El Sol Latino | May 2021 | 17.6

May 2021

Volume 17 No. 6

Un Periódico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper

Trump Administration Blocked Disaster-Recovery Aid for Puerto Rico Un Periódico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper

Un Periódico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper

Un Periódico Diferente / A Different Kind of Newspaper

Photo by Kris Grogan, U.S Customs Border Patrol

2

Editorial / Editorial

Trump delayed hurricane relief to Puerto Rico Back in June 15, 2020 Federico de Jesús and Erin Cohan posted a column in the Center for American Progress Action Fund online about how the Trump administration was addressing Puerto Rico’s crisis in the aftermath of Hurricanes Irma and María. The article, The Trump Administration’s Top 20 Actions That Have Kept Puerto Ricans in Crisis, described the state of the island as, “Puerto Rico has faced unprecedented devastation from hurricanes, earthquakes, COVID-19, and longstanding fiscal and economic crises that demand aggressive federal action in response. ” Among the Trump administration top 20 actions explained in the article, we wish to highlight the following eight. We believe that these underscore the recent findings of the new investigation by the Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General that officials in the White House repeatedly blocked and delayed Puerto Rico to receive nearly $20 billion in hurricane federal emergency relief and recovery funds.

disaster relief funding to pay off the island’s debt.

5. Under the Trump administration, FEMA awarded a $156 million contract for the distribution of 30 million meals for the island following Hurricane María; however, only 50,000 meals were delivered.

6. President Trump falsely claimed that “Congress had approved 92 billion dollars for Puerto Rico,” when, in reality, Congress has so far appropriated only about $44 billion for Puerto Rico hurricane relief and reconstruction.

1. In February 2020, President Donald Trump threatened to veto a $4.7 billion emergency aid package intended to help Puerto Rico recover from a series of damaging earthquakes.

7. In a statement issued by the Office of Management and Budget, the Trump administration wrongfully claimed that $600 million in additional disaster Nutritional Assistance Program funding that Congress allocated for Puerto Rico in fiscal year 2019 was “excessive” and “unnecessary.” After pressure from advocates, the administration relented—but only after months of delays for disaster bills that affected multiple U.S. states and Puerto Rico. The delay caused temporary cuts to more than 670,000 hunger-vulnerable beneficiaries.

2. In December 2019, President Trump personally intervened in budget talks to cut Medicaid funding to Puerto Rico by half.

8. In April 2019, the president falsely complained that Puerto Rico received “far more money than Texas & Florida combined” for disaster relief.

3. The Trump administration imposed severe restrictions on billions of dollars in emergency relief to Puerto Rico.

Federico de Jesús is a consultant for the Center for American Progress Action Fund’s Puerto Rico Relief and Economic Policy Initiative. Erin Cohan is the chief of staff and vice president at the Action Fund.

4. In October 2018, President Trump falsely accused Puerto Rican politicians of using

OT TINTNAT E H INK

In Holyoke … Two Latinxs candidates join the race for mayor.

Joshua García, of Puerto Rican heritage, a product of Holyoke and its public schools, and current Town por MANUEL Administrator for the Town of Blandford recently announced his decision to run for mayor of the Paper City.

At the end of April, another Latinx candidates entered the race. Gloria Caballero Roca is a Cuban- born, long-time Holyoke resident. She is an educator and academic researcher, and has a doctoral degree from UMass Amherst.

CALIE

contents

2 Editorial / Editorial Trump delayed hurricane relief to Puerto Rico Tinta Caliente / Hot Ink 3 Portada / Front Page New report confirms Trump administration delayed Puerto Rico hurricane relief 4 UH Receives Mellon Foundation Grant to Establish Puerto Rican Literature Database 5 The Center for Puerto Rican Studies awarded prestigious NEH award Velázquez and Sanders Introduce Territorial Equity Act of 2021, Sweeping Reform for Parity for U.S. Territories 6 Eduardo Bhatia, Former Senate President of Puerto Rico, to Join Princeton as Visiting Professor 7 Libros / Books Side by Side: US Empire, Puerto Rico, and the Roots of American Youth Literature and Culture Nace Revista de Política y Cultura de Puerto Rico Categoría Cinco 8 Educación / Education After decades of addiction, student draws inspiration from STCC 9 HCC student Miren Neyra Alcántara honored as Newman Civic Fellow 2012-2020 Drop-Out Rate Decrease Best in the State 10 UPR- Río Piedras rinde tributo a los galardonados del Premio Nobel que han sido parte de su claustro 11 Política / Politics The Capital Insurrection and the Puerto Rican Summer Uprising 12 Joshua A. Garcia announces candidacy for Holyoke Mayor 13 Medios /Media The Capital Insurrection and the Puerto Rican 14 Salud / Health Community College presidents: No vaccine mandate Proportion of Black physicians in U.S. has changed little in 120 years, UCLA research finds 15 Deportes / Sports Springfield Old Timers Softball League

FRAU RAMOS

If one of them is elected, she or he would become the first Latinx mayor of the City of Holyoke.

Salva una vida.

Usa máscara.

Mass.gov/ DetenCOVID19

Founded in 2004

n

Volume 17, No. 6 n May 2021

Editor Manuel Frau Ramos manuelfrau@gmail.com 413-320-3826 Assistant Editor Ingrid Estrany-Frau

Art Director Tennessee Media Design Business Address El Sol Latino P.O Box 572 Amherst, MA 01004-0572

Editorial Policy

El Sol Latino acepta colaboraciones tanto en español como en inglés.

Nos comprometemos a examinarlas, pero no necesariamente a publicarlas. Nos reservamos el derecho de editar los textos y hacer correcciones por razones de espacio y/o estilo. Las colaboraciones pueden ser enviadas a nuestra dirección postal o a través de correo electrónico a: info@elsollatino.net.

El Sol Latino welcomes submissions in either English or Spanish.

We consider and review all submissions but reserve the right to not publish them. We reserve the right to edit texts and make corrections for reasons of space and/or style. Submissions may be sent to our postal address or via electronic mail to: info@elsollatino.net.

El Sol Latino is published monthly by Coquí Media Group.

El Sol Latino es publicado mensualmente por Coquí Media Group, P.O Box 572, Amherst, MA 01004-0572.

Portada / Front Page

El Sol Latino May 2021

3

New report confirms Trump administration delayed Puerto Rico hurricane relief

By MANUEL FRAU-RAMOS On April 19, 2021, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced the obligation of $8.2 billion in Community Development Block Grant Mitigation (CDBG-MIT) funds for Puerto Rico. Various Trump-era onerous restrictions unique to Puerto Rico had limited the island’s access to CDBGDR recovery funds that were allocated following hurricanes Irma and María that hit the island in September 2017.

According to HUD press release, “Among the onerous restrictions removed by HUD are the incremental grant obligations (or tranche structure) and review by the Federal Financial Monitor. HUD also removed the requirement for Puerto Rico to request and submit any certification, observations, and recommendations by the Financial Oversight and Management Board, beyond what is already required by law. “ According to a new investigation by the HUD’s Office of Inspector General, officials in the White House repeatedly blocked and delayed Puerto Rico to receive nearly $20 billion in hurricane federal emergency relief and recovery funds.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) opened this review in March 2019 after receiving a congressional request from representatives Nydia Velázquez, Bennie Thompson, and Raúl Grijalva to examine alleged delays in the disbursement of approximately $20 billion of disaster recovery and mitigation funds appropriated for Puerto Rico following Hurricanes Irma and María that had been reported on January 16, 2019 by a Washington Post story.

The Washington Post article described the reasons for the resignation of the HUD Deputy Secretary Pam Patenaude, second-in-command at the agency helmed by Ben Carson. The story highlighted that one of the reasons for leaving HUD was the “White House’s attempt to block disaster-recovery money for Puerto Rico.” According to this same article, Trump told high level officials in White House that “he did not want a single dollar going to Puerto Rico, because he thought the island was misusing the money and taking advantage of the government,” and that instead he “wanted more of the money to go to Texas and Florida.”

According to the findings of the OIG 46-page report, the efforts to deliver recovery funding to the Puerto Rico were “unnecessarily delayed by bureaucratic obstacles.” One of the main hurdles was the requirement imposed by the Office of Management and Budget, which established an interagency review before grant approvals.

This process, which was never before required for allocating disaster funds, prevented HUD from publishing its draft notice of funding by the target date.

The investigators of the OIG report were unable to determine why the extra layer of review was required due to lack cooperation of HUD decision-making officials involved in this case. “Delays and denials of access and refusals to cooperate negatively affected the ability of the [Office of Inspector General] to conduct this review,” the report said.

The report documented the steps taken to obtain information.

We reviewed HUD documents and employee electronic communications from September 2017, after Hurricanes

Irma and Maria struck Puerto Rico, through August 2019.

We conducted 31 interviews of 20 current and former HUD officials and two now-former Puerto Rico Department of Housing (PRDOH) senior officials. The witnesses included both senior political appointees and career agency officials.

The OIG’s access to HUD information in this review was delayed or denied in several instances. We did not obtain testimony from former HUD Secretary Ben Carson because he declined to be interviewed by the OIG unless an attorney from the Department (“agency counsel”) was present. We were also delayed in interviewing several senior HUD political appointees because of the Department’s insistence that agency counsel be present during these interviews. Some of those same officials eventually agreed to be interviewed without agency counsel present in the interview room, but then refused to answer certain questions because they claimed the information was protected from disclosure to the OIG by executive privilege. One former HUD official, who was previously assigned to the Office of the Deputy Secretary, declined our request for an interview.

We also requested but were unable to obtain information from several former senior OMB officials related to OMB’s involvement in the decision-making related to disaster recovery and mitigation funds appropriated for Puerto Rico.

We experienced delays in our access to relevant electronically stored information (ESI), primarily because of HUD’s concern that certain ESI could contain communications protected by executive privilege.

On February 2021, the Biden administration removed a number of the Trump-era restrictions placed on Puerto Rico, allowing access to the emergency and reconstruction funds - $20 billion - that Congress had originally approved in 2018.

4

Portada / Front Page

El Sol Latino May 2021

UH Receives Mellon Foundation Grant to Establish Puerto Rican Literature Database

by SARA TUBBS | University of Houston - Houston, Texas This article was originally published in uh.edu/news-events | April 19, 202

materials that until now have been physically archived in different collections, or not archived at all.

“The Colectivo chose the Jones-Shafroth Act as a starting point because it brings into relief the markers and intricacies of literary traditions shaped by linguistic colonialism and the limited circulation of texts,” explained Baeza Ventura. “The archival mission is anchored in a deep sensitivity to Puerto Rican linguistic richness, which stands in contrast to the violence of monolingualism that reflects forced histories of migration within the archipelago and abroad.”

By bringing more public attention to a body of writing that is extraordinary in scope, PRLP will consolidate, reflect and respond to grass-roots community exchanges by Puerto Rican poets across all regions, as well as provide a means to make these voices visible to poets and reading communities at large.

“As a Hispanic-Serving Institution, the University of Houston is committed to honoring the achievements of these incredible writers,” said Paula Myrick Short, senior vice president for academic affairs and provost. “UH will serve as a focal point for students and scholars to learn about those who have made an impact on Puerto Rico’s rich history through their work.”

Gabriela Baeza Ventura, executive editor of Arte Público Press (APP) and co-founder of the U.S. Latino Digital Humanities program at UH, will lead the project in collaboration with a collective, or Colectivo, of prominent scholars, writers and translators from Puerto Rico and the U.S. diaspora.

The University of Houston has received a nearly $1.35 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to establish a free, open-access digital portal for anyone to learn about or teach Puerto Rican literature.

“El proyecto de la literatura puertorriqueña/The Puerto Rican Literature Project” (PRLP) includes a database in Spanish and English of approximately 50,000 assets (photographs, manuscripts, poems, videos and archival materials), a digital archive and additional resources that document the material existence and experiences of key Puerto Rican poets in the archipelago and U.S. diaspora. The data collected dates back to 1917, when President Woodrow Wilson enacted the Jones-Shafroth Act extending U.S. citizenship to all residents of Puerto Rico, to the present.

Gabriela Baeza Ventura, executive editor of Arte Público Press (APP) and co-founder of the U.S. Latino Digital Humanities program at UH, will lead the project in collaboration with a collective, or Colectivo, of prominent scholars, writers and translators from Puerto Rico and the U.S. diaspora composed of Raquel Salas Rivera, Ricardo Maldonado, Claire Jiménez and Enrique Olivares Pesante.

The Colectivo’s primary goal is to make Puerto Rican literature widely accessible through the gathering, transcription and translation of poetic

at https://www.facebook.com/ El-Sol-Latino-280862535259910

In 2019, The Mellon Foundation awarded UH $750,000 to launch the firstof-its-kind U.S. Latino Digital Humanities Program, which gives scholars expanded access to a vast collection of written materials produced by Latinos and archived by the Recovering the U.S. Hispanic Literary Heritage (“Recovery”) program and Arte Público Press, the oldest and largest publisher of Hispanic Literature in the nation. Baeza Ventura and Carolina Villarroel, Brown Foundation Director of Research, oversee the digital humanities grant.

“Baeza Ventura and Villaroel believe the ‘Puerto Rican Literature Project’ is an important contribution to Latino literature in the U.S. and abroad as well as a great example of the collaborations fostered from their work in U.S. Latino Digital Humanities since the creation of their program,” said Nicolás Kanellos, Arte Público Press founder and director.

In addition, PRLP will serve as a great resource for Latin American, Caribbean and Latino Studies scholars. Not only does Puerto Rico share a similar history of colonization, slavery and military intervention as the rest of the Caribbean and Latin America, but it also produces a literature that documents the effects of that colonialism and offers decolonial countertraditions. By creating a bilingual resource, the archive will open the door to the formation of essential Trans-Caribbean connections.

“This generous grant and continued support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation highlights Arte Público Press’s important role in ensuring broader attention and mainstream accessibility to Hispanic literature,” said Eloise Brice, vice president for University Advancement.

Publish your bilingual ad in El Sol Latino!

Call us today at (413) 320-3826.

Portada / Front Page The Center for Puerto Rican Studies awarded prestigious NEH award NEW YORK, NY | CENTRO: THE CENTER FOR PUERTO RICAN STUDIES | April 15, 2021 – The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced yesterday that The Center for Puerto Rican Studies (Centro) is one of 225 recipients of $24 million in grant funding for humanities projects across the United States and beyond. As stated by NEH acting chairman, Adam Wolfson, “NEH is proud to support these 225 new projects, which embody excellence, intellectual rigor, and a dedication to the pursuit of knowledge, even as our nation and the humanities continue to face the challenges of the pandemic.”

Centro’s proposal competed with more than 230 other submissions and was one of only 34 recipients who share $8.8 million in grant funding available under the Humanities Collections and Reference Resources category. The NEH Humanities Collections and Reference Resources program seeks to allow institutions to preserve and provide access to collections essential to scholarship, education, and public programming in the humanities.

Centro submitted an application to fund its project—“One-Hundred Years of Puerto Rican History and Culture”— for the digitization of 24 cubic feet of archival materials documenting the arts, culture, social movements and overall history of the Puerto Rican diaspora. The award of $349,387 will allow Centro to digitize approximately 23,500 pages from 17 archival collections to create 6,600 new digital objects over a three-year period, and make them available to the public.

“Centro is gratified for the recognition and validation of its work and its mission by such an esteemed institution as the National Endowment for the Humanities,” said Dr. Edwin Meléndez, Director of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies and Principal Investigator for this project. “This award, the second NEH award in a row to support our digital humanities initiative, is also a shot in the arm for the important work Centro does at a time of inordinate challenges. With this initiative, Centro seeks to ensure preservation, foster new scholarship, and support the design and implementation of outreach programs that rely on the use of new technologies to increase access to Centro’s vast research resources and archival collections.”

“The funding provided by the NEH will bolster an already significant digital footprint and provide global accessibility to primary source material documenting, arts, culture, politics, law, and major social reform of Puerto Rican communities throughout the 20th century,” said Aníbal Arocho, Centro’s library manager. To make the content of the processed digital collections widely accessible, Centro is launching a new online project—the Centro eJournal—to provide a new resource for digital humanities, and another Web-based humanities resource—The Puerto Rican Heritage Cultural Ambassadors program—a free, self-paced, multimedia online courses in Puerto Rican history, culture, and traditions.

The Center for Puerto Rican Studies (CENTRO), Hunter College, CUNY (Centro) is the nation’s leading university-based institution devoted to the interdisciplinary study of the Puerto Rican experience in the United States.

Centro is dedicated to understanding, preserving and sharing the Puerto Rican experience in the United States. Centro seeks to link scholarship to social action and policy debates, and to contribute to the betterment of our community and the enrichment of Puerto Rican studies.

To learn more about Centro, visit: https://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/.

El Sol Latino May 2021

5

Velázquez and Sanders Introduce Territorial Equity Act of 2021, Sweeping Reform for Parity for U.S. Territories WASHINGTON, D.C. | PRESS RELEASE | April 20, 2021 – Representative Nydia M. Velázquez (D-NY) and Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) have unveiled legislation that would help Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa gain more equitable access to federal programs such as Medicaid, SNAP, and popular tax credits.

“As it stands, the people of Puerto Rico and the other U.S. territories are not afforded the same access to federal funds as states on the Mainland,” said Velázquez. “This is not only morally wrong but has delegated residents to a second-class status and exasperated social and economic inequalities. That is why I’m proud to partner with Senator Sanders to introduce this bill that takes the bold action needed to extend critical federal assistance to the territories.”

“The people of Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and American Samoa deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.” Sanders said. “The legislation we’re introducing today stops unequal treatment of the territories, and will put an end to inequities in federal law that have allowed too many to fall behind in almost every measurable social and economic outcome.”

The Territorial Equity Act of 2021 would: • Provide the territories with the same need-based, open-ended Medicaid funding that is currently available to the fifty states and the District of Columbia by eliminating the arbitrary cap on annual federal Medicaid funding and increasing the federal matching rate for the territories’ Medicaid expenditures.

• Address Medicare disparities by updating hospital reimbursements and increasing funding for the territories to provide prescription drug coverage to low-income seniors.

• Extend the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program to all U.S. territories • Provide equitable treatment for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands with respect to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC).

• Allow Puerto Rico, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands to transition to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).

• Provide equity for Puerto Rico on labor issues, specifically regarding the minimum wage for young employees in Puerto Rico and parity for overtime laws.

The House version is co-sponsored by Representatives: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY); Ritchie Torres (D-NY); and Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ).

6

Portada / Front Page

El Sol Latino May 2021

Eduardo Bhatia, Former Senate President of Puerto Rico, to Join Princeton as Visiting Professor PRINCETON UNIVERSITY, NJ | PRINCETON SCHOOL OF PUBLIC AND INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS ⋅ PRINCETON UNIVERSITY | April 13, 2021 - Eduardo Bhatia ’86, former Senate president of Puerto Rico, will join the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) in academic year 2021-22 as the John L. Weinberg/Goldman Sachs & Co. Visiting Professor and visiting lecturer in public and international affairs.

An attorney, policymaker, and leader, Bhatia is an expert on fiscal and public policy. With more than 25 years experience, Bhatia is a champion of government reform, helping public and private coalitions achieve fiscally responsible policy targets.

Bhatia will teach a SPIA graduate policy workshop in fall 2021 focused on Puerto Rico’s financial insolvency — the largest bankruptcy by any state, county, or city in U.S. history. Workshop students will evaluate Puerto Rico’s debt-restructuring process and suggest recommendations for its completion.

This issue is close to Bhatia’s work as a public servant; as president of the Senate of Puerto Rico, he worked directly with former U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Joseph “Jack” Lew and others to design responsible solutions in anticipation of Puerto Rico’s $72 million default. In this role, Bhatia was also responsible for securing an open market for the island’s energy sector to end the fully oil-dependent, inefficient state-owned monopoly of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority.

In 2018, Bhatia was the speaker at Princeton University’s 271st Baccalaureate ceremony. He holds a bachelor’s degree in public and international affairs from Princeton and previously served on the School’s Advisory Council.

After graduating from Princeton in 1986, he was a Fulbright Scholar in Chile and a law clerk to the Honorable Judge Levin Campbell in the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston.

He earned his Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School, where he co-founded the Stanford Law and Policy Review.

“Mr. Bhatia embodies our mission of serving the nation and humanity,” said Nolan McCarty, interim dean of SPIA. “He will provide our students with rigorous, real-world policy training through both his fiscal policy expertise and his strategic leadership during a crippling financial crisis.”

“It is a great honor to join the SPIA community, a powerful public policy laboratory of enthusiastic professors and students identifying, understanding, and designing innovative policy ideas to address the world’s most pressing problems,” Bhatia said.

As Senate minority leader, Bhatia led state and federal policy efforts to rebuild the electric grid after two hurricanes devastated Puerto Rico in 2017. He also co-authored a sweeping bipartisan energy state reform law mandating an orderly transition to 100% renewable energy in Puerto Rico by 2050.

Earlier, as director of the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration, Bhatia was responsible for articulating and advocating policy positions to the U.S. Congress, Office of the White House, and other federal agencies. He has testified before Congress, the United Nations, and multiple forums on subjects related to his expertise.

Saturdays 10 AM Domingo 7 PM WHMP radio 1400 AM

biingüe arte, cultura, media politics Natalia Muñoz

Publish your bilingual ad in

El Sol Latino!

Call us today at (413) 320-3826.

Eduardo Bhatia ’86, former Senate president of Puerto Rico, joins SPIA. (Photo courtesy of Bhatia)

Libros / Books

El Sol Latino May 2021

7

Side by Side: US Empire, Puerto Rico, and the Nace Revista de Política y Cultura de Roots of American Youth Literature and Culture Puerto Rico - Categoría Cinco

by MARILISA JIMÉNEZ GARCÍA • foreword by SONIA NIETO Jackson, MS | University Press of Mississippi | March 2021 | 260 pages Description During the early colonial encounter, children’s books were among the first kinds of literature produced by US writers introducing the new colony, its people, and the US’s role as a twentieth-century colonial power to the public.

Subsequently, youth literature and media were important tools of Puerto Rican cultural and educational elite institutions and Puerto Rican revolutionary thought as a means of negotiating US assimilation and upholding a strong Latin American, Caribbean national stance.

In Side by Side: US Empire, Puerto Rico, and the Roots of American Youth Literature and Culture, author Marilisa Jiménez García focuses on the contributions of the Puerto Rican community to American youth, approaching Latinx literature as a transnational space that provides a critical lens for examining the lingering consequences of US and Spanish colonialism for US communities of color. Through analysis of texts typically outside traditional Latinx or literary studies such as young adult literature, textbooks, television programming, comics, music, curriculum, and youth movements, Side by Side represents the only comprehensive study of the contributions of Puerto Ricans to American youth literature and culture, as well as the only comprehensive study into the role of youth literature and culture in Puerto Rican literature and thought.

Considering recent debates over diversity in children’s and young adult literature and media and the strained relationship between Puerto Rico and the US, Jiménez García’s timely work encourages us to question who constitutes the expert and to resist the homogenization of Latinxs, as well as other marginalized communities, that has led to the erasure of writers, scholars, and artists.

Reviews Side by Side: US Empire, Puerto Rico, and the Roots of American Youth Literature and Culture expertly crafts a comparative analysis of how children and childhood were invoked in literature and popular culture by white US authors, Puerto Ricans on the island, and Puerto Ricans in the diaspora.

Marilisa Jiménez García provides a necessary critical analysis of texts often deemed politically neutral because they are for and/or are about children. In doing so, she demonstrates how Puerto Rican children are central to understanding historical and contemporary debates about Puerto Rican cultural politics. “ MARILISA JIMÉNEZ GARCÍA is an interdisciplinary scholar specializing in Latino/a literature and culture. She is an assistant professor of English and Latino Studies at Lehigh University. She is also the founding director and principal investigator of the Taskforce on the Institute of Critical Race and Ethnic Studies a research lab space co-led and co-founded by students and faculty of color at Lehigh. Jiménez García also chairs the institute’s Education Justice Initiative. She has a Ph.D in English from the University of Florida and a M.A. in English and B.S. in Journalism from the University of Miami. She was born in Bayamón, Puerto Rico.

El pasado mes de noviembre del 2020 se lanzó el primer número de la revista digital Categoría Cinco. Esta revista bilingüe, con una clara orientación de su contenido hacia la política y cultura puertorriqueña, se publica cuatrimestralmente. Está abierta a colaboraciones ensayísticas y visuales que, preferiblemente, no hayan aparecido en otros medios.

Categoíia Cinco tiene presencia en las redes sociales como su página de Facebook (categoria5.org) al igual que en el web con su página https:// categoria5.org.

Los miembros fundadores de la revista son: Roberto Alejandro, Luis F. Avilés, Cristina Esteves-Wolff, Ivette N. Hernández-Torres, Agnes Lugo-Ortiz, César J. Pérez-Lizasuain y Edna Román.

El contenido del primer número está dividido en cinco secciones: Introducción, Catástrofes, Delirios, Diaspóricas y Reensamblajes.

La introducción titulada ¿Por qué Categoría Cinco?, escrita por el Comité Editorial Categoría Cinco, esboza la visión política y misión editorialista de la revista dentro del contexto de la situación colonial de Puerto Rico.

“En Categoría 5 pensamos la opción por la independencia como un terreno del cual no se puede prescindir de querer imaginar otro país posible, justo y con calidad de vida, y nos constituimos como foro para la discusión abierta y rigurosa de esta idea. ¿Cómo acercarnos al arte del buen vivir? Nos alientan las potencialidades aun inagotadas del Verano del 2019 que con tanta fuerza demostró las capacidades del país y sus diásporas para reclamar masivamente el ejercicio de un poder destituyente y democrático ante los abusos de sus gobernantes”.

Esta edición incluye, bajo la sección Catástrofe, Assimilate and Destroy por Néstor Delgado Morales & Sofía Gallisá Muriente | Foto Ensayo, y Reposeída por Luis F. Avilés | Foto Ensayo.

En la sección Delirios, encontramos tres artículos: La estadidad acorralada o ¿de qué se cansaron quienes se cansaron del estatus? por Francisco Fortuño-Bernier, 1898-1899: Llegaron por Roberto Alejandro, y De ficciones y derecho: El caso puertorriqueño por Cristina Esteves-Wolff.

Podemos encontrar 2016/2020: Una viñeta por Agnes Lugo-Ortiz en la sección Diaspóricas. A propósito de la colonia, el racismo y la soberanía: apuntes para una política del presente por César J. Pérez Lizasuain y “La autogestión es un proceso de autodeterminación.” Entrevista a Arturo Massol Deyá por César J. Pérez Lizasuain son los dos artículos incluídos en la sección Reensamblajes.

Publish your bilingual ad in El Sol Latino! Call us today at (413) 320-3826.

8

Educación / Education

El Sol Latino May 2021

After decades of addiction, student draws inspiration from STCC SPRINGFIELD, MA | SPRINGFIELD TECHNICAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE | April 21, 2021 – This spring, Kimberly Quinonez will reach a goal she once thought was impossible: She will have a college degree.

When she first came to Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) in 2014, Quinonez was 43 years old and had recently spent a year in a substance abuse recovery program. She had battled decades of addiction. She didn’t have a high school diploma. But she was determined to get an education. She found the support she needed at STCC. Quinonez enrolled in Springfield Adult Learning Center’s Adult Basic Education program at STCC to pursue a HiSET certificate, which is a high school equivalency credential. For Quinonez, it was the first step in her quest to receive an education.

Now a 50-year-old student in the Honors Program at STCC and vice president of the Student Government Association, Quinonez is on the cusp of receiving a two-year associate degree in human services/social work. She plans to continue her education in the bachelor degree completion program at Elms College, which allows her to study at STCC.

the process helping others who are struggling with addiction and other challenges. We look forward to her continued contribution assisting others as they rebuild their lives and work to become successful members of the community.”

STCC has been a transformative experience for Quinonez, who is candid about her past.

She hopes her story encourages others who are struggling. “I got connected with very bad people, people that made bad choices, and I got connected with drug use and homelessness,” Quinonez said. “Drugs were an escape, a way out. I didn’t have to remember the bad stuff that happened to me as a child.”

Quinonez was born in Greensboro, N.C., but drifted from state to state over the years.

While in South Carolina, Quinonez entered a rehabilitation program. She stayed in the program for a year and remained sober.

“I had never been clean past a month, so to be sober for a year was very huge for me,” Quinonez said.

While in the program, she started taking classes to work toward her high school STCC student Kimberly Quinonez equivalency diploma. She also met a man who is now her husband. However, the program’s funding ended and she never received the GED in South Carolina.

“When I came to STCC, everyone at the college made me feel like I made the right choice,” Quinonez said. “STCC is my family. STCC has caused me Quinonez’s sister-in-law encouraged her to move to Springfield, Mass., to dig deeper and pursue my heartfelt goals.” where she would help her get back on her feet. She called the move the Professor John Diffley, who is the coordinator of the Honors Program at STCC, said Quinonez has overcome past struggles to become an excellent student.

“Kimberly is a non-traditional student who is proving that it’s never too late to get your education,” Diffley said. “Focused and determined to succeed as a student, Kimberly has persevered and worked hard to get where she is today. She doesn’t let past hardships slow her down.”

While a student at STCC, she was hired to work for the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department. She works as an addiction specialist, and was recently promoted to program care coordinator.

“We are proud of the work Kimberly is doing here at our Stonybrook Stabilization and Treatment Center. I strongly believe in second chances and Kimberly is a great example of someone who has gone through very challenging times in her own life and is working hard to improve herself,” Sheriff Nick Cocchi said. “In just over a year with us, Kimberly has demonstrated she is committed to personal and professional growth and in

best decision she made in her 50 years of living. She began working at McDonald’s. “I was happy to work, because I had never worked before,” she said.

Quinonez still dreamed about getting her education. Her sister-in-law encouraged her to try out STCC. She was immediately struck by the passion and commitment of the STCC community.

“All the classes I have taken at STCC have built my character. They have given me a different perspective toward education,” she said. “It took me five years to get my HiSET. There were times I wanted to quit. But the amazing staff members never let me quit. They always inspired me. They always checked up on me. … They knew when I needed that extra compassion, or that extra hug, or smile. Those things just motivated me to want to continue my education at Springfield Technical Community College.”

Interested in applying to STCC? Visit stcc.edu/apply or call Admissions at (413) 755-3333.

Veanos@www.issuu.com/elsollatino

Educación / Education

El Sol Latino May 2021

9

HCC student Miren Neyra Alcántara honored as Newman Civic Fellow HOLYOKE, MA | HOLYOKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE | April 14, 2021 – HOLYOKE – Holyoke Community College student Miren Neyra Alcántara of Holyoke is the recipient of a Newman Civic Fellowship, which recognizes college leaders who demonstrate a commitment to finding solutions to challenges facing communities locally, nationally, and internationally.

Alcántara, who lives in Holyoke, will join 212 college students from 39 states, Washington, D.C., and Mexico to form the 2021 cohort of Newman Civic Fellows, a program administered by Campus Compact, a Bostonbased nonprofit working to advance the public purposes of higher education.

The Newman Civic Fellowship is a year-long program for students from Campus Compact member institutions.

Alcántara is a Latinx Studies major at HCC and president of the college’s Latinx Empowerment Association. The LEA Club, as it is otherwise known, recently launched a book drive to stock a “Little Free Library” the club is putting together for low-income families in the Holyoke Flats, one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.

As LEA president, Alcántara spearheaded “Celebrating the Latinx Community,” a social media campaign, and developed student-led panel discussions in collaboration with HCC’s Black Student Alliance and Holyoke’s Wistariahurst Museum.

She is a member of the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society and the college’s Student Advisory Board. She works as a peer tutor and volunteers with community organizations including Climate Change Theater Action, Common Share Food Co-op, and SPARK Reproductive Justice Now. She also teaches English to Central American immigrants through a program called Planting Literacy, an HCC collaboration with Head Start in Springfield.

She was nominated for the award by two of her professors, Vanessa Martinez and Raúl Gutiérrez.

“We’re very proud of Miren,” said Gutiérrez, coordinator of HCC’s Latinx Studies program. “HCC is lucky to have her. Her academic endeavors combined with her involvement and leadership in the community make her a necessary agent of change. She truly embodies the essence of an activist scholar. Her academic abilities, compassion and leadership make her exactly what is needed in this world.”

The fellowship is named for the late Frank Newman, one of Campus

Compact’s founders and a tireless advocate for civic engagement in higher education.

Through the fellowship, Campus Compact provides fellows with a variety of learning and networking opportunities that emphasize personal, professional, and civic growth. Each year, fellows participate in numerous virtual training and networking opportunities to help provide them with the skills and connections they need to create large-scale positive change. The cornerstone of the fellowship is the Annual Convening of Fellows, which offers intensive skill-building and networking over the course of two days.

The fellowship also provides fellows Miren Neyra Alcántara with pathways to apply for exclusive scholarship and post-graduate opportunities. As part of the fellowship, students participate in some kind of civic engagement project of their own design.

“I am so excited about the fellowship and this opportunity,” said Alcántara, who was also named a finalist earlier this year for Business West magazine’s “Young Woman of Impact” award. “I plan to continue working on the LEA Club’s “Little Free Library” project. We are hoping to expand on it, add some workshops with the children and adapt it in a way it becomes sustainable through the years as more students join and continue the club. I am also continuing my work with immigrant advocacy and Planting Literacy, as well as my recent involvement as a volunteer with the Women of Color Health Equity collective.”

She will graduate from HCC in December 2021.

This is the second time an HCC student has been awarded a Newman Civic Fellowship. Last year, Marley Friedrick of Amherst, HCC class of 2020, was a Newman Fellow. He is now a student at Amherst College.

2012-2020 Drop-Out Rate Decrease Best in the State SPRINGFIED, MA | SPRINGFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOLS | April 8, 2021 – The District’s 2020 drop-out rate is three percent, representing a 70 percent decline since 2012, which is the highest drop- out rate decrease in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts during that time period.

“This is very significant no matter how you look at it,” said Superintendent of Schools Daniel Warwick. “We are leading the State and that is a direct result of a concentrated, pin-pointed effort of a large cadre of dedicated educators working hard to keep more of our kids in school regardless of what other priorities they have juggled during those eight years.”

In addition, the Springfield Public Schools (SPS) graduation rate has increased 20.4 percentage points since 2012, among the highest graduation rate increase in the state. The four-year graduation rate is now 77 percent.

Mayor Domenic J. Sarno states, “I want to applaud Superintendent Dan Warwick, his leadership team, our principals and administrators, the School Committee, and especially all of our teachers and staff for their continued dedicated efforts working with our students and their families. I also want to

acknowledge our parents and families for their efforts with our children.

“Since taking office in 2008, my administration has prioritized not only building new schools and improving the physical plants of others but has focused on the ‘key’ that ties everything together for economic prosperity, social equity, and public safety, which is education, education, education.

“Thanks to everyone’s collaborative efforts, our Springfield Public Schools continue to trend in a positive direction. The District’s 2020 graduation rate has increased 20 percent since 2012, among the highest rate in the State. Meanwhile, our 2020 drop-out rate his decreased to three percent, a 70 percent decline since 2012, the highest mark in the state for that time – a testament to the hard work put in by all. Education is so important and having these significant improvements in these numbers as recently reported by DESE is very encouraging.”

Said School Committee Vice Chairman Christopher Collins: “This is certainly wonderful news for the students of Springfield Public Schools to continue the significant decrease in the drop-out rate. Students cannot learn if they

continued on page 12

10

Educación / Education

El Sol Latino May 2021

UPR- Río Piedras rinde tributo a los galardonados del Premio Nobel que han sido parte de su claustro RÍO PIEDRAS, PR | UNIVERSIDAD DE PUERTO RICO – RÍO PIEDRAS | 3 de marzo de 2021 – El pasado de 3 de marzo, fue develada oficialmente la tarja que da testimonio del reconocimiento a las cinco figuras que han recibido el Premio Nobel -máximo galardón en el mundo de las artes y las ciencias- que han sido parte del claustro de esta institución, “honor que sin duda alguna pone de manifiesto el prestigio internacional que nuestra máxima casa de estudios ha tenido a través de la historia”, según aseveró el Dr. Luis A. Ferrao, rector del Recinto de Río Piedras de la Universidad de Puerto Rico, quien encabezó la ceremonia en compañía del Dr. Jorge Haddock, presidente de la UPR. La develación de la tarja estuvo a cargo del Dr. Haddock y el Dr. Ferrao, en compañía de la señora Aida Irizarry directora del Archivo de la UPRRP. “Esta tarja -donada por egresados de nuestro campus y que desde hoy tiene un lugar de privilegio en la rotonda de nuestra emblemática Torrepone de relieve para conocimiento de todos los integrantes de nuestra comunidad universitaria -así como para la sociedad en general- el paso por nuestras aulas de los escritores Gabriela Mistral (profesora en 1933), Juan Ramón Jiménez (profesor nuestro entre 1953 y 1957), Saul Bellow (profesor en 1961) y Mario Vargas Llosa (profesor en 1969), así como del economista James Tobin (profesor en 1947)”, agregó el doctor Ferrao.

recordatorio para nuestros estudiantes, profesores y todo el personal, de todo lo que puede lograrse con pasión, educación, colaboración y constancia”, indicó Haddock.

Los Premios Nobel en la UPR-RP Gabriela Mistral (seudónimo literario de la poeta y educadora Lucila Godoy Alcayaga) nació en Vicuña, Chile, en 1889, y murió en Nueva York, en 1957. En 1945 recibió el Premio Nobel de Literatura (fue la primera concesión de este galardón a una escritora en lengua española) y en 1951 el Premio Nacional de Literatura de Chile. Como poeta, es una de las figuras más relevantes de la literatura chilena y latinoamericana. Entre sus obras destacan “Desolación”, “Tala” y “Lagar”.

Juan Ramón Jiménez nació en Moguer, España, en 1881 y falleció en San Juan, Puerto Rico en 1958. Autor de infinidad de obras, su libro en prosa “Platero y yo” (1914) es quizá uno de sus textos más célebres. En Madrid conoció a Zenobia Camprubí, española educada en Estados Unidos, con la que se casó en Nueva York en 1916. Como exiliados de la Guerra Civil Española, en 1950 ambos llegaron a Puerto Rico. Él fue profesor en el Recinto de Río Piedras de la UPR entre 1953 y 1957. En 1956 la Academia Sueca le otorgó el Premio Nobel de Literatura. Tres días después, su esposa murió en San Juan. Él jamás se recuperó de esta pérdida y permaneció en Puerto Rico hasta su deceso, mientras que Jaime Benítez -entonces rector del Recinto de Río Piedras-, aceptó el premio en su nombre.

Saul Bellow fue un escritor canadiense de origen judío-ruso, nacido en Montreal y fallecido en Massachusetts en 2005. Además del Nobel de Literatura en 1976, ese mismo año recibió el Premio Pulitzer por “El legado de Humboldt”, considerada una de sus mejores novelas y obra clave en la narrativa anglosajona del siglo XX. Fue durante su estadía en la UPR que inició la redacción de su famosa novela “Herzog”, publicada en 1964 y considerada por la revista TIME entre las mejores cien novelas en inglés del periodo de 1923 a 2005.

Gabriela Mistral, Juan Ramón Jiménez, Saul Bellow, Mario Vargas Llosa y James Tobin

El doctor Ferrao reiteró sus deseos de que “esta tarja sea un recordatorio para todo Puerto Rico de la importancia que nuestro recinto ha tenido a lo largo de su historia ya más que centenaria, no solo desde nuestra mirada, sino también a través de la pertinencia que ha tenido para estas excelsas figuras cuyo genio es parte de la historia den un galardón cimero como el Premio Nobel”.

“Celebramos los 118 años de fundación del Recinto de Río Piedras de la UPR recordando las grandes aportaciones que han hecho, desde aquí, figuras trascendentales para las humanidades, la cultura, la academia y la sociedad en general desde sus respectivos campos de enseñanza y estudio.

Esta tarja es un reconocimiento a la excelencia de esos grandes maestros, quienes tanto aportaron a la institución y quienes han sido distinguidos con el Premio Nobel, por sus aportaciones para un mejor mundo. Además es un

Mario Vargas Llosa, nacido en Arequipa, Perú, en 1936, es uno de los más importantes novelistas y ensayistas contemporáneos. Sus obras han cosechado numerosos premios, entre los que destacan el Nobel de Literatura (2010), el Cervantes (1994) —considerado como el más importante en lengua española—, el Premio Leopoldo Alas (1959), el Biblioteca Breve (1962), el Rómulo Gallegos (1967), el Príncipe de Asturias de las Letras (1986) y el Planeta (1993), entre otros. Entre sus obras más célebres figuran “La ciudad y los perros” (1962), “La casa verde” (1965) y “Conversación en La Catedral” (1969), “Pantaleón y las visitadoras” (1973) y “La fiesta del Chivo” (2000).

James Tobin -nacido en Champaign, Illinois, en 1918 y fallecido en New Haven, Connecticut en 2002- fue un economista estadounidense laureado con el Nobel de Economía en 1981. Fue miembro del Consejo de Asesores Económicos de la Presidencia de los Estados Unidos y de la Junta de Gobierno del Sistema de Reserva Federal, así como profesor en las universidades de Harvard y Yale.

Publish your bilingual ad in El Sol Latino! Call us today at (413) 320-3826.

Política / Politics

El Sol Latino May 2021

11

The Capital Insurrection and the Puerto Rican Summer Uprising

by PEDRO CABÁN Originally posted on 80grados.net – April 9, 2021 In the last two years the United States has experienced two epoch making political events.

In the summer of 2019 hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens peacefully rose up to challenge a corrupt and incompetent governor. Puerto Rico’s Governor Ricardo Rossello resisted but could not quell the incessant public outrage and was forced to resign. He is the first elected governor in Puerto Rico’s history to do so.

In the winter of 2021 thousands of enraged U.S. citizens militantly protested the results of a legitimate presidential election. Hundreds of these aggrieved protestors stormed the poorly protected U.S. Capitol where Congress was in the process of certifying the electoral college vote. But Congress did not abdicate its constitutional task in the face of the terrorist attack. The assault by self- professed patriots on the Capitol, the iconic symbol of American democracy, was the first in U.S. history.

Paradoxically, the protestors in Puerto Rico and the rioters in the nation’s Capital had similar goals. Both wanted to disrupt the government and effect a change in its leadership. In Puerto Rico people rose to depose a discredited governor and demanded greater government transparency and accountability. In the U.S. protestors launched an insurrection to preserve Donald Trump’s reign and to demolish key tenets of the constitution that enshrined the peaceful transfer of power.

But the popular uprising in the colonial archipelago and the insurrection in the seat of the American empire are categorically different. In the Senate Chamber, a somber Mitch McConnell proclaimed that the domestic terrorists were “provoked by the president and other powerful people.”

There is little doubt the riotous protest was coordinated. It was not spontaneous, and took time in the making. Months before the election, the Republicans and right-wing media synchronized an incessant stream of outrageous lies to arouse the passions and insecurities of aggrieved white supremacists loyal to Trump. This was not a people’s uprising. It was the act of an excitable mob incited by a vainglorious and morally corrupt autocratic wannabe.

Puerto Rico’s peaceful uprising mobilized hundreds of thousands. The movement arose organically and continued to gain momentum with every revelation of government ineptitude and malfeasance. It was led by autonomous self-help organizations built by anguished survivors in the aftermath of the devastation and massive loss of life wrought by Hurricane Maria in 2017. The elected leadership had failed the people. The mobilized population refused to wait until the next election to remove the incompetent and pitiless government officials. The removal of the governor and resignation of his staff were a matter of life and death.

The events of January 6 were quickly disavowed as incongruous with America’s past. In a moment of historical amnesia regarding the violent underpinnings of the birth and preservation of the American republic, President Biden pronounced that, “This is not who we are.”

Commentors in the U.S., hoping to reassure a nervous population and an incredulous world, alluded to the insurrection as an act more befitting a “third world country” than America, the world’s citadel of democracy.

It is ironic that Puerto Rico, which would peacefully weather a potentially destabilizing constitutional crisis, was portrayed in the aftermath of Hurricane María by the Trump administration and its enablers at Fox News

as a third world country. Puerto Rico evokes in the American mindset a tropical island whose population is vaguely alien and despite their U.S. citizenship are not truly American. This attitude was in full display when right wing political agitator Tucker Carlson, who Representative Alexandria OcasioCortez called out as a “white supremacist sympathizer,” interviewed governor Rossello. Carlson, feigning bemusement, wanted to know, “Why would America want to absorb a third world country into the United States” … “it is totally corrupt and dysfunctional.” Trump administration officials often referred to Puerto Rico as “that country”. For months Trump lambasted Puerto Rico as “a place” Pedro Cabán run by corrupt politicians who “take from the U.S.A.” Trump bemoaned that hurricane relief payments to Puerto Rico would hurt “our Farmers and States.” After one of his officials compared Ukraine’s corrupt government to Puerto Rico, Representative Nydia Velazquez denounced Trump for his “deep antipathy to our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico, ” which he views “as a foreign country.”

The outdated and derogatory phase “third world” has been retooled into a racialized concept to encompass politically volatile, economically devastated countries inhabited by morally deficient, frenzied black and brown people.

Trump’s vulgar references to Haiti, El Salvador and African nations as “shithole countries” captures the racial recasting of the global south.

So, saying that the storming of the Capitol by a motley swarm of white supremacists is reminiscent of the antics in turbulent “third world countries” is wrong. The attack on the Capitol was a last-ditch act of desperation to thwart the installation of a president who owed his victory to a multiracial coalition. The rioters were terrified that a Biden administration would throttle the ascendency of white supremacy, which was the lifeblood of the Trump regime.

It makes more sense to compare the January 6 riot to events from U.S. history itself: white mobs committing mass murder of African Americans in St. Louis (1917), the Red Summer (1919) Tulsa (1921), and Rosewood (1923). And let’s not overlook the state-sanctioned massacre of Native Americans at Wounded Knee (1890), and Puerto Rican nationalists at Ponce (1937).

The ugly truth is that “this is also who we are.”

PEDRO CABÁN was the Vice Provost for Diversity and Educational Equity at the State University of New York (2007-2011) and is professor of Latin American, Caribbean and U.S. Latino Studies at the University at Albany.

Cabán is the author of Constructing a Colonial People: Puerto Rico and the United States, 1898-1932. He has published dozens of articles, book chapters and review essays on the political economy of Puerto Rico, Latinos in the United States, and race and ethnic studies. He is the recipient of Ford Foundation and Dorothy Danforth Foundation grants. He is the former president of the Puerto Rican Studies Association.

Publish your bilingual ad in El Sol Latino! Call us today at (413) 320-3826.

12

Política / Politics

El Sol Latino May 2021

Joshua A. Garcia announces candidacy for Holyoke Mayor HOLYOKE, MA | PRESS RELEASE | April 22, 2021 - Joshua A. Garcia is the newest candidate that has entered the field seeking the honor to fulfill the important role of Mayor in the City of Holyoke. An MPA graduate of Westfield State University, a product of Holyoke and its public schools, and current Town Administrator for the Town of Blandford, Joshua is a practicing Public Administrator with a keen focus on community development, public management, and good governance.

His vision for Holyoke is one shared by residents from every corner of the city and that is to cultivate an environment within our local government and our neighborhoods that is sustainable, practical, and inclusive. Like everyone else, Joshua wants to see strong economic development, good public education, advanced public safety efforts, and quality municipal services.

government and how we fiscally manage, only then will we have the opportunity to better mitigate liability, adequately support our departments, and effectively meet the needs of our neighborhoods.

Once these issues are addressed, we will be in the strongest possible position to achieve the kind of growth and quality of life Holyokers want and deserve. I promise to do all of this with a focus on sustainability, practicality and inclusiveness.”

Joshua brings a diverse level of experience that ensures on day one he will be prepared to move the City of Holyoke forward. His experiences coupled with his formal education, ensure that Joshua can and will bring the broad skills necessary to serve strongly as the City’s next Mayor.

“My city and region have prepared me for this opportunity all of my life and have provided me the unique perspective, experiences, and tools to be an effective City Manager” says Garcia. “The issues facing our city are complex and I am the only candidate with the broad municipal skills and knowledge necessary to help navigate the challenges and opportunities ahead, collaboratively, in the effort to connect, build, and grow our city.” As the campaign progresses, Joshua looks forward to rollout his plan for the city as its next manager.

To achieve these, however, Joshua strongly believes we need to first work from the middle out and focus on the city’s inter-operability. His concerns of how our in-house is managed are evident at a glance of the tax rate recap sheet and the most recent certification of free cash from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.

With a two-million-dollar deficit on the city’s books and negative free cash balances, Joshua Joshua is married to Stefany E. Garcia, Family is eager to transfer his municipal management Joshua A. Garcia Access Engagement Coordinator for the Holyoke experiences to help make system changes that Public Schools. They are raising their twins Ethan will safeguard public funds, protect local assets, and Allison in their Oakdale Neighborhood home and establish a system that complies with financial standards and regulations that will help avoid appropriation deficits from overspending. On this, Joshua Contact: Joshua A. Garcia 413-306-8926. says “By strengthening measures that maintain accountability within our local

2012-2020 Drop-Out Rate Decrease Best in the State continued from page 9 are not in school and I congratulate everyone within the District who has worked so hard to increase the graduation rate and decrease the drop-out rate. They have served the City of Springfield and our students with expertise and excellence.”

in the District, which at 70.4 percent exceeds the State’s rate for English Language Learners by 2.1 percentage points. “We continue to narrow the education gap, but we have more work to do, and we remain as focused as we have been,” he said.

Superintendent Warwick pointed out the continuing graduation rate progress of the High School of Science and Technology, Central High School and Roger L. Putnam Vocational-Technical Academy. The High School of Science and Technology is now at 85.4 percent graduation rate, Central is at 88.4 percent and Putnam is at 97.6 percent. In 2012, they were at 39.9 percent, 74.6 percent, and 71.1 percent, respectively.

According to information released by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the 2020 State graduation rate increased from 88 to 89 percent over the last year; compared to the district’s increase from 73.8 to 77 percent; and the state drop-out rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points over the last year, compared to a 1.4 percentage point decrease for SPS. The state’s new graduation rate is 89 percent, and its drop-out rate is 1.6 percent.

The drop-out rates at those schools also fell significantly, according to data released by DESE. The High School of Science and Technology experienced a drop from 11.6 percent in 2012 to 2 percent in 2020; Central High School’s drop-out rate decreased from 7.7 percent to 1.6 percent for the same time period and Putnam went from 5.1 percent to 0.8 percent.

Overall, Springfield Public Schools’ work to ensure more students remain in school translates to 460 fewer students dropping out in 2020 compared to 2012.

Warwick also pointed out the graduation rate of English Language Learners

Warwick continues to credit initiatives such as identifying students at risk for dropping out early and providing the necessary academic and social/ emotional supports; the expansion of alternative and flexible pathways to graduation, such as on-line credit recovery courses; the addition of graduation coaches; ninth and tenth grade academies; a ninth-grade transition course at every high school; and offering free night and summer school courses as programs that have successfully translated into keeping kids in school longer.

Medios /Media

El Sol Latino May 2021

13

Grace Lee on more than one lens by GRACE LEE For many, public television is synonymous with Ken Burns. Documentary series like The Civil War, Baseball, Jazz, and The Vietnam War have led PBS to market him as “America’s storyteller,” as if there were only room for one.

It’s worth remembering how and why PBS came to be, and time to reinvent this system for today’s America.

In 1967, amid widespread civil unrest, CPB was created by an Act of Congress “to expand and develop a diversity of programming dependent on freedom, imagination and initiative on both local and national levels.” PBS was founded in 1969 to interconnect public television stations and distribute programs.

Fifty-one years later, as we undergo another societal breakdown and racial reckoning, how much does PBS reflect the audiences it was intended to serve?

I take this question seriously because I largely owe my own documentary career to PBS. In 2020, I was a producer on Asian Americans, a groundbreaking series for which we had five hours to tell 150 years of history spanning from the Chinese who built the railroads to South Asians targeted after 9/11. Compare this to 16 hours of Country Music, which also aired in 2020, or 13 hours of the Roosevelts—both by Ken Burns. His 2021 slate includes four hours each on Ernest Hemingway, Muhammad Ali, Benjamin Franklin, and the American Buffalo. When bison merit 80% of the airtime afforded to Asian American history, it calls into question not only the leadership of public television but also who gets to tell these stories, and why.

The decades-long interdependence of PBS decision-makers, philanthropists, and corporate funders with one white, male filmmaker highlights the racial and cultural inequities perpetuated by this system. The amount of broadcast hours, financial support (from viewers like who?), and marketing muscle devoted to one man’s lens on America has severed PBS from its very roots.

Wasn’t the initial goal to break down inequality?

s u T n e C C T S a e ¡Incluy Planes de Verano!

Tenemos disponibles en-línea docenas de cursos de educación general y electivas. ¡Garantizamos que los cursos de educación general se pueden transferir a UMass, Westfield State (y otros más) para que así puedas ahorrar dinero!

!Matricúlate Ahora!

stcc.edu/summer 4/8/21 El Sol Latino 1/4 page: 4.75” x 5.75” Manuel Frau Ramos: manuelfrau@gmail.com Due: 5 days prior to the run month Runs: May

So what do we do about it?

First, ensure that public television board rooms, executives, local stations, and filmmakers reflect the diversity of America. Every tentpole series from American Masters to Frontline to Independent Lens has been led by white decision-makers since inception. What would these series look like with BIPOC at the helm?

Fund seasoned BIPOC filmmakers at the same level that PBS has supported Ken Burns for the past 40 years. Burns is a reliable money maker for PBS, but that doesn’t mean others could not be. Risk aversion is a real concern within a system threatened by defunding every year, but this is the time to be bold. Sidebar “diversity development” programs are not enough. Ample talent exists to create urgent and necessary programming like Eyes on the Prize or Asian Americans on a yearly basis, not once every generation.

Re-assert that PBS is not beholden to one audience for its viewership and revenues. Limiting Black, indigenous, Latinx, and Asian American content to token one-offs and heritage months sustains the myth that our stories are something other than part of the American experience. It’s time for a new canon and new investment in audiences who can be a financial engine for PBS. Public television leadership must redesign its future together with the storytellers and audiences who will keep it relevant for the next 50 years. If we don’t start in this extraordinary year of reckoning, PBS will fail its founding ideals once again.

GRACE LEE is an independent producer, director, and writer working in both narrative and nonfiction film. This essay is part of the FORD FOUNDATION CREATIVE FUTURES series of provocations by thinkers across the arts, documentary, and journalism on how to reimagine their sectors. CREATIVE FUTURES is a series of 40 provocations by thinkers across the spheres of arts and culture, documentary film, and journalism unfolding throughout the fall of 2020.

Black Lives Matter Latinx Journalism Matters Support Publishers of Color The impact of COVID-19 has been especially devastating for communities of color.

Now, more than ever, independent, local journalism needs your support

El Sol Latino is your local Latinx-owned, independent news source that brings to the front lines diverse Latino voices, perspectives, news and stories.

SUPPORT EL SOL LATINO

14

Salud / Health

El Sol Latino May 2021

Community College presidents: No vaccine mandate HOLYOKE, MA | HOLYOKE COMMUNITY COLLEGE | April 21, 2021 – In a joint statement, the presidents of all 15 community colleges in Massachusetts said that none of their colleges will require students, faculty and staff to receive a COVID-19 vaccination beore returning to campus for in-person classes, although vaccinations will be strongly encouraged.

“Now that all Massachusetts residents 16+ are eligible to access appointments, we strongly urge our students, employees, and all in our college communities to receive a COVID-19 vaccination as soon as they are able,” the presidents said in the statement released Tuesday through the Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges.

For the fall 2021 semester Holyoke Community College, for one, is offering some 400 classes across the curriculum that will meet on campus at least part time for in-person instruction, with many meeting as much as 100 percent in person. HCC will also continue to offer fully online classes and blended remote classes for students who might be more comfortable with those options.

college presidents concludes. “It is essential that we meet the needs of all of our students, who are often from the communities hit hardest by this pandemic and facing disproportionate access to the COVID-19 vaccine. And now, it is more important than ever to prioritize equity, and creating additional barriers for our students would go against our critically important mission of open access for all.”

This year – 2021 – marks the 75th anniversary of Holyoke Community College, the Commonwealth’s oldest community college. HCC opened its doors in 1946 as the first two-year college in Massachusetts. In the decades since, the college has paved the way for generations of learners from western Massachusetts and beyond, a beacon of hope and opportunity for people seeking better lives. Please visit us at hcc.edu.

“We are aware that some residential colleges have announced vaccine mandates for students before they return to campus,” HCC president Christina Royal said in a separate statement. “As of this moment, HCC does not have such a policy for students who elect to take in-person classes in the fall. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have followed health and safety guidelines established by the Centers for Disease Control and the state Dept. of Public Health, in consultation with our legal counsel, and we will continue to do so going forward. “ Most classes at HCC have been meeting online or remotely since the pandemic started in March 2020.

“Considerations for the fall semester continue to develop and are subject to change, but the community colleges are not contemplating COVID-19 vaccine mandates at this time,” the joint statement from the community

Proportion of Black physicians in U.S. has changed little in 120 years, UCLA research finds

by ENRIQUE RIVERO | UCLA NEWSROOM | April 19, 2021 A new UCLA study finds that the proportion of physicians who are Black in the U.S. has increased by only 4 percentage points over the past 120 years, and that the share of doctors who are Black men remains unchanged since 1940.

The research also spotlights a significant income gap between white and Black male physicians — a disparity, the researcher writes, that could reflect a combination of pay discrimination and unequal access for physicians to pursue careers in more lucrative specialties. The paper was published on April 19, 2021 in the peer-reviewed Journal of General Internal Medicine.

“These findings demonstrate how slow progress has been, and how far and

fast we have to go, if we care about the diversity of the physician workforce and the health benefits such diversity brings to patients, particularly minority patients,” said Dr. Dan Ly, the study’s author, an assistant professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Ly analyzed data from surveys administered by the U.S. Census Bureau from 1900 to 2018. The sample included about 150,000 physicians, including about 3,300 Black male physicians and 1,600 Black female physicians.

He found that in 1900, when 11.6% of the nation’s population was Black, 1.3% of physicians were Black. In 1940, when 9.7% of the total population was Black, 2.8% of physicians were Black — 2.7% of were Black men and 0.1% were Black women. By 2018, when 12.8% of the total population was Black, 5.4% of U.S. physicians were Black — 2.6% Black men and 2.8% Black women.

Although the percentage of Black women physicians increased 2.7 percentage points between 1940 and 2018, the proportion of physicians who are Black men during the same period has remained essentially unchanged.

“If medical leadership is serious about making the physician workforce more representative of the general population, much more effective policies need to be conceptualized and implemented,” Ly said.

Ly also found that, adjusted for inflation, the difference in median income between Black and white male physicians was about $68,000 in 1960.

Although that gap narrowed a bit by 2018, to $50,000, the discrepancy was still troublingly wide, he said.

“If this represents unequal access to specialties, sustained efforts need to be made in order to diversify specialties in medicine,” Ly said.

Deportes / Sports

El Sol Latino May 2021

SPRINGFIELD OLD TIMERS SOFTBALL LEAGUE Springfield, Massachusetts Regular Season / Schedule 2021

15

16

Deportes / Sports

El Sol Latino May 2021

Opening Day - April 24, 2021