In the land of god and man

While reading silvana's last chapter, I thought to myself "who cares about hymens?" Really, what hispanic man cares that his bride is not a virgin? I have never heard of any Latino men say they only wanted to marry virgins. I guess for me, they concept that it was bad for a woman to get her hymen repared just wasnt a valid issue for her last chapter. It stuck out like a sour thumb compared to the rest of the book. It was as if she was looking to hard to find another issue to write about and it showed. I didn't seem as genuine as her first few chapters. Why did she care? Honestly if a bride to be wants to be re-virginized so she can have her fairy tale wedding wedding night and be in denial about all her other lovers before her husband, who are we or Silvana to judge them. There lives are not at stake like other women.

I just couldn't connect to the chapter becasue I found it to be irrelevant. Now if Silvana was talking about Middle Eastern women, then I could see why it was an important topic to write about. In certain Arab religions, the woman must be a virgin when she gets married and the grooms family wants the bed sheets to prove it. Her life is at risk if they find out she lied and was i fact not pure. Her family, her father would lose his honor. To certain cultures, honor id everything, and the one who ruins or takes away that honor must be punished. This means that brides are killed and its mst likely done by a family member. Heres a link to an article where an Arab woman asks if its odd that she wants her hymen repaired becasue she is to wed an Arab man.

http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2272.html

Hello, Ariel here. After doing a little research, I found a very interesting story that deals with the "International Coffee Crisis." The International coffee crisis is about coffee fields in Mexico that are struggling due to record low coffee prices. Basically there is too much cheap coffee flooding the markets. This cheap coffee not only comes from Mexico, but also other countries such as Brazil and Vietnam. With low coffee prices, the coffee fields begin to struggle, as farmers pull their children out of school in order to make them work. Coffee farmers throughout Mexico are also having the problem of exporting their coffee due to the locations of the coffee fields. 200,000 people in the Guatemalan coffee industry have also lost their jobs within the last three years.

What's also interesting about this story is that Sam Quinones actually investigated the story, by traveling to coffee fields throughout Mexico to see what the problem was. Sam traveled to such locations as Guatemala, Veracruz, Mexico City, and the Sierra Madre Mountains. I bleieve this stoyr took place sometime around 2002, but I am not too sure?

Below are two links. The first link is about the International Coffee Crisis and it's overall story. The second link is an interview with Sam Quinones, regarding his investigation of the coffee fields...which is very interesting. Hope you enjoy!

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/guatemala.mexico/thestory.html

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/guatemala.mexico/quinones.html

Journalists targeted in Drug War

I know this is not a topic in class and has nothing really to do with the books we have read this semester but seeing as we are all journalism majors everyone may be interested in this recent article in the Washington Post, Violence Against Journalists Grows in Mexico's Drug War 

In the Land of God and Delusion

By Tim Willert

In the Land of God and Man opened my eyes to a way of life that I didn't know still existed. I learned about a culture in Latin America where women are taught to be seen (look good) and not heard (don't think), while their selfish, chauvinistic husbands do whatever they want (have unprotected sex) with whomever they want (men) without being held accountable. Unfortunately, in this scenario, it is often the unsuspecting wife who pays the ultimate price (her life) because of this double standard.

Somehow, someway author Silvana Paternostro manages to break away from a pattern of thinking and living that continues to dominate her culture. I respect Paternostro for learning to think on her own, and for the courage to confront issues (gender, infidelity, homosexuality, AIDS) and institutions (marriage, religion, family) that are off limits in her country.

It is the sexual double standard Paternostro exposes in her book that should be addressed by the media because it affects the health and well-being of Latin American communities where these practices still exist, particularly among men. I think this topic calls out for a a series of features that focus on the relationship between men and women and their families and how the church shapes their values.

Living in the United States put Paternostro in touch with women who thought differently from those she had always been surrounded by in Columbia. It was in the U.S. that she "learned the jargon of equality, independence, and empowerment." Surely there are women living in this country who come from similar backgrounds who still have their heads in the sand, who could benefit from media coverage and learn to confront the outdated institutions that keep them in the dark while costing them their happiness and perhaps their lives in the end.

Fewer Mexicans Leaving Homeland

The Associated Press just released this story yesterday and it made me thing of all the books we read, particularly Enrique's Journey and Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream.  The story claims that fewer Mexican immigrants are coming to the United States because of the economy.  I was not able to find the source that conducted the survey for the story, so I am not sure how precise the numbers are.  Definitely a good read.

Fewer Mexicans Leaving Homeland

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

Here is the link to the article I was talking about in my post below. I think you'll find it an interesting read.

http://mmcisaac.faculty.asu.edu/emc598ge/Unpacking.html

De Colores Part 3

Richard brings up a good point about Elizabeth Martinez's part3 of her book De Colores. When she talks about the environmental racism it was a form of prejudice I had never thought of. To learn that people were living in such horrible conditions because other people (white people - the dominant group) felt it was okay to use their homes as dumping grounds and to dispose of toxic waste was sad to read. At the moment I'm taking a sociology class where all we talk about is racism. We discuss dominant groups and what makes them think they are superior to the people that are "below" them. What I've learned is that the people of the dominant group don’t have to go through what, say, poor people or even immigrants have to go through on a daily basis because they simply just don’t. If only it was that simple for the groups of people Martinez was talking about.

I read an article called "Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" by Peggy McIntosh and it talked about all the privileges white people get to enjoy compared to their colored neighbors. It remained me of Martinez's 12th chapter in her book because the lists of things in the invisible knapsack are all "privileges" that white people have. They are not given these privileges but are somehow born with them because of the color of their skin. Martinez talks about how not only Latinos have been discriminated against but also other people of color simply because they were different from white people.

Other thing that Martinez offered me in he readings was a sense of past. I mean she was able to shed light on my cultural heritage that I had never known before. I had no clue about the major protests and walk out that Latinos were involved in or how they had to use the colored bathrooms with the blacks during segregation. It truly opened my eyes to how the W.A.S.P.s shaped history books and decided to completely or for the most part leave out people of color for whatever reasons.

De Colores Means All of Us

Parts 3 & 4
By Richard Castañeda

The environmental racism portion of part 3 was a very engaging read because it showed me a different type of racism. I didn’t know that that sort of environmental racism occurred in this country. I’ve heard of cases in other countries by companies dumping chemicals in local water supplies, but to have that happen in the United States as well is very alarming.
It is interesting to see how racism extends this far. There are obviously more factors to racism other than the economical impact and academic impact that were explored in the first two parts.
Despite the horror stories of poor families enduring such deplorable living conditions, it was very uplifting to read how members within those affected communities stood up for their rights and defeated the corporations that were destroying their neighborhoods. The fact that community organizations took on these corporations and won is a testament to the fact that justice will eventually prevail.
Part 4 was even more inspirational with further exploration into the limitations Chicanos and Latinos face in higher education. The case of Rudy Acuña was interesting because, as a qualified person to teach and lead Chicano Studies at UCSB, he was rejected because of his “radical views.”
I reflected a lot of this section because I have always felt that colleges and universities are a special place for a person to grow. Right after high school that notion that you know everything immediately gets wiped away. The real world seems to arrive at your doorstep without a proper welcome. Sometimes it’s the classmates you meet that influence you to read different books or articles that eventually shape the opinions you carry with you for years to come or your entire life. Sometimes its faculty that inspires you by assigning homework, essays, tests that teach you and also enlighten you.
The reason I state that is because it alarms me that a board of people decides what will be taught to you and whether or not that is the best education you deserve from that institution. It’s very ironic that the board considered Acuña a Marxist and incapable of teaching at UCSB because of his views. Considering their deceitful approach to denying his appointment to UCSB, the board appeared totalitarian.
I would like to think that narrow-minded approach to educational goals does not exist at CSUN. Considering our diversity on campus it would be shame to have people elected to higher positions in this university who control what curriculum is best suited for me with a hidden agenda.

De Colores Means All of Us

De Colores Means All of Us – Parts 1 and 2
By Richard Castañeda

Elizabeth Martinez brings up many interesting points regarding the prejudice and injustice many immigrants face when they emigrate to the United States. What I most got out of the reading were all the accounts of the inhumanity by the border patrols agents against Mexican immigrants and civilian violence against immigrants.
It’s very alarming that in the University of Nevada in Las Vegas those two students set the Indian student on fire because they didn’t want any more foreign students on their campus. How desensitized to violence has this society become when random acts of incredible violence, such as murder, becomes a practical answer to the immigration problem?
Martinez’s research reaches in deep, past the race issue and into education. When she brought up the various examples of Mexican history being omitted from more than one textbook that is widely used in Californian schools, I began to think back to my education. Since this book was written around the time that I was still in elementary school, many of the examples actually coincide with my experiences there. I remember reading about The Alamo and how “courageous” my so-called ancestors were in that battle. I remember reading how we tried to “liberate” Mexico from their “failed” political system.
If anything, that actually struck the most to me. Its what came home the most. Unlike many other books that seek to explain social injustice, Martinez does not confine her research only to the plight of Mexicans and Chicanos, she is actually inclusive of other immigrants. The notion, especially in California, is that when one mentions the word, “immigrant,” assumption automatically leads the ignorant, or the not-so-well-informed, to associate that term only with Mexicans and other Latinos.
Martinez gave excellent examples of the violence Asians have experienced. One example stands out the most to me. The Chinese person who was murdered in Detroit by rival car manufacturing workers because they thought he was Japanese and the cause of their lower income. Its extremely hard for me to wrap my mind around the rationale used by those two ignorant workers that killed that innocent man. I believe that to truly understand the reasons behind people’s hatred, you must first understand their educational background. How does a flawed belief become such a mantra to these people? It begins at home and it gets reinforced in schools that employ flawed curriculums that don’t fully explore the truth in our country’s history.
There are countless reasons that may influence a person to react a certain way against another person. Ultimately, its what is taught to us that reinforces those beliefs. Whether this bigotry is taught in school or by parents, one thing remains certain: we need to do a better job of explaining history in a more truthful manner. This country, like many others, was founded in a very corrupt way. Martinez reinforces this sentiment by pointing out the flawed language used by publishers who distribute textbooks to our schools. By sugarcoating the past and not making the truth sting as much, what are we teaching our children? This country made many mistakes that it has yet to apologize for, and the more people don’t implore their government to fess up to their mistakes and to make things right, the more injustices, like the many examples mentioned throughout these 80 pages, will occur. History always repeats itself when we don’t learn it the first time around.

Politics, South Gate style

By Tim Willert

I read the Saga of South Gate, Chapter 3 of Anotnio's Gun and Delfino's Dream, with equal parts bewilderment and amazement. On one hand I found it hard to believe that a sociopath like Albert Robles was allowed to walk the streets, let alone govern a city. Not only did Robles deceive residents he robbed their city blind and justified his actions every step of the way.

But it was the community that had the last laugh, overcoming differences and pulling together to kick Robles and his pals off the city council. That in itself was what I found to be remarkable, that a group of people who didn't see eye to eye could put aside their differences and work together for the greater good -- in this case standing up against a dishonest councilman and his cronies by holding them responsible.

Robles and his robots may have won the fight, but they failed to win the war -- they underestimated their constituents, who learned the value of teamwork and organization and what it means to take your rights as a U.S. citizen seriously. Makes me wonder how much of this is going on in cities throughout California and the U.S. today.

Which brings me to my point: Without journalists keping an eye on city government more cities like South Gate would get fleeced by the men and women elected as trusted servants. Albert Robles was able to successfully manipulate a system in which a large majority of residents were either apathetic and ignorant or both, and the media didn't bother paying any attention until things got way out of hand. Which is precisly what drove a bunch of people who never got involved in city politics to get involved, and make it harder if not impossible for the type of corruption Sam Quinones writes about to happen in the future.

What I found hard to believe was that those mailers were circulating and there was no media coverage to speak of. Apparently nobody was doing their job. Which is Quinones's book, particularly Chapter 3, should be required reading for journalism graduates and community journalists who don't know their way around city hall. There are tons of stories out there that never get told because reporters are too lazy to find them.

Antonio's Gun & Delfino's Dream

By Richard Castañeda

Sam Quinones has great storytelling abilities which bring to life the stories he recounts in this book. Stories that other newspapers might find insignificant paint a picture of a culture that struggles to assimilate itself in a new society while remaining true to its roots.

The most compelling story in this collection is the lengthy "A Soccer Season in Southwest Kansas." The conflict between achieving a higher education while supporting the family monetarily. Poorer families value labor over education. It's sad to see these ideals still exist. This chapter resonated the most within me because my parents always made examples of their journey to this country, much in the same way that Delfino came to the U.S.

My parents came here illegally and within twenty years, became U.S. citizens who proudly vote speak English and contribute to this society. They always taught me that their hard work will be paid off when I graduate from CSUN.

It's baffling to see why families would want to keep their children working menial jobs that neither progress their financial situation or their social standing.

It's humbling to see that the perception of hard work will eventually reward them, but also, its important to note that without education, we're nothing.

When I read this chapter on Kansas, I came to the conclusion that the reason Latinos struggle in this country is because we mismanage our priorities. Success shouldn't be measured in money, rather it should be intelligence.

The chapter repeated that anyone could perform those odd jobs at the meat packing plants. It's fine to pursue a job like that to get on your feet, much like the Vietnamese did, but to get comfortable and earn enough money to build a house back in Mexico isn't enough of a reason to risk your life to come to the U.S. to earn a quick buck.

For this reason, I also enjoyed the "Atolinga" chapter because those stories of triumph and success should be told often. Immigrants went from nobodies in Chicago to creating a restaurant empire. That's inspiring.

Whatever the purpose Quinones had in compiling the book in the manner he did, I like the fact that the different stories he presented all showed different people and their individual perceptions of success in the U.S.

For one, becoming an elected official was success. For another, it was building a restaurant. For another, it was playing in a winning soccer team. There are so many people with different paths towards success and I think this book does a great job at presenting that notion.

I really enjoy the style Quinones uses because this is another one of those page-turner books. Not quite as exciting as "Enrique's Journey," but to learn of another person's struggle to earn a buck is enough of a reason to keep flipping to the next page.

The Tomato King

After reading chapter two "The Tomato King" in Sam Quinones's book I was left amazed. I was amazed at how someone like Andres Bermudez could win a local political office such as Mayor of Jerez. If it wasn't for Ricardo Monreal saying "Run. I'll support you," history would not have been made with the Tomato King. With Quinones description of Bermudez dressed from head to toe in black we can picture his oversized belly protruding over his black pants only to be kept in tact by a belt that must have looked like it was about to burst. Bermudez was indeed a simple man in California who had found his niche at growing tomatoes and had made it for himself. Yet for him to think that he could be mayor, a man of social and political importance was a great over shot. Although Bermudez might not have been the right man for the job, I think that what the people of Jerez wanted, someone who knew what it was like to have to leave Jerez and go to the U.S. and send money back that was achieved. That was a great victory for the people.

I did however find it a great item to add of the character Piporro into the story. I'm surprised Quinones waited till about mid chapter to bring him up. It would have made for a great anecdotal beginning telling of the story of Piporro and then comparing him to Bermudez. All in all the writing style of Quinones is refreshing. He brings the stories of immigrants to life with colorful words kept simple that makes the reading enjoyable.

Message from Andres Bermudez

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2vrBeZOl2U

Bermudez article link

Here is an article about "The Tomato King" that I thought might be interesting. It was written by a Canadian journalist who was Mexico City after Bermudez was elected Mayor.


http://agren.blogspot.com/2005/12/zacatecas-tomato-king-plagued-by.html

About Delfino's Dream first half

I think this is an interesting book because of the variety of stories it presents, letting us explore the immigration issue and its effect on people and communities, and also because of the parallels the author makes throughout the novel, starting with the similarities he highlights between the causes for Delfino’s trip and the reasons Antonio had for going north. Due to the way the writer structured the book, the stories are somewhat short and that maybe limits how thoroughly each story is developed. The prose, however, flows easily because he’s not using as many numbers as the other authors we’ve read in this class.

I also really liked the second and third chapters because they allow the reader to see how immigrants are struggling with the definition of home and how they’re starting to play an important role in Mexican and U.S. politics. That, however, is not always a good thing, like in the case of Albert Cortez, the councilman from South Gate, who used tactics from the Mexican PRI to gain power and get rid of his opponents. But I would also argue that those methods, which are described by the writer as having a Mexican origin, are also present in any election in the Latin American informal elections, where defamatory campaigns and giveaways of beans, rice or milk for the marginalized classes are common.

Another part of the book that caught my attention was when Delfino and his co-workers who weren’t from Mexico City were abused and mistreated by the natives. While the Mexican government asks for better treatment for immigrants in the U.S., Central American and people who migrate from the provinces to the big cities are abused and exploited in Mexico. That’s an interesting potential story, because I don’t think that type of discrimination is getting much coverage in the Mexican media.

1 more about Kike's journey

Maybe another story could be about the camps of migrants that have sprouted along the border and that, at the same time, concentrate more interesting potential personal profiles, from the migrants to the “coyotes” or “pateros”. This type of story is asking for a multimedia project, because the concentration of rich stories makes it possible to explore many aspects of the immigration issue and also demonstrates why more and more profound coverage is urgently needed.

While it is true not all migrants gather in this sort of camps, because big groups of them and smugglers wonder around in cities such as Tijuana and Ciudad Juarez, this type of project is attractive because it allows me to explore the interpersonal dynamics, business and interests that develop in that context.

Not only would it be interesting to do this story because these human settlements are perhaps ignored by immigration authorities (maintaining the pattern of migration and assuring more people send money back home?), but also because it lets me cover how people and communities are affected by the process of immigration directly or indirectly (e.g. how migrants pick up an addiction or how the closest town to the camp is affected economically or judicially by its chaos). Unfortunately, many migrants are stranded on the border, floating in a limbo of uncertainty, and begin to organize in gangs and commit crimes, mixing themselves with drug and human smugglers to redefine, along the way, border communities.

Similarly, I think that a good story could be developed exploring the causes of the high rate of alcoholism and drug use among Latin American immigrants. While many attribute these tendencies to their new lives in the U.S., I consider that is only part of the problem. A culture that encourages drinking as part of being macho and that pushes youngsters to drink from an early age, combined with a depression caused and accentuated by being far from their homeland are undoubtedly factors that deserve better consideration.

About Kike's Journey

After reading “Enrique’s Journey,” I was impressed by the amount of ideas for potential stories about circumstances or secondary characters in the book. Among the ideas that I think would make beautiful stories are profiles about all the characters that somehow helped migrants during their journey to the north, because thanks to their personal sacrifice and vocation many lives have been (and are) saved.

Although the stories about all these characters were superficially covered by Sonia Nazario in the book, the richness of their lives and how they fit in the immigration issue make me think that a more profound version of their stories would be a very educational and moving project.

The stories of Olga Sanchez Martinez, director of a hospice that assists injured migrants, or father Leo from Nuevo Laredo, aside from the people who threw food and water to the trains, are clear examples that oasis of humanity exist in the solitary and inclement journey to the U.S. The reasons that lead all these people to dedicate their lives to helping immigrants and their valuable opinions about different aspects of the immigration issue make these potential stories very interesting.

While it is evident that the richness of these potential stories makes them attractive for print media, the vast variety of visual elements in all of them also convince me that a story with photo essays or at least some video clips could be developed. Even though I never liked the journalistic ideology of “if it bleeds, it leads,” I admit that the numerous strong images that could be compiled about these migrants and how they’re helped by good Samaritans would be unique and fascinating.

Enrique's Journey

So I had the hardest time joining this blog, believe it or not. I thought I had joined back in September, but apparently I didn't do it correctly...I kept wondering why my name was not showing up on the right side of the page. Well I finally did it the right way, so here I am.

Well after all the books that we have read so far, Enrique's Journey has been my favorite. Although, after  starting Antonio's Gun and Delfino's Dream, this book might turn out to be my favorite. What I really enjoyed about Enrique's Journey was the fact that it was an investigative story, in which Sonia Nazario had to investigate areas and destinations that Enrique had been through, as well as interview individuals who knew Enrique. Another book which is similar is Jon Krakauer's book Into the Wild, one of my favorite books due to the fact that it was also an investigative story just like Enrique's Journey. Like Nazario, Krakauer investigated areas that the main character Christopher McCandless had traveled through and interviewed people who knew McCandless. For about two years, Krakauer followed the trail of McCandless and just like Nazario, Krakauer spent a lot of time researching the story. 

In order for authors like Krakauer and Nazario to get a good story, one must be passionate about the subject or person that they are writing about. For Nazario, to travel on top of trains and risk her life, it shows how passionate she was about the subject on immigration and how passionate she was about Enrique. 

The part of the book that most appealed to me were the sections about Enrique after he had arrived in the U.S. It was interesting to see how Enrique behaved and how his lifestyle evolved, from being a big party animal who drank every night to realizing that family was priority. Like I mentioned in class, it almost seems as if Enrique, along with other migrants, viewed the U.S. as an escape, a place to be free. 

If you really liked Enrique's Journey, and though it is not relevant to Latino Journalism, check out Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer because Krakauer used the same journalistic techniques as Nazario. 

- Ariel