Home > Somos Austin
The Big Squeeze is big treat for accordion fans
If accordion music is your thing, then Saturday’s your day. That’s when Austin plays host again to The Big Squeeze, the 2010 contest semifinals for the best young squeezebox players in Texas.
For the first time, the event will be held at the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum , located at 1800 N. Congress Ave.
The free concert is from 2 to 6 p.m. Saturday. That’s Austin’s Anthony Ortiz Jr. pictured playing at last year’s event.
Eight young musicians will vie to advance to the next round of the fourth annual contest. They are Peter Anzaldua, 13, of Brownsville; Gloria Jean Cantu, 17, of San Benito; Keyun Dickson, 18, of Houston; Roger Guerra, 17, of Mission; Ignacio Isai Morales, 14, of Dallas; Ruben Paul Moreno, 20, of Houston; Christina Valdez, 11, of San Benito; and Jesus E. Zamora, 19, from San Antonio.
The Big Squeeze also kicks off Austin Latino Music Association’s (ALMA) fifth annual Latino Music Month in Austin. ALMA joins Texas Folklife Resources and the museum in presenting the contest.
Four finalists will compete for the title at the Accordion Kings & Queens Festival in Houston on June 5.
Because The Big Squeeze falls fall on the first Saturday of the month, the museum will offer free admission to exhibits from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Among the featured exhibits at the museum is “American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular Music.”
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Culture and arts
Thoughts about a national Latino museum? Here’s your chance, Austin
What does Austin think about a national Latino museum?
That’s what the National Museum of the American Latino Commission (NMALC) wants to know as it visits Austin on Saturday for a public forum seeking feedback on the development and design of a museum honoring the culture of U.S. Hispanics. A spokeswoman said that if built, the museum would be located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.
Saturday’s event is at 10 a.m. at the State Capitol Auditorium and is open to the public.
According to a statement from the commission, the panel is interested in gauging general interest in the national museum as well as Austinites’ feelings about the potential impact of a national museum on regional Latino museums. Austin was chosen for the commission’s series of six public forums across the country because of its rich history, culture and arts scene.
President Obama and congressional leaders appointed the NMALC. It is tasked with providing a report to Congress on the possible creation of a national Latino museum.
The museum would focus on American Latino art, history and culture. The commission’s final report will be sent to Congress in September 2010.
In its statement, the commission said a number of local and area leaders are scheduled to assist with Saturday’s forum. They include: Texas Secretary of State Esperanza “Hope” Andrade; Austin City Council Member Mike Martinez; Mexic-Arte Museum co-founder and executive director Sylvia Orozco, University of Texas history professor Emilio Zamora, and Las Comadres Para Las Americas founder Nora Comstock, among many others.
Conceding their effort was a long shot, an Austin coalition said earlier this month it would make a bid to have the museum located here.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Arts
Imagine Austin needs your feedback at forums
There’s still time to have your say about how you’d like to see Austin grow over the next 30 years.
City and community leaders are inviting the public to attend one of the remaining Imagine Austin community forums this week. They continue Wednesday with two forums and another on Saturday. (An earlier forum was held Tuesday at the ACC Eastview Campus.)
The forums are actually the next stage of the Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan and Strategic Mobility Plan, which seek to guide growth over the next three decades, laying the foundation for development in everything from land use and transportation to arts, social services and education.
In an earlier stage, more than 5,000 Austinites participated, telling city they prefer a more diverse population with a diverse mix of housing types, more efficient means of getting around the city and more growth in local businesses, while still keeping Austin’s character. City officials say this week’s forums are a chance to let them know what you think of that vision.
Perla Cavazos, a member of the Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan Citizen’s Task Force, said Latino participation so far has been lackluster. Noting that Latinos represent more than one-third of the city’s population and will grow even more, she has been urging community leaders to get the word out about the importance of participating in Imagine Austin..
“I want to ensure that each segment of the city has a fair share at providing input to the plan,” Cavazos said.
Here is the remaining schedule of forums: April 28:
7:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at St. David’s Episcopal Church, 304 East 7th Street, 6p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Anderson High School, 8403 Mesa Drive
Saturday, May 1
9 - 11:30 a.m. at Fulmore Middle School 201 East Mary, Austin, TX 78704
For more information and to RSVP: http://www.imagineaustin.net/events.htm
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Austin growth
Mythical chupacabra not hard to find in San Antonio
In San Antonio, the case of the missing purported chupacabra has ended fortuitously. Indeed, now there are two of them. Alleged corpses, that is.
For those in the dark, the chupacabra — which means “goat-sucker” — is a mythical beast that’s said to terrorize Mexico and South Texas and parts between and beyond. As the stories go, they prey on pets and cattle and more than startle the occasional human who claims to stumble onto one.
But as the San Antonio Express-News reports, the creatures are about as common as the Sasquatch and South Texas snow in July, unless you’re at the city’s market square, El Mercado, around Fiesta time.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Entertainment
Nearly 67 percent of U.S. Hispanics self-identify as Mexican-origin
Nearly two-thirds of all Hispanics in the United States say they are of Mexican origin, according to new demographic profiles released Thursday by the Pew Hispanic Center.
A total of 30.7 million Hispanics of Mexican origin lived in the U.S. in 2008, according to the profiles, which are tabulations based on Census Bureau estimates from its 2008 American Community Survey.
According to Pew, nine of the other 10 largest Hispanic origin groups—Puerto Rican, Cuban, Salvadoran, Dominican, Guatemalan, Colombian, Honduran, Ecuadorian and Peruvian—account for about one-fourth of the U.S. Hispanic population.
Among some of the key findings for people of Mexican origin in the U.S.:
Thirty-seven percent are foreign-born, compared with 38 percent of all Hispanics in the U.S. and 12.5 percent of the U.S. population overall.
Sixty-one percent speak English proficiently.
They are considerably younger than the U.S. population overall. Their median age is 25; the median is 36 for the U.S. population.
One in four live in Texas. Nearly 37 percent live in California.
They have lower levels of education than Latinos overall. Only 9 percent of Mexican-origin people have at least a bachelor’s degree, compared with 12.9 percent of all U.S. Hispanics.
More live in poverty — 22 percent, compared with a 12.7 percent rate for the U.S. population overall.
Pew said that for the profiles, country of origin is not necessarily the same as place of birth, but rather a self-description in response to the Hispanic origin question in the American Community Survey.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Census
Fund created to help family of teen killed in wreck
A memorial fund has been established on behalf of Christian Ivan Martinez, the Austin teenager who lost his life tragically in a car accident near Brenham on April 11. His brother Lee was seriously injured in the collision.
Donations can be made at any Wells Fargo Bank location, a bank representative said Tuesday.
A telephone message left for Christian Martinez’s mother, Maricela Juarez, was not returned late Tuesday.
“This family needs our help,” Bobbie Garza-Hernandez, an Austin public relations consultant, said earlier in an e-mail to about 150 colleagues, friends and community leaders. She said donations are needed to cover expenses for burial and transporting the body from Houston, as well as for medical expenses for Lee Martinez.
Despite a pouring rain, a barbecue plate fund-raiser last week at Estrada’s Cleaners on East Sixth St. drew about 300 people and raised about $5,000, said Garza-Hernandez, who has two grandsons who attended Eastside Memorial High School with 14-year-old Christian.
“The young man was very well-liked by his classmates, and he was working really hard to stay on the straight and narrow,” she said.
Christian Martinez was featured in a 2009 multimedia documentary, “The Boys of Booker T.” by Austin photojournalist Jeffrey McWhorter. Links to the documentary have been posted on some Facebook social media pages, and the documentary was shown at services Sunday at an Austin church not far from the Booker T. Washington Terraces where Martinez lived.
The documentary, about the effects of absent fathers on young boys, focused in one segment on Christian, whose father was incarcerated when Christian was still a toddler, and Maricela Juarez, a devoted single mom struggling and sacrificing to raise her family.
A death notice in Tuesday’s American-Statesman said that funeral services are pending at A Life Celebration by Franklin in Taylor.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: East Austin
For some Latinos, census race question elicits strong reactions, emotions
Latinos represent the country’s fastest-growing minority group. In raw numbers, they are the biggest and fastest-growing minority population in Austin, expected to account for 70 to 80 percent of total city growth during this decade.
Advocates, however, claim that Latinos were undercounted in the 2000 U.S. census. Amid this backdrop, participation among Latinos is being watched closely this time around.
But here and across the country, some Hispanics say that the race question — Number 9 on the form — is leaving them confused and frustrated. Some Hispanics are offended, and others offer it as possible contributor to lagging response rates in local tracts with heavy Latino populations.
“I’m not one to pull the race card, but I felt like it was discriminatory,” said Anita Martinez of Austin. “It makes you feel like I’m being dismissed almost.”
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Census
Survey points to heavy census turnout among unauthorized immigrants
The conventional notion surrounding immigrants and the U.S. Census is that they are traditionally hard to count for a number of reasons — they’re unfamiliar with the importance of the count, they have language barriers and prefer to keep to themselves, and those who are here illegally fear that the information they give will be used to deport them.
But a new survey of unauthorized immigrants in six cities including Houston points to a big turnout in 2010, say researchers. The survey by RedBrownandBlue.com, a news and commentary Web site which advocates immigration reform, and San Antonio-based Interlex Communications, a Hispanic-owned ad agency, found that 76 percent of respondents said they would participate in the 2010 census.
The survey of 1,100 immigrants found more intent to participate among those who have lived here longer — 85 percent of respondents who have been in the U.S. at least 10 years said they would mail back their census form. Of that pool, only 43 percent said they participated in the 2000 census.
“The increased participation could be the result of a perfect storm,” Rudy Ruiz, founding editor of RedBrownandBlue.com, said in a statement. “Never in the history of the Census has so much been invested in ensuring that Latinos, especially the undocumented, participate in this milestone.”
A census spokeswoman said the federal agency is spending $133 million on paid advertising. Of that, about $25 million is targeting Hispanics.
Ruiz said the findings indicate that unauthorized immigrants are “yearning to come out of the shadows.”
Surveyors interviewed 1,100 Spanish speakers in person between December 2009 and January 2010 in six cities including Houston, Los Angeles, Phoenix, Miami, New York and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The locations were selected based on their Hispanic composition and population concentration, researchers said.
Earlier this month, a Pew Hispanic Center nationwide survey found that foreign-born Hispanics are more likely than native-born Hispanics to feel positive about the census — 80 percent versus 57 percent.
The survey also found that among Hispanics, the foreign-born are more likely than the native-born to say they have sent in their census form or intend to do so — 91 percent versus 78 percent.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Census
Ideological battles could have been avoided, historian says
A postscript to the controversy that erupted over the State Board of Education’s consideration of a social studies curriculum.
Texas State University history professor Jesús de La Teja thinks it was a mistake to put such a premium on the inclusion of specific figures and events in the standards. The former official state historian said ideological battles could have been avoided if the state had endorsed standards without examples and focused instead on the expectations of the curriculum.
Further, he said, just because something is in a textbook doesn’t mean it gets taught.
“So putting all your eggs in the textbook basket isn’t necessarily a good thing, either,” said de la Teja, the former official state historian. “What this requires is vigilance from the community to make sure school districts are responding to the needs of kids and parents. The textbooks are only part of the curriculum.”
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: History
Hispanic media and marketing blog features Somos Austin
“Somos Austin” is featured in hispanicprblog.com, the online vehicle for a Hispanic media and tradeshow company.
Co-publishers and longtime Hispanic marketing and public relations consultants Manny Ruiz and Angela Sustaita-Ruiz say they consider Austin their second home and got married here.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Advertising/Marketing
For Austin historian, Tejano declaration has special meaning
Every year since 2007, history scholars and history buffs dressed in period costumes of the early 1800s gather to re-enact a forgotten piece of the story of Texas — the declaration by Tejano settlers of the first Republic of Texas on April 6, 1813.
As he prepares to commemorate that history again tomorrow in San Antonio — at 2 p.m. in front of the Spanish Governor’s Palace, 105 Plaza de Armas — historian Dan Arellano says the fourth-annual Tejano Declaration of Independence re-enactment has even more meaning this time.
If the social studies curriculum endorsed by the State Board of Education is approved next month, the First Republic won’t be overlooked anymore, at least not in Texas schoolbooks, said Arellano, the president of the Tejano Genealogy Society of Austin. The Austin group co-sponsors the re-enactment with the Bexareno Genealogy Society of San Antonio.
In January, the state board gave preliminary approval to amending the seventh-grade social studies curriculum to include “events related to Mexico becoming an independent nation and its impact on Texas, including Texas’ involvement in the fight for independence (and) the Battle of Medina.”
According to historians, Jose Bernardo Gutierrez de Lara declared Texas independent of Spanish rule on April 6, 1813 after a year of war during which the republic forces raised their own flag. But the republic was quashed four months later at the deadly Battle of Medina, where the republicans were decimated by the Spanish royalist army.
But the role of Tejanos in the struggle for Texas independence is a story scholars say is largely missing from what is generally taught in classrooms. The proposed curriculum represents “a significant victory for us,” Arellano said.
“If it’s approved, it will be the first time this history is taught,” said an elated Arellano, who testified in favor of the teachings at state board hearings that drew national attention amid much criticism that the board endorsed curriculum reflecting a conservative point of view and that it tried to erase the contributions of Latinos in Texas history.
A final vote on the standards is set for May. They will be published in a state register next week, and the public will have 30 days for comment before the vote.
While Jesús F. de la Teja, a history professor at Texas State University who was Texas’ first official state historian, said he couldn’t say for sure if the Tejano declaraton of independence and the Battle of Medina, specifically, have been included in seventh-grade textbooks before, he said the significance of the proposed curriculum standards is that “you can’t tell the story of the Texas-Mexican War of Independence and that period between 1810 and 1821, without including a discussion” of the first republic and the Batlle of Medina.
Arellano has worked for years to have the Tejano declaration of 1813 recognized as the state’s seventh flag. The conventional story told in classrooms is that six flags flew over Texas.
In an interview last year, De la Teja told me that perhaps eight or nine flags actually flew over Texas. He said the important thing to remember is “how people other than Anglo Americans participated in the building and development of Texas and in fact fought for its freedoms.”
Arellano said he’s seen growing interest in Tejano history. “People are becoming aware of the fact that we have literally been left out of the history books, yet our ancestors paid a tremendous price for wanting to live here as free people,” he said.
Saturday’s re-enactment is free. Arellano said re-enactors would be dressed in Spanish, Native American and Tejano period attire. Among the scheduled speakers is University of Texas history professor Emilio Zamora. Los Texas Wranglers are scheduled to perform after the ceremonies.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: History
Foreign-born Latinos more likely to fill out census, report finds
While a majority of U.S. Latinos say that the 2010 census is good for Hispanics, it is the foreign born who are more likely to return their census questionnaires, a new survey finds.
According to study by the Pew Hispanic Center, “Latinos and the 2010 Census: The Foreign Born Are More Positive,” 78 percent of native-born Latinos surveyed said they have either sent in their census form, or will. More than 9 in 10 of foreign-born Latinos said they have sent in their form or definitely will.
The study was based on a telephone survey of about 1,000 people. The report also found that foreign-born Latinos were significantly more positive about the census than native-born Hispanics and more likely to trust the Census Bureau to keep data confidential.
The findings are notable, if not surprising, because Hispanics and immigrants are thought to traditionally have among the lowest levels of participation in the census. Immigrant advocates attribute this to a number of factors, including unfamiliarity, language barriers, low educational attainment, cultural forces that emphasize not calling attention to oneself and — for those not here legally — fear that the information they provide will be used against them by immigration authorities.
The “unfamiliarity” reason appears to have taken a hit in the report, which found that Spanish speakers are the most likely to have seen messages encouraging them to participate in the census.
Hispanics are the nation’s largest minority group. Pew said they numbered 46.8 million, or 15.4 percent of the total U.S. population, in 2008. Among all Hispanics in the U.S., 62 percent were born here and 38 percent are foreign born, Pew said.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Census
Austin march and awards dinner honor César Chávez
A 2009 recommendation to remove César Chávez from Texas’ fifth-grade social studies curriculum kindled a national outcry that lingers today. And though Chávez was not removed, the attempt drew outrage among Latinos who charged that the State Board of Education was trying to rewrite history and erase the contributions of Hispanic Americans.
The episode hangs over this weekend’s events in Austin honoring the late civil rights activist and labor leader, says a principal organizer, Susana Almanza.
“I think that brought more awareness than ever before — trying to erase such an important figure, that really brought it back to the forefront,” says Almanza, the co-director of People Organized in Defense of Earth and her Resources (PODER), which is organizing Saturday’s César Chávez “Si Se Puede!” March.
The ninth annual march begins at 10 a.m. at the Terrazas Branch Library, 1105 E. César Chávez and ends at Austin City Hall Plaza, 301 W. César Chávez. Following the march, there will be speakers, poetry readings, music and folkloric dancers.
Chࢱvez, shown in this Associated Press photo addressing a rally in 1979, dedicated his life to helping American farmworkers and co-founded, with Dolores Huerta, what became the United Farm Workers union. He died in 1993; March 31 is the anniversary of his birthday.
On that date, PODER and supporters will hand out their César Chávez awards to more than 20 community leaders for work exemplifying Chávez’s legacy. An awards dinner is at 6 p.m. at the Conley-Guerrero Senior Activity Center, 808 Nile St. The dinner is open to the public but Almanza suggested contacting PODER at 472-9921 or poder.austin@gmail.com, so organizers can prepare enough food.
Almanza said it takes 3 to 4 months to organize the Chavez events. There are routes to secure; police permits to get, expenses to worry about. PODER and its supporters inherited the duties from Barbara Caudillo-Prince, who started the first Chavez events here because she didn’t want to travel anymore to San Antonio for celebrations there. Almanza said Caudillo-Prince later moved from Austin. “She really liked the work we did and she said ‘I want you all to be the caretakers,’ ” Almanza said.
She said it’s important to honor Chávez and the working people for whom he advocated.
“That’s who César Chávez was,” Almanza said. “He was someone who was very humble, who didn’t make any money but who worked for human rights, making sure farmworkers got paid, had decent housing and that their children went to school. … He was a role model not only to the Latino community but to all people.”
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: History
Diversity efforts could pay off for Texas State
Efforts to attract more Latino students could pay off at Texas State University.
The Houston Chronicle reports that perhaps as soon as next fall, the school could become the largest public university in Texas to be designated a Hispanic-serving institution, meaning at least 25 percent of full-time students are Hispanic. The designation could bring the potential for millions of dollars a year in additional federal funding.
That’s important as Texas universities worry that a looming state budget deficit will mean less money for higher education.
It is also pragmatic in a state where 37 percent of the population is Hispanic. Other Texas universities have reached the milestone but most are small and located along the border or in South Texas.
The Chronicle reports that efforts to attract more Hispanic students coincide with President Denise Trauth’s arrival in 2002.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Education
Breakfast tacos went mainstream but it didn’t happen overnight
Decades ago, when I was not even a teenager and working in farm fields in Indiana, family members greeted dawn to cook the food that filled our tacos. Picadillo and potatoes. Eggs and frijoles or chorizo.
They wrapped them in foil, dropped them in a cooler, and off we went, crammed as tightly in our Chevy Impala as the tacos were in the cooler.
Probably because the farm work was devilishly hard, the tacos were outrageously good, and we would devour them during our brief morning breaks around 10:30, washing them down with cheap sodas. We’d been at work since 6. The more we toiled, the more we got paid, so we didn’t dally.
The breakfast tacos were not only lifeblood; in fields miles from any stores and restaurants — which we couldn’t afford anyway — they were portable, convenient and tasty. Generations of Mexican American farmworkers before us could attest to that.
So it was with some interest — and maybe a little amusement that I read this morning’s New York Times story on how it is that breakfast tacos went mainstream in Austin.
Austin can’t claim taco primacy. That category is too broad, encompassing too many variations in style. When it comes to breakfast tacos, however, Austin trumps all other American cities.
That will surely trigger some outrage in towns everywhere, including where I grew up along the border in the Rio Grande Valley. Oh wait, it already has. Some are calling it a travesty.
Breakfast tacos may have gone mainstream, but it didn’t happen overnight. For many, the trail flows back to beginnings well more than half a century ago, somewhere on cotton fields in Texas and on farms in the Heartland. There, breakfast tacos fed not only the soul. They nourished weary bodies.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Food
Andrade appointment as census ambassador gets lukewarm praise
Gov. Rick Perry’s announcement yesterday that he has named Secretary of State Hope Andrade as Texas census ambassador is drawing tempered praise from a state lawmaker who says Perry was too slow to promote the 2010 census.
“I trust that Hope Andrade will make the most out of the limited time she has to do her job,” state Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, said in a statement today. Villarreal says he was the first elected official to publicly urge Perry to take action on the census. Last October, he wrote the governor urging him to establish a statewide Complete Count Committee to support census participation. He said he never got a response.
“It is in the best interest of our state for every Texan to be counted in the census, in terms of representation and our tax dollars flowing back to Texas,” Perry said in a prepared statement Tuesday. “I am thankful to Secretary Andrade for her dedication to ensuring all Texans understand the importance and value of participating in the 2010 Census.”
Villarreal noted that a study commissioned by the U.S. Census Monitoring Board found that approximately 373,000 Texans were not counted in 2000, costing Texas more than $1 billion in federal support for education, transportation, health care and other services during the past decade.
In January, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) said Perry’s inaction on the census led it to convene a Texas Latino Complete Count Committee. MALDEF is working with more than a dozen organizations to promote a complete count among Latinos, who according to the state demographer, are responsible for about two-thirds of the state’s population growth since 2000.
Look for your census forms in the mailbox beginning Monday. Andrade and members of the legislative Mexican American and African American caucuses are scheduled to speak at a census rally Friday at the Capitol.
National Census Day is April 1, the date people will be asked to report where they live when they fill out their forms.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Census
SXSW panel to explore engaging Latino audiences
A South by Southwest music cnference music panel will explore how the entertainment industry can expand its audience by engaging Hispanics, the youngest, fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population, organizers have announced.
The music panel, “Reaching America’s Fastest Growing Market,” will be held March 19 at 5 p.m. at the Austin Convention Center. Panelists will include Tejano music pioneer Joe Hernandez, Becky Arreaga, president of the Austin-based Mercury Mambo marketing agency; and two veteran Latino marketing experts — Lionel Sosa, a Hispanic media consultant in seven GOP presidential campaigns since 1980, and David Chavez, producer of Premios Deportes, the ALMA Awards and the Tejano Music National Convention.
The panel will be hosted by local publication TODO Austin.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Advertising/Marketing
As it tries to win back Latino voters, GOP eyes worrisome numbers
After faring poorly with Latino voters in the 2006 and 2008 elections, the Republican Party is talking with increasing urgency about how to rebuild their traction with the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population, Peter Slevin reports for The Washington Post.
Some GOP strategists think the Party must be more welcoming to Latino voters.
“The numbers don’t lie,” said Whit Ayres, a GOP consultant. “If Republicans don’t do better among Hispanics, we’re not going to be talking about how to get Florida back in the Republican column, we’re going to be talking about how not to lose Texas.”
The story notes that by 2050, non-Hispanic whites are projected to account for about half the U.S. population, down from 69.4 percent in 2000. And the number of eligible Hispanic voters rose 21 percent from from 1988 to 2008 — from 16.1 million to 19.5 million.
“If you don’t go out and bring more Hispanics to our party, the math isn’t there to win, no matter what the other side does,” said (Henry) Bonilla, who has argued the case in meetings with Republican leaders in Congress. “If they’re too blind to recognize that, it’s their own selves doing them in.”
The former Texas Republican congressman from San Antonio lost his seat in 2006 to Democrat Ciro Rodriguez.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Politics
More Texans support legal means for immigrants to stay
Among the interesting findings from a new survey on Texans’ attitudes about illegal immigration is that when broken down along racial and ethnic lines, African Americans gave the most support to giving unauthorized immigrants a path to citizenship.
The Houston Chronicle reports this morning that, of Texans surveyed, almost 40 percent of blacks supported a pathway to citizenship, compared to 32.1 percent of Latinos and 26.7 percent among whites.
“There have been times when people have thought that minorities would be in competition with each other or would not be supportive of each other,” (pollster Mickey) Blum said. African Americans “were clearly supportive of that (path to citizenship). They were not looking to say, ‘Oh, wait, that’s competition for us and send ‘em back.’ … The groups that are in favor of deportation are whites and Republicans.”
The Houston Chronicle/San Antonio Express-News poll found most Texans — 52 percent — favoring allowing illegal immigrants to stay in the United States, through either a path to citizenship or work visas, than favor deporting them — 38 percent.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Immigration
State rep renews call for Perry to promote 2010 census
Representative Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, is joining critics accusing Gov. Rick Perry of failing to do enough to support the 2010 census.
Villarreal, the vice chair of the legislature’s House Redistricting Committee, said this morning he is renewing his call for Perry to direct state agencies to support participation in the census, a request he said he first made in a letter to Perry in October 2009.
Villarreal provided a copy of the letter. In it, he encourages the governor to form a state complete count committee. Villarreal said the governor never responded.
According to the Census Bureau, Texas is not among the 37 states which have formed complete count committees to spread the word that filling out the census questionnaire is important, easy and safe.
“Governor Perry has failed to seize this opportunity to bring more of our tax dollars back home to our public schools, job training programs, hospitals, transportation projects and senior centers,” Villarreal said.
Earlier this month the Latino civil rights organization MALDEF said it had convened a Texas Latino Complete Count Committee in response to the governor’s inaction on the census.
A spokeswoman for the governor said then that Perry supports efforts to get an accurate and complete count of Texas residents.
“We believe it’s in the best interest of our state in terms of representation and our tax dollars flowing back to Texas for every Texan to be counted in the census and we will look at ways to help ensure that happens,” spokeswoman Allison Castle said.
MALDEF — the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund — said it is working with more than a dozen statewide organizations and institutions, including the League of United Latin American Citizens and the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project to mobilize Latinos to be fully counted in the 2010 census.
MALDEF said the 2000 Census left an estimated 373,567 people in Texas uncounted, and the state missed out on more than $1 billion in federal funds over the last decade. It said that Latinos, particularly immigrants, students and the working poor, are among the most difficult to count communities.
The census is used to determine how $400 billion in federal funds flow back to local communities each year — for education, public works, transportation, hospitals and other services. The census totals are also used to determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives. The fastest growing state in the nation, Texas is expected to gain at least three congressional seats. States also use the totals to redraw their legislative districts.
The Census Bureau says Americans can expect to receive census forms in the mail beginning March 15.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Census
La Peña’s ‘Toma Mi Corazón turns 18
For 18 years, Austin’s La Peña has invited art lovers to “Take My Heart,” as part of its signature event, the “Toma Mi Corazón” silent art auction fundraiser featuring hundreds of wooden hearts decorated by artists, children, and even the occasional celebrity.
The newest installment is tomorrow (Feb. 6) at La Peña’s gallery space at 227 Congress Avenue in downtown Austin. The event begins at 4:30 p.m. with a preview party featuring live music by Pati McLean and Crash! Bam! Boom!, food and drinks, followed by the silent auction at 6 p.m. Admission to the preview party is $10, which includes the silent auction. Admission to the silent auction only is $5.
Fans of Toma Mi Corazón know it’s a chance to admire or buy unique, original artwork and to help support La Peña’s arts and educational programming.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Arts
Latest comments
Austin Music Memorial 2010 Inductees !
A Chip off the ole’ block, Lonnie and Louie are the first father and son to be inducted into the Austin Music Memorial .
Clifford Antone (1949 - 2006)
Martin Banks (1936-2004)
... read the full comment by Sergio A. Guerrero | Comment on River City's Henry Narvaez worked to help young people 'dream big' Read River City's Henry Narvaez worked to help young people 'dream big'
How honored and proud I am to be an American! Dr. Garza, you are a TRUE GREAT AMERICAN HERO! You have dedicated your life to protecting, educating, motivating, and inspiring ALL Americans to believe that our hopes and dreams are possible. Dr. Garza, YOU
... read the full comment by Jennifer Jones | Comment on At Austin school bearing his name, Gonzalo Garza gets his due Read At Austin school bearing his name, Gonzalo Garza gets his due
I wish I was back in Austin to join in on the fun. Thanks Juan for keeping us posted.
... read the full comment by Rosalinda Vargas | Comment on Viva La Vida Fest honors the dead while celebrating life Read Viva La Vida Fest honors the dead while celebrating life
I praise this center for the care that they have given my son. This is our chance and parents and a community to give back to a place that really cares.
... read the full comment by Bia | Comment on El Buen Pastor celebrates 34 years with fund-raising gala Read El Buen Pastor celebrates 34 years with fund-raising gala
See more recent comments