March 2017
Volume 13 No. 5
Un Peri贸dico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper
Christina Royal, Ph.D., President of HCC
on Diversity and Inclusion
Un Peri贸dico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper
Un Peri贸dico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper
Un Peri贸dico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper
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Editorial/Editorial
Anniversary of the New Bedford Raid and the New Era of Mass Deportations
Aniversario de la Redada de New Bedford y la Nueva Era de Deportaciones Masivas
On March 6, 2007, ten years ago, federal immigration authorities carried out a massive raid in a factory in New Bedford, Massachusetts. This factory produced protective equipment for US soldiers involved in the socalled “war on terror” in Iraq and Afghanistan.
El 6 de marzo de 2007, hace diez años, agentes federales de inmigración hicieron una redada masiva en una fábrica en New Bedford, Massachusetts. Esta fábrica producía equipo protector para los soldados estadounidenses que participaban en la llamadas “guerra contra el terrorismo” en Irak y Afganistán.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Department accused the factory owner of hiring undocumented immigrants, helping them get fake Social Security cards, and creating fake documents. The owner and three administrators were arrested and subsequently released on bail, allowing them to spend that night in the comfort of their homes. However, the fate of the undocumented workers was drastically different. Most of the 327 workers arrested were mothers with school-age children.
El Departamento de U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE por sus siglas en inglés), acusó al dueño de la fábrica de contratar a inmigrantes indocumentados, ayudándolos a obtener tarjetas de Seguro Social falsas y creando documentos falsos. El dueño y tres administradores fueron arrestados y posteriormente, fueron puestos en libertad bajo fianza, permitiéndoseles pasar esa noche en la comodidad de sus hogares.
Many of those arrested were sent to Fort Devens, 100 miles away from their homes. From there, some were released - about 60 - while about 200 ended up in detention centers in Texas.
Sin embargo, la suerte de los trabajadores indocumentados fue drásticamente diferente. La mayoría de los 327 trabajadores detenidos eran madres con hijas e hijos de edad escolar.
The chaotic raid resulted in about 100 minors, including infants, being abandoned in schools or with relatives and friends after the arrest of their parents or caretakers, mostly women. Several days passed before all the children were properly identified and placed in the care of relatives.
Muchas de las arrestadas fueron enviadas a Fort Devens, a 100 millas de distancia de sus hogares. De ahí, algunas fueron puestas en libertad – alrededor de 60 - mientras que alrededor de 200 terminaron en centros de detención en Texas.
At that time, The Boston Globe quoted Carolyn Newberger, a well-known children’s psychologist in the area of child neglect and abuse. She noted that the abrupt separation of mothers and children precipitated by this raid “is child neglect according to any of the definitions I know.” This abrupt breakup of many families left many of them without any income to pay the bills and buy medicine and food. In conclusion, planned or not, coordinated or not, the raid resulted in chaos and negligence of minors. The manner in which the arrests and deportation of these persons were carried out constituted a human tragedy and an affront to the basic principles of human rights. Last February, the Department of Homeland Security, under President Trump, announced new guidelines for detaining and deporting undocumented immigrants. These include an aggressive deportation process where the reasons for deportations are expanded. Under these new guidelines, almost any undocumented immigrant is a subject to deportation. This new process to accelerate deportations creates the necessary conditions for repeating events similar to those that occurred in New Bedford. Unfortunately, we are inclined to believe that the same violations of human rights will be repeated and humanitarian crises that are really unnecessary will be created.
La caótica redada resultó en que cerca de 100 menores de edad, incluyendo infantes, fueron abandonados en escuelas o con familiares y amigos luego del arresto de sus padres o encargados, en su mayoría mujeres. Pasaron varios días antes de que todos los niños fueran debidamente identificados y colocados al cuidado de algún familiar.
contents
2 Editorial / Editorial Anniversary of the New Bedford Raid and the New Era of Mass Deportations 3 Portada / Front Page Christina Royal, Ph.D., President of HCC on Diversity and Inclusion 5 Estudiantes de WSU visitan Puerto Rico por segundo año consecutivo 6 Progressive Moves To the Left and a Bit to the West… 9 ¿Qué Pasa en...? 11 Opinión / Opinion What will be the reality of the housing assistance in the future? 12 Latino Strategies for Survival in Trump’s Bizarro World 13 Libros / Books Falcó 14 Latinos in New York: Communities in Transition, 2nd Edition Radical Imagination. Radical Humanity: Puerto Rican Political Activism in New York 15 Salud / Health ‘Tsunami’ Of Alzheimer’s Cases Among Latinos Raises Concerns Over Costs, Caregiving
En aquel momento, The Boston Globe citó a Carolyn Newberger, reconocida sicóloga de niños en el área de negligencia y abuso de menores. Esta señaló que la separación abrupta de madres y niños precipitada por esta redada “es negligencia de menores de acuerdo a cualquiera de las definiciones que conozco.” Este abrupto rompimiento de numerosas familias dejó a muchas de ellas sin ningún tipo de ingreso para pagar las cuentas y comprar medicinas y alimentos. En conclusión, planificada o no, coordinada o no, la redada resultó en caos y en negligencia de menores. La forma en que se llevaron a cabo los arrestos y la deportación de estas personas constituyó una tragedia humana y una afrenta a los principios básicos de derechos humanos. El pasado mes de febrero, el Departamento de Seguridad Nacional (Department of Homeland Security), bajo el Presidente Trump, anunció las nuevas directrices para detener y deportar a inmigrantes indocumentados. Estas incluyen un agresivo proceso de deportación donde se amplían las razones para las deportaciones. Bajo estas nuevas directrices, casi cualquier inmigrante indocumentado es sujeto a deportación. Este nuevo proceso para acelerar las deportaciones crea las condiciones necesarias para que se repitan hechos similares a los que ocurrieron en New Bedford. Desgraciadamente, nos inclinamos a creer que se volverán a repetir las mismas violaciones a los derechos humanos y se crearán crisis humanitarias que son realmente innecesarias.
Founded in 2004 n Volume 13, No. 5 n March 2017 Editor 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 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.
El Sol Latino March 2017
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Christina Royal, Ph.D., President of HCC on Diversity and Inclusion by MANUEL FRAU RAMOS On November 29, 2016, the state Board of Higher Education unanimously approved Christina Royal as the next President of Holyoke Community College. After 70 years of white, male presidents at HCC – William Messner, David Bartley, George Frost – Christina becomes the first female (non-white, biracial, lesbian) to become President of this institution. On January 26th, two Puerto Rican journalists, Natalia Muñoz, the host of “Vaya con Muñoz” on radio station WHMP (1400 AM), and Manuel Frau Ramos, editor and publisher of El Sol Latino, interviewed Dr. Royal in her office. This interview has been edited and condensed. MFR: Coming from Minnesota, what attracted you to apply for the job at HCC? I was very intentional in looking at opportunities that I felt had the skills to help address the type of growth opportunities that the institutions had. When I interviewed at HCC, I immediately felt the connection to this institution. I felt like the multicultural richness of this institution was a big attraction as well as knowing that the college had a great reputation and partnership with the community. I really believe that it takes a village to raise a student and that philosophy really extends as to why I am so passionate about working in community colleges because its not just about educating students, its also about the role that higher education and community colleges play in supporting and help building up communities.
important that the College reflects the community. Given the high percentage of Hispanic/Latino students that we have in the Greater Holyoke area, I think it’s important that the College continue to work to have a representation within our environment that mirrors the community. NM: What about the other communities that also come here? The question for our institution and for me is to really understand what our Hispanic/ Latino students need to be successful. And that is the same question that I would ask for other populations of students as well…its not only about race. It’s about the diversity, and richness of abilities and strengths that the students come with and really understanding what we can do to really help all our students thrive. MFR: HCC is committed to offering an inclusive curriculum that reflects the diverse perspectives of a pluralistic society. Do you support training faculty across academic disciplines to infuse Latino studies in some of the core courses? I think enriching our curriculum from a multicultural perspective is an asset to any academic experience. Part of the nice experience that students have and why I think diversity and inclusion are so important at a community college is because oftentimes students come here and interact with people that they would not necessarily interact with in their day to day lives. It provides bridges and opportunities for people to get exposed to different people and populations that they normally would not have in their regular lives. So that extends to the curriculum as well. Having a chance to be exposed to different texts from different authors and different ethnicities and different cultures that they have not experienced is enriching to the student experience. We are about providing opportunities for students to get jobs but it’s also about the intellectual pursuit of learning and to help create an educated population that can thrive and help raise our community up. MFR: Puerto Rico is in the middle of a fiscal crisis and Holyoke is usually the main attraction for Puerto Ricans from the island. We are seeing a new wave of Puerto Ricans coming to the Springfield-Holyoke metropolitan area. However, this time the newcomers are from the middle class and lower middle class with some college preparation looking for transfers and/or accreditation of licenses. Is HCC prepared for this new wave of Puerto Ricans coming to the area?
Christina Royal and Natalia Muñoz
MFR: HCC is located in a region with a large and growing Latino population, especially in Holyoke and Springfield. Approximately 48% of Holyoke residents, and 38% of Springfield residents are Latinos. However, close to 25% of the student body at HCC is Latino. Are you comfortable with this number? I was happy that we now are a Hispanic Service Institution. However, I think that there are two things to your question. One I think is the fact that we want to have support for the success of our students – Hispanic/Latino as well as all of our students. Its not just about having them come here, is the support, services, and to create an experience so that they can be successful. In addition, I think it’s also
That is a good question not just for HCC but for the community at large. We have to constantly be adaptable and resilient to the changing demographics that we are serving. As we have changes in our population, it is important that we are able to identify and foreshadow what some of those changes are so that we can start to respond to them proactively and being able to prepare for those shifts. NM: Will you be the first president in the United States to finally have a diverse faculty? The college should be a reflection of the community. In my former institution we had a program that was focused on preparing students to be in emergency services fields. We had a program specific for underrepresented students. This was so important because as EMTs and emergency service providers we are going out into
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Foto del Mes/Photo of the Month
Book Reading by Ginetta Candelario “Cien Años de Feminismos Dominicanos Ginetta Candelario, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sociology and of Latin American & Latino/a Studies at Smith College during the book reading at the Holyoke Public Library on February 23, 2017. (Photo by LUCILA SANTANA) The book is a first of its kind collection of primary documents related to the birth and development of feminism in the Dominican Republic. More than 1,500 pages of materials collected from archives throughout the Americas and compiled by the authors (Elizabeth Manley, April Mayes y Ginetta Candelario) into chronologically ordered thematic sections.
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Portada / Front Page
El Sol Latino March 2017
Christina Royal, Ph.D., President of HCC on Diversity and Inclusion the community to address issues. The more that they can see people in professional roles that reflected themselves, the more the community trusted those folks to provide the kinds of services that they needed in the community. Faculty is another important area where the College needs to mirror and reflect those opportunities. It does require that we also have to look at how can we make sure that various folks, including Hispanic/Latino individuals, are getting the credentials that are needed to be able to assume the roles in the academic positions? NM: In terms of advertisement, is there something different that needs to be happening so that you have this diverse faculty and staff? I think one of the things that we have to do is be able to work with the four-year institutions on the professional education programs that people are going in that provide the qualifications so that they are competitive for these jobs. NM: What made you want to be a college president? I think the idea of becoming a college president is something that evolved after I had some experience working in higher education and really became interested in community colleges and wanted to see ways that we could address the problems differently than in past years. I think my balance in having experience in the business industry as well as higher education affords me a different lens to look at these problems. My Bachelor’s degree is in Mathematics. When I was addressing our STEM students yesterday I told them that I use my Math degree more than anything because it taught me how to think critically and differently. I love solving problems and I love working with others and I think that’s the combination that you need to really be able to thrive in a college presidency role. It’s that partnership and engagement with the community, and other partners as well as stakeholders. Also, a curiosity about the problems that exist, a futuristic perspective to be able to see a world even better than the one we have today. I think that I have that right combination. I tend to ask a lot of questions. I tend to be a curious person and I see such potential for HCC to build on an already wonderful institution and to make it even greater. NM: What life experiences do you draw from that prepare you to be a college president? I think I do draw a lot from my whole life. I was a first generation college student myself. Having the experience of not having parents that could guide me in that process because they hadn’t experienced it themselves, really showed me how important the support services are at an institution for students that don’t necessarily know where to start or might be intimidated by a form or might have questions about whether I can even afford college. Those things were, I think, real formative experiences in my early years. I think growing up biracial also has contributed to me feeling the importance of and the richness of having a multicultural environment of learning. College was were I went to suddenly get my world expanded in a very magnifying way because I had people from different countries and different states that I was suddenly engaged in and exposed to and it was a wonderfully positive experience. I think because of my inquisitiveness I wanted to understand their lives, how people lived their lives differently than I did and how those early experiences really shaped just me understanding the world differently.
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As I am getting older and more distant form the age of the students that are traditional students, it’s really important for me to stay connected to our audience. That’s why I go out and I like to talk directly to students and hear about their experiences because Manuel Frau Ramos, Christina Royal and Natalia Muñoz they are growing up in a different environment than the one I grew up in and college is different. We’ve got a new world and a new future to build and I look forward to the opportunities to support contemporary learning in the 21st century. That’s going to be different for everyone. But its also why I feel that we need to have divergent voices around the table who are all looking at the same problem from different lenses and that is going to get us to our best future.
Portada / Front Page
El Sol Latino March 2017
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Estudiantes de WSU visitan Puerto Rico por segundo año consecutivo por MANUEL FRAU-RAMOS Por segundo año consecutivo, estudiantes de Westfield State University (WSU, por sus siglas en inglés) viajaron a Puerto Rico a principios del mes de enero como parte del curso Civic Engagement and Language Immersion in Puerto Rico ofrecido por el Departamento de Educación de esa institución.
y visitaron el Castillo San Felipe del Morro, conocido comúnmente como El Morro. A la mañana siguiente visitaron el Bosque Nacional El Yunque, el único bosque lluvioso tropical en el sistema nacional de bosques de los Estados Unidos. Por la tarde estuvieron en los famosos kioskos de comida típica que se encuentran a la entrada del famoso Balneario de Luquillo. Posteriormente tomaron clases de Bomba en Loíza Aldea. En la región sur de la Isla, pasaron por la ciudades de Juana Díaz, Guánica y Lajas. En esta última visitaron La Parguera y la espectacular Bahía Fosforescente. Antes de regresar a la capital, estuvieron en la Casa Pueblo de Adjuntas. Casa Pueblo es un proyecto de autogestión comunitaria comprometida a proteger los recursos naturales, culturales y humanos. Esta nace para el 1980 cuando el gobierno de Puerto Rico quería iniciar una explotación minera de yacimientos de plata, oro y cobre. Posteriormente, los estudiantes recorrieron la famosa Ruta del Lechón en el sector de Guavate en Cayey.
Una de las presentaciones sobre el viaje a Puerto Rico (Foto MFR)
Este curso está enfocado en exponer a los estudiantes participantes a importantes aspectos de la historia, la cultura, la gente, y los recursos naturales de Puerto Rico y la relación de la Isla con los Estados Unidos. Durante su breve estadía en la Isla, los estudiantes participaron en un proyecto de compromiso cívico donde tuvieron la oportunidad de compartir con estudiantes de edad pre-escolar en una escuela pública, combinado con la organización SER de Puerto Rico, una institución sin fines de lucro fundada en 1950. SER es una institución reconocida por sus servicios terapéuticos y educativos a personas con discapacidades físicas, ortopédicas e impedimentos neuromusculares. El curso de WSU está diseñado para que los estudiantes desarrollen una apreciación por la cultura de Puerto Rico con la meta de retar ideas preconcebidas sobre la cultura, el idioma y las diferencias de identidad para así pasar de un modelo de déficit a uno de ventaja. El curso le provee a los estudiantes la oportunidad de desarrollar sus destrezas de español a través de experiencias de inmersión lingüística conjuntamente con muchas interacciones diarias. El Instituto para la Adquisición del Idioma Español (ISLA) estuvo a cargo de la coordinación de estas experiencias. Al igual que el grupo que visitó Puerto Rico el año pasado, el grupo de este año tuvo la oportunidad de visitar, durante el período de enero 4 hasta enero 12, diferentes atracciones históricas, culturales y de recursos naturales o ambientales a través de la isla. El segundo día, los estudiantes caminaron por las calles del viejo San Juan
Desde Puerto Rico para el mundo— "la primera y única emisora de tv con licencia para la historia"
De acuerdo a las profesoras del curso y coordinadoras del viaje a Puerto Rico, Robin Marion y Wilma Ortiz Marrero, el componente cívico es una parte importantísima del curso. Esto es así ya que el curso busca exponer a los estudiantes a las perspectivas sociales, culturales, lingüísticas, económicas e históricas de Puerto Rico, así como a las comunidades puertorriqueñas de la región con las cuales WSU tiene algún tipo de asociación. En los últimos años, la población puertorriqueña ha venido creciendo aceleradamente en el Pioneer Valley, especialmente en las ciudades de Chicopee, Springfield y Holyoke. Esta última tiene la concentración porcentual más grande de puertorriqueños en una ciudad fuera de la Isla. Las profesoras Marion y Ortiz resaltaron, “Por esta razón, es importante que los educadores y otros proveedores de servicios expandan su entendimiento cultural de sí mismos y entiendan cómo eso influye en prácticas que tengan sensibilidad cultural.” Primera fila – de izquierda a derecha, Rachel Dowgewiz, Morgan Suddeth, Nicole Sex, Amy Ford. Segunda fila - Nichole Pariseau, Ali Deline, Victoria Silkonis, Robin Marion (Instructor), Michelle Maxon, Jenna Spear, Wilma Ortiz-Marrero (Instructor). Tercera fila - Jacquelyn Schlien, Shauna Legsdin, Lisa Tervil, Stephanie Carvalho, Rehana Yusif, Kristin Lauria. (Foto MFR).
Cita del Mes/Quote of the Month “Freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces to suit political convenience. I don’t believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others.” Coretta Scott King (1927 – 2006), author, activist, civil rights leader, and the wife of Martin Luther King.
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Portada / Front Page
El Sol Latino March 2017
Progressive Moves To the Left and a Bit to the West… Published by WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS POLITICS & INSIGHT | February 12, 2017 SOUTH HADLEY—A flurry of progressive organizing, actions and meetings across the country has followed last November’s election. The Pioneer Valley is no different, but there are challenges. Activism is no stranger to college towns like this one, the home of Mount Holyoke. Hampden County, home to two-thirds of the 413’s population, sees far less of it though. That gap threatens the potential of the energy brought on by Donald Trump’s election.
It has been difficult to build sustainable branches of some statewide organizations in the 413, especially outside the Amherst-Greenfield-Northampton axis. Issue-specific groups have been more successful. Among organizers’ goals is connecting people on their individual issues, while using the whole of their membership as leverage for the entire progressive agenda. Early results were encouraging. “This is high times in term of organizing,” said Jafet Robles, a community and political organizer for Neighbor to Neighbor in Springfield. That also helps develop leaders. “That’s what is needed,” he added. Breakout sessions ran the gamut of education, voting rights, the environment to criminal justice reform.
Attendees in the South Hadley Library community room last Monday (courtesy Progressive. Mass/Deborah Levine)
However, broad organizing efforts and that anti-Trump energy could help transcend the infamous “tofu curtain”—actually part of a mountain range—that divides the Valley. Actions and protests have hit Springfield in recent weeks. Last Monday in South Hadley, activists from Springfield to Greenfield gathered for the first meeting of Pioneer Valley chapter of Progressive Massachusetts, an umbrella liberal advocacy group. More than 200 people packed the community room of the library. Attendees spilled out into the hallway and crowded the evening’s breakout sessions.
Shanique Spalding, a member of the League of Women Voters, leads a discussion on Springfield’s early voting program (WMassP&I)
One on voting rights—which broke into two groups because of its size—discussed Springfield making early voting available in each of the city’s eight ward and hopes of expanding it to the city’s 64 precincts. Another group discussed an education reform bill before the legislature while others talked about climate change. Attendees sat in on the sessions that interested them most. Alan Bloomgarden alluded to this while speaking to a climate change group assembled at the bottom of a set of stairs off the children’s room. “My concern at keeping it all in front is fatigue,” he said. He noted the value in a group like Progressive Mass’s allowing individuals to put their energy into specific causes rather than face burnout. Mack indicated the group would, as it has done since its founding, work on state policy issues. That includes endorsing candidates, principally in Democratic primaries, who will support the organization’s membership. It “starts with issue campaigns we’re all committed to” and “really intimately working together.”
Tony Mack speaks to one of the local organizers of the event, Brenda Davies. (courtesy Progressive. Mass/ Deborah Levine)
Despite its inescapable relationship with the Democratic Party, Progressive Mass is also independent of it. During a breakout session that touched on Holyoke’s needle exchange program, Nelson Roman, a ward councilor there, noted he had identified as a Democrat in four years.
“There is an upswing of organization emerging across the state and across the country,” said Tony Mack, a Progressive Mass board member from the eastern part of the state. After the event appeared on Facebook, the response “exploded,” he said.
Dorothy Richard Albrecht, a Bernie Sanders delegate to last year’s national convention from Holyoke, remains active in the party. But having breathing room to organize outside of it, especially as disagreements remain, is helpful.
Portada / Front Page
El Sol Latino March 2017
Progressive Moves To the Left and a Bit to the West… “It’s good not to be part of Democratic” events as well, Albrecht said, observing, encouragingly, that many Democrats were present nonetheless. Progressive Mass is not alone, however. Last month the Massachusetts’s branch of Our Revolution, Senator Sanders’s current organizing vehicle, kicked off his inaugural meeting in Worcester. It will reach westward, too. Our Revolution organizers say that a 413 chapter is under development. Our Revolution is not an arm of the Democratic party. Yet, it is encouraging members to participate in the caucuses that elects delegates to the state Democratic party’s platform convention in Lowell this year. Trainings on how to run and become delegates are planned. Despite traditionally playing host to protests and activism less than its northerly neighbors, hundreds came to Springfield City Hall for a women’s reproductive rights rally on Saturday, one of many nationwide.
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continued from previous page about others’ leeriness about the arch-Democratic cities local TV news portray— sensationally—as the O.K. corral. Still previously inactive Hampden County residents were there, too, not just activists like Robles or councilors Roman and Valentin. Indeed directing the local progressive groups’ energy around local elections may More than a few mountains (via wikipedia) stoke more participation in the cities. Valentin, told the attendees many people are “not paying attention to how those folks are voting,” a reference to her colleagues. Holyoke delivers lopsided margins for Democrats and Sanders also had a strong showing there against Hillary Clinton in the presidential primary. Nonetheless, Republicans and pointedly conservative Democrats dominate the City Council. “People are going to define it differently,” Mack said of how members from different parts of the Pioneer Valley. “Wherever it feels most salient, if the way to make the case is to take the fight to a local race,” Progressive Mass will do that he added. These efforts may take time, but there may be some short-term gains, too. Even as trepidation has given way to the reality of Trump’s presidency, simply the growth of community among the opposition may kindle hope.
Jossie Valentín at the women’s reproductive rights rally at Springfield City Hall Saturday (WMassP&I)
The “Our Bodies, Our Justice Rally” organized by activists Liz Friedman and Lindsey Sabadoa. Emcee Jossie Valentin, a Holyoke Councilor, listed support from state and local labor, civil rights, reproductive health and LGBT groups. Other rallies on behalf of immigrants and refugees have hit 36 Court Street and Springfield’s federal courthouse in recent weeks. Save the battles over biomass, only police misconduct has brought out such demonstration in the city. One challenge remains activating more of the city’s population and not just its activists and those from neighboring towns. A concern some attendees expressed was a duplication of efforts. For now, that problem will be one to confront when newer groups mature. Clashes on the left are nothing new and indeed are frequent with the Democratic party. But the party’s raison d’être—electing its candidates—is not precisely the same as progressive groups’: producing policy outcomes. The first-past-the-post system ensures an alternative party on the left would only bring defeat. Having multiple progressive groups may or may not sow discord. Yet turf wars, confusion or inefficiency could occur even if otherwise united under the banners of a Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. Critical to success long term in the Valley, however, will be crossing its divides. Aron Goldman, a lead organizer here, referenced cutting through the “tofu curtain” bisecting the region. Resting along the Hampden/Hampshire county line, it divides the older, blue collar cities and suburbs of Greater Springfield and the college towns and Vermontesque rural communities north of Holyoke and to Franklin County. Though Hampden County was represented, outside the community room windows a moonlit Connecticut River separated Holyoke—and Hampden County— from South Hadley, a Hampshire County town. Activists up and down the I-91 corridor have spoken
“I think it’s incredible that so many people activated” for Monday’s event, Albrecht told WMassP&I. Western Massachusetts Politics & Insight is a Springfield-based political blog committed to providing original reporting and sharp insight into the politics and civic life of Springfield, Massachusetts with a goal of local civic virtue. To promote the habits of a healthy and successful society, which requires an informed citizenry, but also a thoughtful one, we bring to our readers news, thoughts and perspectives on a wide range of civic and political stories from across the globe. Our unofficial motto, “Springfield…and the World,” speaks to this effort.
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El Sol Latino March 2017
EAT. Art. Love.
Experience the Nourishing Power of the Arts
UMass Fine Arts Center - Temporada 2017 LES 7 DOIGTS DE LA MAIN: CUISINE & CONFESSIONS Jueves, Marzo 23, 7:30 p.m., Fine Arts Center Concert Hall Cuisine and Confessions explora la verdad de que la vida en el hogar ocurre en la cocina. Esta maravilla multi-sensorial combina unas acrobáticas alucinantes, elaborada coreografía, palpitante música—y pan de guineo. Si a usted le gustó cuando presentaron Traces en nuestro escenario, ¡le encantará esta nueva presentación también! $45, $40, $20; Estudiantes - Five College y 17 años y menores | $20, $15, $10; Five College Faculty & Staff Cena francesa prix-fixe disponible en el UClub antes del espectáculo. Menú y detalles en fineartscenter.com/ artfulpalate Sponsored by
El Sol Latino May 2014 9 1/8 x 5 3/8
JASON VIEAUX Martes, April 4, 7:30 p.m., Bowker Auditorium Ganador del Grammy 2015 por “Mejor Solo Clásico Instrumental” por PLAY and hailed por NPR como “quizás el mas preciso y soulful guitarrista clásico de su generación,” Vieaux se ha ganado una reputación por poner su talento y expresión al servicio de una increíblemente amplia gama de música. $35, $20; Estudiantes - Five College 17 años y menores | $10; Five College Faculty & Staff Sponsored by
Ronna Erickson
Para boletos: 413-545-2511, 800-999-UMAS o visite fineartscenter.com
¡HAY MUCHO MAS! Visite fineartsecenter.com para ver la lista completa de las actividades.
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El Sol Latino March 2017
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Wistariahurst Museum: March 2017 Events Voices from the Inside at The Wauregan
Tuesday – March 7, 2017 • 5:00 pm - 6:00 pm The women of Voices from Inside will be performing a reading of their original poetry entitled Voices Beyond Bars: Strong Women Fighting through Writing, Inspiring the World in the States of Incarceration exhibit space. The reading is free and open to the public. Based in the Pioneer Valley, Voices from Inside makes a difference in the lives of incarcerated women by giving them the opportunity to find their voices and the power to change their lives through creative writing workshops. Voices from Inside offers writing workshops for women who are or have been incarcerated, and also for girls and women who are at risk for incarceration. In addition, they bring the women we work with into the community for conversations, presentations and performances so that they can share their writing and interact with the community.
Holyoke Public Library: March 2017 Events Drop in Writing Group for Teen
Thursday – March 9, 2017 • 4:40 pm - 5:30 pm / Teen Room Thursday - February 16, 2017 • 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm / Teen Room Thursday - February 23, 2017 • 4:30 pm - 5:30 pm / Teen Room Come unwind in the teen room and make buttons with the button maker, color, collage, make jewelry, etc. Please let Rachel know if you want to lead a crafter or if you have any ideas for new crafts! Contact - Rachel 413-420-8101 / rdowd@holyokelibrary.org
Teen Photography Series
Wednesday – March 15, 2017 • 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm / Teen Room Wednesday - March 20, 2017 • 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm / Teen Room
Voices Carry brings the work of VFI writers to the public through presentations at schools, colleges, houses of worship, and community groups. At Voices Carry events, women read and perform their writing individually and as an ensemble. They have the opportunity to interact with a wide range of people from the community. At the same time, community members gain an understanding of the challenges facing women who have been incarcerated as they work to rebuild their lives.
Calling all aspiring photographers! HCC Photography professor Frank Ward will be offering an ongoing photography workshop at the library. Students will not only learn camera basics, but they will have the opportunity to photograph the Holyoke community and publicly display their photos.
Know Your Rights Workshop Ensemble
Learn in Motion!
This workshop is free and open to all, presented at El Mercado at 401 Main St., Holyoke.
Contact - Jason Lefebvre 413-420-8105 / jlefebvre@holyokelibrary.org
Thursday - March 9, 2017 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Interactive public workshop with local civil rights attorney Luke Ryan on how to assert and protect your rights if you are stopped, questioned, arrested, or have any other encounter with law enforcement.
Pa’lante Restorative Justice Workshop for School-Based Professionals
Saturday - March 11, 2017 8:00 am - 12:00 pm Held inside the States of Incarceration exhibit, this half-day training is designed for school-based professionals and community members interested in building youth-led restorative justice programming in schools. Participants will learn the core principles of Restorative Justice work in schools and be introduced to youth-led circles process as an alternative to exclusionary discipline practices. Participants will be introduced to youth-led circles process as a response to conflict and harm, and learn concrete ways to build infrastructure for youth-led Restorative Justice work in secondary settings. Co-led by youth who helped shape and design Pa’lante, Holyoke High School’s youth-led Restorative Justice program, this training will offer the unique perspectives of youth working as circle keepers in their high school to create student-centered approaches to discipline and student support to create safer, more connected school communities. Cost: $50-$150 sliding scale donation. Donations can be made by cash or check the day of the event. All donations go directly to the Pa’lante Restorative Justice Program. Checks should be made out to Holyoke High School. Registration is limited to 20 participants. Contact Information: Wistariahurst Museum - 238 Cabot Street - Holyoke, MA 01040 Phone: (413) 322-5660 • info@wistariahurst.or
Contact - Rachel 413-420-8101 / rdowd@holyokelibrary.org Wednesday – March 8, 2017 • 3:45 pm - 4:45 pm / Community Room COME PLAY! LEARN IN MOTION is a preschool age sports group that nurtures, challenges, and engages your child in a fun and secure environment. We believe physical activity plays the most important role in your child’s academic success. Our classroom is the field.
Holyoke Health Center
Taller de Relajamiento y Reducción del Estrés
¡Gratis! En Español Martes 14, 2017 • 10:00 am - 12:00 pm ¿Se siente estresado, ansioso, deprimido o desenfocado? Asista a nuestros talleres de relajación y usted aprenderá a: • Identificar las señales de advertencia de estrés • Estrategias para relajarse y manejar el estrés • Identificar metas individuales y hacer un plan • Vivir una vida más productiva, saludable y feliz Holyoke Health Center - 230 Maple Street, Holyoke 3er piso # D323 - (Salón de conferencia) Inscríbete llamando a Olga al 413-420-6251 o Gri al 413-420-6252 Espacio limitado. No habrá cuidado de niños. Habrá desayuno y rifas.
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¿Qué Pasa en...?
El Sol Latino March 2017
Holyoke Izamiento de la Bandera de la República Dominicana
Springfield Los Gigantes de la Plena invitan…
La ceremonia del izamiento de la bandera de la República Dominicana se realizó el pasado 23 de febrero frente a la alcaldía de Holyoke. Este año el evento fue dedicado a la profesora de Smith College, Ginetta Candelario por su sobresaliente carrera profesional y su trabajo comunitario. El evento fue organizado por La Familia Hispana, Inc. con la colaboración del Puerto Rican Cultural Project y New Horizons Family Community Center, Inc.
Talleres de Bomba para niños, jóvenes y adultos. Este es un proyecto colaborativo entre el maestro Don Roberto Cepeda Brenes, Gloria López de Cepeda y el fundador de Los Gigantes de la Plena, Freddy Rivera Ángulo. También se ofrecerán clases de salsa, artesanías, poesía y teatro. No te lo puedes perder. Te esperamos. Será una nueva experiencia para todos los asistentes y les tendremos un sinnúmero de sorpresas. No se preocupes por los instrumentos porque se los estaremos facilitando durante las horas de los talleres.
Gloria López de Cepeda junto a estudiantes del baile de Bomba. (Foto MFR)
Los talleres se llevarán a cabo en 91 Pinevale Street, Indian Orchard/Springfield. Foto MFR. Cesar López, maestro de ceremonias, junto al coro del New Horizons Family Community Center, Inc., cantando el himno nacional de la República Dominicana.
Foto MFR. Diosdado López, presidente de La Famlia Hispana, Inc., reconociendo a Ginetta Candelario.
Para mayor información sobre el calendario de los talleres favor de comunicarse con Gloria López de Cepeda al (508)567-7469 ò con Fred Angulo al (413) 682-5141. El maestro Don Roberto Cepeda Brenes junto a músicos de Bomba. (Foto MFR)
Foto MFR. Aaron Vega, representante estatal entregando la proclama a Ginetta Candelario.
Foto MFR. Marcos Marrero, Director de Planificación y Desarrollo Económico de Holyoke, representando al alcalde Alex Morse, y Ginetta Candelario.
Please visit our new office at the corner of High and Suffolk Streets. Hours for tax season 2017: Monday 3 p.m. - 8 p.m., Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 8 a.m. - 8 a.m., Other times by appointment. Subject to change, please call ahead or check our Facebook page.
Opinión / Opinion
El Sol Latino March 2017
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What will be the reality of the housing assistance in the future? by WALTER MULLIN, Ph.D. and MIGUEL ARCE All Americans need access to adequate, safe housing from which they can launch their lives. Everyone should have freedom to choose their housing without encountering experiences of discrimination or racism. Housing is one of the most basic human needs. The demand for affordable housing continues to grow for people with few economic resources. There is a lack of decent, secure, affordable housing and this leaves many families living in substandard conditions in deteriorating, segregated neighborhoods. The gap between reasonable housing for poor people and those people with financial resources continues to widen. The burden of planning for the costs of adequate housing is greater for those living on low incomes as compared to those with more resources. The Pew Charitable Trust estimates that people with low incomes must plan to spend between 40% and 50% of their income on housing while middle income people, who have more financial resources, typically spend about 30% of their income on it. People who own homes have the option of fixing monthly mortgage payments while those who rent are subject to regular rises in the costs to rent. Walter Mullin, PhD is a Professor at the School of Social Work at Springfield Collegea and Miguel Arce is an Associate Professor at the School of Social work at Springfield College.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is the US government agency that addresses housing issues. It has a $47 billion budget. About 2.2 million Americans live in public housing. More than 7.3 million receive government subsidies like Section 8. It has an essential role in the fight against poverty. The agency has a mandate to protect people from racial bias and segregation in housing purchases and rentals. The impact of segregation cannot be overstated. In 2015, then-President Obama released a rule entitled Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing and Housing Desegregation that required that local communities to assess segregation in their communities and try to address it. Following the recent presidential election, Donald Trump selected Dr. Ben Carson as the new HUD Secretary. Individuals are questioning Dr. Carson’s qualifications, his plan and his philosophy on government. He has spoken with disdain against current efforts at promoting racial integration in housing, stating that “government-engineered attempts to legislate racial equality can make things worse”. His preference is to decrease government involvement in housing issues. Raising concern about the direction of the new HUD administration, Jumanne Williams, a tenant organizer and City Councilor in New York City stated “Housing is not a plaything that can be taken lightly; it is the rubric of healthy families and the glue that binds vibrant communities” (dnainfo.com/new-york, 12/6/16). In 2008, eleven city mayors from Massachusetts (including the Springfield and Holyoke) signed a “Gateway Cities Compact” intended to address housing problems. These mayors realized that community health is connected with housing policies and without a way to monitor it, communities without affordable housing quickly become segregated by income and family background. This compact asserted that decent, affordable, secure housing is needed for working and poor families. The Gateway Cities Compact emphasized the benefit for non-poor and poor families need to settle and remain in communities together for the health of the community. (e.g. keeping local school systems healthy and strong). Reasonably priced rents create stable communities. When this happens, families with varying levels of resources remain in the community and
contribute to the social fabric of the community. This compact is an example of the ways that government actions with housing have strong potential in improving people’s lives. In Massachusetts, three Hamden County state Representatives (Tosado, Gonzalez and Vega) and others support the Gateway Cities Compact. This level of political involvement and commitment to people with housing needs is a model for the federal government to follow. In communities where there is enough reasonable housing for families, it is easier for the family to move forward in working on their own goals, such as finding work, helping their children succeed in school and being part of the community. One of the government’s best financial instruments for spurring on the creation of new affordable housing units is the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC). The U.S.government has reported LIHTC as the most important resource for creating affordable housing in the United States today. Created by the Tax Reform Act of 1986, the LIHTC program gives State and local LIHTC-allocating agencies the equivalent of nearly $8 billion in annual budget authority to issue tax credits for the acquisition, rehabilitation, or new construction of rental housing targeted to lowerincome households. According to HUD’s National Low Income Housing Tax credit (LIHTC) database: Projects Placed in Service through 2014, an average of over 1,420 projects and 107,000 units were placed in service annually between 1995 to 2014. Dr. Carson has remained silent on LIHTC while remaining concerned about government’s role with housing. What will be the reality of the federal government housing assistance for those who need it as we move forward? Walter Mullin, PhD (wmullin@springfieldcollege.edu) is a Professor at the School of Social Work at Springfield College. Miguel Arce MSW (marce@springfieldcollege.edu) is an Associate Professor at the School of Social work at Springfield College.
TRAIDO POR
TU ESTACIÓN PBS
¡PRESENCIA! JUEVES 7:30 P.M.
Co-Host Veronica Garcia
Un programa bilingüe de televisión local para ti y nuestra comunidad.
Tendremos conversaciones/presentaciones de nuestras historias, cultura y tradiciones. sponsored by
WGBY.ORG/PRESENCIA
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Opinión / Opinion
El Sol Latino March 2017
Latino Strategies for Survival in Trump’s Bizarro World by ANGELO FALCÓN National Institute for Latino Report | February 19, 2017 “Us do opposite of all Earthly things! Us hate beauty! Us love ugliness! Is big crime to make anything perfect on Bizarro World!” Credo of DC Comics Bizarro “World” In the Trump Presidency, we find the mirror image of what we have come to know as American politics. There is the Secretary of Education who doesn’t support public education, a failed Labor Secretary nominee who didn’t support the minimum wage, an EPA Secretary who sues the EPA and a HUD Secretary who admitted he doesn’t know how to run a government agency, not to speak of a President who praises Russia and disses friends like Australia. As we enter into Trump’s bizarro world, it is not clear how one gets out of it. Do strategies that influence “normal” politics work as well in a Trump regime? While in general, this is a major challenge for the Trump opposition, it is especially problematic for a historically marginalized group like Latinos. Columnist Ruben Navarrette recently argued that “The relationship between Trump and Latinos is in bad shape, but it’s not yet beyond repair. It can get better over time if both sides are willing to put in the effort to improve it. Let’s get started.” On the other hand, others are arguing for the need for a total resistance against Trump. Trump’s vicious campaign attacks on Mexicans and immigrants, the current deportation campaign and reference to DACA student as gang members and drug dealers unambiguously defines a basic oppositional frame for Latinos regarding Trump. The current tendency by Trump’s critics seems to largely rest on focusing on him personally. This was the basic strategy of the Clinton campaign and, well, it didn’t seem to work. This, therefore, raises the question of why it would work following this approach’s defeat at the polls? Will calling him “authoritarian,” the chaos candidate, a perpetual liar or a nut case (which I would consider stating the obvious) have an impact on his millions of supporters who already know this and unabashedly embrace these qualities. As it is obvious at this point, Trump has continued his campaigning at a time when he should be governing. He has basically taken Sidney Blumenthal’s notion of a “permanent campaign” to an extreme, which political scientists have largely seen as detrimental to effective) governing. The big question is whether Trump’s current approach is sustainable over time and its implications for strategies to hold him and his people accountable. This creates a particularly challenging political environment for the Latino community. What are some of the strategies Latinos need to develop to effectively hold Trump’s feet to the fire? Increase State and Local Political Representation. The Latino community will need to place a greater priority to participating in the redistricting process at all levels of government, but especially at the state and local levels. This will require greater attention to the development of the 2020 Census, carefully monitoring the Census Bureau’s plans to change the way they plan to collect Hispanic data. This may include the need to defend the collection of racial-ethnic Census data vital to the promotion of civil rights. Legal Strategies. Given Trump’s penchant for ignoring the rules of the American constitutional system, the role of legal defense organizations becomes more critical than ever. For Latinos, this means giving exponentially greater financial and political support to groups like LatinoJustice PRLDEFandMALDEFas well as the ACLU (all three headed, by the way, by Latinos). These organizations represent the first line of defense of Latino rights. The federal courts’ role in blocking the Trump Muslim travel ban is a good example. Reinvent or Abandon the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party has historically taken the Latino community for granted despite this community’s voters being so loyal to this party). This didn’t change in 2016, and despite Tom Perez’ consideration as DNC Chair as the Obama/Clinton candidate, this continues to be a problem. It is clear that there is an urgent need for Latino leaders and activists to focus on either making the Democratic Party more accountable and progressive or simply abandon it for a third party. The extremism of the Trump Administration should not result in an unreflective position that presents the Democratic Party as the automatic political savior of Latinos and other communities of color. Strengthen Policy Analysis at Federal and Local Levels. The Latino community needs to hold Trump accountable for the many promises he made during the campaign that would retain or further promote rights and benefits that Latinos and other poor and working people have earned historically. This will require the
strengthening of the Latino organizational infrastructure that monitors and analyzed public policies at the federal and local levels of government. This includes initiatives like the one being led in part by NYC Council SpeakerMelissa Mark-Viverito to form a national coalition of sanctuary cities to provide a united front against Trumpian aggression. There is also a need for coalitions like the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda (NHLA) and progressive national Latino organizations will need to be supported and greatly expand their capacity to reach out much more broadly to their community outside of the Beltway. Part of this will require holding the philanthropic community accountable for providing much greater support for these efforts within the Latino community. Holding Republicans Accountable. As the Tea Party-type of town hall meetings protesting the repeal of Obamacare and growing anti-Trump protests point to, strategies need to be developed to hold the Republic Party accountable to the Latino community along the lines followed by the Koch brothers and thier ilk. Too often the Latino community has placed most of its support with the Democratic Party opening the Republicans to more extreme rightwing Latino players or leaving a vacuum filled by non-Latino controlled rightwing think tanks and operatives. This is also necessary to take advanrage of potential conservative Republican Party conflicts with the Trump Administration over policy and political issues. More Militant Latino Congress Members. The current Latino Congressional delegation is the largest in history. Although it is largely Democratic, it also includes some Republicans, It is important that Latinos press these Congresspersons to be more creative and aggressive, more along the style of Chicago Congressman Luis Gutierrez, in raising issues with the Trump Administration as well as with their respective party organizations. Despite being the minority party, the Democrats in Congress were able to derail Tump’s nominee for Labor Secretary that resulted in the substitute nomination of the way more acceptable Alexander Acosta to this labor post as the first Latino on the Trump Cabine (although clearly as an afterthought). The exclusion this past week of Latino Democrats from a Congressional meeting with the Department of Homeland Security helps put their current politically marginalized role in perspective. During their next Hispanic Heritage Month public policy conference in September, for example, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute should be encouraged to promote more concrete organizing strategies beyond the generic policy discussions they usually present. More Latino-Inclusive Media, Given the dramatically growing role of the mainstream media as a foil to the Trump Administration, it becomes ever more critical for Latinos to greater increase their representation as reporters, commentators, experts and executives on the major news programs and organizations. This makes the role of media advocacy organizations like the National Hispanic Media Coalition and the National Association of Hispanic Journalists increases in significance in promoting a more representative media. These strategies must be based on the understanding that Trump’s election revealed a fundamental weakening of the role of basic American institutions in stabilizing the country’s politics. These range from the weakening of the major political parties, the dealignment of the Electoral College from the popular vote, the volatility of the political impacts of demographic and social class changes, and so on. It is from such a deeper understanding of the 2016 electoral malfunction that can point to the most effective ways that Latinos can survive the Age of Trump. President Agent Orange has raised our people’s political consciousness, promoting greater coalition-building between labor, community, faith-based groups, gays and communities of color, making the consequences of nonparticipation clearer than ever. Will this finally awake this “napping giant”? The Trump Presidency makes this, of course, merely a rhetorical question. Angelo Falcón is President of the National Institute for Latino Policy (NiLP), for which he edits The NiLP Report on Latino Policy & Politics. He can be reached at afalcon@latinopolicy.org. The NiLP Report on Latino Policy & Politics is an online information service provided by the National Institute for Latino Policy. For further information, visit www.latinopolicy.org. Send comments to editor@latinopolicy.org.
Libros / Books
Falcó
por ARTURO PÉREZ-REVERTE (Alfaguara, 2016. 296 páginas) Los aficionados del Capitán Diego Alatriste, y aún los que leen del autor español Arturo Pérez-Reverte por primera vez, encontrarán intrigante su nuevo protagonista, el algo misterioso y enigmático Lorenzo Falcó, personaje que presta su apellido al título de la novela. El autor vuelve a la confusa época en Europa, poco antes de estallar la primera guerra mundial, cuando España se encontró enredada en una brutal guerra civil, guerra en la que metieron las manos Adolfo Hítler de Alemania y Benito Mussolini de Italia. La guerra civil española estalló el 17-18 de julio de 1936 cuando los derechistas del ejército bajo el liderazgo del Generalísimo Francisco Franco se rebelaron contra la Segunda República Española. El ejército se juntó con el movimiento de los falangistas bajo José Antonio Primo de Rivera y así se formaron los Nacionalistas. Lucharon contra los Republicanos, nombre dado a los numerosos grupos aliados con el gobierno de aquella época. José Antonio, que así se llamaba por sus leales seguidores, fue detenido por el Gobierno de la Segunda República y condenado a muerte. En este momento llega Pérez-Reverte con su novela. Al protagonista Falcó, a la edad de 37 años, realmente no le importa aliarse con ningún lado. Se siente pesimista, cínico y desilusionado. Su rostro era “anguloso y atractivo [pero] llegaba a perder su expresión habitual, que solía ser divertida, simpática, aunque con un rictus de dureza cruel… Para Falcó, palabras como patria, amor o futuro no tenían ningún sentido. Era un hombre del momento, entrenado para serlo. Un lobo en la sombra. Ávido y peligroso.” Recibe sus órdenes del misterioso “Almirante” del “llamado Grupo Lucero, al que pertenecía Lorenzo Falcó: un reducido equipo de élite, hombres y mujeres, que en jerga de los servicios secretos locales era conocido como Grupo de Asuntos Sucios.” Conocido por su destreza como asesino y por su habilidad de penetrar en cualquier lado, Falcó recibe el encargo de aliarse con un grupo de idealistas jóvenes nacionalistas en su misión de liberar a su líder José Antonio de la prisión. Pero todo no es lo que parece. La orden es parecer ser leal a la causa nacionalista. Sin embargo, Falcó tiene que obrar para que fracase la misión de rescatar al prisionero sin darse cuenta sus compañeros. Y la orden no viene del lado opuesto, de los republicanos, sino del jefe mismo de los nacionalistas en aquel momento, el Generalísimo Franco. ¿El motivo? “se supone que José Antonio, liberado y en Salamanca, iba a cuestionar el control que Franco tenía sobre todo. Demasiados gallos en el gallinero.” Le acompañan en la misión por territorio republicano los muy simpáticos, muy idealistas y muy comprometidos hermanos Montero, Ginés y Cari, y su compañera, la enigmática Eva Rengel. Parece que su lema es “Vivamos y amemos, que mañana moriremos.” Y tras seguirlos en su misión, los lectores aprenden mucho de como era la guerra de
El Sol Latino March 2017
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aquella época y de como eran los partidarios de ambos lados. Falcó observa que “Los decentes están en la línea de fuego, luchando…Aquí [lejos de “la línea de fuego”] se han quedado los que nunca dieron la cara, apoderándose de las fábricas y talleres, y también la marinería de la Escuadra, que después de asesinar a todos los jefes y oficiales no sale a la mar ni a pescar atunes. Han formado lo que llaman cuadrillas de recuperación proletaria, que asaltan las casas con el pretexto de buscar fascistas y arramblan con todo lo de valor que encuentran. ” Puede que el lector no sepa si le simpatiza Falcó o no. La guerra “No era asunto suyo, se dijo. Allá quien matara o muriera, y sus razones para hacerlo. Su idiotez, maldad o motivos nobles. La guerra de Lorenzo Falcó era otra, y en ella los bandos estaban perfectamente claros: de una parte él, y de la otra todos los demás.” Evita formar amistades, especialmente con mujeres porque “acababan interfiriendo de modo peligroso…Puestos en situaciones extremas junto a mujeres, la mayor parte de los hombres no era capaz de sustraerse al impulso básico de protegerlas. Y eso los volvía descuidados. Vulnerables.” Pero él sí, se dice, sí puede “sustraerse”…hasta conocer a Eva. Al mirarla, “sintió una extraña ternura. Lástima y ternura. Desesperadamente, buscó algo que atenuase aquel sentimiento.” Parece que Falcó busca la “vida excitante y peligrosa, nada convencional.” Pero al mismo tiempo se da cuenta de que algún día puede encontrarse en una situación sin salida, que tal vez “algún día acabara por pasarle la factura de modo implacable, toc, toc, toc, señor Falcó, le toca a usted abonar los gastos…” Pero Falcó está preparado: “llevaba escondida en el tubo de cristal de las cafiaspirinas una ampollita de cianuro potásico que le permitiría tomar un atajo si los naipes venían mal dados…Morir despacio y en pedazos mientras lo interrogaban no era uno de los objetivos de su vida.” Aunque es novela de ficción, se basa en la historia de España de aquella época y uno se da cuenta de lo terrible que era aquella guerra sangrienta en la cual luchaban muchos bandos inspirados por motivos diferentes: “en tiempos inmediatos al Alzamiento…falangistas, socialistas, comunistas, anarquistas, matándose entre ellos con admirable tenacidad.” Pérez-Reverte crea personajes que saltan a sus tres dimensiones, personajes que atraen y otros que repelen. Sabe crear una trama en la cual juegan peligrosas fuerzas y contra las cuales se enfrentan sus personajes que luchan a peligro de perderse la vida. El autor conoce a fondo la historia en que mete su historia. Es bien atrapante la lectura. Sin embargo, un fuerte tono de pesimismo se difunde por toda la novela. Y aun la promesa de Eva no puede derribarlo. Por ejemplo, en cuanto a Fabián Estévez, el que va a mandar el grupo de asalto para rescatar a José Antonio, Pérez-Reverte escribe que “Ahora el héroe del Alcázar caminaba al fin por su Getsemaní, aunque no lo sospechara. O tal vez le fuera indiferente. Podía ser, incluso, que hasta lo buscara. Los hombres como aquél llevaban su última noche consigo a todas partes, como una mochila inseparable. Como una sentencia de muerte aplazada.” Reseña de Cathleen C. Robinson, profesora jubilada de español y de la historia de América Latina.
‘Tsunami’ Of Alzheimer’s Cases Among Latinos Raises Concerns Over Costs, Caregiving
continued from page 15
“We had agreed I’d pick her up, but she left on her own,” Julia said. “She ended up downtown. It was the scariest moment of my life.”
participants at the 32 NIH-funded Alzheimer’s research centers across the country, according to the Roybal study.
As a new caregiver, Julia reached out to her local Alzheimer’s Association chapter for information. While some resources are available in Spanish in the Houston chapter, Julia noticed very few Latinos attending the informational workshops or classes.
Latino volunteers for these trials are important in helping researchers develop Alzheimer’s treatments that work for all ethnic groups, the report says.
Spanish-language media provided little information about the disease. “You rarely hear anything about it on TV or the radio,” she said. In addition, many Latinos, including the Marquez, Lopez and Garcia families, are often unaware of clinical trials through which families can gain access to experimental therapies and medications at little or no cost. Latinos are underrepresented in clinical trials sponsored by the National Institutes of Health: They account for 17 percent of the U.S. population but only 7.5 percent of
“This is why it is so important to invest in the education of these communities,” Mizis said. Her group helps train promotoras, or community health educators, in regions with large Latino communities — including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Baltimore and New York. Going door-to-door, promotoras educate families about the disease. “I see firsthand everyday how much help our communities need,” Mizis said. “And this need keeps growing.”
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Libros / Books
El Sol Latino March 2017
Latinos in New York: Communities in Transition, 2nd Edition
Edited by SHERRIE BAVER, ANGELO FALCÓN, AND GABRIEL HASLIP-VIERA • University of Notre Dame Press. Forthcoming June 2017 “Latinos in New York was the first volume to provide a comprehensive view of the wide range of histories, experiences, and conditions of the changing mix of nationalities of the city’s Latino/a population. This new edition captures the most significant continuities, discontinuities, and changes of the last two decades in the city’s Latino/a population as a whole and among the various national groups, and is as timely and relevant as was the first edition.” Edna Acosta-Belén, University at Albany, SUNY Significant changes in New York City’s Latino community have occurred since the first edition of Latinos in New York: Communities in Transition was published in 1996. The Latino population in metropolitan New York has increased from 1.7 million in the 1990s to over 2.4 million, constituting a third of the population spread over five boroughs. Puerto Ricans remain the largest subgroup, followed by Dominicans and Mexicans; however, Puerto Ricans are no longer the majority of New York’s Latinos as they were throughout most of the twentieth century. Latinos in New York: Communities in Transition, second edition , is the most comprehensive reader available on the experience of New York City’s diverse Latino population. The essays in Part I examine the historical and sociocultural context of Latinos in New York. Part II looks at the diversity comprising Latino New York. Contributors focus on specific national origin groups, including Ecuadorians,
Colombians, and Central Americans, and examine the factors that prompted emigration from the country of origin, the socioeconomic status of the emigrants, the extent of transnational ties with the home country, and the immigrants’ interaction with other Latino groups in New York. Essays in Part III focus on politics and policy issues affecting New York’s Latinos. The book brings together leading social analysts and community advocates on the Latino experience to address issues that have been largely neglected in the literature on New York City. These include the role of race, culture and identity, health, the criminal justice system, the media, and higher education, subjects that require greater attention both from academic as well as policy perspectives. Contributors: Sherrie Baver, Juan Cartagena, Javier Castaño, Ana María DíazStevens, Angelo Falcón, Juan Flores, Gabriel Haslip-Viera, Ramona Hernández, Luz Yadira Herrera, Gilbert Marzán, Ed Morales, Pedro A. Noguera, Rosalía Reyes, Clara E. Rodríguez, José Ramón Sánchez, Walker Simon, Robert Courtney Smith, Andrés Torres, and Silvio Torres-Saillant.
Radical Imagination. Radical Humanity: Puerto Rican Political Activism in New York by ROSE MUZIO (Suny Press, February 2017) • Reviewed by ANGELO FALCÓN | The NiLP Report (February 23, 2017)
Beyond the Young Lords: The Story of El Comité-MINP Last year, when the Puerto Rican diaspora in the United States began organizing to address the massive debt crisis facing Puerto Rico, I thought it might be helpful to begin documenting instances when Puerto Ricans had organized large political mobilizations in the past. An old friend, Sandy Trujillo, pointed out that I had omitted the contributions of one important community organization, El Comité-Movimiento de Izquerda Nacional Puertorriqueño. I had listed actions by groups such as the Young Lord, the Puerto Rican Socialist Party and others, but not El Comité because very little had been written about this organization. Sandy informed me that Rose Muzio had written a book about El Comité that was to come out this year. It just did and it is Radical Imagination. Radical Humanity: Puerto Rican Political Activism in New York (SUNY Press), with a foreword by Victor Quintana, the first Secretary of El Comité. Muzio is an assistant professor of politics, economics and law at the State University of New York at Old Westbury. As we look at the history of Puerto Rican politics in New York City, that throughout the 20th century was the political center of the Puerto Rican diaspora, it has largely been dominated with a focus on the radical activism of the Young Lords. In 1998, Andres Torres and José E. Velazquez published their important reader, The Puerto Rican Movement: Voices from the Diaspora, in which they brought a more inclusive history that included El Comité. Muzio’s study is an important contribution to this history in presenting a detailed and objective discussion on the development of this organization within a broader political context. El Comité, which Muzio describes as a radical community action collective, was founded in 1970 and was active through the early 1980s, based on Manhattan’s West Side. I remember as a student at Columbia College in the early 1970s the rise of the housing squatter movement known as Operation Move-In and the role that groups like El Comité played in that and related issues. In this book, Muzio seeks to address some misconceptions about the history of Puerto Rican political activism in New York, First is its focus on this movement’s on Puerto Rico’s independence struggle to the exclusion of issues affecting stateside Puerto Ricans like housing and health. She also seeks to show that the notion of
New Left movements has been too narrow in typically not including the role of Third World activists like El Comité. On both counts, Muzio is convincing. There are some questions that the book does not adequately address (and perhaps was not meant to). One is the direct relevance of this history to current Puerto Rican and other radical movements. While the general lesson learned from this experience is Muzio’s warning against a focus on abstract ideological purity, she argues for the need to related the groups work more directly on the needs of the people they serve. Perhaps one of the most disappointing parts of the book is Muzio’s inability to explain why the petition that led to E; Comité’s decline was presented in the first place. Another area requiring greater attention is the role of left electoral politics. While Muzio dismisses the importance of electoral politics as a strategy because it was not seen as effective, this argument seems too cursory. An alternative explanation could be that electoral politics were ineffective because if the absence from an electorally abstaining Puerto Rican left. Muzio also does not link this anti-electoral attitude to the anti-colonial politics of Puerto Rican nationalist. This is an ongoing debate on the left that is not a main issue for Muzio but remains an important question. In going beyond the Young Lords, Muzio usefully expands our understandings of Puerto Rican radical politics in New York. At the same time, it limits that history to radical politics adding to a literature that has privileged this over a broader notion of Puerto Rican politics. This broader type of Puerto Rican history in New York City was undertaken in the older works of scholars like Father Joseph Fitzpatrick, James Jennings, Andres Torres and Lorrin Thomas. The result has been a distorted Puerto Rican history that, more often than not, seems to present the Young Lord as the only relevant player. This problem of a politics of left nostalgia is not a subject of Muzio’s book, but does indirectly reflect this continuing problem facing Puerto Rican historiography. Muzio’s Radical Imagination. Radical Humanity: Puerto Rican Political Activism in New York is an important contribution to our understanding of the Puerto Rican experience in New York and of New Left movements. It nicely fills in a historical gap that perhaps took too long to be addressed and does so in critical and accessible ways. Meet the Author: Rose Muzio, CUNY Center for Puerto Rican Studies Wednesday, April 26, 2017 - 6pm - 8pm. Commentator: Andrés Torres RSVP: centropr.nationbuilder.com/radicalimagination The NiLP Report on Latino Policy & Politics is an online information service provided by the National Institute for Latino Policy. For further information, visit www.latinopolicy. org. Send comments to editor@latinopolicy.org.
Salud / Health
El Sol Latino March 2017
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‘Tsunami’ Of Alzheimer’s Cases Among Latinos Raises Concerns Over Costs, Caregiving by ANA B. IBARRA & HEIDI DE MARCO | Kaiser Health News | February 17, 2017 SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Florence Marquez liked to describe herself as a cannery worker, even though she was best known in her heavily Latino East San Jose neighborhood as a community activist. She strode alongside Cesar Chavez in the farmworker movement during the 1960s and 70s. She helped build affordable housing for poor families near her local church. But eight years ago, Florence, now 86, couldn’t find her way to the house she had lived in for 50 years. “That’s when we knew she needed 24-hour care,” said her oldest daughter, Barbara Marquez, 61. Barbara Marquez visits her mother Florence Marquez at her nursing home, Sagebrook Senior Living, in Carmichael, Calif., in December 2016. Barbara was her mother’s primary caregiver until the family decided to put their mother in a 24-hour care facility. (Heidi de Marco/KHN) Florence was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, which robbed her of her memory and her fierce independence. Across the United States, stories like hers are becoming more common, particularly among Latinos — the fastest growing minority in the country. With no cure in sight, the number of U.S. Latinos with Alzheimer’s is expected rise by more than eight times by 2060, to 3.5 million, according to a report by the USC Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging and the Latinos Against Alzheimer’s network. Advanced age is the leading risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s doubles about every five years after age 65. As a group, Latinos are at least 50 percent more likely than whites to have Alzheimer’s, in part because they tend to live longer, the report notes. “This is an incoming tsunami,” said Dr. William Vega, one of the report’s authors and the Roybal Institute’s executive director. “If we don’t find breakthrough medication, we are going to be facing a terrible financial crisis.” That tidal wave of Alzheimer’s cases is prompting some tough conversations in Latino families, who often pride themselves on caring for elders at home, rather than placing them in nursing homes. Those talks come with a lot of guilt, Barbara said. Until recently, Barbara was her mother’s primary caregiver. Her sister and brother helped out. “But it was more than I could have anticipated,” Barbara said, recalling sleepless nights as she tried to make sure Florence didn’t get up and wander off. “It impacts your health, it impacts your marriage. So we looked for help.” About 1.8 million Latino families nationwide care for someone with Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia. And while the Roybal report shows that Latino families are less likely than whites to use formal care services, such as nursing home care, institutionalized care is becoming more common among these families. Between 1999 and 2008, the number of elderly Latinos living in U.S. nursing homes grew by about 55 percent, a rate that outpaced the growth of the overall Latino population during that time, according to research published in July 2011 in Health Affairs. That can be costly. Nationwide, the average cost for basic services in an assisted living facility is $43,200 per year, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. Yearly nursing home care now averages more than twice that, at slightly more than $92,000. For many Latino families, getting outside help isn’t an option. It’s often too expensive for seniors who aren’t eligible for Medi-Cal, California’s version of the Medicaid program for low-income people, which generally pays for nursing home care. Immigrants who are in the country unlawfully do not qualify for it, nor do people whose incomes are too high. Florence’s children decided to take their mother out of her house in San Jose, and they brought her to live with her daughter Barbara in Fair Oaks, just outside Sacramento. They sold the San Jose house, thinking it would help pay for institutionalized care should their mom need it down the road. She did not qualify for Medi-Cal, so she lived with Barbara for about three years. But after trying out a senior day care program outside of the house at a cost of about $78 a day, Barbara and her family placed Florence in a senior home in the Sacramento suburb of Carmichael, where she has been living for the past year. Dwindling Resources The decision to institutionalize Florence Marquez left her children feeling both guilty and overwhelmed by the steep expense. Her care now costs $3,000 to $4,000 per month, they said. They pay extra for specialized services.
They had the proceeds from the sale of Florence’s house, “but those resources are dwindling,” Barbara said. “What do we do when that money is gone?” The Roybal study estimates that the cumulative economic impact of Alzheimer’s among Latinos will hit $2.35 trillion by 2060. That figure includes the costs of medical and long-term care, as well as the lost earnings of family members who provide unpaid in-home care, and of the Alzheimer’s victims themselves, according to the study. Gustavo Lopez of Chicago cares for his mother, Agustina Lopez, 76, who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease seven years ago. Gustavo, 48, and his four siblings looked into assisted living but couldn’t afford it. Agustina, after moving between her children’s homes, eventually landed with Gustavo, her youngest. When Gustavo first took on the role of primary caregiver, his mother still did most things on her own, he said. But she now relies on him to help her eat, bathe, dress and take her medication. So Gustavo needs a job with flexible hours. He’s worked mostly as a waiter. Other employment opportunities have come his way, some with better pay, but caring for his mother comes first, he said. Asking For Help Gustavo does get some help from family friends who check in on his mom while he is at work. He also found Casa Cultural in Chicago, a social service agency that offers a day program for seniors. He can drop his mom off at the center for a few hours, giving him a respite. Free or low-cost programs like these are available in many communities, but families need to do research and ask for help, said Constantina Mizis, president of the Chicago-based Latino Alzheimer’s and Memory Disorders Alliance. The alliance, formed in 2009, focuses on family members who are primary caregivers. Mizis said she has met many caregivers who are near their breaking point. The nonprofit offers training for them, helps find resources to boost their own well-being and puts on community events for families. When seeking support, the best place to start is at a local community group or center — a church, a nonprofit, a United Way office, or the local Alzheimer’s Association chapter, for example, Mizis said. These groups will most likely refer caregivers to a county’s Agency on Aging or a state’s Department of Aging. There, families are assigned a social worker who can discuss what benefits are available. If an Alzheimer’s patient qualifies for Medicaid, these benefits could include caregiver training and payment through programs such as California’s InHome Supportive Services. But benefits and eligibility vary by state. In 2010, the Social Security Administration recognized early-onset Alzheimer’s as a medical condition eligible for disability income. That could help people whose Alzheimer’s disease is diagnosed before the age of 65, but many Latino families aren’t aware the program exists, Mizis said. A Push For Awareness Because Latinos are more likely to use informal and more affordable care options, the Roybal report calls for improving training and resources for families in both English and Spanish. Among the caregivers who opt to keep a parent with Alzheimer’s at home is Julia Garcia, of Houston, Texas. She rotates with her three daughters to watch her mother, Marcela Barberena, 85, who was diagnosed with the disease last year. Julia, who had been unfamiliar with Alzheimer’s, initially thought her mother’s forgetfulness and childlike behavior was due to age. “Too often people will see Alzheimer’s as a result of old age, but this braindeteriorating disease is not natural,” said Vega, co-author of the report. Julia Garcia said she realized it was something more serious when her mother took a shuttle bus from Houston’s international airport without knowing her destination.
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Portada / Front Page
El Sol Latino March 2017
wgby.org
UN PROGRAMA BILINGÜE Para Ti y Nuestra Comunidad JUEVES A LAS 7:30 P.M. EN TU ESTACIÓN DE PBS Estar conectado con nuestra comunidad es fundamental; ser capaz de hacerlo en inglés y español es igualmente importante.Es por eso que WGBY trae Presencia, un programa bilingüe para la comunidad Latina en el oeste de nueva inglaterra.
WGBY.ORG/PRESENCIA S AV E
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WINE LOVERS
WEEKEND MARCH 10−11
Western New England's Largest Wine, Beer, and Food Tasting Returns to Springfield March 10–11 Proceeds benefit public television. Get WGBY Wine Lovers Weekend details at wgby.org/wine.
Muchas Voces, Una Comunidad