La Plaza Central

And congratulations, if you are graduating.

Hasta el lunes.

¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

As we all know, today marks the anniversary of an unlikely victory at the Battle of Puebla, 1861, pitting the scrappy Mexican army against a taxing-without-representing France.

That’s why it’s not really celebrated around Mexico, because there are 31 other states besides Puebla.

Luckily, America has since adopted it as a holiday celebrating Mexican heritage, akin to celebrating the Irish on St. Patrick’s day. Area Mexican restaurants reach capacity, area restaurants hone their margarita recipes, and we are aloft, looking out from the third floor sun-porch, windows open, the gentle yet anguished melodies of Agustin Lara rising and falling while we dine on the expected culinary feats of chile verde, guacamole, lengua and other delights from neighborhood El Chaparro.

And with Negra Modelo accompaniment, we reflect on other unlikely victories.

May is usually a loco month, what with the weather finally coming around, subsequent bar-be-cues, May/Armed Forces/Memorial Day(s), my dad’s birthday, Cinco de Mayo, plus everyone all graduating and getting married and stuff.

But this Sunday we will take a collective, historical break to promote the mothers we love. The ancient Romans called it Matronalia, Julia Ward Howe wrote a stirring Proclamation about it in its nascent days, and on Monday at El Centro we are celebrating Mother’s Day with an almuercito followed by regalitos and a rifa. For those of you who don’t sprechen sie español, I’m talking about a small lunch, some presents, and a raffle!

Point is, despite May’s swirl of events, take a minute to give ol’ ma a hug.

Here’s the title to the story:

Arizona schools superintendent pushes ban on ethnic studies.

What? So…teaching by withholding information is the preferred methodology. This brand of racism is baffling, as evidenced by the quotes drawn in the story, e.g. “The job of the public schools is to develop the student’s identity as Americans and as strong individuals. It’s not the job of the public schools to promote ethnic chauvinism.” Right, since this whole thing isn’t chauvinistically American…

Here’s the bill itself, which was passed by the Arizona State Legislature.  Yet another hole in reasoning: an exception will be made for classes for Native American pupils.

Nice afterthought.

This Saturday, AZ Governor Jan Brewer will pass or veto a new (anti-) immigration bill. Among other things, the bill would allow police officers to determine the legal status of whomever strikes them as suspicious, which will be 1 out of 3 people. For the record, Gov. Brewer has “worked with the legislature to make sure that no public services are being offered to anyone who is in this state illegally,” so I’m a bit worried.

Already, nine university students have been arrested for protesting outside the capitol, as reported by the Arizona Republic. And of all days it has to be Earth Day! At least Reid/Pelosi want to make immigration the next box on the big To-Do List.

As for immigrants in Arizona, I hope they can find a way to support their families without going outside. Oh wait — the bill also gives a free ride to your country of origin (let’s say Mexico) if you are harboring illegals (let’s say your own grandma). Let’s pray Brewer sees the light come Saturday.

UPDATE: Friday was a sad day in America.

There’s a nice posting from Stop Big Media here, via the National Institute for Latino Policy, about the NBC/Comcast merger and how it would negatively affect Latino media and its constituents. I’ve been passively following the net neutrality issue and until now haven’t seen an argument involving the implications for our Latino population. Even more reason to get behind the issue and break up the telecoms monopoly!

For readers who aren’t up to speed on this, here’s and example of part of this monopoly: graphical history of the AT&T break-up (and “get back together”).

Do you love that Red Map vs. Blue Map ad campaign or what?

Registration is now open for our newest program, Golden Warriors, a Latino youth prevention and intervention program for young men ages 14 to 18. The ever-steady tandem of Erick and Irene Saavedra have  a core vision involving the ancient rites of passage of Aztec, Maya, and Inca warriors, and the current state of our Latino youth. The fact that Latino males are over-represented in the Justice System implies that our youth lack the rites of passage that gave warriors clarity and purpose in their civilizations. The “warrior’s path” will connect participants to their cultural roots and they will realize the trajectory from warrior to peaceful warrior — the state at which the warrior transcends violence and embraces the battle against himself and ultimately flowers into a soulful being.

The 12-session curriculum revolves around knowledge, responsibility, family, and education, and will teach participants the ancient Toltec message: We are the Sun’s children and our nature is to shine.

Golden Warriors enrollment information

Golden Warriors registration form

Photos from the opening session:

Relive the magic or see what you missed out on!

Special thank you to Hugo Orellano for the great photographs!

Once again, thanks to Karen Schmidt for the photos. Nice tango!

No programs for me this week! Freed up my schedule to go to Crete for the afternoon and get some student footage for the documentary. I go back and forth between thinking we are on track with taping and then panicking that we won’t have enough footage from which to edit a spectacular final. Though I started going through tapes on Sunday and was reassured — temporarily, of course. Wrote a letter to parents of our little cohort, soliciting their involvement in interviews and asking those who have graduating seniors what the celebration plans are. Hopefully I’ll get in on the action and get some good lookin’ footage.

Apart from that, this week I have to key in on our second proposal for Latino Bike Tour. It’s happening! We’re looking at starting July 6th and partnering with County Health. Sheldon Museum has even offered to host a kick-off event.

Should be a good summer…