Cada año, cuando llega el Mes de la Herencia Latina, veo como salen a la superficie los mismos estereotipos cansinos sobre los latinos y lo poco que se dice sobre aquellos de nosotros –y somos muchos– que crecimos en un entorno perfectamente ordinario. Y es especialmente cierto en el caso de Puerto Rico, donde crecí. […]
Tag: spanish
Rafael Agustín, director ejecutivo del Latino Film Institute, nos habla sobre la huelga de escritores y sus memorias cómicas, Illegally Yours
Recién cuando ya estaba promediando la escuela secundaria, buscando conseguir su licencia de conducir y solicitando la admisión en las universidades, que Rafael Agustín descubrió que era un inmigrante indocumentado. Al mudarse de Guayaquil, Ecuador, a Walnut, California, a la edad de siete años, el hoy galardonado guionista de televisión (Jane the Virgin) y director ejecutivo del Latino […]
Escritores latinos exploran el tema de su identidad
¿Qué significa ser latino en Estados Unidos? Ese fue el foco de una animada discusión durante el Festival Nacional del Libro de la Biblioteca del Congreso celebrado este mes en Washington, D.C. Héctor Tobar, profesor asociado de periodismo literario y estudios chicanos/latinos en la Universidad de California en Irvine, dijo ante un auditorio lleno que el término “latino” es […]
La lucha continúa: 53 años después, activistas comunitarios recuerdan la Moratoria Chicana
No llevó mucho tiempo para que los agentes del Sheriff, que se iban acercando a los más de 20.000 manifestantes ondeando banderas mexicanas a lo largo del bulevar Whittier en el Este de Los Ángeles, dispararan cápsulas de gas lacrimógeno y menearan libremente sus porras. Lo que inicialmente pretendía ser una expresión de oposición pacífica […]
CALÓ EN LA CALLE: Día Nacional de la Latina
A partir de 2015, cada año se celebra el Día Nacional de las Latinas el 20 de agosto. La celebración del Día de las Latinas hace hincapié en todas aquellas latinas que están marcando la diferencia con sus vidas y logrando sus metas, ya sea desde sus casas, en la escuela o simplemente identificándose con […]
Spanish sin pena, erasing the stigma of non-fluency
Latinos who do not speak Spanish feel left out and looked down upon by other Latinos from their background. Some cannot speak to other relatives or feel like a fraud when they are around them since they can’t speak the language despite looking like them. It is important now more than ever for Latinos to speak Spanish, as the language is on track in the United States to have the most Spanish speakers by 2050, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
COMMENTARY: Seven things to know about bilingual education
Bilingual education benefits both English only students and students who speak another language only. Multiple studies have shown the benefit of immersion to heritage language speakers. Spanish speaking children who enter into Spanish DLI programs have better outcomes than their peers
COMMENTARY: I Don’t Care That You’re Not Bilingual
Of U.S. Latinos, 36% are bilingual, 25% mainly use English and 38% mainly use Spanish. Among those who speak English, 59% are bilingual, according to PEW Research.
What’s on your mind this election?: ISABEL CANDELARIA, 72, of Pico Rivera
Isabel Candelaria is a 72-year-old activist, UCLA graduate, Chicana activist who considers the biggest issues in the upcoming June election to include healthcare, education, immigration and homelessness.
CALÓ ELECTION QUESTIONS: ISABEL CANDELARIA, 72, of Pico Rivera
Isabel Candelaria is a 72-year-old activist, UCLA graduate, Chicana activist who considers the biggest issues in the upcoming June election to include healthcare, education, immigration and homelessness.
COMMENTARY: On Rosalía, linguistic justice and being a grammar monk
From law to applied linguistics, “linguistic justice” has gained traction and has a bearing in translanguaging as an intersectional identity issue. When it comes to educational linguistics, linguistic justice entails promoting languages endangered due to coercive monolingual laws or racial prejudices in school settings. This justice is for the speaking selves of children, flowing unpredictably as they learn, without the stigma of incompleteness or faultiness.
This Chicana from Chicago calls California home
After years of being asked a version of this “Where are you from?” question, I don’t always answer it the same way. Sometimes I say I’m Latina. I’m involved in a campus group comprised of Latina women of different origins such as Mexico, Peru and El Salvador, and it makes sense that I say I’m Latina in that context. How I answer, how I identify, depends on the day and who is asking.