Somos Primos

April, 2008
 Celebrating the 100th 
Online issue 
Vol. 9,  No. 4
All previous issues can be accessed at www.somosprimos.com

Editor: Mimi Lozano ©2000-8

Dedicated to Hispanic Heritage and Diversity Issues
 Society of Hispanic Historical and Ancestral Research

THE DIARY OF LUCAS DE LA FUENTE
Completed and closed on April 1, 1908, 
Photo taken in Sonora, Mexico 1890

Lucas de la Fuente (43 years old) with four of his 10 children.
Lft to Rt: Carmen (18), Ramon (14), Catalina Dolores (15), Becerril (7)

Click to the translation 

"In all of us there is a hunger, marrow deep, to know our heritage,
to know who we are and where we came from, 
Without this enriching knowledge, there is a hollow yearning. 
No matter what our attainment in life, there is still a vacuum, 
an emptiness and the most disquieting loneliness." 

Alex Haley

  Letters to the Editor : 

UNITED STATES

Dr. Armando Rodriguez 
Honored at the Alameda/Smithsonian Latino Museum 
San Antonio, Texas
March 28, 2008

Sponsored by: 

HACU Honors its Own

Dear Friends,

The Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) are pleased to participate in a well-deserved tribute to Armando Rodriguez.

In his book, “From the Barrio to Washington: An Educator’s Journey,” Rodriguez looks back on a lifetime of work and service and notes that of the many professional positions he has held, “No stint was more difficult than trying to hold down all the wildly varying aspects of being president of a community college. And I don’t think anything was more satisfying.”

The octogenarian’s memoir dedicates a chapter to his nearly six-year tenure
(from 1973 to 1978) as president of East Los Angeles College, a longstanding HACU-member and Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSIs).  

Dr. Antonio R. Flores, President and CEO 
of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities. (photo courtesy)

Founded in 1986, HACU represents approximately 450 colleges and universities committed to Hispanic higher education success in the U.S., Puerto Rico, Latin America, Spain and Portugal. HACU is the only national educational association that represents HSIs, which, while comprising less than 10 percent of all colleges and universities in the U.S., enroll more than 50 percent of all Hispanic students. The majority of HSIs are community colleges.

While great strides have been made in Hispanic higher education in the 35 years since Armando Rodriguez became just the second Latino to be a college president in California, much work remains. For example, Hispanics have become the largest minority population in the U.S., at 14.8 percent, yet hold only 4.6 percent of all college presidencies, and just 6.1 percent of community college presidencies. Also, HSIs receive just 52 cents for every dollar of federal funding received by non-HSIs. And, Hispanic enrollment rates continue to lag behind other segments of society (30 percent of Hispanic 18-21 year olds attend college, compared to 48.8 percent of non-Hispanic whites).

HACU and our supporters are committed to rectifying these inequities. Rodriguez blazed trails in the federal sector as well, serving as the nation’s first director of the Office for Spanish Speaking American Affairs and as U.S. Assistant Commissioner of Education. Yet today, Hispanics remain the only underrepresented minority among federal employees. Through the HACU National Internship

Program, the largest Hispanic program of its kind in the nation, more than 7,000 young people have benefited from paid internships at federal agencies and corporations—many leading to full-time employment.

“Education, more than anything else, is the key to opening doors beyond the barrio,” writes Rodriguez, who was born in Mexico but grew up in the Logan Heights area of San Diego. “I learned that from my own experience, and I was glad to help broaden the opportunities for more kids.”

We at the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities commend Armando Rodriguez for a lifetime of exemplary service. May his inspiring example, as chronicled in his book, continue to open doors of opportunity for the young people of our community.

Cordially, Antonio R. Flores
President and CEO HACU

 

Dr. Armando Rodriguez shows his book and some of the historic moments in his life.

Tribulations, Trails and Triumphs of Hispanic Education
By by Kristian Jaime  

   

A Salute to Dr. Armando Rodriguez 
by Dr. Henry J. Casso
Project Uplift

Dr. Hector P. Garcia 
versus 
Corpus Christi Independent School District 

by Wanda Daisy Garcia with added contributions from 
Amador Garcia, President of the AGIF Archives and Historical Foundation
wanda.garcia@sbcglobal.net

Photos courtesy of 
Dr. Hector P. Garcia Papers,
Special Collections & Archives
Texas A & M University - Corpus Christi, Bell Library
Grace.Charles@tamucc.edu

The educational system was inferior for Mexican Americans in the 1960s. Minority school buildings were firetraps and health hazards.  Classrooms were overcrowded.  Teaching materials and textbooks were outdated. Teachers did not encourage minority students to attend college.  Nor were advanced courses taught in minority schools. Mexican American students dropped out of school by the 5^th grade. The segregation extended to the teaching faculty. In that, CCISD assigned Mexican American teachers to teach exclusively in minority schools.  

Dr. Hector P. Garcia held rallies to discuss the importance of education and to motivate parents and students to fight for an equal education system. Dr. Guadalupe San Miguel was a student at Moody High School when he first heard of Dr. Hector P. Garcia and his work to improve the educational system for Mexican Americans.[1]  Dr. San Miguel said, “I’d gone to some of those rallies where Dr. Garcia would tell us about the struggle for education.”  

Then Cisneros V. CCISD happened. On July 22, 1968, Black and Hispanic members of the United Steelworkers Union filed a lawsuit alleging unconstitutional segregation in the Corpus Christi Independent School. In June 1970, Judge Woodrow Seals, federal court ruled: 

              Mexican American students were separated and segregated to a degree
              prohibited by the fourteenth Amendment in all three levels of the school system.
 

On the home front, Anglos opposed to busing organized the “Concerned Neighbors, Inc.”.[2]    The plaintiffs and school district came up with an alternative to busing. The alternative was majority-to-minority transfer. This rule allowed students in the majority ethnic group in their neighborhood school to attend a school where they would be in the minority. The school district would provide transportation for the participating students. Twenty Southside and Westside elementary schools and five junior high schools would participate in the student exchange program.

Even after Cisneros V. CCISD, Dr. Dana Williams and the school board did nothing to improve substandard conditions at the minority schools.[3]    Instead, the school board discussed building a new administration building and football stadium.  But the board did not mention renovations on the older schools. On August 1972, Dr. Hector asked the City Council to inspect the minority schools for possible fire hazards and health deficiencies after a fire had broken out in Austin Elementary.  Dr. Garcia presented to the City Council the results of a 1968 Department of Health Education, Welfare report, and 1971 Texas Dept. of Health report, which confirmed the substandard conditions of the schools, existed for many years:  

Stephen F. Austin Elementary after the fire.

Since 1960, Dr. Williams has had an opportunity to formulate a plan to correct segregation.  Evidently, Dr. Williams is not able to formulate a lawful integration plan and therefore he should resign. The plan submitted by Dr. Williams and the school board is to continue the discrimination that has existed in the Corpus Christi Schools.  In Spanish we say that the plan “Es unicamente para taparle el ojo a el macho.” The Williams Plan is mixing Negro and Mexican American students together with a token representation of both groups in the predominant Anglo schools.  

On September 1971, Dr. Hector Garcia went to Washington, D.C. to discuss the CCISD desegregation case with Dr. Goldberg of the U.S. Solicitor General’s office. According to Goldberg, the agency had disbursed 37 million in ESAP funds to aid in desegregation of schools.[4]   However, CCISD had not received any ESAP monies because of the order to stay integration. Dr. Williams reported that the Office of the Solicitor General had distributed only 3.7 million to 12 school districts.  When confronted about the discrepancy, Williams said he had misread the figures.[5]  Later, Dr. Hector urged CCISD to remove the stay order and reapply for ESAP funds. Dr. Hector formed the P.T.A. group[6] to call attention to the financial liability to the taxpayer if the school district did not receive the ESAP funds.[7]  

CCISD’s offer of free transportation for students wishing voluntary assignment was another ploy used to circumvent integration. When students tested the offer on three occasions, the Board turned them down. On August 14, 1972, CCISD Board denied the request of students for transportation to Anglo schools. On Sept 21, 1972, the school Board denied this request again.  On October 1972, Dr. Hector with 17 students attended a school board meeting to demonstrate against the school Board’s lack of cooperation.  

Amador Garcia, an eyewitness and Dr. Hector's cousin, said the meeting became tense with heated verbal exchanges between Dr. Hector and Dr. Dana Williams.  Amador said, "They got in each other's faces." So much so that Dr. Williams called the police to remove my father and the students from the meeting.  The police arrested my father and took him to jail.   
In the interim, Amador phoned Tony Canales, Dr. Cleo's son and Rudy Garza, Tony Canales' law partner.  Together they met at the jail.  Amador recalls what a contrast Dr. Hector was to the other inmates of the cell.  He was clean-shaven and wore a pristine short-sleeved white shirt.  The three lawyers assured Dr. Hector that they would post bail so he could get out.  Dr. Hector, still fuming from the interaction with Dana Williams, said, "No, I don't want you to get me out of jail."  Tony and Amador tried to reason with my father, "We cannot leave you in jail.”  Dr. Hector adamantly said, "No, I do not want to get out of jail." 

Stephen F. Austin Elementary before the fire.

On 1974, Dr. Hector and American G.I. Forum members met with the Texas Education Agency Commission. Dr. Hector described the physical condition of the schools and the high dropout rate of Mexican American students. He presented charts, graphs and photographs to document his arguments.  But the Commission was non-committal. 

After one meeting, Dr. Hector wrote:  

The TEA has not taken strong enough action against local schools.  The TEA by majority vote and action seems to be calloused and disinterested in correcting these same deficiencies as evidenced by this meeting.   

On May 1974, Dr. Hector asked Judge Owen Cox to take charge of the case himself “since the Board, Superintendent and Community failed to comply with the desegregation order.”  Three years later “nada”. On December 8, 1977, Dr. Hector wrote to Dr. John Bell, Office of Civil Rights Region VI advising that CCISD had not complied or submitted a plan for desegregation.    

Dr. Hector did get results though.  CCISD produced an integration plan after battling in and out of the courts’ and the schools were desegregated.  On 1977, the court ordered the district to began busing. Students in kindergarten, first and second grades went to their neighborhood schools. Third and fourth grade students attended a Westside school, while fifth and sixth grade students attended a Southside school. CCISD bused students at the junior high level for one of their three years using an alphabetical lottery system.  

On 1997, U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack dismissed Cisneros ET. Al. vs. CCISD, saying, the desegregation case had forever-improved Corpus Christi education.  The court battle that began in 1968 went on for thirty years.  Both key players in this drama, Dr. Hector Garcia and Dr. Dana Williams have passed away.  Dr. Hector died On July 1996 and Dr. Williams on July 2007. I send them love and light.

Dr. Armando Ayala
California "Valley Intercultural Program" 
Recognized by the US Department of Education 
"Pioneers of Bilingual and Bicultural Education

Dr. Ayala' undergraduate training was in cultural anthropology and linguistics. He graduated from East Texas State University in 1959 and was immediately, through the efforts of friend Steve Arvizu, recruited by Bakersfield School District in California. The Bakersfield school population was 33 percent limited English speaking. Out of the 1,200 teachers in the district, 5 were Spanish speaking. Dr. Ayala's professionalism eventually took him to leadership roles.  In 1967, he was elected "Man of the Year" by the Teachers' Union and served as President. Dr. Ayala was instrumental in helping to organize a Conference in 1969 in Asilomar of 25 experienced Mexican-American teachers.  The focus was to develop concepts for a Dual Language Model for public schools.  

It was the combination of Dr. Ayala's own life experiences [His mother died of TB when he was 4 years old.], Laredo schools, teaching in Bakersfield, agricultural, migrant worker's children, and his training in cultural and social anthropology that shaped the concept for what eventually was to be called in Early Childhood Bilingual Education, the "Ayala Dual Model". 

Dr. Ayala's visionary approach was to include and acknowledge the need to appeal to the Anglo population. "Bilingual education will never get off the ground until the Anglo gets a piece of the action."  

Eventually the program that was designed, developed, and maintained under the directorship of Dr. Ayala had waiting lists, parents eager to enroll their children in the bilingual/multicultural classes.  Dr. Ayala observed that "The higher the education of the Anglo community, the more bilingual education is valued."

This could never have been accomplished without the SUPPORT, COOPERATION, and ENTHUSIASM of and from the STUDENTS, parents, both the ANGLO and Mexican-American because this was an ENRICHMENT PROGRAM in which ALL PARTICIPANTS were VOLUNTEERS.   they could have opted to WITHDRAW at anytime.

Dr. Ayala served as the Director of the Valley Intercultural Center for 23 years.  He worked with Placer County Consortium and coordinated teacher training with the Office of Bilingual Staff Development at the University of California at Sacramento. Teachers were able to receive Bilingual certification.  The program funding was federal. Thirteen counties in Northern California participated.

The "Ayala Dual Language Model" is now, almost 40 years later, being implemented and practiced successfully in many areas throughout the nation.  

Editor: The information was gathered from a conversation with Dr. Ayala. Please note below how Dr. Ayala is receiving well-deserved recognition.

Therefore, if you ever go to Wash. D.C.. look up the Department of Education Building and visit the Bilingual Education Office; there you will see this "Resolution Displayed in OUR honor. 

CONGRATULATIONS! 

Your "COLEGA" in the "movement to promote MULTILINGUALISM for all!  

Dr. Armando A. Ayala Lecturer EMERITUS 2003 Ca. State, Univ.- Sacramento Multilingual/Multicultural Ed. Dept. College of Education
E-Mail: DrChili@webtv.net

For information on the Valley Intercultural Program, go to:
Area III Valley Intercultural Report; 1970-71 Final Evaluation Report.
Placer County Office of Education, Auburn, CA
http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/ recordDetail?accno=ED069708

Dr. Armando Alfonso Ayala 
Recognized by the State of California 
1992

This is an art book with magnificent black and white photos of prominent Latinas who have made definite and long standing contribution to the Hispanic community and the country at large. This photographic essay constitutes an important collective biography as well, with great journalistic insight and integrity into the lives of leading Latina women in the fields of education, science, literature, business, law, the arts, journalism, politics, and other fields of endeavor. This coffee table monograph, which has been published with art-book quality as a collector's edition, provides stunning artistic, B&W photographs of each subject with a parallel biographic journalistic essay in Spanish and English. The biographies explore the life-changing events of each subject, the personal mix of elements, circumstances, and values which allowed these women to set goals and objectives toward most successful careers and contributions to society. There are 72 leading women included in this collective biography and an extraordinary photographic essay offering the most incredible array of role models to inspire, guide and motivate young Latinas.  This title is an important addition to reference collections and individual libraries for they are testament to the vision and values of la mujer Latina.

"Growing up with the knowledge that I was bicultural has always been close to my heart. All my life, I have experienced the richness, the constant energy of two perspectives within me, weaving and intertwining into one integrated self. Being a native Californian blessed with parents from Mexico and Central America, and ancestors from Alta California, I inherited a rich tapestry of values, sensibilities, and visions. In addition, my parents participated in the struggles of San Francisco’s labor unions during the 1940’s. Their experiences provided me with a clear and enduring sense of the value of community and the importance of activism on behalf of all communities. My parents lived their lives with conviction, and always believed that there is great power in persisting when the cause is just. They had faith in the principles of world harmony and well-being for all, and championed the rights of others with great determination. These were early lessons in my life.

Guided by my parents’ values, I chose Social Science as my undergraduate major at the University of California, Berkeley. My graduate studies at California State, Hayward, were in Educational Psychology. With my newly acquired knowledge, I was able to recognize more accurately societal strengths and weaknesses, and I became professionally involved in social welfare. Over the years, in a variety of settings, I have worked in fields that specifically addressed issues of health, education, and economics in culturally diverse communities. Mujeres de Conciencia/Women of Conscience profiles Latinas in California whose knowledge and efforts have affected the well-being of communities in need. They are representative of hundreds of thousands of Latin Americans who are engaged in similar work. Written for the general public, the book offers examples which validate the Latino culture in the United States from its own perspective. It is no coincidence that the Latin American women presented here are of multi-cultural descent. They mirror the rich and varied ethnic background of the populace of Latin America. Some are the great-great-granddaughters of Mexicans who populated California and the Southwest of the United States. Others have roots in Central and South America, and in the Caribbean. Many of these women forged their social conscience and values from personal and family experiences. The stories of their families, together with their own first-hand experiences, contributed to the persons they became. They possess intimate knowledge of the Latino culture, and see the need to preserve it for themselves and others, and for those to come. They pursue endeavors on behalf of disenfranchised communities within the larger society in order to enhance the quality of life for all, firm in the conviction that society as a whole gains when all of its members prosper. Through their efforts, the women profiled in this book, as well as many other activists, are creating paths toward in-depth dialogue about progressive change. As they share their stories, replete with conviction, joy, pride, love, and pain, they emerge as agents for social change.

Mujeres de Conciencia/Women of Conscience represents a broad spectrum of interests and vocations. These women are writers, artists, community activists, lawyers, health specialists, politicians, labor leaders, business entrepreneurs, cultural promoters, and community mobilizers. They reflect many societal structures. Their common denominator is their understanding, respect, and love for all communities the impact of their collective work on the communities they serve; and the transcendence of their work for society as a whole. Truth and idealism hold pride of place in their motives for involvement. They look to themselves as well as to others to speak out for justice. Their biographies chronicle specific endeavors and reveal differences in style. The photographs strive to reveal something of the inner life of each. Although some of these Latinas have moved on to other positions of importance and to new responsibilities, their convictions and hearts have remained dedicated to community improvement. Mujeres de Conciencia/Women of Conscience is a collection of dreams, realities, and aspirations. It is a record of “people power,” presented to celebrate success fueled by intelligence, tenacity, talent, and a commitment to the preservation of human values. While the advocacy presented here focuses on minority issues in the United States, it is important to observe that these women are carrying out an equally strong advocacy with regard to world-wide societal issues. Their belief in the possibility of effecting positive change recognizes no borders. Their separate visions ultimately flow into and interconnect with one another. The purpose of this book is to celebrate their transformative power.

In creating it, I have been guided by a sense of personal responsibility as a Latina/Chicana American. “What is my personal role in disseminating truth?” “How should I apply my principles?” “What can I do to correct misconceptions?” These are the questions that prompted my journey. In Mujeres de Conciencia/Women of Conscience, I have attempted to present a cross section of American women of Latin descent whose lives and work have been a powerful force for societal change in the United States and in the world. I realize there are many others not included here who have also worked selflessly to make positive changes in the world. I hope this book will inspire other authors to continue the task undertaken here, to offer them the recognition they merit. I want to express my gratitude to my husband, John Spence Weir; to my son, Juan Weir; to Roberto Cabello-Argandoña of Floricanto Press; and to the many friends and organizations who have given me so much encouragement, guidance, and support for this project."

Victoria Alvarado  

COLUMN OF THE AMERICAS, MARCH 3, 2008 
REMEMBERING & HONORING RUBEN SALAZAR
by Dr. Cintli "Roberto" Rodriguez 

MDPI can be contacted at: mdpi@u.arizona.edu or visit the website for the Media, Democracy and Policy Initiative at:  http://mdpi.arizona.edu/index.php

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

Book: Right Before Our Eyes: Latinos Past, Present & Future

 By Robert Montemayor with  Henry Mendoza
http://books.google.com/books

A funny thing happened to me while I was pushing a cart up and down the aisles of my local Pathmark supermarket. I hit one aisle and suddenly realized that a very large portion of it was devoted to Goya and other products favored by Latinos. Not being a Hispanic or Latino—the terms are interchangeable—I had not noticed that before, but the fact is, New Jersey and nearby New York are major population centers for Latinos, even though much of the Hispanic population remains spread throughout the Southwest and, of course, throughout California.

In the past, I have written some pretty harsh analysis of the impact of illegal immigration on the United States of America. I have not favored the further granting of amnesty to the eight to twelve million illegal aliens here, most of whom are from Mexico, South America, and Caribbean nations. There is, however, a power in numbers and in history. They are both relentless when examined without prejudice.

Let me share some numbers with you from an interesting book, "Right Before Our Eyes: Latinos Past, Present & Future" (Scholargy Publishing, 1555 W. University Drive, Suite 108, Tempe, AZ 85281, www.scholargy.com) by Robert Montemayor with Henry Mendoza.

# Latinos are the largest and the youngest ethnic minority in the United States.

# At approximately 40 million today, Latinos account for 13.7 percent of the US population.

# By 2050, one out of every four Americans will be Latino, a number that will exceed 100 million.

# In 2020, one out of six workers in the US will be Latino; in 2050, it will be one out of four.

# Latinos will spend $700 billion this year.

# Latinos represented between 6 to 8 million votes in the 2004 presidential election; they were estimated to represent the critical swing vote in six States.

All of a sudden, I began to think that maybe Social Security might not go broke if those illegal aliens were given the opportunity to become tax-paying Americans with a better opportunity to have their children schooled so they too can join the workforce as the baby-boomers head toward retirement. What does America need? A "geezer" workforce or one that taps the ability of native-born and immigrant Latinos?

A lot of Americans are going to be very surprised to discover that the taxpayer base in ten years and the workforce in 2020 are going to be predominantly Latino. It will be same kind of surprise I felt when I realized that aisle in Pathmark represented a change I hadn’t really noticed.

Part of the problem is that Latinos, particularly native-born, have had an especially hard time climbing the ladder of success in America. The appointment of Alberto G. Gonzalez as the first Latino US Attorney General was widely heralded, but Latinos remain under-represented at the executive levels of business, education, law, politics, and policy. There are exceptions, yes, but they remain exceptions.

Latinos are virtually invisible with the exception of entertainers like Jennifer Lopez and Salma Hayek, musicians such as Emilio and Gloria Estefan, and from the world of sports, golfers LeeTravino, Chi Chi Rodriquez or Nancy Lopez. Baseball has many Hispanic stars such as Alex Rodriquez, Sammy Sosa, and Manny Ramirez. When you look to science, aerospace, art, architecture, medicine, the military, and politics, the names of Latino achievers are barely known to most people, let alone to the vast Hispanic community.

As far as the mass media is concerned, Latinos are an even greater minority than African Americans, but Latinos outnumber them these days. When you read or hear about a Latino it is most likely because they have been arrested. This totally ignores the growing Latino middle class. For those born here and others who arrive here legally or illegally, there is an astonishing 600 Spanish-language radio stations and an estimated 550 Spanish-language magazines, newspapers, and websites. As Montemayor notes, "It is an industry all its own, and it exists within the largest English-speaking country in the world."

Language is a major sore point among advocates and critics of immigration. All previous groups that arrived on our shores, Italians, Russians, Germans and others, embraced English as the unifying language of these United States. It is language that, more often than not, stymies the progress of Hispanic immigrants and, if history is any guide, it is the necessity to learn English that will permit them to make a life for themselves and their children here.

Education is the key to progress, but our education system is in meltdown, poorly serving an entire generation of young Americans and, more often than not, neglecting Hispanic children to the point of their dropping out in numbers too great to ignore without peril to the growth of our economy and the well being of our society.

The numbers of Latinos born here and coming here cannot be ignored. Ways must be found to integrate new Hispanic immigrants into our society, nor should we forget that there are already millions of first, second, third and fourth generation Latinos for whom America is their home. A group that will spend $700 billion this year alone cannot be ignored and that aisle in Pathmark says they are not being ignored.

For those who resist this, a bit of history. Hispanic explorers had begun their travels around the North American continent centuries before their English counterparts. Years before the first English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, Spanish explorers had discovered and traversed most of what would become the Southern States from Florida to Texas, "discovered Lake Michigan in the north, trekked down the Mississippi River, crossed New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, and Arizona, and claimed the California coast extending as far north as Vancouver Island. In 1565, the Spanish admiral Pedro Menendez de Aviles founded St. Augustine, Florida." It would serve as Spain’s military headquarters in North America for the rest of the 16^th century.

There are all kinds of issues swirling around the fact that some 400,000 illegal immigrants from Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean are arriving yearly. There are national security issues, education issues, medical care issues, crime issues, language issues, but there aren’t values issues. Latinos who risk everything, including their lives, to come here want to work, want their children to have a better life, want to live in a nation that offers real opportunity. And many come here legally, but go unnoted against the television images of those who do not.

So, let’s face it. The future face of America is going to be less English, less Scandinavian, less Russian, less Irish, less Italian, less German. We are going to learn to celebrate Cinco de Mayo along with St. Patrick’s Day.

Alan Caruba writes a weekly column, "Warning Signs", posted on the Internet site of The National Anxiety Center, www.anxietycenter.com.

© 2005 Alan Caruba.
All Rights Reserved.

NATIONAL ISSUES

3/19 Maggie writes: "We'll be there starting with Wednesday afternoon, with our Defend the Honor display, giving out brochures and selling buttons... 
hasta pronto, M"

 While the researchers did not delve far into what their findings might mean for national immigration policy, they said reformers have many factors to take into consideration besides crime rates. "However," the authors concluded, "our results suggest that several of the reforms currently under consideration would do little to improve public safety."   

To download the complete report, see www.ppic.org.  
Incarceration rates per 100,000 residents
by Howard Shorr howardshorr@msn.com

Sadly, Center for Disease Control study overlooked Hispanic women 
Commentary by Esther J. Cepeda  
March 21, 2008  

Behold the spectacle of the incredible invisible Hispanic woman. She and her sisters walk among us, over 20 million strong, young and old, U.S.-born and immigrant, legal and illegal, yet undetectable to the mainstream eye.

This month we heard about the "Hidden Epidemic" -- a major public-health crisis affecting one in every four teen-age girls -- when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a study estimating 3.2 million young women between the ages of 14 and 19 are infected with the human papilloma virus, chlamydia, herpes simplex virus and/or trichomoniasis.

Media accounts made it clear these shocking numbers, gleaned from 838 randomly chosen study participants, were even worse for black women. A stunning 48 percent of those young women were infected with one or more STDs, compared to 20 percent of white women.

And the 20 million Latinas -- just those counted by the U.S. Census' last tally in July 2006, that is -- well, they just don't exist. At least not in this "nationally representative study."

Apparently, "insufficient numbers" of Hispanic women were served in the California high-school-based clinics and the New York City clinics studied by the CDC to make any estimates about STD rates among Latinas.

Really? The CDC and most media outlets covering the report's release went to great pains to point out the study didn't include any STD prevalence data on teen-age boys, but no one blinked at the glaring omission of the country's fastest growing ethnic group?

It's true, the big four STDs are a drop in the bucket compared with major chronic diseases -- such as obesity, diabetes and asthma -- decimating Hispanics. To its credit, the CDC in recent years has painstakingly researched, reported on and reached out -- even in Spanish -- to tell Hispanics how to prevent these illnesses.

But leaving Latinas out of this highly publicized report -- "the clearest picture to date of the overall STD burden in adolescent women" -- undermines the CDC's well-intentioned efforts to make us aware these STDs are everywhere, often go unnoticed and undiagnosed, and cut across racial and ethnic lines.

According to the CDC's Office of Minority Health, obtaining data for Hispanics is too hard because of "their relatively small numbers in the population and geographic dispersion" -- and the lack of "culturally and linguistically appropriate data collection materials and bilingual interviewers."

CDC officials should check out the latest statistics.

A Pew Research Center report, "Statistical Portrait of Hispanics in the United States , 2006," found that of the 45 million Hispanics counted, 61 percent were native-born. Of those under 18, 75 percent reported themselves predominantly English-speaking.

We could argue about perceived barriers all day. Instead, let me tell you why anyone who isn't a Gomez, Hernandez or Rodriguez should even care about STD rates in Hispanic women.

How about this? After 14 years of declining teen-pregnancy rates, between 2005 and 2006 the birth rate for all girls between 15 and 19 rose 3 percent. The CDC estimated the rate for Hispanic girls was 2 percent.

Or let's talk about the biggest biggie: HIV/AIDS, which is staging a comeback as a result of the misguided belief it is now curable with drug cocktails. In 2006, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found new AIDS cases worsening only among Latinos -- compared with all other racial/ethnic groups. Their cases doubled from 2001 to 2004, with Latinas' new infections jumping from 23 percent to 51 percent in that time period.

The bottom line: 20 million Juanas, Rosas and Marias are not invisible. Neither the CDC nor anyone else can afford to ignore the sexual health of 20 million Hispanic women.

In fact, lots of them will have sex with Toms, Dicks and Harrys. Or, as I like to think of them, your sons, brothers and fathers. Heck, some of the 20 million might even hook up with your moms, sisters and daughters.

And the STDs that'll cross cultural barriers just happen to be colorblind.

(Esther J. Cepeda is a director at the United Neighborhood Organization, a Chicago-based nonprofit dedicated to ensuring Hispanics' success in the United States. She may be reached at ecepeda@uno-online.org.)

Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com

Editor: 

This invisibility follows a distinct pattern:  If you want funding for a specific group or purpose, a request for a study is made by a public official, in response to constituents, 
a group, or an agency's interest.  Once the study is completed, a request for funding can be pursued.

That appears to be the game plan of public funding:  Request a study and target the results to what, and who you want to fund. The excuses for not including Latinas in the study are quite weak.  

The omission by CDC of Latinas, members of the largest minority in the United States was either neglectful, a poorly constructed and flawed social health study, and/or completed with the goal of receiving funds for educational programs and treatment specifically for young black women.   

Since by this omission, the health and well-being of generations of Latino families is affected, it appears that the Civil Rights of all Latinos/Hispanics have been damaged.  

Let us hope that LULAC, MALDEF, and NCLR will take steps to censure the CDC study.
Let us hope that Latino agencies committed to the health of Latinos request that a study be done specific to young Latina women, so that they too can have access to educational resources and treatment.. 

ACTION ITEMS

A historic educational, cultural and social justice tribute to our elders and warriors of WWII as written and sung by Los Romanticos.

We are excited to announce the first ever CD recording of a NEW Latino and Latina WWII corrido that incorporates the history, emotions, coraje, and hope as felt and experienced by our WWII warriors and supporters of the Defend The Honor Campaign. The "artistic decisions" made by the musicians in creating the corrido are of the highest quality and pay deep respect to our WWII elders and their families.  

Our history is being recorded by our own gente in books, research articles, voting booth, teatro and always through the use of music and the corrido. You can join all of us celebrate and experience the new corrido by purchasing one or more CD's  for yourself, friends, organization, library or school. It is a keepsake memento in honor of all Latinos and Latinas who served our country before, during and after WWII. 

Please contribute to our "WAR" effort by mailing a $20.00 check payable to:  
Pepe Villarino
5775 Amarillo
La Mesa, CA 91942  or pepev@cox.net

Just wanted to let everyone know that the Stamp Advisory Committee finally sent a letter to my mom stating that they did not approve the Enrique Camarena Stamp for this year. They made the decision last year in May but did bother to let us know until my mom sent in a letter asking the status on the stamp.

We are very disappointed and are at this moment really trying to regroup and figure out what the next step should be. Please visit the camarenastamp.com website to see the latest updates and please email me with any ideas you have to move forward with the project.

Thank you to all of you for your support and passion for the past 9 years. It means a lot to us. I know in my heart that it will happen, I just want it to happen now!

Thank you, Maria Krueger
mariakrueger@sbcglobal.net

The UFW has asked California LULAC to invite you to this exciting Cesar Chavez Internet Resource.  Do visit this excellent site and take a journey into the legacy of Cesar Chavez! 

 Sent by Argentina Dávila-Luévano, State Director - California LULAC
5034 Ranch Hollow Way - Antioch, California 94531
925 813-2178 (cell) - (h) 925 522-0331 (f)
AALuevano@aol.com (email) - www.ca-lulac.org (State) - www.LULAC.org (National)  

EDUCATION

We must ensure that what our children are learning in the classroom is factually accurate. I am pleased that the State Board of Education adopted the new changes and I think it shows that not every problem needs a legislative solution.  

Prior to the policy change, interested parents and community members were limited in their options to check for accuracy and content in new state approved textbooks. The proposed textbooks were made available for members of the public to view at a limited number of Learning Resource Display Centers (LRDC) around the state from 9am-5pm – when most parents are working.  

Under the newly adopted rules, publishers will provide Internet access to the Student Editions of public school textbooks so that the public can search for errors online when their own busy schedules allow time. Publishers will provide the California Department of Education (CDE) with direct hyperlinks to the URLs of instructional materials submitted for adoption. Posting these URLs on the CDE website will democratize the textbook review process and factual errors will decrease.

According to Leece's research, in 2005, the publishers and our state approval process missed 427 indisputable factual errors in five 8th grade U.S. History textbooks. Leece visited the LRDC #20 in Santa Ana and reviewed the student and teacher's editions of the five approved 8th grade U.S. History Texts. Leece confirmed errors in both the student and teacher's editions: 427 confirmed factual errors and 168 errors in teacher's editions.  

At no cost to the state, this rule enhancement will empower the public to identify any errors and further strengthen the quality of textbooks used in California classrooms.

In a recent article in the Daily Pilot titled ''Aim to correct history,'' writer Joseph Serna reported on our efforts to reduce errors in textbooks and to increase parental involvement with their children. Here is part of the article:

Aim to correct history: In an effort to reduce errors, textbooks awaiting approval will be available online and open to public scrutiny, beginning 2009. By Joseph Serna

 President Andrew Johnson was impeached by the House of Representatives, President Andrew Jackson died in 1845 and many of the battles in the War of 1812 were in the United States.  

As true as those statements may be, depending on which textbook your child has in school, they might have a completely different impression of U.S. history. Assemblyman Van Tran and parent, former Newport-Mesa school board member and Costa Mesa City Councilwoman Wendy Leece teamed up to help parents rewrite history.  

''My goal is that textbooks be accurate,'' Leece said. ''It's tiny little details, but in the bigger picture parents and students will benefit.''  

http://www.dailypilot.com/articles/2008/01/14/education/dpt-accuracy12.txt

Source:  California Assembly member Van Tran  Tran’s Tidbits  
Vol.3 Issue 2, February 2008

Amid calls by some U.S. lawmakers for wealthy universities to lower tuition costs, officials at Stanford
University said on Wednesday they would no longer charge tuition to students from families earning less than $100,000 a year.

Read entire article that gives much more info and tells you about Harvard and Yale and other schools, as well.
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2041220220080221

Solving California's Dropout Crisis
A new report from the California Dropout Research Project looks at the rates, causes and costs of high school dropout and what the state, schools and districts can do about it. Among the findings: the graduation rate for African-Americans in California is 57 percent, Hispanics 60 percent, Native Americans 52 percent, Asians 84 percent and Whites 77 percent.  http://www.lmri.ucsb.edu/dropouts/pubs.htm

Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities
 
2008-2009 Scholarship Program APPLY Today!
Website: https://scholarships.hacu.net
 
The deadline to apply online and submit all required documentation is May 23, 2008.

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND ONLINE APPLICATION, PLEASE VISIT https://scholarships.hacu.net; questions e-mail us at: scholarship@hacu.net

Sent by Ricardo Valverde

RValverde@ochca.com

BILINGUAL EDUCATION

I have included a fact sheet and sample letter for your review.  The first hearing of the California Dream Act is scheduled for April 2, 2008 in the Senate Committee on Education at 9:00am .  I would greatly appreciate a copy of you or your organizations letter of support by March 25 so that it may be recorded in the committee analysis.  Please fax your letters of support to (916) 327-8817.  

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or Eric Guerra of my staff at (916) 651-4022 or visit www.senatorcedillo.com.   Thank you for your time and consideration.  

Sincerely, Gilbert Cedillo 
State Senator, 22nd District  
State Capitol, R oom 5100
Sacramento , CA   95814

Book: "From the Classrooms to the Courtrooms" 
by Prof. Richard Valencia

Dear Mimi, this book is about the Santamaria v. Dallas Independent School District, desegregation case.  I have included a web site that mentions another Prof Valencia book for your review.  Rafael Ojeda

 http://www.leaonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s1532771xjle0504_2?cookieSet=1&journalCode=jle

CULTURE

Three Nationally Acclaimed Interactive & Introspective Exhibitions  http://www.muzeo.org/

Sent by Nancy Perez  nbperez@cox.net

Nothing beats a warm breakfast taco in the morning. The ultimate comfort food, it is a culinary mainstay of Texan culture, based on something that is centuries old: the flour tortilla.

In much of Mexico and elsewhere in the United States, tacos are usually made with corn tortillas, whose history goes back even further — thousands of years to the native people of the Americas. The Aztecs revered corn almost as a deity, said Melissa Guerra of McAllen, the author of several cookbooks, most recently, "Dishes from the Wild Horse Desert."

The flour tortilla gained a foothold after the Spanish conquest, she said, with colonizers considering corn unfit for human consumption. There were theological reasons for their preference for wheat, which Europeans associated with the body of Christ.

Jewish families — covertly practicing their faith or simply maintaining their traditions as Catholic conversos — settled in northern Mexico to get as far from the Spanish Inquisition as possible. Since corn was not kosher and they were accustomed to eating flat pita bread, they began to make tortillas out of wheat, Guerra said.

Flour tortillas became popular in northern Mexico — including what is now Texas — and stayed popular in Texas after its independence and annexation by the United States. That doesn't surprise Guerra because the Rio Grande became "really more of a political boundary than a cultural boundary."

"It was just our regional food," she said.

Corn tortillas remain the pre-eminent staple of Mexico and are increasingly popular in the United States, said Eduardo Campos, owner of Taco Rey on San Antonio's West Avenue and two other taquerías in his native Mexico City.

"In our culture and history, corn is fundamental," Campos said. "We're a people born of corn."

At his two taquerías in Mexico, the clientele overwhelmingly prefers corn tortillas. San Antonians always prefer his fresh flour tortillas for their breakfast tacos, Campos said, although that's changing.

As immigrants bring their love of corn to this country, the demand for these tortillas here is increasing, he said. 

The Naranjero Blues  
Emilio Martinez could have been Orange County's Woody Guthrie (and he still might be)  
By GUSTAVO ARELLANO  
Thursday, January 31, 2008 - 4:30 am     
GARELLANO@OCWEEKLY.COM

If the coffee that Maria Daniel spilled had landed directly on the tape player, this story might not exist. Keith May

Elisa Carr, Maria Daniel and Emilio Martinez Jr. have kept the elder Emilio and music alive

Daniel was relaxing one recent Tuesday with her aunt Elisa Carr and uncle Emilio Martinez Jr. at Carr's Stanton home. Rain clouds were sweeping overhead, so Carr offered her niece and brother some coffee to fend off the cold. Before she rose to make another pot, Carr turned on a tape player, the rectangular kind with piano-key buttons and a sturdy grip handle that went out of popularity around the Carter administration.  

Out of a tinny speaker rumbled a deep, gravelly voice singing about a beautiful woman. A guitar strummed in the background. It was Carr's father, Emilio Martinez, playing just one of the hundreds of corridos he penned during his 85 years.  

"It's so nice to hear his voice," Carr remarked, as Daniel and Emilio Jr. nodded silently. She poured her niece another cup. But as Daniel raised her mug for a sip, the coffee splashed across the table.

Carr quickly snatched the tape player from the scalding liquid. The coffee only touched the machine's side. Her father continued to sing.

"That was really close!" she exclaimed, laughing. Carr turned off the tape. The coffee glimmered on the table. "Too close," she sighed, putting the tape recorder away and getting up to find some towels.  

History is a fragile, incomplete thing, especially when documenting minorities in the United States, and few local cases are more telling than the story of Emilio Martinez. Many of his compositions offer a vital glimpse into the county's Latino past, one ignored by Orange County's major historians for more than a century. The man wrote about some of the most crucial events in the county's formation: the 1936 Citrus War, the Great Flood of 1938, discrimination battles, the reign of King Citrus. He even made a couple of records.  

Yet only Martinez's family and friends are aware of his place in the Orange County saga. Historical ignorance is one factor, but part of the problem is Martinez's incomplete legacy. Notebooks containing his tunes are missing; recordings are rare. His only full-length interviews with non-family members were with professors researching other topics. More important, Martinez's Orange County no longer exists: the tight-knit communities that flocked to his performances, tuned in to his many appearances on radio and sang Martinez's corridos over bonfires and picket lines are gone, and the new immigrants he so loved to document and fight for don't concern themselves with the past of their predecessors.  

In another place, another time, Martinez would've been a folk treasure, the subject of dissertations, Smithsonian restoration projects and tribute CDs. Another scrap in the proverbial dustbin.  

*   *   *

Emilio Martinez was born on July 24, 1905, in Jalpa, Zacatecas, a small town near the state's border with Jalisco. His family's hardscrabble existence worsened with the onset of the Mexican Revolution: Emilio's dad was a supporter of Victoriano Huerta, the unpopular Mexican president whose ascent to power after the assassination of Francisco Madera set off a decade of bloodshed in the country. As opposition forces led by Pancho Villa hacked their way through the state, Emilio's father forced his 10-year-old son to run guns for Huerta's troops in the losing effort. Both Martinez males survived, but the devastation wrought by the warring factions forced the family north to the United States in search of jobs in 1923. After trying Houston and Los Angeles, Emilio moved to Santa Ana's historic Logan barrio around 1924.  

Shortly after settling in, Martinez's brother Luis returned from prison with a surprise—he now knew how to play the guitar. "I asked Luis to teach me—it was hard, but I finally was able to do it," Martinez told an interviewer in 1989, just two years before his death. "We used to play for the drunks in the [Logan] neighborhood." The two also occasionally drove down to Tijuana and played in the bars that sprang up in the city after Prohibition.  

Emilio stayed in Logan for a couple of years before bouncing around California's Citrus Belt—Santa Monica, Riverside, Redlands, Whittier and other parts of Orange County. He finally settled in Anaheim around 1930. It was the first year of the Great Depression, and California was about to undergo a decade of agricultural strikes that brought virtual race wars to the state's bountiful fields. Locally, activists were already planning to organize thousands of poorly paid, almost-exclusively Mexican naranjeros who toiled anonymously in the county's orange groves and packing houses.

Around this time, the Martinez brothers and another friend formed a musical group named Los Hermanos Martinez. The trio toured Orange County's citrus camps, singing Emilio's tunes and earning something of a following, but not enough to quit their jobs. Los Hermanos Martinez thought they nabbed their big break after attracting the attention of Los Madrugadores (The Early Risers), a legendary morning show on KMPC-AM 710 (now KSPN-AM) hosted by Pedro J. Gonzalez. Los Madrugadores was one of the first regular Spanish-language radio broadcasts in Southern California, and Gonzalez earned huge ratings by inviting local and famous artists to play live on the air. But Los Hermanos Martinez performed only a couple of shows before Gonzalez was arrested in 1934 on rape charges (the woman later admitted that American government authorities—who despised Gonzalez because his show openly criticized the racism and discrimination faced by Mexican immigrants—coaxed her into lying). Gonzalez wouldn't return to radio until 1940 in Tijuana.

His shot at a music career seemingly over, Martinez joined a just-forming citrus workers' union and quickly become the representative for Anaheim pickers in a countywide comité central (central organizing committee). The comité included members of Orange County's incipient barrios: Santa Ana's Delhi, Logan and Santa Nita; Anaheim's La Fabrica, Colonia Independencia and La Conga; Placentia's Atwood, Yorba and La Jolla; and many more. More than just preparing for what they knew would be a hard fight against the county's powerful citrus industry, the comité also helped workers struggling with hunger, joblessness and the mass deportations of Mexicans that the Hoover administration instituted in the 1930s.

The repatriations shook Martinez. "On Santa Ana Street [in Anaheim], the train would fill with crying kids," Martinez remembered in his 1989 interview. "Men and women who didn't want to leave, I'd tell them, 'Stay—they're not running us out with stonings.'" In 1935, he penned a song titled "Corrido del Relief" to describe the Mexican community's hatred of Hoover and gratitude for Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who ended federal funding for repatriations upon becoming president in 1933:  

It wasn't his first corrido—he had already written odes to his hometown of Jalpa and Tijuana, as well as love songs. But a public performer was born, and Martinez the Musician prepared for what Martinez the Activist might do next.  

*     *     *

For years, Mexican citrus workers had bitterly complained about the harsh working conditions ?in Orange County's groves. Growers paid pickers 2 cents per box and charged them for the gloves, bags, hats and scissors needed to properly pick oranges, plus the transportation on trucks that took workers from their homes to the trees. In early 1936, the comite central drafted petitions seeking help from community organizations for a strike they wanted to avert but were planning if negotiations with growers for higher wages stopped. They approached the Catholic Church, schools, government agencies; none responded. With little other recourse, almost 3,000 citrus workers walked off the job on June 11 and began the Citrus War.  

The subsequent battle between the huelguistas and the county's growers, sheriff's department, district attorney's office, and hundreds of freshly deputized guards remains one of the most brutal and least-documented episodes in Orange County history (see "Gunkist Oranges," June 8, 2006). In the strike's first weeks, Martinez serenaded the picket lines with protest songs-some Wobbly standards in Spanish, but most his. The sheriff's department arrested Martinez along with hundreds of his fellow Mexicans on trumped-up rioting charges. About a month and a half later, a judge released Martinez and almost all of the other imprisoned strikers against the wishes of the district attorney, arguing that if the men stood trial, "We might as well dispense with our Bill of Rights."

While in custody, Martinez wrote "Corrido de la Huelga" (Corrido of the Strike). Only the following verses exist:  

After the strike, the union remained intact and returned to its secondary purpose as a mutual-aid association. Two years later, members met their toughest test with the Great Flood of 1938.

On March 3 of that year, the Santa Ana River jumped its banks and flooded almost a third of Orange County, mostly north of its course. Thirty-eight people died in the county's worst natural disaster (see "The Tragedy of It All," Sept. 15, 2005); of that figure, three-quarters were Latino children living the Placentia and Anaheim area. The comité quickly put together dances and fund-raisers to assist families in need. Martinez, for his part, began writing. A couple of days after the flood, he wrote a 20-stanza dirge titled "Corrido de las Indunaciones del 3 de Marzo de 1938" (Corrido of the March 3, 1938, Flood). Its lyrics exemplified the best aspects of the corrido tradition: expert storytelling, vivid details, a natural flow and gut-wrenching emotion. Consider verses 9 through 11:

After the Great Flood, Martinez spent most of the 1940s raising a family and picking oranges, taking time to record at least two records featuring his songs, neither of which ever really went anywhere. But around 1947, Martinez became angry that Anaheim officials erected a fence to bar Mexicans from enjoying most of Anaheim City (now Pearson) Park and allowed Mexicans to swim in the park's elegant pool only on Monday, the day before the week-old water got dumped out. "They were putting us in a corner of [Pearson] Park, in a wire-enclosed corral," Martinez remembered in the same 1989 interview. "Like animals, like beasts . . . like cows to the corral." Police officers patrolled the park to ensure Mexicans stayed in their area and didn't disturb the whites. As for the pool, Martinez said, "The only people who went into that dirty water were people without shame."

Martinez and others organized a protest in which they stood outside the park's gates to ensure Mexicans were allowed entry. One day, Rudolph Boysen-Anaheim's park superintendent at the time and the originator of the boysenberry-approached him and asked what was his business there. "I'm taking care of the Mexicans because you're running them out with sticks in your hand like animals," he replied. Boysen had him arrested on the spot.

In jail, a Latino police officer who used to pick oranges alongside Martinez asked him what happened. "You already know what's going on!" he snapped. "So what do you think about the discrimination?" the officer replied. "Look, officer, let me tell you a story," Martinez began. "When I came to Anaheim in 1933, the city asked us for a donation to pretty the park. I paid it-and now, I can't use it?" Martinez and other parents filed a lawsuit against the city. On their court date, a Superior Court judge asked if they had proof the city discriminated against Mexicans. Yes. "Do you mind if we screen a movie?" Martinez asked the judge. The perplexed magistrate agreed. The courtroom's lights dimmed, and onscreen flickered the image of a sign hanging just outside the park swimming pool: WHITE PEOPLE ONLY NO MEXICANS.  

"Very good. Now, I believe you," the shocked judge told Martinez and his friends. "Now, I'm going to issue an order: Everyone swims together, or we'll close the pool forever." The pool and park were desegregated shortly after.  

Throughout these battles, Martinez continued to pick oranges and his guitar. For years, he appeared every Sunday morning on KWIZ-AM 1480, Orange County's oldest radio station. Los Hermanos Martinez and another Martinez-led group, Trio Tapatio, occasionally performed before packed houses at the Yost, Santa Ana's legendary Latino theater. Martinez finally retired from public life in 1969 and spent the rest of his years taking care of grandchildren. But he never stopped composing corridos, even into his eighties.  

"I always remember Dad in the garage, writing songs, then figuring out the music," says Carr.

"Toward the end of his life, I tuned the guitar for him," Emilio Jr. adds. Emilio Martinez passed away in 1991. St. Polycarp Catholic Church in Stanton was filled, as was the funeral at Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Orange, despite a pounding rain. Near the graveside, some men played one of his songs. Someone recorded the performance, but that recording has been lost.  

*     *     *

Elisa Carr lives across the street from where her father bought a house in 1959. It's one of Stanton's older neighborhoods, and all the houses have a distinct Mexican appearance: wrought-iron fences, immaculate lawns and gardens, deep lots. On Carr's living-room mantle is a picture of her parents as newlyweds and a portrait of an elderly Emilio playing a guitar, his eyes locked on his left hand gripping the fret as his right hand strums.  

She has fond memories of a stern-but-loving father whose true love was assisting the burgeoning Mexican community in Orange County. "He knew that there was so many Mexicans who needed help in those days," Carr said. "People would come to our house and ask for money, and he gave it away without question. Whenever somebody wanted to hold a fund-raiser, there he was."

For years, Martinez was the master of ceremonies for an annual Mexican Independence Day celebration held at Pearson Park, the same place he helped desegregate. The highlight of the show for his children, though, was hearing their father play before an audience of hundreds at the park's historic Greek amphitheater. "Oh, everyone just loved it, and he had such a great time," Emilio Jr. says. "Writing and singing was a way of making him relaxed and enjoy life more."  

But Dad's political activism always bubbled beneath his grandfatherly visage. One time, Emilio showed his son a government document that listed him as a Communist, an attempt by orange growers to blacklist him from the county's groves after the Citrus War. "I told him, 'You're one of them?!'" Emilio Jr. recalls with a hearty laugh. "'Get away from me! I just came back from 'Nam killing a whole bunch of them!'  

"He was always a fighter, a very stubborn man," Emilio Jr. continues. "In the 1930s, Mexicans would try to go into bars and get kicked out for being Mexican. Dad would go in again and again until they served him his drink."  

"He wanted his rights," his niece Maria Daniel interjects. "No, he didn't," Emilio Jr. deadpans. "He wanted his beer!" Martinez's musical mementos are spread across different branches of the family tree. Emilio Jr. has an article about him that appeared in The Register during the 1970s; Elisa keeps some of the lyrics and a one-hour VHS tape of the two discussing his life. Many grandkids have various tapes of an elderly Martinez singing songs and telling tales; a stepdaughter has the 78s he recorded during the 1940s and refuses to let Martinez's biological children have them or even hear them (Carr and Emilio Jr. declined to name her).  

Carr keeps her father's artifacts in a mailer scribbled with "Libros de canciones" (Songbooks). The large envelope is bent, wrinkled and faded, the color more Post-It canary gold than its original light yellow-brown tint. Its contents are in even worse condition-some papers are tissue-thin and greasy, while journals are faded, ripped and stained. In it is a wallet containing different cards-a Social Security number, a visa, a union card. "Look at this!" she exclaims. "I didn't even know this existed!" It's a gold card given to Martinez by the Orange County Board of Supervisors in 1978 as an "Honored Citizen" of Orange County for his contributions to the Mexican-American community.

The notebooks contain dozens of yellowing corridos-some are dated but most aren't, some typed, others in cursive. Halfway through the journal are drawings and kids' writing and the spines of ripped-out pages. Some songs are missing half of their lyrics; others are unfinished. The vast majority of the corridos are love songs, but there are hints of Martinez's troubadour potential: the 1938 Flood; "Corrido del Relief"; one about a Latino soldier enlisting in World War II to "save my rights, my country, my faith"; another written in memory of Esteban Muñiz, an Orange County union organizer who died young in 1940.  

The artistry in Martinez's ballads is evident, but they represent just a small portion of his career, one in which Martinez had no peers following his lead-at least none known publicly. "A lot of what Dad had we can't find," Carr says. "Just a couple of years ago, I had a lot of pamphlets that my father put together for the Fiestas Patrias [Mexican Independence Day] celebration. Now, I can't find them anymore."  

*     *     *

One of the largest collections of Martinez interviews and recordings sat for more than a decade in the fourth-story office of Gilbert Gonzalez, professor of social sciences at UC Irvine. Gonzalez interviewed Martinez in 1989 for his Labor and Community: Mexican Citrus Worker Villages in a Southern California County, 1900-1950, a masterful examination of Orange County's orange-grove days told through the eyes of the Latinos who worked them. The professor talked with Martinez for more than seven hours over the course of a week and recorded the conversations on reel-to-reel tapes.  

It wasn't the first time Martinez sat down with an interviewer. In 1976, Cal State Los Angeles Chicano Studies professor Francisco Balderrama talked to him for In Defense of La Raza: The Los Angeles Mexican Consulate and the Mexican Community, 1929 to 1936, a 1982 book chronicling how the Mexican government assisted Mexicans in Los Angeles and Orange County during the Great Depression. Martinez only has one line in the book-he told Balderrama that Mexicans "would always be Mexicans" in the eyes of whites. Balderrama didn't respond to a request to be interviewed for this story.  

Labor and Community, on the other hand, made Martinez a key person in its narrative, excerpting many corridos and publishing his memories of the 1936 Citrus War. "[Martinez] remained an Orange County favorite, singing the villagers' favorite romantic, nostalgic and humorous tunes," Gonzalez wrote. "His compositions covered a range of themes, including unrequited love, religious paeans, political change and tragedies affecting the local population."  

Gonzalez tells the Weekly he found out about Martinez by accident. "In doing interviews for [Labor and Community], the old labor organizers would tell me, 'So-and-so was part of the strike-you should interview him'," he says. The professor found Martinez "very gracious, very open. From the beginning, he said, 'I'm going to help you with your book,' when he could've just retold what he did and leave it at that."  

The two always spoke at Martinez's kitchen table; throughout the various conversations, you can hear dishes rattle and Martinez's wife offer Gonzalez some food. It was in the course of these pláticas that Gonzalez discovered Martinez was a musician.  

"That generation [of activists] were knowledgeable about the music, but Martinez didn't view it as a career," the professor says. "He was close to the people. He sang about the problems, the happy events. In a sense, he was voicing the people. I don't think he took his music as a way of making a living. He was a picker, a part of the community, and he saw himself that way."

Neither Gonzalez nor Martinez kept in touch after the interviews; indeed, Carr and Emilio Jr. didn't even know about their dad's prominent role in Labor and Community. The professor hadn't played his Martinez reel-to-reel tapes for years, until the Weekly contacted him about them.  

Those interviews (which include a recording of a Los Hermanos Martinez and Trio Tapatio disc that you can hear at ocweekly.com) aren't perfect: The sound fades out, is scratchy and gets lost for minutes at a time. But they're priceless: A still-lucid Martinez recites dates, names and anecdotes as if reading from a script. He laughs, snaps at Gonzalez and never tires of questions. Martinez only gets subdued when the topic of his lost corridos comes up. Early in the first interview, Gonzalez asked him in Spanish, "Do you have some of your songs written?"  

"No, well, I lost them," Martinez replied. "Do you remember some of the words?"

At that point, the elderly composer named a couple of corrido titles, then belted out three stanzas from "Corrido de la Huelga" in a strong, joyful, confident voice.  

A couple of days later, Gonzalez asked again if Martinez had any more corridos about the Citrus War. "No, I lost them all," he replied. "Look: You move here and there, and they got lost. You have kids, and they rip them up." He also shares that one of his concerts at the Yost was recorded, but that the disc broke just after he finished singing. "We wanted to do another show to record, but everyone always said, 'Mañana, we'll do it again,'" Martinez recalled. They never did.

In one of their last interviews, an excited Martinez told Gonzalez that after looking around, he found some songbooks. "That's a treasure of information," the professor replied with awe.

A bit of silence. "I know," the old man said. And the conversation moved on.  

Sent by Joseph Puente    

BUSINESS

Maria Lucia Potosi Ramirez of San Jose de Chorlavi, Ecuador, is married and the mother of five children.  She has spent her lifetime weaving beautiful woo; sweaters and selling them in the local market.  But the income she earned from selling her handiwork 
went toward providing daily necessities for her family, which 
never allowed her to save.  When Maria Lucia learned about FINCA in 2001, she took out a loan for $200 allowing her to purchase more wool
 at wholesale prices.  Now her family eats better food and her loans have tripled, allowing her to purchase and save more.  "I'm so grateful because FINCA trusted me.  Now I can 
improve my life and the life of my family."

FINCA International, 1101 14th St., N.W. 11th Fl, Washington, D.C. 20005
Tel: 202-682-1510    Fax: 202-682-1535    Email: info@villagebanking.org

Military and Law Enforcement Heroes

Aviation legend Don Lopez dies

By Adam Bernstein, Washington Post
March 6, 2008 


Photo: Mark Avino / Associated Press

Donald S. Lopez stands before a Curtiss P-40 - named in his honor - like the one he flew in World War II. Based in China, he flew 101 combat missions and had five documented aerial victories, the requirement for an ace. He later became a test pilot and spacecraft engineer and was deputy director at the National Air and Space Museum from 1983 to 1990 and again from 1996 until his death.

Donald S. Lopez, a World War II fighter ace who became a test pilot and spacecraft engineer and had a significant role in planning the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, died Monday at the Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., after a heart attack. He was 84.

Retired Marine Gen. John R. "Jack" Dailey, the museum's current director, said Lopez "spent the first half of his life making history and the second half commemorating it."

Lopez was based in China during World War II and flew 101 combat missions. He had five documented aerial victories, the requirement for an ace, and damaged several more enemy planes.

He was deputy director at the National Air and Space Museum from 1983 to 1990 and again from 1996 until his death.

Lopez arrived at the museum in 1972, four years before its public opening, and recruited curators and aircraft restoration experts. He also wrote and edited text explaining the displays.

He was the first curator of the Pioneers of Flight gallery, which features original record-setting aircraft.

Donald Sewell Lopez, whose father was a welder, was born July 15, 1923, in Brooklyn, N.Y.

His earliest memory was being taken to the ticker-tape parade for Charles Lindbergh when the transatlantic aviator returned to New York.

Lopez said he became hooked on fighter planes as a child after seeing "Wings," a 1927 silent Hollywood film about World War I.

His family later moved to Tampa, Fla., where he joined the Civilian Pilot Training Program at Drew Field in anticipation of the U.S. entry into World War II.

He received his pilot's license in May 1943 and that October transferred to the 23rd Fighter Group. The group included many veterans of the American Volunteer Group, the China-based pilots who were nicknamed the Flying Tigers.

Lopez's first downing of an enemy aircraft was almost his last.

He was piloting a Curtiss P-40 when he shot down a Japanese Oscar fighter Dec. 12, 1943, over Hengyang, in the Hunan province of China. He nearly smashed into the enemy plane during a head-on pass, and 2 feet of his own plane's wing were shaved off. Lopez landed safely.

"Rather than saying I shot him down, I always said I 'winged' him," he told the Washington Post in 2003.

Lopez received the Silver Star for once chasing off enemy planes without resorting to gunfire. It was not by choice: He had just finished a mission and was out of ammunition.

Other decorations included two awards of the Distinguished Flying Cross and three awards of the Air Medal. After the war, he served as an Air Force test pilot and saw combat during the Korean War.

In the mid-1950s, Lopez received a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology and a master's degree in aeronautics from Caltech.

He taught aeronautics at the Air Force Academy before his retirement from active duty in 1964 as a lieutenant colonel.

Afterward, Lopez became a systems engineer in Washington for Bellcomm, an AT&T subsidiary that provided technical and management advice to NASA's Apollo program.

He wrote several books about flight, including the memoir "Into the Teeth of the Tiger" (1986), and received numerous honors from aviation societies. Lopez had a role in creating the museum's annex, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Virginia, in 2003.

Survivors include his wife of 60 years, Glindel Barron Lopez of Alexandria, Va.; two children, Donald Lopez Jr. of Ann Arbor, Mich., and Joy Lopez of Durham; two sisters; and a granddaughter.  

Sir, I'm a Soldier in the United States Army in Equal Opportunity School. I have a presentation on Hispanic or Latino Social Characteristics (Mexican & Cuban American), can you send me information on this subject? Any information you send me would be greatly appreciated.

Regards, Warren Staples  warren.staples@us.army.mil

Dear Mr. Staples.
If you are looking for the ethnic cultural and customs of Latinos in the Military, please
consider all of the difference ethnic groups within the Latinos, not only the Mexicans,
Puerto Ricans and Cuban.

Let me give you a fast perception of Latinos in the Military:

Even before the American Military, we had many Spaniard, all of Central America
including Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Venezuela, plus all the other islands that Spain
had already colonize, helping the American against the British. In all the Wars since the
American Revolution not only Latinos from the above countries have served in our military but many from the other "South America" countries served and are serving today. 

I live right outside Ft Lewis and McChord AFB, here in Tacoma, and I run into many retirees from WWII, Korea and Viet Nam plus now from the Iraq war. Not only are there  Mexicans, Puerto Ricans and Cubans, but now we have many young Latinos and Latinas from all over Central and South America that immigrated when they were babies or were born here.

I would say that the main difference between the Native Born and the new immigrants here in the Northwest is that many of the Native Born have gone through 12 years of school, plus some college education; and, most are Americanized. Latinos from NY, Detroit, and the SW tend to have their own customs, similar to their parents or grandparents.  In contrast, the new immigrants tend to keep many of their cultural traditions, even as they do adapt or acculturate to the social environment of the military.

I would say that especially the younger generation want to keep their heritage and
tradition.  They tend to live in two worlds, the Military and their own world. Their are a few that are ashamed or want to forget their roots and will stop speaking Spanish and will only teach English to their children, thus losing their heritage and traditions. Others will hang on to their traditions, by attending, where available, community or church involvements in Latino meetings.

One of the social attitudes of some Latino cultural groups is not being assertive or demanding, yet once they learn that this is a Competitive Society, they learn to adjust, even when they feel uncomfortable doing so. Its like growing up within oneself and learning how to survive in this "White Society"

With the Military training of their "Race Relation" and other EEOC civil rights, the military
is providing the opportunity for people to learn about this "Diverse military" but also gives the opportunity to learn that ones has the rights to all the freedoms and opportunities as everyone else.

I think that our Latinos should learn more of our Hispanic/Latino contributions not only to our Military but in every field. So that we can know and be proud of our contributions to the American Society.

I hope that this will give you a different perspective in you research and when you are
teaching others about Women and people of color. Its all about "Inclusiveness" and "Equality".

Thank you and I wish "Success" on your endeavor.
Sincerely,
Rafael Ojeda
USAF Viet Nam retiree.
Tacoma,WA  

Part III

 By

Mercy Bautista-Olvera

USA SPC Ashley (Segura) Sietsema, 20, of Melrose Park , IL died on November 12, 2007 in Kuwait City , Kuwait while supporting OIF from injuries she suffered in a vehicle accident. She was a healthcare specialist and ambulance driver assigned to the 708th Medical Company, 108th Medical Battalion, 108th Sustainment Brigade, Illinois National Guard, North Riverside , IL . Ashley was driving an ambulance that was transporting a patient from Camp Arifjan to Camp Buehring when it rolled over and hit a light pole. She died on the scene. Originally, from River Grove , IL Ashley joined the IL National Guard in December 2004 before graduating in June 2005 from East Leyden High School in Franklin Park . She had been deployed since July and in Kuwait since 3 September. She is the 16th casualty from the Illinois National Guard and the fourth female Illinois Guard casualty. 

Army Sgt. Luis A. Montes, 22, of El Centro , Calif. , died on Sept. 7, 2006 in Brooke Army Medical Center , in San Antonio , Texas , of injuries sustained Sept. 1, from an improvised explosive device in Abu Ghraib , Iraq . Sgt. Montes was assigned to the 1^st Battalion, 22^nd Infantry Regiment, 1^st Brigade Combat Team, 4^th Infantry Division, from Fort Hood , Texas . Montes quickly went through the ranks and, soon after that, was promoted to sergeant. He later applied for, and received, U.S. citizenship.  

Montes’ commanding officer reported that Sgt. Montes had pulled two men under him despite his own wounds after a bomb exploded beneath his tank, Montes was able to climb free but rushed back to help two fellow soldiers trapped inside. 

 “He didn't want to go up in the helicopter until he knew his men were all right,” his mother, Marisela, told the Los Angeles Times.

Army Sgt. Luis A. Montes was born in Mexicali , Mexico , grew up in El Centro .   At Southwest High School , Montes played on the soccer team and at one point planned to attend technical school in Phoenix . After graduation, however, he decided to enlist, and finished boot camp in mid-2003. 

Army Cpl. Luis Enrique Tejeda, 20, of Huntington Park , Calif. , died on Sept 30, 2006, when a roadside bomb struck Tejeda’s Bradley fighting vehicle. He died from injuries received while traveling to relieve fellow soldiers at a checkpoint. Tejeda known as "TJ," will be remembered, says Tejeda friend, Pfc. Dannie C. Cooper for "his infectious smile, his youth, his love of life, his laughter, were taken from his family, from us –his friends, his comrades. The enemy targets Bradley fighting vehicles because they know what the armored machine can do in battle, said Cpt. Tony L. Thornton, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, rear detachment commander. “I honor Corporal Tejeda for his competence and courage to drive and be responsible for such a target,” Thornton said. “On 30 September 2006, Corporal Tejeda paid the ultimate sacrifice for his country, his unit and his brothers-in-arms.”

On Legacy.com Lori Lagaie Bellingham from Washington sent a message to Tejeda’s parents, she wrote; “My son was with your son when he passed. He held him, comforted him, and stroked his head. Be comforted that he was not alone. Cpl. Tejeda is deeply missed; his fellow soldiers admired him greatly. He made a huge impact on my son’s life.”

Army Pfc. Alex Oceguera 19, of San Bernardino , Calif. , died on Oct. 31 from injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Wygal Valley , Afghanistan . Oceguera was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum , New York .   

Oceguera's family moved from San Bernardino to Montclair when he was a child. He was a June 2005 graduate of Montclair High School . His school counselor Joe Reynaga said Oceguera was a “hardworking student who like practical subjects such as auto shop and photography. “He was the nicest kid. He was always so polite,” Reynaga said. “He was the type of person who was not very outspoken. But he had real manners. It was always, 'Yes, sir' or 'No, sir.”

Army National Guard Sgt. 1^st Class Rudy A. Salcido, 31, of Ontario , Calif. , died on Nov. 9, 2006 when an improvised explosive device detonated near his convoy vehicle in Al Asad, Iraq . Sgt. Salcido was in the Army National Guard 1114^th Transportation Company, from Bakersfield , Calif. Salcido, described by family and friends as loyal and fun. He first enlisted in 2000, and was an ammunitions specialist until 2005. He returned home from Iraq and enlisted again, this time in the National Guard.

Army Sgt. Angel De Jesus Lucio Ramirez, 22, of Pacoima , Calif. , died on Nov. 11, 2006 on Veteran’s Day, of injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle during combat operations in Ramadi , Iraq . Sgt. Ramirez was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 16th Engineer Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division, Giessen , Germany .      .   

Lucio-Ramirez served with the battalion during its first tour to Iraq from May 2003 to July 2004. Between deployments, he went from being a private to a sergeant and mentor to young troops. A Captain referred to Army Sgt. Angel de Jesus Lucio- Ramirez as “a leader of soldiers,” for which, he added, “there is no greater honor.”

A graduate of San Fernando High School in Pacoima, Lucio moved with his family from Saltillo , Mexico , when he was 11. He adapted quickly to his new homeland and took an interest in the U.S. military. His favorite pastimes as a child were playing soccer and army, said his father, Ignacio Lucio. He said his son's interest in the military grew with age. As a teenager, he spent his spare time playing video games with a military theme and watching war movies.” He was motivated to enlist by the events of 9/11," said his father, who sent for his family after becoming a U.S. citizen. "We were concerned because the country was at war. But we supported his decision and are very proud that he served the nation."

Marine Lance Cpl. Mario Daniel Gonzalez, 21, of La Puente , Calif. , died on Nov. 14, 2006, when a roadside bomb exploded near his convoy vehicle in the Anbar province of Iraq . Mario attended Nueva Vista Continuation High School . He liked soccer and paintball. He’s sense of humor always made people smile. Joining the Marines, he felt, provided a valuable experience that would lead him to become a police officer. Returning from boot camp his father stated, his son "had changed from a boy to a respectful, responsible man." At his funeral in Baldwin Park , family, friends, and fellow Marines, honored him. His father Mario Gonzalez and Patricia Arreola accepted the Purple Heart medal during the burial at Forest Lawn Memorial Park Covina Hills, for their son’s heroism. Mario Gonzales said his son "died for a cause that, to many, is an injustice, and we have learn to resign to the fact that many wonderful people like my son will die if it continues this way." 

Lance Cpl. Fernando Tamayo, 19, of Fontana , Calif. , died on Dec. 21, 2006 while conducting combat operations in Anbar Province , Iraq . Stationed at Twenty-Nine Palms, Calif. , Fernando was "determined" to be a Marine from the age of 9. Fernando graduated from Bloomington High School in Fontana in 2005 and promptly enrolled in the Young Marines Program (a program designed to give potential recruits a taste of Marine life). His father stated, "When he told us, we were happy for his decision, [but] a little bit scared like every parent. Since the [ Iraq ] war had started, we were a little bit concerned, but like every parent we wanted him to be free to decide what to do in life."
 

Army Spc. Lizbeth Robles 31, of Vega Baja, Puerto Rico ; died March 1, 2005. She was assigned to the 360th Transportation Company, 68th Corps Support Battalion, 43rd Area Support Group, Fort Carson , Colo. ; died March 1st at the 228th Command Support Hospital in Tikirt , Iraq , from injuries sustained Feb. 28 in a military vehicle accident in Bayji , Iraq .  

Lizbeth was born in the small town of Vega Baja in Puerto Rico ; she was a leader in her church and an accomplished athlete. Attended the American University , but unable to pay the tuition, than transferred to the Arecibo campus of the University of Puerto Rico .

Lizbeth was not happy with the jobs available to her; she joined the Armed Forces of the United States and received her basic training in Fort Hood , Texas .

Army Spc. Lizbeth Robles enjoyed driving tankers and trucks, she volunteered to be part of a new group with the 43^rd area Support Group, one that rides and convoys and secures the dangerous roadways to the Fort Carson’s trucks in Iraq so the fuel could be deliver.

Army Staff Sgt. Juan De Dios Garcia, 27, of Los Angeles, Calif., died on April 30, 2005 in Khaladiyah, Iraq, when his Bradley Fighting Vehicle, was attacked by enemy forces using small arms fire. He was assigned to the 5^th Battalion, 5^th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, 2^nd Infantry Division, Camp Hovey , from Korea . Juan was born in Mexico , and when he married literally bridged the two countries he loved. He said his vows on the bridge between El Paso , Texas , and Juarez , Mexico . "He had a lot of charisma and an easy way of going." He enlisted in the Army after graduating from high school.

Special thanks to Alan Lessig, Director of Photography, for the website, “Military   Times, Honor the Fallen” (www.militarycity.com) for granting permission to reproduce photos for this article.

In Memory Afghanistan : http://www.nooniefortin.com/afghanistan.htm

The Iraq Page: http://iraq.pigstye.net/  

                            Full body image: Sgt. Robert “Pancho” Garcia - 1954

 I am trying to locate Sgt. Robert “Pancho” Garcia. In 1954, Sgt. Garcia was most likely with the 321st Signal Battalion and would normally hang around a place called the "Green Shack" near Kelly Barracks around Stuttgart Germany. He had friends in the 34th Signal Battalion which was the unit that was replaced the 321st Signal, among them Norman Kummer from New York. His 1st Cavalry patch indicates that he had served in  Korea or Japan before being stationed in Germany. I believe that Sgt. Garcia was Puerto Rican, however he was fluent in English (and Spanish) and often spoke of Texas, so he may have been Mexican-American. Sgt. Garcia should be around 80 years old now.  

     Does anyone know where Sgt. Garcia is or what happened to him?

If anyone knows Mister Garcia or any members of his family, please tell them to get in touch with me, Tony (The Marine) Santiago,  here in “Somos Primos” or by my e-mail NMB2418@aol.com.   

• Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps 1 August 1907–18 July 1914
• Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps 18 July 1914–20 May 1918
• Division of Military Aeronautics 20 May 1918–24 May 1918
• U.S. Army Air Service 24 May 1918–2 July 1926
• U.S. Army Air Corps 2 July 1926–20 June 1941**
• U.S. Army Air Forces 20 June 1941–18 September 1947**
• United States Air Force 18 September 1947–Present

Gathered by Rafael Ojeda 

Patriots of the American Revolution

BATTLE SITES OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION ON THE GULF COAST, 
1779-1781
by 
Richard L. Whynot, San Antonio, TX, 2007

Introduction

This presentation is primarily concerned with the present day status of the American Revolutionary War battle sites in Louisiana, Alabama and Florida and how those sites have or have not been memorialized.

All of the facts and data concerning those battle sites are drawn from the scholarship and writings of those authors listed in the bibliography. I acknowledge the work they have done to bring to the public information about this long overlooked aspect of the American fight for independence.

Any discussion of the activities in the Gulf Coast area during the American Revolution must start with a summary of the career of that most important government and military figure, Bemardo de Galvez.

Bemardo De Galvez

Bom on July 23, 1746 in Macharaviaya, Spain, 27 kilometers east of Malaga and 9 kilometers from the Med. Coast. The village has a population of 400 and was founded on the site of a 16th century Moorish village. His father and three uncles all rose to high rank serving the Spanish crown. At age 16 he had graduated from the Spanish military academy at Avila and went off to fight in the war against Portugal. At age 24, in 1770, he was appointed military commander of Chihuahua and SW Texas.

He fought several battles with the Apaches in Arizona, New Mexico and Texas, going as far east as the Pecos River. Often low on food he was considered an inspirational commander and was severely wounded in one battle, including two lance wounds in the chest.

Back to Spain in 1772, he served three years in a French regiment in order to learn more of the art and science of warfare. He also fought in Algiers where he was wounded again. After an assignment as an instructor at the Avila Military Academy, he received orders in 1776 to go to Louisiana as commander of the Spanish Regiment.

Under the Treaty of Paris, 1763, Spain had ceded control of the U.S. Gulf coast to England, in return for the English giving back Cuba to Spain. Spain also controlled all the U.S. west of the Mississippi and retained the "Island of New Orleans" as the capitol of Spanish Louisiana.

In a royal order dated Sept 9, 1776 he was appointed acting governor of the colony. In a letter from his uncle Jose, Minister of the Indies, his duties included: conducting an annual census; visit the provincial districts ofNatchitoches, Opelousas and Attakapas; obtain full written accounts of affairs at posts beyond the Arkansas, giving special attention to the English frontier; to get maps of the Mississippi and the coast; to admit foreigners who were Catholic and would take the oath of allegiance to Spain; to adopt strong measures against illegal commerce; to curtail trade with foreign vessels; to encourage the raising of tobacco; to cultivate friendship with the Indians; to treat slaves humanly; to organize a better trained militia; to report on the state of religion, salt mines, roads, woodworkers and the circulation of foreign money. Finally, to collect information about affairs in the English colonies and to send secret commissioners for that purpose. He took the oath of office on January 1, 1777.

Despite all of his official duties, Galvez, in 1777, found time to marry Marie Felice de Saint Maxent (her second marriage, having been previously married to Jean Baptiste Honore d'Estrehan Ecuyer, former treasurer for France in Louisiana and founder of the first sugar mill in Louisiana). They moved into a house at 619 Chartres St (destroyed by fire in 1788 and rebuilt by Baron Pontabia).

Preparations for War

From the beginning of his assignment in New Orleans, Galvez sought to oppose the British forces who occupied West Florida under the treaty of Paris and further outlined in the British Royal Proclamation Number 31 of0ctober7, 1763.

This Proclamation set the boundary of West Florida, "bounded on the southward by the Gulf of Mexico, including all islands within six leagues of the coast from the river Apalachicola to lake Pontchartrain; to the westward by the said lake, the lake Maurepas, and the river Mississippi; to the Northward, by a line drawn due east from that part of the river Mississippi which lies in thirty-one degrees North latitude, to the river Apalachicola, or Catahooche; and to the Eastward by the said river".

In practical terms, Spain controlled all the land on the west bank of the Mississippi westward and including the "Island of New Orleans", while the British controlled the rest of West Florida and the east bank of the Mississippi.

Galvez, early in his administration, supported the American cause against the Brtitish and was encouraged in this effort by secret directives from Spain.

A key figure in his assistance was the American merchant Oliver Pollack, a resident of New Orleans and the commercial agent for Virginia. As early as the fall of 1776 he arranged the shipment of 10,000 pounds of gunpowder to the American forces with the blessing of Galvez.

The grave of Pollock can be found on a narrow, country back road, just over the state line from Louisiana, in Mississippi. After spending his fortune on helping the War of Independence, he apparently had to depend on the charity of friends in his later years By 1777, Galvez authorized the shipment of uniforms, shoes, blankets, food, medicine, lead, gunpowder, cannon, muskets and money to the upper Mississippi area and on to Pennsylvania and Virginia. There was a steady stream of correspondence between Galvez and American leaders, including Gen Lee (second in command to Geo Washington), Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, Gen George Rogers dark; this at a time when the Continental Army was going in to winter quarters at Valley Forge.

Galvez continued to send aid in the form of supplies and money to the American forces, while at the same time preparing his own forces to enter into armed conflict with the British.

As an experienced military officer, and recalling his supply problems while fighting in the South West, he realized that he needed a continuous supply of meat for his forces. He sent word to his fellow governor in San Antonio authorizing driving herds of cattle from ranches in the vicinity of San Antonio to Louisiana. Over the next two years over 15,000 cattle were driven through Nacogdoches, Texas and on to Natchitoches and Opelousas, Louisiana, for distribution to his troops. Some were trailed as far as Mobile.

By 1779, with his supply chain in place and with a new mandate from King Carlos III, Galvez was ready to take to the field.

This important early leader and friend of the American War of Independence has been memorialized and honored in several ways in Louisiana.

First is a larger than life size statue of Galvez, located at the foot of Canal Street, New Orleans, at the entrance to the Spanish Plaza. A new state office building in Baton Rouge is named for Galvez and most importantly, at a location just south of the Old State Capitol Building in Baton Rouge is the Galvez Plaza, which also commemorates the contribution of Oliver Pollock.

Fighting the Battles

A look at a map of the United States at that time will clearly show the confusing geography that Galvez had to deal with, not to mention the varied population groups that had arrived in the area. There were the Acadians from the 1750's; then in 1778 Canary Islanders and in 1779 settlers from Malaga who founded New Iberia. And there was also a steady stream of settlers who came to escape the British/American fighting in the thirteen colonies.

            Fort Bute at Bayou Manchac

This was always the first target of Galvez. He wanted to clear the British from this entry way from the Mississippi to New Orleans. A look at a map will show how this was a prime route for potential attacks in the city and the heart of Spanish administration.

The location can be found on River Road at the East Baton Rouge/Iberville Parish boundary, on private land, about 7-8 miles south of the Capital Building.

It took 11 days to go from New Orleans to Fort Bute, with the Galvez force split between ship and land elements. There was a force of about 600+ under Galvez, with 7 Americans (Oliver Pollock included). Two additional militia companies (Acadians and others) were added to the force from the area of St Gabriel making a force of about 1,440.

A map of the route shows how the force under Galvez went from New Orleans to Manchac and Baton Rouge.

The battle for Manchac was won on September 7, 1779, with an outpost on the Amite River also captured.

At the same time naval forces under the American William Pickles, after a 20 minute battle, captured eight British vessels on the lakes, including the brigantine "West Florida"; this vessel was renamed the "Galveztown" and would play a key role later in the Gulf Coast battles. Capt. Pickles sent his marines ashore and cleared all the British forces from the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain between Bayou Lacombe and the Tangipahoa River.

Fort at Baton Rouge

This was a much larger Fort, with about 500+ British forces and Galvez began his attack on September 20, 1779 and the fort surrendered on Sptember21, 1779 after Galvez had, under cover ofdarkness\ dug a trench and moved his cannon within musket shot of the British and severely damaged the fort.

The British fort at Natchez, .Fort Panmure, was also included in the surrender terms.
The location of Fort at Baton Rouge is on the south side of the Pentagon Barracks complex, with two markers for Fort San Carlos, which the Spanish rebuilt to take the place of the damaged British facility.

A nearby marker, to commemorate this Revolutionary War battle, is also incorrect in describing Baton Rouge as the only site outside of the thirteen colonies .

Here are a series of maps that show the status of the Fort San Carlos location in Baton Rouge and how it so easy to lose important aspects of the history of the country.

Fort Charlotte at Mobile, Alabama

Although delayed by bad weather, Galvez arrived off Mobile Bay on February 10, 1780 and on February 20,1780 received 1,400+ reinforcements from Havana. The siege started on February 29,1780 and the surrender was accepted on March 14,1780.

Spain ruled the Mobile area for the next 33 years, until 1813 and the fort was renamed Fort Carlota.

However, if you inquire for the location of Fort Charlotte there will be, generally blank looks. Instead you will be directed to the visitor center at Fort Conde.

A marker, to the left of the entrance, will solve the question. The British renamed the former French fort, as Fort Charlotte, in honor of the wife of George III. 

It is possible to view the Manchac and Baton Rouge sites in the morning and, using I-10, be in Mobile at Fort Charlotte/Conde in late afternoon. The site is in downtown Mobile off Government Street, on Royal at the comer of Church Street.

There is a marker, by the SAR, as well as other information in the fort. Around the comer is the Conde - Charlotte Museum House, in front of which is one of the cannons from the Galvez days.

Fort George at Pensacola, Florida

Galvez next set his sights on Pensacola, capital of British West. But promised supplies and reinforcements failed to arrive and Galvez was delayed until October 16, 1780. A hurricane hit his convoy and ships were lost and scattered. It was not until March 9,1781 that the siege of Pensacola was begun. By this time Galvez had a force of over 7,000 and had parts of the French Navy, commanded by Count de Grasse, including French troops, under his control.

On March 11, Galvez ordered the Spanish fleet to enter Pensacola Bay, but the Admiral in charges refused to risk his ships in the shallow water under the British guns. Galvez then took his own ship, the "Galveztown" along with some smaller vessels and forced the bay himself, with little damage. For this heroic action the King awarded him the right to display, on his family crest, the words "Yo Solo", "I Alone" as well as the brigantine "Galveztown".

On May 8th a lucky shot from one of the Spanish guns hit the powder magazine in the "Crescent", one of the British redoubts, killing over 100 soldiers. This left the British position exposed and at 3:00 in the afternoon the white flag was raised. The formal surrender was May 10th, 1781.Galvez was also wounded again, in the arm and stomach.

Galvez was also appointed governor of West Florida as well as of Louisiana as a reward for his victory and received additional royal honors.

DeGrasse and his forces were released by Galvez and after being refitted in Havana and his crews paid, sailed for Yorktown to help in the surrender of Cornwallis. Citizens of Havana contributed 500,000 pesos for this cause.

Finding Fort George is not difficult, again using I-10. Only 45 minutes from Mobile, exit onto Spur 110 and then exit on Cervantes Street, taking the first left, Palofox Street and then go to the comer ofLaRua Street. There you will find a marker placed by the DAR and then around the comer a small replica of Fort George, a collaborative effort of The City ofPensacoIa, State of Florida and the University of West Florida.

Summary

On the way to Pensacola, a stop at the Florida Visitor Center on 1-10 to ask for information on Fort George was met with a blank stare. The decent said that in nine years she had never been asked for those directions. So, even though Florida has done a creditable job on memorializing the Battle of PensacoIa, more work remains to be done on getting the public and state officials informed.

Mobile is furthest along in recognizing the contribution of Galvez to the winning of the Revolutionary War, particularly in the nearby Spanish Plaza and in the Charlotte/Conde Museum.

Louisiana has, apparently, made some late effort to both recognize the battle sites and recognize Galvez, who was, after all one of the Royal Governors of the territory.

Manchac, while not one of the major battles, was important because it gave his forces confidence in their ability to beat the British army.

What should be done?

- There should be established a collaborative effort between State, City and Parish governments, together with academia, individuals and private groups to undertake a project to properly memorialize the battle sites at Manchac and Baton Rouge. This will require funds and the private sector should take the lead in that endeavor.

- The Louisiana Department of Education, with the assistance of state historians, should develop lesson plans that cover the Revolutionary War period in Louisiana and have those lessons included in the public/private school systems as part of the study of state history.

After the objectives of step one have been accomplished, then the State Department of Tourism would be in a position to allocate funds to a public relations program to promote the sites and generate a whole new group of Louisiana visitors.

Richard L. Whynot, San Antonio, TX, 2007



                                               SEQUENCE OF EVENTS

1718-1731                   Five mission villages founded along the San Antonio River 
                                   near San Antonio de Bexar

1740's                         Three mission villages founded along the San Antonio River 
                                   near present-day Goliad

1746 (July 23)              Bemardo de Galvez was bom in Spain

1769                            Napoleon Bonaparte was bom in France

1775 (June 17)             Battle of Bunker Hill (Revolutionary War began) 

1776 (July 4)                Declaration of Independence was signed

1777 (January 1)          Bemardo de Galvez became Governor of the Louisiana Territory 
                                    with HQ in New Orleans

1777 (July)                   2,000 barrels of gun powder and other supplies were sent up the
                                    Mississippi to George Rogers  Clark

1777 (October)              Patrick Henry, then Governor of Virginia, wrote two letters to 
                                    Galvez requesting aid.

1777 (October 7)           Battle of Saratoga

1779 (May 8)                 Spain declares war on Great Britain

1779 (July)                    First cattle drives from Texas begin; destination:  Opelousas, Louisiana

1779 (September 7)       Galvez's forces capture British fort at Manchac, Louisiana

1779 (September 22)      Galvez's forces capture British fort at Baton Rouge, Louisiana

1779 (October 5)            British forces at Natchez surrender to Spanish forces

1780 (January)              Spanish forces set sail into the Gulf to attack British forces at Mobile

1780 (March 14)             Battle of Mobile ended; British forces surrender

1780 (October 16)           Spanish forces set sail for Pensacola, the capital of British West
                                      Florida (a hurricane forces cancellation of attack)

1781 (March 9)               Siege of Pensacola begins again 

1781 (May 8)                  British forces at Pensacola surrender

1781 (October 19)           Comwallis surrenders at Yorktown (Revolutionary War ends)

1782 (January)               Last cattle leaves La Bahia

1782 (May 6)                  British forces in Bahamas surrender

1783 (February)              Peace Treaty signed between Great Britain and Spain in Paris, France

1786 (November 30)        Bemardo de Galvez dies in Mexico City at age of 40

1789 (February)              George Washington inaugurated as the 1st President of the
                                      United States of America


BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Robert H. Thonoff, "The Texas Connection With The American Revolution", Austin, Texas, Eakin Publication, Inc., ISBN 1-57168-418-2.

2. Robert H. Thonoff, "The Vital Contribution of Texas in the Winning of the American Revolution", 2002, Essay, Privately published in Kames City, Texas.

3. Robert H. Thonoff, "The Vital Contribution of Spain in the Winning of the American Revolution", 2000, Essay, Privately Published in Kames City, Texas.

4. Thomas E. Chavez, "Spain's Support Vital To U.S. Independence", New Mexico Magazine, January, 1992, pp 33-37.

5. Hubert L. Koker, "Spanish Governor Bemardo de Galvez salvaged the Gulf Coast for the future United States", Great Battles Magazine, c. 1990's

6. Royal Proclamation concerning America, Number 31, British Annual Register, October 7,1763.

7. E.A. Montemayor, "Yo Solo- The Battle Journal of Bemardo de Galvez During the American Revolution", New Orleans, LA, Polyanthos, Inc., 1978, Library of Congress Card No. 77-0901109

8. Nancy Reynolds Tiner, "Bemardo de Galvez- Unsung Hero", Monograph, Privately Published, College Station, TX

9. Lorenzo G. LaFarelle, "Bemardo de Galvez - Hero of the American Revolution", Eakin Press, Austin, Texas, First Edition, 1992, ISBN 0-89015-849-5

10. John Walton Caughey, "Bemardo de Galvez in Louisiana, 1776-1783", Pelican Publishing Co., Gretna, LA, 1972, ISBN: 1-565545-17-6, 290 pages.

11. Jim Noles, "The Spanish Conquest of Mobile", Alabama Heritage, Winter 2006, pages 20-29, University of Alabama publisher.

12. Liliana Loofbourow, "I Alone", Alabama Heritage, Winter 2006, pages 30-31, University of Alabama publisher.

13. Leroy E. Willie, "Galvez and Other Louisiana Patriots", Sons of The American Revolution, 1995, SAR Books, 8924 Gail Drive, Baton Rouge, LA 70809

14. David Broussard, " Mysteries and Myths: Unraveling the History of the Old St
Gabriel Church", Old St. Gabriel Church Committee, 3525 Highway 75, St. Gabriel, LA 70776

15. "The Baton Rouge Story", Evelyn Martindale Thorn, Ed., March, !967, Foundation For Historical Louisiana, Inc., 900 North Blvd., Baton Rouge, LA 70821

16. "The Spanish in New Orleans and Louisiana", Jose Montero de Pedro, Marques de Casa Mena, Trans. by Richard E. Chandler, printed in Spain, 1979, reprinted 2000, Pelican Publishing, Gretna, LA, ISBN 1-56554-685-7,299 pages

17. "Descendants of Jean Baptist Destrehan Ecuyef\ William D. Reeves, pages 1 and 2, privately published by Destrehan

SPANISH PATRIOTS OF PERU DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Part 5
 (continued Ce-Cz  and Ch)

Compiled by Granville Hough, Ph.D. 

CUENTOS

Teresa R. Funke grew up waiting for her Mexican grandmother to share memories of her childhood in Saltillo and Monterrey . Her grandmother didn’t speak often about her past, but when she did, Teresa devoured her stories. And she’s been focusing on the stories of real people ever since. All of her books are inspired by people who’ve actually lived through the experiences she retells in her novels and children’s books. 

In Dancing in Combat Boots: and Other Stories of American Women in WWII, Teresa did something Ken Burns did not; she included a story about a Mexican-American woman’s wartime experiences. In her new children’s middle grade series The Home-Front Heroes, her third book will feature a Mexican-American boy as the main character. Teresa is hoping to find people who could share their memories of growing up during the war in San Antonio where her story is set or in any other predominantly Mexican-American community. Teresa also encourages people to send their wartime memories to her website at www.teresafunke.com where she makes them available for school children and teachers.    

Below is the short story entitled “Las Estrellas de Oro” from the book, Dancing in Combat Boots.

                                           Las Estrellas de Oro

             ¡Ay! it’s hot in the store today. Reminds me of my last summer in Mexico , when I was five. And there she is in the corner, thinking I can’t see her. Thinking I can’t feel what she is doing. She doesn’t know about this instinct I’ve developed, but she also doesn’t know I understand. These ladies are not thieves, just mothers with too many children who haven’t learned to spread out their ration points. She sticks a two-pound bag of sugar into her bloomers, and I shake my head but say nothing. When she comes to the counter with her other goods, I simply charge her for the sugar. She looks as if the shame will kill her. I offer her son a candy. It is not rationed. I can hand it out as I please.

            Mexico . My only real memories are of the heat and the way my older sisters held their heads high when they walked along the boardwalks, the way my brothers talked of the things they would do, the fine girls they would marry, as they stocked shelves in my father’s dry goods store. They belonged in a place like San Antonio , a place far from the dust and poverty and violence of Saltillo , and they knew it even then. America is our home now, and we never complain. Our mother’s eyes no longer burn with worry.

            A colored kid comes in. He calls me Boss Lady, and I laugh. I’m 25 years old. By now, the only people I should be bossing are my own niños. But the war has changed things. I will not marry until it is over. Tomas understands that. He’s stationed at Camp Hood , and he knows I love him, but he won’t ask me to walk away from the store. He accepts I will not be one of those soldiers’ wives following her husband from base to base, dumped in some old, ugly place with bad plumbing and windows that won’t close. And I’m sure not going to be one of those heartbroken ladies with a kid or two and a husband off at war. My brother Alejandro is in Detroit working for the defense industry. He tells me I should join him. He tells me about the money I could make, but my place is here. Besides, how could I leave my mamá?

            I thought my brother Eduardo was loco when he volunteered me to run his store after he joined the Navy. “But, Eddie,” I said, “I have no experience.”

            “Oh, you’ll do all right,” he said.

            And I have. I’ll stay till the end of the war, till Eddie comes back.

            I do all the buying and selling and take care of the ration points. I make good money, forty-five dollars a week, but we’re not getting rich. The government won’t let us. Just yesterday, a woman planning her daughter’s quinceanera begged me to sell her extra sugar under the counter. She had the money, she said. “You have plenty of food in this store,” she said. “It’s not right for you not to share.”

            “And what if I get caught?” I said. “We’d lose our permit. Borrow some sugar from your neighbor. Use molasses. Don’t ask me this again.”

            Old Señor Zamora frowned when he heard how I had spoken to her. There are those in the neighborhood who think a young woman shouldn’t hold such a high post. But I believe people will take you for how you behave. I’ve always been seen as a lady. Like my sisters, I hold my head high. It’s a plus to have that respect, to have the respect shown our family.

            When Eddie married, my father gave him fifty dollars worth of merchandise to start his own grocery store. Eddie was ambitious. He had only half a dozen cans of sardines to start out, yet he had the nerve to put out flyers saying they were on sale. That half-dozen sold, and he dashed to the wholesale house to get more. He did the same with canned milk and sugar. When pinto beans were in season, he bought three times more than would sell, so when the other stores ran out, he’d still have some. Now ours is one of the biggest stores in the city, but I still greet most everyone by name.  

            The government inspector will show up any day now, but I’m not worried. There’s a new coat of paint on the walls. The shelves are clean, and the accounting and rationing books are in order. He will mark our store perfect condition again, and I will display it with a swell of pride. Eddie’s wife is in the back, tending to her seven children, and I’m grateful that, as much as there is to be done today, as humid as it is, as bad as my feet hurt, at least I’m not standing in her shoes.

Most days I work from seven to seven, but not today, gracias a Dios. We close early on Thursdays because the downtown stores stay open till nine. This is the day I usually do my shopping, the day I go to the movies or my sewing club. We eat pan dulce and embroider pillowcases and linens for our future, for the days we will marry our boys. On Thursday nights, I get away from this place, from the responsibilities and the feeling of being so tied down.

This is what I’m looking forward to as I go to the window to straighten the blue star that hangs there for our Eddie. Outside, the Martinez girls skip rope on the sidewalk. They are calling to me to come out and count for them. What they really hope is that I will jump. I laugh and tell them it’s too hot today; that I want to stay inside by the fan, but they plead with me from the doorway. “Run down to the corner and look for Manuel’s truck,” I tell them. “Tell me when he’s coming, and I’ll give you a piece of leche quemada.  My sister and her husband have run out of canned milk at their store and I have told them they can have some of mine. I’m hoping Manuel will take a look at the fan while he’s here. It has stopped oscillating. But before the girls can run off, there is a loud noise, like the buzz of an insect near your ear. The girls point toward the sky. “Señorita Vallejo,” they say, “¡mira!” I follow their tiny fingers to a place where a column of smoke rises. In an instant, I have the older girl’s shoulders between my hands.  

            “What did you see, Carolina ?”

            “A plane,” she says. “It went down behind that tall tree.”

            “Stay here,” I tell her. “Watch the store for me.”

            I should not leave, of course, not without calling for my sister-in-law, at least, but I have to see it. I have to feel this war that has wrapped around me like an old man’s serape but not yet touched me. I want to feel as though there is something I can do about it. We are surrounded by bases—Fort Sam Houston, Randolph Air Force Base, Kelly, Stinson Field. Navy seamen visit from Corpus Christi . We know them all, the soldiers, the airmen, the sailors. We dance with them at the USO near the Alamo . We sacrifice for them, giving up our nylon stockings for their parachutes, wearing the same shoes day after day, cutting the material for our dresses short to ensure they have enough fabric for their uniforms. Sometimes, though, like air or the spirit of God, you can be surrounded by something and still have to work to believe it’s real.

           Before I reach the crash site, I hear the news from the neighbors. An aviator on a training mission lost control of his plane. I see one piece of his body here, another there, and I cover my eyes and turn away. This I should not see. This was a man, someone’s son and brother. Mamá would say I should not have come. This is none of my business. But now that I’m here, I cannot move. I stand with the women, weeping and praying to Our Lady as some of the men put the body back together while others try to shield us from the view that will never leave us. Senora Cruz hands the men her rebozo and they cover the body with her shawl. Senora Cruz is known for her shawls. The women in the neighborhood come to her for advice or ask her to make special rebozos for their daughters.  We have given this young man the best we can offer and that finally loosens the bonds of our grief.

            I need to get back to the store, but my feet will not hurry, and my mind will not let go of an image of a mother or a young sweetheart replacing her blue star with a gold one. And now I cry as I walk down my street because I have failed before to notice just how many gold stars there are in the windows of my little neighborhood. I was foolish to think I could help that boy, that I could touch this war. It dances out of reach, like an evil spirit, taunting us.

            The Martinez girls are full of questions when I return, but they are too young to hear such things, so I shoo them away. I remind myself there is work to do before closing, that I can best honor the ones who die by doing my part. 

            My friend from Connecticut wrote once to complain, “There are no men here anymore. You have them all in San Antonio .” I think about that aviator and wonder if he could have been a Connecticut boy. Until today, I didn’t think much about where these young men came from or where they went when they left us. Of course, I knew most were here for only a short time, that it was our duty to entertain them, to see them off well, but I never let myself imagine what happened next.

             Tonight I will not go to my sewing club. I will say a rosary for that pilot and his family instead. I will remind God that I have already lost one brother to leukemia, another to an accident, and ask Him to please spare Eddie, to keep Tomas at Camp Hood and let no other woman tempt him. I will thank Him for my many blessings and ask Him to forgive my selfish heart.          

           I had thought we were such a powerful country this war would be over in a month. Now it is dragging on into years. I have been waiting for the war to end so I can start my life, a life with Tomas. Now I realize ésta es mi vida, this is my life. It is true I am not where I expected to be, not even where I always want to be, but coming home from that crash today, seeing the door to the store standing open, my sister-in-law with the baby on her hip, the customers waiting patiently at the counter, I know I am where I need to be. God has reminded me of that.

VALLEY FOG

by Ben Romero  

“It’s really froggy out there.”

“It’s the worst I’ve seen all season. The frogs are really out tonight.”

It was a play with words at the Fresno Postal Processing and Distribution Center. The night shift workers came in telling about their foggy driving experiences. Before coming to live in the central San Joaquin Valley, I knew nothing about fog. Oh, I’d heard about it and seen small pockets of it from time to time, but never had I felt it. In winter and early spring, visibility can drop to nearly zero, especially in rural areas. We lived in Madera Ranchos at the time.

I sat at the breakfast table feeling tired and sleepy.

“Another cup of coffee?” my wife offered.

“Yeah,” I yawned, as I held out my empty mug.

“What time did you get in this morning?”

“After five. We worked until 4:30, but it was so froggy coming home, that I almost got lost.”

My daughter, Victoria, sat listening politely to our conversation until she couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Don’t you mean ‘foggy’?” she blurted.

“Huh?”

“I’m only in sixth grade, but even I know that it’s foggy, not froggy. You drive me crazy, always saying it wrong, Daddy.”

My wife gave Victoria a harsh look. “Apologize to your father.”

“It’s okay,” I said, rising from my chair and looking at my daughter. “Put on a jacket and take a walk with me to the mailbox. There‘s something I want you to see.”

A cold gust of wind caught us as we stepped onto our front porch. The eucalyptus tree leaves chattered as we walked down our long driveway. Without talking, both of us stayed on the gravel, avoiding the mud. The sky was overcast, threatening rain. The moisture in the air sent a chill deep into my bones. As we reached the mailbox I pointed down the road at our grove of trees, shrouded in fog.

“What do you see?” I asked.

“Fog.”

“Now listen hard. What do you hear?”

Her eyes widened and her mouth formed a huge smile. “Frogs. Lots of them.”

“Driving slow last night in the fog with my window open, I could hear their songs for miles.”

She nodded her understanding.

“Now, how would you describe last night‘s weather?” I asked.

“I’d say it was pretty froggy,” she said.  


Ben Romero is the author of a series of books, each a collection of delightful little life-moments.  His books do not only include his experiences, but short stories gathered from family, neighbors, and friends.  His seventh book is Chicken Fluff and Other Stuff, An Anthology of Holiday Humor.

Ben received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Management with a minor in Spanish.  He is a part-time Adult Education teacher in an ESL program (English as a Second Language) and uses some of his writings as materials for teaching.
To contact Ben: bromero98@comcast.net

LITERATURE

MEXICO’S 19th CENTURY ROMANTIC

Samples of Riva Palacio, 
Translation and commentary by Ted Vincent

The writings of Vicente Riva Palacio are considered in the romanticist school, in the sense that he wanted to inspire pride in the new nation of Mexico, in the manner that Goethe, the pioneer in German romanticism, sought to stimulated young Germans of his day to seek a unification of the scattered German principalities into a modern nation.  Riva Palacio’s writing was also a romantic in the other sense, that of lapses into passionate sentimental excess, two examples of which are presented below.

An example of Riva Palacio romanticism written in first person is displayed in his letter of July 20, 1854 to his future wife, Josephina Bros.  He was then 21, she 15.  The tone of the letter matches others in its volume of 137  testament of love that Vicente wrote to Josephina written between 1853 and 1854.

Romanticism in third person writing is displayed in a sample from Riva Palacio’s 1868 novel, “Calvario y Tabor” set during the early 1860s.  The heroine,  Alexandra, is from the Acapulco coast.  The region is described in sensual terms before the even more sensual depiction of Alexandra.


                                       Vicente Riva Palacio, a Josephina Bros

Adorable little Josephine, my first and only love, my breath, my life, the light of my heart.  Lucky me.  How could I describe for you the pleasure given through your letters of last night?  Oh, there are beautiful, bewitching, divine, my little angel.  You have much talent much.  You are an incomparable youth.  Tell me little Josephine.  It is I who inspires these things that are so beautiful?  Is it my love that enthuses you so, that provides the ecstacy of this celestial life into which you paint me?  Certainly, it is I, and 
I am the happiest on earth, he who has the glory to call you his, yes, because you are mine, mine as one with my heart, mine as my thought, because you my angel, you wished to consecrate with me, I to you, united to your future, your happiness, your soul, to my soul, 
to my coming spring, my happiness.  Ah, Josefinita, I give you thanks for such generosity.

Flower of my life, such good reason you have to say our lives will be celestial, divine.  You tell yourself of the days of the nights when we will be united.  Hear me, Little Josephine, how beautiful will be the nights, we will have a luxurious bed ( as that is for my J.) And when it is late we need not say as now, “Already the hour of separation has arrived,”, no, we can continue chatting from the middle of the night until the next day.  The last thing your eyes will see as they close for dreams will be your husband, radiant with happiness, and when you awake it will be to the most sweet and loving kiss.... 

Your impassioned
R

 Adoradísima Josefinita, mi primero y único amor, mi aliento, mi vida, luz de mi corazón.  Bien mio: ¿cómo podré pintarte lo que he gozado con tus cartas de anoche?  ¡Oh!, están hermosas, hechiceras, divinas, angelito mío; tienes mucho talento, mucho, eres una joven incomparable.  Dime Josefinita, ¿soy yo el que te inspira esas cosas tan bellas?, ¿es mi amor el que te entusiasma así y te arrebata hasta esa vida celestrial que me pintas?  Sí, soy yo, yo el más feliz de la tierra, el que tiene la gloria de llamarte suya, sí, porque eres mía, mía como mi corazón, mía como mi pensamiento, porque tú, ángel mío, te has querido consagrar a mi como yo a ti, y unir tu porvenir, tu felicidad, tu alma, a mí alma, a mi porvenir, a mí felicidad. ¡Ah!, Josefinita, bendita seas por tanta generosidad. 

Flor de mi vida, cuánta razón tienes en decir que nuestra vida será celestial, divina.  Tú dirás que días, qué noches todo, todo cuando estaremos unidos. Oyeme Josefinita, qué bonito será en las noches, tendremos una recámara mí lujosa  (como que es para mí J.)  y cuando sea tarde no diremos, como ahora, “ya llegó la hora de separarse”, no, sino que podremos estar platicando hasta la media noche, hasta otro día.  Lo último que verán tus ojitos al cerrarse al sueno será a tu esposo radiante de felicidad, y te despertaré  con el beso más amoroso y más dulce....

tu apasionadísimo
R

CALVARIO Y TABOR, novel first published 1868

She was a slender and graceful morena; her elegance was but that which is common to the women of these coasts; her eyes big black and bright, veiled by large curled eyelashes, her teeth exceedingly white and her gums full fleshed and fresh creating a delicious contrast with the perfect oval of her face, shaded with the most enchanting mat of black hair, she would give a person the passionate love of a painter, or the fevered tubercular brain of a poet.

Her white blouse had sleeves and collar literally transformed with waves of fittings, things which are the invention of the fair sex to stoke the fire of love and desire..this, along with a simple blue petticoat formed all her attire.  But around her neck shown bright bracelets of gold and coral and her hands flaunted a profusion of rings of gold with pearls, conchas and coral.  She was without doubt from a well off family, rich perhaps, but a worker none-the-less as were all the women of the coast, and for this she walked lightly carrying on her head a jug, which, by the laws of equilibrium, was maintained there without the help of the hands of the youngster.

If a painter could have seen her, Rebecca would have been born of his paintbrush, because there was nothing more elegant or more biblical to be found than these girls of the coast, who one could see coming and going to the arroyo, carrying grand jugs of water on their heads without disturbing the equilibrium even enough to lose a drop, such was the grace and lightness of their movements.  

Por eso, sin duda, alegre y ligera, caminaba cantando por uno de los senderos del bosque y con dirección a una vertiente de agua Purísima que se deslizaba entre la yerba, una joven como de quince años.  

Era una morena esbelta y garbosa’pero con ese garbo que es propio solo de las mujeres de las costas, sus ojos grandes, negros y brillantes, velados por largas y rizadas pestañas, sus dientes blanquísimos y sus encías encarnadas y frescas, hacían un contraste delicioso con el ovalo perfecto de su rostro al que sombreaba la más encantadora mata de pelo negro que haya podido imaginar el alma reflexiva de un pintor o el calenturiento celebro de un poeta.  

Una camisa blanca, cuya mangas y cuello estaban literalmente formados de encajes, de olanes y de esas mil curiosidades que inventa el sexo bello para soplar el fuego del amor o del deseo, y una sencilla enagua azul, formaban  todo su traje; pero en su garganta lucían hermosos collares de oro y de coral, y sus manos ostentaban con profusión sortijas y anillos de oro con perlas, conchas y corales.  Era sin duda la hija de una familia acomodada, rica tal vez, pero todas las mujeres en la costa trabajaban; y por eso esta caminaba ligera, llevando sobre su cabeza un cántaro que, por efecto de las leyes del equilibrio, se mantenía allí sin auxilio de las manos de la joven.

 Si un pinto hubiera podido verla, Rebeca hubiera nacido de su pincel, porque nada hay más gracioso y pudiera decirse más bíblico, que eses niñas de la costa que van y vienen al arroyo, llevando sin sujetarlos y en equilibrio sobre sus cabezas, grandes cantaros de agua, sin doblar la cerviz y sin perder por eso tampoco la gracia y la ligereza de sus movimientos.

Quienes son los Puertorriqueños según . . . Gabriel Garcia Marquez

SURNAME

Mixed Bicultural Marriages Hide the Hispanic presence

LAREDO, TEXAS CROSS CULTURAL MARRIAGES
San Agustin Parish of Laredo, Marriage Book II 
Angel Sepulveda Brown and Glora Villa Cadena

THE PORTILLA-POWER-WELDER CLAN OF TEXAS
EXAMPLES OF CROSS-CULTURAL INTERMARRYING, 1800s

Livermore, California Cross Cultural Intermarriage

Surnames found on the Genealogy Chart of William G. Taylor
descending from his
THE LOPEZ, REYES, BéEJAR/VéEJAR Families
demonstrates that Somos Primos 

"My Great, Great, Great Grandfather, Francisco Salvador Béjar, born in 1772 in Tepic, Mexico.  He  came to Alta California in 1790.  Francisco Salvador was sent under contract with the Catholic Church, as an artisan and a Soldado de Cuero. In 1798 he married Maria Josefa Benita López in Mission San Gabriel. The marriage resulted in five daughters and eight sons. He and his wife were the founders of the Béjar/Véjar family in Southern California.  I am proudly one of over 1000 descendants of this union.   William G.Taylor. "  

Somos Primos, December 2001

Editor: Bill Taylor was a friend and supporter for many years of SHHAR/SomosPrimos. He passed away before we could make a connection between my great great great grandmother Maria Juana Garcia de Bejar and Bill's lines.    

Photo: Pedro Maria Vejar 
Born in Los Angeles 1842 and died in 1884.

WHAT IS A HISPANIC? 

Five factors contributing to the confusion:

ORANGE COUNTY, CA

http://www.zroots.com/Orange%20FH%20Fair%20Flyer%202008.pdf

Submission Procedure: two copies of script; scripts will not be returned
Facilities: Black Box Space. 40-50 seats  

Festival Dates: Finalists will have staged readings as part of the festival weekend beginning August 29-31, 2008. The winner will be announced on August 31^st with a possible future production. Re-writes may be requested.

The City of Santa Ana takes pride in hosting the only event in Orange County that celebrates the legacy of the Cesar E. Chavez, a man who is recognized as a great leader, humanitarian, and authentic hero who serves as a role model to millions around the world.  As the co-founder and president of the United Farm Workers (UFW), Cesar E. Chavez devoted his life to raise awareness of the plight of farm workers in this country.  His lifelong struggle to eliminate the unhealthy and intolerable working conditions that farm workers endured is especially admired because of his commitment to non-violence.  Beginning in 2001, March 31st became an official state holiday for Cesar E. Chavez.    The 8th Annual Cesar E. Chavez State Holiday at Delhi Park, on Saturday, March 22, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., with a full program of speakers, entertainment, and family fun.  A community resource fair will be held at Delhi Park to help share important resources and information with the over 800 expected event attendees.

LOS ANGELES, CA

a new multimedia presentation

FRIDA KAHLO IN COLOR
by Gregorio Luke

April 10 - 8 p.m. 

CARPENTER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER   
CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, LONG BEACH
6200 ATHERTON STREET, LONG BEACH, CA 90815

CONVENIENT PARKING LOCATED IN FRONT OF THE THEATRE

A NEW MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION ON FRIDA KAHLO
USING RECENTLY DISCOVERED COLOR PHOTOGRAPHS
FILM CLIPS AND NEW DOCUMENTS. 

SEE HER ART IN FULL COLOR AS NEVER BEFORE.

Thousands honor '68 walkouts by Mexican American students. Marchers gather in L.A. to commemorate the 'blowouts' that helped launch the Chicano Movement.

By Louis Sahagun, louis.sahagun@latimes.com Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, March 9, 2008

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-chicano9mar09,1,5259023.story  

Sent by Dr. Carlos Muñoz, Jr.

Celebrating the 
100 year Old Diary 
THE DIARY OF LUCAS DE LA FUENTE
Completed and closed on April 1, 1908

Bea Armenta Dever, SHHAR Board member and oldest child of her family inherited the responsibility of caring for the diary of her great great grandfather, Lucas de la Fuente.

We can enjoy the insight shared by Lucas de la Fuente in his hand-written diary in which he recorded the marriages, births, and death of family members, plus other important events.   

Bea has traced her mother's family De la Fuentes back to 1783 in Mexico:

Miguel Maria De La Fuente 
       m. Margarita Corella.
Son: Ramon De La Fuente (b.1813)
       m. Francisca Saldamando
Son: Lucas De La Fuente (b.Ures, 
       Sonora, MX) m. Camen Villa
Son: Enrique De La Fuente (b.23 July,
       1878, Guaymas, Sonora)
        m. Teresa Contreras

In 1916 the family moved to Nogales, AZ and then to California in 1925, a family  of six children.

        

Photo:  March 31,1929
Enrique V. de la Fuente and Teresa Contreras de la Fuente
in front of the Bojorquez residence
1218 W.Main St.  
Alhambra, California

Their daughter, Teresa De La Fuentes married Ramon Armenta in Los Angeles on the 3rd of Sept,1932.  

Beatrice Armenta Dever, was the first child of eight to be born to Teresa and Ramon.  

Bea's mother, Teresa shared a story about their Great Grandfather Lucas.  Lucas and his brothers were captured by Indians as they crossed the river.  The boys were rescued by a regiment of soldiers.  

Below is a personal account of the French invasion of Mexico in 1864 as recorded by Lucas de la Fuente. 

                                                      Hermosillo    April 1, 1908

Book of Memories that I wrote so that my children can remember and it is to remain with my son, Enrique, this same date.

Lucas de la Fuente wrote his memories just two months prior to his death.  His son, Enrique, recorded his death as follows: 

“My beloved father, Lucas de la Fuente, died in Hermosillo, Sonora, of stomach cancer the 12^th of June 1908 at 9 PM and was buried on the 13^th at the age of 60 years, 7 months, and 25 days.”

Enrique continued recording family history in his father’s book.  Enrique’s daughter, Teresa de la Fuente Armenta, translated her grandfather’s book and continued recording family history.

                                                                     Personal

Dear Children

Today 1^st of April 1908, I count 60 years, five months, 20 days, because I was born the 18^th of October 1847.

There is nothing in my life I can tell you that would be interesting because it just rolled on without any episodes still I’ll concentrate and give reference to my median age the most intimate of it.

My parents were very poor, but the good society in which we lived, always respected them and granted them consideration for their honesty and propriety.

My father was always a government employee in the State (also in another place) and he retired after presenting proof to Congress of 44 years of service without interruption.   This was my father of whom I am highly honored to be called his son.

I lived the beginning years in the most revolutionary era that the State experienced.  I had very little schooling.  At 15 years old, I was an employee of the Congress, my immediate boss being my father, and little later ascended as an employee of the Tribunal of Justice.  The Government had to constantly attempt to suppress the local rebels also the tribes Yaqui, Seris, and Apache that every day would attack travelers causing a thousand tragedies.  Everyone without exception lent their services as soldiers, keeping guard for public security including the senators and ministers.

In 1864 we were notified that the French who had invaded the country were coming in warships to Guaymas.  The Governor hastily called the National Guard into action who were concentrated at the port to defend it from invasion.  For this reason I was named “little official” and was placed in charge of 100 men in Ures to lead to Guaymas, which I did, according to the instructions I had received.

At last the French arrived in Guaymas the 29^th of March of the same year 1865 and because they feared the bombarding of the town all the services left and we were camped in a place called “The Passion”.  On the 22 of May of this same year and at 6 AM we were attacked by the French at camp and we were placed in complete dispersion.  In these bad conditions, we arrived in Hermosillo, where the men of honor swallowed the shame of the most dishonorable defeat registered in the history of the Republic.

The many enemies of General Pesqueira, blamed him for this fiasco, but that is not so, among the lesser chiefs there was discord and treason.  The fault of the General in charge was not to remedy the cause in time.

One time in Hermosillo we were dispatched to fight against a group of traitors that had been seen in the Sonora River, District of Arizpe.  This battle was made on the orders of Colonels Angel Corella, and at the end of Jun 1865, we met with the enemy Imperial Salvador Vasquez, who immediately engaged us in battle in a place called “La Galera” very near Cumpas, and since our armies already were disgusted with what happened at “The Passion”, they rebelled and 400 men went to the enemy and left only 18 officials of which eleven were taken prisoners.  The rest arrived in Ures in dispersement where the Governor was reconstructing his small army and war equipment that he had left.  I was among these last officials.

On the 13^th of July, that is to say one month after our defeat, the order was given by the fort General to fire several cannons in solemnity of the defeat of the French (The Count Rauset de Borbon) in Guaymas in 1865.  As the few volleys were shot, the enemy traitor appeared and occupied the first position at the Plaza de Ures where the battle was continued far into the night of the same day.

The enemy was encamped 1100 meters from Ures, each night liberals would desert and join the traitors until the Plaza was deserted.  General Pesqueira retreated with the few chiefs and officials that were left and I was among them.  The large part of the chiefs and officials that were left were held ten leagues from Ures so that each could decide what was best to do.  I went to Ures which was occupied by the Imperials; my parents lived there and we thought the revolution in Sonora was over at least that was what we believed.

Once I arrived in Ures, one of the chiefs invited me to go with him to join General Rosales, who was fighting for the State of Sinaloa.  Since I was very young and without funds the chief offered to pay all expenses until we could incorporate with the liberals.

The day we arrived In Hermosillo this individual abandoned me without any funds but a Frenchman that was established here in a big pharmacy and mercantile had me brought to his establishment where I remained several months full of gratitude for my boss (Alfonso Soule).

After three months of working as a salesman in said company, there appeared in this town a certain Joaquim Contreras who took over the charge of the jail.

This announcement was aided by Attorney Ygnacio Ramirez and Mr. Francisco Serna, the 1^st of good faith and the 2^nd to save his brother-in-law, Mr. Dionisio Gonzales, who was being held with a few others.   With the voice and great interest that Attorney Ramirez took, in three days, 500 men were recruited and were very well armed and equipped.  Five days after the announcement, Contreras left with 300 infantrymen to meet Governor Santiago Campillo, who was coming to attack this plaza.  Serna arrived and was placed in charge of the plaza, with 200 dragons at his command.  But at dawn of this same day, Contreras returned as planned with Serna, who had already reduced the cavalry into small groups and caballeros.  The plaza was deserted.  Contreras had nothing left but to leave from there to look for General Garcia Morales and join him, which he did, this being the last complete defeat in the town of Naiori (District of Ures).

I, with my boss, Soule, who knew what had to happen, went to Ures because the administration I had joined was going to again arrest the officials that they could find. This did not happen to me because the Secretary of the Governor was Mr. Francisco Gomez Mayen (my brother-in-law).  All the newly arrested officials were placed in groups in firing squads in Guaymas, while I, together with others, stayed in Ures, carefully watched and persecuted by the traitors because General Garcia Morales did not rest one moment, always gaving them a stubborn battle.  While this was happening, General Pesqueira remained very seriously ill in Calabazas, U.S.

A little after the above happenings, General Angel Martinez came to Sonora through Sinaloa bringing his notorious revolutionaries that like their chief enjoyed the reputation of first class  robbers like nobody else.  This one soon got in communication with Generals Pesqueira and Garcia Morales.

They took as place of reunion the town of Fecoripa and there they combined means to attack the traitors and cited the same town for the reunion of all the groups of liberals that were dispersed in the State.  With these a considerable column was formed to confront the enemy, who counted with all the best elements and soldiers of the Empire.

At the end of August of 1866 one day at 10 at night Mr. Manuel Velez Escalante (Sub Profecto Actual de Ures) appeared personally at my home and told my father that together with his sons, he was expatriated and had only ½ hour to comply with that edict.  Adding that with his sons, Donaciano, Lucas and Manuel, he should present himself in military court in Guaymas so, as liberals, they should be judged and so that he wouldn’t have any problems on the road he was to  bring his passport, which he gave him and left on the spot.

Immediately and very content (because the expatriating, we received was a great service from the Empire) with the help of my mother who was a very strong lady, she readied two knapsacks, one my brother, Manuel, took and the other I took and with 75 centavos that my mother gave us, we started on the road at 10 ½ PM in a very dark and with the alleys very full of water.  My poor father with his cane in one hand and very content, took the lead and we made our trip full of laughter, because my father when he saw a white spot, would jump towards it thinking it was a dry spot but would land in the biggest puddles.

This way we travelled until 1 AM when we arrived at a little hacienda of a friend of ours.  There we slept and the following day very early we resumed anew the march toward Hermosillo and for lunch we spent one quarter for “coyotas”.  At noon sharp, we had to go through a dip in the river in order to reach a hacienda called “El Cavilan” for which we had to strip because it carried a lot of water.  But before we crossed, we had breakfast each eating one “coyota.”  When we passed to the other bank, we dried ourselves, and we replaced our clothing to continue our journey; in this act we were surprised by Mr. Miguel Gandara calling halt and demanding the passport, and while looking for this document, we were surrounded by the Indians that accompanied Mr. Gandara, but when Mr. Gandara recognized my dad, he became very friendly and apologetic and insisting we accompany him to eat at his home. We went and passed by a bunch of 200 Indians that were in constant vigil waiting for enemies from all directions.  We finished eating that consisted of casuela and tepaparis, Mr. Gandara asked permission to leave to check on something in relation to his property.

As soon as this gentleman left, and without saying goodbye, because it wasn’t convenient, we resumed our journey, paying one of the Indians the five reales that we had left, so he would guide us through the Sierra.  The road we had to travel that afternoon was short and we were able to reach San Jose de Gracia early to hacienda of the Encisos, friends of ours who received us in their home lovingly.  There we slept and the following day in the afternoon awaiting the departure of a little old man who was going to the Maquinaria de “Los Angeles” so we could join him and incorporate again with the first squad of liberals that we met.

It must have been six in the afternoon, when some soldiers appeared at the gate of the house and at first we thought they were imperialists, but among them were a few that had infiltrated under my orders.  They told me right away what had happened, telling that that afternoon Mr. Gandara had been defeated and in complete dispersement and then discarded the chief to go to Hermosillo and join the cavalries of General Pesqueira.   Asking him who was his chief, he told me Chalia Andrade and since this was my comrade of arms, I sent him word that my dad and three sons were being deported and we needed four saddled horses to join him which he personally brought to us and we started out on our way while a driving rain fell on us.  That night we spent ambushed until the next day and in the morning we left for Hermosillo.  In Chino Gordo we met General Pesqueira as he marched toward Ures with 300 horses to join Generals Pesqueira and Martinez.

The 3^rd of Sept of 1866 we spent at the Maquinaria de Los Angeles and the next day we joined the main part of the army at Santa Rita (three leagues from Ures).  Meanwhile General Lamberg who had just joined General Fanori and with all the strength of the forces and was already catching up to the liberals.  While this was going on and the forces took water, Generals Pesqueira, Martinez and Colonel Alcantara conferred as to where would be the most convenient point for commencing the action, and having decided on the hills of Guadalupe, they hurried to the site.

The enemy that at that moment came into sight, believing that we were in dispersion, and blood thirsty ran in pursuit, but because of some arrangement that had taken place, they encountered well organized forces under Colonel Silva who opened fire against the enemy, dying in the act the General in Chief (Lamberg).  With which they were overcome in great demoralization and after two hours, more or less of the battle Campol, the field was ours and the enemy in complete dispersement.  That evening we didn’t break camp because it was raining in torrents.  The next day the 5^th at the sound of rivalry we started the march to Ures, a distance of two leagues, and as the traitors occupied the house of corrections and several forts, the fighting continued all day and night until 3 in the morning when they abandoned the plaza and fled in different directions.  The 5^th and 6^th several executions and assassinations were committed on part of our forces.

On the 9^th we left on orders of General Garcia Morales with several squads towards Montezuma where several chief traitors had gone and on the 12^th at 1 PM we entered the town where Colonel Antonio Feran y Barrios was placed in front of the firing squad with a few others.  On the 16^th we continued the march to Guaymas and we went to confront the Yaquis—fight that lasted three months returning to Hermosillo where we were freed and the troops of Generals Martinez and Davalos embarked toward Queretaro following the shooting of General Fanori and sixteen of his companions.

Having been relieved of duty, I went to Ures with my parents, returning next as a government employee.  A short time after, there were two companies established in Guaymas that made coins of Federal character under the orders of General Morales who was Military Chief of the State.  This Chief named the officials for which he invited me; he requested I place my resignation as employee and made me Fenicenta Ayesdante of said companies.

As a soldier of these companies I remained two years, advancing said companies as the 2^nd and 4^th and 8^th Degree Battalion official without moving out of Guaymas.  When faced with the inactivity, the troops rebelled against the command.  I found myself involved in a personal problem with the Commandante of Interior of the Plaza (Mr. Fernando Galvez) and having been married only six days and finding myself well liked by my troops, I had the opportunity to give good services to the businesses of Guaymas especially in the business of Loaiza and Bustamente by preventing the stealing of $35,000 in money bags being shipped that same day to California.

That day and later I suffered a lot with the consequences of an announcement which resulted that I would be named Commandante of the Plaza putting pressure on the other officials.  I was in that position for a few months until General Davalos arrived from Sinaloa with forces to investigate my companies and they ordered me to make an accounting at the headquarters at Mazatlan.  After 15 days, I completed my accounting and came out good and returned to Guaymas.   Although I was no longer in the military, my character was of a soldier.  After returning to Guaymas, I remained quiet for eight days and when there was no activity in the headquarters at Mazatlan, I was released but not by legal means.

I  had a difficult life from 1871 to 1880 working with several employments; watchman for Grounds Customs then as a teacher in the San Jose school system in Guaymas and finally as treasurer and secretary of that municipality.  Following that my life was calm but I didn’t know how to manage my money or economize because I lacked experience and a good person to confide in like my father.

I hope that this is a good example that you always save your money for unforeseen calamity or misfortune.

Translation notes by Granddaughter Teresa De La Fuente Armenta  
Typed by Great Granddaughter Cecilia Armenta Richards
Organized and prepared by Great Granddaughter Bea Armenta Dever, 
assisted by Jovita Lopez and Henry Marquez with interpretation and translation.  

Lucas's feelings will usually not get hurt when his personal appearance is criticized.  When his abilities or his performance are criticized, he is able to maintain a sense of dignity and poise rather than letting his feathers get ruffled.  He is warm-hearted and able to put himself in someone else's shoes without going overboard. He may become upset when people cannot keep up with him and react as quickly as he does.  While he may be receptive to praise and attention, he doesn't need to be stroked constantly.  He wants to know that others look up to him and view him with respect and admiration.  In order to please others and gain their approval, he will sometimes show off and act in a contrived manner rather than being genuine.  He may feel vulnerable and be afraid that he will not be valued by others if he reveals his true self to them.
Lucas enjoys having a good discussion.  He doesn't usually develop dependent social relationships.  His independence allows him to establish, maintain or break off contact when he chooses to.

Vocational Implications
Lucas likes .to streamline his work, but he will sacrifice speed for accuracy when necessary.  He slows down to make sure that the accuracy of his work doesn't suffer.  His motivations come from his work, and he can stick with a job for long periods of time.  He is able to shut out the rest of the world and see only what he is doing, so he can work well behind the scenes.

Lucas is able to organize his work most of the time; however, he can be disorganized on occasion.  He is motivated by work which encourages him to use his verbal abilities.  He is likely to become frustrated in occupations which discourage verbal communication.
Lucas is a very enthusiastic person who frequently gets excited about his work.  He is determined to hang in through the longer, duller stretches of work, so he is good at following through and completing projects.  He will follow company rules, put up with the boss's unique ways of doing things and get along well with his co-workers.  In order to cover himself, he may conceal information from supervisors or co-workers.

Lucas is internally motivated to set and reach long-range goals and carefully plans how he will attain them.  He is motivated by spiritual growth.  Finding meaning in life is very important to him. He is able to benefit from a constructive evaluation of his work and doesn't react defensively when he is criticized.  He stands back, looks at his work objectively, and changes what needs to be changed in order to do the best job he can.  He feels good about himself when he does his job well.  Consequently, he usually works hard at what he does because he feels more worthwhile when he produces quality

CALIFORNIA

Visit our web page www.rondalladeguadalupe.com ,where proudly, have Dr. Mark Diaz as our sponsor ,We still looking for Sponsors, to Keep Helping our comunnity, and showing everybody our Culture through our Music ,also we opened our RGPE School of Music.  We NEED HELP to Keep working.

For more information, contact Joaquin Galvan  jdgalvan@ucdavis.edu
or Mark Diaz <madiaz@ucdavis.edu

Sent by Dorinda Moreno fuerzamundial@gmail.com  

Channel 61, News and Public Affairs Programs, Mt. San Miguel Studio on Kearny Mesa

Continuing, the majority of County students who are mostly "Hispanic" or, in some precincts, "Latino," plus Black and Asian do not have access to their own American history and world-view because it has been ignored by those who control the dissemination of American history, politics and news.  

Here is what I am looking for—People who know by experience and education American history that reflects the contributions of Hispanic soldiers, sailors and Marines since the American Revolutionary War. People who can relate Hispanic and Black influences on American culture to those around us who know so little, and people who can look at the coming Presidential election with savvy based on experience not emotion.

I need people who can look into a camera without blinking or shrinking in shyness. I want people who can communicate, who are assertive and are confident in their own skins. I want people with views, some of which may differ from mine slightly or by miles. I want all sides of issues examined, debated and put in front of all so all can use their own minds intelligently.  

This Election year is the right place and the right time to start such programs.  

I’ve spent most of my time recruiting Community college history, political and social science instructors for several reasons. (1) They are used to speaking in front of numerous people. Also, to be full-time community college instructors they mostly have Master (or doctorate) degrees in their subjects, thus they know their subjects. And, (3) most have similar educational and life experiences to me that we need to parade in front of the hundreds of thousands of young Hispanic and Black students who attend the very same schools we attended.  

At the same time we need the input and performance of people from the community-at-large that have expertise and experience that are relevant to the real world, like earthquakes, fire storms and other non-political events that affect us all.  

For example, I’ve invited or am inviting political consultants Larry Remer (Democrat) and John Dadian (Republican) along with Border Angel founder Enrique Morones, former La Mesa City Councilman Barry Jantz and Voice and Viewpoint Publisher John Warren to participate. While Morones and I have shared microphones before, disagreeing most of the time on issues, we share one basic component—We must show show our kids what’s possible.  

I have or am inviting Super Democrat lawyer Thor Emblem to not only discuss politics but to do a regular legal information segment for ordinary people on laws and situations that they encounter daily.  

Carlos Contreras of Grossmont College, Victor Chavez of Southwestern College and Ternod MacRenato of City College have indicated they will participate. Will you?

If you think you can add something to discussions of history and politics, sign up. If you have published books you wish to promote, if you want community invitations to address groups in San Diego County and/or if you want to contribute to a community data base of information that is usually ignored by our local television colleagues, sign up.  

So far, none of us are "pretty faces" but all of us are serious accomplished people who know that news doesn’t stop at the border. We all know that news from Mexico City is just as important to our region as news from 1600 Pacific Highway.  

We also know that some of us speak better Spanish than English that’s why we are planning an entire news segment in Spanish. We are organizing 57 minutes of English news and seven in Spanish. No other news source in the region offers bilingual news, none.  
   
Also, we are open to suggestions of others to participate in front of and behind the cameras. Anyone with some broadcast experience is welcome to contact me.  

I can be reached at 619-817-1418.
Raoul Lowery Contreras, Board Director
International Communications Network  
sdraoul@att.net

Great news! Jesus Orosco has a radio show that is on the air on the 1^st Saturday of each month. He has offered us an opportunity to speak about Juana Briones. This will be a great opportunity to get her name out to the public. If any of you are interested in speaking about Juana, please let me know so that I can schedule the radio show time.  

Thanks, Tony Cisneros
TCisneros@WSGC.com
Lorri  Frain  lorrilocks@sbcglobal.net

NORTHWEST UNITED STATES

The honor of your company is requested by:

 His Excellency Carlos Westendorp

Ambassador of Spain to the United States

&

The Most Honorable Manuel Pradas Romani 

Consul General of Spain, San Francisco

&

The Most Honorable Don Luis Fernando Esteban

Honorary Consul of Spain, Washington State

At a reception to bestow the formal Decoration of Spanish Knighthood granted on behalf of His Majesty the King Juan Carlos I de  Borbon Under La Encomienda of

“The Royal Order of Isabel la Catolica”

to

The Honorable Lieutenant Governor Brad Owen

 &

“The Royal Order of Merito Civil”

to

Dr. Antonio Sanchez  

On Wednesday, April second the year of our Lord 2008 

Eleven thirty to twelve thirty o’clock – reception follows

In the State Reception Room, Legislative Building, Olympia Washington 

Guest of Honor, the Honorable Governor Christine Gregoire

Presidio brings 1700s to life . . A blast of the past
The re-enactments are taking place every Saturday through April 5.
Opinion by Bonnie Henry
Accent Tucson, Arizona, 03.02.2008
www.azstarnet.com ® 

Ninety years after the last vestiges of Tucson's walled fort known as San Agustín del Tucson were carted off, a portion of the presidio has now come to life Downtown.

But re-creating the late 18th century in modern-day Tucson hasn't come easy.  Adobe walls had to be stabilized. Uniforms had to be meticulously researched. And then there was that cannon — one that shoots out toast, rather than fire power.

One can only wonder what the presidio's original inhabitants — and the Apaches they fought — would think of all this.  Inside, meet some of the stalwarts determined to keep our history alive — with or without limitations. — Bonnie Henry

The Transamerica Building looms to the south, sometimes blocking the sun.  Across the street is a parking garage. Trains can be heard rumbling in the distance.

And plunked in the middle of all this modern urbanity sits Tucson's distant past: the re-created Presidio San Agustín del Tucson. Part anachronism, all dream — particularly for Tucson architect Lewis Hall, who in 1984 helped found the Tucson Presidio Trust for Historic Preservation.

Its main mission: reconstruct a portion of Tucson's long-gone fort, which dates back to the late 1770s. Hall had an even bigger dream. "He wanted the whole thing. He wanted to tear down City Hall," says another Presidio Trust founder, Sybil Needham. "It was an obsession with him."

Lewis died in 1998, a year before funding to reconstruct a portion of the presidio was approved.

The location: a parking lot, three acres in all, on the northeast corner of Church Avenue and Washington Street.  Funded with $2.67 million in Rio Nuevo money, re-creation became reality last May, though not without its naysayers.

"Some people say you can't restore," says Needham. "But the Alamo is restored. All those buildings bombed to gravel during World War II have been restored."

Archaeologist and anthropologist Gayle Hartmann, who is a former president of the Presidio Trust, says, "Yes, this is a reconstruction. It used to be a parking lot. I don't think that matters. It's a glimpse of history."

For 14 months, workers labored to reconstruct the northeast tower, a soldier's family home, a soldiers barracks, a warehouse, a Sonoran street scene mural, an horno for baking bread, and a 2,000 year-old pithouse. Visitors can take a self-guided tour of all this Wednesdays through Sundays. And on Saturdays, now through April 5, re-enactors are bringing this slice of late-18th-century Tucson to life: how the people of the presidio dressed, what they ate, how they defended themselves.

A few steps and almost a century away is a territorial courtyard and the restored Siqueiros-Jácome home, dating to 1866, which offers exhibits and a gift shop.

Just as today's world intrudes beyond the presidio, there's a nod to modern times inside as well.  The fort's adobe walls are stabilized with concrete. There's rebar in the tower walls. And ramps and modern restrooms were built to accommodate disabled visitors.

Even so, it's a huge achievement for the Presidio Trust — especially when one considers the alternative: a six-lane highway proposed by the city in 1988.

If You Go:  Living history re-enactments at the presidio take place every Saturday through April 5 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the northeast corner of Church Avenue and Washington Street.

Events scattered throughout the remaining Saturdays include spinning and weaving, bread-baking, soap-making, carpentry and leather-making. The April 5 event also will include games for kids, 18th-century soldiering, medicine and food demonstrations and the trying on of 18th-century clothing.

All events are free and parking is free on nearby streets on the weekends. The presidio and gift shop and exhibits in the nearby Siqueiros-Jácome house are also open 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Wednesdays-Sundays, closed Mondays and Tuesdays.  Information, call 884-4214 or  www.tucsonpresidiotrust.org .

Be part of the past: Want to dress up as a presidio soldier or just learn more about the Tucson Presidio Trust? Call 298-7052 for more information. The group is always looking for more members and volunteers for its re-enactments.

No posole for you, thanks to the health department. And before you fire that musket, better warn the neighbors.  Yep, going back in time a couple of centuries does have its pitfalls — but also its rewards.

Meet some of the members of the Tucson Presidio Trust working to keep our history alive: 

Gayle Hartmann learned about authenticity from the ground up. A cotton bush planted inside the presidio wall is now providing some native cotton — enough for volunteers to demonstrate cleaning, carding, spinning and weaving techniques of the early settlers.

"I wanted to promote some skills from this period," says Hartmann, 65, an archaeologist, anthropologist and past president of the Tucson Presidio Trust.

She began with a couple of bags of cotton from the Pima County Cooperative Extension Service. "We learned how to take the seeds out, to card, and then to spin and make it into thread," says Hartmann, who took a class in weaving and rounded up a group of weavers and spinners.

"We're trying to explain what life was like around 1800, the skills needed to survive. This has been a wonderful small-scale success for Rio Nuevo. People say nothing's happening down here. This has happened."

Hector Soza: His great-great-great grandfather once patrolled the grounds where Hector Soza now strolls. His name was José María Sosa, and he served at Tubac and then at Tucson after its presidio was founded in 1775.

Quite naturally, Soza — the name was changed from Sosa in 1891 — portrays his ancestor.  Thanks to old service records, Soza has a pretty good idea of what José María looked like.

"He was 5-feet-4, black hair and eyebrows, brown eyes, black beard, a swarthy complexion and a sharp nose."  Promoted to sergeant in 1782, José María escorted supply caravans and took  part in 20 campaigns against the Apaches. "He did get wounded in one of  his legs," says Soza.

José María was still a soldier when he died at age 56, says Soza, who at age 78 must portray a much younger man. "I paint my hair and mustache black every time we do events. But I do not have a beard. It's too hot."

He does, however, try to emulate the period uniform, right down to the white stockings and buckled shoes. As for what José María Sosa might say about his descendant's lifestyle today, Soza answers without hesitation: "He would say, 'Get a horse.' He must have been a marvelous horseman."

Mickie Soza's head hurts. Blame it on the comb and lace mantilla she wears while portraying a comandante's wife at a fiesta or church during presidio re-enactments. "You have to keep your head up high and stiff or the mantilla will fall forward. My head aches by the time I'm done."

And we just thought Spanish "upper class" women of the 1800s were haughty. Married to a man who's a direct descendant of a presidio soldier, Soza is a stickler when it comes to getting her outfit exactly right.

"We're trying to research what they truly wore. There were little snatches written here and there," she says.  Silks and satins and velvets were in vogue, says Soza, 76. "Spanish women were formal, but for everyday they wore cotton and linen."

Shoes had little heels and big buckles in front. "And there was no left and right foot," she says. Hooks and eyes, rather than buttons and zippers, kept everything in place, she adds. But there's a limit to authenticity, it turns out.

"I had a velvet jacket I took all the buttons off and tried the hook and eye. It worked, but if you wore the amount of clothing they wore underneath, it was way too tight."

Sybil Needham:

For several years, Sybil Needham shared her homemade posole at Casa Cordoba, in the Tucson Museum of Art Historic Block. There, Tucson Presidio Trust volunteers did their re-enactments before the presidio opened last year.

No more. "I can't get past the health department," says Needham, who acknowledges that the Pima County Health Department mandates that prepared foods for such events must be made in a county-inspected commercial kitchen.

"So I don't make the posole anymore," says Needham, 70, a founding member of the Tucson Presidio Trust. The group does bake bread in an earthen oven called an horno, and recently cooked some chickens — though they didn't share them with visitors.

"We can't share anything we make," says Needham. "I think it's kind of rude." Present-day presidio soldiers also can patrol atop the adobe tower — but once they're done, the ladder must be hidden away. Safety was a factor. So was the Americans with Disabilities Act.

"If we let some of the people up on ladders, we had to let them all up," says Needham. "Now, they have a ladder locked in the tower. Only soldiers can bring the ladder out and patrol."

Despite such modern-day intrusions, Needham is looking back to the future the presidio now affords. "We're hoping to get school groups in here."

Did You Know . . . Lewis Hall, who founded the Tucson Presidio Trust for Historic Preservation and fought long and hard for the presidio's reconstruction, was also a well-known architect.  Among his works: Tohono Chul Park's Tea Room, originally built as a home, and what is now Anthony's in the Catalinas restaurant on North Campbell Avenue.

In 1782, a cannon was used to scare away Apaches. Now, the biggest reaction comes from the cars in the parking garage across the street.  "We fired the cannon for the grand opening of the presidio," says Rick  Collins, 52, who portrays a presidio soldier — one who sometimes gets to fire off a replica cannon. "It was hilarious. For 15 seconds we couldn't talk. We had to wait for the car horns to stop."

And yes, he, along with fellow cannon-firer Jeff Coleman, 48, are now proud graduates of cannon firing school. "The Presidio Trust sent us to Florida, where the National Park Service has an 18th-century cannon school," says Coleman.

He and other presidio soldiers also shoot off their flintlock muskets at least once a month. "I do stay in touch with El Presidio Neighborhood Association and let them know when we're firing," says Coleman.  In the next few weeks, the men expect to replace their borrowed cannon with a new $10,000 four-pounder, donated through the Marshall Foundation.

For now, Coleman and Collins are the only two certified to fire the cannon, which spews out something akin to toast, rather than metal.

Presidio San Agustín del Tucson Timeline:

• 1690s: Father Eusebio Francisco Kino visits the Tucson basin and finds a series of O'odham villages along the Santa Cruz River.

• 1752: A presidio fort is established at Tubac.

• 1775: Capt. Hugo O'Conor, an Irishman employed by the Spanish military, tours the presidios on the northern frontier and recommends moving Tubac's soldiers to Tucson. He picks the Tucson site, El Presidio de San Agustín del Tucson, on Aug. 20, 1775.

• 1782: Only a log palisade encloses a few buildings and the adobe wall perimeter is still incomplete when Apaches launch a surprise attack in May, nearly destroying the fort. Cannon fire scares them away.

• 1783: The fort's adobe walls are completed: 10 feet high, 3 feet thick, about 750 feet long on each side.

• 1792: A peace agreement with the Apaches results in several hundred of  them moving next to the fort. In exchange for information on other Apaches, they are given food, clothing and tools.

• 1821: Mexican independence is won, but the new government has little money to spend on frontier posts. Apaches resume their raids.

• 1848: The census shows only 509 residents inside the presidio — the only Mexican settlement in Arizona.

• 1854: The Gadsden Purchase makes Tucson part of the United States.

• 1856: Mexican soldiers evacuate the post. The American military has no use for the fort, and many of its adobe bricks are hauled away for other buildings.

• 1918: The last standing section of the presidio is demolished.  Source: Tucson archaeologist Homer Thiel, who has spent years excavating the foundations and other reminders of the presidio.  Centuries before any presidio walls started going up, ancient peoples were living along the Santa Cruz River — and, it turns out, right inside what  would later become Presidio San Agustín del Tucson. Four Early Agricultural period pit houses, including one dating to 450 B.C., have been found inside the presidio.

Finding the foundations to a fort a mere couple of centuries old also proved daunting.  During construction of the Old Pima County Courthouse in 1929, archaeologists located the southeast corner of the fort. Salvaged adobe bricks are now on display inside the Pima County Assessor's Office.

In 1954, an excavation at the northeast corner of Church Avenue and Washington Street uncovered a pre-Hohokam pithouse. The site, which later became a parking lot, is now a re-created portion of the presidio, including that pithouse.

Using a ground-penetrating radar study from the previous year, in 1992 volunteers with the Center for Desert Archaeology helped expose a north-south adobe wall thought to be the east presidio wall.

Volunteers returned in 1998 to search for sections of the north, south and west walls.  Today, we know the walls lie beneath the Old Pima County Courthouse, the mayor and City Council parking lot, the corner of Main Avenue and Washington Street, and the corner of Washington Street and Church Avenue.

Approved in 1999 as part of Rio Nuevo and opened in May of last year, the presidio's speedy 14-month reconstruction caught officials off guard.

As far as day-to-day operations, "the city did not have a budget line for this," says Tucson Presidio Trust board member Gayle Hartmann, who also serves as liaison with the city.

Tucson Parks Department employees now staff the presidio, which cost $2.67 million, with Presidio Trust volunteers doing programs and training. When other westside Rio Nuevo projects open, such as the University of Arizona Science Center, the city will "have discussions on how to manage it all, whether it's city, county, nonprofit, or a joint operation," says City Manager Mike Hein. In the meantime, the presidio is up and somehow running. Arizona Daily Star 1999 Tohono Chul Park's Tea Room.

 ● Bonnie Henry's column also appears Mondays and Thursdays in Accent. Reach her at 434-4074 or at bhenry@azstarnet.com, or write to 3295 W. Ina Road, Suite 125, Tucson, AZ 85741.  Copyright © 2008  
azstarnet.com | Slide show

Sent by Monica Smith
Tortelita@aol.com

HISTORICAL REALITIES and THE PUEBLO REVOLT MASSACRE

Slide/Lecture Presentation
by Rubén Sálaz M

The presenter is Rubén Sálaz M, historian and former schoolteacher  (33 years) with the Albuquerque Public Schools. (Rubén is the author of works like New Mexico:  A Brief Multi-History (State adopted for New Mexico history) and EPIC of the Greater Southwest, as well as his latest effort, The Pueblo Revolt Massacre (which has been described as a primer on Spanish colonial New Mexican history). 

How American history is written is basic to this presentation on New Mexican history, the Acoma War, and the Pueblo Revolt. Excerpts from many authors/books will be flashed on the screen for documentation.   

The presentation will include highlights of Western Civilization then focus on Spain, New Mexico, and the Southwest. Brief discussions will be provided on issues like the fact that, contrary to popular opinion, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were and always have been fantasy, never real people. (Bring an open mind. Some people have become irritated upon learning that King Arthur never existed.)

Were the Hispanic colonists of New Mexico actually “crypto-Jews”? Or were they mostly Mexican Indians and mestizos? Did New Mexicans target the Pueblo Indians for genocide? What have been the effects of Americanization? Attend the presentation and decide these things for yourself.

WHEN:  April 5, Saturday, 10:30 a.m. (Monthly meeting  Albuquerque HGRC.) WHERE:  Botts Hall (Reference Library), Central and Edith.
ADMISSION:   Free.

[Please circulate to your network. You can reach Rubén at saljustin@msn.com]

On 3/6/08, Rosalio Munoz

Compas,

Below is an excerpt from a longer article on Mexican American student organizing at Arizona State College at Tempe, now University, the excerpt deals with the club Los Conquistadores formed in the later 1930's.  1937 I believe.  It starts with a California group my uncle (by marrying my Aunt nee Rebecca Munoz, Felix Gutierrez (father of my cousins Felix, Mercedes "Gail" and Loraine)called the Mexican American Movement which inspired my father Rosalio and my aunts Lucinda, Rebecca, Josephine and Elizabeth to help found and sustain Los Conquistadores. The longer article can be
found at the following web page   www.barriozona.com/los_conquistadores.html


By 1934, Mexican American students at Arizona State Teachers College began supporting political issues advanced by the southern California group of college
students who were active in the "Mexican American Movement", or MAM. The group held their first student conference in San Pedro, California in that same year, 1934. FelixJ.

Gutierrez, journalism major at Pasadena Junior College, was among the students at the conference. The students in MAM wanted to work together with other Mexican
American students in the southwest to improve the socio-economic conditions of Mexican families, and to call attention to the racism and discrimination they experienced in their communities. Education would be their tool to eliminate despair. And so MAM adopted the motto, "Progress Through Education." It became the rallying cry for
MAM's efforts to unite Mexican American college students in California, Arizona and Texas colleges and universities.

Among the college students who brought MAM's ideology from California to Arizona in the late 1930s and the early 1940s and to Arizona State Teachers College were
the Muñoz siblings: Rosalio; Rebecca; Lucinda; Elizabeth; and Josephine. The Muñoz siblings and others, who were already members of Los Hidalgos, knew the only way
they could become part of MAM's growing community efforts and participate in their own student conferences and work on community issues, such as poverty and discrimination against Mexicanos in Phoenix, was to break away from Los Hidalgos and form their own student organization. They spoke with Dr. Wilson about their concerns and asked her to serve as their student advisor. And she said yes. After some discussion, they all agreed to call this new Mexican American student organization, "Los Conquistadores." On October 1, 1937, they followed academic procedures and wrote to the Arizona State
Teachers College Committee On Organizations and asked permission to form a club for Mexican American students. 

One reason behind their requests was "to interest others in a college education, especially those of our own nationality." Rosalio Muñoz and his sister, Josephine,
agreed to assist the Preamble Committee, made up by Hilario T. Alvarado from Miami, Arizona  and Tony Vicente from Jerome, Arizona. It was their responsibility to compose the fundamental laws and principles of their new group. By the end of the Fall semester, 1937, they had drawn up their official Constitution, which included the Preamble and
the Articles which spelled out the purposes, duties, and responsibilities of Los Conquistadores. The new club was added to the list of campus organizations at
Arizona State Teachers College. The 1937 Preamble of Los Conquistadores read:
"We, the Spanish-Speaking Students of Arizona State College at Tempe, in order to develop a better understanding between ourselves and others; to gain greater social,
cultural, and intellectual values through our association with others; to interest others in a
college education, especially those of our own nationality, do hereby organize this club. The name of this club shall be "Los Conquistadores."Said club shall exist on the
campus of Arizona State College at Tempe."

To begin their work, Los Conquistadores formed the "Endowment Fund Committee," headed by Rosalio Muñoz, Edmundo Valdez, and Hilario T. Alvarado. The committee
was charged with seeking financial contributions from citizens throughout the state to support Los Conquistadores in their efforts. The money raised was used to help
financially strapped Mexican American high school and college students to go to the college of their choice.

Funds raised were divided into two ways: one half of the money was used by Los Conquistadores to help students in the Phoenix area; and the other half was shared among Phoenix Junior College, Arizona State College in Flagstaff, and the University of Arizona in Tucson to help students in those areas.

Sent by Dorinda Moreno
fuerzamundial@gmail.com  

El Pueblo de Atrisco,  Nuevo Espana  

Mr. Inclan,

I wanted to write to personally thank you for your ancestry research that you made available for everyone online.  I especially appreciate it, since I was able to verify some information related to Columbus that you provided on Somosprimos.  

Researching my ancestry:

I started to research my family history and ancestry about two years ago, in order to gain answers for the way things were in the family.  I decided to find out, why I had always been treated very badly, when I never did anything to deserve it.  My life has been one only of honor, integrity and truth.  Yet that never seemed to matter to my family, they would lie, cheat and steal and I was always the complete opposite of their mentality.  

They would often wipe their hands on me, many times throughout the years, never knowing why and many times wouldn’t even know it.  Yet, I would suffer from these consequences anyway and everyone would act like it was normal to treat me that way.  As a result, it got serious when I got very sick and almost died from all that pressure at age of only 43.  After almost two years in bed, trying to recover, along with going through a lot of tests.  When I started to get better in 2005.  Believe it or not, I had a few paranormal experiences and that is when I decided I had to gain some answers by researching my ancestry.  

Reason for verifying ancestral facts:

I was able to verify some facts that were kept from me by the family, intentionally.  While finding others had benefited from this kept knowledge, while being surprised at the importance and significance of others facts I researched and verified!  This experience has inspired to continue, as difficult as it has been with interference from my own family in seeking the truth.  As well as from interference from certain government and law enforcement aspects that are also involved.  As I used to work (20+ years) for the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office and in what is related to that is a long story.  People say I should write a book, yet at this point.  I am not sure anymore if that is sarcasm or disbelief.  

Anyway, I continued my own ancestry research, as I feel it is important to add what I feel I need to contribute to the Global Hispanic family tree.  I believe it is important to have an accurate history for humanity and that can only be done through our ancestry.  I feel it is terrible that Spanish, Hispanic & native histories are very fragmented at the present and are much is already in serious jeopardy of being completely destroyed.  Therefore, I may be just one person trying to do my part to be provide an accurate accounting of history through my ancestry and suffered consequences from it.  

My ancestral discoveries:

Through, I feel my own research is important and it seems to have led me to find that I probably am descended from Columbus himself. I also found that the Lacayo-Bermudez ancestry were Don & Dona’s in central America, that ran large coffee/cocoa plantations even since Columbus discovered those commodities.  

I also found that I was a blood heir to a Spanish Land Grant called “Atrisco”, (is the pueblo that created Albuquerque, New Mexico).  It remained intact somehow, being one of the first and last of the Spanish Land Grants in North America.  Then Atrisco was recently put up for bid, so that some 55,000 acres could be sold off.  And I do not think it was a coincidence, that almost exactly when I started to (Oct/Nov 2005) research the family ancestry is when that started to happen.  

The company who managed my ancestral land since 1967, (Westland Development) started to solicit illegal bids from outside “non blood heir” companies.  And boy did the sharks come out too, along with finding there is a lot of blood on many people hands and this is probably why they were trying to suddenly wipe Atrisco away from history.  However, I do not care about the crooks and thieves.  I feel it is my responsibility and duty to do whatever I can to save Atrisco, as I never was taught about it in school and most people never heard of it either.  It seems I was supposed to die for Atrisco anyway, so I figure I must continue my work to gain a claim.  

I hope you can understand what I have been attempting to explain in this letter, it is an emotional subject and I think you may agree about the importance of ancestry.  I have written to many people in the past two years.  From high profile people, to congressman, senator’s and Governor’s, all who ignore me.  Anyway, I have been working on a web site about Atrisco and if you may be interested in visiting my site, you do so may at:

http://www.atrisco.net  

Once again, thank you for your ancestry research!  

Respectfully yours, Michael Lacayo

Atrisco Land Grant

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The Atrisco Land Grant is one of the few remaining land grants left in the United States.

[edit] History

During the period of Spanish rule over the American Southwest, various monarchs of Spain would create land grants to reward their subjects or for the purpose of creating common land for settlers. In 1692 King Charles II of Spain created the Atrisco Land Grant as a reward to Don Fernando Duran y Chavez. Don Fernando Duran y Chavez was responsible for putting down an uprising of a tribe of Pueblo Native Americans. It originally consisted of 41,533 acres (168 km²), but in 1760, an additional 25,958 acres (105 km²) were granted in an attempt to calm land disputes.

After the Mexican-American War, land grants in the territory ceded to the United States in the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo were to be respected by the United States Government, however because of the language barrier, and unscrupulous government officials, many land grants were essentially stolen. However, the Atrisco Land Grant remained intact.