365 Days of Latino Heritage

As the nation watches the Tucson Unified School District’s spiral into disarray, hundreds of students have walked out of their Tucson schools today in a coordinated protest against the banishment of the district’s acclaimed Mexican American Studies program.

Pouring into the downtown Tucson area from Pueblo, Cholla and Tucson high schools, among other institutions, the students brought their march to the offices of floundering Tucson Unified School District (TUSD) administrators. In recent days, administrators and board members have issued a series of conflicting and inaccurate statements and carried out the extreme actions of confiscating books in front of children. Last week, a recently hired assistant superintendent from Texas made a troubing call for the deeply rooted Tucson students–many of whom trace their ancestors to the town founders– to “go to Mexico” to study their history.

Supporters of the Ethnic Studies/Mexican American Studies program, which was terminated indefinitely on January 10th by the school board, launched walkouts last week and have vowed to step up their actions for a large-scale walkout, teach-in and launch of a “School of Ethnic Studies” on Tuesday, January 24th.

—

Students Step Up Tucson Walkouts: Protest School District Folly and Mexican American Studies Banishment, AlterNet 1/23/12 (via racialicious) hell yeah! (via ihavethisblog

)

(via youlikemealready)

Following last week’s liveblog of a conversation on cervical cancer and Latin@s, Bianca Laureano shares her ideas for Cervical Cancer Awareness Month 2012 onwhat really needs to happen to end the disease.

We are celebrating along with Mamas of Color Rising in Texas the decision of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to make a rules change that adds Licensed Midwives as health care providers under Texas Medicaid. All mam@s deserve the birth experience they want regardless of income.

Last Friday, USCIS filed a notice of intent to change current policy that requires undocumented spouses and sons and daughters of U.S. citizens facing 3 and 10 year bars to file waivers outside the U.S. and then allowing them to return to their families by showing that their U.S. citizen family member would face extreme hardship as a result of the separation.

Before you break out the leftover new year’s confetti, I would like to remind people that this is a proposal. I have read the Notice of Intent and the language is very provisional. An intention is not that same as an actual action and within the actual document it states, “USCIS is considering regulatory changes…” (emphasis mine). There will be a several-month period for the public to provide comments on the proposed change before it goes into effect. A consideration is a thought, not an actual change in practice. In my opinion, a consideration is the campaign promise of an incumbent president trying to gain the Latino vote.

revolucion94:

Un mural para Oscar López Rivera

1 de enero de 2012

- CMI-Puerto Rico

Entre el 23 al 26 de diciembre de 2011 el colectivo Vanguardia Artística Revolucionaria se dio a la tarea de crear un mural para el preso político más antiguo de occidente, el puertorriqueño Oscar López Rivera.