WRITEON
FOR SEPTEMBER 28, 2022
Have you found her in your change yet? It is Hispanic Heritage Month, and there she is the fourth of the American Women Quarters: NINA OTERO-WARREN, a leader in New Mexico’s suffrage movement and the first female superintendent of Santa Fe public schools! It is a beautiful coin…3 yucca flowers (New Mexico state flower (and the words VOTA PARA LA MUJER (Votes for Women). Perfect timing indeed.
Hispanic culture, like Asian culture, for example, is a wide generic name…why? Well, there are so many different Hispanic cultures (usually bound by Spanish language) and countries as there are in Asia. Hispanic is Spain, Mexico, Central, and South America, islands (like Puerto Rico), and… Asian is Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Indian, etc. You get the point. I find it better when referring to someone’s roots to say Jose is from Mexico down by Mexico City…or Ng is from Vietnam, near Hue rather than refer to them in generic terms. However, to take in all the various cultures a generic term is also helpful. Many folks are suffering at the moment, and I’d like to see real reform for our immigration system! Here are a few remarks from folks under that banner of Hispanic:
Cuban-Amer ballet dancer Lourdes Lopez discovered: “I went to the library, opened up an encyclopedia and looked up ballet…and I went WOW! I am for this! I can go to New York. I can do this for a living; I can actually grow up and be what I want to be!”
“I would forget to eat because of baseball.” Puerto Rican, Roberto Clemente
Mexican-Amer Jaime Escalante, teacher points out: ganas (desire to succeed) suggest a powerful urge to get ahead, a willingness to sacrifice and to work hard, Ganas conquers all. Ganas is all I need is a motto I give my students. I tell them that once they have ganas, learning is easy.
“Long before the Americans came to New Mexico. Long before there was any such thing as the USA, there was a Chavez family in this place with sheep…it is even so today.”
“For the National Miss Teen USA Pageant, I wanted to get an inexpensive dress to prove the point that it’s not the dress, it’s what is inside the dress. Miss Teen USA 1993. I wanted to be adopted because I’m needed someone to be a permanent part of my life.’’ Puerto Rican, Charlotte Lopez
Mexican American Dolores Huerta, VP of UFW tells us, “I started noticing racism as a teenager…we were treated differently, and it was a bitter and hurtful experience. I was treated badly because I was a poor Mexican American and a girl!
Pele the Brazilian soccer player said: “I knew how to play soccer on the street, without shoes, without a pro ball. Without a uniform. When I moved on to a very comfortable field…why wouldn’t I win?”
We are supporting and praying for our fellow citizens in Puerto Rico having been hit by Fiona, category 4, and for all those of Hispanic descent in our county, we give a shout-out and thank them for sharing the beauty of their various culturas! This celebration goes until October 15.
BLESSINGS.
