Researchers at UCLA’s Latino Policy & Politics Institute released a report this month that analyzed appointees across California’s executive branch, including those on the state’s governing boards, commissions and departments. The report found that Latinos make up 18% of appointees from the governor and legislative leaders even though Latinos are 39% of the state population. Whites are over-represented at 36% of the state population but 48% of all appointees.
Category: News
Posted inNews
How is gente dealing with inflation and high costs?
These perilous price increases threaten families and people in Los Angeles and across California who are living paycheck to paycheck. The reasons are complicated and are impacted by the pandemic, crypto winter, war in Ukraine and international economic duress. The Washington Post last month revealed that overall wages fell by 3.6 percent when adjusted for inflation. And according to research conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, “Hispanics” are one of the ethnic groups being affected the most.
Posted inHealth
L.A. Care Health Plan boosts numbers of Latinx, community-focused physicians
L.A Care Health Plan is the nation’s largest publicly operated health plan available for low-income individuals, and is working to boost the number of physicians in Los Angeles County who are people of color. Today, L.A. Care serves more than 200,000 Medi-Cal recipients.
Posted inJustice
COMMENTARY: End perpetual prison detention of Latino immigrants
Thee VISION Act prevents immigrants from being subjected to perpetual punishment and unequal treatment by prohibiting local and state agencies from conducting immigration arrests and from assisting or facilitating immigration arrests, which includes prohibiting ICE transfers
Posted inHealth
The Sodium Icon Campaign, looking to reduce salt-intake among Latino, low-income communities
In general, Hispanics/Latinos have higher dietary sodium intake, lower dietary potassium intake, and higher rates of obesity compared with non-Hispanic whites. “When we eat meals, we don’t really think about sodium or salt, it’s such a small part of how we plan our meals, but in the long term we can see how this very small thing can have a huge effect on our health, said Mónica Acevedo, Program Manager of Public Health Advocates (PHA), a social justice nonprofit organization in LA.
Posted inJustice
COMMENTARY: Political misinformation targets Latinos
In 2020, several platforms banned the #plandemic hashtag, associated with
a viral video espousing false COVID-19 conspiracies. But users continued
spreading misinformation on the platforms using #plandemia — the Spanish version — for many
more months.
Posted inJustice
Latinos define what PRIDE means, how to protect it
despite the return of Pride celebrations, many Latinos who belong to LBGTQ+ communities say that now is the time to press for more protections and prepare to fight for established rights, such as gay marriage, lest they be lost.
Posted inPolitics
CAROLINE MENJIVAR, daughter of Salvadorian parents, now a top candidate in State Senate District 20
Menjivar grew up in San Fernanco Valley, where her mother cleaned private homes and her father worked as a waiter at a Studio City country club. Menjivar recalled attending Encino Charter Elementary School, a public school in the high-priced suburb of Encino, CA. She immediately felt out of place, she said. “I was going to an affluent school where my classmate’s homes were big and they had big screen TVs,” Menjivar said. “That’s when I started [wondering] why my classmates had so many cool things, big houses, expensive things and we didn’t? As a kid, you don’t know what all that means. You just know that the inequity doesn’t feel right.”
Posted inPolitics
COLUMN: LULAC leadership appears to be in a state of disarray
There was a LULAC election slated for Saturday but that was stalled after a lawsuit was filed and a judge in Texas ordered Friday the suspension of the election. LULAC’s president García then reportedly left the island on Friday.
Posted inEquity
MIRNA MARTINEZ, proud queer bilingual Oaxacan therapist in CA
Martinez likes to refer to herself as a queer Oaxacan, first-generation American, bilingual therapist. At 27, she is also proudly among the approximately 6 percent of Latinos who serve as therapists in the U.S. Martinez credits her Oaxacan culture and the values instilled in her as a driving force for her current career and future goals.
Posted inCulture
FERNANDO LÓPEZ JR., Oaxacan heir, proprietor of LA’s La Guelaguetza
The owners of La Guelaguetza, the ward-winning Oaxacan restaurant in Los Angeles, tell us why they love Oaxaca.
Posted inCulture
COLUMN: ‘Jane the Virgin’ writer: From undocumented English learner to Hollywood
Having arrived in California at age 7 from Guayaquil, Ecuador, Agustin offers a rare glimpse into the world of an undocumented student in his new memoir, “Illegally Yours,” published by Grand Central Publishing and available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon and other retailers. Known for his work as a writer on the TV show “Jane the Virgin,” Agustin, 41, now serves as the CEO of the Latino Film Institute, which hosts the annual Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival.