Al servicio de la comunidad latina del condado de Humboldt
19 de noviembre, 2014
Vol. 3 Edición 4
Eureka Latinos congregate to share stories and empower one another by Adrian Barbuzza A majority of the hands in the room rose high when Elvira Saavedra asked participants at the Latino community meeting in Eureka if they had crossed the U.S. and Mexico border. The event titled “Convivio Para La Comunidad Latina de Eureka” was held at Jefferson Project Community Center on Nov. 7 as a series of meetings that aim at gathering, listening and addressing the concerns of the Latino community in Humboldt County. The meetings have come about because of the non-profit organization True North’s collaboration with other local organizers like LatinoNet and Paso a Paso. “If we have crossed the border then we truly are strong,” Saavedra said. “We are here tonight to unite, unite our voices, because with one voice we can go far together.” In hopes to empower the audience, a group of promotores and speakers shared their personal stories of immigration and overcoming obstacles to obtain their goals for a better future. The focus of the meeting took place when the attendees were asked to partner in groups of 6 to
future for their children. Eureka citizen Hilda Bogarin attended the meeting looking to be more involved in the Latino community. “It is the responsibility of a parent to be informed about their child’s life in order for their child to succeed ahead.” A mother of two Eureka High School students, Bogarin frequently attends the Parent Teacher Organization meetings at her daughter’s high school. She believes meetings like PTO and the Latino community
meeting are important and great experiences in building community. “My mother did not kiss before school not because she did not love me but because thats how things were, I am changing that for my daughters to have a better future,” said Bogarin. Community organizer Fernando Paz shared a tale meant to inspire and motivate the Latin community to work together called Los cangrejos y los americanos. In one barrel of crabs, the crabs fight to the top of a barrel,
por Óscar Olivas López
while in another the crabs burrow their way to escape the fisherman. The fisherman catches the last one before it escapes out of the barrel. The crab tells the fisherman “I am glad you caught me because I know the rest of my friends are free and can now have a better future.” “The moral of the story is yes we understand the oppression that we face but it is important to remember that we can unite to work for a better life,” said Paz.
Desde el semestre pasado, los miembros de la alianza estudiantil C.U.S., “Coalition of Unified Students”, han presionado a la presente administración para la construcción de un mural prometido por el ex-presidente Rollin Richmond. El ex-presidente de la universidad, Rollin Richmond, prometió la suma de 10,000 dólares para los materiales y la elaboración del proyecto (monto que hasta la fecha no ha sido otorgado a los estudiantes) así como también dió como fecha límite el otoño del 2015 para terminar el mural. Dadas las circunstancias, los estudiantes se han dado a la tarea de presionar a la presente administración exigiendo lo prometido. Ahora, con esta nueva administración, la promesa de la dirección ha querido ser redefinida; el mural prometido ahora podría ser proyectado electrónicamente como obra de arte contemporáneo. Los estudiantes involucrados se preguntan quién decide cómo y de qué forma se producirá el mural y cuales son los parámetros necesarios para la elaboración de este. Todo empezó cuando el prestigioso premio de artes visuales, President’s Purchase, de la Universidad de Humboldt State, fue otorgado al ex-alumno Ryan Spaulding. Su obra, Super Taco, presenta un grupo de trabajadores de apariencia latina en una cocina
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Elvira Saavedra facilitates a group at the Latino comunity event in Eureka. | Photo provided by Kelly Boehms
8 and follow a facilitator into separate rooms. The facilitators then asked their groups questions like “What keeps you up at night? What would make your family feel safe and content? What concerns do you and your family have?” Most of the examples participants gave were in regard to their families and their jobs. Some of the concerns they discussed included: deportation, job security, obtaining a driver’s licence, safety at night, healthy insurance, and insuring the brightest
El misterio del mural multicultural de HSU se acerca a su fin
La importancia de ser bilingüe en Humboldt
por Juan Carlos De La Cruz
En el condado de Humboldt, existen programas para ayudar a los padres de familia a aprender inglés como segundo idioma. Uno de esos programas es Parent Partners in Education. Este programa es libre de costo y existe gracias a la asociación de Humboldt County Office of Education, la Universidad Estatal de Humboldt y College of the Redwoods. Elizabeth Niemeyer, una de las profesoras del programa, cuenta que en las clases de la universidad comunitaria se trabaja el vocabulario, la conversación y la gramática del inglés.
aplican en la vida laboral del alumno, sea a la hora de buscar un nuevo empleo o pasar el examen nacional G.E.D (desarrollo educativo general) que puede influir mucho a la hora de aplicar para un trabajo. Este tipo de programa, es encontrado alrededor de sus casas en lugares como las preparatorias públicas de Arcata, Fortuna, Eureka y en College of the Redwoods. Una guardería gratuita es ofrecida para los padres que no tengan donde dejar a sus hijos. Como toda nueva enseñanza, cualquier principiante de este programa tendrá algunos desafíos comunes como por
“la gran motivación de estos padres es poder ayudar a sus hijos, entonces ellos quieren aprender el idioma para poder ayudarlos en las tareas, motivarlos y ayudarlos a hacer personas exitosasr.”
“También, hay diferentes tipos de talleres sobre el idioma y trabajos en colaboración con otros participantes,” explica Niemeyer. Niemeyer sostiene que la gran motivación de estos padres es poder ayudar a sus hijos. “Ellos quieren aprender el idioma para poder ayudarlos en las tareas, motivarlos y ayudarlos a hacer personas exitosas.” Los beneficios del programa,
ejemplo en la lectura, gramática o en la conversación. Algunos de los desafíos como principiante son inevitables. El ex-alumno Enedino Valladares Ramírez, comentó que uno de los desafíos que se le presentaron como alumno fue el diferenciar la gramática entre español e inglés. “Por ejemplo, en español, se pasa a la página 2
Illustration by: Jefferson Posadas
Is HSU truly practicing Environmental Justice? by Paradise Martínez Graff There is major hostility and disconnect between white students and students of color on the HSU campus. It is my hope that anyone in the Humboldt community who is a person of color, has taken an Ethnic Studies course or a Critical Race, Gender, and Sexuality course, or is simply perceptive of racism in this country and understands that the racial divide between students alone is a result of white supremacy — “the belief that white people are superior to those of all other races … and should therefore dominate society in various parts of the colonized world. The racial divide in the U.S. is due to white supremacy, because in basically all sectors of our society white people are placed at the forefront. White supremacy is the reason we as Americans see white people represented in the media as the center piece, the face of America, while people of color are placed in the background. By keeping white people at the forefront, the exploitation and oppression of people of color remains on the margins and out of sight.
One area on campus in which primarily white people are at the forefront is our alleged Environmental Justice (EJ) movement. Having primarily white people represented in the Environmental movement at HSU means that the problems that specifically affect people of color are kept outside of the environmental discourse, which is not the goal of a true Environmental Justice movement. Dorceta E. Taylor, professor in the department of natural resources and environment at the University of Michigan states that the EJ movement “does not treat the problem of oppression and social exploitation as separable from the rape and exploitation of the natural world.” Yet on campus we tend to discuss issues of environmental conservation separately from problems of “oppression and social exploitation.” As we leave out intersectionality (the study of intersections between forms or systems of oppression, domination or discrimination) in the Environmental Conservation movement, we continued on page 3