"600 words by Esther J. Cepeda"

Coffee or Tea party? Whatever your cup, roll up your sleeves

2010-03-08T19:52:00-06:00

http://www.suntimes.com/news/cepeda/2089107,CST-EDT-esther08.article

Coffee or Tea party? Whatever your cup, roll up your sleeves

BY ESTHER J. CEPEDA, Sun-Times Columnist

March 8, 2010

I remember my first Tea Party invitation. The "hosts" were a group of loosely federated regional anti-illegal immigration groups, the occasion was Tax Day, and the call to action was to "protest to demand the end of taxation without representation."

The particular bone of contention was Gov. Quinn's then-proposed tax increase, described thusly: "Governor Quinn says he must raise your income tax because he doesn't have enough money to pay for all the social welfare benefits demanded by the illegal alien invaders."

Fast-forward nearly a year and the Tea Partiers are going strong -- strong enough to have stumped some and horrified others. I've read big, epic pieces in several different publications alternately describing the Tea Party Movement as being one big quasi-Ku Klux Klan hate group, or the representative conglomeration of an America so fed up with our government they're ready to bear arms against it, or a young, dynamic collection of diverse individuals -- from liberal, nose-ring sporting actresses to frustrated middle-class professionals -- simply exercising their rights to free speech and peaceable assembly in support of controlling their own destinies. Pick yer favorite.

That's the thing that makes the Tea Party movement so fascinating -- and scary to some -- it isn't monolithic, it isn't easy to sort into a neat category and it isn't easy to dismiss out of hand, especially if your perfectly rational neighbor or friend can say they agree with a lot of what they stand for -- mainly an end to government's fiscal irresponsibility.

Might there be an alternative for those sick and tired of the mess that decades of waste and corruption hath wrought but who aren't anti-government?

Enter the Coffee Party movement. According to the New York Times, it is a burgeoning national movement for those hoping to work the system rather than eliminate it. Taking a quick Facebook jaunt over to the "Join Coffee Party Movement Chicago" page, I found their official mission statement: "We recognize that the Federal Government is NOT the enemy of the People, but the expression of our collective wills. As voters and volunteers, we will support leaders who work toward positive solutions, and hold accountable those who obstruct them."

By Thursday night, they had picked up an additional 95 fans on top of the 627 present and accounted for a mere 20 hours earlier when I first checked. Not bad for a group that had been alive for about the blink of an eye.

It's still in the infancy stage, and the postings on its discussion page have, so far, ranged from micro-narratives of hustling the local coffee shop for meeting space, complaints about meetups not being near enough to home, joyous woo-hoos, suggestions for tangible goals and long tracts wondering if they've bitten off more than they can chew.

About what you'd expect from grass trying to lay down roots.

Will the Coffee Party Movement grow into the populist political force the Tea Party groups are trying to become, or will the cups-o-joe get bitter after they've been around a while? I don't care either way -- it's all good.

Though the snarky among us would say, if nothing else, that President Obama can be credited with uniting people in their hatred of him, that's too cynical for me. I'd rather look at the bright side of the discontent and frustration boiling over across almost all economic classes, in cities, suburbs and on farms, among people of all ages, races and colors -- the muscular rise of a mass of civically engaged people.

Enraged, yes -- but primarily engaged.

Coffee or Tea, both movements are engaged, passionate, energetic and willing to roll the old sleeves up and put in the time and work toward reshaping their country in a way they think will serve their self-interests -- and their country -- best.

It's a beautiful thing, this season of hot and tasty parties. So much passion, so much energy, so much desire to just "do good."

It warms the soul!

Parents cringe as more Latino students go away to college

2010-03-01T17:30:13-06:00

Parents cringe as more Latino students go away to college

http://www.suntimes.com/news/cepeda/2075669,CST-EDT-esther01.article

March 1, 2010

BY ESTHER J. CEPEDA Sun-Times Columnist

'Go away!" I tell them. Let me explain. On occasion, well-meaning teachers call me in to high schools to talk to kids who are poised to be the first in their family to attend college. I get to impress these future leaders of America and their parents with the endless benefits of higher education.

Dutifully, I cover all of the important stuff that comes from completing a degree or certification: the increased opportunity for a lifetime of stable careers, the pure joy of intellectual enlightenment. Then I get to the part that makes parents cringe: the unparalleled fun of breaking away from all you know and becoming an independent adult for the first time ever.

Often this goes over poorly with the parents in the room. When it's a predominantly Hispanic crowd, the brows furrow in a synchronized wave of distaste at the mere mention of "going away" to college. That's because in Latino households where a college education is a cherished hope, it's also generally expected that the student in question will stay home to be supported by the family in the endeavor.

Culturally speaking, Latinos are literally all about the family. Generations live together under the same roof, caring for each other from infancy to old age. You fear Dad more than you fear God, and Mom is the center of the universe. So no matter how much of a fancy schmancy smarty pants you think you are, you just don't break Mami's heart by going away to college!

From the perspective of so many parents who didn't get the opportunity to do so themselves, you just don't let your tender young child go off hundreds of miles away to study and do who-knows-what with who-knows-who. In my case, my parents knew better than to try to stop me, and lo all these years later, I can finally say there are a whole lot of others following in my footsteps.

A recent study by the UCLA Higher Education Research Institute found that since 1975, the share of Latino freshmen at four-year colleges who choose schools more than 50 miles from home has risen from about 46 percent to nearly 59 percent. At the same time, those attending four-year colleges within 10 miles of home dropped from 30 percent to 15 percent, while the proportion of white freshmen who went away to school stayed unchanged, about 66 percent.

This obviously points to the explosive growth of an acculturated Hispanic middle class comfortable with the idea that college is a ticket to the "American Dream" and that high school kids graduate and leave home for school, rather than get a job to help support the rest of the family.

Sure, the whole issue of where Latinos study is trivial when you stop to consider that despite all efforts, only 27 percent of Latinos ages 18 to 24 were enrolled in college in 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Education. That's an increase from the 1980s, but still low compared with whites, at 43 percent, and blacks, at 33 percent.

But going away -- if the opportunity is within reach -- is really important. Even Latinos who stay home know they're missing out on a special part of life. "At first, I really didn't want to go away," Ana Perez, a senior at DePaul University who lives at home in Humboldt Park and commutes to school, told me recently. "I'm really close with my family, and I didn't want to lose out on being with them."

Ana admitted that although her parents never came out and said she shouldn't go away, her college years were never discussed in the context of being out of the nest. Now in her final months as a college student, she says she's happy with her choice, but "I wish I could have done it. I didn't get to experience a lot of things -- being on my own, learning how to rely on just myself. When I have my own kids, I definitely will encourage it."

That's just how it goes: the Esthers and the Anas of the world will continue to go out and broadcast how rip-roaring wonderful college life can be, and in a few generations, a whole culture will be changed for the better.

It's a perfect time to get reacquainted with Scott Joplin, King of Ragtime

2010-02-22T21:26:43-06:00

http://www.suntimes.com/news/cepeda/2061924,CST-EDT-esther22.article

It's a perfect time to get reacquainted with Scott Joplin, King of Ragtime

February 22, 2010

BY ESTHER J. CEPEDA Sun-Times Columnist

I've been on an insane Scott Joplin bender for two weeks now. I woke up two Saturdays ago thinking about ragtime and didn't even wait to get out of bed -- I downloaded 37 different rags straight into my iPod and have been obsessively playing them all over and over and over again ever since.

There's the "Country Club Rag," "Paragon Rag," "Fig Leaf Rag," "Pine Apple Rag," "The Heliotrope Bouquet," "Maple Leaf Rag," "Elite Syncopations"; the list literally goes on and on. A few days later, I sent my piano teacher a hysterical e-mail begging him to teach me "The Entertainer" at my next lesson.

My favorite comment last week was, "Why are you listening to the ice cream truck music?" The honest answer is: I don't know.

But I do know this: I'm not a fan of "Months." You know, National Sweet Potato Month, National Foot Health Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National Tickling Month. There are so darned many of them that they no longer impart meaningful information -- not like they really should, certainly not how they were intended to.

For instance, February is National Black History Month. Sure, I remember learning about George Washington Carver, Frederick Douglass and Rosa Parks during my school years, but after that I didn't get much more in the way of continued awareness of that aspect of February.

Imagine my surprise -- and embarrassment -- when last week while blathering on about Scott Joplin, I decided to do a quick Web search for images of him, I uttered: "Scott Joplin was black?!" The answer was "Duh."

All right, so sue me. I've been hearing his music my entire life, been actively studying music for more than 21 years, have played orchestrated versions of his most popular tunes in various musical groups, mangle "The Entertainer" during my evening piano practice, and I just did not know Scott "the King of Ragtime" Joplin was black.

In my own defense, I'll tell you it never ever occurred to me to care one way or the other about this remarkably talented composer's color or race. But his story is so amazing I can't believe it isn't taught in elementary schools along with that of Revolutionary-era hero Crispus Attucks, pioneer Jean-Baptiste-Point du Sable and beauty entrepreneur Madame C.J. Walker.

I certainly can't do justice to his complete narrative here -- visit the Web site of the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Foundation for a wonderful account -- but I will say that it would have been enough that he was born with perfect pitch, taught himself the piano as a child, then the cornet and a bit of violin, and created an enduring and much-beloved part of American musical history for which he was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize.

But to have done all that starting out black in Texas circa 1870 -- sneaking practice on the pianos of the white people his mother cleaned house for as the result of an absentee ex-slave father -- is nothing short of amazing. He even did some chop-honing here in Chicago in the late 1890s with a band that played for visitors to the World's Fair who didn't mind getting their drinks in the seedier parts of town.

The classic 1973 Robert Redford/Paul Newman caper movie "The Sting" repopularized Joplin's music but, frankly, it's high time for another resurgence of interest in Scott Joplin; which is closer to the spirit of what "National Months" are all about: awareness of all the awesome things we should know.

So during this, the last week of Black History Month, I'm celebrating -- and making it up to ol' Joplin -- by jauntily pounding out "The Entertainer" and being grateful that every day brings a new opportunity to learn something new and interesting.

Volunteers help make tax time a little less taxing for low-income

2010-02-15T04:53:00-06:00

Volunteers help make tax time a little less taxing for low-income

http://www.suntimes.com/news/cepeda/2048043,CST-EDT-esther15.article

February 15, 2010

BY ESTHER J. CEPEDA

Me? I'm as nice as the next guy. I'll help people pick up dropped parcels, shovel the elderly neighbor's walk, drop a buck in the donation jar, that sort of thing.

But I'm not that nice: I've never once volunteered in a soup kitchen or spent time hanging out with the grannies in the nursing home -- it takes a very, very special person to give away their time or talent to others. Especially when that talent is highly in demand and can be charged at a premium.

For instance, it's now that time when the organized and money-savvy in our midst are reaping the rewards of an active left brain. And the very, very special ones have geared up -- in the shadow of the most financially troubled year in decades -- to help the neediest tackle that which makes even semi-organized chumps like me quake in my boots: tax returns.

Take John Kintner. As a volunteer for the Center for Economic Progress' cadre of tax and financial experts, he is giving up two evenings a week from mid-January to mid-April to help low-income people file their tax returns. Since 1990, the center, with more than 1,200 volunteers across Illinois, has been helping needy folks make the most of the Earned Income and Child Tax credits -- and probably a bunch of other ones most of us wouldn't understand. About 230,000 families have gotten $340 million back from Uncle Sam.

When he started nine years ago, Kintner could have made a sweet dime on the side of his CPA day job turning around tax documents for those of us able to pay for such expertise. But no, Kintner _-- jealous of his wife's volunteer work for a different social service organization -- decided to put his skills to use by getting trained to serve others.

"It's so satisfying to help people who work really hard and don't make a lot from it during the year," he told me. "When they come to us, we're making available something they would not have known about, and getting great service."

Can you imagine?! Why don't we all serve like this?

Of course, Kintner isn't alone. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says 63.4 million people volunteered for an organization at least once between September 2008 and September 2009, and they're all a breed apart.

To hear these people talk you'd think that the clients they serve are doing them the favor by uniting them with like-minded volunteers and providing a few fun nights out of the house to help others count their beans.

But Bill Barltey of Bloomington, a volunteer for eight years, does admit to delighting in seeing people's relief at getting the dreaded task over with and walking out with a few extra dollars, too. "It's a good thing to do, we really are accomplishing something and people walk out very grateful and pleased, very happy to get help," he said.

If you've been wondering about being called to serve others -- and you needn't limit yourself to financial volunteerism -- Jerry Inguagiato is great inspiration. As tax-prep volunteer for the center, he has been doing this work for about nine years on the Truman College campus in Chicago, helping people from all over the world. He shrugs and says it's simply an "easy" way to make the world a better place for people one day at a time.

"I do it just to give back to society because I'm really blessed in my life," said Inguagiato, a full-time CPA from the suburbs. "My ancestors came on a boat from Sicily. Truman has a very diverse client base, a lot of people new to the country, and it's a way for me to give back to my grandparents. I hope someone helped them when they got here."

Wow. Maybe we should all consider being nicer than the next guy by giving of our time and talent. Let's join the breed -- we'll be in good company.

DHS’ FYI on Illinois’ illegal aliens

2010-02-10T18:31:07-06:00

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

The Department of Homeland security provided a keyhole of hopeful light for the reform crowd on Tuesday. They published "Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: January 2009" which was written by Michael Hoefer, Nancy Rytina, and Bryan C. Baker.

The report provides estimates of the number of illegal – they use the term "unauthorized" – immigrants residing in the United States as of January 2009 by period of entry, region and country of origin, state of residence, age, and gender. It also provides a favorable environment for the comprehensive immigration reform movement in that it shows that there are now less illegal immigrants residing in the US than there once was. This lessening will surely be attributed to better practices in DHS’ enforcement of existing laws, though they do also credit the Great Recession.

The bottom line is that true reform was not going to be a palatable concept to the illegal-immigration-is-killing-this-country crowd while illegal immigration was booming. The rallying cry on that side back in 2005 when the Sensenbrenner bill was introduced was – and continued to be – that you cannot talk about human reform and dealing equitably with those already here when the borders were still bleeding illegal immigrants daily. I always thought that was a good point that never got the attention it deserved.

At any rate, as you’ll see from DHS’ report -- whether for enforcement climate reasons or economic reasons -- illegal immigration has slowly abated and this might provide an opportunity for productive reform talks between both sides of the aisle.

Here are the items I’ve selected as the report’s highlights:



Between 2000 and 2009, the unauthorized population grew by 27 percent. Of all unauthorized immigrants living in the United States in 2009, 63 percent entered before 2000, and 62 percent were from Mexico.



Between January 2008 and January 2009, the number of unauthorized immigrants living in the United States decreased seven percent from 11.6 million to 10.8 million.

Here are state stats:



Between 2000 and 2007, the unauthorized population grew by 3.3 million from 8.5 million to 11.8 million. The number of unauthorized residents declined by 1.0 million between 2007 and 2009, coincident with the U.S. economic downturn. The overall annual average increase in the unauthorized population during the 2000-2009 period was 250,000.

Here is country of origin info:



The unauthorized resident population is the remainder or "residual" after estimates of the legally resident foreign-born population – legal permanent residents (LPRs), asylees, refugees, and nonimmigrants – are subtracted from estimates of the total foreign-born population

Here are demographic details:



The unauthorized resident immigrant population is defined as all foreign-born non-citizens who are not legal residents. Most unauthorized residents either entered the United States without inspection or were admitted temporarily and stayed past the date they were required to leave. Unauthorized immigrants applying for adjustment to lawful permanent resident status under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) Section 245(i) are unauthorized until they have been granted LPR status, even though they may have been authorized to work. Persons who are beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status (TPS)—an estimated several hundred thousand—are not technically unauthorized but were excluded from the legally resident immigrant population because data are unavailable in sufficient detail to estimate this population.

DHS has said that from now moving forward, this report will be updated and made available annually based on "the [annual] foreign-born population collected in the American Community Survey and on the estimated lawfully resident foreign-born population derived from various administrative data sources."

We’ll stay tuned. Until then, the full report can be found at http://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/statistics/publications/ois_ill_pe_2009.pdf

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

Palin uses 'retard' issue not to support, but to tear down

2010-02-08T05:18:00-06:00

Palin uses 'retard' issue not to support, but to tear down

http://www.suntimes.com/news/cepeda/2034937,CST-EDT-esther08.article

February 8, 2010

BY ESTHER J CEPEDA

Over the years, I've known many people whom I considered less advanced in mental, physical or social development than is usual for their age. Faced with such a person frustrating me, I never came out and called them "retarded," though that's the very definition of the term. I'm persnickety about words and, frankly, I've chosen more colorful language.

Oh, that Rahm Emanuel had done the same and relied on his panoply of "f-word" conjugations.

In case you haven't heard, President Obama's notoriously foul-mouthed chief of staff bowed to pressure and apologized to Tim Shriver, the CEO of the Special Olympics, after it came out in the Wall Street Journal that Emanuel had used the term "retard" to describe fellow Democrats who weren't playing ball on supporting a particular version of the health-care reform bill.

Next thing you know, Sarah Palin is waving around her Down syndrome baby Trig to shame one of the highest-profile actors in the Obama administration in the name of common decency toward those with developmental disabilities.

The entire indignation rests on the popular notion that other people are responsible for one's own self-esteem and is fueled by the human ability to seek insult -- and find it -- at every turn.

Don't get me wrong. If it were up to me, everyone would be perfect, and we'd all love each other and co-exist in a state of loving, utopian harmony; but that isn't the case, is it?

But let's specifically get back to developmental disabilities.

Developmental disabilities exist and are even more prevalent today than ever before because of better awareness and more diagnosis. As I earned a master's degree in special education, I got to study, teach and hang out with students living happily and unhappily with behavioral and emotional disorders, autism, cognitive and physical disabilities of every stripe in kindergarden to high school classrooms.

I can tell you from firsthand experience that among the "kids who ride the short bus," the word "retard" is used in the exact same connotation as Emanuel used it -- without regard to a specific disability, not as a slur against those with medically documentable limitations, but as a razz.

Let me be 100 percent clear: I am not saying it's OK to use the word "retard" as an insult -- it's not nice. And if special education advocates want to use this incident as a platform upon which to spread awareness of how one word damages a particular segment of the disabled population, that's great. The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, formerly the American Association of Mental Retardation, is already doing work in this area.

What I am saying is that a person -- or group of people -- can spend a lifetime looking for insult and finding it. This " 'retard' as a slur" thing is a minor kerfuffle that will now take on a life of its own not because a concerned mother feels the need to advocate for a group of people but because she wants to tear someone else down.

I guess you could say I was lucky that most of my teaching years were spent in primarily Spanish-language classrooms. It cut down on the number of times I had to hear someone use the word "retard" or its descriptive form, "retarded." But there were other slurs, there always are. In any language, in groups of any ethnic makeup or age, people say insulting things; it's human nature.

But even the kids who ride the short bus know to shrug stuff like that off. Or respond viciously with the kind of foul language that would make Emanuel's face burn. That's human nature, too.

I adopted two Great Recession orphaned dogs

2010-02-03T19:32:30-06:00

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

On Sunday I put out this provocative message to all the pals who keep up with me on-line:

"http://twitpic.com/10sdk5 - (picture) The adoption process went through on Friday and I picked up my new 5 & 7 year old boy/girl today."

Of course it was a tongue-in-cheek message designed to alarm those who might be unable to imagine the likes of an Esther J. Cepeda toting around sippy cups and snack bags of cheddar Goldfish for a set of living, whining tots. They, of course, were right-on in assuming I was somehow joking.

In fact, after writing multiple pieces in the last two years (click here and here) on the effect the housing market downturn, rampant foreclosures and job loss on the lives of household pets I put my time and effort into the adoption of two Chihuahuas.

I took the plunge after reading yet another news article about the plight of abandoned, discarded, and otherwise left-behind animals; they tend to become but a footnote in lives broken by unemployment or underemployment and all the things that go wrong because of it.

This particular story – "Howls for help; Hard times have left many pets homeless" in the January 21, 2010 edition of The Economist – mentioned several organizations working to place animals in homes and on a total lark I went to one mentioned in the article (www.adopt-a-pet.com) and looked for a pair of sibling, housebroken, adult Chihuahuas who needed to be adopted together and were currently living near my home. I almost couldn't believe it when the search results spit exactly that out at me.

After filling out the application, putting in the requisite vet call, and passing the in-person interview – the adoption group had to ensure I was neither an ax murderer or a dog-eater – I finally got to meet Maxxie and Minnie.

As it turned out, Maxxie, 5, and Minnie, 7, had lived happy together for years when their owner unexpectedly died. They ended up in a Terre Haute, Indiana shelter before being rescued by one of the many pet rescue groups who have connected with www.adopt-a-pet.com in order to match people looking for new non-human family members. A few months went by and then I came along.

The foster family, who was housing another 10 dogs, just rescues dogs purely out of the kindness of their hearts. The 250 bucks I put out for each pup barely covered their vaccinations, "fixing", and micro-chipping, much less the cost of gassing up the car and traveling hundreds of miles to pick up scared, homeless dogs and drop off the lucky ones.

"We just love it," the foster mom, Laura, told me about the hours and hours of volunteered time devoted to housing and nursing back to health the unintended consequences of families' misfortunes. She was just thrilled to place the brother/sister duo in to a single home.

As for me, Minnie, Maxxie and the menagerie of furry family friends in my home, well… we're still settling into each other. Adopting somewhat scared adult doggies isn't exactly the same non-stop lovefest that brand new puppies have working in their favor, but then again, the quiet demeanor - and bladder control - they came with is priceless.

Keep up with me on Twitter (@ejc600words) and I'll give periodic updates on our progress.

In the meantime, know that there are literally thousands of "gently used" pets out there looking for a safe, warm home in exchange for unconditional love. If you're even remotely thinking of adding a pet to your life, please consider adopting one.

Melting pot giving rise to post-'Latino' Latino politicians

2010-02-01T20:44:42-06:00

http://www.suntimes.com/news/cepeda/2021807,CST-EDT-esther01.article

Melting pot giving rise to post-'Latino' Latino politicians

BY ESTHER J. CEPEDA　

February 1, 2010

I have no idea what 2050 will actually be like, but I'm imagining it will be fantastic beyond my wildest dreams!

By then I'll have mastered the piano and will be making tons of cash singing nightly cabaret gigs, not a bit bothered that no one is interested in what I've got to say about the world anymore because there'll be plenty of multi-ethnic people opining on current affairs in whatever passes for digital newspapers by then. Me and my "unique perspective," which is representative of the "emerging" Latino population, will have become as defunct as my gas-powered car.

By then Hispanics will be about a quarter of the population. Add the 15 percent of the population that blacks are projected to be, plus the children of today's estimated 3 million mixed-race couples, and there surely will be so many "minority" journalists, columnists and lawyers, engineers, scientists and sports stars that no one will care what I think anymore because I'll be just another face in the multi-hued crowd.

That happy thought sprang to mind last week when I was asked to go on Chicago Public Radio WBEZ's news program "848" for a discussion of the "Future of Latino Politics."

I chuckle when I hear stuff like that because the real future of Latino anything is a mainstream, U.S.-born, English speaking one that will be about as exotic and ethnic as the Chicago Irish.

Sure, there'll be the obligatory heritage parades, but it'll be a "unique cultural identity" that's given consideration only annually and will be adopted by anyone who happens to be walking by and thirsty for beer. Think: Cinco de Mayo.

While the conversation's starting point was a recitation of Latino politics' greatest hits -- the supposedly defunct Hispanic Democratic Organization, the highly emotional Jesus Garcia/ Rudy Lozano campaigns against clouted incumbents, the rise of the young professional types like ex-Ald. Manny Flores -- I think I brought us back to the reality that the continually churning melting pot is already giving rise to the post-"Latino" Latino politician. Which is to say, a politician who's running as a candidate, not as a Hispanic candidate.

It's too soon to visualize that, I know. The Latino population as we know it today is relatively new to the United States, and its politics are defined by the civil rights, worker's rights and immigration reform concerns that naturally have particular resonance to a community still gaining a foothold in our society.

But much like the Italians and the Irish before them, who became just another thread in the fabric of this country, Hispanic community leaders will someday stop gathering from across the country to discuss a "Latino agenda" of social and political empowerment and instead concern themselves with focusing on more universal themes such as the U.S. economy, health care and education.

People often disdain my constant scanning of the horizon to a time when no one will focus on such matters as whether your mom's mom came from Latin America or Latvia, completely ignoring that our whole American conscious is made up of all the cultures of the people who live here and there's nothing wrong with focusing on the scary-to-some time when Latinos will have completely melted into the melting pot.

Like I told the radio show producer, as assimilation draws immigrants into the "American" culture -- as it always has and always will -- this "Hispanic" narrative that's currently playing out will become old hat. In the not-too-distant future, we'll be talking about the future of Muslim politics or of East Indian politics.

Or, if I look into the faces of my own family's children, we'll be talking about the rise of quarter-Mexican-quarter-Ecuadorian-half-black politics, quarter- Mexican-quarter-Ecuadorian-half-Filipino politics, and quarter-Mexican-quarter-Ecuadorian-half-white politics.

But it'll be called something else by then: just plain old politics.

And me? I won't have much to say about it, I'll be too busy tinkling the ivories, crooning "When You Wish Upon A Star" for you.

A message to those hating on Haiti: consider yourself hugged

2010-01-26T20:19:05-06:00

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

Our constitutionally protected freedom of speech is a beautiful thing. "The freedom to speak without censorship and/or limitation," as Wikipedia so elegantly puts it, is "the synonymous term freedom of expression, sometimes used to indicate not only freedom of verbal speech but any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used. In practice, the right to freedom of speech is not absolute in any country and the right is commonly subject to limitations, such as on 'hate speech.'"

Ahhhh, hate speech -- like an oft-quoted remark about pornography, people may have trouble defining it, but they seem to know it when they hear or see it -- or so they think. But hey, I'm not here to induce a legal argument for one over the other, the topic simply sprung to mind once I started getting the inevitable emails about the "filthy animals [in Haiti] getting government welfare [from the "American people"] when we've got our own crisis going on." But don’t take my word for it, you’re only a quick Google search away from reading the truly vile things people are saying about Haiti.

I’m sure you've heard it, too. For every kid who's hit you up for a dollar to add to their school fund for Haitian relief efforts, you've heard someone in a corner muttering (quietly now, but they'll get louder, believe me) about how "we" here in the United States are in a crisis because so many hardworking Americans are out of a job and the economy is in the crapper.

The backlash was inevitable, but I choose to believe that in most cases people did not know that -- hello!!! -- Haiti has been so poverty stricken for so long that last year mothers were baking mudcakes in the sun to fill their children's stomachs with something that would keep them from bloating up and dying in that same sun.

Most people --especially those who don't travel out of the country often -- don't really understand the dire circumstances abroad and can't imagine that most Americans, even those suffering through the toughest of economic times, are still better off than millions around the world.

Still, I was ornery when my inbox sported a bulletin from theCenter For Immigration Studies. They took the opportunity of this nation's unified response to the impoverished country to put out a Fact Sheet on Haitian Immigrants to the U.S.

Why? It appears to add facts to underlie angry blog posts such as: "The Answer to the World's Problems — Immigration to America," "Help Haitians — in Haiti," "Illegal Use of Welfare Can Justify Fee Waivers for Haitian TPS Applicants," and "Spreading the Inevitable Flood of Haitian Refugees Around the Region," which they are also promoting.

My thought: what, not enough Haitians just plain dead enough for ya, that you have to whine they might be coming – gasp!— here?

Nope, I'm not complaining. As residents – not "citizens", but merely residents – of this great country, we're all entitled to our opinions, informed, uninformed, malevolent, concerned or otherwise.

And because of that I send out the only thing you can extend to people so bitter and angry that they can only ooze hatred on the weakest among us: I send love.

Yes, to all those who may read this and rail against the Haitians who have mostly captured this country's compassion, consider yourself hugged.

How will kids be healthy if their parents eat junk?

2010-01-25T07:30:00-06:00

How will kids be healthy if their parents eat junk?

http://www.suntimes.com/news/cepeda/2009208,CST-EDT-esther25.article

January 25, 2010

BY ESTHER J. CEPEDA

In the early-morning hours before Michelle Obama addressed the Conference of Mayors in Washington to make her pitch about the importance of curbing childhood obesity last week, I was sitting in a crowded elementary school gymnasium with kids and their parents, fearing for the heart attack victims of tomorrow.

The occasion was a salute to the school's honor roll students, which certainly called for an extra dose of celebratory sugar, sure. But it wasn't the kids' liberal dose of syrup for the French toast sticks that concerned me; it was parents' obvious lack of any nutritional cognizance that sounded the alarms.

Children mimic their parents' behaviors and habits, and if a child sees his mom or dad bypass the freshly cut fruit and whole-grain bagels in order to load up a plate with greasy muffins, iced sweet rolls and French toast sticks drenched in syrup destined to be downed with a handful of juice boxes, what, exactly, will they understand about healthy eating habits?

Though, who can blame anyone for looking for some sweetness in life these days? I'm sad to say there were tons of parents at this breakfast because so many are out of work. I heard their stories myself: One dad was telling an acquaintance he had been laid off months ago and his wife was working two jobs. Another lady was worried about making it to an upcoming Parent Teacher Organization meeting because her scant hours at work are all over the map and she's never really sure where she's going to be. Who could begrudge these people a couple of extra free cheese danishes?

During her speech, Obama rattled off facts: Nearly one-third of children in America are overweight or obese, and one-third of all children today will eventually suffer from diabetes -- in African-American and Latino communities it goes up to almost half. She cited recently published studies stating that obesity could now be an even greater threat to Americans' health than smoking, that medical experts are predicting the next generation is on track to have a shorter life-span than their parents, that budget cuts are decimating school gym time, and that crime makes it impossible for most parents to tell their kids to go out and play until dark.

I'd add that we are also burdened by school systems that pump our children full of sugar and fat-laden breakfast and lunches -- the poorest among them for a low cost or for free -- and then wonder why they get labeled by frustrated teachers as behavior-issue problem kids. Also add that parents don't understand the consequences of what their kids eat because they never learned what healthy eating means.

The first lady closed her speech by praising creative ideas some cities are trying in order to manage the problem, but she also soberly stated the obvious: Efforts to curb childhood obesity won't be cheap, easy or quick. I agree with her and add that it's doable. At the very least, it's the worthiest goal I can think of.

We may have tragically lost a generation to killer eating habits, but if the statistics horrify enough leaders and role models into action, helping others understand good nutrition, then in about 40 years we'll have a whole crop of young parents -- and enlightened grandparents -- who'll know that "fruit punch" is not fruit juice, and certainly not preferable to fresh, frozen or dried fruit.

They'll get it that a "special treat" is not something that occurs hourly or even daily. They'll know that if you have time to surf the Web, you can also make time to box your best friend on the Wii. And they'll understand that -- repeat after me -- chocolate-chip bagels, banana split-flavored yogurt and blueberry jam granola bars are not "health food."

2050 here we come!