he was stronger than ever. By the time of the national tournament, Clark had won 17 matches in a row.

STCC student wrestler Mike Clark

Learning he was still eligible to compete, Clark researched affordable colleges with top wrestling programs and found STCC. He called the college and spoke with Asnage Castelly, an assistant wrestling coach and admissions counselor. Springfield was a long way from home, but Castelly encouraged Clark to consider STCC. “Coach Castelly said the simplest thing: If you want to do it, just make it happen,� Clark said.

Clark made it happen. He bought and renovated a van, which would become his home as well as his mode of transportation. He drove 900 miles to Springfield, where he enrolled at STCC as a part-time student. He started

“I won a conference title. I went on to nationals,� Clark said. “I felt really good about it. I thought, there’s no point in stopping after all this work you put in. You’re going to regret it and you don’t want to regret anything.�

Clark doesn’t want to give up wrestling after he leaves STCC. In fact, he hopes to one day become a full-time coach, mentoring students and sharing his story of persistence. “We’re proud of him, because he stuck with it,� Nieves said. “We told him, If you want to be a mentor later on, if you want to be a coach, this is a story you can use: Stick with it, don’t quit, have faith in yourself. “He’s been through a lot of struggles,� Nieves added. “To do what he did is really amazing. You’ve got to give him a lot of credit.�

Interested in applying to STCC? Visit stcc.edu/apply or call Admissions at (413) 755-3333.

Educación / Education

El Sol Latino June 2019

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Armanis Fuentes: History in the Making HOLYOKE, MA | HOLYOKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE | May 16, 2019 – Google “Armanis Fuentes” and “Holyoke” and up pop stories that celebrate an engaged city youth with a bright future.

In May 2011, for instance, as an 8th grade student at the Morgan School, Fuentes received an achievement award from Holyoke Medical Center.

In April 2013, as a 15-year-old sophomore at Holyoke High, he was named a “Rising Star” for his “academic achievement, leadership and service to the community and school.” That service included work as a peer leader for the Holyoke Equal Rights Association, an LGBT youth empowerment group.

A page one story in the June 14, 2013, edition of the Holyoke Sun included a picture of Fuentes and other teens at City Hall, as Mayor Alex Morse honored members of the Holyoke Youth Commission, which Fuentes served for a time as president.

“I was a high potential kid,” Fuentes says. “I was in AP classes. I thought I was going to go straight to either an Ivy League college or to some sort of fancy, selective school. And then life didn’t really work out that way.”

Despite the early accolades, Fuentes slowly stagnated, his promising journey derailed by problems at home and problems at school, where he says he felt unfairly treated by some administrators and teachers who disproportionately punished students of color and dowsed their ambitions.

“No one should have to feel like an underdog all the time,” he says.

That rough experience culminated in the middle of his senior year in what he describes as an unprovoked altercation with a school resource officer that left him with a scar above his eye and a lot of bad feelings. That same day, he dropped out.

“I can say wholeheartedly that the student I was going into Holyoke High isn’t the student I ended up becoming while I was there,” Fuentes says. “It was a total departure from who I was – and who I am now.”

Fuentes is now a 21-year-old Springfield resident, a history major, honors student, award winner, scholarship recipient, and soon-to-be graduate of Holyoke Community College. On Sat., June 1, at the MassMutual Center, he will receive his associate degree in liberal arts with high honors and deliver a keynote speech at HCC’s 72nd annual Commencement.

Come September, he will attend Williams College, one of the most selective schools in the country, on what is essentially a full scholarship.

“Being from Holyoke, I didn’t want to come to HCC,” he says. “I definitely stigmatized it. I had no idea HCC could be such a catapult. One thing HCC has given me is redemption. It’s allowed me to realign my academic trajectory with the one I have always wanted.”

That realignment took some time. Fuentes finished high school in Chicopee, then took a few business classes at HCC. He wanted to be a paralegal. He left, though, after one semester and moved to Boston. Living in Dorchester, he commuted nearly three hours a day back and forth to Bunker Hill Community College in Charlestown while juggling jobs at a hair salon and a law office. It was all too much.

He returned to Holyoke in 2016 and decided to give HCC another go.

Financial aid complications forced him to go to work instead, at a gas station and a warehouse, where he got a glimpse of a life he didn’t want “making pallets and being a slave to a company,” he says.

A job as a file clerk in a Northampton law office gave him a window into another life. Soon, with a little money in his pocket and a lot of support from colleagues, he re-enrolled.

Fuentes quickly regained his academic footing, inspired by a Learning Community course called “Cops, Crime and Class,” which explored the economic underpinnings of criminal behavior and spoke to his own experiences growing up poor in South Holyoke, raised by a single mother

Credit HCC - Armanis Fuentes

and seeing many people he knew go to jail.

“I’ve seen the relationships that police have with their communities, the good and the bad, since I was a kid,” he says. “It was nice to have a place where I could speak about my own life. It was the first time in a long time that I felt really engaged in a classroom setting.”

Other courses reinforced that feeling: “Caribbean Identities in History and Literature,” “Aliens, Anti-Citizens and Identity,” and “The Immigrant City,” a political and historical study of Holyoke held jointly with Amherst College.

Through the latter, Fuentes discovered the Holyoke History Room at the public library. Discouraged by the “thin scholarship” on Puerto Rican history in the archives, he interviewed his Holyoke friends for an oral history project.

That led to a deeper, independent study that earned him first place this year in the HCC Library’s annual BUILD research competition, titled “Networks of Puerto Rican Power: Building Bilingual Education in Holyoke Schools, 1960-1990.” He presented his report earlier his month at the annual University of Massachusetts Undergraduate Research Conference.

“I’m interested in history,” he says. “I’m interested in Puerto Rican history.

I’m interested in the Puerto Rican diaspora in the U.S. I’m also interested in education equity, because my whole life has been fighting for education equity, in a way.”

He plans to study history at Williams with a concentration in Latinx Studies and after that perhaps pursue a PhD, followed by a career as a writer and researcher, or maybe a professor and academic scholar.

“I’m a lot less enchanted by the idea of a high salary career as I was in my youth,” he says. “For a long time, I thought money was it because I was always poor.”

Given that Williams is offering him such a generous scholarship, Fuentes should graduate with little if any debt.

“It’s an amazing luxury,” he says. “If I wanted to come back to Holyoke to do community work or be a teacher for a while just to meet some kids, I could do that. Through the opportunity I’ve been given I want to make sure other students of color know what they can do at HCC and where they can go from HCC.”

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Deportes / Sports

El Sol Latino June 2019

Opening Day Springfield Old Timers Softball League

May 17, 2019 @ Van Sickle Field

Deportes / Sports

El Sol Latino June 2019

Opening Day Holyoke Old Timers Softball League

May 11, 2019 @ Flats Field

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El Sol Latino June 2019