Letter to the Editor

¡"El libro total" es un sitio increíble!  Muchísimas gracias.
dcastro@suhsd.net

Hi,
Your magazine is excellent. I love reading it every month. Everyone I know, I speak about your magazine. I would like to write an essay for your magazine stating my experiences in finding current relatives I didn't know I had--somewhat comedic encounters. Is this possible? Let me know.
Thank you,
Diana Murillo
mrpuma007@msn.com 

Dear Mimi,

I'm sorry to be bothering you again; but I didn't get the February issue of SOMOS PRIMOS which I used to get regularly for some time.  Would you kindly see whether my email address has been taken off the emailing list? It is borkterry@aol.com 
I really miss getting it because it is SO GOOD and educational also.

Thank you and God bless.
Terry Bork
Washington DC

Editor:  If you or any that you know is having the same problem, please suggest they look in their spam folder. . . 
 just in case their computer is confused. 

UNITED STATES

The 9/11 Memorial Needs You
National Institute for Civil Discourse
LatinoPOV.com
Capture: America in Color from 1939-1943
Hispanic Population Doubles In Some States, 2010 Census
President Carter named in $5 million lawsuit over "Palestine" book
Policeman punished for defending 1st Amendment 
The US Constitution is Being Ignored to the Detriment of the Nation
Old School Spy Gear Meets High Tech Storage Media 
Linda Sanchez, A Wise Latina by Mercy Bautista Olvera
Hispanics Breaking Barriers, Part XXVI by Mercy Bautista-Olvera
Robert J. Nava, Esq. named vice president for University Advancement

The 9/11 Memorial Needs You
Intelligence Report, 
Orange County Register Parade,
February 27, 2011

Captured: America in Color from 1939-1943

http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2010/07/26
/captured-america-in-color-from-1939-1943/2363/ 

Sent by Val Valdez Gibbons valgibbons@sbcglobal.net

Population: "In all, non-Hispanic whites make up roughly 65 percent of the U.S. population, down from 69 percent in 2000. Hispanics had a 16 percent share, compared with 13 percent a decade ago. Blacks represent about 12 percent and Asians roughly 5 percent. Multiracial Americans and other groups made up the remaining 2 percent."

Hispanic Population Doubles In Some States, 2010 Census 

* The Hispanic population in Maryland doubled and is growing faster than anticipated based on the most recent Census estimates, accounting for 40% of the minority growth in the state.

* In Arkansas, the Hispanic population more than doubled with Hispanics driving 41% of the overall growth in the state. Among those under 18, Hispanics represent 83% of the minority growth. 

* Hispanics contributed 53% of minority growth in Iowa, while the non-Hispanic white population shrank.

* Hispanics in Indiana are growing faster than any other demographic group in the state and account for 43% of the population growth – nearly 1 out of every 2 people added to the state in the last decade is of Hispanic origin.

In Vermont, Hispanics are driving 21 % of the growth in the state.

http://blackradionetwork.com/hispanic_population_doubles_in_some_states 
Sent by Juan Marinez marinezj@anr.msu.edu

The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution is part of the Bill of Rights. The amendment prohibits the making of any law "respecting an establishment of religion", impeding the free exercise of religion, infringing on the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances.

1)  U.S. district court judge, Judge Martin Feldman, held the Interior Department in contempt for continuing to enforce a moratorium on oil drilling after he told the department it had no right to do so. 

2) Three days earlier, another district court judge, Roger Vinson of Florida, ruled in a lawsuit brought by 26 states that Congress lacked authority under the Commerce Clause to force individuals to buy insurance.  

3) That ruling followed one by Virginia District Court Judge Henry Hudson, who ruled against the individual mandate alone last December. 

4) In Virginia, Chief General District Court Judge Dean Worcester declared he would ignore a Virginia Supreme Court ruling about the rights of illegal immigrants in deportation hearings, reasoning that the higher court was "wrong."

5)  In California, voters in 2004 approved a balanced budget amendment, and not once has gotten one.  

6) In Chicago, Rahm Emanuel is running for mayor despite a law requiring candidates to have lived in the city for a year to be eligible to run.

A state of being where the rule of law is being ignored, should cause every American concern, especially serious because they are government agencies that are not in compliance with the constitution.  In Orange County we had an incident perpetuated by Muslim students a  year ago.  The Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas has filed criminal changes against some of the students.  
=========================================================================================

"At the very least, we urge the District Attorney and the students to agree to resolve the charges with the students performing community service and a short probation, after which the matter will be expunged from the students' records," the letter reads.

Eleven students were charged last Friday with conspiring to disrupt a speech last year, capping a grand jury investigation. The 11 were arrested, cited and released in the Feb. 8, 2010, incident during the talk by Michael Oren, the Israeli Ambassador to the U.S.

Meanwhile, labeling the charges "unprecedented," an Oakland-based Jewish group Wednesday turned in to the district attorney petitions signed by more than 5,000 supporters of the students.

The group called the Jewish Voice for Peace, whose website says it seeks an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, has asked the district attorney to stop efforts to criminalize the students' actions.

                                                                                                                                                Photo by Peter Halmagyi

Each of the students is charged with one misdemeanor count of conspiracy to disturb a meeting and one misdemeanor count of the disturbance of a meeting. If convicted, each faces a sentence that could include probation with community service or fines or up to six months in jail. The defendants are scheduled to be arraigned March 11.

"Our hope is that the DA changes his mind and drops the charges," said Jon Wiener, a UCI history professor, "because this has already been dealt with the university's own disciplinary process."

"The use of the criminal justice system will be detrimental to our campus as it inherently will be divisive and risk undoing the healing process which has occurred over the last year," the faculty letter says.

While signatories included five deans and 14 chancellor's professors and distinguished professors, the letter was sent independent of the university. The university has 1,078 regular faculty members, but including other teaching faculty that number rises to about 2,800.

The District Attorney's Office said Wednesday that it will not be "swayed by special interest groups voicing their opinions."

"We have gotten hundreds of letters either way, both supporting and against," said Susan Kang Schroeder, the district attorney's chief of staff. "We base filing decisions and prosecution decisions on the facts and the law. Rarely do you have a case where the entire case is on videotape and in writing."

To read the charges against the Muslim students,  go to: http://www.scribd.com/doc/48456622/11CM01351-Complaint
========================================================================================

District Attorney Tony Rackauckas affirmed that Oren's constitutional right to free speech was violated, stating that failure to bring the charges against the students would be tantamount to failure to uphold the Constitution. "We cannot tolerate a pre-planned violation of the law," he told Associated Press.

Editor: I happened to see the unedited videotape of the Feb 8th incident that evening in the news. Unfortunately the version online right now is edited down in such a way that the tension and pressure orchestrated by the students is lost.  The edited version shows only a few  instances, but the outbursts were many more, and they were rapid fire,  in a rehearsed, predetermined sequence.  Many of the heckling students were actually carrying cue cards, glancing at them, even in the middle of their jeers.  

I can not understand educators condoning the behavior of the Muslim students.  The speaker was  Michael Oren, the Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. .  There was no respect shown to Ambassador Oren. It was an appalling and offensive display of mob power, drowning the speaker out with their yelling and screams.  

Linda Sanchez

A Wise Latina

Nominated and written

By Mercy Bautista-Olvera

Linda Sanchez is a U.S. Representative for California ’s 39th Congressional District. The 39th district includes the communities of Artesia, Cerritos , Florence , Hawaiian Gardens , Lakewood , La Mirada , Long Beach , Lynwood , Paramount , South Gate , Watts, Whittier , and Willowbrook.  

Linda Sanchez was born on January 28, 1969, in Orange , California . She is the sixth of seven children and the daughter of Ignacio Sanchez and Maria Macias-Sanchez, whom emigrated from Mexico . She is the younger sister of U.S. Representative for California 47th District Loretta Sanchez. They are the first sisters to serve in Congress. Her other siblings include Ignacio, Martha, Mike, Frank, and Henry (killed in a boating accident in 2008).  She is married to Jim Sullivan, a Public Relations Consultant. Together the couple have one son Joaquin. Jim has three sons, Brendan, Jack, and Seamus, from a previous marriage.   

In 1991, Linda Sanchez earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Spanish Literature with an emphasis in Bilingual Education at the University of California at Berkeley , and in 1995, a Juris Degree from the UCLA School of Law; she also served as an editor of the Chicano-Latino Law Review at the University.    

After graduating from Cal-Berkley, Sanchez worked as a Bilingual Aide and English as a Second Language instructor while going to law school.  

During her legal studies at the University of California Los Angeles , Sanchez interned with the Honorable Judge Terry Hatter, Jr., Chief Justice of the Central District Court. She also spent a summer working for the National Organization for Women Legal Defense, and Education Fund (NOW LDEF) in New York City .  

Prior to coming to Congress, Sanchez served as the Executive Secretary-Treasurer for the Orange County Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO. Congresswoman Sanchez is still an active and card-carrying member of IBEW Local 441. As the new secretary-treasurer, Sanchez oversaw labor's political programs and lobbying efforts, as well as serve as chief spokesperson for the group that represented more than 80 unions and 106,000 members in Orange County. At the time, Sanchez was only the second woman to head the Orange County labor organization, and the group's first Latina chief.  

Linda Sanchez was admitted to the state bar in December 1995. Sanchez started her political career after a new 39th Congressional District was created following the 2000 Census.  

Sanchez is the co-founder of the House Labor and Working Families Caucus, and she serves on the Education and Labor Committee as well as the Foreign Affairs Committee.   

Representative Sanchez is the first Latina in history to serve on the House Ways and Means Committee working families. She has broken many barriers by becoming the first Latina to serve on the Judiciary Committee, and the first woman to serve as the Chair of its Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law.   

In 2008, Representative Linda Sanchez for 39^th Congressional District, her sister Representative Loretta Sanchez for the 47^th District, along with Richard Buskin co-wrote a book, the joint memoir “Dream in Color.” The sisters present their compelling story, their history making achievements including the first sisters/women of any relation to serve together in Congress. (See Somos Primos February 2011).  

Keeping children safe on the internet has also been her priority. She has introduced legislation to criminalize cyber-bullying, and to reduce bullying, harassment, and gang activity in our schools. While in Congress, Sanchez has helped to expand Head Start and modernize the Higher Education Act.  

Linda Sanchez is well respected and recognized by her colleagues and the national media as a leading voice for working families, judiciary, and trade matters.

HISPANICS BREAKING BARRIERS

Part XXVI

 By

Mercy Bautista-Olvera

The 26^th article in the series “Hispanics Breaking Barriers” focuses on contributions  of Hispanic leadership in the United States government. Their contributions have improved not only the local community, but the country as well. Their struggles, stories, and accomplishments will by example, illustrate to our youth and to future generations that everything and anything is possible.

John Sanchez:  Lieutenant Governor , New Mexico  
Irasema Coronado:  Joint Public Advisory Committee of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation  Juan Osuna:  Acting Director of the Executive Office of Immigration Review
Dan Ramos:   U.S. State Representative, 56th District, Ohio  
Leroy M. Garcia Jr.:   Pueblo City Council 3^rd District, Pueblo , Colorado  

John A. Sanchez

John A. Sanchez is the 31^st Lieutenant Governor of New Mexico.  

He was born in 1963; he is the youngest of eight children. He was raised in Albuquerque , New Mexico ’s North Valley .  He can trace his public service roots

to his great, great grandfather, who was a State Legislator from San Miguel County in 1860, and his grandfather served as a state Representative in 1930. He is married to Debra; the couple have two grown daughters.  

Sanchez graduated from Hope High School in Albuquerque , New Mexico .  After graduating from high school, he started a small business called Right Way Roofing.  

John A. Sanchez received a Bachelor of Science in Management Degree from the University of Phoenix , and a Master of Arts in Organizational Management Degree from Ashford University , located in Clinton , Iowa .  

In 1983, Sanchez graduated from New Mexico Real Estate Institute.  In 1993, his company Right Way Roofing was named Small Business of the Year by the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce. From 1997-2000, he was the company’s owner. John and Debra Sanchez have built one of New Mexico ’s most respected businesses. The firm has operated continuously for over 28 years and has had total sales of nearly $100 million. They have completed nearly 30,000 contracts and currently maintain a work force of 25 employees.

Sanchez was elected to the office of Councilman for the Village of Los Ranchos , New Mexico . His political experience started as a trustee for the village of Los Ranchos , 1997-2000.  

From 2000 to 2002, he served in the New Mexico House of Representatives. In 2002, he was a Republican nominee for governor.  

In 2005, Sanchez was recognized as one of the Top 40 Most Influential Hispanics in the Country. John has had diverse business interests, and maintained a New Mexico real estate license for over 20 years.  

As Lt. Governor, John Sanchez advocates job creation, economic development, private sector growth, and fairness in the state regulatory process. His significant business background, hands on management experience and genuine pro-business enthusiasm, has prepared him for the challenge of promoting economic growth in New Mexico .

Dr. Irasema Coronado  

Dr. Irasema Coronado is an associate professor in the Department of Political Science, a contributing faculty member of the Environmental Science and Engineering Ph.D. program. She has also been appointed by President Obama to a Joint Public Advisory Committee of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation.  

She is the daughter of Gonzalo Coronado (1927-2005) and Guadalupe Bejarano-Coronado. Irasema grew up in what she describes as a bi-national, bilingual, bicultural household in Nogales , Arizona . She is the second of six siblings, which includes an older sister, and four brothers.  

She served in the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC); this international organization was established in 1994. It facilitates collaboration among partner countries, such as Canada , Mexico and the United States , their goal is to protect the shared environment of the continent. The 15-member advisory committee, which serves as the source of information and guidance to the commission, is comprised of five citizens from each country with significant backgrounds in environmental affairs.    

“Dr. Coronado’s expertise in environmental policy and her extensive experience with U.S.-Mexico border issues will enable her to contribute unique and valuable perspectives to the deliberations of this important international advisory committee,” stated University of Texas in El Paso (UTEP) President Dr. Diana Natalicio.   

From 2003 to 2006, Dr. Coronado served as a member of the National Advisory Committee of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She has conducted extensive research and published several articles about legal, political, and environmental issues in the U.S.-Mexico border region.
 
"This appointment will help me provide my students with real world examples and contribute to the understanding of policy-making in the environmental arena,"   stated Dr. Coronado.    

Dr. Coronado has been a professor at the University of El Paso in Texas . She has emerged in the past 10 years as one of the highest-profile Hispanic women in El Paso, and served as the Associate Provost in the university, and has mentored faculty and students, studied border issues for years and contributed on a regular basis to scholarly works, and books about the border and its people.  

"For us to address environmental issues on the border, you need cooperation of both governments at all levels. I've been doing that all my life, bringing together people from both sides of the (U.S.-Mexico) border. My family has always been committed to social justice. All of us had this in common: You treat everyone with dignity and respect, and you do your part to help humanity," stated Dr. Coronado.  

Dr. Coronado acknowledged her late father, Gonzalo Coronado, a Mexican immigrant and bread distributor, with injecting her with the passion to understand why life is so radically different in Mexico and the United States . "I can honestly say my father was a feminist," Dr. Coronado grew up in what other people might consider a privileged home, but we were not rich." Coronado 's mother, Guadalupe, still volunteers every Wednesday to help feed and clothe Mexican deportees across the border.

Juan P. Osuna  

Juan P. Osuna, formerly Associate Deputy Attorney General has been appointed by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder as Acting Director of the Justice Department’s Executive Office of Immigration Review (EOIR).  

Juan P. Osuna was born in Colombia , South America ; he is the son of Luis Jorge Osuna and Martha Osuna. He is married to Wendy Young.  

In 1985, Osuna received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from George Washington University , a Juris Degree in 1988 from the Washington College of Law at American University , and a Master of Art’s Degree in Law and International Affairs in 1989, from the American University ’s school of International service.  

After graduating from law school, he spent ten years working as an editor for a collection of legal publications, including a prestigious immigration law journal, “The Immigration Court System: Where We Have Been and Where We Are Going.” Published by Cornell University Law School , April 10, 2009.  

Osuna has served as the ranking full-time political appointee concerned with immigration matters. It is a policy position, rather than a managerial one.    

In 2000, former U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno appointed Osuna as a member of the Board of Immigration Appeals during former President Bill Clinton's Administration; he then served as the Board's Acting Chairperson, then permanent Chair, during the Bush administration.  

Osuna spent the next nine years on the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) at the Department of Justice (DOJ), the top of the administrative pyramid for federal immigration law. He joined Obama’s DOJ in 2009 as a Deputy Assistant Attorney General. He now advises the Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG) on immigration policy.  

The Obama administration has successively appointed Osuna as Deputy Assistant AG for the Office of Immigration Litigation, Associate Deputy AG, and now acting Acting Director of the Executive Office of Immigration Review.    

Osuna is one of the top lawyers in the Justice Department on immigration law; he has spent his entire career working on immigration law.

Dan Ramos  

Dan Ramos is the Ohio state Representative for the 56th District. He is the first person of Puerto Rican heritage elected to the General Assembly.

Dan Ramos was born on September 2, 1981 in Oberlin , Ohio . He is the son of Ramon Ramos, a former member of the Lorain School Board. His parents are Raul and JoAnn Ramos.  

He graduated from Lorain Admiral King High School . He received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the Ohio State University .  

“Nearly one in five persons in Ohio is an ethnic minority. I wish the governor well, as his successes are my successes, and much more importantly, are the successes of my constituents. Whether black or white, Hispanic or Asian, Native American, Pacific Islander, native born or immigrant, gay or straight, male or female, Ohio is home to all of us. I'm here today to make certain that the voices of all Ohio 's people are heard so we can all move forward together," stated   Ramos.  

Ramos has served years in his community. He has served as Senior Policy Analyst to House Speaker Armond Budish, and Legislative Aide to Ohio State Representative, Joe Koziura, where he studied, trained, and learned the inner workings of the Statehouse, so he could best serve his area in the House of Representatives.  

In 2004, he has served as caucus field staff in Lorain , Huron and Seneca County , and in 2006, he served as Caucus/Party Field staff in Lake and Loran County . In 2008, he served as Assistant Political Director for the House Caucus.  

During his service at the Lorain County Department of Job & Family Services, he served as a union member of the United Auto Workers (UAW) Local 696.

Leroy M. Garcia Jr.  

Leroy M. Garcia Jr. is the new Pueblo City Council 3^rd District in Pueblo , Colorado .  

Leroy M. Garcia, Jr. was born on September 2, 1981, in Pueblo , Colorado . He is the son of Leroy M. Garcia Sr. and Lorraine Martinez-Garcia.  Leroy Sr. and Lorraine are small business owners of a family hair salon. Leroy is the eldest of two brothers, Jake F. Garcia (USMC) and Evan P. Garcia (USMC). Leroy is married to Michelle Randall-Garcia. The couple have two sons, Jeremiah and Xan.  

In 2005, he received his Associate of Applied Science Major in Emergency Medical services from Pueblo Community College . In 2007, he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management from the University of Phoenix .  In addition, in 2009, he earned a Master of Arts Degree in Organizational Management Concentration with Leadership from the Ashford University .  

From 2001 to 2008, Leroy M. Garcia served in the United States Marine Corps. Garcia was deployed during Operation Iraqi Freedom as a Mortuary Affairs   Specialist.  During Leroy’s time in the Marine Corp, he learned the value of hard work and leadership.    

Garcia was awarded medals for the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary,     Global War on Terrorism Service, National Defense and Selected Marine Corps   among many others.  

He served as an educator for Pueblo Community College , and a Nationally Registered Paramedic with American Medical Response. Garcia understands compassion, commitment and dedication to the community. He feels it is important to listen to the concerns of constituents, and build a sense of community.  

Sent by Rick Leal 

Sent by Juan Marinez marinezj@ANR.MSU.EDU

Cesar Estrada Chavez: 

Cesar Estrada Chavez: Roots Deep in the Heart of Chihuahua by John P. Schmal
Students Hail Victory As UTEP Reinstates César Chávez Day By Danya P. Hernández
150 decry UTEP dropping holiday for César Chávez by Ramón Rentería
"Forty Acres"  designated a National Historic Landmark

Cesar Estrada Chavez
Roots Deep in the Heart of Chihuahua

By John P. Schmal

 An American Hero

Cesar Chavez was an American hero, a person who was admired by both his supporters and his adversaries. In grammar school, many students learn about his advocacy and dedication to his causes, but few people know much about his roots.  Nearly everyone knows that Cesar Estrada Chavez was born on March 31, 1927 near Yuma , Arizona . The Arizona State Board of Health Certificate of Birth Number 594 states that Cesario Chavez was the legitimate son of Librado Chavez (38 years old, a farmer born in Mexico ) and Juana Estrada (35 years old, a housewife also born in Mexico). His birthplace was listed as “ North Gila Valley ” in Yuma County.  

Most of us know that Cesar was named after his grandfather, Cesario. His family spent a few decades in Yuma County, Arizona, after emigrating from Mexico , but most people do not know about his family ties to Mexico.  Cesar’s father Librado Chavez was himself the son of Cesario Chavez and Dorotea Hernandez. This information is widely known since Cesar had a rather large family and some information about his family has been published online.  

Librado Chavez (Father)

Librado was one of about eleven children, most of whom were born in Mexico , although it is believed that the last two were born in the United States . In fact, it has been stated that Librado’s younger brother, Felipe Hernandez Chavez, was born on February 3^rd or 5^th  of 1890 in El Paso Texas (and died sometime after 1911).  However, this account is incorrect. According to the Catholic Church records in Juarez , Chihuahua , Felipe Chaves was baptized on March 2, 1891 by Father Ramon Ortiz, the pastor of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Church.  The baptism record for Felipe states that Felipe was born on February 5, 1891 as the legitimate son of Cesario Chaves and Dorotea Hernandez, both of whom were originally from Carmen.  

The abuelos paternos listed were Nepomuceno Chaves and Juana Flores. The abuela materna was given as Maria Rufia, with no explanation given for the lack of a father or a surname.  This baptism can be viewed on Film 162708 of the Family History Library (Reference Number: 25-77).     

Cesario Chavez (Grandfather)

Most researchers who have studied the Chavez family already knew that Cesario’s father’s name was Nepomuceno Chavez (Cesar’s great-grandfather).  Aside from knowing that he was from a place called Villa del Carmen, very little is known about him.  However, anyone doing research in La Ciudad de Chihuahua in the middle of the Nineteenth Century will come across Nepomuceno Chavez and his wife Maria Juana Flores.  

Nepomuceno had many children, the exact number still unknown at this time. However, their first-born was Jose Luis Gonzaga Chavez Flores, who was baptized on June 23, 1831 in El Sagrario in the City of Chihuahua .  In the next two decades more children followed, including Epifana Juana (1840), Jose Manuel de Jesus (1842) and Maria Tiburcio Aniseta (1849). While most of the kids were born in La Ciudad, Jose Manuel was baptized in Santa Cruz de Rosales.  

Nepomuceno and Juana would have children for almost twenty years. The last child born to Nepomuceno and Juana was Jose Sesario Trinidad Chaves, and this is the man we know of as “Cesario Chavez” – the grandfather of Cesar Chavez. “Sesario” was baptized at Nuestra Señora de Regla de Chihuahua Church on March 2, 1851 by Father Gavino Rodela. The baptism states that he was born on the 25^th of the previous month (February) and that he was the son of Juan Nepomuceno Chaves and Maria Juana Flores.  The abuelos paternos were Ramon Chaves and Ramona Anchondo. And the abuelos maternos were Pablo Flores and Sabina Granados. The four grandparents listed in the baptism of Sesario Chavez are the great-great-grandparents of Cesar Chavez. This baptism can be viewed on Family History Library Film Number 162668.  

Nepomuceno Chavez (Great-Grandfather)  

At this point we have established that Cesar’s paternal great-grandfather was born 76 years before he was born (1927).  But Cesario was the last son born in a very large family. As such, his parents were married long before his birth. The Parish Church in La Ciudad de Chihuahua contains a very detailed record of Nepomuceno’s and Juana’s marriage.  

The record states that on June 28, 1830, Father Mateo Sanches Alvarez married Nepomuceno Chaves and Juana de Dios Flores. Nepomuceno was described as the legitimate son of Ramon Chavez and of Ramona Anchondo. Juana was described as the daughter of Pablo Flores and Sabina Granados. The parents of the bride and groom are, as stated earlier, the great-great-grandparents of Cesar. The witnesses were Rafael Anchondo and Maria del Refugio Chaves, relatives of the newlyweds.  

It is not entirely clear when Nepomuceno Chaves was born or whether he was born in La Ciudad de Chihuahua or in General Trias (which was then known as Santa Isabel ). His brother Juan Ramon Chaves was baptized in Santa Isabel on March 26, 1818, and his younger sister, Maria Ramona de Jesus, was born four years later in La Ciudad (on November 24, 1822).  

Ramona’s baptism reported that she was baptized by Father Angel Molinar at Nuestra Señora de Regla de Chihuahua church when she was seven days old. She was the daughter of Ramon Chaves and Ramona Anchondo. The abuelos paternos were Tomas Chaves and Antonia Guarin. The abuelos maternos were Christobal Anchondo and Maria Conigunda Escañuela.  This set of abuelos represent the next generation back: the great-great-great-grandparents of Cesar Chavez. The baptism of Maria Ramona Caves can be viewed on Film 162665.  

Juana de Dios Flores (Great-Grandmother)

Nepomuceno married Juana in 1830 when she was only 14 years old. Juana was a local girl, born and bred in La Ciudad. On March 15, 1816, when she was eight days old, Juana’s parents took her to the church to be baptized by Father Mariano Prado. Juana de Dios Reymunda de Jesus Flores – the future wife of Nepomuceno Chavez and the future great-great-grandmother of Cesar – was baptized with holy oil and recorded as the legitimate daughter of Pablo Flores and Maria Savina Granados. The abuelos paternos were “no conocidos” (not known), but the abuelos maternos were Jose Granado and Paula Zuniga.  

Juana Flores - 1816 baptism

Pablo Torres and Savina Granados (Great-Great-Grandparents)

It is not clear when or where Pablo Torres and Sabina Granados were married (at this point in time), but it is clear that they had a very large family. One of their earlier children, Maria Eusevia Flores, was baptized on March 7, 1803 in San Lorenzo (Doctor Belisario Dominguez).  But their next child, Francisco de Paula de Jesus Vensor, was baptized on July 15, 1805 in the Church in La Ciudad of Chihuahua.  Two more daughters were born in La Ciudad in 1808 and 1813 before Juana came along in 1816.  

Although the baptism for Pablo Torres has not yet been located, the baptism of Maria Savina Granados on June 14, 1776 in San Lorenzo has been located. It is noteworthy that Savina was born 151 years before the birth of Cesar Chavez and weeks before the American Declaration of Independence was signed.  The very beautiful and detailed baptism record of Savina reveals to us that Father Manuel Cadaval baptized Savina when she was six days old and that she was the daughter of Juan Joseph Granados and Juana Paula Suniga, “legitamente casados” (a legitimately married couple). The baptism of Savina is on Family History Library Film Number 162584.

Juan Joseph Granados and Juana Paula Zuniga (Great-Great-Great-Grandparents)

Juan Jose Granados and Juana Paula Zuniga had several children. Research into this line will eventually trace the family back a few more generations. While we cannot yet determine when the couple was married, it does seem likely that the family may have alternated back and forth between San Lorenzo and La Ciudad de Chihuahua.  

One fact that seems certain is that the Maria Paula de Suniga (Zuniga) who was baptized on February 5, 1748 in La Ciudad de Chihuahua is the mother of Savina and the wife of Juan Jose Granados.  Maria Paula was the daughter of Ygnasio Martin de Suniga and Francesca Figenia de Luna.

Ygnacio Martin de Zuniga (Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandfather)

We bring this search to a conclusion (for today), with a determination to find more information at a later date. Ygnacio Martin de Zuniga married his bride, Francesca Figenia de Luna, in the church at La Ciudad de Chihuahua on February 21, 1747.  

A Son of Chihuahua

It has become evident that Cesar Chavez did, in fact, have roots deep within the state of Chihuahua . American-born, Cesar Chavez was dedicated to American causes but was also a son of Mexico. And the search for his ancestry was made possible because the baptism records in the churches of Chihuahua after 1800 show the abuelos of each child being baptized (with some exceptions).  When six names are given in a document of birth, the search for earlier generations is made easier.

This article is dedicated to Cesar Chavez (1927-1993).

© 2011, John P. Schmal. All rights reserved.  

By Danya P. Hernández

Hispanic Link, Vol. 29, No. 3
Your News Source Since 1983
1420 N St. NW
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 234-0280

EL PASO Texas — Dr. Diana Natalicio, president of the University of Texas at El Paso, circulated an email message to the university’s faculty and its 20,000 students Feb. 8 that the institution’s annual celebration of César Chávez’s March 31 birthday was no longer on the chopping block.

The Day was established as an optional state holiday in 1999 by then-Gov. George Bush and readily adopted by UTEP, where the student population is three-quarters Hispanic. When the state approved only 12 holidays for academic year
2010-11, UTEP had to trim two. Its Faculty Senate announced late last month that César Chávez Day would be eliminated.

Some 150 students, supported by alumni, quickly mobilized against the decision and confronted Natalicio, who expressed sympathy for the students’ cause and requested time to work on a solution. Ten days later she made her announcement
that the Faculty Senate had rescinded its vote. While details are apparently still being worked out, student reaction was immediate and favorable.

A Facebook group, “UTEP Students for César Chávez Day,” was among the first to posted a note: “Thanks to everyone for this
victory. ¡Qué Viva César Chávez!” Student Javier San Román added the message to his facebook page, “¡Que orgullo, gracias a todos Uds. Sigan luchando. César vive, la luche sigue!”

In her announcement, Natalicio stated, “We regret the calendar confusion and the misunderstanding that resulted from it.”
Prior to the president’s announcement, campus and community groups mobilized against the decision. Among them: Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán (MEChA) and Cultural Artists United for Social Action (CAUSA).

A “Restore César Chávez” rally featured community speakers and members of the groups that helped organize it. A petition to
reinstate the holiday was circulated. The rally culminated with Pete Duarte, an active alumnus, declaring he would give back his Gold Nugget Award, UTEP’s most prestigious award for alumni. 

“The action taken by the Faculty Senate is not only a slap in the face to the students, faculty and staff on campus — an act of
culture and racial genocide — but also an act of racism,” Duarte said. Coordinator of Students for César Chávez Day Adrian Rivera said, “They didn’t take into consideration the population of the University and they didn’t consider the effect of changing something like that,”

Protesters used Chávez’s peaceful ways to voice their concerns — proof that his legacy lives on, said Rivers. “Faculty Senate
gave us the stage and we are going to use it to start educating about what César did for the community and the nation.”

150 decry UTEP dropping holiday for César Chávez

by Ramón Rentería \ El Paso Times

Pete Duarte, a retired health-systems administrator and the former CEO at what is now University Medical Center, symbolically returns a Golden Nugget Award, which UTEP had given him in the past for his contributions to the university, to protest UTEP's dropping of a César Chávez holiday. (Ruben R Ramirez / El Paso Times)

WITNESS TO HERITAGE

The Medical Office of Dr. Hector P. Garcia, M.D. by Wanda Garcia
175th Anniversary of Herrera's “Ride to the Alamo”
Descendants say promises of 1848 treaty broken by Elaine Ayala
Save Ethnic Studies Defense Committee, Inc. by Rodolfo F. Acuna
La Placita Cemetery situation, Home to Home, Heart to Heart by Eva Booher
Marquez descendant hopes to restore family cemetery in Santa Monica Canyon
Court clears way to demolish Juana Briones House

By Daisy Wanda Garcia
February 25, 2011

This past week I had the privilege to participate as a panelist about the Longoria Affair in the NACCS Tejas Regional Conference at South Texas College in McAllen, Texas.  Attendees arrived from all over the United States to attend this conference.  I met activists from California, Arizona, and Michigan.  

After the screening of the documentary “Longoria Affair”, produced by John Valadez, there was a Q&A Session.  I was so heartened to see young Hispanics ask probing questions as they strove to understand the dynamics of life for a Hispanic in the 1940ties and the legacy of my father Dr. Hector P. Garcia.  

The audience asked many questions about the works of Dr. Garcia and how Papa’s activism affected my life. But I was surprised by the questions about the progress on getting the clinic renovated and designated a historical site.   I replied with a status on the efforts to first obtain historical designation from the city and then the state.  Then work in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation to obtain funds to restore the clinic.  I shared with the audience the results of my research and the following brief history about the HPG Clinic.   

According to the City of Corpus Christi, Texas, Papa, in 1994 began the work to get the clinic designated historical.  This was two years prior to his death in 1996.  It took years to file the required documents including the plat maps and floor plans.  In 2004, the Landmark Commission held a public hearing on the former medical office of Dr. Hector P. Garcia to designate the property a Historical Cultural Landmark Preservation.  The Landmark Commission identified the subject property as a significant historical element of the city and with a person who significantly contributed to the culture and development of the City.  The petition read: 

Dr. Garcia is recognized for his community service as a medical physician in Corpus Christi as well as a political and social activist.  Reports indicate that Dr. Garcia’s work began in the late 1940’s.  When establishing his medical practice in Corpus Christi, he discovered that many Mexican-American veterans of World War II were encountering a wide variety of problems.  One of the problems was receiving prompt hospital care.  Veterans were required to travel to San Antonio where the closest veterans’ hospital was located.  To combat this situation, a group of veterans, headed by Dr. Garcia worked to bring their cause to the attention of public and federal officials.  The group was successful in having a contract drawn between the Naval Hospital at the Naval Air Station and the Veterans Administration in servicing veterans.

Many community members testified at the Corpus Christi Land Mark Commission hearing.  One tribute came from Tom Utter, Special Assistant to the City Manager. Utter said he got to know Dr. Hector P. Garcia.  He was one of the most generous, kind and wonderful people he has ever met.  He is in the ranks of Martin Luther King and the ranks of history of the United States.  Many members of the American G.I. Forum testified as well including Maria Ramirez, Papa’s longtime assistant.  Ramirez stated that this is a dream of Dr. Garcia’s.  He (Dr. Garcia) talked about education for the young for many years.   

A motion was made by Councilman Berlanga and seconded by Councilman Zamora to accept staff’s recommendation for the HC=I Historical Cultural Overlay designation for this case.  The motion passed by all present.  The audience applauded the decisions of the Commissioners. (Minutes, Regular Planning Commission Meeting Council Chambers-City Hall Wednesday –November 3, 2004)

Originally the lots platted as La Gloria Subdivision on January 2, 1940 were sold to my mother Wanda Garcia on August 17, 1956.  Papa asked my mother to buy the property because he felt that the owner would not sell the property to him a Mexican American, but to my mother who was Italian with a strong European accent. Later, in March 1965 my parents entered into a contract to construct my father’s clinic.  Upon completion of the commercial building, Dr. Garcia practiced his medical profession within this structure until his death in 1996.  In 1969, Papa purchased lot 9 and sold the lot to the National Archives and Historical Foundation of the American G.I. Forum. On February 14, 1986, my mother Wanda conveyed her half of the property to my father.  Upon Dr. Garcia’s death in 1996, the subject property was devised to my mother Wanda.  On January 28, 2000, Wanda Garcia sold her interests in the lots to the National Archives and Historical Foundation of the American G.I. Forum. 

Dr. Hector P. Garcia Clinic

For the complete article, go to: The Handbook of Texas Online http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fhe73

 

Cousins Teresa Bustillos Abrego (left) and Josephine Rodriguez Mendoza stand outside Mendoza's home. The family now owns just a fraction of the lands granted to it in 1848.
Photo: Edward A. Ornelas eaornelas@express-news.net 

More than 100 years before that, his ancestor Joseph Mondragon y Zeballos laid claim to a larger chunk of land in what's now Bexar and Atascosa counties.

Like other Spanish and Mexican land grant descendants throughout South Texas, much of their property is now gone, sold off by a little and a lot, subdivided over and again, stolen outright, or lost to taxes or fraud — all in spite of provisions in the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

Today, the 163rd anniversary of its signing, grievances remain over the treaty's unkept promises.  

The document, which ended the Mexican American War and ceded 55 percent of Mexican territory to the United States, not only guaranteed citizenship to Mexican and Tejano settlers but assured them that they could keep their land.

Those provisions are widely viewed as having been ignored and reinterpreted.

But among some of the Texas reclamantes, Spanish for claimant, the pride in their ancestry is strong and their anger is still palpable.

“Treaties like Guadalupe Hidalgo don't mean anything,” said Reynaldo Anzaldua, whose ancestors held at least four South Texas land grants, one of which encompassed more than 600,000 acres in Cameron, Willacy and Brooks counties — a lot of it, he said, on the King Ranch.

“It is in the past,” he said. “But the past is affecting us now. There's no doubt in my mind what happened. Our people's land was taken away from them.” Over the years, land grant descendants have taken their claims to court, with minor success.

Anecdotally and historically, stories have abounded about discrimination, theft and even murder at the hands of land speculators, ranchers and Texas Rangers who did their bidding.

Historians such as Gilberto Hinojosa of the University of the Incarnate Word are quick to note that a series of devastating economic depressions and recessions in the late 1800s played a major role in the loss of early land grant holdings.

But he also mentioned a phrase that reverberated through South Texas:  “Sell me that land,” he said, “or I'll buy it from your widow.”

All Mendoza knows is that at one time, “Todo esto aquí,” all of this here, “era de nosotros,” was ours. Her family now lives on the last of a land grant, three-quarters of an acre, and in an adobe house more than 150 years old.

Her cousin Teresa Bustillos Abrego seems resigned that the land will never be theirs again. She doesn't seek financial compensation, either.  “We want recognition,” she said.

Last weekend, about 500 descendants met in San Antonio to hear about another potential avenue of restitution: proposed legislation that would amend the state's Unclaimed Property Act and give recognized heirs access to unclaimed mineral royalties derived from their ancestral lands.

An estimated $200 million to $561 million in such unclaimed payments rest in the Texas comptroller's office.

Fred Ballí, a member of a large group of descendants battling the Kenedy Memorial Foundation over 363,000 acres known as La Barreta that they believe belong to the family, said he won't stop fighting. 

But what he'd like to see beyond compensation is the righting of the historical record. “Put it in history books,” he said. “Tell the truth about what happened.”

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/default/article/163-years-after-Treaty-of-Guadalupe-Hidalgo-991050.php#ixzz1D0htj9g3


Sent by Gloria Candelaria 
candelglo@sbcglobal.net

For the Committee On Save Ethnic Studies,
Rodolfo F. Acuna 
racuna@csun.ed
David Sandoval
Mary Pardo

Dear Colleagues and Supporters:

On January 1, 2011, HB 2281 became effective in Arizona, a law passed in April 2010 that attacks La Raza Studies. The law's supporters claim that we are unpatriotic and unAmerican, a statement that we take great exception to. Books such as Occupied America and Pedagogy of the Oppressed are cited as proof of their opinions. At present the future looks grim. The Board of Education that was supposed to defend the program has bailed out. The teachers of Raza Studies have filed a suit defending the right of the program to teach the history of our people.

We feel that if the xenophobes are successful, the entire area of Ethnic Studies is threatened. It enables similar attacks on programs outside of Arizona and sanctions censorship. We feel that we must stand together and are appealing to you for support. It takes money to mount a legal challenge. The pool of available money is small in the Tucson area. It is a poor community and the hundreds of thousands of dollars that this suit will take is beyond our means.

The discovery process alone will run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is the political core of the case that will show the motivation of the framers of this legislation and point to who is financing this libelous campaign.

Please take time to view

1- http://vimeo.com/15062646 (Precious Knowledge Trailer)
2- http://www.saveethnicstudies.org/index.shtml (Tucson campaign)
3- http://www.saveethnicstudies.org/news.shtml
4- http://www.saveethnicstudies.org/meet_us.shtml

Would you please help by sending a donation? You can also help arrange fundraisers in your area. We need transportation costs and would greatly appreciate honorariums. Concerts and the like featuring local artists, musicians and poets are a fantastic way of getting people together.  Please go online to donate and for more information:
http://www.saveethnicstudies.org/save_ethnic_studies.shtml. Deyanina Nevarez is the point person. You can reach her at (520) 975-1485 or via email at info@saveethnicstudies.org. Make payable to: Save Ethnic Studies Defense Fund Mail to:
Save Ethnic Studies
307 S. Convent Ave
Tucson, AZ 85701
Or donate by Credit Card: http://www.saveethnicstudies.org/donate.shtml 

Eva Booher 

Marquez descendant hopes to restore family cemetery in Santa Monica Canyon

Preservationists aim to learn the boundaries and burial locations of the historic Marquez Family Cemetery to develop a restoration plan and open it to the public.

Hola primos/primas. 

I have been in contact with cousin Joseph Peyton, who has been instrumental in the preservation of the Marquez Family Cemetery in Santa Monica Canyon, Los Angeles, CA. there has been a decision and the cemetery will stay. I am so proud of cousin Joseph, cousin Terri de la Pena, and all the people involved in stopping desecration and destruction of this small cemetery with so much historical significance. In these times, for some reason, we have to fight developers and the local government entities who want to erase the past... very strange I believe and selfish on those who want and do these terrible injustices to our past heritage/s. if you can please read the info, the last part, about the recent decision..

Thank you. I am proud of all of you, to be linked to you, and that you all feel we need to preserve our heritage's and that you will stand up, maybe lose, but still make it hard for whoever is trying to destroy sacred ground. so sad to see this happening all over America

If you can, take a look at this terrible tragedy, which happened in my home town, about 1965 or close. some relatives of mine are buried at St. Mary's along with 3,000+ and now it is a "dog park" as I refer to it now. 

Gracias & Adios, Terry Chaffee 

PLEASE go to http://restorestmarys.org/  >  RESTORE ST. MARY'S
A project to restore the desecrated cemeteries of the historic town of San Buenaventura (now Ventura) which include the: St. Mary's Catholic Cemetery (est. 1862), Ventura (aka Protestant) Cemetery (est. 1889), and Hebrew Cemetery (est. 1895).  Editor:  This site has a series of photographs and data which documents the efforts of saving and restoring these cemeteries.

RootsWeb World Connect Project follows the history of  Pasqual Marquez through census records.
Per 1850 U.S. Federal census Pasqual Marquez is living in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, born CA abt 1845  
http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=tcbjammon&id=P-897426163 

(02-24) PALO ALTO -- The state Supreme Court has cleared the way for the demolition of an 1844 adobe house in the Peninsula foothills that was owned by Juana Briones, a pioneering rancher, businesswoman and herbalist.

A preservationist group called Friends of the Juana Briones House had won a ruling from a Santa Clara County judge in 2008 that said the Palo Alto City Council should have conducted an environmental review before approving a demolition permit for the home, one of the oldest residences in California.

But a state appeals court reversed the ruling in October, and the state Supreme Court unanimously denied review of the case Wednesday. The property owners' lawyer, Kent Mitchell, said they would tear down the building as soon as the ruling became final, probably within a month.

Briones lived with her two sisters at the Presidio in San Francisco in the 1810s and later lived near what is now Washington Square Park. After being granted a legal separation from an abusive husband, she bought a 4,400-acre rancho on the Peninsula in the 1840s, a purchase she finally validated after more than 20 years in U.S. tribunals.

Briones, uneducated and illiterate, was renowned as a healer and operated a hospital in her home. A biographer, Jeanne Farr McDonald, said Briones was taught by Indians and others familiar with local herbs, and went to Bolinas to treat victims of a smallpox epidemic.

She died in 1889. The home on Old Adobe Road went through numerous renovations and was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, but remained open for tours until 1993. Palo Alto's building inspector declared it a dangerous structure in 1996
and ordered the adobe section vacated.

The nonprofit National Trust for Historic Preservation listed the home among the nation's 11 most endangered historic sites last year. Palo Alto declared it a historic landmark in 1987, and the state declared the site - but not the home itself - a landmark in 1954.

Mitchell said many people, including his clients, Jaim Nulman and Avelyn Welczer, doubt that Briones ever lived in the adobe house. The couple bought the 1.5-acre tract in 1997. They initially proposed restoring the house while demolishing the surrounding wings, battled the city in court for seven years and finally obtained a demolition permit for the entire building in 2007.

In a ruling that found the permit valid, the Sixth District Court of Appeal in San Jose said Palo Alto's rules for demolitions were simple and straightforward - the residence must be vacant and any tenants must be notified - and did not involve subjective decisions that might require an environmental review.

E-mail Bob Egelko at begelko@sfchronicle.com 
Copyright 2011 SF Chronicle       

To support the effort, please contact Lorraine Frain lorrilocks@gmail.com


 

ERASING HISTORIC REALITY
PERSISTENCE OF THE BLACK LEGEND

SEGUNDO DE FEBRERO

From The National Hispanic Reporter, February 2 1984

By Felipe de Ortego y Gasca

El Segundo de febrero (the second of February) is a  significant date in Mexican American history: it’s the day in 1848 when the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo was signed, the Treaty that dismembered Mexico and more than half its territory (550,000 square miles, larger than Spain, France, and Italy combined) annexed by the United States. The Treaty also incorporated the Mexican population of the annexed territory into the American polity. That’s the beginning of Mexican American history.

      To commemorate the beginning of  that history, a group of Mexican Americans met in San Antonio, Texas, to organize what has become El Segundo de Febrero. When I was drawn into that circle, El Segundo de Febrero as a title for that commemoration had already taken hold as opposed to the more proper Spanish description “El dos de febrero,” attuned to the Spanish propensity for the cardinal form of numbers in these matters over the ordinal form.

      The annexed territory of northern Mexico now includes the states of Texas , New Mexico , Arizona , California , Nevada , Utah , Colorado , and parts of Wyoming , Kansas , and Oklahoma . Contrary to the propaganda of the time, the dismembered territory was not void of population. The territory included the thriving cities of San Antonia, El Paso , Santa Fe , Tucson , San Diego , Los Angeles , Santa Barbara , San Luis Obispo , San Francisco , and hundreds of smaller settlements dotting the landscape. A large population center of Mexicans stretched north along the San Luis Valley from Tierra Amarilla in New Mexico to what is now Colorado Springs .

      There are no accurate records to tell us how large a population occupied the ceded Mexican territory, but estimates range from a low of 75,000 (Carey McWilliams, North From Mexico) to a high of 3,000,000 (Rudolfo Acuña, Occupied America). The esteemed Tejano historian, Arnoldo DeLeon suggests a population size somewhere between these two figures. The point is, as DeLeon contends, that the annexed territory was not despoblado as the proponents of manifest destiny have claimed.

       The Mexicans who came with the dismembered territory (including españoles, criollos, mes-tizos and indios) have been designated by Chicano scholars as the 

“conquest generation”—the generation that prevailed 
during the period of transition from 1848 to 1912, the year that New Mexico and Arizona became states, completing the “forty and eight.” This conquest generation became the primary mass of Mexicans whose progeny are today’s Mexican Americans and Chicanos. 

El segundo de febrero is not a day of celebration. It’s a day of remembrance much the way Hanukah is a day of remembrance for Jews. El segundo de febrero marks the beginning of the Mexican diaspora in the United States —mejicanos separated politically, culturally, and linguistically from their homeland, struggling to find their place in the American ethos. This forking path of history would create a group of mejicanos who until the 1960s would struggle for self-identity and full participation in the American enterprise. Even today, Americans seem not to understand that Mexican Americans are mejicanos with a lower case “m” and Americans with a capital “A.”

      Not all Mexican Americans nor Chicanos participate in commemorating el segundo de febrero, but like Kwanza, the African American commemoration, the date is being commemorated by more Mexican Americans with each passing year and growing in importance as Mexican Americans learn more about their history. Unfortunately that history has been occulted by mainstream history. But Mexican American and Chicano historians like Rudolfo Acuña and Arnoldo DeLeon are bringing that history to the forefront of American history.

      The segundo de febrero helps to raise the consciousness of Americans about Mexican Americans and their historical relationship to the United States. It points out that, in the main, Mexican Americans are not immigrants in the United States —per the conquest generation, they are of the United States . Mexicans currently crossing into the United States represent “a return of the native”—so to speak—analogous currently to the return of diasporic Palestinians to the Palestine controlled by Israel. The passing of control of the area from the British to the newly formed state of Israel was a mandate from the United Nations.  

Copyright © 1984, 2008, 2011 by the author. All rights reserved

Made available by:
Hispanic Link, Vol. 29, No. 3
Your News Source Since 1983
1420 N St. NW
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 234-0280

“Those convinced that the 1836 Alamo battle was a heroic last stand will hate this book. Readers open to new interpretations, however, will find compelling arguments within its well-researched pages. The author, a historian who has written or edited many books involving 19th-century military campaigns, believes the Alamo defenders were overwhelmed in a surprise night attack, not a daylight assault, and many of them died outside the fort while trying to escape through Mexican lines.” —THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS 4/25/2010

“…uses recently discovered Mexican accounts and archaeological and forensic evidence to break down the “Last Stand Myth”…By recounting the Battle from a new point of view, Tucker attempts to break down the racism against the Tejano and Mexican people fueled by Alamo legends.”
—UNIVERSITAS, Saint Louis University , Fall 2010

EXODUS FROM THE ALAMO The Anatomy of the Last Stand Myth  ISBN 978-1-932033-93-9; 384, 16 pages illustrations; hard cover; $32.95. To obtain review copies or get further information, please contact Tara Lichterman at Casemate Publishing  Phone 610/853-9131, Fax 610/853-9146 Email tara.lichterman@casematepublishing.com

HONORING HISPANIC LEADERSHIP

He passed away on January 9th, and would have been 95 on February 21. UMAVA honored Eusebio A. Perez with a Life Time of Service Award at their meeting on February 20.
Sent by Francisco Barragan commander@umava.org 

Surce: Irma Saldana elrancholasescobas@hotmail.com 
Sent by Eddie Garcia fs1830garcia@yahoo.com  

          EULOGY FOR ROBERTO SAENZ       

            June 10, 1950 to February 10, 2011  

On behalf of the Saenz family we want to thank you all for being here with us on this sad occasion.  We are here today to pay our last respects to Roberto and to be with his family in this difficult time.  We also want to celebrate and praise Roberto’s life. 

Let me first share a scripture passage: "HE WHO BELIEVES IN ME SHALL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE”

Robert believed strongly in Christianity and accordingly, he will go to Heaven.   We thank God for Roberto’s life.  Our religious leaders tell us that God has a purpose for each one of us.  Roberto’s unexpected death suggests that perhaps God’s purpose and mission for Roberto was completed and therefore God has called him to his Kingdom. 

Roberto was one of 14 children born to Samuel and Santos Saenz in Alice, Texas in the year 1950. At that time I was already 17 years old and I had the opportunity to carry him in my arms. Roberto was the last of the 14 children.  He was born to a migrant family who traveled throughout the United States for a period of ten years harvesting crops. We first came to Michigan in 1946 right after World War II to harvest sugar beets.

Roberto traveled with the family during his infancy and early childhood years.  There are so many experiences that I could share and one that comes to mind is the time when Roberto was only two months old.  Our Mother, out of necessity, took him along in his cradle to a cotton field worksite.  Through the years as Roberto became successful I would occasionally remind him of his humble beginnings and he would smile in recognition. 

Our family traveled and harvested crops out of necessity. Adults and children worked as a family group without the children having the privilege of attending school.  In those days, some states did not have child labor laws and those that did, rarely enforced them. Public assistance and civil rights laws did not exist as we have them today.  Consequently, large families such as ours struggled to survive and meet basic needs. Our most important basic need problem was that of not having enough food. Our father found the solution to this problem by putting the children to work.  It so happened that the first five members of the family were boys. Friends and relatives of our father occasionally would comment “Samuel is a rich man he has a work force of six in his family”. In those days, the children represented wealth that could generate money. It did not take our father long to pick up on this factor and he put us to work on the migrant labor fields. 

In 1956, after the Korean War campaign ended, I was discharged from military service and I found my family in the labor camps outside Grand Rapids, Michigan. It was here where the opportunity arose to transition ourselves from migrant workers to industrial workers. The Saenz family settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan. It provided us with work opportunities, housing, education and prosperity. The arrival into Grand Rapids was like entering into the “promised land”.   At that time Roberto was six and half years old and only spoke Spanish. He was a full blooded American citizen by birth, but did not speak English. His Hispanic ancestry in Texas dates back prior to the Treaty of Guadalupe with Mexico in 1847. 

It was here in Grand Rapids where Roberto began to assimilate into the mainstream of American life.  At the start of his education, it took him some three years to get past kindergarten and first grade. At that time, I was already studying at Michigan State. I came home and complained to our mother that “Roberto was not going to make it because he is still spinning his wheels in kindergarten” his Mama told me to give him a chance because he was still learning English and is getting his wings. He got his wings and he flew like an Eagle and he never stopped;    He progressed through the lower grades and became an “all American kid” by actively participating in competitive sports, something that would not have been possible as a migrant laborer. Roberto did well in his  education and after graduating from Central High School he attended Grand Rapids Junior College for two years.  He later transferred to Grand Valley State University where he earned his B.A. degree and a teaching credential. He continued his education at Grand Valley State University and earned his Master’s degree in Education.

Roberto’s Career
Armed with a solid education, Roberto moved forward with his teaching career.  He worked for the Grand Rapids Public Schools for thirty-one years.   During this period, he held various positions which included high school teacher, counselor, Elementary School Principal and finally Central District Office Administrator.  His district office positions included Director of Special Programs and Director of Human Services. During most of Roberto’s career development I lived in California and Mexico’s Baja peninsula; we only met once or twice a year and stayed in contact by phone. Consequently I was unaware of the many other achievements and recognitions given to my brother by his associates and the news media as was recently reported on the Internet. 

Roberto entered into the Grand Rapids schools at a very critical time when there was a need to improve minority student programs.  He played a major role in establishing and implementing meaningful education programs for the youth.   Over the years he developed the special skills to interact with the various community ethnic groups.  He quickly won respect and recognition as an effective Hispanic leader to bring harmony between the community and the School Administration authorities. 

After retiring from the Grand Rapids School District, Roberto continued his community work by serving for three years as the Executive Director of Hope Network-West.  At Hope, he worked on the Community Outreach Program which focused on the rehabilitation programs for people with disabilities. 

More recently, Roberto served as a Consultant for the Michigan State Department of Education in the Migrant Education Program.  He never forgot his roots and it is very fitting that he was concluding his long education career by serving in a program that was very dear and near to his heart.

Roberto’s Personal Life

Roberto was a dedicated, responsible, and committed husband to Ana, his wife.  He was also a very good father to his two daughters, Amanda and Catalina.  Roberto leaves behind a legacy of family life full of memories and fun activities that they all enjoyed. Based on historical facts it is proper to say that I encouraged and supported Roberto’s marriage to the lovely Ana Ramirez. It was back on or about 1994, when Roberto made an unexpected trip to the west coast. I told my wife that Roberto is coming to town and she remarked what is he doing here, he was just here recently. I told her he is here on a love mission. During the courting and dating process there was this problem that Roberto was employed and heavily involved with his Grand Rapids Education career development while Ana was committed to working  at a high level administrative bank position in the  West Coast. Roberto came to my California home and explained to me that the marriage had the green light on everything except on the career issue.  I recommended that the love between them should be the ruling factor. I believe that Ana loved my brother so much that she shortly renounced her banking position  and moved on to Grand Rapids to marry Roberto and share her life with him.   

Roberto loved outdoor activities like fishing, hunting, boating, camping, and travel.  Roberto also enjoyed viewing sports like football, basketball, boxing, and baseball. He also liked high level adventure trips  and on several occasions we traveled together to remote areas. Late in 1966, my brother Tony and I went to Mexico City to interface with other related family members who were involved with a coconut plantation in the coast of Michoacán, Mexico. They invited us to go visit their tropical plantation and explore pre-Columbian indigenous ruins and burial grounds artifacts. They spoke about marine turtles laying their eggs on the sandy beaches.   In 1967, when Roberto was only 17 years old, he joined me and my other brother, Tony, on a two week archeological trip to the Michoacán Mexican coast.  The region was considered dangerous and we would travel over land to a certain point.  From there it would take twelve days by horseback to cross the Sierra Madre which was infested with bandits.  As a result of this assessment, we elected instead to fly in a small plane.  We landed in a small dirt airstrip on a coconut plantation. As we landed, twenty to thirty armed horsemen surrounded the small plane. We quickly asked our host “Que Pasa?”  He explained, No Problema, they are friendly amigos interested in buying ammunition and weapons. We did not have what they wanted as we only had food and recreational equipment. We explored and photographed the indigenous burial grounds and the turtle nesting areas. We enjoyed the experience so much that we decided to stay an extra two days.  Little did we know that a huge pacific hurricane was coming our way. The storm hit unexpectedly and it cut off our exit route. 

We ran out of food and water. At first the impact seemed minimal.  We had a backup contingency plan for food and water as we could not drink the local water. Roberto and Tony had been given the responsibility to maintain and protect our food and water supply.  I was in charge of the operation and decided to carry out a quick review of our inventory supplies.  I was shocked to find that the food and water had been consumed by my two little brothers without my knowledge!  As a result. we had to implement emergency measures for survival by eating only a few dried up fish and  coconut juice.  After three days of pain and stress, we were finally rescued by the small plane we had contracted.  I have to say that this was an unforgettable experience. It was here that I learned that Roberto had courage and endurance. Even at the tender age of 17 he did not panic and break down while under stress.   The picture display at the funeral home included some of the pictures of this adventure.

Conclusion
From the Samuel and Santos Saenz Family perspective, I want to conclude my remarks by expressing, our sincere appreciation to the State of Michigan and the City of Grand Rapids, for the many opportunities that were afforded to us which eventually lead us to live successful lives.  All family members assimilated into the main stream of American life and went on to develop successful careers.  

In exchange for the opportunities afforded us, we have all made various contributions to our society in the areas of Education, Business, Engineering and Medicine.  Roberto’s service to the community was his way of giving back what he had received. He did this not only for himself, but also for his parents, brothers and sisters who considered him as the best the family had to offer. In his field of endeavor none of us has achieved his level of excellence.   We will dearly miss our beloved brother Roberto.


Prepared by Samuel, Tomas and Antonio Saenz
Presented by Samuel and Tomas  

Additional Comments by Tomas  

Roberto was truly blessed to have been born to loving and caring parents and to have been one of fourteen children.  He was not only our parents' baby but rather, the family baby.  Due to hard times our family had to unit as one in order to survive.  Without knowing, we adopted the "all for one and one for all" philosophy, and this way of thinking has prevailed through the years in our family.

It is common among Hispanics to have a given name and often, a nickname.  One of the cousins appropriately gave Roberto the nickname of "El Piojo Blanco" (The White lice).  More than anything, it was a term of endearment.  Physically, he was a little different than most of his brothers and sisters.  His complexion was very light, his eyes were green and his hair was light. From the very start he stood out and was very special, not only to our family but to our extended family which included several uncles, aunts and cousins.

As Roberto was growing up there were early signs that he was going to be successful and would accomplish big things in life.  The picture display at the funeral home was very well prepared and it truly depicted Roberto's greatness.  I have three pictures that were special to me.  The first one is where he is on a horse, in western attire, a gun, ready to do battle, ready to conquer the world!  He reminds us of Don Quijote, the fictional character in Miguel de Cervantes' great novel, "Don Quijote de la Mancha".  Don Quijote too, got on his horse, with a lance and goes out to fight evil in the world.   

Another favorite picture which to me showed early signs for success was when Roberto was playing football at St. Al's School.  I would often take Roberto to his games.  At some of the football fields they were equipped with a public address system and an announcer would give the details of each play.  The name that kept coming up in most plays was "Saenz".  This was music to my ears! Roberto was right in there in the thick of things!  

One last favorite picture that I treasure is when in the year 2008 Roberto took Tony, Chris Pike and me salmon fishing.  In this picture you will find the three brothers showing off their big fish!  Being the family historian and family genealogist, I went to my old pictures and found a black & white picture, again showing Tom, Tony and Roberto on a fishing trip.  Roberto was in middle school, Tony was in high school and I was attending junior college. I took both pictures and merged them into one. It clearly shows how it was in the early years and now as successful adults.  

Many of the speakers at the funeral home services spoke of Roberto's love for fishing.  Yes, Roberto loved fishing as a sport, but he was at his best being a "fisherman of men"!  This is why we have a full house here today.  He touched the lives of a countless number of people and we will miss our little brother.  May God bless his soul throughout eternity!

Obituary published in Grand Rapids Press on February 9, 2011 

SAENZ - Mr. Roberto Saenz, aged 60, of Rockford, MI, passed away on Sunday afternoon, February 6, 2011 at Spectrum Health Butterworth Hospital. He was preceded in death by his parents, Samuel and Santos Saenz, and his sisters, Maria and Hercilia and his brother, David Saenz. He is survived by his wife of 16 years, Ana Saenz; his daughters, Amanda (Jesus) Farfan, Catalina Saenz; his brothers and sisters, Amando (Idolina), Samuel (Juanita), Rogelio (Marylou), Tomas (Herlinda), Olivia Saenz, Zulema (Salam) Estefan, Leonardo, Antonio (Anne), Brijida (Dennis) White, Irma DeLaGandara; sister-in-law, Petra Saenz; many nieces, nephews and friends. Roberto was a loving and dedicated brother, husband, father and a friend to all who knew him. He will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered. He worked for the Grand Rapids Public Schools for 31 years, and later worked as Executive Director for Hope Network and was recently a managing Partner at La Fuente Consulting, LLC. The Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday at 10:00 a.m. at the Cathedral of St. Andrew, 265 Sheldon SE (please meet at the church) with procession to Resurrection Cemetery for burial. Relatives and friends may meet his family at Heritage Life Story Funeral Home - Alt & Shawmut Hills Chapel, 2120 Lake Michigan Dr. NW on Wednesday evening from 6 to 9 p.m. with a Christian Service at 7:00 p.m., and again on Thursday evening from 6 to 9 p.m. with a Catholic Vigil at 7:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, please consider contributions in his memory to Roberto Saenz Memorial Fund to benefit his favorite charities. To read more about Roberto's life, to sign his guest book and to leave your own memory of him, visit his web page at www.lifestorynet.com  Heritage Life Story Funeral Homes

NATIONAL ISSUES

Islamic surnames being changed to Hispanic-sounding names: Cultural Jihad
Kamal Saleem: A Muslim Cries Out to Jesus - CBN TV-Video
1899, Sir Winston Churchill Pronouncement on Islam
Controversial Muslim cleric,  Said Jaziri caught being smuggled into U.S. over Mexico border
Sham University probed for visa fraud by Terence Chea
Harvest of Loneliness: The Bracero Program
Immigration Reform Makes Cents   
MALDEF Wina 9th Circuit Decision Upholding Verdict Against Arizona Vigilante for Attack on Immigrants
Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants 
History of Mexican American Civil Rights Movement Documentary:
German Marshall Fund
Marriage Prohibitions and Guidelines

Islamic surnames being changed to Hispanic-sounding names:  a strategy for "Cultural Jihad"

Surge Desk, of AOL News:  has a look at rather eye-catching facts about the imam, Said Jaziri,

1. He advocated Shariah law for Canada
On an appearance on CBC radio, Jaziri strongly defended the implementation of Shariah law. He also called for the government to fund the building of a $20 million mosque in Montreal.

2. He led demonstrations over the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad
After the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published a series of 12 cartoons, some of which depicted the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, Jaziri helped organize and lead demonstration marches in Canada.

3. His bail has been set at $25,000
It's unclear whether Jaziri will make bail, but authorities believed that he paid his Mexican smugglers $5,000 to get him inside the United States.

4. He was deported for covering up his criminal record
Canadian authorities deported Jaziri after learning that he failed to disclose a conviction and jail time for his role in an assault on a person in France whose actions had helped close a prayer room, the Montreal Gazette reported. Here's a CBC report from 2007, shortly before Jaziri's deportation:

5. He bragged about converting one Canadian woman to Islam every week
While living in Montreal, Jaziri gained a reputation as an outspoken member of the large Muslim community in Canada. Among the statements he made that ruffled feathers, however, were boasts that he converted a Canadian woman to Islam every week, and his contention that homosexuality was a sin.

House Speaker John Boehner’s recent selection of Rep. Elton Gallegly of California over Rep. Steve King of Iowa to head the Judiciary Committee’s immigration subcommittee is one step closer to the kind of reform for which past administrations, including those of former Presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, had long called. 

Both Republican congressmen may be opposed to the kind of reform that House Democrats call for. But Gallegly seems inclined to take a more reasoned approach. Especially if Democrats can explain the economic advantages to reform. And there are many. 

Immigration brings formidable fiscal implications. Keeping immigrants here or sending them home can save or cost taxpayers dearly. Just count the ways that reform, which puts undocumented immigrants on the path to legalization, could foot our country’s finances. 

First, any deportation plan for undocumented immigrants would cost our country’s gross domestic product a whopping $2.6 trillion over the next 10 years, according to a study by Raul Hinojosa-Ojeda, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. 

Conversely, if we embrace comprehensive immigration reform, we could add $1.5 trillion to the U.S. GDP over the next 10 years. The economy could also benefit from a temporary worker program, Hinojosa-Ojeda projected,by raising GDP by $792 billion. 

Second, immigrants who become U.S. citizens consistently pursue higher-paying jobs and higher education, spend more and provide higher tax revenue. Just imagine what 12 million newly documented Americans could do for the economy. 

The legalization process also brings economic benefits — like the retention of remittances. Workers send substantial portions of their salary to family members abroad, but reform could reunite families separated by our immigration system and keep monies in the U.S. 

For example, total U.S. remittances to Latin America was almost $46 billion in 2008. Of that, Mexico received almost $24 billion. Reducing remittances offers obvious cash infusion for our economy, since billions of dollars now sent overseas would be spent instead on U.S. businesses — creating jobs and helping to revive our economy.

Third, by giving 2.1 million American students the opportunity to pursue higher education or military service, our government could collect $3.6 trillion over the next 40 years. The DREAM Act, which failed in the Senate in December but remains a bipartisan effort, offers a conditional six-year path to permanent, legal U.S. residence for immigrant youth who demonstrate good moral character and complete at least two years of higher education or U.S. military service.

Without the DREAM Act, about 65,000 students a year — honor-roll scholars, star athletes, talented artists and aspiring teachers — will graduate high school and then hit a roadblock. Instead of upward mobility and higher education, they will be forced to live in the shadows and work low-paying jobs. 

Fourth, the Reuniting Families Act, which I plan to reintroduce this Congress, would allow all Americans to be reunited with their families — including gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender “permanent partners.” 

The economic benefits of this policy cannot be overstated. American workers, with their families by their side, are happier, healthier and more able to succeed than those living apart from loved ones for years on end. By pooling resources, families can do together what they can’t do alone — start small businesses, provide care for the young and old, create U.S. jobs and contribute more to this country’s welfare. 

Healthier communities have more expendable income and place a lower burden on government social services. This correlation is well substantiated — but it is up to us to make it a reality. 

We understand that during tough economic times, the natural reaction is to close borders and look inward. Yet the irony of an anti-immigration sentiment, which fears job losses for Americans if more workers enter the U.S., is that it is fiscally prudent to legalize, insure, employ, reunite and educate our immigrants than to keep families apart. 

This is a time when we must use every available resource to stimulate our economy and control government spending. To my fiscally conservative Republican colleagues, the onus is on you. Left to future Congresses, the number of undocumented immigrants will only increase and the visa waits will only get longer. Meanwhile, we will lose an opportunity to do what’s economically right.  The fiscal case is clear: reform now. 

California Rep. Mike Honda serves on the Appropriations and the Budget Committees and is the Democratic senior whip.
© 2011 Capitol News Company, LLC

Sent by Roberto Calderon, Ph.D.  beto@unt.edu

MALDEF Wina 9th Circuit Decision Upholding Verdict Against Arizona Vigilante for Attack on Immigrants

New York Chapter of CURE, Citizens United for the Rehabilitation of Errants 
207 Riverside Drive, Scotia, New York, 12302 curenewyork@aol.com, www.bestweb.net/~cureny
Blog: www.curenewyork.wordpress.com 

ACTION ITEM
LET US REMEMBER and NOT FORGET

February 23, Forde was sentence to death

February 14th, a Tucson jury found Shawna Forde guilty on two counts of first-degree murder, the murder of  9 year old Brisenia Flores and her father, Raul, and on one count of attempted first-degree murder for shooting Brisenia's mom, Gina Gonzalez. 

While we are satisfied with the jury's verdict, nothing can replace the loss that Brisenia's mother has experienced. Together with people around the country, we express our condolences to her family. Gina Gonzalez has yet to endure two more trials, set to begin this spring, for Jason Bush - the alleged gunman - and Albert Gaxiola, an accomplice in this horrible crime. 

We wish to honor Brisenia's memory by providing you with a way to share your prayers and thoughts with her mother through this difficult time. You can do so by clicking here:  http://act.presente.org/sign/guilty 

The murder of Brisenia Flores and her father, Raul, will not be forgotten. The guilty verdict provides an opportunity to both raise awareness of growing anti-Latino hatred and loudly echo an entire community’s demand for justice. 
The murder in Arizona inspired many in our community to say, “No te olvidaremos / We will not forget you” 
Tell Gina, that you too will not forget Brisenia by clicking here to share your thoughts and prayers with her: 
http://act.presente.org/sign/guilty
 
Thank you y ¡adelante! 
Joaquin, Laurie, Favianna, Roberto & the rest of the Presente.org team 

Source: Joaquin Guerra, Presente.org  info@presente.org 
Sent by Alfonso Rodriguez alfonso2r@yahoo.com 

Men get 9 years in prison for Pa. hate-crime death

BUSINESS

LOS ANGELES/DALLAS (Reuters) - Chipotle Mexican Grill has a lot going for it -- an upscale burrito concept, a hip and eco-friendly image, expansion plans galore and a 500 percent-plus stock price gain in just over two years.

And then it has something not going its way -- a federal crackdown on its immigrant labor force that has so far forced Chipotle to fire hundreds of allegedly illegal workers in the state of Minnesota, perhaps more than half its staff there.

The probe is widening. Co-Chief Executive Monty Moran told Reuters on Friday that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has also issued "notices of inspection" for restaurants in Washington D.C. and Virginia.

Investors in the Wall Street darling are taking note and one firm, Calvert Investments, plans to talk to Chipotle about the large number of undocumented workers uncovered.

Dependence on illegal labor is the elephant in the room for the U.S. restaurant business. And experts say the Chipotle ICE investigations are a wake-up call for an industry that is one of America's biggest employers and generates over $300 billion in annual sales, according to research firm IBISWorld Inc.

Chipotle -- a Denver-based company whose motto is "Food With Integrity" -- is one of the most well-known names caught in the immigration enforcement shift that began two years ago.

At that time, Barack Obama, a proponent of immigration reform to help manage the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States, became president. Also at that time, immigrant hiring by restaurants began to rebound.

Obama has had to walk a fine line on the issue. He must uphold the law and appease Americans resentful of illegal immigrants working as the unemployment rate stubbornly sits at 9 percent. But he needs to do it in a way palatable to Hispanic voters who will be key to his re-election in 2012.

Gone are the days of big raids that snared large numbers of workers, mostly from Mexico and Central America. Under Obama, immigration enforcement agents are cracking down on employers with so-called "I-9 audits" -- I-9 being the employment eligibility verification form.

ICE says that means companies' hiring practices could be subjected to the same degree of scrutiny as their bookkeeping is by the Internal Revenue Service.

"When you get a big name like Chipotle, it stands out and sends a message," said Jacqueline Longnecker, president of Reno-based Employment Verification Resources Inc.

"The onus is on employers now ... It sends the message that nobody is going to be excused from this," she said, adding that many companies -- both large and small -- do not recognize the potential liabilities they now face.

Chipotle believes it has not been singled out.

"ICE has vowed to increase pressure on employers to avoid employing undocumented workers ... We are one of a large and growing number of companies to go through this process," Moran told Reuters by e-mail.

But to date, the majority of audits that have come to light in the restaurant business have been limited to small operators or franchisees of big chains, like Subway.

EMPLOYEE CHURN

The U.S. fast-food industry historically has offered relatively low pay and paltry benefits to legal workers and, as a result, has struggled with high employee turnover.

Longnecker and other experts said restaurant owners are attracted to illegal laborers because they work hard, are loyal and will go the extra mile to hold down a job.

It is hard to know the extent of hiring of illegal immigrants in restaurants. But immigrants -- both legal and illegal -- account for about a quarter of workers in the restaurant and food services industry and their numbers are up in recent years.

Their share fell from 24.5 percent in March 2006 to 21.4 percent in March 2008 -- before and during the recession -- but then recovered to 23.6 percent in March 2009 and March 2010, according to an analysis of the government's Current Population Survey (CPS) data conducted for Reuters by the Migration Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank.

The overall number of immigrants employed in the sector climbed from just over 1.7 million in 2008 to 1.8 million in 2010, according to this data, even as native employment fell from 6.4 million to 5.9 million.

The Pew Hispanic Center -- whose demographic and labor market work is highly regarded -- estimated in a 2009 report that 12 percent of the workforce in food preparation and serving in 2008 was undocumented.

Chipotle, which has more than 1,000 restaurants mostly in the United States and plans to open as many as 145 more in 2011, pays its workers more than the average burger flipper but its building binge has stoked its appetite for new hires.

Alejandro, one of the Chipotle workers fired in Minnesota who asked that his last name not be published for fear of reprisals, worked there for five years and earned $9.42 per hour, taking home $1,200 a month. That allowed him to send up to $800 per month to his daughters to keep studying in Mexico.

"I thought it was a good company," said Alejandro, who lost his job in December along with 10 of his 20 co-workers. "I was even going to get training to be promoted to kitchen manager."

PROBLEMS WITH PAPERS

Alejandro, 37, and co-worker Tanya, a 35-year-old mother of four, admit they are in the United States illegally and had to use false documents to get their jobs at Chipotle.

"I believe that when you go to apply there, they know beforehand that you don't have papers," Tanya said by phone. "And after the six years I worked there, or the 10 years of some of my colleagues, they get rid of us without warning."

The false documents, which include things such as driver's licenses, Social Security cards and residence permits, are easy to come by "on the street," said Tanya. "Many people offer them. It is part of coming here and trying to make a better life for your children."

But Moran says that Chipotle has "always taken this issue very seriously, and over the last five years we have done a great deal to improve our systems, and our document review capabilities and procedures."

"Certainly this incident has been eye-opening for us and caused us to redouble our efforts to make sure we are doing all we can short of running afoul of the mandate of the Department of Justice," said Moran, adding that Chipotle performs two document reviews for each employee hired, one by the hiring manager and another by its human resources department.

The company, which has gained a cult-like following by serving natural and organic food where possible, stands out as one of the industry's top performers when it comes to sales at established restaurants and stock gains. Its stock price is flirting with $250 compared to under $40 in November 2008.

It also differs from other public traded chains in another very important way. Unlike McDonald's Corp and most other restaurant companies, it does not rely on franchisees to own and operate restaurants, which means it might be easier to hold its head office more accountable for infractions.

INVESTOR URGES 'BETTER SYSTEMS'

Investors, however, may not see much risk to Chipotle or other fast food companies from their immigration quandaries. Chipotle stock still ended 3 percent higher on Friday after the news of the widening immigration probe.

After all, the companies can simply go out and hire others or pay fines to ICE that probably won't dent their bottom lines. Total ICE fines last year were a paltry $7 million.

But Maryland-based Calvert Investments said it was surprised by the extent of Chipotle's undocumented workers because the company scores high on the issues Calvert monitors -- good social, environmental and corporate governance.


"We would urge them to put better systems in place so that the likelihood of this occurring again is slim," said Ellen Kennedy, senior sustainability research analyst at Calvert, which oversees $14.5 billion in assets.

Chipotle, which reports fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday, recognizes it is big deal for its operations.

"This incident has caused a lot of disruption -- both to us and in the lives of so many of our people," said Moran, whose company reported 22,250 employees at the end of 2009. "In addition, it's been a heartbreaking situation for us to lose so many excellent employees."

Indeed, it is not just a few workers who need to be hired and trained to keep the places running. Chipotle will not disclose the total number fired, but it could be as many as 700 of its estimated 1,200 Minnesota workers.

Those are the figures circulating among the Minneapolis legal community, according to Javier Morillo, the president of labor union SEIU Local 26, which does not represent the fast food sector but is helping the workers because of its interest in immigration reform.

The need for reform is where labor and business agree.

"We need those businesses that are being audited to speak up and say to the government this is insanity and it is not solving a thing," said Morillo.

Chipotle's Moran does speak up, saying in his email: "The system clearly isn't working very well as it is, and reform is absolutely necessary."

As for Tanya and Alejandro, they are fairly confident they will get new jobs in restaurants or factories in Minneapolis, but they probably won't get the good salary or long run they had at Chipotle.

(Additional reporting by Herb Lash in New York; Editing by Cynthia Osterman.)

Sent by Dr. Carlos Muñoz, Jr. and Roberto Calderon, Ph.D.

Sent by Odell Harwell 
hirider@clear.net

EDUCATION

Intro to article: 
Pennsylvania School Defends Separating Blacks for Homeroom
By Dana Chivvis

Urban Prep charter school again beats the odds

All seniors accepted to college for second year in row

In all, the 104 members of the 2011 graduating class have been accepted to 103 colleges, including some of the country's most selective schools. With many acceptance letters still anticipated, the charter school, which has campuses in the Englewood, South Shore and East Garfield Park neighborhoods, is hoping at least one of its students this year will land an Ivy League invitation.

Sent by rgrbob@earthlink.net

From: Cooke, Ken CookeK@uhv.edu 
Subject: RE: Article
To: "Gloria Candelaria Marsh" candelglo@sbcglobal.net 

Hi, Gloria. I’m glad to send this to you, and I invite you to get in touch with anyone at Centro Victoria. I like the Somos Primos website. My wife is Christine Granados, an English instructor who also works with Centro. She would be glad to talk with you about their project, or feel free to list her as a contact. 

Glad you liked the article. I hope it can be of use to Somos Primos. I think what Centro is doing is ground-breaking, and hugely important to the Latino community. Thanks, and please contact me or my wife any time. (I have CC’d her so you will have her email.)  http://centrovictoria.net 

Sincerely, Ken Esten Cooke
Communications Specialist
Marketing Department
University of Houston-Victoria
361-570-4296 (office)
cookek@uhv.edu

Centro Victoria vision is to promote reading, culture in high schools  

Q: I have read a little about Centro Victoria at the University of Houston-Victoria. Can you tell me more about its main focus?  

A: Centro Victoria is an initiative by the UHV School of Arts & Sciences to stay on top of the national demographic swing and to spur an interest in reading among young, Mexican-American students.  

Centro Victoria, housed in the UHV University Center, is the first of its kind – a literary arts center that promotes the rich Mexican-American culture.  

Part of its efforts are focused on a high school lesson plan, called “Made in Texas,” which, for six weeks, lets high school English classes focus on what has been an underrepresented part of their studies, according to Dagoberto Gilb, Centro Victoria’s executive director. It is hoped this will turn on additional young people to reading and writing, as their culture will be reflected more in their studies.  

In 2005, Gilb edited a literary anthology called “Hecho en Tejas,” featuring his picks of the best Mexican-American authors, poets and musicians. The “Made in Texas” lesson plan is being adapted from that book, and it features lesson plans that are compatible with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills exam and the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills exam.  

Gilb stressed that the lesson plan is not geared solely for Mexican-American students.  

“It’s geared for a mutual understanding of who we all are,” Gilb said. “I don’t think many people realize there are so many quality writers of Mexican-American descent. We have a long history of literature and art in Texas.”  

Gilb, an award-winning author of seven books of fiction and nonfiction, and Jeffrey Di Leo, dean of the UHV School of Arts & Sciences, have assembled a staff of nationally recognized writers, to work at Centro Victoria and teach writing courses at UHV. Those include former Dallas Morning News editorial board member Macarena Hernández, a South Texas native and the Centro Victoria managing director.  

Gilb and others are now giving presentations to school districts about its lesson plan, and are drawing positive reviews from administrators and teachers in districts with a large Mexican-American population. One teacher reported that her students were voluntarily going to the library to look up the works of Tomás Rivera, Sandra Cisneros and Américo Paredes. 

For more information about this unique program, visit centrovictoria.net, e-mail centrovictoria@uhv.edu or call 361-570-4101.  

Ken Esten Cooke is the communications specialist at the University of Houston-Victoria. If you have a question about UHV, contact him at (361) 570-4296 or by e-mail at cookek@uhv.edu.  

Orange County, California In the Fall of 1944, Gonzalo and Felicita Mendez tried to enroll their children in the Main Street School, which Gonzola had attended as a child. However, the school district had redrawn boundary lines that excluded the Mexican neighborhoods. (The school district also segregated Japanese American children. However, it passed a resolution in January 1945 allowing these children to attend the Main Street School.) The Mendez children were assigned to Hoover Elementary School, which was established for Mexican children. Other Orange County Latino parents faced similar situations with their children. With the help of the United Latin American Citizens (LUCAC), they joined with the Mendez family and sued four local school districts, including Westminster and Santa Ana, for segregating their children and 5,000 others. This suit was heard in both state and federal courts.

At the state trial, Orange County superintendents used stereotypical imagery of Mexicans to explain the basis of school policy. One declared, "Mexicans are inferior in personal hygiene, ability, and in their economic outlook." He further stated that their lack of English prevented them from learning Mother Goose rhymes and that they had hygiene deficiencies, like lice, impetigo, tuberculosis, and generally dirty hands, neck, face and ears. These he stated warranted separation. 

The attorney for Mendez, David Marcus, called in expert social scientists as witnesses to address the stereotypes. He also challenged, based on the 14th Amendment, the constitutionality of education segregation. He also had Fourteen-year-old Carol Torres take the stand to counter claims that Mexican children did not speak English. Felicita Mendez also gave testimony about her family life: "We always tell our children they are Americans."

It took also almost a year for state Judge Paul McCormick to make his decision. He ruled that there was no justification in the laws of California to segregate Mexican children and that doing so was a "clear denial of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment". The school districts filed an appeal, partly on the basis of a states' rights strategy. In 1947 the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court upheld the state court's ruling and the Orange County school districts dropped the case. 

The case, Mendez v. Westminster School District, landed an important blow to school segregation in California. The case represents one of the growing efforts of Mexican Americans in the 20th Century to cast off systematic prejudice, confronting issues of race, class and citizenship. The Mendez case is also important because it underscored that the struggle for civil rights in America crossed regional, racial and ethnic lines. Amicus curiae briefs were filed in this case by NAACP (coauthored by Thurgood Marshall) and several other civil rights organizations, including the American Jewish Congress, the ACLU, the Japanese American League and the National Lawyers Guild. The case resulted in the California legislature passing the Anderson bill, a measure that repealed all California school codes mandating segregation. The bill was then signed by the governor, Earl Warren.

CULTURE

Coloquio Revista Cultural 
Electronic Magazine in Spanish and English
Revista electrónica en inglés y español - Javier Bustamante, Editor, Miembro de la Academia Norteamericana de la Lengua Española
http://coloquio.com/coloquioonline/last.htm#joan

Today (February 7th) marks the eleven year anniversary of rapper Big Punisher’s passing. Puerto Rican rapper, Christopher Rios, left us with a plethora of hits to remember him by and raised the stakes with his lyricism and perseverance. Coming from the South Bronx, New York, Big Pun was one of the most prolific Latino rappers in history and the first solo Latino rapper to go platinum, attaining a Grammy before his passing in 2000. From hits such as club-anthem, “Still Not a Player,” off Capital Punishment to significant guest appearances alongside Jennifer Lopez, Noreaga and the Beatnuts, Pun sparked inspiration throughout the Latin community and the rap game as a whole.

In memory of the late great we turned to a few rap critics for their thoughts on Big Pun, from the most memorable moment in his career to the first thing that comes up when Pun’s name is mentioned.

“Pun was one of the most prolific MC's of his generation, who garnered, not only the respect of his peers but the people,” Thomas Harden, Editor-in-Chief of Urban Latino Magazine, said. “His lyrical prowess not only changed the perception of Latino rappers in hip-hop, but set a benchmark for all MC's. It's been eleven years since Pun's untimely death and his music still resonates with us today. Timeless cuts like "Still Not a Player," "The Dream Shatter," "Twinz (Deep Cover '98)," and "Leather Face" still get the crowd moving nationwide. And don't forget, he was the first Latino rap artist to go platinum. What Pun was able to accomplish, in such a short period, has had an everlasting effect on hip-hop as a whole. 'Earth to Pun... come in Pun!' RIP!”

“Big Pun had a mastery of flow and cadence that was way ahead of his time,” David D of The Smoking Section weighed in. “He just almost had an instincts ability to take a ginzu knife to a beat and slice it to shreds. One thing that people overlook is his superb breath control. For such a big guy, he was able to rail off those lines from "Deep Cover" without losing his breath. If you look at some of the new guys out there that are mastering the double-timed flow — Cory Gunz, Joell Ortiz — you'll see that they studied Big Pun. So often, rappers are "good for their time." But Pun's breakneck delivery can stand up against the slickest rhymesayers out now.”

Bruno Louchouarn 

WE ARE NOT ALONE  
A Musical Tribute to Tomás Rivera  
(Part 2 of 3) 
  
by Carlos E. Cortés 
Professor Emeritus of History 
University of California, Riverside 

Music composed by C Professor of music, Multimedia, and Cognitive Science at Occidental College

     As I described in last month’s issue of Somos Primos, on Friday, April 22, 2011, the University of California, Riverside, will host the inaugural performance of  We Are Not Alone: Tomás Rivera -- A Musical Narrative.   It will be held at UCR’s Culver Center for the Arts in downtown Riverside.

Tomás Rivera was a national leader in higher education and an internationally renowned poet-novelist.  His acclaimed works included the novel, . . and the Earth Did Not Swallow Him, and the epic poem, The Searchers.   When he became UCR Chancellor in 1979, Rivera was the youngest and first minority chancellor in the history of the UC system.  He died of a heart attack in 1984 while still UCR Chancellor.

 We Are Not Alone  is a unique musical collaboration.  It draws on multiple musical genres, which are used to illuminate Rivera’s life.  The show was conceived by two UCR faculty members: 

Carlos E. Cortés, Professor Emeritus of  History

Juan Felipe Herrera, holder of the  
Tomás Rivera chair of creative writing

Together, Carlos E.Cortés and Juan Felipe Herrera wrote the book and most of the show’s lyrics, set to original music composed by Bruno Louchouarn (professor of music, multimedia, and cognitive science at Occidental College).  In addition, they recruited a variety of performing groups (most based at UCR) specializing in diverse musical styles.  These groups came together to contribute their talents to this musical interpretation of Rivera’s life, career, and accomplishments.

The 95-minute musical consists of four short acts, separated by three brief intermezzos.  Act 1, which uses a chamber opera form, tells the story of Rivera’s childhood as the son of poor Mexican American migrant workers.  Act 2 focuses on his creative writing career, which receives a blues-infused Latin jazz interpretation of his artistic achievements and struggles.  Act 3 draws upon hip hop to look at Rivera’s administrative career, with a particular emphasis on his five years at UCR.  Act 4 offers a retrospective look at his lasting impact, culminating with a Brazilian samba drum ensemble.  The three intermezzos, which provide transitions between the acts while exploring Rivera’s personal dilemmas and difficult decisions, feature original poetry, Andean music, and Japanese Taiko drums.  

     Tomás Rivera was a unique, complex, multitalented man:  a gifted writer; a pioneering college administrator; a dedicated man of the people; and a humanist who continues to inspire.  The integration of these multiple musical genres reflects the many-textured richness of Tomás’ all-too-brief life and symbolizes the intercultural universality of his contributions.  In the next issue of Somos Primos, I will provide additional information on the musical, including its origins and development.

     Tickets can be purchased through the UCR Creative Writing Department at (951)-827-5570.  Ask for Tiffany Long.  For more information about the show, please feel free to contact Carlos E. Cortés (951-827-1487) or carlos.cortes@ucr.edu  or Juan Felipe Herrera (951-827-5027) or  juanfherrera@mac.com).     

Hispanically Speaking News 
February 2, 2011
Nuestra Historias

Mmmmm Chocolate

.June 2, 2010 | by CeCe B. of Lake Forest IL 
 Mmmm…CHOCOLATE! Lots and lots of chocolate. As my cold nose pressed hard against the unforgiving glass, I thought I had discovered heaven on a side street of Chicago. The window was filled with carefully sculpted chocolate masterpieces, and the heady cocoa aroma escaped beneath the green paneled door to tickle my nose and tempt my taste buds. 

I was drawn inside where I was dazzled by case after case of delicately drizzled truffles and an amazing array of exotic ingredients and flavors. I suddenly spotted something familiar among the bizarre combinations: a chocolate and ancho chili truffle. Yes, I admit, a chocolate and chili combo sounds at first about as appetizing as garlic and gummy bears, but I have known it for years as “mole,” the undisputed national sauce of Mexico which incorporates “Abuelita” chocolate and more than thirty distinct chiles and other spices. I have come to see the contrast between chocolate and chile as the yin and yang that define who I am as a bicultural, bilingual Mexican-American. 

“Mole” comes from the Aztec word “molli,” meaning concoction or stew. In many ways, that is what my life is – a mixture of seemingly unrelated ingredients that unite and complement each other to make something special without losing what each offers on its own. 

It all started with the unlikely marriage of a 6’2” gringo from Wisconsin (a “Viking,” thought Tito, my Mexican grandfather) and a 5’2” Mexicana who never expected to leave the city where she was born. I have grown up feeling at home in both countries and recognizing that “different” does not mean “better” or “worse.” Celebrating deceased family and friends on “Dia de los Muertos” instead of collecting candy on Halloween, eating tortillas instead of toast, and learning that “football” means “soccer” are simple examples that differences do not necessarily mean choices. 

My experience as the “new kid” last year at Deerfield was a stark reminder of how much I am like mole. On one of the first Friday nights, I went with a group of returners to the Greer, our weekend hangout snack bar off of the gym. I felt a little out of my element, surrounded by so many reencounters among old friends, until I heard a faint, but comforting murmur a little to my left. My intuition was right. As I tuned in more closely, I deciphered the words as Spanish, my “mother tongue.” I couldn’t believe it! I gravitated toward a small group of Spanish exchange students and Hispanic descendants, and I quickly interjected an excited “Hola!” Much to my surprise, there was a long, somewhat awkward pause before any response, and I was struck by their confused looks. I realized that my image as a new girl from Chicago, blonde, and very American-looking didn’t fit at all with the words that had just left my mouth. My whole life, I have spoken Spanish with my mother and English with my father. For me, this is completely normal, but they didn’t expect to hear me speak native Spanish with a Mexican accent. I guess in a way my Latin heritage is like that extra, unexpected “pop” of the chili that you can’t see at first glance. 

This summer, I watched “un partido de futbol,” specifically the U.S.-Mexico World Cup qualifier, surrounded by a group of very loyal, very enthusiastic Mexican fans. “Cual te gusta mas?” “Which do you like better?” Mexico or the United States? Spanish or English? Tacos or hamburgers? I have heard these questions my whole life, and they were in no shortage that night. I realized that, for me, the choice is “both.” I like watching “Rebelde” and “The Mentalist.” I enjoy celebrating independence on both “el 16 de Septiembre” and the 4th of July. I love swinging at piñatas while singing “Las Mañanitas” and singing “Happy Birthday.” I look forward to my Tia Virginia’s “rosca” on Three Kings Day and my grandmother’s oyster dressing at Christmas, celebrating my saint’s day and my half-birthday, watching Aztec descendants dance for rain and break dancers at the subway stop, and eating fried grasshoppers in the street market and ordering a chocolate malt with fries to dip at Johnny Rockets. 

Having learned to make myself at home in two different cultures has made me more observant of habits and customs and more adaptive to different situations. I have learned to try new things and never to underestimate the unexpected. I have learned the importance of compromise and conciliation of different points of view, both from my parents and my two countries seeing things differently. I believe that “the ties that bind us are more important than the differences between us.” 

I really am rooting for both teams. Like the chocolate and ancho chile truffle, my bicultural heritage makes me more than I would be if either alone. 

This article on bicultural identities made me smile, and I hope it makes others smile, too.  I know many of us can relate with the author!   Sent by Sylvia_Hohenshelt@nthp.org
Sylvia Gonzalez-Hohenshelt | Manager of Public Programs, Villa Finale
National Trust for Historic Preservation | 122 Madison, San Antonio, TX  78204

 Norman Rozeff
January 2011

You might not think, given the great physical divide between the two, that any connection whatsoever existed between Hawaiian cowboys and Hispanic Mexican vaqueros. You would be wrong. First, a little background on the history of cattle in Hawaii is needed to further the connection. Cattle were introduced to the Hawaiian islands in 1793. This, in fact, was not many years after Spanish land grants were instituted, and ranching was subsequently scaled up on both sides of the Rio Grande as well as in Southern California. The islands had been colonized by intrepid Polynesians coming great distances from islands south of the equator. While they brought with them pigs, dogs and perhaps fowl, cows were unknown to the Polynesians of the Marquesas and Taheite.

The story of cattle in the Hawaiian Islands begins with Captain George Vancouver. George Vancouver served as a midshipman with Capt. James Cook on his 1778 discovery of the islands, which were initially named the Sandwich Islands. On a return voyage from Alaska in February 1779, the natives killed Captain Cook. Vancouver returned to the islands in 1793 in command of his own ship. Onboard he carried half a dozen California Longhorns he had obtained in Monterey on a voyage of approximately 2,000 nautical miles. He offered them as a gift to King Kamehameha I. 

The Hawaiian king soon realized the value of the cattle in that they would provide provisions for visiting whalers. He placed a kapu, a law carrying the death penalty for anyone who killed any cattle, in order to increase their numbers. It was in 1803 that Salem, Massachusetts seafarer Richard Cleveland brought the first horses—mustangs from Spanish California—to the island of Hawaii on the brig Lelia Byrd and gifted these to Kamehameha I.

The cattle propagated and became quite wild on the rangeland of the Island of Hawaii. Finally in 1815 Kamehameha lifted the kapu. Armed with only a musket, a 25-year old sailor named John Palmer Parker was appointed that year to kill some of the wild bullocks. Soon it became a sizeable business as the animals were trapped in pits, slaughtered, and then butchered for meat, tallow and hides. Salted meat was packed in barrels for local sales and for export. The whole process was very labor intensive.

Kamehameha III took the throne in 1824 after his 27-year old brother died of a measles infection. Around 1830 he sent a high chief to Mexico's California to ask for vaqueros (cowboys) to come to Hawaii and teach them how to handle the cattle. It wasn't until 1832 however that two Mexican vaqueros did come, bringing with them Spanish saddles and cow ponies. The Hawaiian came to call these cowboys paniola, a transliteration of Hispaniola or literally, Spaniard. The Hawaiian language does not have the "s" sound. The word was later changed to paniolo, a designation still used today for Hawaii's cowboys.

Along with their knowledge of cattle, the vaqueros brought the tools of their trade—saddles, lariats, spurs and other gear—as well as their traditional working clothes, including their wide-brimmed hats, colorful ponchos and leggings The paniolos of today wear cowboy hats, bandanas, chaps, flannel-type long sleeved shirts and boots as introduced many years ago by their mentors. The vaqueros introduced more efficient methods in rounding up the wild cattle. It began with the "Spanish Method" of hunting wild cattle. This was to rope the animal and then tie it to a tree for a day or two until it became calm due to fatigue. A secondary method was to restrain the animal by tying one foreleg and an opposite hindleg. Later two mounted cowboys could then lead it to a corral where it could be slaughtered. A third option was called the pini method. It was to rope the bullock and tether it to a castrated tame ox and then walk them to the corral.

Writer Thomas Carpenter in an article on Hawaii's cowboys tells us "The paniolo adapted vaquero equipment and traditions to reflect Hawaiian climate and culture. The Hawaiian saddle is an example of this evolution. Both the Mexican and Hawaiian saddle “have a rawhide-covered tree with no attached leather covering the horn fork, bars, or cantle,” Bergin reports. The Hawaiian saddle had a unique addition. “A single piece of rawhide is draped over the horn, wrapped tight, and molded over the pommel, leaving a row of long braids on each side that held the cinch ring in place,” Loomis states. The paniolo consider their saddles stronger because of this addition. The paniolo also employed a mochila, a leather apron that draped over the saddle with a hole for the pommel and a slot for the cantle. The leather provided comfort and protection to the rider. Another feature common to the Mexican and Hawaiian saddle are the stirrup guards, or tapaderos."

The utilization of Spanish methods promoted the growth of the cattle industry. By 1847 branding became commonplace and the grounds for legal ownership. 

While Parker died on August 20, 1868, his son John Palmer Parker II and others carried on his legacy. The Parker family, over time, were able to increase the ranch acreage and the ranch enterprise so that it eventually became the largest privately-owned ranch in the United States. Of course, the King Ranch initially held this honor but would later become a corporate entity. By 1932, the Parker Ranch held 327,000 acres of land in fee simple. The wild cattle were gone, and the stock had grown to a 26,000-head Hereford herd, including 400 bulls; 1,000 Holsteins in its dairy operation; 2,200 horses and mules; 12,000 merino sheep; and 1,000 Berkshire swine.

Today the ranch has about 135,000 acres and is owned by a charitable trust. It has 850 miles of fences, between 30,000 and 35,000 head of angus and charolais cattle, 300 paddocks, and 15 corrals. The cowboys ride 125 horses, a bloodline mixture of thoroughbred and quarter horse.

The year 2008 became something special for Hawaiian cowboys. It was proclaimed the “Year of the Paniolo,” because it marked the centennial celebration of the day in August of 1908 when Hawaii Island's 'Ikuā Purdy ascended to fame by winning the Frontier Days World Championship steer-roping contest in Cheyenne,Wyoming. His achievements served notice of paniolo skills that became as much a part of Hawaii's history as that of the American West's epic story. Tourists to the 50^th state are surprised to find that rodeos are a regular feature of Hawaii's culture and society. Seemingly even more incongruous is to see in action a Hawaii cowboy of Japanese descent.

That Spanish cattle ranching heritage and tradition via Mexico has played an important role in Hawaii's beef industry is indisputable, and now you know of this unusual fact.

BOOKS

LPN News is a news service with a variety of articles for Hispanic newspapers and magazines. All of the articles are free

If you would like to have your book, or an article included, please email a PDF of any LPN news article you might run. Email them to kirk@whisler.com
 or post mail to: LPN news, 2777 Jefferson St., Ste. 200, Carlsbad, CA 92008
Thank you, Kirk Whisler, kirk@whisler.com

Click to the Los Angeles section for special upcoming events and exhibits.

Editor: I love it!  This will show the early Mexican American communities, as American as "baseball and apple pie".  
It is such a positive way of showing our presence.  We are proud to say that SHHAR Board member, Bea Armenta Dever contributed family photos and memories to the Los Angeles book.   

For more information please contact Richard Santillan at rsantillan@earthlink.net or at 626-284-4957

Sent by Dan Arellano President 
Tejano Genealogy Society of Austin 
darellano@austin.rr.com 

The Choctaw Confederates

Sent by rgrbob@earthlink.net 

Katrina in Five Worlds was a finalist for TWO awards from the "Best Books 2010 Awards," sponsored by USA Book News, in the categories of Best Multicultural Non-Fiction and Best Biography-Historical. 


To purchase this book please visit the website: 
www.KatrinaInFiveWorlds.com  

 “While going through family mementos after my mother’s death, I unearthed a box of letters that once belonged to my beloved Palestinian grandmother. Inside a crumbling See’s candy box were more than 130 letters in Arabic, assembled at least sixty years earlier,” said Kathy Saade Kenny, author of bilingual biography of her maternal grandmother, Katrina in Five Worlds/Katrina en Cinco Mundos. 

Drawing upon family records, taped interviews, and the discovered cache of letters, Kenny illuminates Katrina’s story, exploring the historical and social events that thrust her from a comfortable life in Bethlehem, Palestine across social divides and into widely diverse places, including the Ottoman Empire, pre-Revolutionary Russia, and Mexico during the Mexican Revolution, in the first half of the 20th century. 

“My grandmother was not famous, nor rich. She was not an important political figure or a celebrity. Her history, while unique, is the story of an ordinary person –an immigrant woman– whose life was shaped by the forces of history happening around her, and by the culture and times in which she lived.” 

Kathy with Prof. Nabih Chartouni

Dtra. Martha Diaz de Kuri, Ambassador Randa Nabulsi, 
Kathy Saade Kenny

USA LATINO PATRIOTS

• We are an association of more than eight-hundred authors, poets, and artists, drawn together by the common bond of military service.  Most of our members are active duty military, retirees, or military veterans.  A few are lifelong civilians who have chosen to honor our military through their writings or their art.  Our only core principle is a love of the men and women who defend this nation, and a deeply personal understanding of their sacrifice and dedication.
• Our skills are varied.  Some of us are world class writers, with many successful books.  Others write only for the eyes of their friends and families.  But each of us has a tale to tell. Each of us is a part of the fabric of Freedom.  These are our stories…
• For more details, click here to read more about us.  Feel free to browse our site and get to know our members and their work.  http://www.militarywriters.com/

Sent by Joe Sanchez 
BlueWall@mpinet.net

Video: Historical Footage of the unconditional surrender ceremony of Japan, signing aboard the Battleship Missouri in Tokyo Bay on Sunday Sept. 2, 1945. The actual voice of the General is recorded. This has never been shown to the general public before. We always saw the "stills" but never the film itself. An important piece of history. 

http://www.jamesnava.com/2010/07/31/hispanic-veterans/
James Nava is the webmaster of this newly mounted website dedicated to Hispanic  American Veterans of Connecticut.

Sent by Rafael Ojeda

"Yo Soy el Army : America's New Military Caste," Big Noise's co-production with Producciones Cimarron, looks at the militarization of the immigration debate. As Latinos grow into America's largest minority, the community is being targeted by the US military as a new and steady source of recruits. Entering into the lowest and most dangerous ranks, Latinos have been disproportionately killed in American's latest wars. http://vimeo.com/17170947

Sent by Dorinda Moreno 
fuerzamundial@gmail.com

Below on General Manual Jose Asencio WW II China Burma India Ledo Road.

http://www.af.mil/information/bios/bio.asp?bioID=4556
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/V/AAF-V-6.html

U.S. Marine PFC Guy Gabaldon captured over 1500 Japanese soldiers and civilians - single handedly. 
(2008) 78 min  Watch the Documentary Film for Free 
http://www.snagfilms.com/films/title/east_la_marine/

I know you will enjoy this documentary of a Mexican-American Super-Hero, who captured several times more enemy troops than Audie Murphy. I guess double-racism, because although he was a Mexican-American, he considered himself an adoptive Japanese.      Sent by Juan Marinez marinezj@anr.msu.edu

Sent by Bill Carmena
JCarm1724@aol.com

How to Find Photos of Soldiers in the Korean War

The Korean War Memorial in Atlantic City, New Jersey, includes images from soldiers who served.korean war memorial in atlantic city image by Ritu Jethani from Fotolia.com

Sent by Rafael Ojeda 

PATRIOTS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

"We prayed fervently last evening for the success of the colonists under one George Washington, because we believe their cause is just and that the Great Redeemer is on their side."  ~Fray Junipero Serra

Goals of This Project:   

This documentary will revolutionize the way both the general public and school children perceive the American Revolution, especially in regards to the Spanish and people of Spanish America during that critical time; Mexicans, South Americans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, & Hispano Africans.

More then that, it will also bring the newest, and fastest growing demographic group in the United States into the main stream of our history, especially bringing to light their ancestor’s contributions and participation in winning our liberty and independence as a nation over 200 years ago!

In addition to funding, community support is being sought.  The public needs to be awareness of the invaluable support given by Spain and its citizens living in the Americas. 

For bio information on  Thomas Ellingwood Fortin:
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/thomas-ellingwood-fortin/23/b53/671 
Contact Thomas at newalbionpics@gmail.com.  

Saturday January 29 found members of the Espana DAR and Spain Society SAR in the town of Simancas just outside the city of Valladolid. A cold foggy day brought us to this historic town to tour the Archivo General de Simancas (AGS) the first official archive in the world of the Kingdom of Castile and dates from 1540. We were honored with a personal tour by José Luis Rodríguez de Diego, just retired after 12yrs as Director of the archives, and his wife, Isabel Aguirre who still works there.. The archives are located in a 15^th century castle, whose location, design and strength of its walls hold the secret to the success of architect Juan Herrera’s renovations that make it perfect for storing millions of Royal Spanish government documents. Definitely an architect with ideas before his time, Herrera renovated the castle to include rooms with no windows for storage, ventilation systems in the walls and rooms with windows for research. In its first years, the archive is said to have received over 500 letters a day for filling. The towers, chapel and walls are original to the castle, which dates from the 1400’s. Mr. Rodriquez showed us where the front door still has remains of the original leather which covered the wood to protect it from fire. The founding King, Felipe II, made an unprecedented edict to the incumbent director in 1588 that open flames for lighting and heating, as well as water were not allowed in or around the building to further protect and preserve the documents stored there. In 1588 a regiment of archivists was formed to organize and control the entrance.  An interesting estimation is that if you lined up all the stored documents it would be 14 km long. Papers include mostly administrative activities and Royal correspondence. Special rooms for the royal papers are lined in carved wood on two levels for perfect storage and safekeeping. Today the whole building has been renovated with security systems for protection against fire or water damage. We were able to see and hold original documents dating from the 1500’s. Especially interesting were papers with secret codes in case of enemy capture. The early documents are on cloth-based paper that feels just like modern paper. Many of the documents are now available on the internet (Archivos General de Estado- AER) for study under “Estado Inglatera” “Secretaria de Guerra” or “Secretaria de Estado Inglatera”. They also have catalogue books of documents relating to the American Revolution printed in 1976. The Corona de Castilla at the beginning of the discovery of America handled all the documents dealing with the Americas, and therefore provided many documents years later for when the Archivo General de Indias was established in Sevilla.  AGS is of special interest to Americans because the military papers stored there could certify which Spaniards assisted the colonists in our Revolutionary War. This opens up membership in DAR for both descendents of Spaniards living in the U.S., for example in New Mexico or Louisiana, and Spaniards who made a contribution to our independence. 

The tour was followed by lunch in the town and free time to visit the Casa Museo de Colón.  (Christopher Columbus Museum) which houses the history of his voyages to discover America. It is a very modern museum with video shows about his travels and cultures on three stories. Columbus died on May 20, 1506, in Valladolid, only two years after his final voyage. He was only 54 yrs old.               

Molly Long  Spanish Task Force Chairman NSDAR

Astilleros Nereo es uno de los astilleros tradicionales más antiguos de España, ponemos a su disposición toda nuestra experiencia para que realice su sueño. 

Las instalaciones de Astilleros Nereo albergan un Ecomuseo Etnográfico del Patrimonio Marítimo de Andalucía. Construimos y reparamos desde la ancestral Barca de Jábega o el tradicional Sardinal de vela latina hasta réplicas históricas como El Bergantín Galveztown, con el que BERNARDO DE GÁLVEZ, héroe de la toma de Pensacola, entró en la leyenda como figura clave para la independencia de Estados Unidos. 

La Carpintería de Ribera de los Astilleros Nereo de Pedregalejo, en Málaga, ha sido inscrita en el Catálogo del Patrimonio Histórico Andaluz  

Roland Salazar, Board of Director/Membership & Public Events Coordinator for the Institute of Hispanic Culture Houston, Inc. www.ihch.org Arte, cultura y tradiciones Latinos (Cell) 281 220-7153  sala.roland@yahoo.com

Spanish SURNAMES

SALINAS

Una familia de tantas
Por Omar Soto-Rodriguez

CUENTOS
Family stories and personal memories

By Ana Cervantes

My aunt Zita Montenegro said to me once with her gentle laugh,
“Yes, it is true. We are all a big salad.” She was speaking of 
Mexicans, but I think it is true of all of us.

















Grandparents Wedding
Septiembre 1914, Guanajuato, GTO, MÉXICO.
María Eugenia Bravo y Galván
José Miguel Cervantes Martínez

It was a time of almost incessant conflict in Mexico. This was the era of Francisco (Pancho) Villa, of gifted idealists and greedy power seekers, of the tremendous and often bloody ferment of a republic being born. The state of Guanajuato was the scene of a number of pivotal events in these conflicts, one of the most fought-over territories of the still young republic.

My grandfather, Miguel Cervantes Martínez, working hard to support his new family, accepted contracts to transport goods with a mule train which he ran with a few men who worked for him. At some point during this period, he was hauling grain for the federales, when he and his mule train had the bad luck to run into Pancho Villa. Villa’s men took the grain and the mules, and were getting ready to send my grandfather into the next world. The men who worked for him interceded on his behalf, saying to Villa that my grandfather was not a bad man, that he had no politics and was just doing what any man would who had a young family to feed. They must have pled eloquently, or Villa was in a magnanimous mood that day. He let Miguel Cervantes go, but he made it plain that if he were to bump into Miguel again, it would most likely be the last encounter Miguel would have with any living soul. During 1919, the family crossed the river into the United States at Nuevo Laredo. My uncle Michael was barely five, and the second child, Estela, was eighteen months of age. My grandfather Miguel Cervantes had papers only for himself. He had to trust María Eugenia and the two children to the coyotes, the operators who get people across the border illegally.

Ben Romero, Author  of  Chicken Beaks Book Series
559-301-1545  www.benromero.com 

FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH

These are actual gravesites in Mexico.  Sent by Pablo Trejo PGBlueCoat@aol.com

DNA RESEARCH

When my father died, my aunt told me that our surname was not really Lackey. She said that the William Lemuel Lackey that was reported to be our great-grandfather never existed. A William Lemuel did, but his name was not Lackey. My great-grandmother’s surname was Lackey, so she used this name instead. My aunt could not tell me anything more. Thus I had a brother take the YDNA test at FT (37 markers). Seven years went by and I had a few meaningless matches at 12 markers, nothing more. Then suddenly, in one week, I had three independent matches at the 37 marker level, all at a distance of 3, but none that knew each other. All had surnames that were one or another form of Carteret. One was Carteret, another Cattrett, and another Cartwright.

I knew I was onto something. So I took another look at the census for Wise County TX in 1880. This was where my great-grandmother lived when she conceived. Next to her family’s name was a Cartwright family. I was able to find out about this Cartwright family online. I saw that there was a William L. Cartwright who had died young, the very year that my William Lemuel Lackey ancestor was supposed to have died. There was an email attached to some of this family’s web posts. I was a bit nervous about this contact as the family was supposed to be devout Methodists and I feared that they would reject this possibility outright for their family member, William (as it would have been an illegitimate birth). But within a month I got a return email and the man, a Bob Cartwright, was willing to listen. He was also willing to take the YDNA test. He told me that William Cartwright was indeed a William Lemuel Cartwright. He also told me that William’s father had been somehow orphaned from his family in NC and ended up in TN, so he had no earlier info on the family.

While we waited for his DNA results to come back, I checked out the surname Carteret online. None of my matches (the Carteret, Cattrett, and Cartwright) knew about the origins of their family either, but I convinced them to join the de Carteret study for the Channel Islands. This is a royal lineage of Carterets that ultimately came to America and settled Albemarle NC and NJ. The three joined the Circle de Carteret study and one of the three had markers close enough to one of the Channel Island lineages that the head of this study declared him (and hence the others) a cousin.

Bob Cartwright then got his YDNA results back and we matched at 37 markers, distance of 0. He then connected me to all his TX relatives and we share emails weekly. We are also very connected to our distant Channel Island cousins by email and hope to join their family reunion in two years.

ORANGE COUNTY, CA

March 5: "Barefoot Heart" by Elva Treviño Hart
                 Book discussion lead by Mimi Lozano
March 12: Researching for Alex Haley, author of "Roots" by 
                  Nancy Carlberg, professional genealogist
Thru March 13: Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World
Heritage Museum of Orange County
Register for Family History Fair, April 23, 2011, FREE, 35 classes

March 5th, 2 pm 
Editor Mimi will lead a book discussion at the Bella Terra Mall, Barnes and Nobles Bookstore,
as part of Huntington Beach Reads in Huntington Beach at Edinger/Beach 

Book: BAREFOOT HEART by Elva Trevino Hart

A vividly told autobiographical account of the life of a child growing up in a family of migrant farm workers. It brings to life the day-to-day existence of people facing the obstacles of working in the fields and raising a family in an environment that is frequently hostile to those who have little education and speak another language. Assimilation brings its own problems, as the original culture is attenuated and the quality of family relationships is compromised, consequences that are not inevitable but are instead a series of choices made along the way. It is also the story of how the author overcame the disadvantages of this background and found herself.

The presentation by Nancy Carlberg, professional genealogist, is sponsored by the Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research (SHHAR). The presentation will include a discussion of her experience researching for Alex Haley, author of "Roots," "Roots II," and "Queen." Nancy has been helping many of us long before the internet came into being. When hired as a genealogist, she has had to travel to different areas of the world.

For more information, you can contact Bowers Museum. 
2002 N. Main Street, Santa Ana. 714-567-3600 or www.bowers.org .

FAMILY HISTORY  FAIR

Five Sessions
 35 classes offered, 
something for everyone 

 NO CHARGE FOR CLASSES    

April 23, 2011
674 S. YORBA ST., ORANGE, CA.

REGISTRATION: 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. 
ASSEMBLY: 9:00 - 10:00 a.m. 
Keynote Speaker: Kerry Bartels

Name: _________________________________ Stake (if LDS)_________________

Address: __________________________________ Phone: ____________________

City: ____________________________ State __________ ZIP____________

 I need:  Hearing Impaired Interpreter  p    Spanish translation   p

Check enclosed for: Syllabus $11.00  p    Box Lunch $7.75      p   Total Paid                 $          

CLASS SCHEDULE
* Especially good for the beginner 
+ Good for youth 

SESSION I. 10:10 a.m. - 11:10 a.m.
A. *+BEGINNING FAMILY HISTORY  By Alice Volkert
B. *+FACEBOOK FOR GENEALOGISTS By Tom Underhill
C. INTRODUCTION TO THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES by Kerry Bartels
D. BRITISH RESEARCH-PARISH REGISTERS AND CENSUS By Hal Horrocks
E. LDS PRIESTHOOD LEADER'S WORKSHOP By Pres. Randy Burnett
F. *BEGINNING HISPANIC RESEARCH By Mike Brady (in English) 
G. TRANSLATING LATIN RECORDS FROM THE  CATHOLIC CHURCH By Jean Hibben

SESSION II. 11:20 a.m. - 12:20 p.m.
A. *+CENSUS BASICS FOR BEGINNERS By Alice Volkert
B. *NEW TOOLS AT FAMILYSEARCH PART 1. THE CATALOG By Barbara Renick 
C. A GENEALOGIST'S BAG OF TRICKS By Brenda Danielson
D. 12 STEPS TO FIND THAT ELUSIVE ANCESTOR  By Frank Chocco
E. PLANNING A SUCCESSFUL FAMILY REUNION By Greg Collinwood
F. *INVESTIGACIÓN GENEALÓGICA HISPANA PARA PRINCIPIANTES (en español) By Mike Brady 
G. SPANISH LAND GRANTS IN THE SOUTHWEST By Linda Serna 

LUNCH BREAK: 12:20 p.m. - 1:20 p.m.
Brown bag, box lunch or fast food (maps of nearby  eating places at the registration tables)

SESSION III. 1:20 p.m. - 2:20 p.m.
A. *+WAYS TO RESEARCH YOUR ANCESTORS By Alice Volkert
B. *NEW TOOLS AT FAMILYSEARCH PART 2. DATABASES By Barbara Renick 
C. USING LAND RECORDS By Brenda Danielson
D. 10 THINGS TO DO WITH YOUR DIGITAL CAMERA By Tom Underhill
E. GERMAN BIRTH/BAPTISM RECORDS By Douglas Ayer
F. EXPLORING MEXICAN ROOTS.COM, IT'S ALL THERE By Mimi Lozano Holtzman 
G. INTRODUCTION TO JAPANESE FAMILY HISTORY By Frank Chocco

SESSION IV. 2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
A. *DOCUMENTATING YOUR RESEARCH SOURCES By Nancy Huebotter 
B. *THE NEW SEARCH SYSTEM AT ANCESTRY.COM By Barbara Renick
C. NETBOOKS VERSUS TABLET COMPUTERS FOR GENEALOGY By Chris Hansen
C. POLISH RESEARCH By Daniel Bartosz
E. USING ROOTS MAGIC SOFTWARE By Jim Keffer
F. RESOURCES PLUS FOR HISPANIC/LATINO RESEARCHERS By Mimi Lozano Holtzman
G. HINTS FOR DECIPHERING FOREIGN LANGUAGE RECORDS by Linda Serna

SESSION V. 3:40 p.m. - 4:40 p.m.
A. *+ ORAL HISTORIES: CONDUCTING SUCCESSFUL INTERVIEWS By Nancy Huebotter
B. U.S. MILITARY RECORDS AND UNIFORMS By Chris Hansen
C. FAMILY HISTORY ACTIVITIES FOR CHILDREN By Connie Fister 
D. PREPARING FOR A TRIP TO SALT LAKE By Joan Rambo
E. IRISH RESEARCH By Nancy Carlberg
F. SHARING AND COMPARING GENEALOGICAL DATABASES By Joseph Leavitt
G. FAMILY HISTORY CENTER LEADER'S WORKSHOP By Betty Carlson

LOS ANGELES, CA

Sent by Eddie Garcia, Bea Armenta Dever

Pio Pico State Historic Park

Join Us for Our Next Living History Day 

Saturday, March 26, 2011 11 am to 3 pm 

        

FREE ADMISSION 

ENJOY

Adobe Brick Making ... Archaeology Sandbox ... Bread Making Demonstration ... Children's Activities 
Old-Fashioned Victorian Games ... Costumed Docents ... Tours of Pio Pico's Historic Adobe Home ... Picnic Area 

About Us: Eastern Group Publications was founded in 1979 by the husband and wife team Jonathan and Dolores Sanchez, but its roots were planted in the community long before that. In 1945, Joseph Kovner founded the Eastside Sun which became the main source of news for east L.A’s communities. The Sanchez’s bought the chain when it was on the brink of bankruptcy.

Today, EGP’s Hispanic owned newspapers boast a circulation of more than 104,000 households and businesses. A loyal readership of nearly 500,000, our newspapers provide an excellent advertising vehicle for companies trying to reach consumers in English and/or Spanish. Our community news focus gives readers the information they want most: news and events that are happening in their own neighborhoods.

Our chain of newspapers include Eastside Sun, Northeast Sun, Mexican American Sun, Bell Gardens Sun, City Terrace Comet, Commerce Comet, Montebello Comet, Monterey Park Comet, ELA Brookyln Belvedere Comet, Wyvernwood Chronicle, Vernon Sun.

http://egpnews.com/?p=23125

Karina Miz, 
Community Outreach Coordinator 
Los Angeles Conservancy  in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation 
 213-896-9115

TODAY FEB 18, 2011 AT THE SUPERIOR COURT OF POMONA.   
FROM ALL INDICATIONS THE PETITION FOR BANRUPTCY WAS A LAST MINUTE MOVE ON THE PART OF MARTHA SORIANO AND HER THREE MEMBER BOARD COMPOSED OF HER, RUBEN SORIANO AND MARTHA VELAZQUEZ. THE COMMITTEE TO RESCUE LA CASA DEL MEXICANO WELCOMES THE POSTPONEMENT.  COMMITTEE TO RESCUE LA CASA DEL MEXICANO CONTACT: JAVIER RODRIGUEZ 213-909-3410 BAJOLAMIRADEJAVIER @YAHOO.COM MARTHA SAMANO 323-6324643

CALIFORNIA 

Parking permits for visitors are available in the parking lots. For driving directions, go to: 
http://www.csusm.edu/resources/images/maps/driving_directions.htm . 

Sent by Gus Chavez 
guschavez2000@yahoo.com

Saturday, April 30, 2011
Goldy S. Lewis Community Center
11200 Baseline Road
Rancho Cucamonga, CA 75050

Watsonville, CA 11/19/10

See also the photodocumentary on indigenous migration to the US Communities Without Borders (Cornell University/ILR Press, 2006) http://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/cup_detail.taf?ti_id=4575 

See also The Children of NAFTA, Labor Wars on the U.S./Mexico Border (University of California, 2004)
http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/9989.html 

David Bacon, Photographs and Stories  http://dbacon.igc.org 

Dr. Carlos Muñoz, Jr.  Professor Emeritus
Department of Ethnic Studies
510-642-9134, http://ethnicstudies.berkeley.edu/faculty/munoz 

Old Mission Catholic Church Cemetery

San Luis Obispo County, CA 

Introduction
and 
Brief History

NORTHWESTERN UNITED STATES 

• Seventy-five percent of the Hispanics in the NW are under the age of 35. (Commission on Hispanic Affairs, 2005 Annual Report)

• Only about 1/3 of permanent NW Hispanics are engaged in agriculture or unskilled labor. The average household income is in the $35-40K range.  (Commission on Hispanic Affairs, 2005 Annual Report)

• Since Census 2000 there are 52,000 more Hispanics in the Northwest with $1.5 billion more buying power. (The Larson Northwest Hispanic Market Report)

Washington Hispanic buying power increased from $2.1 billion in 1990 to $8 billion in 2003, a 287 % increase. (Selig Center for Economic Growth)

1. King (109,419)
2. Yakima (87,495)
3. Pierce (46,844)
4. Snohomish (34,439)
5. Franklin (31,798)

6. Grant (25,673)
7. Benton (22,815)
8. Clark (20,703)
9. Chelan (14,438)
10. Skagit (14,079)

Ten Counties with highest % of Hispanics/Latinos

1. Franklin (56%)
2. Adams (51%)
3. Yakima (38%)
4. Grant (33%)
5. Douglas (22%)

6. Walla Walla (18%)
7. Chelan (21%)
8. Benton (18%)
9. Skagit (13%)
10. Okanogan (8%)

Yakima, Franklin, Grant, Benton, Chelan and Skagit counties are all among the top 10 counties with both the highest number and percentage of Hispanics/Latinos in Washington.

Washington CRA Roundtable, September 7, 2006 Immigrant Access to Financial Services

SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES   

Make Plans to Attend!                                 

The Old Spanish Trail Association’s

2011 Annual Conference

June 2-5, 2011

“The Old Spanish Trail in California” will focus on the commerce, the people, the cultures, events and legacies arising from the earliest link between Santa Fe and Los Angeles.

The trail takes its name from the old Spanish colonies in northern New Mexico and southern California which were linked by this rugged route. The Spanish outpost of Santa Fe, NM was founded in the early 1600's ten years before the Plymouth Colony was established by the Mayflower pilgrims. The presidio of Monterey was founded in 1770 and the San Gabriel Mission in 1771. But it was not until 1829 that a suitable land passage between these colonies in the interior of New Mexico and the California coast became established and regularly used. Today, only a few remnant traces of the trail can be seen where hundreds of fast trotting mules and their tired muleteers once traversed the high country of New Mexico and Colorado on their way to California’s fertile trading fields.

Don’t miss this chance to mingle with experts and trail buffs, as well as enjoy a California rancho-style pit barbecue.  The conference will bring together scholars and representatives from historical and genealogical societies, trail associations, colleges, museums, Native American tribes, government agencies, and participants from other organizations.  

 Concessions available for organizations, booksellers and other vendors.

Partial List of Topics and Speakers confirmed

Overview of the Old Spanish Trail in California
John W. Robinson, author of numerous books on California, OSTA member and founder of its first chapter in California

William and David Workman: Their English Background
David Fallowfield, member of OSTA's William Workman Chapter, Cumbria, UK

Fresh off the Trail - Women, Mexican California & the law: Casilda Sepulveda's 'Divorce' in 1842 & Guadalupe Trujillo de Quintana's Murder Trial in 1843
Miroslava Chávez-García, PhD. Associate professor in the Chicana/o Studies Program at the University of California at Davis

Report from OSTA's Federal Partners 
Aaron Mahr, National Park Service. Superintendent
National Trails-Intermountain Region,
Santa Fe, NM 

Sarah Schlanger, Bureau of Land Management. Associate State Archaeologist, New Mexico
and BLM Lead, Old Spanish National Historic Trail,New Mexico State Office

Kendall Clark, U.S. Forest Service. Forest Supervisor, Carson National Forest, New Mexico
End of the Trail and New Beginnings: The Los Angeles Plaza 1781-2011 William D. Estrada, Curator of California and American History, Chair of the History Dept., Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History 

Cuisines along the Trail: Beef, Mutton & Game
Charles Perry, Pres. Culinary Historians of Southern California and former LA Times food writer
2011 Old Spanish Trail Association Conference

But it says that under New Mexico's 100-year-old Enabling Act, the state land commissioner can only dispose of trust land "by a true public auction."  "Without the benefit of an auction's objective means of sale ... there is no protection against favoritism," the opinion says.

Bosson, joined by Justices Petra Jimenez Maes and Patricio M. Serna stressed that the court wasn't undoing any past Land Office exchanges.

Justices Edward Chavez and Charles Daniels dissented. Chavez noted that the land commissioner's "undivided loyalty is to the designated beneficiaries and not the state as a whole." By quibbling over the specifics of the auction process instead
of questioning the commissioner's overall authority to exchange land, Chavez wrote, "the attorney general seeks to protect the best interests of the bidders (in the White Peak case), not the best interests of the trust beneficiaries." It was Attorney General Gary King who challenged the trades before the Supreme Court.

In the White Peak deal, Lyons maintained the trades he negotiated with ranchers would help clear up complicated boundaries between state and private land and prevent trespassing, poaching and vandalism. Opponents said Lyons was giving up some of the state's best public elk hunting territory.

The Supreme Court majority noted that the Enabling Act says state trust lands "shall not be sold or leased, in whole or in part, except to the highest and best bidder at a public auction." Because the White Peak deals had to be worked out ahead of time, the opinion says, the exchanges were made using negotiating and bargaining "rather than seeking the highest financial gain through objective means."

The Land Office had hoped the word "dispose" in the Enabling Act would implicitly grant authority to make swaps, but the Supreme Court decision rejected that notion.  The opinion says it "cannot be understated" how significantly allowing trades like the White Peak swaps would impact future state land management: "The Land Commissioner's interpretation would open the door to collusive deals and favoritism, a door the framers of the Enabling Act explicitly stated intentions to shut. It would allow private deals favoring select private parties."

For decades, the opinion says, the Land Office has been engaged in land exchanges with public entities involving hundred of thousands of acres of state trust land. A number of facilities in New Mexico were built on land traded away by the Land Office, including the University of New Mexico's West Side campus and the New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Alamogordo.

According to documentation provided to the Supreme Court, the opinion says, only two exchanges have been made with private entities. The opinion stresses that the court's ruling shouldn't affect previous deals: "We apply our writ and the reasoning behind it only to the exchanges challenged by the attorney general in this case and not to any exchanges that may have taken place in the past. ... We do not wish to leave any cloud on previously transferred titles that are not before us."

Powell reacts: Current Land Commissioner Ray Powell said he was happy the White Peak trade had been knocked down. A Democrat, he had opposed Republican Lyons' White Peak deals on the campaign trail last year.
Last week, Powell had moved to block three of the four trades that hadn't been completed.

Attorney General King, a Democrat, had asked the Supreme Court to bar Lyons from following through on the swaps. Lyons couldn't be reached for comment Monday.

One of the White Peak trades would have been with the UU Bar ranch. "The state spent a lot of money, and we, and other private landowners, spent a lot of money getting appraisals and surveys," general manager Mike Hobbs said. "It was a lot of time."

Hobbs said he wouldn't have made the deal if he hadn't looked into previous exchanges conducted by the Land Office. "That is going to be an interesting can of worms to be opened," Hobbs said.

Maximize earnings: Justice Chavez pointed out in dissent that the commissioner is obliged to maximize earnings from state trust land and accordingly is not limited to selling state lands to the highest bidder. Rather, Chavez wrote, the Enabling Act gives land commissioners broad authority to manage land for the beneficiaries, including to exchange trust lands for other lands of higher value, particularly when, as Lyons argued in the White Peak case, those swaps would make management of the rest of the state-owned land in the area easier and more cost-effective.

The dissenting justices also noted that in previous cases, the court had held that land commissioners had broad discretion to decide what land might be offered for sale and under what terms. The majority noted that New Mexico voters have twice voted against amendments to the Enabling Act that would have broadened the land commissioner's authority to make trades. "The amendment would not have been necessary had the Enabling Act authorized exchanges all along," the majority said.

Read more: ABQJOURNAL NORTH: White Peak Trades Tossed
http://www.abqjournal.com/north/252313376006north01-25-11.htm#ixzz1C6wh1YIA 

Sent by Armando Rendon somossubmissions@gmail.com

In much of the Southwest, ancestry and family history information is only available from the elders of the community, as written history is either lost, or was never written in the first place, but the Genealogical Society of Hispanic America is trying to change that.

Recently, at the Southern Colorado Heritage Center, Virginia Sanchez had the undivided attention of her audience as she spoke of the nearly lost history of the town of Cucharas, a ghost town of Huerfano County in Colorado.

Sanchez, the author of “The Forgotten Cucharenos of the Lower Valley,” said that when she set out to learn the history herself, she had trouble finding information.

“That’s why I wrote the book,” said Sanchez, so someone wanting to take a look into the area’s past maybe wouldn’t have such a difficult search.

Sanchez’s reading was part of the monthly meeting of the Fray Angelico Chavez Chapter-Pueblo of the Genealogical Society of Hispanic America, which began in 1989.

“The Colorado organization was formed in Denver by David Salazar and held a meeting in Pueblo in 1989 to see if there was any interest here in a similar group,” said Charlene Garcia Simms, who has been involved with the chapter since it started.

“At one point the organization grew to more than 400 members,” she said. “That was too big, so new organizations were spun off to keep it a manageable size.”

The chapter first and main focus is only helping people find information about their family history.

“We provide a basic chart for writing a family tree. We also help people find the resources available to help trace their family origins,” said Garcia Simms.

She adds that DNA analysis, while offering a more exact picture of your roots, can cause serious questioning of the family history you were told.

“You might find out that you are a Duran instead of a Martinez. There was a lot of fence-jumping, a lot of chaos in New Mexico back then,” she said.

Heraldo Acosta, the new president of Fray Angelico chapter says the time to ask questions about your family’s past is now, before any more history is lost.

“If you don’t talk to your grandmother and she passes away, it’s like a library burning down. It’s gone.” 

We are in the middle of a struggle to protect our farmers from genetic engineering contamination liability, more info at www.saveNMseeds.org   

Bueno, thank you, let me know what you think and please help me get the word out on this... 

Miguel Santistevan
solfelizfarm@gmail.com

Prisiclla Portillo
Del Pueblo Press, Inc.
500 S. Mesa, Ste. E  El Paso, Texas 79901
Phone: 915-219-2882 Fax: 1-877-904-8503

Regards,  Priscilla Portillo
Sent by  Dorinda Moreno fuerzamundial@gmail.com  

MIDDLE AMERICA

Editor: Do go to their website, for a much more information, videos, oral histories, and researching resources.
    http://www.losislenos.org/history.html 
http://www.losislenos.org/listen.html
Sent by Bill Carmena, JCarm1724@aol.com 

El Martes de Carnaval, en el calendario cristiano, es el último día de Carnaval que antecede al Miércoles de Ceniza, inicio de la Cuaresma. En tiempos en que la Cuaresma recibía un mayor seguimiento los días anteriores al Miércoles de
Ceniza, se conocían como Carnaval o carnestolendas. Estos días previos se realizaban diversas actividades como banquetes, bailes, juegos y de esta manera se enfrentaban al comienzo de los días de penitencia.

El origen de esas celebraciones se remonta a fiestas paganas de tiempos precristianos, que correspondían al ritmo de las estaciones y de los trabajos agrícolas. La tradición de celebrar el Carnaval sigue muy viva en muchos países de Europa y América. En Europa, el Martes de Carnaval, se consumen tradicionalmente ciertos platos muy calóricos como las rosquillas, los buñuelos, los crepes o los gofres.

El Martes de Carnaval recibe distintos nombres según el país, en Alemania se le llama Fastnacht, ‘víspera de ayuno’, y algunos países del sur de Europa lo llaman carnaval proveniente de "de carnem levar" que significa ‘quitar la carne’. En los Estado Unidos de América se ha adoptado la denominación francesa Mardi Gras, que significa ‘martes graso’, al igual que Terça-feira gorda, en los países de habla portuguesa. Algunas tradiciones dan comienzo a la festividad del carnaval el jueves anterior (llamado Jueves Lardero), haciendo que las celebraciones duren hasta seis días.

Editor:  This is a fascinating book.  The information reads like a newspaper article.  On page 1004, is a description of an attack on September 26, 1814, by British privateers (pirates) against General Armstrong, an America ship.  The attack takes place as General Armstrong is anchored in the neutral port of Fayal, in the Azores, an island belonging to  Portugal.  The captain of the American vessel was Samuel C. Reid.  In spite of a massive attack by a British squadron, the American sustained only two deaths and seven wounded.  The British suffered over 300 deaths and wounded.  Ultimately the Americans abandoned the ship and the British burned it. The interesting fact was that this combat crippled the British forces and prevented them from sailing and seizing New Orleans, which was their intent. 

http://books.google.com/books?id=gYY66w4_zkcC&pg=PA1006&lpg=PA1006&dq=%22the+saucy+Jack%22,+privateer,+-ripper,
+-&source=bl&ots=93UqELde9M&sig=Gx6VnVRaWxEp8WU-crK-xMOgOvA&hl=en&ei=sDRMTaaUDMqs8AaX5oT9Dg&sa=X&oi
=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CBkQ6AEwATgK#v=onepage&q&f=false

Thank you to Bill Carmena
JCarm1724@aol.com 

Assumption Parish, Louisiana 

Census Records
1810 Federal Census Images
1810 Federal Census Transcript
1860 Federal Census Transcript

Newspaper Records
Assumption Pioneer Abstracts: 1850-51
Assumption Pioneer Abstracts: 1850-52
Assumption Pioneer Abstracts: 1900-01
Assumption Pioneer Abstracts: 1902
Assumption Pioneer Abstracts: 1903-04
Assumption Pioneer Abstracts: 1905
Assumption Pioneer Abstracts: 1905-06
Assumption Pioneer Abstracts: 1906-07
Assumption Pioneer Abstracts: 1907
Assumption Pioneer Abstracts: 1907-08

Sent by Bill Carmena, JCarm1724@aol.com 

Church and Bible Records
Catholic Church Burial Records: 1913-1954
Lefort-Ferlot Marriage Certificate
Templet-Folse Family Bible

Miscellaneous Records
Deaths from Marie Aucoin Journal: 1900-14
Journal Of Mrs. Sabin Aucoin: 1922-1931
Tobias Ambre Ohmer Naturalization Papers
Certification of Doctors and Dentists: 1882-1913
Terrebonne Life Lines Articles

Property Records
Bourgeois-Thibodaux Land Sale: 1877
Mortgage: Ohmer to Christian and Lee: 1901

Probate Records
Marguerite Duhon Succession Papers: 1852
Pamela Dugas Succession Papers: 1874

Pilsen Historic District, Chicago's South Side

Sent by Sylvia Gonzalez-Hohenshelt | Manager of Public Programs, Villa Finale
National Trust for Historic Preservation | 122 Madison, San Antonio, TX 78204
Phone: 210.223.9800 | Fax: 210.223.9802 | Email: sylvia_hohenshelt@nthp.org | www.VillaFinale.org 
Visit one of our historic sites. You’ll discover great architecture, extraordinary collections, and unforgettable experiences. Begin your explorations at www.PreservationNation.org.

Latin American Coalition Unveils New Technology Center in Charlotte
to Increase Digital Literacy Among Hispanics

TEXAS

Exhibits: Texas Tejano.com Traveling Exhibits, Tejano Historical Portraits, Hispanic Heritage Center Architectural Model, Tejano Artifacts

Speakers: Dr. Felix D. Almaraz, Jr., Peter T. Flawn Distinguished University Professor of Borderlands history, UTSA, Mr. Rudi R. Rodriguez, Chairman/Founder - Hispanic Heritage Center of Texas

The Mexican American Cultural Center along with the Tejano Genealogy Society, the Greater Southwest Optimist Club, the Catholic War Veterans, the Tejanos in Action, and the American GI Forum presents film maker John Valadez with a viewing and lecture on the documentary of Felix Longoria. 

U.S. Army Private Felix Longoria sacrificed his life so that others could be free, yet those same freedoms he died fighting for were denied him in his home town of Three Rivers Texas. The Three Rivers soldier was killed in action in the Philippines. After the war his body was shipped to his home town and was refused admittance to the only funeral home in Three Rivers simply because he was an American of Mexican descent. 

On Saturday March 12, 2011 at the Mexican American Culture Center 6oo River Street there will be a viewing at 7:00 PM with a lecture at 8 PM and another viewing at 9 PM. The event is free and the public is invited.

For More Information Contact:
Dan Arellano President
Tejano Genealogy Society of Austin
512-826-7569
darellano@austin.rr.com

Dan Arellano

PEDRO VERACRUZ AT THE ALAMO

(25 Nov 1821--17 Nov 1895)

by 
Gloria Candelaria, 
Victoria, Texas candelglo@sbcglobal.net  February 1, 2011. 

T

his story was told to me by my grandfather, Antonio Candelaria, about his grandfather, Pedro Veracruz

PEDRO COMES TO TEXAS -

His first visit to Texas was with General Santa Ana during the 1836 campaign in Texas. He was only a lad, but not too young to fight, yet his Superiors admired his willingness to be with the Mexican Military so they charged him with the responsibility of guarding some of the mules in the mule-train.  Pedro was totally unaware that the pack-mules he was ordered to guard contained the military payroll!  While the military was taking care of strategic business, Pedro busied himself with his own responsibilities.  He was aware of some important plans being made, and, after all, he was with a military unit.  But just being away from his mother and brothers in China, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, made this a very exciting trip for the lad.  He felt so important.  [Years later he laughed when telling his young grandchildren had he known he was guarding Santa Ana’s gold, he had missed the opportunity to abscond with the mules and made them all rich!]

Pedro was obedient to his superior’s orders, and he realized something important was going to happen when he was ordered to remain very close to his mule-train because gunfire and even hand-to-hand combat would commence on the morrow. That early March morning found Pedro in tall grass, caring for his animals, proud of his responsibility. Soon, however, he became frightened. He heard gunfire, and acknowledged men’s screams and yelling. He hid in the grass and covered his ears.  Several hours passed since he had heard the last gunfire.  He trembled and covered himself in the shadows of his uneasy animals.  He did not know how the battled had ended. Had the General lost the battle?  Had they surrendered?  When at last he felt it safe, he ran out of the fields as fast as he could to find someone whom he might recognize. He had to know what had happened. He ran and ran until, under the thickness of the smoke and fog he came into the plaza near the Mission Alamo.  He was totally out of breath, and the stench surrounding him was nauseous. When the scene where he was standing cleared, what he saw would live in his memory forever.  His General was upon his magnificent horse; soldiers were running from one end of the plaza to another; bloodied men and dead men were strewn about. And suddenly a thunderous sound of gunshots startled him: dead men lay on the ground where soldiers had shot them – and no, they were not Mexicans! Men started yelling at him for help. He staggered through the courtyard of the Alamo without talking, hearing the ringing of cries and screams, horrified that if he failed to obey orders, he too would be shot! Pedro had never seen a dead man before, but on that fateful day, March 6, 1836, he saw death – he smelled death – and as he retold the story to his grandchildren, his expressions froze in the memory of that day.  

Soon the troops left San Antonio, but the mules remained in San Antonio with many other soldiers. He was ordered to stay and help the men in whatever they needed. That’s when he saw the Lady – the very same Lady he had seen emerging from the Alamo a few weeks before – and he followed her.  Daring not to intrude on her, he remained outside her adobe home for a couple of days.  The Lady saw him and told her own children to invite him into their home.  It was so good to be in a real home, with a real family, and eat hot food! It was then he realized how much he missed his mother and brothers, and promised himself he would tell them about how he met Dona Candelaria and how her family reminded him of them. For the first time since he had left home he sat and cried.  

Soon orders came for the military to move out from San Antonio.  Rumor had it the men had been ordered to return to Mexico. Pedro had to make a difficult decision: should he remain with this wonderful family or return to Mexico with the soldiers? He was afraid of having to face another battle and its aftermath.  At the insistence of Dona Candelaria, however, he remained with her and her family for several months. When the battles had all become distant memories, and the threat of conflict seemed remote, he returned home to Nuevo Leon, Mexico, but promised his adopted family and Dona Candelaria he would one day return.

PEDRO RETURNS TO TEXAS 25 YEARS LATER ~

Pedro was awarded an opportunity to return to San Antonio during the early part of the 1860s. A “Civil War” had erupted in the United States and there was a demand for horses. Having an abundance of horses available, and seeing a significant profit to be made, he and his brother Juan hired several vaqueros to help transport a herd – or as my grandfather said – “un garanon y una manada de yeguas”. The trip took three months, and at last, after several hardships, the men found a profitable market for their horses in San Antonio. Within a few days, however, many of the men who had made the trip returned home.  Pedro and his brother Juan had remained to enjoy their profits and had, unfortunately, been robbed of most of their money.  What to do? While Juan had decided to go home, Pedro instead decided to look up his adopted family of 1836. He spent days looking for them in what was now a huge city, with many strangers and many new buildings. After “many a hardship” Pedro found the familiar house! But would someone there remember him? He stood at the door and pondered about his misgivings when suddenly the door swung open and the most beautiful girl he had ever seen stood there. They stared at one another – then he noticed she was very much pregnant. From the interior of the house he heard a woman exclaim “It’s Pedrito!” and he was again in shock when he realized Dona Candelaria was still alive – and remembered him!  

Pedro became a welcomed houseguest of the family again. After hours of joyous talking, Pedro confessed his plight and Dona Candelaria and her family asked him to remain with them.  That’s when he was introduced to Juanita Tejeda, the “adopted” daughter of Dona Candelaria. Juana had married a young man named Cirildo Maleno, who had joined the Confederacy but had regrettably been instantly killed. Dona Candelaria had taken the young widow into her home. Soon, however, Pedro obtained a job as a Vaquero – caring for horses were his specialty. Within a short time, he and Juanita were a permanent couple, and when Juanita was about to deliver her baby, Pedro was with her. They became a permanent couple. In fact, they baptized Juanita’s daughter at San Fernando Church and Pedro gave the child his own surname: Catarina Veracruz.  Soon other children came into the family, in fact, fourteen in all!  All were baptized at San Fernando Catholic Church in San Antonio. Sadly, however, many died young. There was Maria, born in 1864; Salvador came in 1866; Teresita de Jesus came 1868 [my paternal great-grandmother]; Carmen in 1872; Pedro in 1874; Elena in 1875; and Jesus in 1878.  As the family grew, they moved, and were residents of nearby Guadalupe, Caldwell and Hays Counties where there was a great need for Vaqueros and later, cotton pickers!  Texas records reveal that these three counties: Guadalupe, Hays, and Comal were the most significant and hub of cotton-producing counties in the state!

Pedro VeraCruz and his wife,  Teresita de Jesus Tejada,  estimated date between 1882-1884

Sunday, June 17, 1886,  Happy Wedding Celebration My grandfather, Antonio Candelaria is in the arms  of Juanita Tejeda, his grandmother.

PEDRO’S LAST RITES GIVEN ~

Pedro Veracruz was a grandfather Tonito [my grandfather, Antonio Candelaria] never forgot. He laughingly recalled the time his grandfather was so ill, they had to solicit the services of a Priest to administer the last rites. The family was in danger of losing the beloved husband, father, and patriarch of the family. It was truly a sad occasion. When the priest finally arrived, my grandfather said, the scene was obviously solemn. While the family grieved in another room, Pedro lay on his deathbed, confessing his sins before meeting his maker, and writing his Last Will [I have the original copy].  As the Priest listened intently to Pedro’s confessions, for he was gravely ill, the Priest asked once more, “Was there anything else he wished to confess?” Pedro hesitated for a moment, then recalling something in the very back part of his mind, he whispered “I am truly sorry for never having married Juanita, the love of my life.” The Priest was indignant and stood up stating in a very matter-of-fact manner that Pedro would not die that day – that he would recover and as soon as possible, he would present himself with Juanita to Church for a Matrimonial Service, immediately therewith! And just as quickly, having given Pedro the ultimatum left the home of Pedro Veracruz!  Well! as Grampa used to say “dicho y hecho” , Pedro did recover. And on Sunday, June 17, 1886 – twenty-five years after living with Juanita, the couple married in Hays County, Texas. The children – the grandchildren – the neighbors and all the relatives came to the happy wedding celebration. All gathered and a fantastic celebration ensued. No, Pedro did not die the day he was supposed to die – he carried out the Priest’s orders (and God’s orders too, Grampa said!) and made his union with Juanita legal. In fact, Pedro continued in a very happy and healthy life until November 17, 1895, when he died of natural causes. He was 73 years old.

 An entry concerning his departure from this life is found in Antonio Candelaria’s dairy. My grandfather copied exactly what was written by Pedro’s widow.  Juanita wrote “el dia 17 de noviembre de 1895 murio el calor de mis dias Pedro Vera Cruz.”

MEXICO

As you know, I am one of the moderators of Nuestros Ranchos genealogy group, which focuses on the Mexican states of Jalisco, Zacatecas and Aguascalientes and I wanted to share some great news with you.

Thanks to the help of a number of volunteers who are members of our group and the generosity and hard work of Guillermo Tovar de Teresa, we have been able to put online extracts of the notary records of the 17th Century found at the State Archive of Zacatecas. The extracts include a name index such that users can look for records based on the names mentioned in them.

The notary records include a variety of interesting documents such as wills, instruments of debt, rental agreements, dowry agreements, sales of slaves, etc. The earliest records date from 1614.

The extracts were created by the late Jaime Holcombe, who was a renowned genealogist focused on the histories of families from northern Mexico. His work at the State Archives of Zacatecas in the 1990s was sponsored by Guillermo Tovar de Teresa of Mexico City, who has collaborated with other Mexican genealogists such as Luz Montejano Hilton. He donated Jaime Holcombe's work to Nuestros Ranchos and volunteers from the group set out to create the name index for the extracts.

This repository is of great value for Mexican genealogy, particularly given that many of the parish archives in Zacatecas were lost in the early 20th century during the Mexican Revolution.  Most of the notary extracts relate to the books kept by the prolific Zacatecas notary Felipe de Espinosa, but other notaries include Manuel Rodríguez, José Riva Zorrilla and Pedro de Covarrubias.The collection can be found at:

http://www.nuestrosranchos.com/en/notary

Below are some examples of the extracts and their translations:

Venta de Esclava Zacatecas, 4 de febrero de 1614. Luis Pérez dueño de carros, vecino de esta ciudad en vos de Bernardino de las Barielas vecino de la ciudad de México, vende a Diego Salazar una mulata esclava llamada Beatríz de edad de 26 años en cantidad de 500 pesos.

Sale of a slave in Zacatecas. February 4, 1614. Luis Pérez, owner of stagecoaches and resident of this city, through Bernardino de las Barielas, resident of Mexico City, sells to Diego Salazar a mulatto slave woman named Beatriz, aged 26 years, for a sum of 500 pesos.

Inventario de hacienda de minas. Zacatecas, 12 de agosto 1650. Los hermanos Alonso Pérez Namorado y Francisco Solano Namorado hijos legítimos del minero Alonso Pérez Namorado e Isabel de Covarrubias, difuntos, vecinos todos de Zacatecas, mayores de 25 años. Hacen inventario de los bienes que les quedan por herencia de sus padres. Inventario.

Inventory of mining hacienda.  Zacatecas. August 12, 1650.  Alonso Pérez Namorado and Francisco Solano Namorado, brothers and legitimate sons of Alonso Pérez Namorado, miner, and Isabel de Covarrubias, both deceased, and residents of Zacatecas, being more than 25 years of age, take inventory of the estate that they have inherited from their parents.  Inventory.

Arturo Ramos 
arturo.ramos2@gmail.com

Tte. Cor. Ricardo Raul Palmerin Cordero

Mi bisabuela materna Anna Kruzen Lutzelberger.

Mi bisabuelo materno Manuel Antonio Salinas Ponce.

Mis abuelos maternos, Guadalupe Cordero Calzado y Otilia Salinas Kruzen.

Mi Abuelita Otilia, con sus hijos menores: Julio, Carolina y María del Refugio, mi Madre.

Mis. Padres: Capitán 2°. de Caballería Delfino Palmerín Mejía y María del Refugio Cordero Salinas. 

Ricardo Raúl Palmerín Cordero. Saltillo, Coah. 1946.
duardos43@hotmail.com

Sent by Carlos Munoz, Jr.Ph.D. 
cmjr@berkeley.ed

Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo Video
The URL below is to a interview with me that aired in February on a program called Flashpoints, over KPFA fm in Berkeley, CA, produced by Miguel Molina. http://www.kpfa.org/archive/id/67352 

Con saludos a todos.
Armando Rendón
510-219-9139 Cell

PERSONAJES EN LA HISTORIA DE MÉXICO

Por: JOSÉ LEÓN ROBLES DE LA TORRE

AÑO DEL BICENTENARIO DE LA INDEPENDENCIA DE MÉXICO, 1810-2010, Y CENTENARIO DE LA REVOLUCIÓN MEXICANA, 1910-2010  

Fernando Maximiliano de Hapsburgo

Los datos siguientes son del Tomo V, de XIII, Libro 38 de mi obra inédita "La Independencia y los Presidentes de México", relacionados con el segundo Emperador de México don Fernando Maximiliano de Hapsburgo, que ejerció el mando del 11 de junio de 1864 hasta el 19 de junio de 1867 en que fue fusilado. Nació el seis de julio de 1832, era hijo del Archiduque Francisco Carlo y de doña Sofía, Archiduque. Su padre fue Emperador de Austria y abdicó en favor de su hijo mayor Francisco José.

Ingresó a la Armada de Austria donde llegó a ser Almirante, y a los 16 años de edad, navegó por varios países recorriendo mares y costas.

Se casó con Carlota Amalia, hija de Leopoldo, Rey de Bélgica, y en 1854 le construyó un Palacio en Miramar a orillas del mar Adriático, donde coleccionó muchas obras de arte. Fue Gobernador General de la Provincia San Benetto. Soñaba con tener un imperio como su hermano que solamente era dos años mayor que él y ya era Emperador de Austria.

El 13 de julio de 1863 un grupo de notables mexicanos del Partido Conservador encabezados por don José Ma. Gutiérrez Estrada, don Joaquín Velázquez de León, don Ángel Iglesias y Domínguez y otros seis más, decidieron trasladarse a Miramar para ofrecer a Maximiliano el Trono de México. Maximiliano tenía sólo 18 años y era un hombre muy culto, pues hablaba varios idiomas a la perfección y entre ellos el francés, inglés, español, griego y latín. Aceptó el Trono de México el diez de abril de 1864 y el día 14 del mismo mes partió para México en su fragata novara totalmente adornada con flores y el asta lucía la bandera de México. Llegaron a Roma a visitar al Papa Pío IX y continuando su camino, al pasar por el Estrecho de Gibraltar, la Reina Victoria hizo que las fuerzas británicas de cielo, mar y tierra, lo saludaran con el brillo y esplendor de la época.

Ya instalado en el Castillo de Chapultepec, con su ejército Imperial apoyado por el Partido Conservador, continuaban con la lucha armada con las fuerzas republicanas que mandaba el Presidente Juárez que recorría el centro y norte del país, ya que la capital de la República era dominada por las fuerzas conservadoras.

Muy pronto el Emperador Maximiliano se vio olvidado por las fuerzas francesas, ya que Napoleón III le retiró su ayuda. El nueve de julio de 1866, la Emperatriz Carlota partió rumbo a Europa para solicitar la ayuda de Napoleón III, pero ella ya iba trastornada de sus facultades mentales, se dice que a causa de que en su paso por Puebla le dieron a beber toloache. Llegó a Europa el nueve de agosto de 1866 y sus gestiones ante Napoleón fracasaron rotundamente, pues este personaje ni siquiera la recibía.

En México, las cosas empeoraban y las fuerzas del Imperio perdían las batallas y sobrevino el sitio de Querétaro donde los ejércitos del Gral. Escobedo, no daban cuartel ni dejaban salir a los sitiados y las fuerzas de Miramón y de Mejía eran muy inferiores a las republicanas y fueron hechos prisioneros Maximiliano y su ejército Imperial y sometidos a juicio.

Maximiliano abrazando a sus generales Miguel Miramón y a Mejía con voz firme, les dijo ha llegado la hora. Al abrazar a Miramón, le dijo: General, un valiente debe ser admirado hasta por los monarcas y le cedió el lugar de honor en el centro. Luego Maximiliano dio una moneda de 20 pesos oro a cada uno de los soldados que lo iban a ejecutar. Estos hechos ocurrieron el 19 de junio de 1867, en el Cerro de las Campanas de Querétaro, Qro.

Después de todos los trámites, los restos de Maximiliano fueron trasladados al Convento de las Capuchinas, de Viena, donde había 138 tumbas con los restos de 141 personas: Emperadores, Archiduques, Archiduquesas, etc. Él quedó a la izquierda de Fernando I.

Source: El Siglo de Torreon www.elsiglodetorreon.com.mx

Sent by Mercy Bautista-Olvera  

PERSONAJES EN LA HISTORIA DE MÉXICO

Por: JOSÉ LEÓN ROBLES DE LA TORRE

AÑO DEL BICENTENARIO DE LA INDEPENDENCIA DE MÉXICO 1810-2010 Y CENTENARIO DE LA REVOLUCIÓN MEXICANA 1910-2010