SOMOS PRIMOS

MAY 2016

Editor: Mimi Lozano ©2000-2016

If you would like to receive free notifications, the table of contents and link to the latest issue of Somos Primos, write: mimi:ilozano@aol.com  

Letters to the Editor

Hi Mimi,

Received your Somos Primos online for the month of April '16, and 
wanted to tell you that I found it to be so rich in images, maps & 
stories  of our interesting Historical Heritage. 

As you already know I am especially of my interested in Gálvez, 
and I will be reading "The ‘Other’ European Ally of the Continental Army'  Part 1 of 3, By Hon. Edward F. Butler, Sr. with great interest.

Somos Primos  www.somosprimos.com   |  P.O. Box 415  |  Midway City  | 92655  |  714-894-8161 | mimilozano@aol.com 

By having a reverence for life, we enter into a spiritual relation with the world. By practicing reverence for life we become good, deep, and alive.                                                                                                           ~ Albert Schweitzer 

CHRISTIANS OCCUPY WASHINGTON IN 'SACRED ASSEMBLY'
April 9th, 
Powerful speakers inspire believers at Lincoln Memorial call to unity, prayer

We the People of the U.S.A.

  Free course on the U.S. Constitution being offered online by Hillsdale College

Hillsdale refuses every penny of taxpayer-funded government support (even indirectly through student grants and loans) to remain truly independent.  Donations towards the course are requested, but not mandatory.

CHILDREN OF GIANT discussion panel members and moderator, from left to right: Documentary filmmaker John Valadez, 
Frank de la Teja, director of the Center for the Study of the South West, organizer of the panel, 
 interviewee Wanda García, and Children of Giant producer and director Hector Galán
April 5, 2016

Ms. Garcia has many special interests and is writing a book about Dr. Hector P. Garcia. She enjoys conducting historical research and is a member of the Board of Directors of the American G.I. Forum Archives and the Tejano Genealogical Society. She has written several technical publications and wrote a history of West Austin. She is also a member of the Coastal Bend Women’s American G.I. Forum. Currently, she writes for Somos Primos, an online historical publication dedicated to Hispanic heritage issues and for the Corpus Christi Caller Times, a newspaper. She has appeared in several PBS documentaries A Class Apart, the Longoria Affair and Children of Giant.

Ms. Garcia has received many special honors and appointments including the following: Outstanding Hispanic Woman in Austin by LULAC, 1994; elected representative to Group Insurance Advisory Committee for Texas General Land Office and Texas Veterans Land Board, 1990; Certificate De Merite-Le Comite National des Vins de France, 1989; U.S. Senate Service Award, 1988; Co-Chair of Austin Travis County MHMR (10 years).  Ms. Garcia resides in Austin, Texas with her pet children Shirley and Donna.

Hector Galán (Producer/ Director/Editor/Exec. Producer) Hector Galán is an independent documentary filmmaker based in Austin, Texas.

Tricentennial Symposium
Bexar County, Texas Official website: www.bexar.org

Sent by Gilberto Quezada  jgilbertoquezada@yahoo.com

The Aftermath of War 
Many Truths Constitute the Past: The Legacy of the U.S.-Mexican War
A Conversation With David J. Weber
Southern Methodist University

The Truth about the University of Texas Massacre
by Dan Arellano

Professor Rudy Acuña Receives John Hope Franklin Award
March 21, 2016 

Ruben Alvarez 
Washington DC Bound!

• Access to capital, including emerging technologies such as online lending and crowdfunding, along with issues surrounding predatory lending: to ensure small businesses obtain capital necessary to grow and strengthen their firms in a responsible and sustainable manner.
• Tax policy to spur small business/economic growth while leveling the playing field and promoting fairness; ensure tax policies being considered truly help small businesses, not large corporations or special interests.
• Critical workforce issues impacting small businesses today such as healthcare, retirement savings, minimum wage and family medical leave.
• Small business' critical role in big-picture economic matters such as infrastructure and economic development.
• Technology, cyber security and online privacy, and how small businesses can adopt and learn about new solutions to old challenges.

• Small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs from all 50 states
• Firms with fewer than 100 employees (80% have fewer than 25)
• Underserved small businesses including women, minorities, veterans and entrepreneurs from low- and moderate- income communities. More than 60% of attendees last year were women, and nearly half were minorities
• Pragmatic, not ideological
• Every race, ethnicity, culture and religion; in communities large and small

61 million immigrants and their American-born young children now live in the United States.
by Marguerite Telford

How Mexican immigrants ended 
'separate but equal' in California 
by 
Philippa Strum, L.A. Times, March 2, 2016

In 1947 the Mendez v. Westminster case ended official segregation of Mexican students in California schools.

Sylvia Mendez, pictured at age 10, was named a winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama.

In the coverage of the 2016 election cycle, you'll hear this time and again: Latinos — immigrants and their families — are playing an important role in electing the next U.S. president. They are the largest minority group in the nation, and they are poised to make a major impact on American democracy.

It won't be the first time. Seventy years ago, Mexican immigrants moved American civil rights forward, away from racial segregation toward integration and equality. It happened eight years before the Supreme Court began to dismantle segregation by handing down its decision in Brown vs. Board of Education in 1954.

The decision was the first by a federal court asserting that separate but equal was unconstitutional.

In 1943, five Mexican American families took four school districts in Orange County to court, challenging the “separate but equal” education their American-born children were getting in “Mexican schools.” They knew their kids were treated as second-class citizens: taught by underpaid teachers, forced to use books and desks discarded by Anglo students, relegated to shoddy school buildings where the classrooms had so little light that reading was almost impossible.

The lack of resources, however, wasn't what the plaintiffs in the case, Mendez et al vs. Westminster et al, complained about to the courts. Instead, they mounted a frontal attack on segregated schools, even though to many other enemies of segregation, the time wasn't right. Thurgood Marshall, founder of the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund, was convinced that federal courts weren't ready to strike down segregation. Instead of asking them to do so, the NAACP had adopted a tactic of bringing case after case designed to force Southern states to make separate schools truly equal. The goal was to make “separate but equal” so expensive that the states would give it up.

But in California, the Mexican American families and their attorney David Marcus told the courts that equal facilities would not satisfy them. It was segregation itself that was unconstitutional, they said. Separating Mexican American children from their Anglo peers did them “great and irreparable” harm, by making them feel so inferior that their ability to learn was affected. The Constitution's 14th Amendment guarantees equal treatment under the law. Segregation violated that mandate. 

The Orange County school systems replied that they were treating the Mexican American children equally by providing an education particularly suitable for them. At trial, they produced experts who testified that the children could not speak English, though no one had given them language tests. The children's hands and faces, said the school districts' witnesses, were “generally dirty,” they lacked proper clothing and “cleanliness” of body and mind, they had no manners, and they were “retarded” in their ability to learn.

Federal District Court Judge Paul J. McCormick, who presided over the case, rejected the schools' case. Segregating children because they were Mexican American, he held in February 1946, violated the Constitution by suggesting “inferiority” among the children “where none exists.” It was exactly the same assertion that the NAACP would later adopt in its argument in Brown vs. Board, telling the courts that forcing minority children into separate schools sent the message that they were not as good as others. Low expectations led to low levels of learning.

“A paramount requisite in the American system of public education is social equality,” McCormick wrote. Public schools “must be open to all children by unified school association regardless of lineage.” In other words, “separate but equal” was not equal.

The decision was the first by a federal court asserting that separate but equal was unconstitutional. Opponents of segregation including the American Jewish Congress, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Japanese-American Citizens League rushed into the case when the Orange County school districts appealed McCormick's decision. So did the NAACP; the brief it filed in Mendez became its practice brief for Brown vs. Board.

In Sacramento, Gov. Earl Warren read about the case and decided the time had come to end all segregated education in the state. A California statute specifically permitted segregation of Asian American and Native American children, and Warren and state legislators mounted a successful effort to repeal the law.

Warren was named chief justice of the United States in 1953. When he wrote the Supreme Court's unanimous decision in Brown vs. Board of Education, his reasoning paralleled McCormick's in Mendez vs. Westminster.

In 1947, when the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld McCormick's decision, Westminster and the other school districts in Orange County quickly began to integrate their classrooms, and so did other school districts in California and all over the Southwest. Federally mandated school integration had come to the United States, and it was Mexican immigrants who made it happen.

Philippa Strum, a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, is also professor emerita at the City University of New York and author of “Mendez v. Westminster: School Desegregation and Mexican-American Rights.”

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0302-strum-mendez-case-20160302-story.html 

Well known artist Ignacio Gomez sent this along with a note: "I did these sketches about 10 years ago.

Eddie Grijalva  Eddie Grijalva  

Lorenzo A. Ramirez Statue and the Mendez Case 

When Ramirez, a civil rights activist in the ‘40s, moved his family into the segregated El Modena School District in the 1940s, he decided to challenge it. He sued the district in hopes to put an end to the separate schools for white and Latino students. His case was combined with several others in Mendez et al v. Westminster, which eventually made its way to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

 Inadmissible Aliens, 1952 Law

Sent by Oscar Ramirez  osramirez@sbcglobal.net

News of a minimum wage hike deal in California is met with relief -- 
and anxious arithmetic . .  

Ruben Vives , Victoria Kim , Shan Li and Frank ShyongContact Reporters
Los Angeles Times, March 28, 2016

Miguel Sanchez, 43, works at Tortilleria San Marcos in Boyle Heights. He said an increase in the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour would give him some breathing room, but he doesn’t plan to quit his second job. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) Behind the counter of Tortilleria San Marcos in Boyle Heights, news that lawmakers and unions had arrived at a deal that would boost California's minimum wage to $15 was greeted with relief, then anxious arithmetic.

At the register, Sandra Carrera, 38, of Los Angeles can't make enough on minimum wage to cover $1,050 in rent and bills each month, so she sells party supplies to make up the difference. But that income has dwindled. A wage hike couldn't come soon enough, Carrera said.

In the kitchen, Miguel Sanchez, 43, of Highland Park puzzles through a similar math problem as he makes tortillas with masa-caked hands. After rent and bills, his income from two minimum-wage jobs leaves him about $440 to buy food and take care of his wife and two young daughters.

The increase would give him some breathing room, but he doesn't plan to quit his second job.

"Will the cost of things go up? Are employers going to cut back hours because they can't afford it? I worry," Sanchez said.

If the Legislature approves it, the $15 minimum wage deal would set a statewide standard at a time when unions and other groups have been demanding that local governments boost wages.

Los Angeles and San Francisco are among the cities that have already agreed to increase the minimum wage over the next few years. But other municipalities have expressed little desire to join them, prompting some to wonder if businesses would move to avoid the higher pay requirements.

Backers of the state deal say it would end this patchwork approach and prevent the chaotic economic competition between cities that some have feared.

The deal, which would boost California's minimum wage to $10.50 an hour next year and then gradually to $15 by 2022, was reached after lawmakers were threatened with two union-sponsored initiatives that would have raised the minimum to $15 on faster timelines — one of which recently qualified for the Nov. 8 statewide ballot. Numerous statewide polls showed voters would approve such a hike, and Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton have both endorsed a union-led nationwide push for a $15 minimum wage.

Last year, the city and county of Los Angeles adopted a $15 minimum wage plan that will take effect by 2020, two years sooner than the state deal proposes. Cities such as Long Beach, Santa Monica and Pasadena adopted similar timelines, but the majority of the county's 87 cities haven't followed suit.

The proposal would create a "much more uniform" minimum wage, said Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl.

"I'm happy to see that there won't be a conflict between two different initiatives and that the Legislature is doing this for the state without any kind of a ballot fight," Kuehl said.  Lawmakers could approve the deal as early as this week.

Sandra Carrera, 38, who works the register at Tortilleria San Marcos in Boyle Heights, says a wage increase can't come soon enough. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times) On Sunday, both employers and employees were trying to calculate how the higher wage would affect them. And in some cases, the answers were different.

Selwyn Yosslowitz, co-founder of Marmalade Cafe, which has seven restaurants across the Southland, said he already operates on slim profit margins and he's concerned about how even a gradual increase in the higher minimum wage would affect his bottom line.

Waiters, some of whom earn up to $35 an hour with tips, will receive a significant raise in hourly compensation, Yosslowitz said. Cooks, managers and hostesses already making $15 an hour or above could demand raises as well. Yosslowitz supports a fair wage but said the proposed statewide hike has him thinking about how to "re-engineer" his menu and his labor force.

"First you have to raise prices, otherwise you'll be out of business," Yosslowitz said.

He's thinking about cutting the number of busboys he employs — giving servers their bussing duties — and coming up with menu items that require less labor.

In Koreatown, restaurant owners said the previous state minimum wage hike from $9 to $10, which took effect in January, has already had economic consequences.

"Fifteen dollars. I can't believe it," said So Young Jin, owner of Lee's Noodles in Koreatown.

During Jin's morning supply rounds, the chatter at the markets was dominated by discussions of struggling business owners, downsized kitchens and reduced staffing. Some waiters and cooks are working second and third jobs because their employers were forced to reduce their hours, Jin said.

After January's wage increase, Jin tried to keep her prices the same, but she was recently forced to raise the prices of some menu items by a dollar.

"Every time I go to the market, I hear about this restaurant closing, that restaurant having a hard time," Jin said.

Timeline of minimum wage increases in California

Though the federal minimum wage has remained at $7.25 an hour since 2009, more than a dozen states have passed minimum wage increases since 2014, according to data from the National Employment Law Project. Experts say the success of the wage push across the country is tied to the newfound cachet of income inequality as a political issue.

In California, more than 5 million low-paid workers, or 38% of the state's workforce, could receive an average pay increase of about $4,000 each, according to Michael Reich, a labor researcher and professor at UC Berkeley. Reich calls the price increases for the state's consumers "moderate" and said the policy wouldn't substantially change California's employment picture.

Jiwon Park, 22, a server at Lee's Noodles and one of Jin's employees, is worried about prices going up as well. But in the meantime, a higher minimum wage means more money for textbooks and ESL classes, groceries for his mother and a chance to save up and start his own restaurant or store someday. He said the statewide wage hike that took place in January has already made a difference for him.

"It's a dollar," Park said, "but if you work 50 hours, it's $50. If you work 500, it's $500."

Among Mexicans who do emigrate, the share choosing the U.S. as a destination has fallen somewhat. For example, between 2009 and 2014, 86.3% of Mexican emigrants who left Mexico migrated to the U.S. In the 1990s, that share was about 95%.

The Ideology and Practice of Empire:
The U. S., Mexico, and the Education of Mexican Immigrants
by
Gilbert G. Gonzalez

HISTORICAL TIDBITS

                                     Sobre la leyenda negra anti-española

Editor Mimi:  Jose Javier Esparza traces much of the Black Legend to the Spanish descendents themselves who contribute much to these attitudes by their own ignorance of the history of their Spanish ancestors, depending instead on the writings of individual religious, political, and military Spanish leaders who were critical of Spain.  Without knowing the historical facts and social-economical of the times in which our ancestors were living, in our ignorance we allow the pieces of the black legend to keep growing and reinforcing it negative effects.  As a summary of this thesis, I've included the last three paragraphs, Do read. 

Así entró la leyenda negra en el ánimo de los españoles. Traída por los españoles. Es verdad que desde finales del XIX, primero con Canovas y después con Menéndez Pelayo, entre otros, el panorama empezó a cambiar. Incluso cambió demasiado, porque, por una reacción pendular muy típicamente española, numerosos autores empezaron a construir una suerte de leyenda rosa que tampoco había por dónde cogerla.

¿Y hoy dónde estamos? Hoy estamos en la peor de las situaciones, que es la ignorancia. Cada vez más gente sabe cada vez menos cosas sobre nuestra propia historia. De eso tiene la culpa los programas de enseñanza, demasiado centrados en asignaturas de tipo “técnico”, orientadas no hacia el conocimiento, sino a una supuesta rentabilidad. Y además tenemos un problema específicamente nuestro, que ha llegado con las comunidades autónomas: la creación de discursos históricos particularistas –frecuentemente, vulnerando la verdad- para legitimar el poder de la casta política en cada comunidad. Entrar aquí, en todo caso, nos sacaría del tema.

¿Conclusión? Esta: no levantaremos cabeza, colectivamente hablando, mientras no seamos capaces de mirar nuestra identidad con sosiego, y nuestra identidad consiste, entre otras cosas, en una Historia excepcional. La leyenda negra es su peor enemigo, o mejor dicho: el hecho de que los españoles nos la creamos es nuestro peor enemigo.

Leer más: http://www.josejavieresparza.es/news/sobre-la-leyenda-negra-anti-espanola/

Sent by Dr. Carlos Campos y Escalante   
campce@gmail.com 

On This Day 

On this day in 1689, Spanish explorer and governor Alonso De León, marching from Coahuila in response to news of a French settlement in Texas, crossed a river in what is now Dimmit or Zavala County which he named Río de las Nueces ("River of Nuts") for the pecan trees growing along its banks. The Nueces River, although not explored in its entirety until the eighteenth century, was the first Texas river to be given a prominent place on European maps. It is identifiable as the Río Escondido ("Hidden River"), which first appeared on a 1527 map attributed to Diogo Ribeiro, signifying the obscure location of the river mouth behind its barrier island. It was to this river that René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle--confused by the period's inadequate maps--sailed in 1685, believing that it was the Mississippi. De León discovered the remains of La Salle's Fort St. Louis on Garcitas Creek eighteen days after crossing the Nueces.

On this day in 1887, José Marí Botello was ordained a minister by the Presbytery of Tamaulipas. Botello was born in Tamaulipas between 1840 and 1850 and lived in Matamoros. He converted from Catholicism to Presbyterianism and served as an elder in the Matamoros Presbyterian congregation. In 1883 the Presbytery of Western Texas licensed him "to preach the gospel to his people," and he was instrumental in the establishment of the Mexican Presbyterian Church of San Marcos, the first Mexican-American church in Texas to be affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Botello reportedly died in Mexico at the age of ninety-seven.

On this day in 1825, Haden Edwards, Green DeWitt, and Robert Leftwich received empresario contracts. The government of Mexico, which had gained independence from Spain in 1821, issued the contracts to encourage the settlement of Coahuila and Texas. The hopes of all three empresarios were frustrated. The Edwards Colony, near Nacogdoches, was plagued by conflicting land claims and other controversies which eventually caused Edwards to depart and resulted in the Fredonian Rebellion. The DeWitt Colony, on the Guadalupe River adjoining that of Stephen F. Austin, enjoyed some initial success, though DeWitt was unable to fulfill the terms of his contract by the time it expired in 1831. Leftwich's Grant, along the Navasota River, later became known as Robertson's colony, and was the subject of much legal disputation between Austin and Sterling C. Robertson.

On this day in 1875, Kiowa chief White Horse (Tsen-tainte) and a group of followers surrendered at Fort Sill, Indian Territory. White Horse had gained considerable notoriety during the early 1870s for his raids on Texas settlements, and was considered the "most dangerous man" among the Kiowas. He participated in the Warren wagontrain raid in May 1871 and in the second battle of Adobe Walls in June 1874. He was also present in September 1874 at the battle of Palo Duro Canyon, which apparently convinced him that further resistance was futile. White Horse was among those singled out by Kicking Bird for incarceration at St. Augustine, Florida. He died of a stomach ailment in 1892 and was buried on the reservation near Fort Sill.

                                                                                          (File photo: RGG/Steve Taylor)

López:  Gregorio Cortez, the ‘one-man” gang

Updated: April 3, 2016

Although Gregorio Cortez was born in 1875 in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, his roots are grounded in South Texas and the soil of the Rio Grande Valley, which was part of Tamaulipas until 1848.  

No other name causes more consternation in conventional Texas Ranger folklore than Gregorio Cortez, a hard working vaquero. Sadly, opinion rests on two opposing views. To most Anglo Texans of the time, he was a criminal.  

In contrast, to Mexican-descent people, he was a folk hero, defending their dignity by resisting oppression. Regrettably, present-day Mexican-descent Texans are generally unaware of his story. However, what exactly did he do to earn such a reputation?  

To answer the question, the following article summarizes the incredible narrative of one of the most fascinating personalities in the Texas chronicle. There are three parts: the incident, the chase, and the trial.  

First, however, some background. South Texas in 1900 consisted of two worlds: (l) mainstream Texas Anglo society, and (2) Mexican-descent Texans, occupying the lowest social status. For example, Spanish-surnamed Texans in many counties weren’t allowed to serve in juries until 1954 and were denied front door entry to public buildings (i.e., the county courthouse).  

This was also a time in rural Texas when cattle rustling was blamed on “Mexicans”. Usually, a vague police report is all that lawmen needed to intimidate anyone who looked Mexican. Next, came interrogation (typically included torture), whereby the suspect was forced to admit guilt. That seems to have been the expectation on June 12, 1901, Karnes County, Texas.  

The incident                               

Gregorio Cortez, his brother Romaldo, and other family members sat on the front porch of Romaldo’s house. As they chatted, a horse and buggy carrying the sheriff and a deputy acting as interpreter drove up to the house. Without motive, the lawmen implied that Gregorio had stolen a horse. Cortez strongly denied the accusation; words were exchanged, resulting in tragedy.  

The question is, could the incident have been avoided? In my view, the answer is yes. Frankly, the deputy wasn’t qualified to translate. He may have known some Spanish words, but that wasn’t enough.  

For example, the deputy made two critical errors in his informal interrogation. First, he unintentionally set the wrong tone of the conversation by asking if Cortez had traded a horse to a man in town. To that, Cortez answered “No” and he was right. In fact, Cortez had traded a yegua (mare) not a caballo (horse). (Both terms were well known to Mexican-descent and Anglo ranchers alike. To confuse the two Spanish words was not only inexcusable, but laughable!)  

Second, already uneasy by Cortez’ first response, the interpreter evidently followed-up his question by hinting that Cortez would be arrested if he didn’t cooperate. It was after this attempted intimidation that Cortez asked the deputy, “¡Porque me va arrestar, si no he hecho nada?” (Why would you arrest me, if I’ve done nothing wrong?)  

Although the deputy didn’t fully understand what he heard, he took Cortez’ words as a statement of defiance. When pressed by his boss for an answer, the deputy more or less relayed the following wrong message to the sheriff, “No white man (gringo) can arrest me.”  

Unwilling to accept what he took as insolence, the sheriff pulled out his gun, firing at Gregorio. He missed and hit Romaldo instead. In self-defense, Gregorio drew his own gun, and his aim was deadly. Cortez had only one choice; run for his life and so he took flight toward Laredo.  

Stopping at a friend’s place in Gonzales County, he faced a posse led by the Gonzales County Sheriff. Again, shots were fired, and Cortez killed the sheriff. Cortez was now a wanted man for killing two Anglo Texas sheriffs.  

The chase

In short, the pursuit took ten days and covered over five hundred miles. Cortez walked (sometimes barefoot) about 120 miles. He also rode over 400 miles on two different mares. During that time, Cortez outfoxed his pursuers by cleverly hiding his tracks and changing direction. Meanwhile, in responding to criticism of their inability to catch Cortez, the Texas Rangers and local sheriffs complained to the Governor that they needed help to defeat the Cortez “gang.”  

Displaying puro vaquero dry wit, Cortez coolly observed, “Tantos rinches en busca de un solo Mexicano.” (So many Rangers trying to catch only one Mexican). Lawmen used every means at their disposal. Yet, in spite of the latest technology (railroad, telegraph, and telephone), Cortez eluded his pursuers, that at times numbered over 300 armed men. On June 22, having stopped for a rest, he was betrayed by an acquaintance who admitted he had done it for the $1,000 reward. (Oddly enough, the betrayer received only a token of the money.)  

The trial

Expectedly, the trial quickly crushed rumors fueled by inflammatory news reports. No, Gregorio Cortez wasn’t leading a gang as authorities had widely (and wildly) described. He traveled alone during his flight. Exposing poor police work and some deaths attributed to friendly fire, there was more than enough testimony to embarrass local sheriffs and damage the inflated reputation of the Texas Rangers.  

Equally important, the trial served as a podium to air out pervasive injustice toward Mexican-descent Texans. Openly, most Anglos and English language newspapers attacked Gregorio Cortez. His detractors expected a quick trial and then a hanging. In fact, a San Antonio newspaper complained to its readers that the Texas Rangers should have lynched Cortez immediately as was then their custom.  

Worse, the negative newsprint labeling him a bandit and sheriff-killer fiend caused indiscriminate Anglo violence against Mexican-descent Texans. The worst reprisals occurred in Gonzales, Refugio, and Hays Counties where several innocent Mexican-descent ranchers were killed, accused by lynch mobs of being in Cortez’ “gang.” His innocent brother Romaldo died mysteriously while in custody. Cortez’ family, including his three-year old son, was jailed for months without being charged.  

Yet, a number of Anglo Texans condemned the ruthlessness used against Cortez and learned to admire his intellect, wisdom, and ingenuity. Serving time in several county jails as he went through the process, jail officials initially hated him. Though, born with a natural charm, they became his friends. Admirers included the Texas Governor and members of his staff.  

Following three separate trials, he was found guilty and sent to prison. By now, Gregorio Cortez had many supporters, including two influential San Antonio Spanish language newspaper editors. Appeals were filed. Eventually, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals overturned all the convictions. After his pardon in 1913, he moved to Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico. He died while visiting in Anson, Texas (near Abilene), at age 40, February 28, 1916.  

In summary, the saga of Gregorio Cortez is much larger than an incident dealing with a reported stolen horse. His trial and publicity punctured the bigotry blanket enveloping Mexican-descent Texans. In retrospect, his tenacity represents a singular act of courage against absolute law and order power wielded and often abused by 19th and 20th Century Texas Anglo county sheriffs and Texas Rangers.  

Only Gregorio Cortez himself can describe the essence of his ordeal when he said during his trial: “Self-defense is allowed to any man. It is in your own law, and by your own law do I defend myself. I killed the sheriff, and I am not sorry, for he killed my brother. He spilled my brother’s blood, which was also my blood. And he tried to kill me too. I killed the sheriff defending my right.”  

(Writer’s note: For a detailed, well-researched version of the story, read “With his pistol in his hand” by Américo Paredes. This may also be a good time to learn about Jovita Idar, Jovita González, Juan Cortina, Catarino Garza, J.T. Canales, and others who courageously fought for the dignity of Mexican-descent U.S. citizens.)                 

About the Author:  José “Joe” Antonio López was born and raised in Laredo, Texas, and is a USAF Veteran. He now lives in Universal City, Texas. He is the author of four books.  His latest book is “Preserving Early Texas History (Essays of an Eighth-Generation South Texan)”. It is available through Amazon.com.  Lopez is also the founder of the Tejano Learning Center, LLC, and www.tejanosunidos.org, a Web site dedicated to Spanish Mexican people and events in U.S. history that are mostly overlooked in mainstream history books.

Sent by Joe Lopez  jlopez8182@satx.rr.com  

HERITAGE PROJECTS

                                    The Spanish Presence in Americas Roots, California Event

SPAR was invited by SPAR committee member, Maria Angeles O'Donnell Olson, the Honorary Consul of  Spain in San Diego to participate in the first annual observation of the 213th Battle of the Bay of San Diego, 
a collaboration between the Casa de España and the U.S. Navy at Port Loma.  To view photos of the ceremony with Facebook, go to: 

SPAR set up two table displays.  
Somos Primos: Author/Historian Harry Crosby assisted me at the Somos Primos table with a display of his books dedicated to the early history of the Spanish colonists in Alta and Baja, California.  
Heritage Discovery Center:  Executive Director, Robin Collins of the Rancho Del Sueno in Madera, California displayed an array of vaquero items and photos.  See photo below:

The Forgotten Spanish Treasure
By Robin Collins

THE RETURN

The Jesuits, who were the first to build missions in Florida, abandoned that province for Mexico after a massacre in 1571, but they were succeeded only two years later by the stock breeding Franciscans. From their monastery of St. Augustine, this order founded many missions along the East Coast. By 1615, over 20 missions located in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina were busy breeding cattle and horses. In other regions along the Spanish borderlands, the missions served as a source from which many Native Americans first obtained horses and learned horsemanship skills. 

As in Florida and Texas, one of the principal motivators for the Spanish settlement of California was the threat of foreign expansion into the territory. Among the Jesuit missionaries who sailed with Francisco de Ortega in 1683, was Father Eusebio Kino, who heard his calling to the northward lands. Father Kino was a mission founder, explorer, rancher, and map maker for Baja California, New Mexico, and Arizona. Kino traveled to Sonora, where in 1687 he ventured up the Altar River to found the Mission Dolores in Pimeria Alta.

The last decades of the 18th century ushered in the quote "golden age of Pimeria Alta", when silver mines were discovered. Franciscans established mission ranches in Arizona while the government issued land grants for establishment haciendas to supply the mines. But, thanks to Padre Kino who pointed the way from Arizona, the Spanish were finally able to penetrate across mountain and desert to the Golden land of California where greater treasures lay in store than any silver from Pimeria. 

Though the Spanish had finally obtained a toehold in the far northwest, communication between California and Mexico remained difficult. Plans were made to develop a land route from Mexico by way of Kino's missions in Arizona using joint expeditions from Sonora and Baja California. By 1700, Padre Kino had founded a chain of missions in the Santa Cruz Valley of Arizona. The pioneering activities set the stage for the overland expeditions of Portola and DeAnza which finally brought Spanish colonists in numbers to Alta California.

"Padre Eusebio Francisco Kino brought in good quality stock of various species and was essential in the establishment of ranching and the Mission Chain".

The last herds of any size to seed Alta California came in 1774 when Juan Bautista DeAnza blazed a trail from Sonora. The route wound its way through the Pima-Altar region, to the Gila-Colorado Junction in the Yuma country, and over the San Carlos pass of the Sierra Nevada. DeAnza and Portola escorted the colonists to Monterey and San Francisco. Overland transport to California continued until a major Yuma uprising in 1781.

Padre Kino's mission in Sonora, Mexico, was also the source of the Wilbur-Cruce horses, which were acquired before there was statehood in Arizona. Dr. Rubin Wilbur, on a mining expedition from the East, met and married a lovely lady from Magdalena, Mexico, and together they started the Wilbur-Cruce ranch on Arivaca creek. Dr. Wilbur purchased his livestock from Father Kino's foundation mission herds, beginning what is known today as the "Wilbur-Cruce Mission/Ranching Spanish Colonial Horse". These horses were owned and managed on the Wilbur-Cruce ranch for three generations. Mrs. Eva Antonia Wilbur-Cruce, the granddaughter of Dr. Wilbur, wrote a book 'Beautiful, Cruel Country', in 1987, about the life and times of their family residing and ranching on the beautiful ranch near the Arivaca Valley.

"Our Ranchito basks in the Sun, rather idle now, compared to the life of turmoil it lived at the turn of the century. It is still the home of a herd of horses that enjoys the creek with us. The strain of the Spanish horse - our "rock horses" that I have praised so highly in this book - still predominates." "THESE ARE THE ONLY KNOWN STRAIN OF pure Spanish horse that remains today…the need to preserve THESE HORSES is great." Dr. Phillip Sponenberg

In Spanish California, other types of settlements could be found besides the missions. The Presidios were few - only four were ever found there - but they became centers of social and political life. Life was one continuous round of hospitality and social amenities, tempered with vigorous outdoor sport, music, games, and dancing, all occupations at the time which constituted education. Men and women both were expert horsemen. This was the era of Spanish ranches, some 600 California ranches founded on "Spanish" land grants. Hacendados, the owner of these expansive haciendas, became wealthy from their sales of hide and tallow to the European trade ships. By 1800, the California missions reported a total of 24,000 horses, 74,000 cattle, and 88,000 sheep. Today there still remain populations of feral horses in California, now considered mustangs on today's government land, some of who are descended at least in part from early Spanish livestock.

The California Ranchos were similar to the haciendas of old Mexico, a class of gente de razon. Native Americans trained by the Padres as skillful vaqueros, along with the vaquero sons of the Spanish presidios, founded the "Californio" tradition of horsemanship.

There can be no doubt that 18th and 19th century California was one of the most beautiful places to live on earth, the El Dorado.

When God created the horse, He spoke to the magnificent creature:
      'I have made thee unlike any other. All the treasures of this Earth lie between thine eyes.
      Thou shalt cast Mine enemies beneath thine hooves,      

Thou shalt carry My friends on thy back. 
      This shall be the seat from whence prayers rise unto Me.
      Thou shalt find happiness all over the earth, and thou shalt be favored above all other creatures, 

for they shall accrue the love of the master of the earth. 
      Thou shalt fly without wings and conquer without sword.
                                                  After God…we owe Victory to the HORSE…

At the Somos Primos booth, Left to Right: Harry Crosby, author/historian; Spanish Consul Ambassador Javier Vallaure, 
Consul General of Spain in Los Angeles; Iris H. W. Engstrand, Professor of History at the University of San Diego;  
Maria Angeles O'Donnell Olson, (in green) Honorary Consul of Spain in San Diego.

Oldest historic Spanish Trails in the US 
Editor Mimi:  a google search on oldest historic Spanish trails in the US 
took me to this National Park Service website entitled:  
Old Spanish National Historic Trail New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California 
https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/cultural_diversity/Old_Spanish_National_Historic_Trail.html 

It was quickly very clear that the focus of the website was on the Santa Fe trail and its importance in the east to west migration.  The influx of non-Spanish migrants followed Mexico gaining its independence in 1821 from Spain and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.  The governance of the land west of the Mississippi was in the hands of the United States and land was pretty much free for the taking. 

The date given for the founding of Santa Fe is "1610, Don Pedro de Peralta funda Santa Fe, la nueva capital de Nuevo México."   What is not mentioned is what was happening in the two hundred years between 1610-1821 . .  south of the Santa Fe, nor do they mention how the founders reached Santa Fe.  

The website points out the native population had foot trails which they followed, and the Spanish made use of them.  However, the Spanish had horses, which initially the natives did not.  It was with the horses and families, going north out of Mexico that those trails were further carved into the landscape.  To ignore and not identify trails coming north out of Mexico through Texas and north to Sante Fe, is inaccurate  history.  

The question a reader should ask himself, how did the earliest European settlers to Santa Fe, get there?   

El más largo, tortuoso y arduo sendero de mulas de carga en la historia de continente en Nueva España.

Saludos, Joe López
https://vimeo.com/163338227  

Sister Maria de Ágreda, the Lady in Blue and the founding of the Texas Missions

In pre-screening his PBS program, “Texas before the Álamo,” San Antonio film director Bill Millet and renowned author Dr. Felix Almaráz, Jr. visited Ágreda, Spain in November 2014.

In the same international goodwill manner, a Spanish delegation of dignitaries is returning the courtesy. Tomorrow, March 21, 2015, the Mayor of Ágreda and a group from both Spain and Mexico will be honored at a St. Mary’s University presentation entitled “Sor María de Ágreda – The Lady in Blue, and the founding of the first Texas missions.”

Their itinerary includes touring of San Antonio Spanish Mexican historical sites and Mission Espíritu Santo in Goliad. The event is open to the public.

Sister Ágreda’s fascinating story is a major part of Spain’s decision to initiate plans to send missionaries and explorers to Texas in the late 1600s and early 1700s. Some of the more famous trailblazers are Domingo Terán de los Rios, Alonso de León, Domingo Ramón, Fathers Francisco Hidalgo, Antonio Olivares, Jesús de Margil, Damián Massanet, and many others. It must be noted that Catholic padres led the challenging construction of many of today’s historical structures. For example, their leadership in early San Antonio history is as follows: (1) Father Olivares founded Mission San Antonio de Valero and Presidio San Antonio de Béxar (Álamo) and was the first to explore the area. (2) Father Margil built San Antonio’s Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo. Construction of other permanent structures followed.

However, what was so significant about Sister Ágreda’s story to cause such attention? The following details summarize her enigmatic life.

Sor (Sister) María de Jesús de Ágreda (1602–1665), also known as the Lady in Blue and the Blue Nun, was born in Ágreda and belonged to a local powerful family. Ágreda is located in the province of Soria, in León, Spain. Maria believed in quiet prayer, and was known to possess particular holiness during prayer. As a very young child, it is said that she placed herself in a trance when she prayed.

Those who knew young María say that there was something special about her, even though she was only four years old. Soon, the word spread that the little girl was indeed gifted. As a result, even the bishop wanted to meet her. He was so impressed that he offered to confirm her himself.

María’s entire family adopted the Catholic holy life when she was 15 years old. Her father, then in his early 50s, entered a Franciscan house. Her brothers were already studying toward the priesthood. Maria, her mother, and sister established a Franciscan family house in Ágreda.

Young women wanting to be part of the shelter came to stay. So, a new convent facility was begun in 1633 with money donated to the group. When her mother died, the nuns named María president and elected her as the abbess of the convent. She was only 25. Her life of living quietly in Ágreda was about to change for the young nun. Very beautiful, extraordinary things were taking place many miles away in America.

In 1629, the abbot and the priests of the Convent of Saint Anthony, in Isleta, New Mexico were stunned! A group of Jumano Indians had just arrived unexpectedly at their door. After walking many miles from what is now Texas, they asked for a priest to come and build a mission in their village. When the priests asked why, the Indians replied that “The Lady in Blue” had sent them.

The priests in New Mexico still didn’t know what to make of it. They wondered who this white lady dressed in blue with a beautiful face might be. They also wanted to know how she had come to America. The mention of the color blue by the natives was worthy of note. María and members of her order wore blue cloaks over their clothing. However, the priests in America hadn’t thought of it just yet. They would soon get to the bottom of the mystery.

HONORING HISPANIC LEADERSHIP

Dreamers Celebrated Marco Antonio Firebaugh's 10th Anniversary of his Passing 
By 
Jacqueline Garcia 

Former Democratic state Assemblyman Marco Antonio Firebaugh, a native of Mexico who wrote legislation making it more affordable for immigrants to attend California universities, died Tuesday morning in Los Angeles. He was 39.

Doctors attributed the death to influenza and liver failure, according to a statement from his campaign office. Firebaugh was running for a state Senate seat.

He died at 7:15 a.m. at the UCLA Medical Center with family and close friends at his side, former state Sen. Richard Polanco said.

Polanco, who as at the hospital when Firebaugh died, praised the former assemblyman for his compassion and his commitment to improving life for working-class families. He said Firebaugh was born in Tijuana and grew up poor while being raised by a single mother.

"So young and so talented," Polanco said in a telephone interview.

The two became acquainted when Firebaugh was a student at the University of California at Berkeley, and served as an intern in Polanco's Sacramento office.

Firebaugh served in the Assembly from 1998 to 2004, representing a district in southeast Los Angeles County, and was majority floor leader during the last two years of his term. He also led the California Latino Legislative Caucus.

"This is a moment of profound sadness and grief for all of us who liked and respected Marco Firebaugh, cared for his life work, cherished his charm and charisma, enjoyed his love of life and admired his leadership in the Legislature," Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuez, D-Los Angeles, said in a statement.

Among Firebaugh's most significant accomplishments was writing a 2002 law that allowed some illegal immigrants to attend California universities while paying in-state fees. That law was challenged last December by a group of out-of-state college students who filed a class-action lawsuit claiming it was discriminatory.

It allows students who attend at least three years of high school in California to qualify for the same in-state fee break given California citizens, regardless of their immigration status. The lower in-state fees can save students thousands of dollars a year.

Firebaugh also wrote legislation to provide money for low-income communities most affected by air pollution.

He unsuccessfully tried to make California the first state to outlaw smoking in vehicles carrying young children. The measure, which fell four votes short of passing the Assembly in 2004, would have made it an infraction to smoke in a motor vehicle carrying a child who was under age 6 or weighed less than 60 pounds.

Supporters said the bill would have protected young children against health hazards created by breathing secondhand smoke.

"Marco never backed down from a tough fight for what was right," state Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, said in a statement. "He stood up for immigrants and working families, and courageously took the lead on social justice issues when many others remained silent."

This year, Firebaugh was running for the Democratic nomination in the 30th Senate District, which covers part of southeastern Los Angeles County. Also on the June 6 ballot are assemblymen Ron Calderon, D-Montebello, and Rudy Bermudez, D-Norwalk.

The incumbent, Sen. Martha Escutia, D-Norwalk, is termed out.

Firebaugh missed the end of the 2003 legislative session while battling a serious liver problem. At the time, he said the unspecified ailment required "intensive treatment" but he expected to recover.

Firebaugh was born Oct. 13, 1966, in Tijuana, Mexico. He has a bachelor's degree in political science from UC Berkeley, and a law degree from UCLA. He is survived by two children, Ariana and Nicolas.

Firebaugh was president of MAF Strategic Consulting Inc., a public affairs firm in Los Angeles. He also was a visiting professor and a fellow at the UCLA School of Medicine, Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture.

Last summer, officials dedicated the Marco Antonio Firebaugh High School in Lynwood.

Ralph Romero and the Thermal Boxing Club

When the buzzer sounds, this
run down garage turns into a boxing gym for Olympic hopefuls.

Local boxers are fighting to keep the doors of the Thermal Boxing Club open for young fighters training for free for their professional careers. Ralph Romero ran the gym and the Desert Showdown regional boxing event held at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino. Romero lost his battle to pancreatic cancer two weeks ago, leaving the futures of the  gym, the showdown, and the young people who train here in jeopardy. "He wanted to have some vehicle for the kids, to have something to do and be off the streets. Since there weren't a lot of economic opportunities here, he wanted the kids to have an outlet, and Ralph's outlet was boxing," shared Jan "Sonny" Green, a masters fighter who comes from Orange Co. to train at the gym.

"Each one of these kids has to have something to dream about, something to shoot for, and for them, a lot of these kids, the big goal is winning a belt in the Desert Showdown. "One of the coaches, Daniel Ortega brings his son to the gym, "it opens up the doors for the kids around here, and the truth is, we teach them to fight inside that ring so that way they don't fight on the streets."17-year-old Santos Ortega is number two in the country for amateur boxing and in-line to join the Olympic boxing team in 2020. Romero was a mentor for him, "He always said I was going to be a world champion. He liked how I fought. He would always talk about me making it big."19-year-old Jacob Lerma had a heart condition that almost kept him from boxing. He has never paid a dime to train at the gym and is looking forward to a professional career, "Hopefully I'll be signing with Golden Boy promotions, but if not I'm going to try and fight for a contract."

A fund raiser was held April 23, to honor Ralph Romero and keep the doors open on the gym and the  Desert Showdown for years to come. 

Sent by Evelyn Martin emartinz07@aol.com 
View the video:  http://.kesq.com/news/locals-fight-to-keep-club-open-for-future-possible-olympians/39117830

Rick, et al, 
I was personally saddened and unprepared to hear that, because Juanita and I spent a great week with him and his wife in L.A. just a couple of years ago. It seems like only last summer. 

But Rick Leal gave Santiago the greatest recognition, second only to President Obama's White House ceremony. You let Santiago stand at the Pentagon and on a national stage at the NCLR convention in Los Angeles where he got a standing ovation of over 5 minutes. After it subsided to a normal applause, they stood up again and gave him second heartfelt standing ovation. He dominated the entire banquet hall, just standing modestly on the stage.

You and Cochran arranged a grand reception for his arrival at the Los Angeles International Airport with fire trucks, police escort, and a tumultuous applause with people standing up for him as he walked through the concourse in the airport. Santiago Erevia received the kind of coming home reception that he should have had years ago and all of his life.

My one consolation about this great hero is that we got to play a small part in giving him the recognition that he deserved as a recipient of the Medal of Honor. I say hero because this man fought in combat like the Hollywood actors couldn't dream of fighting. I pasted in just a brief excerpt from his Medal of Honor Citation to illustrate the courage that we commemorate in our hero.

Andres Tijerina, Ph.D.
Austin, Texas

On 21 May 1969 in the Republic of Vietnam, Specialist Erevia came under intense hostile fire from four enemy bunkers. In full view of the hostile gunners, he proceeded to crawl from one wounded comrade to another, gathering ammunition. Armed with two M-16 rifles and several hand grenades, he charged toward the enemy positions. He pulled the pin from a hand grenade and dropped the grenade into the bunker, destroying the fortification. He proceeded to eliminate the next two enemy positions, and exhausted his supply of hand grenades. Courageously charging forward behind the fire of his M-16 rifles, and arriving at the very edge of the fourth bunker, Specialist Erevia silenced the occupant within the fortification at point blank range. His heroic actions in the face of overwhelming danger was an inspiration to his entire company. For his conspicuous gallantry, extraordinary heroism above and beyond the call of duty, Specialist Erevia was awarded the nation’s highest award, the Medal of Honor. 

Sent by Andres Tijerina  andrest@austincc.edu, 

Santiago Erevia, a Vietnam War veteran and retired mail carrier who had been denied the nation’s highest military honor for 45 years because he was Hispanic, died on Tuesday in San Antonio. He was 69.

The cause was a heart attack, said his wife, Letica Lopez Erevia.

Mr. Erevia, who single-handedly wiped out four enemy bunkers while his comrades lay wounded, said years later that after his heroics had been made known a fellow soldier was asked to draft a citation for the Medal of Honor, the highest military award.

Instead he received the Distinguished Service Cross, the nation’s second-highest award for valor. Mr. Erevia long believed that he had been denied the Medal of Honor because he had survived the firefight. (In fact, recipients are frequently still alive when given the award.)

But a 12-year Pentagon investigation, mandated by Congress, of discrimination in the awarding of the Medal of Honor came to a different conclusion: that the heroism of Mr. Erevia and 23 other Army veterans of World War II and the Korean and Vietnam wars — most of them Hispanic — had been undervalued because of their race, religion or ethnicity and thus denied the medal unjustly.

That wrong was rectified at a White House ceremony in March 2014, when President Obama awarded the medal to the 24 veterans. Mr. Erevia, in his full dress uniform, was one of three men on hand to receive the honor. The 21 others had not lived to see the moment.

His heroics took place on May 21, 1969, near Tam Ký City, a coastal town south of Da Nang in South Vietnam. Sergeant Erevia, a radio telephone operator with the rank of specialist fourth class, was part of a company that had breached the enemy’s defensive perimeter near the town and was continuing its advance. Mr. Erevia was delegated to stay behind and treat the wounded.
When he and his half-dozen wounded comrades came under heavy fire, however, he gathered their weapons and, after a companion, Patrick Diehl, was shot, charged four enemy bunkers armed with hand grenades and two M-16 rifles.

“I zigzagged, firing my M-16,” he told NPR in 2014. “I thought I was going to get killed instantly, you know.”

He “fought his way to the final bunker, running and firing both M-16 rifles simultaneously, and killed the fortification’s defender with point-blank fire,” according to the official citation, “then returned to the soldiers charged to his care and resumed treating their injuries.”

Santiago Jesus Erevia was born in Corpus Christi, Tex., on Dec. 15, 1946, the son of a laborer, also named Santiago, and Raphaela Erevia.

As a boy, he picked cotton on a farm near Nordheim, a tiny town between Corpus Christi and San Antonio. He excelled in math in high school but was persuaded by his father to drop out when he was a sophomore so that he could go to work.

When he was 22, working as a cook and going through a divorce, he decided to volunteer for the Army rather than wait to be drafted. He also saw the military as an opportunity to further his education.  He was assigned to Company C, First Battalion, 501st Infantry, 101st Airborne Division.

On his second day in Vietnam, he recalled in an interview with NCO magazine, “we were in line, and maybe 200 or 300 yards from where I was, one guy stepped on a mine, and his boot landed about 10 feet from where I was.”

“And that was my first experience there,” he added. “I had only about 350 days to go.”  He earned the nickname Mr. Lucky for escaping injury.

Mr. Erevia left active service in 1970, served in the Texas National Guard for 17 years and retired from the United States Postal Service in 2002.  In addition to his wife, he is survived by three sons, Jesse Edward, James and Roland, and a daughter, Rosie.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/26/us/santiago-erevia-once-denied-medal-of-honor-because-of-ethnicity
-dies-at-69.html?mwrsm=Email


Sent by Refugio Rochin, Ph.D.  rrochin@gmail.com

L-R: Dr. Hubert J. Miller, J. Gilberto Quezada, and Dr. Félix D. Almaráz, Jr.  2013 
Pico de Gallo Mexican Restaurant, downtown San Antonio, Texas. 
The reunion was one of many we had throughout the years. 

Latino soldiers
 Cebu, Phillipines, WW II

AMERICAN PATRIOTS

DD-214s are NOW Online. 

Veterans Honoring U.S. military fatalities in Iraq, 
now to recognize fatalities of Afghanistan war

Thursday, August 19, 2010, Santa Barbara Independent by Ethan Stewart

A good history reminder, 1945 Naval Armada 

Check out the carriers on "Murderer's Row."

If any of you folks had fathers, grandfathers or uncles in the Navy during World War II, they may well have been involved in this operation, given the tremendous number of the ships and personnel involved. You may also recognize them in some of the photos.

Click below: http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=52966 
God Bless America

Sent by Joseph Mendez-Parr
 jlskcd2005@aol.com 

EARLY LATINO AMERICAN PATRIOTS

A Resource for qualifying for the Sons of the American Revolution 

Are you trying to investigate your Spanish antepasados for a possible membership into the Sons of the American Revolution, Letty Rodella, SHHAR President recommends the following:

Look up the website http://patriot.sar.org/fmi/iwp/cgi?-db=Grave%20Registry&-loadframes . 

This website lists patriots who have already been accepted as having served during the American Revolution. I just put CA in the space without adding any name and the entire list of Spanish Patriots from CA are shown. This lists includes about 200 names of Spanish military who served in CA and who have already been accepted by SAR as Patriots. Click on any name and most are identified as Spanish Patriots because they are named in the books by Granville and NC Hough. This is a fantastic resource.

On another note, my brothers, in El Paso, TX are applying for membership into the SAR based on the service of our 3rd great-grandfather who served at the Presidio of San Eleceario, New Spain from 1780-1782. He is listed in the Texas book by the Houghs. Hopefully their membership will be accepted soon.  Hope this is helpful.
Sincerely, Letty Rodella
lettyr@sbcglobal.net 

The Webb County Heritage Foundation and Ms. Toni L. Ruiz will present, for the first time in Laredo, an exhibit entitled “A Tale of Three Treaties: The Story that Changed the World,” a unique collection of historical documents and artifacts examining the Treaties of Peace of 1783 and the contributions of Spain and France to America’s independence. 

Spanish SURNAMES

Patrick Henry and the Tejano Connections
of special interest to John Inclan and Editor Mimi

DNA

Concerning your request for DNA results, I have a very different story to tell. Here I am, 74 years old, and received the shock of my life. I kept getting matches to people in my paternal lines, but none to anyone in my maternal lines - that just seemed so strange to me. Then Ancestry sent me a list of my ancestors, people I'd never, ever heard of before so just couldn't figure out how they could possibly be my ancestors. Two other DNA testers turned up to be my 1st cousins - strange. When speaking to a maternal cousin (just turned 80) I'd known all my life, I mentioned the lack of DNA matches to our common lines. She suggested I sit down and told me that her mother told her my father had a liaison with a woman and I was the result. He and his wife took me, a birth certificate was created for me and that was that. To my great disappointment, I have no Hispanic blood after all. I've had a very hard time now that I know; I greatly resent not being told the truth and being told lies. So, I wish to send a message to all parents - your children deserve to know the truth at an appropriate age. Please do not withhold important information. When they find out something like I did, it will devastate them. Love them enough to tell them about their background.

Anonymous by request 

FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH

"Roots are not in landscape or a country, or a people, they are inside you."
"Las raíces no se encentran en un territorio o en un país, están dentro de uno mismo."  Isabel Allende

FIND A GRAVE 
http://www.findagrave.com

Look what John Inclan found on Don Ramon Guerra
and membership on Find a Grave is FREE!! 

LANIC,  phone number lookup tool 

Dig Deeper into Land Records 
by Kimberly Powell  
newsletters@nws.about.com
  

Ancestry pedigree:  Guerra Trevino Hernandez of South Texas  

EDUCATION

Students Teaching students in Anaheim, CA

 Hallie Alcantar and her mother Dina Alcantar

Scholarship Guide 2016-17 for Undocumented Youth by MALDEF

Sent by Angela Valenzuela  
valenz@AUSTIN.UTEXAS.EDU

Three Statements by Latino/Chicano parents 
Regarding the study and use of Spanish by their children. 
by Ben Alvillar 

I will use myself as an example. It was in the ninth grade when I was told that if I wanted to attend the university I had to study a second language. Naturally I chose Spanish over French, German or Latin. What I found out was that studying and using Spanish made the study of English more meaningful and easier to master. Now for the first time the meaning of grammar and syntax made sense to me. And as a bonus my grades in English improved as well. 

CULTURE

Banner of Ruben Alvarez, Stay Connected, 1101 W. Walnut, Santa Ana, CA 92703, California 

EL CINCO DE MAYO
THE REAL REASON WE CELEBRATE
by Dan Arellano 

A Texas teenager’s Quinceanera cost her family $6 million.

Sent by John Inclan  
fromgalveston@yahoo.com

Elías-Fontes Collection: Cubo Gallery at Tijuana Cultural Center
Exhibition showed the state of contemporary art in Baja, Closed May 1st
Carolina A. Miranda/ Los Angeles Times, April 1, 2016 

"God is Coming," a 2008 work in neon by artist Roberto Romero Molina.

There are collectors who acquire art only after consulting with an advisor, more interested in financial gain than aesthetics or a personal point of view.

That's not Alonso Elías. The Mexican businessman has quietly built a collection of more than 200 artworks that take the U.S.-Mexico border as their point of inspiration. And the vast majority are by artists from Baja California.

"He didn't do this with an intermediary," says Alejandro Espinoza, an independent curator who helped organize a new exhibition in Tijuana of works from Elias' collection. "There was no gallery, no dealer. He would go to spaces and see the work and he'd research pieces that were most representative of the region."

Consider a hanging wall sculpture in the shape of a flag, produced with steel similar to that of the border wall, by Marco Ramírez (known as "Erre"). It's a piece that winks at the paintings of Jasper Johns.

Or the photographs of Tania Candiani, which show the ephemeral junk sculptures she has constructed along the international dividing line. 

Tijuana's Generation Art: A cultural flowering in this Mexican city of possibilities

The works on view are a good primer to the art-making that has gone on in the border region over the past decade. And while many of the works take the border as their subject, other themes emerge too: gender, landscape, pop culture and the broader border cultural ecosystem, a place where the American and the Mexican meet.

"It's a state of the art of contemporary art production in Baja," says Espinoza. "It shows that the artists are working in global, universal terms. The issue of the border is present, but there are deeper, more meditative themes that are explored about what it means to live alongside the border."

In other words, this is art you simply aren't going to see anywhere else, a vital window into Mexican border culture. And good reason to spend an afternoon in Tijuana.

"Stripes and Fence Forever (Homage to Jasper Johns)," 2014, by Marco Ramirez, also known as "Erre." The piece plays with border iconography as much as it does with art history — nodding to Johns' famous flag paintings.  (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

Artist Tania Candiani is another artist whose work directly addresses the border wall, transforming junkyard scraps into a sculpture alongside the wall for the piece "Reinterpretación de Paisaje: Cierre Libertad" from 2008.   (Tania Candiani / Colección Elías-Fontes)

In 2011, artist Julio M. Romero captured work crews replacing the piece of border wall that goes into the Pacific Ocean. His piece, "How to Dismantle an International Border," from 2012, catches a glimpse of the beach without the wall in both photographs and film.  (Julio M. Romero / Colección Elías-Fontes)

"Transmutante," 2012, a sculpture by Tijuana artist Alejandro Zacarías, who is known for transforming bits of industrial scrap into multimedia works.   (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

Sebastián Beltrán transforms an inner tube into a sculpture of a heart in "Corazón," from 2007.  (Colección Elías-Fontes)

Paintings by Charles Glaubtiz on view at CECUT: "Perros Calientes," right, from 2003, and "Why Am I So Greedy?" from 2004. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

"La Cadena," a sculptural installation by Mely Barragán, from 2004.  (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

Sculptural installations by Daniel Ruanova, left, and Luis Guillermo Hernández — whose wall, tagged with the words "the other side" plays with the idea of division generated by the border wall. (Carolina A. Miranda / Los Angeles Times)

"Colección Elías-Fontes" is on view at CECUT through May 1. Paseo de los Heroes 9350, Zona Río, Tijuana, cecut.gob.mx.  And in the event you need food suggestions to accompany the art, here's my Tijuana taco guide.  ind me on Twitter @cmonstah.

BOOKS & PRINT MEDIA

“La República del Rio Grande”,
  precursor to border conflict


Extracts From the Republic of the Rio Grande: 
A Personal History of the Place and the People

By Beatriz de la Garza

America!  Don't You Know Me?  
I'm Your Native Son: Geronimo

The Controversial Campaign to Repatriate the Remains of America's most famous Warrior to his Homeland

Beneath the United States
A History of U.S. Policy toward Latin America
by Lars Schoultz

http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674922761 

More on the same subject as the book above: Beneath the United States

LA LEYENDA NEGRA DESDE EL PUNTO DE VISTA DE INGLATERRA

Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: 
White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast, and Italy, 
1500-1800,
By Robert C. Davis 

 There were more European slaves in Africa than African slaves sent to America.  

¿Cuántos esclavos?
El profesor Davis señala que las numerosas investigaciones efectuadas han logrado que se determine con la mayor precisión posible el número de negros traídos a través del Atlántico, pero no existe ningún esfuerzo similar para determinar la extensión de la esclavitud en el Mediterráneo. No es fácil conseguir cifras fiables. Los árabes no suelen conservar los archivos. Pero a lo largo de sus diez años de investigación, el profesor Davis ha logrado desarrollar un método de estimación.

Por ejemplo, el registro indica que desde 1580 hasta 1680 hubo un promedio de unos 35.000 esclavos en países berberiscos. Contando con la pérdida constante a través de la muerte y del rescate, si la población se mantuvo constante, entonces la tasa de captura de nuevos esclavos por los piratas era igual a la tasa de desgaste. Hay una buena base para la estimación de las tasas de mortalidad. Por ejemplo, sabemos que de los cerca de 400 islandeses capturados en 1627, sólo hubo 70 supervivientes ocho años después. Además de la desnutrición, el hacinamiento, el exceso de trabajo, y los castigos brutales, los esclavos sufrieron epidemias de peste, que por lo general eliminaban entre el 20 y el 30% de los esclavos blancos.

A través de diversas fuentes, el profesor Davis estima que la tasa de mortalidad fue de aproximadamente un 20% al año. Los esclavos no tenían acceso a las mujeres, por lo que la sustitución se realizaba exclusivamente a través de las capturas.

Su conclusión: entre 1530 y 1780 hubo, con casi total seguridad, un millón y tal vez hasta millón y cuarto de cristianos blancos europeos esclavizados por los musulmanes de la costa bereber. Esto supera con creces la cifra generalmente aceptada de 800.000 africanos transportados a las colonias de América del Norte y más tarde a los Estados Unidos.

El profesor Davis explica que, a finales de 1700, se controló mejor este comercio, pero hubo un renacimiento de la trata de esclavos blancos durante el caos de las guerras napoleónicas.

La flota norteamericana no quedó libre de la depredación. Fue sólo en 1815, después de dos guerras contra ellos, que los marinos estadounidenses se libraron de los piratas berberiscos. Estas guerras fueron importantes operaciones para la joven república; una campaña que se recuerda en las estrofas de "a las orillas de Trípoli", en el himno de la marina. Cuando los franceses tomaron Argel en 1830, todavía había 120 esclavos blancos en el bagno.

¿Por qué hay tan poco interés por la esclavitud del Mediterráneo, mientras que la erudición y la reflexión sobre la esclavitud negra nunca termina? Como explica el profesor Davis, los esclavos blancos con dueños no blancos simplemente no encajan en "la narrativa maestra del imperialismo europeo." Los patrones de victimización tan queridos por los intelectuales requieren de la maldad del blanco, no del sufrimiento del blanco.

El profesor Davis también señala que la experiencia europea de la esclavitud a gran escala muestra el engaño en que consiste otro tema favorito de la izquierda: que la esclavitud negra fue un paso crucial en la creación de los conceptos europeos de raza y jerarquía racial.

No es así. Desde hace siglos, los propios europeos han vivido con en el miedo del látigo, y un gran número asistieron a procesiones celebradas por el rescate de los esclavos liberados, todos los cuales eran blancos. La esclavitud era un destino más fácilmente imaginable para ellos mismos que para los lejanos africanos.

© Le blog de Marysienka
Concluida la lectura, les invitamos a hacer una pequeña constatación. Vayan a Google, pulsen en "Imágenes" y busquen términos tales como "europeos esclavizados", "esclavos blancos" o cualquier otra expresión parecida. Verán lo que les sale...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Robert C. Davis, Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters: White Slavery in the Mediterranean, the Barbary Coast, and Italy, 1500-1800, Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, 246 pp., 35 US$.

Aquí el artículo completo:  La esclavitud es una práctica abominable en todas sus formas y en contra de cualquier individuo, todos los pueblos la han padecido de una forma u otra.

Saludos, - 
Dr. C. Campos y Escalante  campce@gmail.com
 15 de septiembre de 2015
http://www.elmanifiesto.com/articulos.asp?idarticulo=4449 
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comercio_%C3%A1rabe_de_esclavos 



 

ORANGE COUNTY, CA

Celebrating its 30th Anniversary 
 May 14^th

In Celebration of SHHAR's 30 Year of serving the community, the Society of Hispanic Historical & Ancestral Research (SHHAR) invites the public to hear from Mimi Lozano, one of the original founders of SHHAR and editor of Somos Primos.  She will be speaking on the history of both. 

I will touch on the history of SHHAR, the origin, focus, purpose, goal, value, and uses of Somos Primos.  The Magazine was first published in a print format as a quarterly for 10 years, and is now on its 17^Th year on- line.  Somos Primos gets over a million and a half hits every month.   Come find out why and how Somos Primos can help you today, in historical or family history research.   

I have been an active member of  SHHAR since its inception in 1986, thirty years ago, serving in a variety of capacities. I am the immediate past President of the SHHAR Board, a position I  held for many years. 

As editor of Somos Primos I am in contact and engaged with the Hispanic Community nationwide and internationally – receiving a wealth of information which I am always anxious to share. Do hope you can make it.   

The free program, sponsored by SHHAR, will be held at the Orange Family History Center, 674 S. Yorba Street, Orange, CA.

SHHAR April speaker Dr. Vicki Ruiz, receives certificate 
of appreciation from Board members, left to right
Simona Placencia and  Viola Sadler

Genealogical research assistance will be available from 9-10 a.m. Program, 10:00-11:30 a.m.  For more information Letty Rodella shhar@att.net

The Santa Ana Historical Preservation Society is proud to host 
Logan Barrio Memories with special guest speaker Mary Garcia
Sunday, May 22, 1-3 pm

The 2016 Business Women of the Year Honorees are: 
Claudia Alvarez Attorney & RSCCD Trustee: Community Service/Education
Elva Rubalcava Manager, Corporate Citizenship Disneyland Resort: Corporate Responsibility 
Tina Aldatz Founder & Creator Foot Petals and CEO of Savvy Travelers: Small Business/Entrepreneur

Dr. Jose F. Moreno announced his candidacy for Anaheim City Council District 3 
in the city’s first ever elections by district to be held November 8, 2016.

Dr. Jose F. Moreno

A long-time resident of Anaheim’s District 3, 
Dr. Moreno previously served as a member of the Anaheim City School District Board of Education from 2006-2014. An active parent and community volunteer in our schools, Dr. Moreno has continued his tireless advocacy for children, families and neighborhoods through various community-based organizations in Anaheim.

The free winter series covered topics that included Playwriting Fundamentals, Revision, and Feedback. Participants received guidance and instruction from prestigious professional theater artists, playwrights, and directors that included: José Casas, Paul Flores, José Cruz González,  Estela Garcia, Kristina Leach and Diana Burbano.

Contact: Sara Guerrero  info@breathoffire.org

Following works created by participants:
Home for Mom by Eloise Coopersmith
Windows of Dreams by Yolanda Mendiveles
Mitra's Suitcase by Yasmin Madadi
Cruz and Raymunda by Victoria Flores
Wonder, Heartbreak, and Joy by Lorna Silva
Untitled by Sara Guerrero
No Credit Card Required by Alonso Manrique 

LOS ANGELES, CA

The House of Aragon, Chapter 18, "Saving America"  by Michael S. Perez
Association of Latino Professionals for America
A Victory for Democracy in Whittier, California
May 1st, 2016: Marco Antonio Firebaugh Day Celebration

The House of Aragon
by 
Michael S. Perez

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN  
Saving America

A Victory for Democracy in Whittier California
Latino Point of View, Posted By Jimmy Franco Sr. on Apr 16, 2016

A years-long struggle to eliminate an undemocratic system of at-large voting in Whittier California has resulted in an historic victory for the community. Democrat Josue Alvarado has won a hard-fought electoral campaign to become the first person elected to represent Whittier’s newly configured Council One. He is only the second Latino to hold a council seat in that city in 118 years! Alvarado defeated two Republicans through the efforts of a solid grassroots campaign led by the Whittier Latino Coalition, the Whittier Voters Coalition and other allied groups and community activists. Alvarado’s campaign also had to struggle against a hostile slate led by the incoming Republican mayor and a well-funded slander offensive aimed at him by his opponent. This new council seat and the subsequent victorious campaign by Alvarado are the culmination of an intense uphill struggle by community activists who have waged legal and political battles for close to fifteen years. This stiff resistance to change was led and organized by Whittier’s entrenched economic and political establishment that at one time constituted a white majority but which is now a minority.


Josue Alvarado is only the second Latino to be elected to Whittier’s City Council in 118 years.

Latinos now represent 67 percent of the city’s population and as taxpayers they are demanding equal representation and a political voice in government that can formulate policies which benefit their neighborhoods. The successful legal and political battles that have overturned the old anti-democratic order of at-large voting and mandated the creation of a new equitable system of voting by districts have now been complemented by Alvarado’s political victory in the newly created District One. These are only the first steps to eliminate voter suppression and provide democratic representation to the majority of Whittier’s population as there are other new city districts that also need to be democratized.

Whittier: a history of segregation and disenfranchised Latino voters
The Whittier political establishment and its economic supporters have succeeded in keeping Mexican-Americans out of the city council for 118 years. This has been accomplished by previous decades of segregation that maintained white supremacy and political domination. Preserving this domination meant using tactics of voter suppression and a system of at-large voting which diluted the votes of Whittier’s working-class Mexican-American community and essentially disenfranchised them. This century-long denial of the right to representation has prevented their equitable participation in city government as well as a political voice to articulate the specific needs of their community.

Community organizers canvassing neighborhoods and registering voters to empower them.

Such a traditional lack of representation has also reduced voter turnout over the years. In decades past, community members had become disillusioned with voting for the status quo system which had ignored them as taxpayers and provided inadequate city services for their families. 

The undemocratic system of at-large voting was designed to diminish the voting power of ethnic groups who usually constitute a minority while in Whittier this system of control had been imposed upon Latinos who are now the majority. Despite the demographic transition in Whittier from a larger white population in the past to one that constitutes a minority today, the well-financed power elite that controls city government has been adept at using the system of at-large voting to maintain their economic and political control over the emerging Latino majority. The use of such a backward electoral system has traditionally permitted all voters to cast ballots for any seat up for election and this has had the effect of reducing the votes of minority ethnic groups as was the case in Whittier. For over a century, this rigged system prevented Whittier’s Latinos from electing a candidate that truly represented their community and the real needs of its constituents.

Grassroots legal and political campaigns led the struggle for equal representation

A long struggle by community activists in Whittier has attempted to change this entrenched and unjust electoral system of at-large voting. Over the years they have tried to persuade local government officials to make the voting system more representative and democratic for all residents of the city. These requests for change were rejected by the political establishment and their financial supporters as this would have meant an equitable sharing of tax revenues, resources, transparency in city contracts and a fair allocation of services to all residents. This refusal to change a century-long archaic and unfair voting system eventually led to protracted legal and political struggles which were waged against the city by community groups and civil rights advocates. In June of 2014, the city government placed a proposition on the ballot to let voters decide whether to change the old system.


Activists from the Whittier Latino Coalition and Whittier Voters Coalition are seen mobilizing the voters of the new District One.

  A majority voted in favor of changing the voting system and the Whittier city government subsequently decided to settle a legal case pending against them and finally eliminate at-large voting. Continuing to resist a pending lawsuit filed against the city by civil rights advocates and possibly losing would have meant that the city of Whittier would have been liable for paying a large amount of legal fees to the plaintiffs. The successful campaign to abolish the old voting system and elect Alvarado to represent District One was accomplished by an alliance of progressive and multi-ethnic community activists and other volunteers who not only held meetings, but most importantly, took concrete political action to achieve real change. Their grassroots campaign and strong outreach tripled the previous rate of total voter turnout and ensured victory for the residents of the new district. After consolidating this victory, the next political move will be to begin implementing a platform of needed changes in District One which include improved city services such as street lighting, trash collection and public safety.

This historic victory is a part of a larger struggle for equal rights and democracy

The historic and victorious campaign effort to abolish at-large voting and expand democratic rights in Whittier is part of a broader struggle of similar political movements that are also breaking out in other cities. Within recent years such struggles have occurred in Modesto and Santa Clarita California. Meanwhile, the residents of Anaheim are now preparing to organize a political battle against the system of at-large voting in their city which could involve powerful resistance by the hotel industry and the Disney Corporation. Equitable representation and the democratic right to vote are still being suppressed in many towns and cities throughout the country by small elites who want to maintain political power either for racial motives or financial gain. This has been a consistent trend throughout history as small ruling groups constantly attempt to defend their privileges and control the democratic aspirations of the majority in an unjust manner. There is a well-organized Republican national campaign being carried out whose strategy includes the support of blatant voter suppression combined with defending at-large voting systems. The political objective of this strategy is to reduce voting by minority groups and particularly Democrats since a low voter turnout benefits these small financial elites and the less numerous Republican Party. The victorious residents of Whittier and their campaign for grassroots democracy are an example that should be replicated and expanded to other areas of the country. Such a struggle for real democracy against small and entrenched groups of well-financed elites needs to be organized in our cities, states and nationally in order to break their stranglehold on the political system. When applied to local and national conditions, this example and democratic spark ignited by the pro-active residents of Whittier can electrify a pro-democracy movement in other areas so that the majority can take back government from the small moneyed clique of oligarchs and institute real democracy from the bottom up.

Celebrating an historic victory for democracy in Whittier.

http://www.latinopov.com/blog/?p=13336 

Marco Antonio Firebaugh Day Celebration
May 1st, 2016 
from 3-6 pm
Don Chente's Bar & Grill in Downtown L.A. (across from the Staples Arena)
1248 S Figueroa St. Los Angeles, CA 90015

Join and support the Marco Antonio Firebaugh Dreamers Study Abroad Scholarship Fundraising campaign:

WAYS TO HELP:
Endorse, volunteer, and promote the Marco Antonio Firebaugh Dreamers Study Abroad Scholarship Fund
Help to secure corporate and business sponsors
Host a fundraising event for the Marco Antonio Firebaugh Dreamers Study Abroad Scholarship Fund
Become a co-sponsor of the Marco Antonio Firebaugh Dreamers Study Abroad Scholarship Fund

For an invitation and more information click here Sponsor a California-Mexico Dreamer's scholarship in your name for $2,500 Donate now to the MAF Dreamers Scholarship Fund from $25 to $2,500 !

Click to Marco Antonio Firebaugh Obituary

CALIFORNIA 

A brand new series of SAN DIEGO’S HISTORIC PLACES: 
Baja California Special
By Jennifer Robinson, April 4, 2016
Airs Thursdays, April 7-May 12, 2016 at 8 p.m. 
Repeats Sundays, April 10-May15 at 4:30 p.m. on KPBS TV

View of the west looking down the arroyo of Rancho del Potrero, 1980. 
Two ranch clearings appear almost as specks in this great cleft in the sierra.
Credit: Courtesy of UCSD Library Special Collections, Harry Crosby

A brand new series of SAN DIEGO’S HISTORIC PLACES focuses on the first Jesuit priests to arrive in the Baja California Peninsula and how they established 17 missions in the 17th century. The colonization of Baja becomes a major clash between two cultures: the Europeans and the native people. Find out who these priests are, learn about the Missions' architecture and how El Camino Real is still visible today. Join Executive Producer and Host, Elsa Sevilla, for a brand new series with six new episodes on Baja California history.

Host Elsa Sevilla with Harry Crosby, author/historian.
Photo: courtesy of Sevilla Productions

Harry Crosby and a Mexican Government Postal Stamp

University of California will admit 15% more California students this year 

NORTHWESTERN UNITED STATES 

Seattleite in line to be first U.S. Sephardic Jew to get Spanish citizenship
By Nina Shapiro
Seattle Times staff reporter, published February 21, 2016
Doreen Alhadeff speaks last year to the Ladino language class at the Summit at First Hill in Seattle. 
(Photo: Steve Ringman/The Seattle Times)

SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES   

Cesar Chavez Day Celebrates legacy of United Farm Workers founder 
by Ann Friedman, Las Vegas Review-Journal



Artist Ignacio Gomez, who has created many art pieces in memory of Cesar Chavez, speaks during the third annual 
Cesar Chavez Day Celebration at Gary Reese Freedom Park on Saturday, March 26, 2016, in Las Vegas.
Gomez describes how activists wore red armband in support of the the farmwokers' union. 
 (Erik Verduzco/Las Vegas Review-Journal)Follow @Erik_Verduzco

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/cesar-chavez-day-celebrates-legacy-united-farm-workers-founder-photos 

Gomez also designed a headstone for Chavez in La Paz, Calif., as well as a 6-foot-tall statue of Chavez alongside 10 farm workers in Riverside, Calif., in 2013.

“To me, Cesar Chavez was like a giant facing a wall of resistance, but he had perseverance and knew the cause was important,” Gomez told the crowd at the event Saturday morning.

Gomez added that he’s trying to raise funds to build a Cesar Chavez statue in Washington, D.C.

“Many people back east don’t know who he is, and I’m trying to make sure everyone knows who Cesar Chavez is,” Gomez said. “One person can make a big difference.”

Music, cultural performances, vendors and food were abundant at the celebration.

Event founder Selena Torres was busy ensuring everything was running smoothly.

“It’s important we educate young students about Latinos who are making a positive impact in the community,” she said. “We also want to continue to honor Latinos in our own community.”

Torres’ mother, Tillie, is in charge of educational components for the event as she’s a teacher at Valley High School.

“Cesar Chavez is an American hero who created the boycott and the idea that money talks,” she said. “People began looking at where they were spending their money and he changed the way Americans consume.”

Tillie added that it’s important that Hispanic youth are aware of notable Latino leaders such as Chavez.  “The youth of today need to know that there are people like them doing great things,” she said. “Sometimes kids don’t see the value of education, and we want to show them successful people who are just like them so they’re motivated to be successful.”

Contact reporter Ann Friedman at afriedman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4588. Follow @AnnFriedmanRJ on Twitter.

Honoring the Legacy of Cesar Chavez in Las Vegas

by Selena Torres 
torres.selena95@gmail.com  

I remember when I first learned about Cesar Chavez. He was the first Chicano that I ever studied, but his movement was only a very small portion of a much larger book. During middle school Cesar Chavez became my hero because he was the first Latino that I learned about in school that did something positive for the nation. Unfortunately, the Chican@ movement never became a part of my curriculum and I felt left out from American History. Instead, students like myself learned to be ashamed of our culture—our food, our language, the color of our skin, and the countries our parents came from. The education system made it seem like college was not a place for a person with skin the color of café con leche who was expected to be another statistic: a dropout, pregnant at an early age, a criminal. Amidst this election cycle the negative stereotype that many use to characterize Latinos has become perpetuated in the public eye, and a new generation of young Chican@s are born and learn to be ashamed of their heritage.  

My desire to find heroes that were identified by their Latin@ heritage grew as I got older. And in the Las Vegas community I found similarly minded individuals that were hungry to celebrate our culture and our impact in the United States. Though I knew I wanted a festival to honor Cesar Chavez, it seemed like an impossible dream that could not be fulfilled by a group of students. I communicated my interest in beginning a festival with my mentor at the community college and he encouraged me to make it happen. One January morning in 2014, at eighteen years old, I led a meeting with a group that was attended by college students from the Hispanic Student Union at the College of Southern Nevada and local community leaders. In a coffee shop we started to collaborate to create the first Cesar Chavez Day Festival in Las Vegas Nevada. That festival that we planned was a community effort. We reached out to local businesses, non-profits, and high schools to make our event a success. Days before the festival we realized that we failed to submit 
paperwork due weeks before. After a series of panicked phone calls our we were able to have some offices extend our deadline so that our festival could take place . On March 29th, 2014 we held our first festival to
honor Cesar Chavez in North Las Vegas. In the spirit of the famous UFW slogan created by Dolores Huerta, si se puede, Las Vegas has taught me that juntos podemos. When our community stands united we can make the impossible happen. On March 26th, 2016 we hosted the third annual Cesar Chavez Day Festival in Las Vegas. 

Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta started the United Farm Workers union in 1962 and worked together to fight against the exploitation of migrant farm workers. Larry Itliong, a Filipino who directed the Agricultural Workers Organizing Committee, reached out to Huerta and Chavez to have the Chican@ community join Filipino farm workers in the grape strike and encourage farmers to pay their workers fairly. Organizers motivated the community to work together and urge consumers to only purchase grapes with the union label. Cesar Chavez led the 340 mile pilgrimage from Delano to California’s capital, Sacramento on March 17th, 1966. The pilgrimage lasted 25 days and the protesters landed in Sacramento on Easter morning supported by a crowd of 10,000. One of the larger Grape producers, Schenley, signed a contract with the union that very day.

Leaders like Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, and Larry Itliong remind the community that together we can make a difference and fight for equality despite the resistance and obstacles that come their way. While many farm owners tried to incite fear among Union members by using violence and spraying protesters with lethal pesticides, Chavez and fellow union members continued to fight for justice.   They knew that together, as a community they could accomplish great things.  Fifty years ago they landed on the steps of Capitol Hill and proved to the nation that communities that work together can make a difference. In Las Vegas, fifty years later, we celebrated the UFW’s pilgrimage to Sacramento and taught our community the power of organizing.

The Cesar Chavez Day Las Vegas Festival celebrates the life and legacy of Cesar Chavez.  Though Cesar Chavez and the UFW did not organize farmworkers in Las Vegas, he teaches us all that by working together we can make a difference. Organizing the Cesar Chavez Day Festival taught me that un pueblo unido jamás será vencido, something that the UFW’s legacy teaches students today. Our festival is a community effort. As students, like myself, continue to play a key role in planning the festival each committee member leaves with the understanding that the community must work together to achieve a common goal. With a series of activities, like a pilgrimage that honors the fiftieth anniversary of the pilgrimage from Delano to Sacramento a younger generation is able to learn about the impact of an American hero with skin the color of café con leche, a history that their textbooks neglect them from. I may have led the efforts to start the festival to honor Cesar Chavez in Las Vegas through our festival, but without the support of the community and local politicians our festival would have never become a success.

Each year since we started the festival it has grown—more organizations have participated, more students have volunteered, and the amount of attendees continues to grow. Our second year, Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the UFW, joined us in our celebration. And this past March we were honored to invite artist Ignacio Gomez to speak at our festival. Mr. Gomez is the artist that sculpted the Cesar Chavez Monument in San Fernando as well as many other sculptures and murals that honor Cesar Chavez and the Chican@ movement. Each speaker shows the young students and community members in the audience that they can overcome their obstacles when they work together.

When we first started planning the festival in a small coffee shop we never expected it to become an annual festival. We never expected that Chican@ leaders like Dolores Huerta and Ignacio Gomez would join us in our celebrations. But our community united and made what seemed impossible, possible. With hopes to honor the life and legacy of a movement students learn so little about, our festival celebrates Cesar Chavez by teaching us not only that human potential is limitless when we work together but that our success is not limited by our Chican@ identity.  Though our festival to honor Cesar Chavez in Las Vegas has completed its third year, I am excited to start working to host our fourth annual Cesar Chavez Day Festival in Las Vegas on March 25^th, 2017.  

Calendar of April events at the Tucson, Arizona Presidio

NEW MEXICO HISTORY MUSEUM PALACE OF THE GOVERNORS 
Fractured Faiths: Spanish Judaism, The Inquisition, and New World Identities 
Opens May 22, 2016

Ciudad Juarez Commercial/Entertainment District Bounces Back

Economy News, April 21, 2016

TEXAS

Texas, Laredo Arrival Manifests, 1903-1955
New FamilySearch Laredo Resource This collection contains arrival manifests at Laredo, Texas from 1903–1955. 

Corresponds to NARA Publication A3437: Manifests of Statistical and Nonstatistical Alien Arrivals at Laredo, Texas, May 1903–April 1955.

Clotilde P. Garcia 
2016 Members' Choice Award 
Sponsored by Tejano Genealogy Society of Austin (TGSA)
Self-published Works