Somos Primos

Congressman Edward Roybal was a pioneer. Ed Roybal had the unique and tenacious qualities that most of us wish we had. In some ways, it is not surprising that he was a pioneer because Mr. Roybal belonged to the "Greatest Generation." Like many other men in his age bracket, he had served in World War II and came back with new and grandiose ideas about the way things should be. Having served his nation in its time of need, Ed Roybal decided it was time to bring about change in his adopted State of California. From the beginning of the Century until 1947, no Mexican American from California had served in the U.S. Congress. Nor had any Mexican American served as Mayor of Los Angeles or as a member of the Los Angeles City Council since the beginning of the Twentieth Century. And only one Hispanic had served in the State Assembly and State Senate (Miguel Estudillo), back during the Second Decade of the Century. Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Edward R. Roybal came to Boyle Heights in 1922 with his parents, when his unemployed father sought new employment. Roybal graduated from Roosevelt High School and attended UCLA before going to World War II. After the war had ended, he returned to Los Angeles and became the Director of Health Education for the Los Angeles County Tuberculosis and Health Association. In 1947, 30-year-old Roybal attempted to run for the office of Councilperson of the 9^th Council District, which included Boyle Heights, Bunker Hill, Civic Center, Chinatown, Little Tokyo, and the Central Avenue District. At this time, Chicanos represented roughly a third of the districts’ population. Three years later, the racial makeup of the district’s 185,033 residents in the Federal Census was: 45% White, 34% Latino and 15% African American. Even Roybal’s hometown, Boyle Heights, was just 43% Hispanic at the time, while 34% of the inhabitants were Caucasians. In the primary election for the council seat on April 1, 1947, the incumbent Councilman, Parley Parker Christensen, defeated Edward Roybal by 8,948 votes to 3,350 votes (15% of the total ballots cast). As was expected, three-quarters of Roybal’s support had come from his base of support in Boyle Heights. Soon after this election, a very determined and focused Ed Roybal collaborated with several of his campaign supporters to organize the CPO (Community Political Organization) in September 1947. Later renamed as the CSO (Community Service Organization), this organization became the first broad-based organization within East L.A.’s Chicano community, representing veterans, businessmen and workers. In its first years, the CSO became primarily engaged in registering Mexican Americans to vote. In this pursuit, the CSO succeeded, as its members were able to register 15,000 new voters in the barrios of Boyle Heights, Belvedere and other sections of East Los Angeles. In 1949, Edward Roybal felt confident that he had built up a strong enough political base to make a second run for the Ninth District seat once again. In the April 5 primary election, Roybal knocked Daniel Sullivan and Julia Sheehan out of the council race by capturing 37% of the total votes cast. This forced a runoff with Councilperson Christensen in the General Election that was held on May 31, 1949. This time, Edward Roybal soundly defeated six-term Councilman Christensen by a vote of 20,472 to 11,956, winning by almost 2-to-1. With this victory, Ed Roybal became the first Mexican American since 1887 to win a seat on the Los Angeles City Council. Roybal would win reelection four times (1951, 1953, 1957 and 1961), even though his 9^th District experienced boundary changes in 1956. During this redistricting, the southern boundary of the District was moved from 41^st Street to Slauson Avenue, increasing the number of African Americans in the district from 15% in 1950 to 38% in 1960. Councilperson Roybal served his district from July 1, 1949 to Dec. 31, 1962, at which time he moved on to the U.S. Congress in 1963. He maintained his support largely through the support of his African-American constituency. By the time Roybal left office, 51% of the 9^th District’s registered voters were African American, while 34% were Latino. On July 31, 1962, Edward Roybal resigned his City Council seat in order to take part in an election for the 30^th Congressional District. Roybal had recommended that his fellow Council members hold an election to pick his successor in the 9^th District since several Chicanos had expressed an interest in succeeding him. However, the Council passed on Roybal’s suggestion and instead appointed an African-American, Gilbert W. Lindsay, to replace Roybal on January 28, 1963, since the African-American registered voters in the district outnumbered the Latino voters by 51% to 34%. Lindsay would serve in this capacity to Dec. 28, 1990, when he died in office. Not a single Chicano would serve on the City Council until December 1985. Roybal was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives on November 6, 1962. He was the first Chicano from California to serve in Congress since the 1879 election of Romualdo Pacheco. He would serve as Congressman until 1993. In his first term in Congress, Congressman Roybal served on the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee and the Post Office Committee. During his second term, he was assigned to the Foreign Affairs Committee; two years later, in addition to his previous committee assignments, he served on the Veterans' Affairs Committee. In 1967, Ed Roybal authored the first bilingual education bill to provide local school districts assistance with special-bilingual teaching programs. In 1968 with the goal of improving educational, housing, and employment opportunities for Spanish-speaking U.S. citizens, he worked to establish a Cabinet Committee on Opportunities for Spanish-speaking people. In 1971, Congressman Roybal took a seat on the Appropriations Committee, where he would continue to serve until his retirement many years later. In the 93rd Congress, Roybal introduced legislation to provide bilingual proceedings in courts. To support his legislation, he drew upon a report that disclosed widespread discrimination, police misconduct, and the denial of equal protection under the law in the administration of justice toward Mexican-Americans in the Southwest. As a veteran of one war, Roybal work on behalf of Vietnam-era veterans. In the 95th Congress, Roybal played an important role in the passing of legislation to outlaw age discrimination, and he worked for numerous benefits and opportunities for those with handicaps. In the 1980's, Roybal was named Chairman of the Treasury-Postal Service-General Government Subcommittee and served on the Labor-Health and Human Services-Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee. He also served on the Select Committee on Aging, of which he became Chairman in the 98th Congress. From these positions, he worked on various legislative proposals; in 1980 he led the campaign for the restoration of funds to programs for the elderly, including a senior citizens' public housing program and a community-based alternative to nursing homes. That same year he voted to strengthen fair housing laws and to establish a Department of Education. In 1982 he was successful in maintaining the Meals on Wheels program and protecting veterans' preference jobs. The following year he voted to pass the Equal Rights Amendment. During the 97th Congress, Roybal chaired the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, where he led the opposition against the Simpson-Mazzoli immigration bill, which imposed sanctions on U.S. employers who hired illegal immigrants. In the 100th Congress, Roybal worked for the expansion of rural mental health-care programs, and the establishment of a national mental health education program. In the 101st Congress, Roybal played a key role in helping to pass legislation that reversed a 1989 Supreme Court decision allowing age-based discrimination in employee benefits. In this same Congress, he continued his work on health-care issues; he was instrumental in renewing legislation to provide medical service to people with Alzheimer's disease. He stated that because of the growth of the elderly population of the nation, it was of extreme importance to fund research leading to the prevention and treatment of the disease. During his three decades of service in the U.S. House of Representatives, Roybal worked to protect the rights of minorities, the elderly, and the physically-challenged. Throughout his career, he received numerous honors and awards, including two honorary doctor of law degrees from Pacific States University and from Claremont Graduate School. In 1973, Yale University honored him with a visiting Chubb Fellowship. In 1976, the County of Los Angeles opened the Edward R. Roybal Clinic in East Los Angeles. It was ironic that Edward Roybal and Rosa Parks died at the same time. Rosa Parks was also a pioneer, an ordinary person with extraordinary qualities, who became the symbol of a movement. Eight years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on that Montgomery bus, Roybal made a decision to pursue a political office that most people were certain he would not get. They were right. Mr. Roybal lost the election, but came back two years later and won (against the same opponent). Through his efforts, Ed Roybal paved the way, slowly and gradually, for a whole generation of Chicano legislators in Sacramento, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C. In many ways, he became a symbol and a patriarch for all those Chicanos who have served in the State since 1962. Note: Special thanks to the "Hispanic Americans in Congress" website and to the Pacific Historical Review. A significant portion of this story has been extracted from those two sources. Sources: Alford, Harold. The Proud Peoples. New York: David McKay Co., 1972. Diaz, Katherine A., "Congressman Edward Roybal: Los Angeles Before the 1960's," Caminos 4:7 (July-August 1983). Ralph Nader Congress Project. Edward Ross Roybal, Democratic Representative from California. Washington, D.C.: Grossman Publishers, 1972. Underwood, Katherine. "Pioneering Minority Representation: Edward Roybal and the Los Angeles City Council, 1949-1962." Pacific Historical Review 66:3 (August 1997): 399-425. Library of Congress, "Hispanic Americans in Congress, 1822-1995: Edward R. Roybal," Online: http://www.loc.gov/rr/hispanic/congress/roybal.html
Nation Honors Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks February 4, 1913 - October 25, 2005 Photo June 15, 1999 Congressional Gold Medal	In the Capitol Rotunda: An honor guard pays respects at the casket of Rosa Parks during memorial service. PhotoChuck Kennedy, KRT Thousands of people waited in line to pay their respects to Parks, who died Oct. 24th at her home in Detroit. She was 92. In 1996, Rosa Parks received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, awarded to civilians making outstanding contributions to American life. In 1999, she was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation's highest civilian honor.
Rosa Parks, the black seamstress credited with galvanizing the civil-rights movement 50 years ago by refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man, lay in honor Sunday, Oct. 30th in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol - the first woman ever to be so celebrated. It was in Montgomery that her act of defiance on Dec.1, 1955, led to a bus boycott and eventually, the demise of the laws of segregtion.

	US Latinos and Latinas and WW II The University of Texas at Austin http://www.utexas.edu/projects/latinoarchives/ Sent by Johanna De Soto Behind Enemy Lines By Alan K. Davis Ladislao “L. C.” Castro during gunnery training in the United States in 1943. Months later, he would be flying combat missions in a B-24 over Germany.
From their crippled B-24 bomber, Ladislao “L.C.” Castro and the rest of the crew could see the white cliffs of Dover across the English Channel, on March 18, 1944. The fuel gauges read empty. The control cables were severed. And a 4-foot section of the left wing was missing. The bomber began a slow downward spiral toward occupied France; there was no way to make it back to England. When the orders came to abandon the bomber, Mr. Castro was the first out. With his leg torn and bleeding, Mr. Castro jumped through a hatch in the rear of the bomber. He watched the ground rush toward him as he fell feet-first. He pulled the ripcord and opened his parachute just above the treetops. Then he was on the ground. Mr. Castro was in enemy territory with nothing to do but hide. For the next six months he would do just that. Just over a decade earlier, Mr. Castro was riding around Austin, Texas, on top of his father's tamale cart. In those days, he would never have dreamed of riding in an enormous four-engine bomber, much less jumping out of one from 10,000 feet in the air. Mr. Castro's memories growing up in depression-era Austin are of happy times in school, first in Catholic school at Our Lady of Guadalupe, then in the Austin public schools. In high school, he decided what he wanted to do with his life: he would be an auto-mechanic. He spent his free time hanging out with boys in the neighborhood, white and Latino, and playing sports: basketball, tennis and bowling. On weekends he would take road trips with a Lebanese buddy who owned a car. When he was alone, he worked on cars. Then the war intervened. “In ’42 I graduated from vocational school in the first of June. And in November the war was getting pretty heavy in England,” Mr. Castro said during a recent interview at his North Austin home. “About November, I volunteered to go into the service, in the Air Force.” Mr. Castro’s Mexican-immigrant parents, Ladislao and Leonarda (Oseguera) Castro had eight children — two girls and six boys. Four of the boys would fight in the war, spread out around the world from Burma to Belgium. With his background in auto mechanics, the Army Air Corps—later to become the modern Air Force—assigned the 18-year-old Mr. Castro to training as an aircraft mechanic in the Tactical Air Command, where he would work on troop carriers. But service on the ground for Mr. Castro did not last long. “While we were in school, they had a big call that they needed mechanics for the bombers,” he said. “So I volunteered to be a mechanic on a bomber.” Months of training followed. Mr. Castro became a staff sergeant and joined the crew of the “T-Bar,” a B-24 Liberator, as an assistant engineer and aerial gunner. They deployed to England in October 1943 to take part in the 8th Air Force’s bombing campaign against Germany. The crew joined the 506th Squadron of 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy), nick-named the “Flying Eightballs.” They began flying combat missions in November. Mr. Castro manned one of the big .50 caliber machine-guns in the waist of the B-24. He became accustomed to the long hours of monotony and physical strain on a typical mission. “We did all our flying at the (open) side windows standing up,” Mr. Castro said. “We had to stand up six, eight, ten, even twelve hours. That’s a long time just standing there. The wind would be coming in…it got pretty cold.” Mr. Castro's third mission was one of the coldest. The mission, part of a series of raids intended to knock Germany out of the race to build an atomic bomb, aimed to destroy a plant in Norway that manufactured heavy water. The plant was Germany’s only source of uranium. When the bombers turned back toward England, they left their targets severely damaged. Several days later German scientists concluded that producing heavy water at the Norway plant was no longer feasible. The facilities would have to be relocated inside Germany, an enormous delay in their research. Mr. Castro’s crew made it out of Norway—but on the return journey, Mr. Castro’s heated flying suit failed, subjecting him to blasts of frigid wind through the open window of his gunner’s station. “My hands were real cold… I got frostbite all over my face,” he said. “They said the temperature up there was 45 degrees below zero.” Mr. Castro would spend two weeks in the hospital while his severely frostbitten face and hands healed. When he recovered, Mr. Castro flew 18 more missions. Extreme cold, attacks by deadly German fighters, and terrifying barrages of anti-aircraft fire became routine. But four flights away from the end of Mr. Castro’s tour of duty, disaster broke that routine. Mr. Castro’s 21st and final mission, an attack on the southern German city of Friedrichshafen near the Swiss border, ended with Mr. Castro and his ten fellow crewmembers abandoning their bomber within sight of the shores of England. During the group’s first pass over its target, an aircraft factory, a rookie group of B-17s arrived at the target at the same time as Mr. Castro’s B-24, but at a lower altitude. The mishap prevented Mr. Castro’s group of B-24s from releasing their bombs. The group, then, was forced to make a second pass over the target. When they returned to the target at the same altitude and speed, the German anti-aircraft gunners had zeroed in on the B-24s: a black cloud of bursting "flak," anti-aircraft fire, erupted in their path. Almost every bomber was hit. One by one, bombers fell out of formation. Some crashed in Germany; others tried desperately to make it just across the border to neutral Switzerland, German fighters working them over with machine-gun and cannon fire all the way. Eight bombers from the 44th Bomb Group never returned to England, half of them from Mr. Castro’s 506th Squadron. Mr. Castro was the first to notice the stream of fuel spraying from the wing at his position in the waist of the B-24. The crew had been in the air for six hours, and it was another six hours back to England. With the remaining fuel they could just make it, but they could not keep up with their group, either at the same altitude or speed. They dropped out of formation and called for a fighter escort. “The pilot asked if we wanted to try and make our way back to England,” Mr. Castro said. “We decided we should try.” Switzerland was close. They could easily land there, but landing there meant internment until the end of the war and at the time there was no end in sight. The decision was crucial for most of the men, who were completing their 25th mission. After 25 missions, crewmembers would complete their tour of duty and return to the United States. If they could make it back, they would go home.
Castro, top row, third from left, with the crew of the “T-Bar” at the 44th Bomb Group's base in Shipdam, England. For more on Castro's return to the states, go to . . . http://www.utexas.edu/projects/latinoarchives/narratives/4castroladislao.html
WW II Memorial Site .... From: magnaguagno@gmail.com, Janete Vargas Megan's article "Memorial Day Is Everyday" brought to mind a website operated by a young man named Frank Everads in the Netherlands to honor WWII veterans. I came in contact with Frank through a WWII chat room that my cousin runs on AOL, WWII Vets and Friends. Frank was looking for the stories of WWII veterans to include on his website to honor them and to keep their memory alive. I sent in my dad's story as well as some of my cousins that served during WWII to be included on the site, and most of the veterans that participate in the chat room have sent in theirs as well. I would encourage any veteran, or veteran's family member that has their story, to send them to Frank to include on his site in honor of a fast disappearing generation of brave men. Frank C. Everards' website is at www.normandy1944.info.
November 11-13: GI Forum National Conference, Washington, D.C. National GI Forum Chairwoman Debbie Salazar has arranged with the National Archives in Washington, D.C. to give the veterans and their companions special guest treatment during the regular business hours of the National Archives.\| Veterans Weekend Self-Guided Tours for Hispanic Veterans, 10 am - 4 pm daily. Veterans and their families will be able to enter through the Special Event entrance on Constitution Ave, and tour at their leisure. The GI Forum estimates that about 750 Hispanic veterans will take the opportunity to tour the Archives during their visit to Washington, D.C. this year. Chairwoman Salazar has facilitated getting the special ticket that are required. They can be printed off the internet. Please contact > Dsalazar@denvernewspaperagency.com Denver Newspaper Agency Pressroom Administrative Assistant 4499 Fox Street, Denver, CO 80216 (303) 820-5562 5990 N. Washington Street, Denver, CO 80216 (303) 892-2136

A brief report on Celebrating Hispanic Heritage in Asian Waters by Robert Gonzalez
Mimi, The celebration all fell into place on Friday to a nice success. I prepared a speech for the Captain.. He used info of the few Hispanics that are here and gave us praise. I had a local chaplain say an opening prayer. I read about the pride WE Hispanics have in our culture and in our work. I had a friend of mine have her daughter dance some Folkloric dances. We read about Master Sergeant Benavidez, a medal of honor recipient. And I read about my uncle. Who served in Nam and gave him a salute. We then ate Fajitas, chicken mole, rice beans and ox tail soup. Still have people talking about my salsa. SK2(SW) Gonzalez, Robert FISC Deployed Ship's Team LSR "Lead, follow or Step aside" Robert_Gonzalez@yoko.fisc.navy.mil SIPR Gonzalez.Robert@CNRFE.NAVY.SMIL.MIL DSN: 243-6426 Cell: 090-9311-7249
Implications of the Mexico DNA Project Robert Tarin rtarin@satx.rr.com San Antonio, Texas I see that my friend Mario García forwarded my message shown below to you. Before you get confused about what the pie chart actually represents, I thought I would explain. As you know, there are several online databases for persons who have had their DNA tested. There are also many surname project websites with DNA results on the internet. What I have been doing in my spare time during the past year is searching various online databases and project websites looking for DNA results of Hispanics and building an MS Access database of Hispanic results. The data I collect is for Hispanics worldwide, whether from Iberia, the Caribbean, Mexico, South/Central America, etc.

The pie chart shown in my original message is the breakdown of the Hispanics in my database categorized into their haplogroup “ancient origins”. This is not just Mexicans, Iberians, or a specific group of Hispanics, but the combined worldwide results. Therefore, you will not see an accurate representation of Native American percentages from Mexico for example. In a pie chart of only those from Mexico, the Native American percentage would still probably not be accurate due to inherent biases of who currently takes DNA tests. For example, many of the Mexican Americans who test are of Iberian paternal ancestry. Not many indigenous Mexicans are getting tested by DNA testing companies. Remember that this pie chart represents the paternal ancestry (Y-DNA) and not the maternal lineage or mitochondrial DNA where most indigenous Mexican ancestry stems. Again, these figures are from my private database and not necessarily truly representative of the Hispanic worldwide population. Robert Tarin sent the following: For your information, here is a breakdown of those from my database of Mexican origin as compared to those listed in Gary Felix’s Mexico DNA Project website. Percentage differences are going to be influenced by the differences in sample sizes.
Mario Garcia sancudobaboso@hotmail.com Port Lavaca, Texas One of the big discussion that people like Robert Tarin and I are having thru forums is the rapid development of DNA testing to find our genetic roots. In this case most of "us" Hispanics in the discussion group called DNA Busters have contributed DNA samples to companies that test your DNA. The intent is to be able to find out where we come from....primarily asking where were are our roots in the old world before the Spaniards made the trip to Mexico and other lands in South and Central America? The Mexico Project now headed by Gary Felix thru the auspices of Family Tree DNA, the parent company that does the DNA testing has found very interesting information, including the information that Robert sent to us and I to you recently. The question you ask as to why there isn't a higher percentage of Native Americans in the Pie Chart can be summarized by the fact that the Mexico Project test subjects are decendents of Spanish men only and they carry the YDNA only. Since the YDNA is only passed on from male to male thru countless generations, the female genetic material would not be detected. If you were to take the mitochondrial DNA test for the female descendants of similarly named female contributors then you will most likely see a high percentage of the contributors as being of Native American descent. The point to remember is that the mitochondrial DNA is only passed from female to female and the YDNA is only passed from male to male. In my personal case where I have taken Y and Mitochondrial DNA from my living family members, the test results have shown that all of my female ancestors have been Native American while all of my male ancestors have checked out as European or Middle Eastern. Interesting no? To me that signifies the intermarriage between the Spaniards that landed here during and after 1519 and Native American women. We truly seem to be a land of Mestizos. Mario

Turning Facts into Fiction and the Business of Writing the Historical Novel
By Ernesto Uribe
euribe000@aol.com

The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms defines the historical novel as “a novel in which the action takes place during a specific historical period... often one or two generations before, sometimes several centuries, and in which some attempt is made to depict accurately the customs and mentality of the period...” We, the sons and daughters of colonial settlers and Mexican immigrants to South Texas have our own rich history from which to draw for writing historical fiction. We all have the tales, los cuentos of our ancestors as told to us by our grandparents and parents as well as our more formal readings of the history of the communities from where our ancestor came, and those in which we were raised.

My first novel Tlalcoyote is based partly on the adventures of a real person who was born in Revilla (later Guerrero) in Tamaulipas, Mexico in 1799 and lived on the frontier until his death in 1882. During the 83 year span of this person’s life, the area in which he lived went from a Spanish colony to become a part of the Republic of Mexico; experienced most of the Comanche and Lipan Apache incursions; felt the impact of the Texas War for Independence; saw the rise and fall of The Republic of the Rio Grande; endured the U.S. Army occupation during The Mexican-American War; witnessed the Juan Nepomuceno Cortina incursions; and felt the ripples of the American Civil War as Tejanos in Gray fought Tejanos in Blue along the Rio Grande. On top of these major events, there were countless encounters with los rinches ,the Texas Rangers with bandits or perhaps heros, depending on the point of view; there were range wars; large tracts of land were stolen; there were influential and not so influential political bosses doing most of the stealing; and countless family tragedies and stories. These many wonderful and exciting events are there, just waiting to provide the background for writing our historical novels.

The unfortunate fact is that most of us are not aware of our rich history. The history of our people and our area is not easy to find because it is hardly mentioned in the compulsory junior high and high school Texas history textbooks required by state educators. Let’s face it, Texas history was not written by or for Hispanics, and with rare exceptions, most historians from both sides of the border have short-changed us when it comes to the history of our people. Americans have little interest in the “Mexicans” who live in South Texas and Mexican historian lost all interest in the history of what was once Northern Mexico and is now the United States.

Perhaps an interest in the history of our part of the world could be awakened through historical fiction. We already have two wonderful examples of historical novels written in the 1930s and 1940s by Hispanics. It was only good fortune that the works of a very talented and bold Hispanic woman were rescued from oblivion and brought to light by Professor José E. Limón of the University of Texas. These two forgotten and unpublished manuscripts were written by Jovita Gonzalez (1904-1983) and co-authored by Eve Raleigh (1903-78). These novels, Caballero (Texas A&M Press, 1996) and Dew on the Thorn (Arte Publico Press, 1997) deal with the cultural clash experienced by the established Hispanic families in South Texas when they encountered the U.S. Army of occupation during the period of the U.S.-- Mexico War of 1846-48. Another rare example of an early Hispanic historical novel is El Mesquite. This wonderful story about ranch life in South Texas was written by Elena Zamora O’Shea and was actually published in 1935.

This writer has one of the few remaining original copies of Elena Zamora O’Shea’s book and although pleased to see El Mesquite re-published by Texas A&M Press in 2000, I was disappointed with the more than sixty pages of academic baggage inserted at the beginning of the book. It is sad that such a wonderful little book had to be trampled in such manner by zealot academics. They should have shown Mrs. O’Shea the respect she deserves and saved their remarks for inclusion as an appendix after her narrative.

There is evidence that Jovita Gonzalez and Eve Raleigh tired to get their work published but had no success. It appears that romances between Anglo-Saxon U.S. Army officers and young Mexican maidens were not considered appropriate for publication in the 1930s. Perhaps “historical facts” that dealt with the politics of the period and the mention of abuses such as the open handed stealing of lands belonging to the original Hispanic settlers was considered inflammatory by the powers of the time and editors refused to publish the books. Jovita’s co-author also seemed to fear repercussions because she used a pseudonym when they submitted the Caballeros manuscript to publishers. Another variable that might have contributed to the non-publication of these early historical novels could have been the mere fact that the books were written by women, and one was a “Mexican” to boot.. On the other hand, Elena Zamora O’Shea’s “cute” and non-controversial novel about ranch life was published by what appears to have been a small printing shop in Dallas.

The marketing of historical fiction is still not easy. And believe it or not, there are still prejudices out there. My novel Tlalcoyote made it up the line at Bantam Books until it hit an ethnic snag, and this is what an editor wrote my agent: “I was impressed with Mr. Uribe’s ability to evoke three different cultures in a single narrative. Since he has an especially strong talent for depicting the Comanche and Mexican cultures, I think this novel could thrive with a publisher that has stronger ties to the hispanic (small h ) market....”

Some years ago the noted author Jean Avel wrote an extremely successful series of historical (pre-historical?) novels. They were The Clan of the Cave Bear, Valley of the Horses, and Mammoth Hunters. What if her publishers had turned down her novels with: “It appears that Ms Avel has an especially strong talent for depicting caveman culture, I think this novel could thrive with a publisher that has stronger ties to the caveman market.”? I guess Bantam Books puts Hispanics a few rungs lower than Neanderthals.

So, what does it take to get your material published? It takes endless patience, a lot of writing, rewriting, and re-rewriting, and then it takes editing, reediting and re-reediting until your work is as perfect as can be before submitting it to an editor. Two other important variables are persistence and a lot of luck. Okay, that’s the mechanics, but before you get there, you have to have something to rewrite and reedit, and that’s the story itself.

Almost all of us have that big story in mind that we want to write. So now that you have that word processor with spell check warmed up, it’s just a matter of putting fingers to the keyboard and follow the advise of the running-shoe commercial and, “Just Do It!”

You will very quickly discover that it’s not that easy. I started writing my first novel, Tlalcoyote in 1993. This story had been knocking around in my head since I first heard it in the 1940s. This was still a time when our people in South Texas told stories on the front porches of their homes and ranch houses, usually at dusk to take advantage of the cool of the evening. In my case, it was at the home of my grandmother Jovita Cuellar Uribe in Laredo. Mind you, this was before air-conditioning and television and storytelling had not become a lost art. The one story I loved to hear, instead of the usual scary ghost stories like La Llorona, was one about a young man from old Guerrero who had been kidnaped by Comanches. I was intrigued that a young vaquero from the ranch country where I grew up had actually been abducted and forced to live among the Indians before they sold him into slavery in Louisiana. I romanticized what life must have been like living among the Comanches and created countless mental images that one day would serve as the basis for my novel.

It was many years later that while rummaging through my aunt Anita Uribe Benavides’s library in Laredo, I ran across the story of the same abducted vaquero in The Kingdom of Zapata, a book written by Virgil Lott and Mercurio Martinez published in 1958. It was only then that I discovered the young man’s name. He had been Manuel Ramirez Martinez, born in 1799 and kidnaped by Comanches in 1819. The story of his captivity is expressed wonderfully in Spanish by Manuel Ramirez himself in nine verses of ten lines each called Decimas. These Decimas that read like a Greek epic poem, and the four pages provided by Lott and Martinez finally gave me the outline I had been seeking to write my story.

So how does one come up with a 97,000 word story from a nine verse poem and a few pages of historical information? This is where you must enter the world of fantasy and let the creative juices flow. Here is where you have to fill a blank screen with letters, then words, then lines, paragraphs, chapters and finally a book. If you can do this, you are a storyteller.

The one thing to always keep in mind while crafting images from this fantasy world is that your story has to be believable. This to me is the most fun and also the most time consuming because you have to get yourself into the period you are writing about. In your mind, you must dress in buckskins or in flowing gowns with the half dozen petticoats, smell the burnt powder in the gunfights, feel the sting of a cat-o-nine tails whip as it rips across your back, and bring these images to life in the eyes of your readers.

Since we can’t go back in time, the only way to get historical facts is by doing research and getting engrossed in the period into which you want to transport your readers. For this, you must search out the work of the historians. I must have read thirty books on Comanches, Lipan Apaches, and Texas Indians to get the background I needed for the first part of Tlalcoyote. When I moved Rogelio Ramirez, my central character in the book, from Texas into Louisiana for the second half of the book, I again had to do several months research on slave life in the old south, voodoo, steam riverboats, plantations, and New Orleans in the 1820s. It was my good fortune that I was already familiar with Spanish colonial life, knew horses, cattle, the Rio Grande brush country, and early ranch life in general.

Inspiration can come from many sources and every writer has her/his technique for finding it. I was mesmerized by the Manuel Ramirez Decimas and must have read the poem more than a hundred times while working on Tlalcoyote. I don’t believe in ghosts, but I swear sometimes I could feel Manuel’s presence while writing.

So what is fact and what is fiction? Tlalcoyote is ninety-nine percent fiction because Manuel Ramirez did not leave a record of his day to day living with the Comanches nor of his experiences in Louisiana. I had to create, to imagine what it might have been like and what might have happened, then color it, and I mean spray-paint it, with action, passion, a little sex, humor, and adventure to make it interesting and exciting to my readers. At the same time I had to make the story ring true. It had to have a factual perspective that would coincide with the history of the period. I accomplished some of this by reading stories of other captives who did tell of their experiences, and by excerpting facts from the many excellent books written by historians. It is the bibliographies created by these historians, God bless them, the fellows who do the real research, that provide the writers of historical novels the canvas on which to paint..

To give an idea of how tough the business of writing can be, during the last six years I have written three novels and two screenplays, and it was not until the middle of 1999 that Mayhaven Publishing in Illinois offered to publish my first book. I considered myself extremely lucky that Tlalcoyote was finally going to be published sometime during the year 2000. That was until they mailed me an Author/Publisher Agreement that was so lopsided in favor of the publishers and would give them total control of not only this novel but my next three books and I was forced to turn them down. So I was again shot out of the saddle and back to square one.

It was not until mid-2000, that I was finally able to get Tlalcoyote published and it was not until late February of 2001 that I finally held the first copy of my book in my hand, and it was one of the greatest feelings of accomplishment I have ever experienced.

Oddly enough, I have never worried about my writings having potential market appeal or being commercially viable. I write for the pleasure of writing and if it sells, that’s wonderful, if it doesn’t, well, as long as I continue to enjoy the process, the research, the amassing of words into stories that will hopefully some day entertain others, I consider myself well paid.

Immigrant Stories wanted by PBS
Sent by Lila Guzman lorenzo1776@yahoo.com
The new PBS tv series, Destination America, is requesting immigration stories that will be posted
September, 2006. Immigrants to the US can submit their story online at:
http://www.pbs.org/destinationamerica/ps_sys.html

Hispanic Women Show Higher Earnings www.HispanicBusiness.com, October 18, 2005 http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news/newsbyid.asp?fpa=0&id=26134 Earnings are positively correlated with education, though different groups show different average earnings for the same educational level. Hispanic men show higher mean annual earnings than both Hispanic and white women at every educational level. This may be due to differences in experience, tenure, or occupational choices. Hispanic women show higher average earnings than white women in the categories of not high school graduate and those with advanced degrees. In 2002, there were 283,000 Hispanic women with advanced degrees. This represents 2.9 percent of the U.S. population of Hispanic females. On average, Hispanic women with advanced degrees have higher annual earnings ($58,623) than the group of all women with advanced degrees ($50,756).
UT Department of Mathematics honored for graduating most Latinos in math in the nation Sent By Viola Sadler vrsadler@aol.com October 12, 2005 AUSTIN, Texas—The University of Texas at Austin Department of Mathematics has been named the 2005 Example of Excelencia for its efforts to boost Latino participation, graduation and pursuit of teaching in mathematics. The announcement was made in Washington, D.C. at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund Summit on the State of Latino Education. “The development of Latino mathematics students is part of our larger responsibility for training associated with science and technology that any mathematical sciences department should assume,” says Dr. Efraim Armendariz, chair and professor of mathematics at The University of Texas at Austin. “If done conscientiously, all segments of society are incorporated. And that, I think, is what should be a hallmark of excellence.” The latest data (2003-04) from the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) indicate the Department of Mathematics graduated the most Hispanics with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and statistics in the nation. The department has consistently improved its ranking over the past several years, going from fifth (2001-02) to third (2002-03) among institutions in the nation awarding bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and statistics to Latino students. “By engaging the country’s fastest-growing community in the pursuit of mathematics—a field vital to national interests—UT Austin’s Department of Mathematics has developed an integrated approach worthy of the attention of higher education officials nationwide,” says Sarita Brown, president and founder of Excelencia in Education. Over the last decade, Hispanic enrollment in the Department of Mathematics has risen by three percent to 106. Concurrently, graduation rates for Latino students have risen over 60 percent producing 26 Hispanic baccalaureate degree holders in 2004, a growing percentage of whom have been entering the teaching field. The department’s success is credited to key reforms that have been in place for some time. These include an Emerging Scholars Program in Mathematics that has enhanced academic success in mathematics and science for traditionally under-represented groups, and participation in UTeach, a teacher certification program in UT’s College of Natural Sciences set to address a statewide shortage of mathematics and science teachers. “Examples of Excelencia,” a new program started by Excelencia in Education with support from Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., highlights academic programs and departments that increase Latino success in higher education. The new initiative seeks to increase the awareness of working models, programs and departments that boost Latino enrollment, performance and graduation in higher education at a time when the overall college-age population in the U.S. is changing rapidly. By 2025, 22 percent of the U.S. college-age population will be Hispanic, a level already reached in four states: California, Florida, New York and Texas. For more information contact: Lee Clippard, College of Natural Sciences, 512-232-0675. Related Sites: Department of Mathematics, UTeach, College of Natural Sciences Office of Public Affairs, P.O. Box Z Austin, TX 78713 512-471-3151 Fax 512-471-5812
Creating Tomorrows: Latino Education By Manuel Hernandez mannyh32@yahoo.com There has been a lot of talk within the two major political parties in America on how to win over, sustain and/or attract the ever-growing Latino vote for the up and coming Congressional and Presidential elections. Now that one of America’s most important cities has a Latino mayor, both political parties have realized that the projections are part of the past and a reality of today. The public relations campaign has already begun and will intensify as we get closer to the electoral race. Latino mega stars from sports, entertainment and the media are and will be lured to serve political interests by campaign directors from both ends of the track. The issues are the same: immigration, health, employment, home ownership and education. But the education of Latinos is without a doubt the front runner of all concerns for American Latinos. There has been so much said about the Latino high school dropout rate but very little actually done on how to systematically and strategically lower it. . In the United States, there is a twenty-seven percent Latino high-school dropout rate (U.S. Department of Education, February 23, 2005, Press Release). Statistics have not improved since 2001 and have made small progress in the last three decades. As the Latino school population surpasses the expected five million mark, what can be done to enhance academics in Latinos whose interest in school diminishes once they enter or are laced in American high schools? What will it take for the Department of Education to define a specific national proposal to be implemented in a nationally coordinated effort? As 2005 reaches its peak, there is still no visible concrete vision and/or improved academic results in the education of Latinos. When students develop an interest in education, they stay focused mentally and intellectually. When they are turned off, they lag and fall behind in the marathon. Latinos are unique immigrants. They are unified by language but diversified by cultural influxes and influences. Latinos teens are different and their interests cannot be taken for granted. In the mainstream English classroom, many Latino teens feel a lack of personal involvement, especially when reading stories, poetry, drama and essays that are far away from their day-to-day experiences. The American and British classics provide comfort and understanding for mainstream high school students. However, for Latino teens whose language, culture and education is generally not portrayed in the writings of William Shakespeare or Edgar Allan Poe, Latino/a Literature provides the context and establishes the bridge between the so-called classics and connects students to ideas and themes portrayed in literature. For Latino teens to demonstrate confidence, independence and flexibility in the strategic use of reading skills, they must enjoy reading as a lifelong experience rather than strictly analyzing it with a fixed set of rules. How can students interact with their reading when their choices of literature are far away from their everyday reality? Latino/a Literature is filled with everyday language, young adult characters, conflicts and events whereby students are given the opportunity to make language their own. It is like seeing themselves in a mirror and assessing what, where, how and why they are who they are while developing reading and writing skills necessary to enter and succeed in college. Latino education is the present and future of America. Let us create a tomorrow filled with hope, dreams and a better quality of living for all American teens.
HACU Creates one of the Largest Study Abroad Scholarship Programs HPRW@hispanicpr.net writes: Laureate International Universities and The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) Create One of the Largest Study Abroad Scholarship Programs More than $8 million in tuition scholarships to encourage Latinos to study abroad; Only 5.4% of all U.S. study abroad students are Latinos Baltimore, MD--(HISPANIC PR WIRE)--October 11, 2005--Laureate International Universities, a group of accredited institutions owned by Laureate Education, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR), the world's leading international provider of higher education, has partnered with the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) to award more than $8 million in tuition scholarships for Latinos and other students to study abroad throughout Europe and Latin America. Created to address some of the most significant barriers preventing students, particularly Latinos, from studying abroad - lack of financial resources and access to information on program options, this unparalleled program will provide students from HACU's more than 400 U.S. and Puerto Rico member schools the opportunity to study abroad at one of Laureate's 15 universities in various countries. "Part of the challenge in providing an equal opportunity for U.S. students of all backgrounds is overcoming the impediments to participation in study abroad," said Raph Appadoo, President of Laureate Education, Inc. According to the Bipartisan Congressional Commission on the Abraham Lincoln Study Abroad Fellowship Program, Hispanic students make up a much smaller percentage of students going abroad than their respective percentage of US post secondary enrollment. The same study indicates that participation of minority and low-income students is limited by economic perceptions and realities and lack of information about opportunities. The latest U.S. Census data shows that Latino high school graduates are expected to represent 17 percent of total U.S. secondary graduates by 2012; yet, according to the Institute of International Education, of the nearly 175,000 U.S. students who participate in study abroad programs, only 5.4 percent are Latinos. Increasing this participation rate is a challenge that Laureate International Universities and HACU are addressing through the creation of this program. "Study abroad offers an ideal opportunity for students to extend themselves beyond their familiar surroundings and expand their education outside of the classroom," said Joseph Duffey, Laureate's Senior Vice President for Educational Strategy. "The HACU-Laureate International Scholarship Program offers students an invaluable opportunity to learn and live in a foreign country, providing them with a well-rounded undergraduate experience that will impact their lives and professional pursuits." Antonio Flores, President and CEO of HACU said, "An educational experience abroad allows students to become more competitive in an increasingly international job market. This is a unique opportunity for the students of our member institutions to attend a leading university abroad and serve as champions of Hispanic success in higher education." Each Laureate institution brings to the network an established reputation for educational and academic excellence, sensitivity to local culture and tradition, and a dedication to delivering the highest quality education with an international perspective. Students who are accepted into the HACU-Laureate International Scholarship Program will have the opportunity to spend up to one full year at schools in Spain, Mexico, Ecuador, France, Chile, Honduras, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Panama or Peru. To apply to the HACU-Laureate International Scholarship Program, students from HACU member schools can go online (http://www.internationalscholarships.net or http://www.becasinternacioanles.net in Spanish), call the special information number (866) 219-3658 or speak with a financial aid or study coordinator at their school. About Laureate Education, Inc. Laureate Education Inc. (NASDAQ:LAUR) is focused exclusively on providing a superior university experience to over 170,000 students through the leading global network of accredited campus-based and online universities. Addressing the rapidly growing global demand for higher education, Laureate offers a broad range of career-oriented undergraduate and graduate programs through campus-based universities located in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Through online universities, Laureate offers the growing population of non-traditional, working-adult students the convenience and flexibility of distance learning to pursue undergraduate, master's and doctorate degree programs in major career fields including engineering, education, business, and healthcare. For more information, please visit our website, http://www.laureate.net. About HACU - The Hispanic Associate of Colleges and Universities The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) was established in 1986 and today represents more than 400 colleges and universities committed to Hispanic higher education success in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Latin America and Spain. Although HACU member institutions in the U. S. represent less than 10% of all higher education institutions nationwide, together they are home to more than three-fourths of all Hispanic college students. HACU is the only national educational association that represents Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs).
CONTACT: Laureate Educatio, Inc. Cris Symanoskie +1(410) 843-6394 Christopher.Symanoskie@laureate-inc.com	or The Jeffrey Group Andrés Rodríguez +1(305) 860-1000 x224 arodriguez@tjgmail.com
"In Search of Fatherhood" Following are abstracts from five articles sent by Diane Sears, editor of "In Search of Fatherhood" Sears, has interviewed more than 100 men from diverse geographic locations and backgrounds. Sears in the Managing Editor of "In Search of Fatherhood, a quarterly international male parenting journal which is exclusively published in and distributed from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by BSI International, Inc. BSI International, Inc. Post Office Box 3885 Philadelphia, PA 19146-0185 215-292-8522 bsi-international@earthlink.net, www.bsi-international.com 1) Global Dialogue on Fatherhood HILO, HAWAII – 25 SEPTEMBER 2005 - He is a part-time correctional educator under contract with the State of Hawaii Department of Public Safety. He is the President of Akamai University, which offers the most comprehensive and unique Fatherhood and Men’s Studies Program in academia. He is the facilitator of the University Council for Fatherhood and Men’s Studies at Akamai University. He is Douglass Capogrossi, Ph.D. “As a parenting teacher for inmates, under contract with a prison facility in the State of Hawaii over the past three years, I have become increasingly aware of the depth and strength of character of many of the men I have served. I am an educator with high expectations, requiring much from my students, academically and morally. In my thinking, overall, the inmate fathers have risen to the challenge, expressing competencies in character, intention and motivation,” Dr. Capogrossi observed. More information http://www.akamaiuniversity.us
2) Fathers: Fired up and Proactive! PHILADELPHIA, PA. -- 11 October 2005 - Fathers. They are fired up and proactive! In Michigan -- Men -- especially Men who are Fathers are working to place the issue of shared/equal parenting on the ballot in 2006. In California -- Men -- especially Men who are Fathers are working to place the issue of shared/equal parenting on the ballot in 2006. This week, a Presidential candidate for the 2008 United States Presidential Election -- Dr. Mark Klein -- is "testing" the "political waters" to determine if America is ready for a Presidential candidate who is running on a "Father's Rights" platform is meeting with Pennsylvania voters. Fathers. They are fired up and proactive. They are engaging in dialogue about issues relating to parenting from a male perspective and forming strategic alliances that transcend boundaries. They are celebrating and closely examining their parental roles and responsibilities. They are redefining Fatherhood and reshaping legislation and public policy through the courts and the ballot box. So, what's going on with Men -- especially Men who are Fathers? "Men -- especially Men who are Fathers -- are fired up. They understand the significant roles that they play in our families, communities and in our world. They understand that they are the glue that holds our families, our communities and our world together. So, what do Men -- especially Men -- who are Fathers -- want? They want respect. They want and need adequate support services and resources to assist them with meeting the challenges of parenting and they need greater access to these support services and resources. They want greater access to health and medical resources. They want more research and research funding for prostate cancer, colon cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. Men are shouting out loud: 'Hey, I am a man! I'm not a wallet! I love. I cry. I laugh. I hurt. I worry. I am not an emotionless automaton! I am capable of nurturing, loving and mentoring my children -- even if it means that I must do so as a single parent. I want to be treated fairly by the judicial system in divorce, child custody and child support matters. I am a man! Respect me! Respect my humanity!'" stated Diane A. Sears, the author of IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD(R) -- TRANSCENDING BOUNDARIES and a member of the University Council for Akamai University's Fatherhood and Men's Studies Program in Hilo, Hawaii.
3) Embracing Our Role As Fathers And Reclaiming Our Children FOUNDER OF BALTIMORE’S MBRACE FATHERHOOD, INC. Baltimore, MD. 16 Oct 2005 - He is the author of a new and passionate book on parenting from a male perspective, The Spirit Of Fatherhood: Embracing Our Role As Fathers And Reclaiming Our Children. He is the Founder of MBRACE Fatherhood www.mbracefatherhood.com an organization that educates and empowers Fathers through a myriad of products and programs, a member of the African American Male Leadership Institute, a teacher at the Maarifa Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore, Maryland, and a proactive Single Father of two young sons. He is Mr. S. Bruce “Olamina” Stevenson. “If there is anything our society desperately needs more of, its fathers—loving, responsible, sober, and engaged fathers; fathers who awake every morning with a mind to be involved in every aspect of their child’s life; fathers who believe that nothing—not a hectic job, not a failed relationship, nor a lack of financial resources—will keep them from embracing their role as primary teacher, example, and provider to their children,” Mr. Stevenson commented in a recent interview which is scheduled for release in the “New Hope Awaits” – Autumn 2005 issue beginning on 31 October 2005.
4) Why we Need Fathers: Raising Daughters Fathers play a critical and invaluable role in our families, communities and in our world. Our sons need Fathers in their lives to assist them in their journey from childhood to manhood. And our daughters have an equal need for Fathers in their lives to assist them in their journey from childhood to womanhood. Free-lance journalist, graphic designer and a Contributing Editor to IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD(R), Mrs. Janet Mikul Collins explains why it is equally critical that our daughters have their Fathers in their lives. An excerpt of her work appears below. Raising Daughters By Janet Mikul Collins Courtesy IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD(R) My niece is almost four years old, but she already knows the value of what she has to give. Ask her for a hug, and she’ll have to think about it. Often the answer is no. Sometimes the answer is yes. Most frequently, however, she’ll give you a hug at a time of her own choosing, later in the day and long after you asked. It’s a good sign. And I’d like to think of her taking the same careful deliberation in deciding whether to say yes to a boy when she is sixteen years old. I want her to be able to look at him like she looks at us, head cocked to the side while she coolly thinks over the request, carefully calculating her worth against what the boy has to offer in return. Raising girls with a healthy self-esteem and an ingrained sense of her own worth is perhaps one of the most important things we can do for society today. These factors affect all of her choices, and as she goes on to become a mother, her healthy self-image will affect the next generation. My niece has a good chance of succeeding in life. She has two healthy parents – a strong, hands-on father and a warm, nurturing mother. Her parents respect her as an individual, as they do all her siblings, and nurture each child’s individual gifts. Lack of self-esteem and a sense of worthlessness are plaguing our young people today despite the strides made in the social fabric of society, resulting in bad choices and unstable lives and homes. Look at one leading social indicator: abortion. It’s time for the debate to move past the rights and wrongs to the whys. Why, in this age of modern biotechnology, are there unwanted pregnancies at all? Why, in this information age when young people are much more sophisticated than we ever were, can we not raise a generation that is responsible about sex? Today, safe and effective birth control is available to any woman. A patch can work for a week. A shot can work for a month. Clinics give it out free. Enlightened mothers take their daughters to get a birth control prescription. Condoms are given out in schools. Yet young people are not taking advantage of these efforts. Abortion is so unnecessary these days. Yet they continue to occur. Why? It’s time to change the way we raise girls and do a better job of launching upon the world healthy, self-assured, confident women who understand their worth, know what they want out of life, and never settle for less-than. We want to raise girls who EXPECT to be respected and cherished and have a line that cannot be crossed. Fathers play an important role in this process, and there is plenty they can do to help their daughters on their way. First, Fathers must understand what stressors their daughters face. Our daughters are being raised in a highly sexually charged era, with pop culture determining everything about their lives. Sex permeates everything, and girls are led to believe that their looks and sexuality is what determines their self worth – not their character or accomplishments. Yet, they’re faced with the unpleasant fact that 90 percent of women, including themselves, cannot fit the ideal of beauty set forth by pop culture. Most women will never be Victoria’s Secret models, yet that is the standard by which girls are taught to judge themselves. The pressure to try, however, is determined by Madison Avenue, which pushes increasingly revealing clothes on our young people and peer pressure is high to dress as other girls so as to fit in. (If only boys and girls split the material from their pants, they both might have a pair that fits!) Equally important, television and movies teach girls to behave in a sexually provocative manner. They are not experienced enough to understand the effect of that behavior, and on television there are no consequences for the actresses who behave that way. So girls are increasingly sexually precocious at younger and younger ages. The pressure to have sex among teens is also present for our young people, and it is unrealistic nowadays to assure that our young people are NOT having sex. Since sex permeates every aspect of their existence, they have to be wondering what all the hoopla is about, despite our best efforts to educate them otherwise. Fathers may believe it is up to the girl’s mother to sort this stuff out, but there are many things Fathers can do today to bond with their daughters and help them on their way. Fathers are often the parent who challenges the children to achieve, and they have the ability to encourage, strengthen and impel their daughters to think in terms of achievement as a source of self-esteem. Be available, listen to her, encourage her in all her endeavors. Share your nuggets of wisdom and listen to her truths. Tell her she’ll always be beautiful to you, but don’t spend too much effort on her looks. Rather, praise her for her accomplishments and assure her she can be anything she wants to be in life and you expect great things from her. I personally believe Title 9 sports is the best thing that has happened to young women in a very long time. Through sports, girls learn a self-confidence and self-mastery that they never had before. Encourage her in sports early, whether individual or team sports, and attend her sporting events as religiously as you would your son’s. As your daughter heads into her teen years, she may become more interested in spending time with her friends rather than you. Don’t take it personally, but keep the lines of communication open, letting her know you are available anytime she wants to talk. Then BE available. Second, I believe the worst mistake parents make is telling their young people what NOT to do, instead of concentrating on what TO do. If you make a point of constantly telling her, “Don’t you come home pregnant,” you will have given her the key to the worst thing she can do to rebel. My father raised my sister and I by himself when we were in our teen years. When my father had the sex discussion with us, it was just before we were about to double-date to the Homecoming. He never told us not to have sex or never to come home pregnant. Instead, he told us what boys are likely to say and do to pressure us into having sex and what those sweet nothings they whisper in our ear actually mean. In other words, he armed us with knowledge with which to make informed discussions about what we’ll accept from boys. Neither of us ever came home pregnant. Only fathers can have that kind of frank discussion with their daughters and I believe girls should be armed with information about the machinations of boys. The entire text of this article will appear in the "New Hope Await" -- Autumn 2005 issue of IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD(R). To become a Contributing Editor or to subscribe or advertise, contact:
5) California Shared Parenting Initiative BSI International, Inc. has just received the following communication concerning the historic California Shared Parenting Initiative from sharedparenting-ca@yahoogroups.com From: ballotinitiative ballotinitiative@gmail.com The ballot initiative amends the California Family Code to make equal custody the default custody arrangement at the request of either parent while still allowing the courts to protect the children. The burden of proof shifts to the objecting parent. There will be almost 5 months to gather enough signatures to get this issue on the November 2006 election. There are over 30 coordinators throughout the state. Currently there are 22 of 59 counties represented. Each will have a county coordinator. The county coordinators will be able to answer your questions. In turn, as new people join the list and ask the same questions, please facilitate the process by responding to their questions. Additional answers to frequently asked questions will be available at http://www.childsright.org/faq/ Send a letter to your representative at http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/L7zNJKs1lube/ or use the AFT toll-free number (866/327-8670) and the U.S. Capitol switchboard will connect you to your representative. You also can find your representative's direct lines at http://www.unionvoice.org/ct/LpzNJKs1lubd/

Spain's contributions to the American Revolutionary War
by Granville Hough, Ph.D.

On 21 June 1779, King Carlos III of Spain declared war on England and thus made official his support of Americans in their struggle for independence. Clandestine support had already been provided for three years, but afterwards support was open and direct.

Last year in looking for names of American mariners in Continental Congress records, I found the reports of Arthur Lee, and the 1777/79 manifests of twelve vessels which were loaded out from Cadiz, Spain, with war supplies headed for Boston and Philadelphia. (Papers of the Continental Congress, Records Group M0247, Item #83, Roll 110, "Letters Received from Arthur Lee, 1776-1780,"). This was pre-war for Spain, but vital to the American effort.

Records such as these have rarely been studied by American historians, as emphasis has been on French support and participation. Few American historians know that:

1. Early French support included fifty/fifty Spanish/French participation, with Spain as a silent partner, so any so-called French support received before June 1779 should be reanalyzed to determine where the cash came from.

2. Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis was personal representative for King Carlos III, and henegotiated the de Grass/Saavedra Accord in Jul 1781 which governed Spanish/French conduct of the war in the Western Hemisphere. (Saavedra (1746-1819), Journal of the Mission to America, "Journal of Don Francisco Saavedra de Sangronis during the commision he had in his charge from 25 June 1780 until June 1783," collated, edited, introduced, and annotated by Francisco morales Padron, translated by Aileen Moore Topping. ISBN 0-8130-0877-8, 1988.)

3. Saavedra was personally responsible for arranging the financing for the Chesapeake Bay operations which resulted in Yorktown. (Yorktown was thus the result of Spanish financing of cooperative efforts of the French Expeditionary Force, the de Grasse Fleet, and the American forces.)

4. The victory at Yorktown was made secure by the West Indies strategies of Spain and France.England was forced into a defensive strategy, as Jamaica was the big target for Spain. The French Expeditionary Force was moved in 1782/83 from North America to Venezuela to participate in the invasion. Spanish General Bernardo de Gálvez gathered in Haiti a 10,000 man force waiting to invade.

5. For two years, England held on, negotiating for the best possible peace terms. She held four invasion bases in North America (Charleston, New York, Penobscot Bay, and Detroit); but it was to no avail. She was out of manpower. The focus in the Western Hemisphere became holding Canada and the West Indies.

It can be accurately said that what put us over the top at Yorktown was Spanish money, as de Grasse told Saavedra plainly that he could not sail there without it.

It can also be accurately stated that what made Yorktown significant and secured it as the last great land battle in America was the British preoccupation with defending the West Indies (particularly Jamaica) against Spanish and French invasion.

So we owe the Spanish people for their contributions to our freedom. It is a debt we should not forget or denigrate because it was not covered in the Franco-file histories we had available in our youth.

Granville W. Hough
Professor Emeritus
California State University, Fullerton

Email: gwhough@earthlink.net
3438 Bahia Blanca West, Unit B
Laguna Woods, CA 92653-2830

Statue of General. Galves in New Orleans.

HISPANICS, October is the month to celebrate our Hispanic community and, amidst the immigration and minutemen controversy, what is our place in this country?

Connie Vasquez, ccvasquez1952@earthlink.net

Many times I had felt like an outsider since we, Hispanics, were not even a part of the colonies when our founding fathers created this nation. Also, I had experienced the challenge of what ancestry to accept. Am I Native American or Spanish and in accepting either, am I rejecting one or the other? The beauty of being an American is that here in the USA, it doesn’t really matter who you are or where you came from but what you become with the opportunities that abound.

Two years ago, traveling in California, I was invited to participate in a celebration of our Spanish heritage and I broke bread with a descendent of Gen. Bernardo de Galves. Galveston, TX was named after this Spaniard who also was Governor of Louisiana. It turns out that Galves was so impressed with the new Republic being formed that he, by his own volition, decided to contribute by asking for funds from his subjects. Not from the government, but from the people of the Spanish colonies. They responded with great generosity and he was able to present Gen. Washington with a coffer replete of gold, no strings attached. At the time, this gift was valued at several millions of dollars. So, by virtue of this action, by a Spaniard, we of the Spanish Americas did participate in the forming of this country. He also helped militarily but his contributions have not been so disseminated as the ones of France’s Lafayette but were crucial in the struggle for independence from England. His descendent was inducted as an honorary member of the Daughters of the Revolution, 200 some years after the fact!!

Last year, I discovered a wonderful statue of Gen. Galves in New Orleans. I wonder if they had the same controversy as our Equestrian statue when they decided to place it in the heart of New Orleans by the World Trade Center? Yes, many Spaniards had a horrendous side of cruelty that cannot be denied but also they contributed enormously to world culture. In the new Museum of the American Indian in DC, there is an exhibit that says: With contact there is change. Then they proceed to inform you on changes such as the introduction of Smallpox which ended the lives of millions. What a price our native populations paid for this contact!! But also some there were many other different contributions.

The Aztecs were wonderful warriors and had created a magnificent culture and glorious cities but with the blood and knowledge taken from other tribes. How can one be proud of virgins having their hearts ripped for sacrifices to their Go

	Edward R. Roybal United States Representative, Democrat of California Eighty-eighth One Hundred Second Congresses, January 3, 1963 - January 3, 1993

	EDWARD ROYBAL WAS A PIONEER By John P. Schmal

Edward R. Roybal United States Representative, Democrat of California

US Latinos and Latinas and WW II The University of Texas at Austin http://www.utexas.edu/projects/latinoarchives/ Sent by Johanna De Soto

Behind Enemy Lines

Edward R. Roybal
United States Representative, Democrat of California

US Latinos and Latinas and WW II
The University of Texas at Austin
http://www.utexas.edu/projects/latinoarchives/
Sent by Johanna De Soto