Somos Primos 

March 2016

Editor: Mimi Lozano ©2000-2016




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Letters to the Editor

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Estados Unidos le debe todo a España

Smithsonian Omits Hispanics In U.S. History Exhibit  
by Miguel Perez

Hidden Hispanic Heritage is a tremendous resource on the subject  
http://www.hiddenhispanicheritage.com  

HERE IS HOW WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Be trained and prepared to step in . . .  .

THE MISSING HISPANIC IN THE U.S. CENSUS COUNT

By Felipe de Ortego y Gasca

Scholar in Residence (Cultural Studies, Critical Theory, Public Policy), 
Western New Mexico University;

Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English and Comparative Literature, 
Texas State University—Sul Ross.

Some years ago (1979) for an Hispanic conference in Des Moines, Iowa, I wrote a piece on “The Hispanics: A Missing Link in Public Policy” in which I maintained that the absence of Hispanics in American literature was a public policy issue. This year (2016), thanks to Mimi Lozano, I’m challenged with a comparable situation—the missing Hispanics in the Census count which I consider as a public policy issue also.

In the 1970 Census many Hispanics were concerned about an undercount of Hispanics in the Census. It turned out that the 1970 census seriously undercounted the Hispanic population (Anderson) by as much as 7.7 percent. This is serious but not unexpected. In 2010, 1.5 percent of the Hispanic population was undercounted. The undercount of Hispanics in the national Census is “decennially” expected. Whether this consistent undercount is fueled by La Leyenda Negra/The Black Legend is hard to say. Though I would not rule it out.

But there is another undercount of Hispanics that is as crucial as the Decennial undercount. Namely those persons born to parents where the mother is Hispanic and the father is non-Hispanic. The children are assigned a non-Hispanic surname following the patronymic tradition. Responses to this situation reveal that if the father is Hispanic the Hispanic identity is maintained by the children, principally because of the father’s Hispanic surname. If the father is non-Hispanic then by and large the children do not identify as Hispanic. These are the missing Hispanics in the U.S. Census count.

The size of that population is hard to calculate. But the solution lies with the Census adding a question to the Census form that solicits the requisite answer as to the Hispanicity of the respondent when only one of the two parents is Hispanic. In 1930 a “Mexican” category was added to the Census.

How is this performative function a public policy issue? First, these responses in the aggregate may reveal a larger U.S. Hispanic population than is currently indicated by the Census count. A larger U.S. Hispanic population affects all manner of fiscal projections as well as social, political, and federal considerations. At the moment the current Census data indicates a Hispanic/Latino population of close to 60 million, 40 million of whom are Mexican Americans.

A more substantially increased American Hispanic/Latino population poises that population at the critical edge of public policy, bringing them, so to speak, into the public spotlight as a group worth currying their favor. In other words, drawing them out of the shadows of Ralph Ellison’s invisibility into the public arena . What this augurs is a functional change of public perception about American Hispanics/Latinos in general and Mexican Americans in particular—the latter no longer being the dog wagged by the tail but the tail being wagged by the dog—as it should be.

Anecdotally, when asked how many DMI (Dual-Multiple Identity) Americans they thought there might be in the national population, the majority of those questioned said “more than half.” That’s a telling response indicative of the rising number of cross-racial marriages and alliances in the United States. This should come as no great surprise given the diversity of racial and ethnic groups in the nation. According to one source, multiracial Americans are growing at three times the speed as the rest of the population (Daily Mail, February 15, 2016). According to the 2010 Census, 2.4% of the population classified themselves as belonging to two or more races (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2011).

This gives support to the prospects of more Hispanics in the general American population than attested to by the Census count. My own dual-multiple identity (DMI) includes an Apache grandfather (my mother’s father), a Basque grandmother (my mother’s mother), a Spanish-Mexican grandfather (my father’s father), a Sephardic grandmother (my father’s mother). While my DMI profile does not bear directly on the inquiry of this work, it highlights the phenomenon of dual-multiple identities.   

My friend Virgilio Elizondo, a catholic priest and scholar at Notre Dame, is author of a 2-volume work on “Mestizaje”—the Spanish word for “biracial” or “blend” as in “a blended people “or “mestizo” the product of  Spanish-Indian miscegenation. Father Elizondo’s contention is that the whole world is a product of mestizaje—hybridism. He’s probably right.

My goal in this work is not a sociological or psycho-social discussion of dual-multiple identity formation but an inquiry of how—if at all—dual-multiple identity is captured by the Decennial Census. According to the 2000 Census, 6.8 million people reported identities of more than one race (Jones and Symens Smith, 2001) . This was the first time in the history of the Census that permitted Census respondents to identify with two or more races (Romo).  Romo’s study emphasized that her respondents “actively resisted” mono-racial identity.

Many dual-multiple identity (DMI) Americans protest the Census Bureau’s corralling them into selecting one identity. Historically after the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo signed on February 2, 1848, Mexicans who stayed with the Mexican territory (Cession) and became Americans by fiat were all classified as “white” (without their consent) for the 1850 Census and those following.  

The inevitable question arises: why are dual-multiple racial/ethnic identities important? Because being channeled into identifying with only one part of one’s racial/ethnic mix occults or truncates one’s full identity. For example, we know more about President Obama as a result of his “disclosure” that his mother is “white. Conversationally we all talk about our diverse roots even identifying ourselves as a “Heinz 57 variety” or referring to ourselves as “mutts.”

This demographic imperative is operational not only in the United States. John Schmal’s genealogical/demographic work on Mexico’s indigenous and colonial history points to the efficacy for preserving one’s racial and cultural identities. 

In the unusual 1921 Mexican census, residents of each state were asked to classify themselves in several categories, including “indígena pura” (pure indigenous), “indígena mezclada con blanca” (indigenous mixed with white) and “blanca” (white). Out of a total state population of 445,681,  

        136,365 persons (or 30.6%) claimed to be of pure indigenous background

        275,812 persons (or 61.9%) classified themselves as being mixed

        24,103 (5.4%) claimed to be “blanca” or white.

Diachronically, the aim of the 1921 San Luis Potosi Census was a harbinger of today’s efforts by the U.S. Census to identify its citizens as accurately as possible in response to the growing clamor for that accuracy.

In their work on “Perspectives and Research on the Positive and Negative Implications of Having Multiple Racial Identities,” Margaret Shih and Diane Sanchez, cite the multiple racial identities of Tiger Woods as a growing trend in dual and multiple racial identities in the United States. “This controversy illustrates that having a multiracial identity challenges American society’s traditional notions and assumptions about race and racial categories” (Ibid).

In a survey conducted at Catholic University, responding  to the question “What are you?” students of color embraced the uniqueness of being multiracial, continued to explore their racial identity, and as a result developed a whole and integrated healthy multiracial identity (Sechrest-Ehrhardt).

While the one-drop rule is no longer the official policy of the land, it does still influence the lives of people who are multiracial, as people who are visibly mixed with Black or another race of color (Native American for example), are often still considered non-White and treated as such. The racial history of the United States shows that to be non-White is a detriment for many non-White skinned people. This most certainly includes those who are biracial and those whose phenotype does not allow them to live as White even if they are allowed to identify as such on paper.

Nichole Crystell Boutté-Heiniluoma

Though born to a white mother, it seems doubtful that due to his color President Barak Obama could live in the United States as a white person. On the Census, the President is listed as “biracial” but counted as “black.” For the Census count, no one is counted twice in terms of biracial or multi-racial. In reference to Hispanic dual or multiple racial identity, the PEW Research Center offers that:

Multiracial identity is complicated, as much an attitude that can change over a lifetime as it is a genetic or biological certainty. Only four-in-ten adults with a mixed racial background (39%) say they consider themselves to be “mixed race or multiracial.” Fully 61% say they don’t consider themselves to be multiracial.

When asked why they don’t identify as multiracial, about half (47%) say it is because they look like one race. An identical share say they were raised as one race, while about four-in-ten (39%) say they closely identify with a single race. And about a third (34%) say they never knew the family member or ancestor who was a different race. (Individuals were allowed to select multiple reasons.)

PEW Research Center

What is evident from the PEW Report “Census History: Counting Hispanics” (March 3, 2010) is that there is no slam-dunk way of counting Hispanics. This doesn’t mean the Census Bureau should stop counting; on the contrary, this means the Census Bureau has to develop the appropriate algorithm for that count. This is part of the vagaries of identifying members of a nation whose population includes a diversity of people.

This is not a problem unique to the United States. As a nation with a population of diverse groups, Russia then the Soviet Union grappled with the “National Question”—how to conduct a Census of its people? The gambit that “we’re all Americans” doesn’t work. Yes, we’re all Americans—citizens of the United States, but that gambit doesn’t identify our distinctive grouping as Americans. The gambit that we all speak English doesn’t work either. Admittedly nationality and language are elements that bind us as a people—but that’s not the whole story nor the profile of who we are,

Our strength as a nation lies in our diversity—the very thing many Americans want to sweep under the rug. Just as “Black lives matter!” “Diversity matters!” That’s why we need a better count of Hispanicity in the Decennial Census!

REFERENCES

Anderson, M., The American Census: A Social History, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1988.

Boutté-Heiniluoma, Nichole Crystell, , Your Perception, My Reality: The Case of Imposed Identity for Multiracial Individuals (Dissertation, Texas A&M University, 2012).

Jones, N. A., and Symens Smith, A.” The two or more races population: 2000” (Census 2000 Brief No. C2KBR/01–6). Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau (November 2001).

Ortego y Gasca, Felipe de, “ Evolution, Diversity, and Red Herrings,” A presentation for

‘Diversity Week’ sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Affairs and Student Activities, Western New Mexico University, May 6, 2009.

______________________________, “The Hispanic in American Literature and its effect on Public Policy: A Humanist Assessment” in The Hispanics: A Missing Link in Public Policy, Editors: Virginia Correa-Jones, Alfredo Benavides, Miguel A. Teran. The Official Conference Report of the Spanish Speaking Peoples Commission of Iowa, State Capitol, Des Moines, Iowa 50319. October 12-13, 1979.ISPANIC      

PEW Research Center, “Multiracial in America,” June 11, 2015

Romo, Rebecca, “Blaxican Identity: An Exploratory Study of Blacks/Chicanas/os in California,” San Jose State University Scholar Works, National Association of Chicana and

Chicano Studies Annual Conference, Paper 9,  Austin, Texas, April 1, 2008. 

Sechrest-Ehrharet, Lisa, Understanding the Racial Identity Development of Multiracial Young Adults Through their Family, Social, and Environment Experience (Dissertation, Catholic University), Washington, DC, 2012.

Schmal, John P.,  Indigenous San Luis Potosi, http://www.somosprimos.com/schmal/ schmal.htm#slp .

Shih, Margaret and Sanchez, Diana T., “Perspectives and Research on the Positive and

Negative Implications of  Having Multiple Racial Identities,” Psychological Bulletin, Volume 131, No. 4, 569-591, 2005.

 Dr. Felipe de Ortego y Gasca, Ph.D., ALUM: Pitt, UTx, UNM 
Scholar in Residence (Cultural Studies, Critical Theory, Social Policy)
Western New Mexico University
Miller Library, 1000 College Ave, PO Box 680 
Silver City, New Mexico 88062 
Branches: Gallup, Deming, Truth or Consequences, Lordsburg & Web
t 575-538-6410, F: 575-538-6178, C: 575-956-5541 
e-mail: Philip.Ortego@wnmu.edu 

Latinos in Hollywood: Few Roles, Frequent Stereotypes, New Study Finds
Comprehensive Annenberg Report on Diversity

"The problem with stereotypes is not that they are untrue but that they are incomplete. They make one story the only story." Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Boy Turns TV Winnings into Funds for Mariachi Program
by Roxana Kopetman, staff writer
The Orange County Register
February 11, 2016

"Because it’s mariachi, it helps build a strong bond with our culture,” said Oliu, now an eighth-grader at Sycamore Junior High School.“My goal would be to see every single student in our schools and our district play an instrument and explore the arts,” he said. “Music is everything.”

Editor Mimi:  Do go to this website, http://www.ocregister.com/articles/oliu-703696-mariachi-school.html 
and hear Sean Oliu sing.  The first selection is when Sean was 11 years old, a voice, rich, dripping with emotion, clear and pleasing.  Sean began his music education at age seven by entering the Rhythmo Mariachi Academy in Anaheim, California. In addition to singing Sean has studied trumpet, guitar, vihuela and violin.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01RFrzcsV1o 

Beckman High student, Andrea Lopez, has all the answers
By Susan Christian Goulding Staff Writer 
Mindy Schauer, Staff photographer 
Feb. 8, 2016 Updated Feb. 9, 2016 

Where Are the Minority Professors?
By Ben Myers, February 14, 2016

An examination of the demographics of more than 400,000 professors at 1,500 colleges 
shows where those of each rank, gender, race/ethnicity, and tenure status can be found.

Photos, Leonard Ortiz, OC staff photographer.

StoryCorps: The Great Thanksgiving Listen

"True to Their Words"

Fullerton, Calif.  Union High students present a play
 based on experiences related by parents and grandparents
by
 Kaitlin Wright, staff writer
The Orange County Register, Feb 7, 2016

In October, StoryCorps, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to record and share stories of Americans, announced a project called The Great Thanksgiving Listen. Referring to it as a “national assignment,” StoryCorps asked history teachers to encourage their students to collect stories from their grandparents or other elders and record them for archival in the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. Michael Despars of Fullerton Union High School is not a history teacher, but he took the cue and got his theater students involved in the project. He also added another challenge – take the collected interviews and create an original piece of theater. This type of production, known as “verbatim theater,” uses word-for-word transcripts from interviews with real people. Typically, a person is interviewed about a specific topic, and the conversation that ensues is transformed into a narrative play. There is a documentary quality to the presentation that requires performers to engage with the material through research. “So often the students don’t know anything beyond their world,” said Despars. “This was a chance for students to ask serious questions and learn about their family as people beyond who they see at the dinner table.” Before Thanksgiving break, the students agreed on a set of questions they would ask their relatives. Once the interviews were gathered, they transcribed the dialogue and fit pieces from each of their family members together to create one cohesive play. 

“It’s so much harder to write the script when you can’t just make the story up,” said sophomore Adam Ritter. “We’re talking about someone’s real life, and that can get completely emotional.” Questions on favorite celebrities, childhood memories and legacy drummed up a wide range of old stories, but in the end, similar details were able to be fit together. 
“It was interesting to see how many people mentioned John Wayne,” said senior Shelby Fishlowitz. “I never thought about what things are common in our lives right now that sort of define our generation. You look at our elders and realize there was once a time they were like us.” The students, some of whom were nervous about asking questions regarding things like illegal activity and personal struggles, were surprised at how willing their family members were to share their stories. They said the conversations established a deeper family connection and made their family members more relatable. 

“It was cool to feel the era and time period along with our grandparents through this project,” said sophomore Elena Garcia. “I learned that we’re all human, all together, all equal no matter what.” 

After compiling various people’s stories into one script, the students quickly realized how difficult it could be to portray people they interact with on a regular basis. Their grandparents’ speech patterns, the way they hold their bodies and how they move their hands in conversation all had to be transferred to the stage in a convincing way that didn’t veer toward a caricature performance. “It’s a good lesson in character development because these are people they already know,” said Despars. “It was important that they remained true to the person who spoke the words.”

Fullerton Union High school theater student  Isabella Rojo, 16 with grandmother Nina Arceo, 73.

With the verbatim theater project, Despars hoped to give his students a chance to experiment with a variety of theater conventions. The lights, costumes and set were all student-devised, and the subject material allowed them to play with a variety of emotions. “I like that this deals with a real person and real story,” said sophomore Janine Lutfi, who shared the story of her grandmother’s emigration from the Middle East in the ’60s. “Sometimes people try and hide hard things in life, but when we start talking about it, we find out it’s a small world. There’s a sense of community. You’re not alone.” The student-directed work was performed before an audience mostly of family members, many of whose words and stories were shared onstage.

like that this deals with a real person and real story,” said sophomore Janine Lutfi, who shared the story of her grandmother’s emigration from the Middle East in the ’60s. “Sometimes people try and hide hard things in life, but when we start talking about it, we find out it’s a small world. There’s a sense of community. You’re not alone.” The student-directed work was performed before an audience mostly of family members, many of whose words and stories were shared onstage. 

Said Fishlowitz: “Everything about this play feels personal, and it makes you think about all the things you can create. This whole show came from basically nothing, just simple conversation.” 

Contact the writer: 714-796-6026 or kwright@ocregister.com
More photos:  http://www.ocregister.com/articles/students-702513-people-family.html  

Originally organized as four separate manuals, the book, below is a manual of four handbooks bound together. The parent component is provided in both English and Spanish.

I strongly recommend classroom and community youth groups consider using The Latino Guide to Creating Family Histories by Dr. Nava to help engage your youth in a very valuable experience: learning about themselves.

The Latino Guide to Creating Family Histories
YOUR GUIDE TO CAPTURING A LIFETIME OF MEMORIES
THREE MANUALS IN ONE
by Ambassador Julian Nava 

It's never too early to start learning about one's heritage. This book contains three manuals for writing one's family history: Student, Parent, and Teacher Guides. It can be used by classes from upper elementary school through college - as well as by parents and children to better understand their heritage.

"With my world travels and family discoveries, I have learned of my roots.  This has given me a greater meaning as to who I am and strengthened my cultural traditions and self esteem. Discover your roots." 
~ Congressman Esteban Torres, Retired.

"This book is an excellent example of his awareness of the importance of family to shaping young minds for the future ahead."
~William Johnston, Superintendent, 
Los Angeles United School District, 1971-1981

VIEW FROM THE PIER

by Herman Sillas  

            The presidential primaries are here and we are reminded daily.  As a political junkie I love it.  My father was active in the union and had meetings in our house to change the union’s leadership.  Politics were always a topic at our home and so I thought to be a candidate would be cool.

            My first endeavor was in junior high school.  I ran for Student Body President.  My opponent was my best buddy, Bobby Bedolla.  We both played softball, baseball, touch-football and basketball on the same team at the local neighborhood playground. I became a candidate, because I thought I could change some things.  So did Bobby.

            We spoke to the assembled student body in the auditorium. All I remember was that as I was speaking into the mike, my right foot started stomping on the floor.  I mean really stomping!  At least I thought it was.  I glanced down at my right foot as I spoke.  It looked perfectly still.  I couldn’t believe it!  My mind told me my right foot was stomping so hard that I couldn’t hear my voice.  The audience didn’t seem to notice.  I hurried my speech in the hope that nobody would see my unruly foot.  Would I be able to walk back to my seat without falling?  When my speech ended, my foot quit stomping.  Bobby won.  I still believe I would have won if I hadn’t been betrayed by my right foot, but Bobby and I remained buddies.

            Not to be discouraged, I ran for Student Body President in high school.  I ran under the title “Honest Herm.”  I borrowed the “honest” from “Honest Abe” Lincoln’s campaign.  My right foot behaved and I won. 

            Following my high school presidential victory, I enrolled at UCLA and sought a degree in Political Science.  It didn’t take me long to conclude that the title was deceiving.  Politics is not scientific.  It is a process by which leaders obtain the power to lead others.  In our country the process is without bloodshed.  We call them elections.  I won’t bore you with my other losing campaigns as a candidate. 

            This year we have a variety of candidates for President of this nation.  The Republican Party has still standing seven males and one female candidate.  The men include a multi billionaire, a couple of US Latino Senators, both sons of Latino immigrants, an African American surgeon, a couple of governors, and one ex-governor who is the brother and son of former Presidents.  The woman is a former CEO of a major company.

            The Democratic Party has two candidates.  One is a seventy-four-year-old US Senator who describes himself as a Socialist.  The other candidate has served as US Senator and as Secretary of State.  She is also the wife of a former President.  I have followed the debates very carefully trying to decide which candidate to support.

            But I missed the last debate, because I attended a joint birthday party of two of our  grandchildren.  Nathan celebrated his eleventh birthday and Hannah, his sister, celebrated her eighth birthday.  I sat with family members and friends as Nathan and Hannah took turns opening their respective gifts.  I smiled as I observed their happiness and joy.  Then it hit me!  At eighty-two years old, my vote for President cannot be about me.  My vote has to be for my grandchildren’s best interests!  They inherit the country that we leave them.   

            I smile as I think about the political analysts after this year’s election.  They will analyze the numerous voting blocs by gender, race and age and reach conclusions about each voting bloc.  I bet political analysts won’t know we seniors voted for what we believe is best for our grandchildren. That’s the view from the pier.

***30***

(Herman Sillas, a San Clemente, CA attorney and resident, may be found most Saturday mornings fishing at the San Clemente Pier.  He may be reached at sillasla@aol.com.)

Tras Años De Espera
Se Publica La Lista 47 Para El Pago A Ex Braceros
Por Abel Astorga Morales
December 11, 2015, La Prensa, San Diego

Mariachi opera about 1950s labor camp in Oxnard, CA is a big hit
By Alicia Doyle 
Photos credit: Joseph A. Garcia  THE STAR

A young Noe, played by Jonathan Lopez Garcia (right), decides to enter the bracero program after his father, played by Reyes Covarrubias, is injured in an accident in “El Bracero.” Garcia and Covarrubias are rehearsing for the one-act mariachi opera that is returning to Oxnard College for an encore performance Saturday.  Cedit: 

Campo Buena Vista in Oxnard was the site of one of the largest bracero programs in the United States during the 1950s.

Javier Gomez, who plays the elderly Noe, tells about his life as a young bracero during rehearsal for “El Bracero” at Oxnard College.		El Cepillo (left), played by Andres Orozco, roughs up Noe, played by Jonathan Lopez Garcia, during rehearsal for “El Bracero”		Juan Carlos Ozuna, musical director of “El Bracero,” sings the opening theme song during rehearsal at Oxnard College.
A one-act mariachi opera that tells the story of an Oxnard labor camp in the 1950s proved so popular at Oxnard College last month that two encore performances had to be added.   "El Bracero," tells the true story of a young man from Mexico who legally  travels to Oxnard to pick the fields;  The bracero program, which reached its height in the 1950s, allowed Mexican laborers to be admitted legally into the United States for a short period to perform seasonal — usually agricultural — labor.						Aidé Gonzalez with Mariachi Aguilas de Oxnard, sings “Mi Ranchito” to a homesick Noe, played by Jonathan Lopez Garcia, during rehearsal for” El Bracero” at Oxnard College.

The first performance on Jan. 16 in Oxnard College's 400-seat Performing Arts Center was sold out, said Irma Lopez, who serves on the board of the Oxnard College Foundation.

"We had to turn people away," Lopez said. "We were so happy to have this, and then to have it sell out like that — we had no idea. So that's why we're having an encore performance this Saturday."

The production features mariachi music, ballet folklorico and opera-style set pieces. The play, which was written by Rosalinda Verde, is performed in Spanish with English subtitles.

"The bracero program was during the period when the men were contracted in Mexico to come and work here," Lopez said. "They had to pay for housing, and they lived out in the ranches and housing in different places in Oxnard, Fillmore, Santa Paula and throughout the state."

"El Bracero" highlights the challenges workers faced, Lopez explained.

"It's a historical injustice of what happened, but it's done through music," she said. "A grandfather is the main storyteller, and he is talking to his grandson about when he came as a bracero."

One of the largest bracero camps was based in Oxnard, said Miguel Orozco of Camarillo, director and producer of the show.

"The camp is featured in the play," Orozco said. "We recognize the hard work and the contributions that the braceros made here locally. A lot of them came back to live here, and some have families here — we even have some cast members whose grandparents were braceros."

He noted that the translation of "bracero" is "one who works using his arms."

The production is a grass-roots effort, Orozco said.

"There's definitely a very local element — that's why it's connecting with the audiences," Orozco said. "This is truly a local effort with home-grown talent. Everyone is either from the area or was born here or lived here."

He said that a big draw is the music performed by Mariachi Aguilas de Oxnard, an ensemble composed of local young musicians.

"They've been around for a long time — they're a very dynamic new generation," Orozco said. "They have a very large following locally."

Mariachi music has been around for centuries, Lopez said.

"It's a particular sound that many of these men would listen to," she explained. "These men were homesick. They came as single men; they didn't bring their families with them and many of them were young and not married. The mariachi music brought back memories of the love they left behind."

The performance had a huge impact on the audience, she added. "It's very moving, and people walked out of there with tears in their eyes," Lopez said.

Sent by Dorinda Moreno 
pueblosenmovimientonorte@gmail.com 

Salinas hope to turn farm workers'
children into computer scientists
by Geoffrey Mohan, 
Los Angeles Times, Feb 7, 2016

With one foot in its fields and another edged toward Silicon Valley, 
Salinas is trying to reboot itself as the agricultural technology center of California.

Dario Molina's alternative life scrolls by on both sides of Highway 101 north: acre upon acre of lettuce, spinach, heartbreak.  Not me, he thinks. Not anymore.  Molina was one of 36 students awarded a Matsui Foundation scholarship to the new computer science program.

"Sometimes I reminisce," Molina says. "Damn, I remember working in that field. I remember that heat ... that song. Now I'm just thinking, I just want to get over this."

He tucks a water bottle between his back and the driver's seat of his 1996 Civic to keep his lumbar muscles from stiffening as towns drift by: Greenfield, Soledad, Gonzalez, Chualar. Each as poor as the next. He turns east on an old farm road, then north, until the fields wash up against the east side of Salinas.

There, at Hartnell College's Alisal campus, Molina settles behind his laptop, deft fingers furiously typing code like they were still plucking chiles, feeding bucket after bucket onto a packing machine that advances steadily on his heels.

He's there by 8:30 a.m., 15 minutes early for his first class. He'll stay until 10 p.m., later if they didn't kick him out. Weekends when he can. Holidays.  Dario Molina, 22, is in a hurry to outrun his past.  So, too, is Salinas.

With one foot in its fields and another edged toward Silicon Valley, Salinas is trying to reboot itself as the agricultural technology center of California. It hopes to turn the sons and daughters of farmworkers, like Molina, into coders for the next generation of data-driven, automated farming in a valley known as the salad bowl of the world.

"We're not trying to reinvent ourselves," said Andrew Myrick, the city's economic development manger. "There's cities all across the country that are trying to attract Google to come and build their headquarters. That's not who we are. We're agriculture."

No public high school in the Salinas valley taught computer science and only a sliver of Salinas' workforce worked in computer science for a living when the ag-tech idea took hold here about four years ago. Capital One had just bought out the city's largest private employer, HSBC, putting about 900 people out of work.

"That's when we said, "Well, what else do we really need to do to strengthen our economy so this doesn't happen again?'" City Manger Ray Corpuz said. "That's when we said we need to build around agriculture, ag-technology."

Andy Matsui, a Japanese immigrant who turned 50 acres into a fortune in orchids, kicked in $2.9 million to start a three-year computer science program at Hartnell College and Cal State Monterey Bay. That program has since coalesced with others in what now is known as the Steinbeck Innovation Cluster, named for Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck, who grew up here.

Matsui is not the only major grower stepping up to help. Native son Bruce Taylor, chief executive of Taylor Farms and a scion of the Church lettuce family, placed a $40-million bet on downtown last year when he opened a new corporate headquarters a quarter of a mile from skid row.

"In the 59 years that I've lived here, downtown has continued to go downhill," Taylor said. "We had an opportunity through the success of our business to maybe change the trajectory and to make a positive impact on the future of Salinas."

The new 2,800-square-foot Western Growers Center for Innovation and Technology in Old Town Salinas houses startup technology companies.   (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

On the bottom floor of the five-story French Colonial building is the centerpiece of Salinas' ambitions: the Western Growers Association Center for Innovation and Technology, which hopes to create the first wave of ag-tech start-ups. Ten have taken up residence so far — offering drone and satellite-based imaging, soil sensors, solar energy controls, app-based data management and other tools for a burgeoning "precision agriculture" movement.

High hopes have been dashed here before. The National Steinbeck Center, across the street from Taylor's headquarters, was founded amid similar optimism in 1998, but now is a dollar-a-year tenant in its own building, which the city sold for $3 million to Cal State Monterey Bay. (The university does not plan to hold any regular college courses there.)

Banners across the front of the center tout Salinas' ambitions to be a "City of Letters," though it is the government center of a county where 28% of residents lack basic literacy skills, according to the Panetta Institute for Public Policy.

Steinbeck himself was not charitable about his childhood home. "The mountains on both sides of the valley were beautiful and Salinas was not, and we knew it," he wrote in 1955. For the native son who set several novels here, the town founded on a high spot amid salt flats had "a blackness that seemed to rise out of the swamps."

The unflattering portrait stung then and haunts the city now. Salinas just ended its most deadly year for murders — 39 of them, clustered in the east side area where Molina attends computer class. Most were Latino, male and young — the median age in the city is under 29, far younger than the state average. One in five of Salinas' 157,000 residents lives below the poverty level, and the average per capita income was $17,810 in 2014 — 40% lower than the state's median, according to U.S. Census data.

"I understand what's going on — I don't have to like it," said Mayor Joe Gunter, an ex-cop who, like many here, wears his heart on his sleeve when it comes to his city. "Sure, we've had some issues; we've had some tough times. But what makes our community strong is the people. It has nothing to do with who's got the money."

Those who have the money have largely eschewed Salinas' downtown and east side. They choose north Salinas or the gated communities springing up on the highway leading toward the wealthy Monterey Peninsula. Just 1.8% of Salinas' population earns more than $200,000 a year, and they're clustered in the north and northeast side of town, according to the U.S. Census. The median household income in East Salinas and downtown, meanwhile, is under $40,000, about 35% below that of the state.

The disparities raise thorny questions for a quintessential agricultural town whose wealth and poverty spring from the same root of cheap labor.

"Is that just a separate segment, a rented part of the community that comes in to pick our fields, and gets replaced or is expendable? Or is it our community?" said Tim McManus, lead organizer of Communities Organized for Relational Power in Action, an umbrella group that is addressing Salinas' endemic poverty, crime and other socioeconomic troubles.

Although agriculture is the town's economic engine, almost 20% of Salinas' workers are employed in the service industry, with more than half of those jobs in food preparation or grounds maintenance, according to U.S. Census figures. About 25% of Salinas' workforce toils in the 369,187 acres of crops such as lettuce, strawberries, vegetables, grapes and flowers that generated about $4.5 billion in revenue in Monterey County in 2014.

Those workers are finding Salinas too expensive. Nearly half of renters dedicate 35% or more of their paychecks to pay rents that are only about $57 to $116 less than rents in Los Angeles, according to U.S. Census and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development data. A three-bedroom home actually is slightly more expensive in Salinas, according to HUD. Growers throughout the valley complain of a shortage of workers that has worsened over the last several years.  

proyecta 100,000 To expand Economic Opportunities for U.S. and Mexican Citizens

By felipe de ortego y Gasca

Scholar in Residence (Cultural Studies, Critical Theory, Public Policy) Western New Mexico University; Latinopia Columnist.
December 16, 2015, Silver City, NM. 
By Felipe de Ortego y Gasca
First Published in LATINOPIA, Com 36, February 2015 entitled:  
2015 Mexican Proyecta 100,000 at Western New Mexico University, 
Silver City, New Mexico artist

In 2014 there were 14,000 Mexican  students studying in American colleges and universities. In an effort to improve that number, the Mexican government approved Proyecta 100,000—a goodwill act that would help both countries by having 100,000 Mexican students studying in U.S. colleges and universities by 2018.  The goal of Proyecta 100,000 is to expand economic opportunities for U.S. and Mexican citizens and to develop a shared vision of educational cooperation while boosting student mobility and academic exchanges between the two countries. This was a monumental gesture by Mexico in light of historical grievances between the two countries.

Proyecta 100,000 is based on the U.S.-Mexico Bilateral Forum on Higher Education, Innovation and Research launched by U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in 2013. The forum is designed to enhance educational exchanges, scientific research partnerships and cross-border innovation that help both countries develop a 21st century workforce for mutual economic prosperity and sustainable social development. Proyecta 100,000 is complemented by the U.S. government’s 100,000 Strong in the Americas project, which aims to increase educational exchanges in the Western hemisphere (Jayme Blaschke, University News Service, Texas State University, March 11, 2015).

The level of academic, technical and scientific exchange between Mexico and the United States cannot be compared with the intensity of its trade and political relationship. Mexico, with 116 million inhabitants, only sends 14,000 students a year to the United States, and 4,000 U.S. students take courses for academic credit in Mexico each year. South Korea, with a population of 49 million, sends 72,000 students a year.

Bilateral Forum on Higher Education, Innovation and Research

On Thanksgiving Week of 2014 the first contingency of those 100,000 Mexican students arrived at Western New Mexico University—144 of them. Other Mexican students were assigned to other American colleges and universities. That first contingency at Western New Mexico University was

made possible by the acuity of Dr. Joseph Shepard, president of Western New Mexico University and Dr. Magdaleno Manzanarez his Vice-President for External Affairs and Professor of Political Science.

Though a relatively small school nestled at the edge of the Gila Wilderness in Silver City, New Mexico, Western New Mexico University is as president Shepard has been shaping it “the best of the small schools anywhere.” What makes this venture particularly notable is that the president of Western New Mexico University is bilingual—English and Spanish, as is Dr. Manzanarez who studied at the University of the Americas at Puebla, Mexico; both are confirmed Hispanophiles. And surprisingly both are alumni of Northern Arizona University at Flagstaff.  

Arriving at Western New Mexico University after a long day’s journey from Mexico with all the attendant officiousness of border crossing, they were met warmly by a cadre of university personnel who were truly excited by their presence. It was to be an event of memorable and prodigious proportions. The nexus of activities for the Mexican group was the Miller Library of the university with Dr. Gilda Baeza Ortego, the University Librarian (Director), as the chief cheerleader.

The permutations of success by which to judge Proyecta 100,000 are intricate because of the skein of emotions engendered by the event. Suffice to say the event was successful beyond measure. The relationships engendered by the event have become durable and heart-warming. E-mail traffic between that first group and their new-found friends at Western have flourished. The event is a model for trans-border cooperation.  

Dr. Gilda Baeza Ortego, Director of the University Library; Dr. Felipe de Ortego y Gasca, University Scholar in Resoidendce;  Dr. Miguel Angel Narvaez Silva, Professor and Chair School of Allied Health; Mike Morones, Mayor of Silver City, New Mexico at the Language Institute graduation ceremony with Mexican participants of Proyecta 100,000 at their graduation dinner in the cafeteria at Western New Mexico University December 18, 2014.

That model continues with the second group of Proyecta 100,000 at Western in 2015. Though fewer in number the excitement is still high among the Mexican student participants and their university hosts. Weather and constrained metropolitan activities are not deal-breakers for the Mexican participants. Their eyes are on the prize. They are studious, energetic, and affable. This generation of Proyecta 100,000 understands full well the historic significance of this moment and their role in it.

Important to bear in mind is that the costs of this initiative of Proyecta 100,000 are being borne by Mexico. In a way, this is a gift to the United States.  This is not a “bracero” program. This is an intellectual undertaking of high merit, obvious by the student engagement in the classroom activities of the program. The instruction is in English. Mexico wants its population to be bilingual—Spanish and English, the two major languages of the Western Hemisphere.

In both groups of Mexican participants the mix of interests and professional capacities has been diverse and ranging in disciplines. Their goal at Western New Mexico University—to hone and improve their English language skills sufficiently in order to engage fluently with English language professionals in the various disciplines of social and scientific research. They are not in the United States to study and learn those disciplines—they are already professionals in their disciplines. Abetting their English language skills is to cross-germinate their research findings in their Mexican universities with English language researchers in the same fields elsewhere in other countries. Intellection is the motive force of Proyecta 100,000.

Bear in mind that despite misleading public opprobrium Mexico is not a 3^rd-World country in pursuit of intellection. Despite centuries of European colonization, modern Mexico is a reflection of 20,000 years of high culture. The Spaniards did not bring civilization to Mexico—they brought guns, germs, and steel. By the time of the Spaniards, Mexico had a flourishing civilization unequalled by European standards as described by the Spanish chronicler Bernal Diaz del Castillo.

Until the 20^th century, history has tended to blur the presence (and progress) of indigenous civilizations in the Americas, favoring instead the template of Spanish civilization overlain on the pre-Cortesian past of the Americas—especially Mexico. The Spanish contributions to Mexican life are everywhere evident. And as mejicanos (either in Mexico or the United States) to disavow those contributions is to disavow our identity. Spain is an important part of who we are. So is Mexico before and after Cortez.

Felipe de Ortego y Gasca, “Mexico Before Cortez: A Brief Account”

Little known and little bruited is that of the two places on earth where writing emerged spontaneously one was in Oaxaca, Mexico and the other in Sumeria (present-day Iraq).

Western New Mexico University’s participation in Proyecta 100,000 is due to the reputation of its Language Institute organized in 2011 by Drs. Manzanarez and Ortego y Gasca. The Language Institute’s reputation has grown with its successes and Dr. Manzanarez’s determination to create enduring ligatures with Mexico’s academic professionals in pursuit of a sort of North American Free Trade Association of Intellection, unifying the Intellectual interests of the North American triad of Canada, Mexico and the United States.

The Language Institute was conceptualized in 2010 by Drs. Magdaleno Manzanarez and Ortego y Gasca and organized in 2011 as part of the Department of Chicano/Chicana and Hemispheric Studies when Ortego y Gasca was Chair of the Department of Chicano/Chicana and Hemispheric Studies.   In 2013 the Language Institute was transferred to the Division of External Affairs headed by Dr. Manzanarez who coupled its interests with the International Studies program of External Affairs, headed by Brazilian born Dr. Alexandra Neves.

The success of the Language Institute is due to the indefatigable efforts of Dr. Magdaleno Manzanarez and his forays into Mexico arranging MOUs with Mexican universities and Western New Mexico University. President Shepard’s whole-hearted support of the Language Institute’s efforts with Proyecta 100,000 is evident in the success of the Language Institute. Ultimately, however, the success of the Language Institute will be reflected in the success of the student participants. The clamorous cheers and jubilation at the Institute’s Award Dinner at the end of the program attest to the value and success of the program. This is a real effort in “Hands across the border” that should go a long way in dispelling the nefarious images of Mexico’s chaos in the hands of narcotraficantes.

One of the Mexican participants of Proyecta 100,00 in the 2015 group is Maria Rosa Avila Costa, co-author of Progress in Neurodegeneration: the Role of Metals, Nova Science Publishers 2009. These are not light-weight Mexican students. Except for the trace of an “accent” Avila Costa’s fluency in English is near-perfect. But she is nevertheless set on improving it to perfection. This mindset is pretty much the norm for this group of Mexican participants  of Proyecta 100.000.

REFERENCES

Ortego y Gasca, Felipe de. “Mexico Before Cortez: A Brief Account,” Historia Chicana,

October 25, 2012. Posted on Scribed October 26, 2012; Published in Tianguis, 2015.  

______________________________. “Some Cultural Implications of a Mexican American Border

Dialect of American English,” Studies in Linguistics, October 1970.  

______________________________. The Linguistic Imperative in Teaching English to Speakers of

Other Languages, The Center for Applied Linguistics, Georgetown University, 1969.  

______________________________. “Perspectives on Language, Culture, and Behavior,” International Lan­guage Reporter, Volume XV, 2^nd Quarter, No. 52, 1969.

 Ortego, Philip D. and Rosen, Carl L. Issues in Language and Reading Instruction of Spanish Speaking Children: An Annotated Bibliography, International Reading Association, 1969.

"A Plan' to help SAVE Dr. Hector P. Garcia Center'

February 17th, 1929 -- LULAC founded

===================
On this day in 1929 . . . 
  the League of United Latin American Citizens, originally called the United Latin American Citizens, was founded at Salón Obreros y Obreras in Corpus Christi, Texas. LULAC is the oldest and largest continually active Latino political association in the United States and was the first nationwide Mexican-American civil-rights organization. It grew out of the rising Texas-Mexican middle class and resistance to racial discrimination. The strength of the organization has historically been in Texas. 

San Bernardino, California County Board of Supervisor official 
wants to Arm county workers

February 6, 2016 | Michael F. Haverluck,  OneNewsNow.com 

" . . county employees are no longer sitting targets."

States Renew 
Push for Guns in Schools
By Tierney Sneed 
Feb. 4, 2015 

More states allowing armed school staff

There were 28 shootings in K12 schools and 16 on college campuses 
between December 2012 and February 2014
Alison DeNisco District Administration, May 2014

More states are allowing schools to have armed staff to defend students against active shooters, nearly a year and a half after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Connecticut.

Editor Mimi: For over ten years, the problem of overstayed visa holders has been of interest to me.  My interest was triggered by 9/11 and a local television interview of an Arab businessman. He said that he and his wife had come over on a VISA to visit Disneyland.  They decided to stay, twenty-five years ago and now had five children, all born in the United States.  His illegal status did not seem to worry about being interviewed on local television.  I contrasted his attitude with that of the Mexican laborers, crossing the borders, fearful, staying in the shadows.   

Since 2005, Somos Primos has included articles on the problems of Overstayed visas.  
Please go to the following issues:
www.somosprimos.com/sp2005/spmar05/spmar05.htm    
www.somosprimos.com/sp2006/spapr06/spapr06.htm
www.somosprimos.com/sp2006/spaug06/spaug06.htm
www.somosprimos.com/sp2010/spjun10/spjun10.htm
www.somosprimos.com/sp2010/spjul10/spjul10.htm
www.somosprimos.com/sp2010/spsep10/spsep10.htm
www.somosprimos.com/sp2010/spdec10/spdec10.htm
www.somosprimos.com/sp2011/spaug11/spaug11.htm
www.somosprimos.com/sp2012/spmay12/spmay12.htm
www.somosprimos.com/sp2013/spoct13/spoct13.htm  
www.somosprimos.com/sp2014/spdec14/spdec14.htm    
www.somosprimos.com/sp2016/spjan16/spjan16.htm

MISSING in US HISTORY - EL VAQUERO

 Vaquero – A Proud Tradition by José Antonio López
 File photo: RGG/Steve Taylor
Last updated November 9, 2014

José Antonio López

The Spanish Presence in Americas Roots
Co-chair: Judge Edward Butler and Mimi Lozano

HERITAGE DISCOVERY CENTER

“Comparing the better horses in order to appreciate their greater perfection, 
I must place the Spanish at the top, and give it my vote for being the most beautiful, 
the most noble, the best conformed, the bravest 
and the most worthy of being mounted by a great King” 
Salomon de la Broue, 1593

GENERAL HISTORY

When Spain began importing horses to our shores in the 1500s they brought several “types.” Most were of Spanish or Iberian stock. A blending of that rootstock has survived into modern times. Separated by time, distance, climate, and culture, they are known today by many individual names, but the bond that ties them all together is the original rootstock, giving rise to the 20th century term, “the Colonial Spanish Horse.”

At first glance, it appears the heyday of these hardy, small horses has past. Once integral to Native Americans and cattle ranchers, they fell out of favor and were replaced by taller, more modern breeds. But if you look closer, you’ll see living pieces of American history that are still quite useful. Moreover, if they are allowed to become extinct, the exceptional genetic material they are carrying will be lost forever. The ancient bloodlines and traits present in these Spanish Colonial Horses are important to preserve because they can no longer be found in this form anywhere in the world. In essence, they are a genetic time capsule from 500 years ago  

The Spanish Colonial Horse is the remnant of the once vast population of horses in the USA. The ancestors of these horses were instrumental in the ability of the Spanish Conquistadors to conquer the native civilizations and colonize new lands. The source of the original horses was Spain, at a time when the Spanish horse was being widely used for improvement of horse breeding throughout Europe. The Spanish horse of the time of the conquest had a major impact on most European light horse types (this was before breeds were developed, so type is a more accurate word). Types of horses in Spain at the time of the founding of the American populations did vary in color and conformation, and included gaited as well as trotting horses. The types, though variable, tended to converge over a relatively narrow range. The origin of these horses is shrouded in myth and speculation. Opinions vary, with one extreme holding that these are a unique subspecies of horse, to the other extreme that they are a more recent amalgamation of Northern European types with oriental horses. Somewhere in between is the view that these are predominantly of North African Barb breeding. Whatever the origin, it is undeniable that the resulting horse is distinct from most other horse types, which is increasingly important as most other horse breeds become homogenized around a very few types dominated by the Arabian, Thoroughbred, and Warmbloods.  

This historically important Spanish horse has become increasingly rare, and was supplanted as the commonly used improver of indigenous types by the Thoroughbred and Arabian. These three (Spanish, Thoroughbred, and Arabian) are responsible for the general worldwide erosion of genetic variability in horse breeds. The Spanish type subsequently became rare and is now itself in need of conservation. The horse currently in Spain is distinct, through centuries of divergent selection, from the Colonial Spanish Horse. The result is that the New World remnants are very important to overall conservation since the New World varieties are closer in type to the historic horse of the Golden Age of Spain than are the current horses in Iberia.  

At one time (about 1700) the purely Spanish horse occurred in an arc from the Carolinas to Florida, west through Tennessee, and then throughout all of the western coastal and mountain areas as well as the Great Plains. In the northeast and central east the colonists were from northwest Europe, and horses from those areas were more common than the Colonial Spanish type. Even in these non-Spanish areas the Colonial Spanish Horse was highly valued and did contribute to the overall mix of American horses. Due to their wide geographic distribution as pure populations as well as their contribution to other crossbred types the Colonial Spanish Horses were the most common of all horses throughout North America at that time, and were widely used for riding as well as draft. These were the common mount of the native tribes (some of whom measured wealth by the number of horses owned) as well as of the white colonists. Immense herds of feral animals ran free, and descended from escaped or strayed animals of the owned herds. The Colonial Spanish horses were the backbone of the burgeoning cattle ranches and the cattle industry.  

The relatively small handful of Colonial Spanish horses that persisted through the lean years has founded the present breed, and so is the horse of interest when considering the history of the breed today. The foundation that persisted through the period of low numbers will forever stamp the resulting breed in more important ways than will the millions of these horses that once roamed the continent but failed to survive the bottleneck of low numbers that occurred between the days of numerous Spanish Colonial horses and today.

Modern Usage and Temperament

Colonial Spanish Horses mature late, around five to seven years of age. They possess strong reasoning and self-preservation instincts. They do not tolerate abuse, nor are they push button drones, but are highly intelligent, and once bonded become very loyal partners. They are typically a “using” horse and breeders must not compromise stamina and uniqueness to satisfy modern day fashions. With a history as a cow horse and able mount in warfare, they have tremendous endurance and agility, making them well suited for a variety of modern tasks.  

Colonial Spanish Horses are of great historic importance in the New World, and are one of only a very few genetically unique horse breeds worldwide. They have both local and global importance for genetic conservation. They are sensible, capable mounts that have for too long been relegated a very peripheral role in North American horse breeding and horse use. The combination of great beauty, athletic ability, and historic importance makes this breed a very significant part of our heritage.  

Colonial Spanish Horses are rarely referred to as “mustang”. The usual term that is used in North America is Spanish Mustang. The term “mustang” carries with it the unfortunate connotation of any feral horse, so that this term serves poorly in several regards. A few Colonial Spanish horses have never had a feral background, but are instead the result of centuries of careful breeding. Also, only a very small minority of feral horses (mustangs) in North America qualify as being Spanish in type and breeding.  The “Wilbur-Cruce Colonial Spanish horses were never “feral” and as such are rare and unique in today’s equine populations.  

The important part of the background of the Colonial Spanish Horses is that they are indeed Spanish. These are descendants of the horses that were brought to the New World by the Conquistadors, and today include some feral, some rancher, some mission, and some Native American strains. Colonial Spanish type is very rare among modern feral mustangs, and the modern Bureau of Land Management (BLM) mustangs should not be confused with Colonial Spanish horses, as the two are very distinct with only a few exceptions to this rule.

Colonial Spanish Horses descend from horses introduced from southern Spain, and possibly North Africa, during the period of the conquest of the New World. In the New World this colonial resource has become differentiated into a number of breeds, and the North American representatives are only one of many such breeds throughout the Americas. These horses are a direct remnant of the horses of the Golden Age of Spain, which type is now mostly or wholly extinct in Spain. The Colonial Spanish horses are therefore a treasure chest of genetic wealth from a time long gone. In addition, they are capable and durable mounts for a wide variety of equine pursuits in North America, and their abilities have been vastly undervalued for most of the last century. These are beautiful and capable horses from a genetic pool that heavily influenced horse breeding throughout the world five centuries ago, yet today they have become quite rare and undervalued.

As is typical of local, adapted type populations (landraces), newly discovered herds of Colonial Spanish horses continue to come to the attention of breeders of this type of horse. A herd of Colonial Spanish horses brought to the attention of breed enthusiasts was found in the late 1980s in Sasabe, Arizona and fits into the rancher strain category, although it also is the last remnant (so far known) of Spanish Mission type horses. These are the horses of the Wilbur-Cruce family. This strain was begun with 25 mares and a stallion that were bought in early 1880’s from Juan Sepulveda who was a horse trader from Northern Mexico with livestock from Mission Delores. The horses originated in the Northern Sonora region of Mexico that was the area of Father Kino's missions. This area had been a source of high quality horses since around 1700.  

The Wilbur-Cruce herd was brought to the attention of breeders of Colonial Spanish horses in 1989, and illustrates an important point when dealing with landraces such as the Colonial Spanish Horse. lt is critical to the conservation of the genetic resource of these populations for the organized studbooks to remain open and receptive to inclusion of new pure herds as they are recognized and documented. As time goes on such new herds will be recognized only rarely. They will always contain valuable genetic material for conservation. The Wilbur-Cruce horses are more variable in type than the horses in the registries, even though they do have a Spanish origin. The Spanish brought several different types of horses from Iberia as the explored and colonized new lands.  This is interesting in that they are an example of a closed herd that still includes some outlier Spanish types that are taller and heavier than the usual Colonial Spanish Horse type.  

COLOR VARIATION  

Colors of the Colonial Spanish Horse vary widely, and it is through the Spanish influence that many other North American horse breeds gain some of their distinctive colors. Colonial Spanish Horses come in a full range of solid colors including black, bay, brown, chestnut, sorrel, grullo, zebra dun, red dun, buckskin, palomino, and cream. Other solid colors such as the champagne colors, and even silver dapple, occur rarely. It is consistent among most populations of these horses that black and colors derived from it are relatively common. This contrasts with the relative rarity of these colors in horses of Arabian or Thoroughbred breeding.  

In many horses these base colors are combined with white hairs or patches to result in gray, roan, paint (tobiano, overo, and sabino types), pure white, and the leopard complex of blankets, roans, and dark spots usually associated with the Appaloosa breed. The frame overo pattern is especially interesting, since it is almost entirely limited to North American Colonial Spanish horses or their descendants. From that origin the color pattern has spread to other regions and breeds, but all evidence points to its being a Spanish pattern originally. Different breeders select for several of these colors and patterns, but all can be shown to have been present in the Spanish horses at the time of the conquest and they are all part of the heritage of this horse.

 Linebacked duns (zebra, red, and grullo) are frequently associated with Colonial Spanish Horses, largely because these colors do indeed betray a Spanish connection in Western North American horses. These colors are very widespread in pony and some draft breeds throughout Europe and Asia, and so are by themselves not an accurate predictor of Spanish breeding in horses. They are attractive colors, and common in Colonial Spanish Horses, but are a very inaccurate indicator of relative purity of breeding.  

BLOOD TYPES AND DNA TYPES  

Recent advances in blood typing and DNA typing have held out promise for a nonsubjective approach to deciding if candidate populations (or individual horses) are Spanish in origin or not. Dr. Gus Cothran of the University of Kentucky has been instrumental in pursuing these techniques, and works closely with others in the conservation and identification of these horses.  

Bloodtyping and DNA typing are both critically valuable and important adjuncts to conservation programs, but must be used wisely for the sort of information they provide. They are not a panacea for the difficult and subjective challenges that face conservationists interested in Colonial Spanish Horses. Neither of these techniques is powerful enough to direct conservation programs without attention to overall conformation and breed type as well as historical data.  

The Wilbur-Cruce Colonial Spanish Mission horses have the conformation and breed types as well as the historical data and the proof of genetic isolation as written about and documented by Ms. Antonia Wilbur-Cruce in her family records and her book “Beautiful, Cruel Country”. All of the foundation horses taken from the Wilbur-Cruce ranch were bloodtyped and documented by Dr. P. Sponenberg and Dr. Gus Cauthran.   This family history and documentation places these horses in a unique and rare category, and in GREAT need of preservation/conservation and support.

For further information about the Wilbur-Cruce horses or to make an appointment to visit them in person, please contact:

Robin Lea Collins  
Heritage Discovery Center  
Equine Division – Rancho del Sueno  
Phone 559 868-8681
Fax: 559 868-8682  
Web:  www.ranchodelsueno.org  

HERITAGE PROJECTS

AB XX (Alejo): 

Implementation 
of Ethnic Studies

New Ethnic Studies Bill by Assemblymember Luis Alejo

IRVINE – The Black Student Union at UCI is demanding the university abolish the school’s Police Department and “any additional paramilitary force on campus.” Calling the university “an anti-black institution,” the seven-page letter says the university has “failed to address black suffering on its campus.” In response, UCI officials praised the campus police as “a highly respected team of officers who risk their lives to ensure the safety of our students, faculty and staff. We are proud of them.” A year ago, the Black Student Union also called for abolishing the department along with other changes. 

University administrators then convened a task force and agreed to many of the demands, including the creation of a black residence hall and a new Black Resource Center with a $200,000-plus budget to pay for a director, staff, programs and student interns. 

The university also has elevated the Program in African American Studies to department status. 

“UCI's administration, staff and faculty are committed to a diverse, inclusive environment,” UCI spokeswoman Cathy Lawhon said in an e-mail Thursday. “Significant progress has been achieved.” Damiyr Davis, 23, a member of the student group’s demand team, said the university’s reports of progress are exaggerated. Their demands either have been delayed or changed from what the group originally requested, Davis said Thursday. The students are concerned that the new Black Resource Center, for example, will cater to non-blacks. The students also complain that UCI did not heed their suggestion of naming the center after Marsha P. Johnson, an African American transgender activist who died in 1992. 

It is unclear how many students the Black Student Union represents. Davis said events can draw hundreds, while their meetings usually attracting 15 to 30 students. In the 2015-16 academic year, 719 of 25,256 undergraduate students identified themselves as African American. 
Contact the writer: rkopetman@ocregister.com 
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
I found it really interesting that 15 to 30 students out of a undergraduate population 25,256 were able to get the attention of the university, get a commitment for a Black Resource Center and  get a write up in the newspaper. Seems that the written word is powerful.   

Mimi Lozano 

In a message dated 1/31/2016 10:30:00 A.M. Pacific Standard Time, rvpadilla1@GMAIL.COM writes:  

Mimi,

n Tue, Feb 2, 2016 at 1:24 PM, Mike Acosta <mikea@winfirst.com> wrote:

Ray, what you’ve laid out as a political process  is more or less how effective local political clubs operate in california today.  Why reinvent the wheel as  it appears you’re suggesting. Chicanos in California have taken on a more independent norm ; they’ve begun to integrate the independent /democratic clubs and from an elected perspective are working hard to keep an eye on raza. For example offering student aid to dreamers and citizen chicanos or  approving drivers licenses  to undocumented immigrants; chicanos  in california also have one of lowest unemployment rates in the nation; things are not perfect but  progress is occurring where it never really existed before.

. The expression “changing collective thinking to collective doing” has kind of an either/ or sheepish sound to it; lemmings also feature collective thinking and doing, so if one thinks of falling off  the cliff and does it ,the rest collectively  follow suit. politicians  that today envision chicanos as lemmings are outdated ,no longer  with it…  

regards

Viva la raza.  

From: Foro de comunicacion para Latinos del suroeste de los EEUU [mailto:LARED-L@LISTSERV.CYBERLATINA.NET] On Behalf Of Raymond Padilla
Sent: Wednesday, February 03, 2016 4:01 PM
To: LARED-L@LISTSERV.CYBERLATINA.NET
Subject: Re: [LRL] The Black Legend  

The Legislatures of Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, and Texas 
have approved their individual state's resolution recognizing 

Chicano History Week, Feb 2-8th
Report by Margarito J. Garcia III, Ph.D.
aicragjm1205@aol.com
Copyright 2016
All Rights Reserved 

Another source for more information about the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo can be found at: http://latinopia.com/latino-history/latinopia-document-the-treaty-of-guadalupe-hidalgo / 
written by  Tia Tenopia. 

Dr. Isabel Montemayor

HISTORICAL TIDBITS

On this Day February 10th, 1721 -- French castaway reaches Natchitoches
February 2nd, 1874  - -  Ursuline Academy Founded in Dallas

On this Day February 10th, 1721 -- French castaway reaches Natchitoches

February 2nd, 1874  - -  Ursuline Academy Founded in Dallas

HONORING HISPANIC LEADERSHIP

        Adiós, Francisco X. Alarcón: 1954-2016

===================================

© Rafael Jesús González 2016

*On the morning of Jan. 15, 2016, beloved Chicano poet Francisco X. Alarcón died of cancer. He was 61. Below are photos from the event ¡Viva la Vida! on Jan. 10 at Cafe La Boheme in San Francisco’s Mission District, celebrating Francisco’s life. Please see our next issue on Jan. 28 for a special tribute to the life and legacy of Francisco X. Alarcón, featuring art and poems from his contemporaries. If you have a poem, images or artwork of Francisco that you would like to submit, please send to editor@eltecolote.org.

Photo by Claudia Escobar

Memory of Musician, Poet and Healer Mamacoatl was Honored at the Brava Theater
By Laura Wenus Posted January 23, 2016 

Our beloved Juan Francisco Lara is now in heaven and will watch over us like the angel he was here on earth.  Announcements about a memorial will be forthcoming. In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Lara Family Scholarship Fund affiliated with the Hispanic Education Endowment Fund at the Orange County Community Foundation are welcome.  Sara Lundquist, On behalf of the Lara Family

This brief list does not include everyone we want to reach. Please help me share this important news as you deem appropriate.


Dr. Juan Francisco Lara

Juan Francisco Lara is a second generation Mexican American San Franciscan and a Pasadena resident since 1972. His wife Joanne was a Sister of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and a PUSD Teacher. They have a son, Ankarino, a daughter, Kiela, and three grandchildren Leotei, Kalyxtomar and Eisling. Lara’s career began in 1965. It's been one of teaching, mentoring, scholarship program development, curriculum and teacher professional development, public educational and community service, and the pursuit of access and equity to higher education for underrepresented racial and ethnic minority students.

He taught, coached baseball and theatre at De La Salle and taught at Cathedral HS when he was a Christian Brother. He also taught at Compton, East LA and Pasadena CC’s, the UCLA and Claremont Graduate Schools of Education and the UCI School of Social Science.

Lara received a Ph.D. from UCLA, an MAT from Occidental College, and a BA in English from St. Mary’s College. He was a CORO and National Council of La Raza Fellow and a Tomas Rivera Center Scholar.

For 35 years he served the University of California. At UCLA, he held positions of Dean; Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean for the UCLA Graduate School of Education; Assistant Provost, College of Letters and Science; EOP and Academic Advancement Program Director and Associate Director of Undergraduate Admissions, and he created a Center for Academic Programs that provided academic professional development for K-12 and community college teachers.

He is Assistant Vice Chancellor Emeritus, Enrollment Services at UC Irvine and founding executive director of the UCI Center for Educational Partnerships. He served on the Compton, Santa Ana and Pasadena CC Foundation Boards, and was Chair of the OC United Way Education Impact Council. Locally he has served on the Boards for the Brigden Ranch Neighbors Assn, Five Acres, Journey House, Project Day-Juvenile Diversion Project, the PCC Foundation, Pasadena Scholarship Committee and the City of Pasadena Charter Commission and Resource Allocation Board.

Beyond all this, Dr. Lara is always willing to lend a hand to those who might benefit from his stentorian voice, his academic or administrative knowledge, or a kind gesture that comes from his grand heart. Many have benefited from his generous gifts of dedication and wisdom.

Sara Lundquist, Ph.D.
Vice President, Student Services
Santa Ana College
1530 W. 17th Street
Santa Ana, CA 92706
714.564.6085, office
714.564.0711, fax

Sent by Frances Rios
francesrios499@hotmail.com

Please click for information on a special March 13th event honoring Dr. Lara

Attorney Peter Quezada taken in his office.

The group photograph is the A-Team and was taken in the spring of 1962 (Peter was a senior and I was a freshman). Standing (L-R): Gilberto Vergara, Ricardo Garza, Nicolás Hernández, Ricardo Mendez, Enrique Salazar, Francisco Segovia, Gilberto Quezada, Jorge Valdivia, Peter Quezada, Raúl Jiménez, Coach Jerry Janert.  Kneeling (L-R): Gerardo Aguirre, Héctor Nava, Faustino Castañeda, Salvador Aguirre, Felipe Sánchez, Fidel Elizondo. 

I pray to God his spirited soul to keep. 

Gilberto 
jgilbertoquezada@yahoo.com

Latino soldiers
 Cebu, Phillipines, WW II

  LATINO AMERICAN PATRIOTS

National Hispanic Vietnam Veterans Memorial Clean-up Day 
Los Angeles 

Boyle Heights:  Community leaders lead by Los Angeles County Department of Military and Veteran Affairs Commissioner Antonio Chapa helped in cleaning up the National Hispanic Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The Memorial, hidden behind the PayLess store on the corner of Cesar Chavez Boulevard and Soto Street was a pleasant walk thru where you were able to rest and have lunch in a quite oasis in the middle of the business district of Boyle Heights. It was built to honor our Hispanic Vietnam Heroes.

Supported by Congressman Edward Roybal and submitted in February 1968 to the 101st Congress as H.J.Res.144 - Designating El Paseo de Las Flores Pedestrian Promenade and Hispanic Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Los Angeles, California, as the "Hispanic Vietnam Veterans National Memorial".

I, Alfred Lugo, used to visit the Memorial many years ago. On a recent visit discovered it locked and in disarray, Memorial missing, trash, garbage and graffiti scattered throughout the walk way. I reached out and Commissioner Antonio Chapa took the lead and the grounds have a clean look.

Commissioner Chapa will be holding a meeting with volunteers to discuss the future of the Memorial, restoration of the Memorial and El Paseo De Las Flores. We are looking for anyone interested in helping to restore the Memorial in honor of our Hispanic Vietnam Veterans. Please contact Commissioner Antonio Chapa at achapa45@gmail.com. Commissioner Chapa represents District 1 Supervisor Hilda Solis.  We will be announcing our next meeting soon.

Source:  News on Veterans and Military Events and Issues, a newsletter/bulletin 
by Alfred Lugo
Documentary Producer/Playwright

Events coming up: Please contact Alfred Lugo for details, alfredo.lugo@verizon.net 
EUGENE A. OBREGON FOUNDATIONS MEDAL OF HONOR DAY CEREMONY, March 25, 2016
THE LAND GRAB, CALLING ALL VETERANS,                                                        March 30, 2016
WHVVD, WELCOME HOME VIETNAM VETERANS DAY,  Sunday                          April 3, 2016

Post Card from Navy Commander (retired) Everett Alvarez, jr.

What an honor to receive his Postcard. During the past 14 years his exhibit and his story 'RETURN WITH HONOR' has been seen and viewed by thousands of people across America...

Commander Alvarez was the First American Pilot "shot-down" over North Vietnam was captured, tortured and spent Eight (8) years and Seven (7) months in captivity as (POW). Commander Alvarez, is the Second longest American POW in the History of the United States.

While serving with the First Cavalry Division Airmobile, 2/7 D Company, I was wounded by a VC hand grenade on my 20th birthday, January 16, 1967, alongside Sgt. Fred Booker, our company's Forward Observer. I was Booker's RTO--radioman. Also wounded with us was Medic Robert Martinez, from Corpus Christi, Texas, and Private George White, from North Carolina. We were fortunate to have survived, thank the Good Lord. Robert Martinez and  Booker spent many months in the hospital before they were able to go home to  their families.

Robert Martinez being awarded the Bronze Star. He had also been awarded the Silver Star and Purple Heart. Robert Martinez and George White, relaxing and reading what looks like the Stars and Stripes News Paper, in the jungle and inside their tent.

Fred Booker at the age of 17,  was a British paratrooper.  He is from Derbyshire, England. He served with the British Army in the Korean War, and the Suez Canal, Egypt. On the right, Fred is 84-years-old. Sgt. Fred Booker taken a few months ago in his Army dress blue uniform.  When the Good Lord calls him home, he wants to be waked and buried in his Army dress blue uniform. He is proud of having served in the British Army and the United States Army.

Photo of a young soldier who thought he knew it all, until he almost lost his life in the jungle of Vietnam. Little did he know then, that one day, he would be back in combat in the mean streets of New York City, combating not just the bad guys on the streets, but the enemy within. Then there's the reunion with me and Fred Booker in Miami, Florida, after 40-years of not seeing each other. We held a drink to toss our friendship and coming home.

Wearing his NYPD police uniform, the once young soldier who thought he knew it all.  As a cop he had a lot to learn about who were the true cop's at heart, and who were not. Thank God, most were, and still are.  God bless our law enforcement officers and the military men and women who proudly serve and protect us.

                                                          

EARLY LATINO AMERICAN PATRIOTS

The California Compatriot


The Official Newsletter of the California Society, SAR
January 2016
140th California Society SAR Board of Managers Meeting 

"The American Revolution was a world war."

Seated l to R-Iris Engstrand, professor of History at USD, Ambassador Francisco Javier Vallaure de Acha, Consul General of Spain in Los Angeles and Maria AngelesO´Donnell-Olson the Honorary Consul of Spain in San Diego.  Standing L to R: Elizabeth Martinez, LeroyMartinez, Steve Renouf, Joy Renouf, Ed Butler, Phil Hinshaw and Mary Hinshaw.

The American Revolution was a world war – the French and Spanish battled the British all over the globe, and prevented the British from committing sufficient resources to suppress the American Revolution.   President Gregory presented an SAR Certificate of Appreciation to Judge Butler for his informative presentation. 

Consul General Francisco Javier Vallaure de Acha of the Spanish Consulate in Los Angeles commented on Spanish assistance in the American Revolution.  He was accompanied by Maria Angeles O'Donnell de Olson, the Honorary Consul of Spain in San Diego.

The California Society of the Sons of the American Revolution Preserving America’s Precious Heritage since 1875!

Visit CaliforniaSAR.org

Sent by Hon. Judge Edward F.  Butler 
SARPG0910@aol.com

Bernardo de Gálvez Award  

Born July 23, 1746

http://www.spainusa.org/en/awards/bernardo-de-galvez-award

With this Bernardo de Gálvez award, the Fundacion Consejo España- Estados Unidos wants to honor and acknowledge the work, dedication, and role of those American citizens or institutions that have promoted cooperation, supported reciprocal knowledge exchange or developed initiatives that improved the relations between Spain and the United States.

This annual award, created in 2007, is named after the Spaniard Bernardo de Gálvez (1746-1786), who was the Governor of Louisiana during the American Revolution and a personal friend of Thomas Jefferson. He was the founder of the city of Galveston (Texas) and his actions decisively decisively to George Washington's army's triumph capturing the British forts of Baton Rouge and Natchez in 1780, besieging Fort George in Pensacola in 1781, and capturing the New Providence British naval base at Bahamas in 1782.

	I Bernardo de Gálvez Award: Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico 09/29/2007  Bill Richardson, Governor of New Mexico received from Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri, President of the Foundación, the first Bernardo de Galvez Award for his continuous work in strengthening the...
	II Bernardo de Gálvez Award: The Hispanic Society of America 10/02/2009 In the second edition of this Award, the Foundation chose the Hispanic Society of America for the outstanding contribution made by this institution to foster cultural ties between Spain and the USA.

The award ceremony took place on October 2, 2009 in Valencia, with the framework of the Joaquin Sorolla exhibition, sponsored by Fundación Bancaja, part of whose paintings come from the Hispanic Society.  

Mr. George Moore, President of this institution, received the Award in the hands of Mr. Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri.  In the second edition of this Award, the Foundation chose the Hispanic Society of America for the outstanding contribution made by this institution to foster cultural ties between Spain and the USA...  

	III Bernardo de Gálvez Award: Jonathan Brown  11/22/2011  The Fundación Consejo España-Estados Unidos presented the third Bernardo de Galvez Award to Jonathan Brown, professor and Art historian, for his dedication of a lifetime to promote the Spanish Art...
	IV Bernardo de Gálvez Award: Richard Gardner 12/04/2013  Former U.S. Ambassador to Spain, Richard Gardner, received the Bernardo de Gálvez Award of the Fundación Consejo España – EE.UU., for his exemplary dedication to the strengthening of ties between the...
	V Bernardo de Gálvez Award: Bob Menéndez 03/02/2015 Senator Robert “Bob” Menéndez received from His Majesty the King Juan Carlos the fifth Bernardo de Gálvez Award on March 2nd, 2015, at the residence of the Spanish Embassy to the US in Washington D.C...
	VI Bernardo de Gálvez Award: Ford Motor Company 09/18/2015  On 18th of September H.M. the King Felipe VI presented Ford Motor Company, represented by its Chairman Mr. Mark Fields, the VI Bernardo de Gálvez Award, granted by the Fundación Consejo España–.

===========
Krueger Middle School Fife & Drum Corps On Wednesday, January 6th, a project that has been in the idea stage for three years finally came to fruition. Granaderos Joe Perez and Jesse Benavides gave a presentation and instruction to several band students at Krueger Middle School. Joe spoke to the students about the role of young fifers and drummers during the American Revolution and Jesse provided instruction on drumming technique and the 13 essential rudiments of drumming. Band Director Vicky Watson provided technical guidance to those students interested in playing the fife. Although this is just one more step in a long journey, it is hoped that by starting a fife & drum corps at the school, we may develop future musicians for the Granaderos y Damas de Gálvez Fife & Drum Corps.

Our chapter is providing the school with two colonial drums and five fifes to get them started. We will not provide any more drums but we will provide more fifes as needed. The school will keep the fifes but the drums will remain the property of our chapter. We have much more work to do in providing lessons, uniforms and other support, but this is a big step forward for us.

“Conference on Bernardo de Gálvez and Independence of the United States” The “Conference on Bernardo de Gálvez and Independence of the United States” was held January 21, 2016 in Madrid, Spain. While our group has been recognizing Gálvez for the past forty years, he is starting to receive more attention in Spain. Read at: http://thediplomatinspain.com/en/event/conference-bernardo-galvez-independence-united-states  

Gálvez Opera Project, At our January meeting, Marec Béla Steffens presented a reading of the first four scenes of his opera about Bernardo de Gálvez and it was met with much enthusiasm.  Our chapter raised a total of $420 in donations toward the project. The reading exhibited an excellent blend of historical accuracy, drama and comedy relief.

Sent by Joe Perez jperez329@sat.rr.com  La Granada, Feb 20, 2016   www.granaderos.org
Also sent by Walter Herbeck, Tejanos2012 ??

Spanish SURNAMES

Don Juan Pablo Grijalva 
by Eddie Grijalva

DNA

"We Are Cousins" DNA Project 

The "We Are Cousins" DNA Project is for any one interested in Y-DNA and mtDNA research whose paternal and maternal roots are from the States of Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, Coahuila, and South Texas. Our main goal is to identify the DNA for every last name found in South Texas and Northeastern Mexico and identify different DNA lineages for any given last name. 

For a list of identified Surnames,  go to: 
https://www.familytreedna.com/groups/
the-we-are-cousins-dna-project/surnames 

Project Manager: Moises Garza
http://www.wearecousins.info/dna/?utm_campaign=website&utm
_source=sendgrid.com&utm_medium=email&v=7516fd43adaa

1. Group people whom have tested with FTDN into a group whom have ancestry in Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas, Coahuila and South Texas.

2. Identify participants whom have tested their Y-DNA and traced their paternal lineage ten generations or more with proven documentation.​

3. Identify participants whom have tested their mtDNA and traced their maternal lineage ten generations or more with proven documentation.​

​4. Generate reports with DNA findings and supporting documentation proving lineage of direct paternal ancestry.

Group President, Moises Garza, Cordelia Dancause López,
 and José Antonio “Joe” López, February 7th presenter;

Las Villas del Norte Genealogical Group, 
Mission, Texas

It is in settling regions in the Southwest, such as Las Villas del Norte, that sets Mexican-descent U.S. citizens apart from our sister Hispanic groups who came later as immigrants.  Villas del Norte descendants and Hispanics who originate in the Southwest (Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and California) are not immigrants to the U.S. since our ancestors were already here when the U.S. took the land from Mexico.  

. 

Science News from research organizations
Could Thomas Jefferson's DNA Trail Reveal Middle-Eastern Origins?

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070328111115.htm 
Sent by John Inclan  fromgalveston@yahoo.com 

FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH

History at Home: A Guide to Genealogy
by Andrea Davis

Highly recommended by Bailey Jansen

Much Anticipated Historic Freedmen’s Bureau Project Reaches Halfway Point
 with More Than One Million Records Transcribed
More Online Volunteers Needed to Hit Juneteenth Goal

“I was just amazed,” expressed Jeppsen. “I didn’t know the government had these programs for [Civil War-era African Americans]. I just think about what happened to them when they were freed.” She has worked on Freedmen Bureau documents that include labor contracts, pensions, and rations, as well as information about a murder trial.

Jeppsen encourages others to participate in indexing. “It really doesn’t take much time. It’s something they can do, regardless of their circumstances. If they’re hooked up to a computer, [they] can do it.”
Reed anticipates there will be more than two million names online for African Americans to search for their family when the Freedmen’s Bureau Project is complete. And although there has been a steady stream of new volunteers joining the project each week, more volunteers are needed to complete the project on time.

Once the project is finished, in addition to being freely searchable online at FamilySearch.org, the database will be shared with the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) in Washington, D.C. NMAAHC is also a sponsor of the Freedmen’s Bureau Project and will open on September 24, 2016.

“The genealogical community is fully embracing these records,” said Hollis Gentry, genealogy specialist at NMAAHC. “You’ll find African American genealogists are quite excited about the Freedmen’s Bureau Project. It offers a tremendous potential for them to find their ancestors in this large group of federal records that may bridge the gap between freedom and slavery in the records.”

“We greatly appreciate the contributions made by our partners, by national and international volunteers, and by Smithsonian volunteers,” added Gentry. “Each indexed document brings us closer to reclaiming our ancestral heritage and historical past. We look forward to the completion of the project in 2016 and invite everyone with an interest in American history and African American culture to support our efforts to index the records of the Freedmen’s Bureau.”

The Freedmen’s Bureau, formerly known as the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands, was organized under an 1865 Congressional order at the conclusion of the Civil War. It offered assistance to refugees and freed slaves in many ways. Handwritten records of the Freedmen’s Bureau include marriage registers, hospital or patient registers, educational records, labor contracts, indenture or apprenticeship papers, and many more kinds of documents. The records were compiled in 15 states and the District of Columbia.

For more information on the project, visit DiscoverFreedmen.org.

About FamilySearch
FamilySearch International is the largest genealogy organization in the world. FamilySearch is a nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Millions of people use FamilySearch records, resources, and services to learn more about their family history. To help in this great pursuit, FamilySearch and its predecessors have been actively gathering, preserving, and sharing genealogical records worldwide for over 100 years. Patrons may access FamilySearch services and resources free online at FamilySearch.org or through over 4,813 family history centers in 130 countries, including the main Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Media Contact
FamilySearch Public Relations

© 2016 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. 
A service provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

St. Liberta, St. Quiteria and their Seven Sisters, Novtruplets
Refugio Fernandez

EDUCATION

Fr. Patrick S. Guillen, Chicano Priest
 & Co-Founder of Libreria Del Pueblo, 

named as our 
LEAD Summit VII Honorary Chair/Padrino de Honor

Patricio Guillen Santoyo was born in 1929 in Bellflower, California, and the eighth child of ten born to Patricio Guillen Zendejas from Michoacan and Juana Santoya Castorena from Aguascalientes, Mexico. Both of his parents immigrated to the United States at the turn of the 20th Century. 

Just 8 months after he was born, the Great Depression of 1929 shook the economy and his family soon lost both their dry farm and family home in Bellflower. To make matters worse the Long Beach earthquake of 1932 hit the area badly and they spent several days living outdoors until the after-shocks lessened in intensity and finally stopped completely. 

From 1932 on, his family became one of the thousands of migrant Mexican American farm working families barely earning enough for food and lodging. As the Depression intensified, 4 of his siblings and 15 of his cousins all began to die in their teen years due to the great Tuberculosis Epidemic that struck with deadly force. 

Patricio graduated from Chino High School in 1948, attended both La Verne College and Immaculate Heart Major Seminary and graduated in 1957 with his Bachelor’s degree.  He was ordained a Roman Catholic Priest on March 19, 1957 (Diocese of San Diego, CA). 

Fr. Guillen recounts in his written essay “THE JOURNEY OF A CHICANO PRIEST” (2011) that he began his priestly, pastoral ministry right after his ordination in St. Joseph’s Cathedral, and as he lay flat on the floor of the Sanctuary during the chanting of the litany of the Saints he “offered his life to God in the service of His People.”  Little did he know then what lay ahead in his five-year priestly ministry as an associate pastor, two years as a catholic Chaplain of Narcotic Rehabilitation Center, and three years of Post Graduate Studies, Diocesan Ministries and Pastor of four different parishes. 

The Civil Rights movement of the late 1950’s and 60’s was emerging more strongly each day, as he wrote “There was too little time to focus on the social issues that we were facing. Even after Vatican II the people found it difficult to move beyond traditional form of Catholicism-Mass and the sacraments.” Two of the most consoling experiences were supporting the campesinos under Cesar Chavez, and the other was the founding of PADRES (the National Association of Chicano Priests).  But it was Hispanic Ministry that began to broaden the scope of pastoral ministry, forming Comunidades de Base and establishing a school of ministry for the formation of lay leadership in the areas of Catechetics, Evangelization, Liturgy and Social Action. 

It was in October of 1986 he began to work with friends who were committed to organize the community and together they formed and founded Libreria Del Pueblo, Inc (LDP) a community-based non-profit organization with a 501 (c) (3) status. 

Fr. Guillen recounts, “Too often we neglect to read the Bible, carefully under the historical context of the Historical Jesus and his Liberating practice. I can truly say that my experience in the Hierarchical Institutional Church has been a very limited ministry. In a way I can say that since I was allowed the opportunity to work for PADRES and for Libreria Del Pueblo Inc., an entirely new exciting ministry has opened up for me. Little did I dream that I would thank God for allowing me to work outside of the institutional Catholic Parish Ministry.” 

For 30 years now, LDP has primarily focused on improving the lives of  Latinos who reside in the counties of San Bernardino and Riverside. LDP has been serving the community by providing health, educational, citizenship classes and social services with a focus on the immigrant community.  

 LDP is strategically located in the heart of the city of San Bernardino's poorest barrios "The West side."  For three decades the organization has quietly gone about its work sowing seeds of life and hope for some of the poorest and neediest of those in the community: victims of domestic violence, farm workers, undocumented individuals and juveniles.  

A Catholic priest for nearly 60 years, Fr. Guillen served as executive director of LDP until stepping down from his role a few years ago under the advice of his physician. At the celebration of LDP’s 25-year anniversary, Fr. Guillen shared “I realize how my entire life as a child with my migrant parents, my years of poverty, hunger and homelessness and deaths have provided me with compassion, patience and love for those whom we daily serve. The opportunities I have had to educate myself and the desire and the need to continue learning has helped me not full into that dreaded routine that leads to a conservatism that destroys the spirit of creativity and freedom that we need as wings to always look ahead and beyond, not only backwards where we have been.”

On behalf of the LEAD Organization, we are truly honored that he has accepted to serve as our Padrino de Honor as he is among those we consider a community giant and pillar who has contributed in the fields of education, civil rights, justice for human rights, preserving the arts, journalism, youth leadership development and political awareness.

Sent by Dorinda Moreno
pueblosenmovimientonorte@gmail.com 

Ethnic Studies Curriculum

A short film produced for the African American Policy Forum shows metaphors for obstacles to equality, which affirmative action tries to alleviate. (Erica Pinto/The African American Policy Forum). Some parents were outraged after students shown ‘white guilt’ cartoon for Black History Month. "The objective, Perry said, was to allow students to “engage American history through the lens of African Americans and other marginalized groups” and to understand that “we all have multiple identities.”
http://www.aacllc.agency/r?u=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2016/02/11/parents-
outraged-after-students-shown-white-guilt-cartoon-for-black-history-month/?hpid=hp_local-news_
video-controversy-1145am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&e=5b51120478616c8e7e13641
c2700a0af&utm_source=laprogressives&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2_18_16_esnc&n=6  

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Multicultural Education Conference (Feb 27)
via ESN Sacramento: On February 27, 2016 Sacramento State University will provide a unique opportunity to bring Ethnic Studies groups together to discuss strategies for implementing Ethnic Studies: http://www.csus.edu/coe/events/mce/  The conference is free to attend with food provided. 

Ethnic Studies Summit (April 16)
Chapman University 10AM-3:30PM Goals:

Provide a context for the Ethnic Studies Movement in California 
Begin the dialogue about Ethnic Studies at Chapman University 
Celebrate existing and support ongoing implementation of Ethnic Studies in Orange County schools 

info@ethnicstudiesnow.com 

 
Inclusion of ethnic studies on ninth-graders

Education Insights 
"TICKET TO TOMORROW; COLLEGE"
By Raoul Lowery Contreras

Hispanics Have Health, Wealth and Time On Their Side

CULTURE

With No Museum, Thousands Of Mexican Instruments 
Pile Into This Apartment

Text and photos by Betto Arcos

                                        Guillermo Contreras strums the five-string guitarra de golpe.            

Guillermo Contreras is a brawny 63-year-old with gray hair and a beard, wearing blue jeans and a black dress shirt, but when he opens the door, you barely notice him. There are instruments everywhere. It's more than any museum collection I've ever seen.

"No, I've filled one museum with 300 pieces," Contreras says. "I can tell you, there are more than 4,000 instruments here."

He pulls out a reed flute and says it was played by the Aztecs. The instrument is still played in a region of northeastern Mexico.

Contreras was an architect by profession when he traveled to a small town south of Mexico City in the late 1960s. He met a group of old musicians, some born in the late 1800s, who were playing instruments from that period.


  Jaranas, psalteries and other instruments in Guillermo Contreras' apartment. 
                                           

Contreras decided then and there that he would dedicate his life to documenting and preserving his country's musical heritage.

Contreras is not just an instrument collector. He also knows each instrument's individual history and how to play it. He pulls out a guitarra séptima, a 14-string guitar that was widely played across Mexico in the 19th century. Next, he demonstrates how to play a five-string guitarra de golpe, a strumming guitar still played in the state of Guerrero.
                                          

"Every time you ask him about the music," Posadas says, "he'll tell you he's already been to the mountains, he's already walked the kilometers, and he's the only one that's dedicated time to preserve those instruments, some of which have disappeared, unless he has them, and from every region in Mexico."

In addition to the instruments, Guillermo Contreras has also amassed a large collection of field recordings, old photos and music publications dating back hundreds of years. He spends 16 hours a week sharing what he knows.

Everything to keep a beat.   

"These rhythms, these melodic patterns, are calling us Mexicans; they're telling us who we are, even if we don't understand what they're trying to tell us," Franco says. "So the School of Music offers two tracks: the Western approach we inherited from Europe, where we learn the music of Beethoven, Mozart and Bach. But there's also this other one that has a lot to do with our identity."

"I feel that this helps me understand a little bit more about life, as seen through the art of music and the musical instrument, which I believe are the most precious creations of humanity."

With or without a museum, Contreras says that's reason enough to continue collecting them, though he says he's a little worried about finding space for more.