"600 words by Esther J. Cepeda"

Postcard from Ecuador

2009-07-08T21:15:19-05:00

“600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda”

Hi everyone,

I am in Ecuador, smack dab in the middle of world and having a wonderful time... ahhhh... researching, yes, that's what we journalists call it.

There's so much to say about the scene here: I was full-body scanned upon entering the country in order to determine my health as the AH1N1flu scare is going strong across Latin America.

It's been rainy and dreary, and the wall-to-wall Michael Jackson coverage has eclipsed the presidential corruption scandal (Rafael Correa, whose brother denounced him openly in the media here), the big flu tally in Brazil (74 confirmed), and the mess in Honduras (I'm disappointed the White House Press Office has completely dropped talking about the Zelaya situation in favor of the admittedly critical talks with Russia, the G8 meeting, and this emerging China situation).

But my mind has been on other things: So far, I have traveled to the center of the Earth and hopped from the northern to the southern hemisphere, I've traversed several roaring rapids via suspension bridge and base jumped off of one of them - twice.

I've climbed multiple mountain peaks, scaled several rock faces next to waterfalls, visited a farm, seen Quito's first newspaper printing presses, and eaten lots of cool stuff, though not the cuy (guinea pig) pictured here - my adventurous nature goes only so far.

There's much to talk about but, frankly, this respite from the United States is doing me a world of good. See you sometime next week!

-Esther

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Post Script ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

July 15, 2009:

I've returned stateside refreshed and invigorated, and just damned happy to be back in the most beautiful city in the world.

I didn't go so far as to kiss the ground when I walked out of O'Hare, but I was darned happy to have made it back with nothing more than a few minor bruises from falling 50 feet down the side of a steep volcano cliff into a cold river.

Also, to add to the above list, I rode horse up and down the side of a volcano, traversed several very long rope bridges across angrily roiling rivers swelled from the seemingly constant rain, rode a dune buggy through a busy downtown square (at night), ate shrimp freshly plucked from the sea, threw myself off a suspension bridge (twice) over a rocky river, hiked in the jungle, covered my face in mud and drank mineral water straight out of a puddle in the ground.

A few things I learned while in Ecuador:

1) The culture is laid-back, like REALLY laid back and if you have a Type-A personality, you'll be a tad frustrated while there. For example, like most restaurants and stores, Mc Donald's doesn't open until 9:30 or 10 am and closes about 12 hours later. Sundays are particularly tough to find anything open.

2) There is no such thing as coffee "To Go." And if you want it, let's say, at any time before your food arrives, or during the eating, you'd better ask for it as their custom is to deliver coffee at the very end of any given meal. Consider asking for two at a time if you require more than 4 ounces of regular brew at any sitting.

3) Gosh those Ecuadorians love the animated cartoon "The Simpsons"! So much so that they show it many times a day, and several times in a row. The show has become such a consuming passion that today the government is considering censoring it because it is inappropriate for families and may be damaging the populace's brains. Oh, and also, the translation voice-overs are spot-on but when there is singing, the singing is not translated and occurs in English.

4) It was my experience that the cities of Quito, Machachi, Ambato, Banos, Guayaquil, and Salinas are gorgeous, very safe, and filled with extremely nice people who are, frankly, just happy you're there to visit. The natural wonders are wonderful indeed...there's just no getting tired of looking at the mountains, the waterfalls, or the wide and diverse variety of stray dogs who seem to troll every street in a friendly, non-threatening way. (They don't, however, respond favorably to cookies as they are so unaccustomed to being offered such, ahhh, domesticated fare).

5) There is no shortage of newspapers: broadsheets, tabloids, digests, you name it. There are at least 3 national dailies and several local rags to pick from on any given streetcorner and lest you think that this is because there is no internet, forget it. There are internet cafe's (an hour costs 80 cents) on nearly every street corner as well, and every newspaper has all the social media tools like Facebook and Twitter firing on all cylinders, as evidenced by their mastheads.

So there it is - Ecuador in a nutshell. And what a very deliciously nutty place it is!

Chicagoan Isai Madriz - Riding the Rails in Argentina

2009-06-30T22:33:47-05:00

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

Let’s see…it’s been a whopping 22 months since my favorite cyclist, Isai Madriz, mounted his rickety bicycle –the one with the picture of his girlfriend Danielle taped to it – to pedal from the ‘burbs of Chicago to Argentina and back up to Venezuela to raise money for low-income students to go to college.

I’ve written about him several times (read the September post on him here, and the most recent post from March here), chronicling his amazing adventures as he rides 22,500 miles from Montgomery, IL, a tiny ‘burb outside Aurora, to Tierra del Fuego (''Land of Fire'') at the southernmost tip of Argentina, then up to Caracas, Venezuela.

Why in the world would anybody do that? He’s doing it because after struggling to pay tuition and board at Humboldt State University in California, he wanted to make it easier on other young Latino students pursuing their college degree. So he decided to make the bike trip to raise funds for college-bound low-income Hispanic students.

On this incredibly long journey he’s been chased by dogs, broken several bones, been bitten by truly horrifying bugs, and fought off several debilitating viruses.

He crossed into South America August 11, 2008 and was in Colombia in early September. In February of 2009 he crossed into Argentina and just this week he sent me a note from Buenos Aires.

"During these last three months I’ve been a volunteer at the Patagonia Nature Foundation," Isai wrote in Spanish. "During my stay I’ve [helped] rehabilitate vulture, liberated a small, hairy armadillo, and served only the best lettuce leaves and roots to a very discriminating turtle."

"In mid-May I met a new friend, Adrian Marino, an Argentinian from the Silver City – who I met, ironically, one morning out on a deserted road back in January when he, too, was riding his bike. We hooked up and he introduced me to an engineering student named Javier Grange who let us use his garage to make a contraption to ride the rails."

Apparently, the boys designed, built, ripped apart, and rebuilt this two-bike frame five times before they got it to work on the rails serviceably, though screechily, but the friction on the rails made for too many sparks and they shortly abandoned the contraption for just regular biking (folks, I am NOT making this stuff up!).

Not to be discouraged, Isai and his travelling companion decided to try again.

"Right now we are preparing to continue our journey anew and we have constructed a new and improved apparatus for riding the rail so we can traverse the next 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) to Bolivia by rail," he gushed in his note. "I will keep you abreast of what happens."

No mention of how his fundraising efforts for the low-income college students are going, but in his earnest and self-effacing dispatches he seems to be having so much darned fun I just don’t have the heart to ask what I already know: you can’t squeeze blood from a stone – folks in South America are even poorer than "starving" college kids in Illinois.

But that’s where you come in!

As Isai continues on his way I’ll keep sharing his stories with you. If you’d like to help him help poor college kids you can send donations – which will go to the education fund, not to Isai’s travel expenses – to: Jesus Guadalupe Foundation, 902 S. Randall Road, Suite C-322, St. Charles, IL 60174. Write "For Isai" on the check.

Esther J. Cepeda writes the "600 Words" & "Pregunta del Dia" columns, and is also the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. Her views and reporting do not necessarily reflect those of ISAC. "600 words" is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact eejaycee@600words.com

Barack Obama and Alvaro Uribe, Chapter 1

2009-06-29T21:41:00-05:00

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

President Barack Obama met with Colombian President Alvaro Uribe earlier today in the Oval Office around 3:40 p.m. EST. Seated in chairs in front of the fire place – beneath the George Washington photo – Presidents Obama and Uribe made remarks, paused for translations and photos, then took two questions. Sorta boring, really, in terms of theater.

But the drama of the developing situation in Honduras – against the backdrop of a White House administration furiously attempting to forge closer ties with the Latin American countries that were largely ignored by the Bush administration – made for a head-craning afternoon for those of us who care about our foreign policy toward Latin America.

I’m passing this along because – if today’s opening White House press conference question about whether the Obamas mailed a written condolence to the late Michael Jackson’s father is any indication – you won’t read much about it in the mainstream media. All quotes came from the White House Office of the Press Secretary, and my special thanks to today’s trusty pool reporter , USA Today’s David Jackson.

Obama started with the niceties, then zoomed in: "We discussed, most prominently, the interests of both countries in moving forward on a free trade agreement. This is something that has been discussed for quite some time. I have instructed Ambassador Kirk, our United States Trade Representative, to begin working closely with President Uribe's team on how we can proceed on a free trade agreement. There are obvious difficulties involved in the process and there remains work to do, but I'm confident that ultimately we can strike a deal that is good for the people of Colombia and good for the people of the United States."

Then President Obama made a quite bold statement, one that will surely be argued more in the coming days:

"I commended President Uribe on the progress that has been made in human rights in Colombia and dealing with the killings of labor leaders there, and obviously we've seen a downward trajectory in the deaths of labor unions and we've seen improvements when it comes to prosecution of those who are carrying out these blatant human rights offenses," Obama said. "President Uribe acknowledges that there remains more work to be done, and we look forward to cooperating with him to continue to improve both the rights of organized labor in Colombia and to protect both labor and civil rights leaders there.

Along those same lines, we obviously think that the steps that have already been made on issues like extrajudicial killings and illegal surveillance, that it is important that Colombia pursue a path of rule of law and transparency, and I know that that is something that President Uribe is committed to doing."

Obama, taking a page from Hillary Clinton’s book when she spoke in Mexico back in April, Obama too, took responsibility on behalf of the American People for the drug violence gripping so much of Latin America:

"It's important that the United States steps up and cooperates effectively in battling the adverse effects of drug trafficking.

And that includes, by the way, the United States reducing demand for drugs. We have responsibilities. We have responsibilities to reduce the trafficking of guns into the south that help strengthen these cartels and the flows of money and money laundering that at times involves not just the south – Southern Hemisphere but also the Northern Hemisphere. And so looking for additional ways that we can cooperate on those issues is very important."

The action then stopped, according to Jackson, "In what is beginning to become a tradition, the Colombian press corps requested and received a group photo with the president."

Apparently, Obama teased members of the pool for not wanting a picture of their own.

"You guys don't want to take a picture with me?," reporter Jackson quoted Obama as saying. "When a media member informed him that we're ‘too cool’ for that sort of thing, Obama said: ‘You're too cool, exactly - you guys are just too cool.’"

Uribe took the podium and, speaking in English, added his own bold statements:

"In the case of human rights, Colombia is rule of law in the utmost expression of public opinion participation. We -- I am the first with a duty to support of our armed forces, but for that reason of their honor, every soldier, every policeman in Colombia understands that we need credibility for this policing of democratic security, and credibility depends on effectiveness and on transparency. And transparency is a question of human rights.

Therefore, we are open, we are very receptive, to receive any advice, any suggestion on how we are going to fulfill our goal of ceasing civil violations of human rights in Colombia."

Wow, really? That’s a pretty humbled stance. What does that really mean? I have no idea.

Uribe, a president who enjoys a 70% approval rating in Colombia, followed up on a question from a reporter: "We have a recognition to advance in security, human rights, state restructure, to advance in economics, to advance in social cohesion, and for all these things it is very important to have the permanent support of President Obama, of the government of the United States, of the Congress of the United States."

During further Q&A, President Obama made this statement regarding the situation in Honduras:

"Well, let me first of all speak about the coup in Honduras, because this was a topic of conversation between myself and President Uribe.

All of us have great concerns about what's taken place there. President Zelaya was democratically elected. He had not yet completed his term. We believe that the coup was not legal and that President Zelaya remains the President of Honduras, the democratically elected President there. In that we have joined all the countries in the region, including Colombia and the Organization of American States.

I think it's -- it would be a terrible precedent if we start moving backwards into the era in which we are seeing military coups as a means of political transition rather than democratic elections. The region has made enormous progress over the last 20 years in establishing democratic traditions in Central America and Latin America. We don't want to go back to a dark past. The United States has not always stood as it should with some of these fledgling democracies, but over the last several years, I think both Republicans and Democrats in the United States have recognized that we always want to stand with democracy, even if the results don't always mean that the leaders of those countries are favorable towards the United States. And that is a tradition that we want to continue.

So we are very clear about the fact that President Zelaya is the democratically elected President, and we will work with the regional organizations like OAS and with other international institutions to see if we can resolve this in a peaceful way."

(Earlier in the day at the press briefing, Robert Gibbs the press secretary had confirmed that President Obama had not had any contact with President Zelaya Monday morning. He did say the White House had been working to avert the coup previous to the Friday incident, but didn’t give specifics on that or on whether there is a working plan for incentives or consequences for resolution of the incident.)

President Obama continued:

"With respect to the free trade agreement, obviously a lot of work has already been done on the free trade agreement, and we are hopeful that we can -- we can move forward to completion. I don't have a strict timetable, because I'm going to have to consult with Congress obviously on this issue. We've got a lot on our plates, if you haven't noticed. And I think that the burden is not simply on Colombia; I think Colombia has done a lot of excellent work. It is a matter of getting both countries to a place where their legislatures feel confident that it will be ultimately to the economic benefit of these countries.

I have noted a special concern that is bipartisan and shared both by this administration and Congress, that the human rights issues in Colombia get resolved. President Uribe has assured me that he is interested in resolving those issues. And, as I said, great progress has been made. I trust that we can make more progress. And I think that will help shape the overall environment in which this issue is being debated in Congress."

Asked by a Colombian reporter about term limits and whether Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez should be limited in any way from running for re-election, Obama gave his standard answer about not getting involved in other countries’ democratic elections.

President Uribe, took the question as platform to discuss Colombia’s brand of democracy:

I said to President Obama, first, I am concerned, because I am a member of one generation of the four or five generations that have not lived one single day in peace in Colombia or prosperity. Therefore, I consider that Colombia needs to extend in that time security, democratic values, investment in social responsibility and social cohesion – with adjustments.

And I have said to President Obama what I want to say to you. Colombia is a country of solid democratic institutions. When we speak about institutions, we cannot speak in abstract about institutions. We have to speak about institutions in concrete terms. We have 1,102 mayors directly elected by the people; 32 governors. The regions in Colombia invest 51 percent of the public expenses. My government has built governments with all the regional governors and mayors regardless their political regions, and they have many, many political regions.

The justice, administration is independent in Colombia. Colombia has solid free press. Colombia has bodies, independent bodies, for control. Colombia is a country with very solid institutions.

I beg you, journalists, to separate the convenience or inconvenience of perpetuating the precedent with the qualification of our institutions. Anyway, our democratic institutions are totally solid."

Barack Obama and Alvaro Uribe, Chapter 2, to come.

Ten who are making a big difference for us all – Chicago Latino List 2009

2009-06-24T07:00:00-05:00

“Way more than 600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda”

Long story short: nearly every time there’s any sort of Who’s Who/Mover-Shaker/One-to-Watch list in “mainstream” publications there are few, if any, Hispanics on it despite there being a ton of awesome Latinos doing truly amazing things here in Chicago.

So, in order to help blunt this perceived shortage of Latino superstars I decided to start one.

I asked for nominations, got about 120, threw out the “usual suspects” – like elected officials and already well-publicized business and community leaders – narrowed the field to get a diverse group of immigrants, U.S.-born, younger, older, community, and business types, then did one-on-one interviews.

At the conclusion, I found five men and five women all dedicating their personal and professional excellence to making Chicago, Illinois, the U.S. – and sometimes the world – a better place.

Let me say it again: these people are not merely engaged in the noble task of empowering the Hispanic community, they have their sights set on making life better for blacks, whites, multi-ethnics, rurals, suburbans, urbans, immigrants, U.S.-born, and everyone in between.

And, yeah, these rock stars just happen to be Hispanic.

Please join me in getting your inspiration on as you read the stories of the ten incredible people who comprise the first annual “Chicago Latino List.”

Click on the title to read the full profile:

Concepcion Rodriguez, 45 – Scare-you-straight Caretaker of the Dead

A bilingual Funeral Director and embalmer, reformed gang member and volunteer gang intervention specialist, Rodriguez shows children and teens the grisly ravages of drugs, alcohol and the gang culture. She also talks to communities, affluent and needy alike, about how to reach out to kids they might not even think are at risk. Through her work, she has single-handedly saved the lives of hundreds of Chicago children.

Cynthia La Boy, 37 – Conqueror of All Obstacles

A single mother and professional living with a traumatic brain injury after a brutally violent crime, La Boy was told by her doctors she’d never be able to care for herself – much less go to college or have a career. Today she works at the Lake County Housing Authority as a bilingual assistant property manager connecting families to clean, safe living conditions and teaching them how to be responsible homeowners. A living miracle, she’s an award winning advocate and authentic voice for people living with disabilities.

Antonio Martinez Jr., 36 – Charmer of Benefactors

Martinez walked away from a successful dream career in sports marketing to become one of a very few Latinos in the field of professional fundraising. As Assistant Director of Development with the Chicago Community Trust, Martinez raises money to serve the basic human needs of the entire Chicago metropolitan region by supporting vitally-necessary community-based non-profit organizations.

John Viramontes, 57 – Voice to the Voiceless

An accountant by trade and lifelong community activist by heart, Viramontes dedicates his time to major issues including predatory lending, housing parity, rights for visual artists, and immigration. On an eternal quest for social justice, he’s devoted to improving the quality of life in Chicago neighborhoods and empowering struggling artists nationally by being a community presence and passionate spokesperson.

Dr. Ana Gil-Garcia, 54 – Leveler of Educational Inequalities

A tenured University Professor at Northeastern Illinois University, author, esteemed community leader, and forerunning advocate for Latino educational leaders, Gil-Garcia is a three time Fulbright scholar and an internationally acclaimed professional. Gil-Garcia, a published author, works tirelessly for a variety of community organizations and devotes most of her passion to ensuring the Chicago Public School system is a nationally-recognized leader in employing school administration leaders who accurately represent the diversity of their student communities.

Jose Oliva, 36 – Restaurant Worker Sentinel

A Policy Coordinator with Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, Oliva is a driving force behind the legislative push to earn restaurant workers such common benefits as paid time off and job opportunity training. As the voice of both affluent teens working summer food service jobs and adults who support families with their back-of-house restaurant jobs, Oliva labors to fight poverty, racism and sexism while mobilizing local worker organizations. He not only teaches these groups how to become active and engaged in the federal political process, but he represents them in Washington, DC, as well.

Veronica Arreola, 34 – Professional Feminist

As Assistant Director for the UIC Center for Research on Women and Gender and the Director of Women in Science and Engineering Program, Arreola is a dedicated advocate for women’s rights, helping them maneuver professions that even today are still dominated by men. As a mother, accomplished blogger, and activist for women’s reproductive rights, she has won numerous awards for her work and is dedicated to helping women and girls advocate for themselves in Chicago and around the country.

Roberto Cornelio, 51 – Large Business Incubator

The Chief Operating Officer of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Cornelio – a former top executive at Fortune 500 companies – works to raise the funds, nurture the relationships and promote the programs that drive Hispanic business growth and foster the next generation of Hispanic business and business leaders. His work makes it possible for the Latino community’s instinct for entrepreneurship to thrive and, in turn, deliver jobs and opportunities to contribute to the overall economic development and job creation in Chicago and across Illinois communities.

Nelly Aguilar, 33 – Esquire to the Special

Attorney and dedicated special education advocate, Aguilar – mother to a son with Autism – works to protect the educational rights of children with disabilities. One of only approximately 15 lawyers specializing in the rights of students with special education needs, she campaigns for State and Federal law reform to help families’ secure medical, educational and recreational opportunities for their special needs children. Better still, she trains the next generation of attorneys who will serve the hundreds of thousands of Illinois children with disabilities.

Matthew Montez, 22 – De-myth-ifier of the Path to College

A former Pilsen/Little Village caseworker, recent college graduate and eternal optimist, Montez has just committed the next two years of his life to the Illinois Student Assistance Corps. After a seven-week training camp, he’s moving to Rockford to teach high school students how to prepare for, apply to and pay for college. Inspired most by those who avoid controversy and succeed despite adversity, his mission is to connect with high school students who will be the first in their family to go beyond a HS diploma, and teach them how to build enough social capital to get themselves into and through the rigors of college.

“Chicago Latino List 2009” was generously sponsored by the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Chicago White Sox, and Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Restaurants. All nominees were independently nominated for this recognition; their rejection and/or selection to “Chicago Latino List 2009” was not, in any way, influenced by any disclosed or undisclosed personal or professional proximity to Esther J. Cepeda or to any sponsor of “Chicago Latino List 2009”.

Chicago Latino List 2009 - Jose Oliva, Restaurant Worker Sentinel

2009-06-24T00:11:00-05:00

“600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda”

What Jose Oliva wants you to know is simple. It has to do with the people who cook your food, serve your food, and bus your tables at your favorite restaurant.

These fine people who nourish and cater to your dining needs – whether they be teenage girls from Wilmette, middle-aged immigrants from El Salvador, or your next door neighbor whose husband left her to fend for herself and her kids – these fine people have it rough.

Like a $2.13 Federal minimum wage for servers who make tips, rough.

Like no basic job benefits such as “paid time off,” rough.

And folks – even for the people who are just thankful to even have a job in this economy, that’s pretty damned rough.

Oliva, a 36-year-old Policy Coordinator with Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, is working to change that.

“Most people think that all restaurant workers make the well-known federal minimum wage and have sick and personal days, but they definitely don’t,” Oliva told me. “They have the Federal Family Medical Leave Act, which is extended un-paid time off, but if the President says ‘stay home if you don’t feel well’ in response to a Swine Flu epidemic, well, that’s just not an option.”

A Guatemala native who immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 13, Oliva is working on two major pieces of legislation, the Healthy Families Act, which would require businesses with 15 or more employees to provide up to seven days of paid sick leave each year. And an increase in the Federal tipped minimum wage of $2.13 (Illinois’ is a more robust $4.65, but still).

“It’s been 18 years since this dollar amount was set and the real egregious part of it is that this group has been literally singled out,” Oliva said. “It just doesn’t make any sense, there’s no reason for it to stay the same for almost 20 years.”

And it’s a pretty big group. Oliva says Chicago has the second largest number of restaurant workers in the country, over 250,000 (only Los Angeles has more) and, of course, one of the largest Latino immigrant communities in the country. “However, neither have direct, full and democratic representation in the economic and political life of our country,” Oliva says.

“The influence of the National Restaurant Association as a lobby, for instance, is about the 17th most influential in Congress (according to Forbes Magazine). Meanwhile restaurant workers have no one to speak to their issues and advocate on their behalf. This holds special weight when you factor in that most restaurant workers are immigrants in Chicago and that immigrants have a similar handicap in as far as voice in DC is concerned.”

Well, those particular restaurant workers have Jose Oliva. And he’s doing two things:

1) He’s working on re-establishing a memorandum of understanding on immigration enforcement so no immigration raids would occur at a worksite where the employees were already engaged in any other activity – like a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against their employer – “so an employer can’t just call for a raid to get rid of the problem workers and then suffer no ramifications even though he was the one breaking the law in the workplace.”

2) He’s educating workers on their rights, and on how to band together to help each other fight for better working conditions and more opportunities.

“In essence what we need to do is to demystify the legislative process, we need to make sure ordinary people who go to work feel they have a voice in government or in the companies where they work,” Oliva says. “The only way they can have that voice is to band together on common issues and that voice is magnified only if you take it to the power and speak in unison.”

His legislative action sensibility is what sets him apart from others who focus just on the workplace organizing – not that Oliva is a slouch in that department, he trained at the Organizing Institute at Midwest Academy with Jackie Kendall a nationally-known trainer now known for her work with President Obama.

“I methodically and scientifically gather workers’ stories for national reports and take it to DC,” Oliva said. “We’re not a union, not just a community organization, we’re a hybrid. We don’t just do rallies in DC, we do both and we’re trying to become a pioneer for organizations treading a new path.”

“All workers are interconnected,” Oliva said. “So to the extent you raise the conditions in one place, others follow and raise their wages and conditions. That’s how capitalism works. You have to raise wages; that teenager in Des Moines, Iowa will be positively affected by our work across the country, not just Chicago.”

“Chicago Latino List 2009” was generously sponsored by the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Chicago White Sox, and Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Restaurants. All nominees were independently nominated for this recognition; their rejection and/or selection to “Chicago Latino List 2009” was not, in any way, influenced by any disclosed or undisclosed personal or professional proximity to Esther J. Cepeda or to any sponsor of “Chicago Latino List 2009”.

Chicago Latino List 2009 – Concepcion Rodriguez, Scare You Straight Caretaker of the Dead

2009-06-24T00:10:00-05:00

“600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda”

She’s big, she’s loud, and she scares children to death.

Well, almost…better said is that 45-year-old Concepcion

“Concha” Rodriguez scares kids who don’t really understand the dangers of gang culture with real-life stories about real dead gangbangers.

“I talk to kids and tell them about the reality of the gang life, about families seeing their children cold, wrapped in plastic, cut up from an autopsy, and about their screams which will haunt me ‘til the day I die,” Rodriguez told me.

A bilingual funeral director and embalmer, the third-generation Mexican-American Rodriguez has worked for Zefran Funeral Home on the South side of Chicago since August 1995. Born in Texas but raised in the inner city of Chicago, by age 16, she was a member of the Lady Aces gang in Pilsen.

“I got out of the gang when my 15 year-old girlfriend was shot and killed as she walked with her boyfriend,” Rodriguez recalls. “They buried her in her quinceanera dress.”

“I made the choice to leave that lifestyle and become somebody, rather than a statistic.”

These days when the 5’10” self-described loudmouth walks into a room of unruly kids who firmly believe they will live forever no matter what, she makes an indelible impression.

“Usually the casket I bring gets their attention,” she told me. She takes that casket to schools and community organizations for her presentation “Don’t be Grounded by Age 18 (Tough talk straight from the Funeral Home),” and has a mirror in it, giving one pause when opened.

If that doesn’t get them she tells her own story. And if that isn’t enough she’ll get into the gross anatomy aspect. “I show the “Y” incision starting in the clavicle and how you cut from neck to navel, then from ear to ear to open your scalp and saw your skull to pull out your brain,” Rodriguez said.

And if that doesn’t get them (she talks to some seriously tough crowds!) she aims for the heart.

“Then I go into description when a mother and father has to go identify their loved one at the morgue – with your face cut up, THAT’s how your mother and father are going to see you,” Rodriguez warns. “If that’s ok for you, fine, but I tell them that when you’re in a gang so is your whole family. What if it’s your mother, little sister, or little brother who dies because of your gangbanging? Then their whole demeanor changes.”

But she doesn’t always stop there – she can’t. Rodriguez gets a shot at the worst kids: the ones who are on the precipice of real harm, real crime, the ones who could still be saved.

“I tell ‘em, ‘you WILL get violated, you WILL get beaten, girls DO get raped. I talk to them about maybe it’s too late for you but keep this away from your brother or sister,”

Her message isn’t just for those who live on the rough streets of the inner-city, though, she travels to some verrrrry nice middle-class and affluent communities, brought in by community organizations who know that today’s gangsta, thug culture holds allure for kids who have it all, too.

“Some bad seeds will be transplanted to the suburbs, or some bad kid’s going to corrupt your kids who’ve got everything and are bored,” she warns parents and grandparents. “I tell parents how they can get involved make a difference these people who live comfortably, ‘go give one hour of your time at the library,’ don’t just call them ‘bad kids’ lets all get together to make a difference. Besides, showing love and giving respect doesn’t cost money.”

But Rodriguez is tame with the adults in the suburban libraries. The really tough kids get an unwelcome trip to her funeral home where the lesson is a little more tangible.

“I tell them that if the walls of my funeral home could talk they’d hear the cries of parents, brothers, sisters,” Rodriguez said. “But when they walk out the door they have the chance to get out.”

“Chicago Latino List 2009” was generously sponsored by the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Chicago White Sox, and Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Restaurants. All nominees were independently nominated for this recognition; their rejection and/or selection to “Chicago Latino List 2009” was not, in any way, influenced by any disclosed or undisclosed personal or professional proximity to Esther J. Cepeda or to any sponsor of “Chicago Latino List 2009”.

Chicago Latino List 2009 - Roberto Cornelio, Large Business Incubator

2009-06-24T00:10:00-05:00

“600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda”

What do global, multi-million dollar, Fortune 500 companies have in common with small and mid-sized Hispanic-run businesses in Illinois?

Everything.

The same squeeze in credit, the same pricing pressures and stagnant volumes. And the same opportunities to diversify into new markets, the same access to a growing pool of talented workers, and the same necessity that so often is the mother of invention and innovation.

At least that’s how Roberto Cornelio, the 51-year-old Chief Operating Officer of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, sees it.

“This downturn is affecting Hispanic businesses with the exact same issues that affect others: access to markets, access to capital, access to resources, they’re no different from any other businesses in that sense,” said Cornelio.

And that’s how IHCC is very similar to other state-wide Chambers, with the Latino twist, of course. “We’re single-mindedly, obsessively focused on promoting and enabling Hispanic business growth and success,” the Mexican-born, lifelong Chicagoan, told me. “We advocate on issues that affect Hispanic business community and provide capacity-building assistance to Hispanic business to help them grow from startups to well-established, competitive companies.”

I translate that into empowering Latino businesses with the tools of good old American capitalism. “We give Hispanic businesses a solid foundation and position them for growth,” Cornelio seconded.

That’s no small feat, especially when Latino-owned businesses have yet to gain traction as powerbrokers and heavy-hitters in a town infamous for both.

And that’s the space where Cornelio – and the eleven-person IHCC – team work the hardest – to get Hispanic-owned businesses to be perceived as players on LaSalle Street and Michigan Avenue, rather than just as 26^th Street bastions.

For his part, Cornelio helms the yeoman responsibilities of managing programs and staff, overseeing the Chamber’s finances, executing fundraising activities, and maintaining relationships with corporate partners and stakeholders.

The Chamber provides free, one-on-one expert consulting services, training, and assistance programs to entrepreneurs, small and mid-sized companies looking to scale up. “There’s a key transition between immigrants who were the pioneers of the community businesses and their children who are going to business school to get an MBA in order to manage and grow the business,” Cornelio said. “For the first time we will have expertise, training and that network we’ve lacked as a business community.”

IHCC instills that expertise in Latino-owned businesses with training on how to navigate the sometimes choppy waters of the Illinois state procurement process, an area of major opportunity.

“Just one of the many areas of opportunity for Latino businesses is the public sector,” Cornelio said. “If you look at the majority of the spend in federal, state, and local governments, there is significant volume in the public sector, but even though there are Minority enterprise partnership programs and other such programs we still have a very small percentage of the overall spend – well under 5%”

None of this speaks to any shadowy conspiracy to keep Latinos on the fringes – though I’d argue that keeping someone out and forgetting all about them are equally damaging – but rather, a testament to what a long way we’ve come in such a very short time.

“It’s more a reflection of how new and young this community is. Much of what’s happened has happened in the last 15-20 years because of the explosive population growth. We’re now starting to create stability, and that’s a unique opportunity.”

Cornelio estimates there are about 45,000 Hispanic-owned businesses in Illinois and anecdotal data approximates that 90% operate in the under one-million dollar revenue range and about 10% see revenues of larger than 1 million dollars.

“In the state of Illinois there are hundreds of Hispanic-owned businesses in the range between $5 million to $20 million range, including some producing revenues of $50 million,” Cornelio told me. “Those businesses will continue to drive the economic engine that will fuel the economic enhancement of everyone in the community – through job creation and through the cumulative effects of entrepreneurs employing providers of professional services like accounting and legal.”

“Growing Hispanic businesses provides a significant extended economic impact for all businesses in all parts of the city and state. More and more businesses are beginning to realize that opportunity,” Cornelio said. “The accompanying step is to tune this new generation of business leaders into the need to act publicly, to insert themselves in the civic and philanthropic tapestry of the city. We need to provide a leadership role in the life of the city’s overall business community not just our own.”

“When I’m done in 10-15 years, Hispanic businesses will be a visceral part of leadership in a daily, ongoing basis, in all aspects of life, in this city and elsewhere.”

“Chicago Latino List 2009” was generously sponsored by the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Chicago White Sox, and Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Restaurants. All nominees were independently nominated for this recognition; their rejection and/or selection to “Chicago Latino List 2009” was not, in any way, influenced by any disclosed or undisclosed personal or professional proximity to Esther J. Cepeda or to any sponsor of “Chicago Latino List 2009”.

Chicago Latino List 2009 – Cynthia LaBoy, Overcomer of all Obstacles

2009-06-24T00:09:00-05:00

“600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda”

After being brutally struck with a hammer 25 times when she was just twenty-two, then living through a grueling year of recovery after which her doctor’s said she’d never never be able to care for herself – much less go to college or have a career – Cynthia LaBoy’s family moved her out of their Chicago apartment and fled to the relative safety of Lake County.

“The same day we moved, my parents took me to the campus of the College of Lake County and even though they were told ‘she’ll never do anything’ they said, ‘You’re going to get your education,’” said LaBoy, a 37-year-old Chicago-born Puertoriquena who still deals with the challenges of traumatic brain injury after a brutally violent crime.

“I needed help reading, spelling, writing, I had to fight for it and struggle, but all these other things opened up and I got the opportunity of a lifetime with the housing job through the CLC financial aid office as a student worker.”

Today she’s still at the Lake County Housing Authority, now as a bilingual assistant property manager, connecting families to clean, safe living conditions and teaching them how to be responsible homeowners.

“I help all sorts of people not just the Hispanic parts of our community, whether it’s for a leaky faucet or to translate documents from English to Spanish,” LaBoy told me in her strong, clear voice. “I deal a lot with seniors and kids, too, I take care of 150-160 apartments by managing their inspections and re-certifications to qualify as low-income housing.”

A fair amount of her time, too, is spent teaching others. “I have families who need to understand the value and importance of cutting their grass, and need to learn what it means to be a homeowner, what the responsibilities are,” LaBoy said. “They’re grateful to have a safe, sanitary home to raise their children on their own and the whole community benefits.”

LaBoy blurs the lines of work and play by getting involved with the community experience of the homeowners she assists, too. “I help organize 3-on-3 basketball games, Mother-son activities and Father-daughter dances, and Shop-with-a-Cops.” She even plays on a community softball team – “Cynthia doesn’t say ‘no!’ I didn’t say I could hit the ball but I’m gonna try –” all while being a single mom to a 12-year-old daughter, “Savannah, my pride and joy, my inspiration,” she gushed.

“I have the support of my parents who are my rock,” LaBoy said, “they’ve been with me through thick and thin, they’re the ones who taught me that with hard work you can achieve anything if you really, really want it – no matter what you want.”

One can hardly imagine what sort of firecracker this young woman was before the violence left her forever enabled by software that helps her with the reading and writing tasks her job demands, but she never even brings it up in conversation. Rather, she is literally a beacon of light who also fails to mention all the other things she does for the betterment of this region.

Ms. La Boy received the Ed Roberts Award – given to individuals who have not let their disability stand in their way – in December of 2008. She was selected in February 2008, as a representative to attend the annual conference for The Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in Illinois, and attends the Annual Brain Injury Conference every year in Oakbrook, Illinois. That never even came up in conversation.

“I’m a person with a disability, but I was given an opportunity,” LaBoy told me. “I could have died, but I didn’t die. I’m here for a reason, I have to help people who aren’t getting it otherwise.”

“If I can help somebody, if I can inspire them in some way to know you can achieve anything no matter what the obstacles, then that’s what I’m here to do.”

“Chicago Latino List 2009” was generously sponsored by the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Chicago White Sox, and Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Restaurants. All nominees were independently nominated for this recognition; their rejection and/or selection to “Chicago Latino List 2009” was not, in any way, influenced by any disclosed or undisclosed personal or professional proximity to Esther J. Cepeda or to any sponsor of “Chicago Latino List 2009”.

Chicago Latino List 2009 - Matthew Montez, De-myth-ifier of the Path to College

2009-06-24T00:08:00-05:00

“600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda”

Did you see the Chicago Sun-Times article Sunday about how the economic downturn – coupled with the new-found, unprecedented popularity of “community organizing” – has made it difficult for idealistic young college grads to get into volunteer service corps?

Well, count Matthew Montez among the lucky ones!

Montez graduated from UIC last month with a B.A. in sociology, and has committed the next two years of his life to the Illinois Student Assistance Corps, a federally-funded program which will be run by the Outreach and Access arm of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, the state agency that makes college accessible and affordable for Illinois students and families.

After an intense seven-week training camp, he’s moving to Rockford, Illinois to teach high school students how to prepare for, apply to and pay for college.

“Well in addition to being one of the best jobs I could find out there, I’m excited to go to someplace that’s similar to where I grew up and get kids to see the value in gaining knowledge,” Montez told me last week.

The burly Mexican-American has two things going for him that will go over well with the exact sort of kids he wants to connect with – those who will be the first in their families to attend school post-high school. 1) He has a super easy-going personality, “I love making people laugh,” and 2) He knows.

He knows about poverty, even though he didn’t experience it in his own family history. While an undergraduate student, the 22-year-old East Moline native, spent two years as Pilsen/Little Village Community Mental Health caseworker teaching poor and cognitively challenged or emotionally disturbed how to live independently, and positively.

“Something that I'm proud of is that I have always maintained a positive attitude in whatever I have done while at the same time having a strong grasp on reality,” Montez says. “I’ve seen people facing incredible challenges but showed them how to keep going. Whether it has been in the classroom, within my extra-curricular activities, or among my peers, I have always seen the positive side of things and have used this mentality to help quench my thirst for knowledge.”

He also knows how to get through college. Though not the very first in his family to attend a university (his older sister blazed the trail) he certainly knows a little something about getting in, and more importantly, getting out of college successfully. Plus he’ll learn about a PhD’s worth during his ISAC Corp boot camp.

Lastly, he knows how critical it is to teach young people about how powerful knowledge – of all kinds – really is.

“The high school years are probably the most crucial time for a student to understand how to take advantage of the college opportunity,” Montez said. “It’s the opportunity to go get into a classroom setting while being on your own for the first time, the opportunity to become a more mature adult.”

“My message to these kids is to look beyond your doorstep and see the real problems that face this world. Learn what is going on in the society and learn how to fix what really needs to be fixed. Understand how the world works and be able to differentiate between the good and the bad. And, appreciate the people around you and those who simply want to live a good life.”

Montez is ultimately focused on having a positive impact on the world, not just Illinois’ communities, or Rockford’s or the Hispanic community.

“My main thing is that the most important thing anybody could have is an education,” Montez said. “Whether its knowledge found on your own, or it’s constructed through organized learning, education in any form is most important.”

“Chicago Latino List 2009” was generously sponsored by the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Chicago White Sox, and Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Restaurants. All nominees were independently nominated for this recognition; their rejection and/or selection to “Chicago Latino List 2009” was not, in any way, influenced by any disclosed or undisclosed personal or professional proximity to Esther J. Cepeda or to any sponsor of “Chicago Latino List 2009”.

Chicago Latino List 2009 – Nelly Aguilar, Esquire to the Special

2009-06-24T00:07:00-05:00

“600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda”

When Nelly Aguilar’s son Jason was diagnosed with Autism and their school district basically prepared her for her son to spend his life in a basement with non-verbal children, she knew she had found her calling: to advocate for her son.

“I was stunned by the amount of trouble people have to go through to get basic education services, basic rights for their special needs children,” Aguilar, a 33-year-old Mexican immigrant whose lived in the U.S. since she was six, told me.

So the 33-year-old single mom set aside her well-tended marketing career and decided to get a law degree so she could do just that. “I knew I had to make a change, I knew that he would need a lot of support and I thought that if I went to law school I could help him and other children.”

Aguilar was a single mom to a child who screamed “15 hours a day” and none of the schools she applied to in her then-home state of Texas had any monetary support for her. DePaul University, however, gave her a scholarship worth leaving her parents behind and starting over in a city she didn’t know with a high-need child.

“After he got diagnosed, Jason needed all kinds of therapies and all kinds of help,” Aguilar said, “I would take him to school, then I would go to school, then I’d get out, go get him, take him to his therapies, go home, cook, play, get him down to bed, then stay up until midnight doing homework and studying, then I’d get up the next morning and do it all over again.”

All this and it took her only three years and one semester to get through law school! “Then I graduated and studied for the bar, and passed it,” Aguilar said nonchalantly.

Today she’s one of approximately 15 attorneys in Illinois who work solely on Special Education law as their focus.

“I represent families of children with disabilities in actions against school districts that deny students an appropriate public education. I protect their rights and advocate on their behalf under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA),” Aguilar explained. IDEA guarantees students with disabilities an adequate education with the fewest restrictions in the least restrictive classroom environment possible.

“In addition, I make recommendations on pending legislation in healthcare and education, I serve on several boards (Access Living, Autism Speaks, and Stone Soup Community Center), and I participate on statewide and national advocacy activities.”

Because all of that, AND a son with Autism whose now 9, and “doing really well,” isn’t enough, Aguilar is slated to teach a section of Special Education Law at DePaul University College of Law this fall. “I am the founder of the first clinical legal program in the Midwest that protects the educational rights of children with disabilities. I secured federal funding for DePaul University's Special Education Advocacy Clinic.”

Delving into the intricacies, horrors and inequalities of Illinois’ educational industrial complex is a fool’s errand, but Aguilar helped me put the needs into perspective.

· Very few attorneys practice special education law and even fewer attorneys are bilingual and can understand the complex struggles English Language Learners face. Live Downstate? Tough luck, Aguilar couldn’t name a single one south of Kankakee.

· The average State of Illinois institutional stay for those with severe disabilities is about $140,000 per year but the state usually won’t provide preventative therapies which generally cost much less in the long run.

· In the Chicago Public School District alone there are at least 55,000 special education students with Individual Education Plans. 85% live below the poverty level.

· In the State of Illinois there are approximately 60 due process hearings a year. In Washington DC there are about 300 per month, and that’s not because Illinois families are happier than those in DC, but there is already a law school infrastructure for pumping out special ed. lawyers who – when they win a case, get to send the school district for attorney fees. Here in Chicago, however, in-house legal departments have lawyers at the ready to defend a school district’s interests.

Aguilar will certainly start adding to the pool of independent Chicago special education lawyers as a DePaul professor. And she’ll keep fighting for families’ rights.

“I do it more for others than for Jason because he’s pretty situated,” Aguilar said. “It brings me so much hope to be able to take a child who has nothing and a family who has been stepped on or passed over, and over, and over – callously, without any regard to the child’s future,” Aguilar said.

“When I get a child the right support, then I see them a year later and the kids that couldn’t read now can…it’s like the greatest feeling in the world.”

“Chicago Latino List 2009” was generously sponsored by the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Chicago White Sox, and Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Restaurants. All nominees were independently nominated for this recognition; their rejection and/or selection to “Chicago Latino List 2009” was not, in any way, influenced by any disclosed or undisclosed personal or professional proximity to Esther J. Cepeda or to any sponsor of “Chicago Latino List 2009”.