Esther J. Cepeda

Current economic crisis is not the fault of poor or minorities

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

Well that sure didn’t take long!

One minute the talking heads are going on about Gordon Gekko-like greed on Wall Street and how to ensure that high level financial CEO’s don’t get golden parachutes out of the bailout, and the next thing you know the issue of regulation lays the blame for the mortgage meltdown at the feet of minorities and the poor.

Nothing against the New York Times’ Floyd Norris, he was just reporting out what a simple Google search will show you: the American-Dream-turned-American-nightmare is being blamed on the very people the quasi-governmental finance institutions, Fannie and Freddie, were supposed to be helping.

"Already liberals are blaming the deregulation that began under Ronald Reagan for letting a financial system get out of control, and conservatives are pointing to market intervention by liberals – notably efforts to assure mortgage loans for the poor and minorities – as being the root cause of this mess," he said in a Monday column.

In other words, it’s my fault. And my parents’ fault. And my aunt’s and my cousins’, too. We all scraped together the very bare minimum amount of money necessary to squeak into a house. Had our hard work and education not paid off – or if a medical emergency had thrown a wrench into our carefully laid plans or the promised refinance not panned out – and had we defaulted on our mortgage loans, the current crisis would be on our heads.

Blame us for pursuing the American Dream. And while you’re at it, forget the countless smarmy jerks who came at us with blood-oath promises that adjustable rate mortgages would never skyrocket on us.

And forget the endless brokers who hit on us every single day – I have one such letter which arrived last Saturday in front of me– with offers to refinance "for free" and get a low-interest home equity line of credit.

Let’s also forget the appraiser who, when I refinanced five years ago, came to my house for a four minute tour then magically declared that my house was, in fact, worth to the penny what the bank needed to see in order to offer me a fresh loan.

Never mind that in the last two years community activists in urban areas across the country have been simultaneously trying to get increased protection from predatory lenders and also trying to cast off the shackles of overly-restrictive counseling requirements which, in their zeal to protect, actually started keeping homeowners from being able to sell their houses to anyone.

Extending credit to first-time homebuyers is a risky proposition, there’s no doubt about it. But as it turns out so is basing the entire health of a country’s economy on consumer spending financed by e-z credit for one and all, including all the new-money richies the housing boom spawned.

Not that anyone’s learned their lesson; today is the first day of October and the Halloween purchase season has been underway for well over three weeks. And shelves are already being cleared for the Christmas chotchkies whose purchase will blunt the number of American workers who’ll be getting their lump of coal wrapped in a pink slip ‘tis season.

There are all manner of reasons for disliking Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke’s 700 billion dollar bailout, on the top of my list is the shocking lack of help for all the poor (and minority) saps who were sold on the American Dream of owning a home only to have it become the worst nightmare they’ll never wake up from.

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

Chicago companies must embrace diversity to succeed in global economy

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

Tell me if this shocks you: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, minorities comprise 17% of the United States workforce, and it’ll be 20% by 2016. But 95 percent of all executive-level positions in the United States are still held by white males, according to David A. Thomas and John J. Gabarro in Breaking Through: The Making of Minority Executives in Corporate America.

That tidbit came from the 2008 Chicago United Corporate Diversity Profile which, among other dizzying and depressing diversity statistics, estimates that if the growth rate in minority representation in Chicago’s executive/managerial ranks were to remain similar to that of 2000-2004 period – when it increased by 1.1 percent annually – it’ll take 89 years for minorities to achieve equal representation in corporate America. Ouch.

The report, to be released October 8, may seem like bad news for minority professionals, but it’s not.

Nope. Talented minority workers will continue to find – or make – their own fortunes, it’s the businesses who refuse to look past the images they see in their own mirrors to the growing talent pool of women, African-Americans, Latinos and Asian-Americans with which to stock their C-level suites and boardrooms who’ll suffer.

"Corporations have a responsibility to be successful and sustainable. They have to develop and retain critical talent – including women and people of color – to succeed," Gloria Castillo, the President of Chicago United, a diversity in business advocacy organization, told me Monday afternoon as the report was being printed for distribution.

"We are in a global war for talent – corporations all over the world have more interest in talent rather than in race or gender," Castillo said. "How long will it take us to realize the treasures here at home?"

I asked Valarie King-Bailey, founder and CEO of OnShore Technology Group, Inc, a Chicago-based technology, marketing and engineering firm she started in 2004 with the goal of helping to keep technology jobs in the U.S., about that global war.

Valarie, who will soon be honored at her alma mater – the University of Wisconsin – for having been the first African-American to graduate in civil and environmental engineering in the school’s 103-year history, spent 24 years hitting the glass ceiling at the director level before becoming an executive – for an Irish company!

"I’d gotten every excuse in the book from several different U.S. companies about why I wasn’t being promoted past the director level, then I got a call from Ireland," Valarie told me. "It was funny, I couldn’t get a U.S. company to promote me but the Irish hired a black woman to promote their products around the world! With QUMAS, Ltd, a software company, I took the company from 1.8 million to 10.5 million in revenues in three and a half years."

"It was wonderful, I was treated like a queen," Valarie gushed, "the Irish had no problem with me – nobody blinked when I walked into a room."

When Valarie’s job was outsourced offshore in 2004, she decided to her make her own fate rather than try to crack corporate America’s Caucasian culture. It led her to become a 2006 "Make Mine a Million" award winner – and she’s not alone.

"There are millions of women who become entrepreneurs because they get tired of waiting or playing the game of trying to make a place for themselves [in the traditional corporate system]," said Nell Merlino, founder of Count Me In for Women’s Independence, a New York-based not-for-profit women’s economic independence organization that runs the "Make Mine a Million Dollar Business" program. They’re dedicated to helping post-start-up, women-owned businesses reach $1 million in revenues.

I asked Nell what corporate America loses by ignoring diversity. "They’re missing out on an enormous amount of talent, creativity, and innovation," she said, "Women [and minorities] are finding alternatives to trying to crash through those ceilings and instead say ‘let’s try to do this on our own.’"

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not all doom and gloom in the boardroom – the Chicago United report does say there are positive diversity increases in representation at the senior manager, director and vice president level. While no city has reached parity in the top executive ranks, Chicago – the number three minority population city in the U.S. and number four U.S. city in the number of Fortune 500 headquarters – fares equal to or better than its peers.

Chicago United’s data analysis suggests that, strangely, Chicago’s corporate community doesn’t boast its diversity accomplishments enough. They say Chicago must heighten its profile as a strong competitor for corporate headquarters and diverse senior leaders.

Still, at only 5% minority representation in U.S. executive level positions, there’s clearly a ceiling to be broken, but the bright side is that there’s plenty of opportunity for growth.

"Where is the ceiling? That’s not a simple answer and there’s no magic bullet for cracking it," Gloria Castillo said, "we have to keep putting ourselves in stretch positions, volunteer for high visibility profit and loss projects, and ask for assignments that clearly show a commitment to the strategic goals of the organization."

Or, like Valarie, you can forget the ceiling, declare that the sky’s the limit, and let the corporations fend for themselves.

"At the time I lost my job, 3 million jobs were outsourced offshore and I was very squeamish about going back into corporate America and any layoffs that might have come with that. If figured if I was as good as I thought, I’d succeed. After my first two months I landed a $250,000 contract and I haven’t looked back." Valarie said.

This leads me back to who the real winners and losers are in the race for rainbow-ing up the ranks of elite business people in Chicago and beyond.

"The corporations who don’t embrace cultural diversity are missing out on a whole lot of creativity but the bottom line is sales," Valarie said. "Ignoring a big part of the market causes missed sales, it hurts the company’s bottom line but they don’t know it."

Not yet, anyway. But they will – and soon – Valarie, believe me they will.

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

Freedom from Frida: an interview with singer Lila Downs

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

Lila Downs burst into the big time after her star turn as the sultry singer who serenades Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera in Salma Hayek’s 2002 biopic Frida.

Her deep, sexy voice belted out many of the songs on the Academy-Award nominated movie soundtrack and put her center stage with Caetano Veloso for a performance of the Original Song nominee "Burn It Blue" by Elliot Goldenthal and Julie Taymor at the 75 Annual Oscars.

Like the haunting, primal sounds that accompanied the life story of the thickly-browed Kahlo, the thickly-browed Downs had been, until recently, haunted by her own resemblance to the famous artist.

Her peasant dresses, Mexican torch songs, and traditionally-braided hair were her signature for years, but if you’ve seen her lately, you probably didn’t recognize her. With the release of her newest CD, Shake Away, the 40-year-old songstress has let her hair down, pulled her hemlines up, and is making a case for Mexicans 2.0.

Shocked by her phoenix-like rebirth, and fearing for the feelings of the bluehouse girls who’d show up for her September 30 performance in Chicago at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park – wearing green ribbons in their hair and dainty shawls only to be disappointed – I talked to her Wednesday about her new look and new outlook on life.

Q. I was sorry to hear you fell into a drinking depression upon finding out you’d never have kids. It spurred you to reassess your life and reinvent yourself into a mini-skirt wearing hottie who’s not so thickly-browed anymore. How have young women reacted to that, especially in light of living during a time when there is much pressure to Americanize because of the immigration debate in the United States?

A. First of all I still find it very important to adapt my traditional clothing on stage and I still wear my braids from time to time. I’ve always been into combining modern aesthetics with the traditional, but I did pluck my eyebrows – which was a big deal for me because [having natural eyebrows] meant protecting myself as a woman.

What has influenced me in the contemporary "look" is a sexier, "hip-hop" approach to being a woman. Generally we have had positive comments, but a few have criticized it.

But being always compared to Frida Kahlo has been difficult and even the braids are sometimes like a ball and chain.

I think we’re stimulated by the renovation of ancient archetypes depending on cycles of our society. I believe we have the need to express our sexuality sometimes more explicitly and sometimes it may be more ambiguous. And I guess I tune into the times the way many artists do.

Q. Setting aside the most outward signals of your rebirth – goodbye beautiful, iconic braids – your music is also screaming that much has changed. On Shake Away, the reggaeton motifs, the still-empowered but forward-looking lyrics, and your collaborations with new artists like Raul Midon – one of my very favorites – and Ruben Albarran of Café Tacuba, seem livelier, happier than your previous albums.

All that said, what I felt when I heard these songs was a great sense of honoring yesterday, today and tomorrow all at once. Tell me about being able to cherish the past while embracing the future.

A. I believe there are symbols – such as the snake – that can lead us to question our feelings about what they represent. In most cultures snakes are feared. But if we look into the reason we feel fear, maybe we can conquer it.

The future holds so many enriching, cross-cultural experiences! By nature we are curious about others – if we can lose our fear we can learn to appreciate each other in a more loving way.

Q. So you see fear and change going hand in hand…you certainly must have felt fear about being forced to change your view of yourself as a mother when you found out you’d never have any kids. I know how it feels to lose out on the dream to have a child, be left wondering what the point of it all is, and emerge from the experience changed. How did coping with all that change your life as an artist?  Does creating music and performance now hold a different emotional place for you?

A. Yes, I think everything I do is about the next step. You hold on to the lifeline, you celebrate as much as your body permits, and you sing to the river and the moon with every vibration in your bones, and you listen to your heart – trying to convey the strength that a loss gives you.

Q. Regardless of your clothes or your choice of musical style, you are a role model; a wildly successful Mexican-American woman who has walked a fine line between two cultures, between two different generations, between two languages and, recently, between two Lilas.

Aside from the personal loss, I think most Latinos in the United States – and certainly beyond our borders, too – can really relate to those dualities. It’s tough being immersed in American culture – and deeply desiring to be a full participant in it – while retaining our links to our parent’s land, especially now that there’s just so much simultaneous presidential vote pandering and immigrant hating swirling around.

We don’t all have curanderas with special teas to help us find our way. What is your message to all the young Latinos out there who haven't yet figured out how to balance it all?

A. Do not be ashamed of who you are! If who you are is not clear, be honest and be humble about learning your story.

Once you know more about who you are, and why you look the way you look, and why you feel the way you feel, be patient – you will find pride which will make you strong.

Experience Lila Downs live at the Harris Theater at Millenium Park September 30th

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

Latinos in all shapes, sizes and colors even red and blue

"Pregunta del Dia by Esther J. Cepeda"

"Pregunta del Dia" translates from Spanish into Question of the Day and today’s comes from Rick M. a Lake County reader who messages:

Q. Esther, no one is talking about the Hispanic vote. Are they for Obama or McCain?  Are they registering in droves or staying away from the ballot?  What gives?  I want to know.

A. Well, Rick, here's the thing – who are they?

Let’s just assume you mean only eligible and registered Hispanic voters. That number was about 16 million back in 2004, according to the Pew Hispanic Center, let’s throw their estimated 20 percent plus some change on top of that and settle on 19.5 million for this November.

Let’s make things easy and ignore the key battleground states Pew has identified: Florida, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada (Illinois has tons of Hispanics but only 8 percent of them are eligible to vote and they’re presumed to be voting for the local boy).

So of the 19.5 million Latinos, how do you target the "Latino vote?"

Do you target the newly-naturalized citizens who are single-mindedly aware of each candidate’s immigration stances? And do you do that in English or in Spanish?

Or do you go for the U.S. born Hispanics…ahhh but not so fast – are they Cuban-descended and heavily Republican or Puerto Rican-born and mostly Democratic but both totally bilingual and bi-cultural?

Let’s go with the English-fluent for a moment: are they first-generation and highly committed to immediate comprehensive immigration reform for extended family or are they second/third generation and more concerned about the war, health care and social security for when they retire, and the ailing education system?

How many of them are well-educated and affluent and concerned mostly with Presidential platforms revolving around globalization, our foreign policy, and economic policies?

How many, despite recency of "Americanization" or socio-economic status, care about business as priority number one because regardless of what household income slice you look at, Latinos are entrepreneurial through and through?

Campaigns have tough calls to make from whether to highlight the strong female (there are many woman presidents in Latin American countries) or target soccer lovers vs. baseball fanatics? Does Daddy Yankee’s endorsement of John McCain trump Will.i.am’s Obama lovin’?

Seriously, though, some of us were mad that Obama totally ignored visiting the Latin American countries to do his "Look How Presidential I Am" tour of the Middle East a few months back.

Some of us cringe at McCain’s comments characterizing Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, Evo Morales of Bolivia and Cuba's Raul Castro as "autocrats more interested in wielding power than helping their people" because even though that might be true, snarky comments aren’t going to help our countries to get along any better.

Some of us weren’t going to make a decision based on immigration but now that the unprecedented U.S. raids are uncovering horrific labor exploitation of women and children in major companies – like the Agriprocessors Plant in Postville, Iowa – and U.S born Latinos are getting hassled and even detained in raids in increasing numbers, it’s gut check time.

Last week the Pew Hispanic Center reported that 50 percent of all Latinos say that the situation of Hispanics in this country is worse now than it was a year ago, and a majority worry about deportation. I can tell you I certainly do, and I was born here and have all legal permanent resident family members, but that seems to matter little these days.

The bottom line is that the candidates’ campaigns won't successfully get their hands around the "Latino Vote" because it's elusive – just like the Hispanic population itself, with its multi-national, multi-lingual, multi-geographical concentration, and various socio-economic statuses.

There’s no magic Spanish slogan – "Si se puede" sucks – that will unite and deliver us all in a nice, neat package come Election Day.

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

Abs, buns, and toes of steel: San Francisco’s ballet dancers kick ass

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

Much like Degas’ busty, meaty ballerinas, gone are the days of the willowy, fragile dancer.

Two decades ago the ballet books emphasized lean, flexible bodies attained through rigorous training and minimal food. Today, flip through any of the major Ballet magazines like Pointe or Dance and you’ll find articles on how to pack on the healthy protein for optimum results for the weight lifting and yoga exercises for developing strong feet, leg, and arm muscles.

That new ballet bulk was dramatically showcased at Saturday’s Harris Theater performance of the San Francisco Ballet, where bulging sinewy female muscles flew through the air supported by men so expertly sculpted they looked like they’d been drawn for a Marvel comic book.

I’d, earlier in the day, watched the pre-vignette to Wes Anderson’s 2007 film The Darjeeling Limited where a buck-nekkid Natalie Portman stands with all ribs poking out of her skin looking very emaciated. The image stood in stark contrast to the surprisingly sturdy women of the San Fran company.

As they make their way east across the country on their 75th Anniversary American tour, America’s oldest ballet company made their first stop here, letting their stars shine to the sounds of the luscious Chicago Sinfonietta in a program than spanned classical romantic, modern, and Eastern-inspired styles with more than just a hint of athleticism accenting crisp, graceful lines.

The program, "B" which featured the hopelessly romantic "On a theme of Paganini," (if you just squealed "Ballet Lermontov!!!" we have much in common) the ultra-modern "Joyride" and the whirling-dervishy "Fusion," riveted Saturday’s packed audience and left me longing for my pointe shoes.

Of most interest was how strong all the dancers looked. No weak sisters (or brothers) here, forget the pale, flat-chested bags of bones you’re used to seeing hit arabesques, these people looked like they could kick some ass.

Between soloists Yuan Yuan Tan and Vanessa Zahorian I couldn’t tell which of the two had the more promising post-ballet future as an American Gladiator, each of these ladies must have ankles of steel to hold up their thickly-muscled bodies.

Joan Boada and Ruben Martin, to name just two of the male dancers, were so rippled and cut no man would dare snicker about their day job – unless they wanted to be crushed like grapes.

All of this is definitely not a knock, the quality of their dancing felt so different compared to most of the Chicago and visiting companies I’ve seen perform recently, it took me to a different emotional place during the movement. And to a different personal place afterward.

Ballet has always had a seamy side. The same side that makes normal people squirm when they see young gymnasts flying through the air in bodies that look irreparably stunted by their strenuous regimens, but maybe we’re moving forward.

When I was on pointe, and it was only a few years ago, the tide was already turning. Pumping iron along with Pilates was creeping in, there were far more Gatorade bottles at practice, there was lots more talk about what to eat rather than what wasn’t allowed. And less smell of regurgitated lunch in the bathrooms.

If the San Francisco Ballet is indicative of the new generation of ballet dancers –uber-athletes rather than victims of horrible eating disorders – it will be the best development in the moving art since gel foot cushions and be a positive inspiration for generations of women to come.

Strong men and women bounding through the air in fit, healthy bodies rather than ravaged, hungry ones – what could be more beautiful than that?

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

Ethnocentric Etiquette 101 with Anna Post

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

Look around the office – the work landscape has changed dramatically in the last ten years.

You’ve got Mary yakking with Laqueesha about what was on Oprah yesterday and Mario discussing Sunday’s Bears game with John, while Maalik, Esperanza and Bob plan next week’s "fall celebration." It’s like a Benetton ad, but with less spectacular clothes.

With that in mind, I sat down for a chat with Anna Post, great-great- granddaughter of Emily Post, who was in town last week talking up her new partnership with Hyatt Place to launch www.theetiquetteeffect.com an advice website that bills itself as "the online resource for contemporary etiquette insights."

On it Post answers questions ranging from to how to say "no" more gracefully, to how to act when travelling with your boss, to how to give criticism graciously.

I took Anna’s expertise for a spin on topics most people wouldn’t usually dare bring up.

Q. Anna, the office isn’t what it used to be – ethnic minorities now make up more than half the population in 302 of the U.S.’ 3,141 counties. The most recent Census figures say Cook County had the biggest population shift, losing 215,535 whites between 2000 and 2007. How can employees and managers of diverse backgrounds better understand and interact with each other?

A. I teach a personal philosophy of etiquette that goes beyond country of origin and age, and are just good skills to take between your job and your personal life. It’s based on the principles of consideration, respect and honesty. Those go beyond manners and customs; they’re timeless and cross borders.

Q. OK, that sounds good but, for instance, we’re living and working during a time when history is being made by a black Presidential candidate whose being portrayed as a Muslim, an elderly Presidential candidate, and a female Vice-Presidential candidate. So the formerly taboo workplace subjects of race, religion, gender and age are water-cooler fodder du jour. How to deal?

A. Do your homework. For instance, if you know your boss is into politics it and will ask you what you think, be prepared with facts.

But the biggest thing I tell people is don’t make assumptions! Don’t presume everyone in the room agrees with your basic assumptions on race or gender, etc., or agrees with what you might consider generally understood stereotypes.

Q. What if you’re Hispanic and one of your white employees drops little Spanish phrases when he/she speaks to you and a) it drives you crazy and b) you think it’s some sort of sucking-up and c) you just want it to stop but don’t want to hurt the person’s feelings?

A. Wow. I think that requires a conversation! If it was a peer you could have their manager talk to him/her but as the boss you have to have that talk directly.

There are some things we all have to swallow but always keep in mind your respect for yourself. Always be true to yourself.

That said, some soft language like, "I want to talk to you about a communication issue" – it’s always about the issue, not the person – "I need to bring this up because it’s distracting me from our work…" Also remember to say something like, "You need to fully believe I know you’re not trying to intentionally make me uncomfortable…"

Q. Ok, how about this one: let’s say I’m the only Hispanic at a company and it’s "Holiday Party" time and I’m asked to bring the guacamole. Again. I love guacamole and all, it’s cool…but enough with the guacamole, already! I know how to roll sushi and layer Baklava, ya know.

A. Just remember that it’s coming from a good place and in that situation try something like, "I’m going to give so and so my recipe for the guacamole this time, I’m going to bring the vanilla pudding this year."

Q. A lot more people in our offices are observing Ramadan. How does a high-powered executive who is fasting maneuver the omni-present lunch and dinner meetings? Or, alternately for instance, what if you’re vegetarian or have severe food allergies?

A. First, don’t think you have to apologize for being true to yourself – always be true to yourself and never go against your beliefs. Don’t ever try to hide your differences. That said, there are a couple of things you can do depending on your comfort level:

1) Call the person scheduling the meeting in advance and just let them know what’s going on. Don’t insist the meeting be relocated and don’t be difficult if they offer to relocate, just be open to what’s going to make everyone comfortable.

2) You might get the restaurant information to make sure they have food you can eat, or to ask them not to lay out a table setting, or to make sure your food is prepared away from allergy triggers.

3) Make sure you remind wait staff when you arrive. Again, don’t apologize, just be direct, "Thank you, I’m not eating today…"

And be careful with how much information you give to others, it’s always up to you how much you want to reveal but it may be asking a lot for others to handle your food allergy stories. You always want to show consideration for others in any situation.

Q. Final thoughts on "making it" as a minority in a mostly white executive work world?

A. Always be true to yourself. Respect yourself and others. And always show confidence – people want to be around people with confidence.

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

Healthy living best defense against dreaded Bisphenol A

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

Medical studies drive me crazy! Rather than using collective medical expertise to enlighten a populace about living healthier, these studies are used as a weapon to induce fear – the kind that makes for great headlines but has little value in changing anyone’s quality of life.

All over the country this morning the big "medical story" is a study reported in this month's Journal of the American Medical Association which links Bisphenol A (BPA) – a chemical found in household items such as plastic baby bottles, hard water bottles, reusable plastic food containers, CDs, DVDs, cardboard pizza boxes, wine, beer, and pop cans – to heart disease and Type-2 diabetes.

A link.

Meaning there is a correlation, but no one – no one – can say it is causal correlation. For instance, the classic example: Sleeping with your shoes on is strongly correlated with waking up with a headache. But that does not mean that sleeping with your shoes on causes that headache – maybe you have no one to take your shoes off after you’ve passed out in an alcoholic stupor.

Let’s determine which came first, the chicken or the egg with today’s BPA scare stories, which document the finding that more than 90 percent of the U.S. population has traces of BPA in their bodies – no laughing matter, for sure.

· Baby bottles: it is well documented that babies who are breast fed – rather than pumped with large quantities of artificially-sweetened formula – stay lighter, are able to exercise better portion control, and stay slimmer throughout their lifetimes. Don’t blame the bottle.

· Hard water bottles: like the plastic used in sippy cups, which are usually provided to unsuspecting children filled with 3 or 4 servings of sugary juice-type substance at a pop. Don’t blame the sippy cup.

What about water bottles? Well, athletes who work out for hours a week generally don’t come down with heart disease and obesity-related diabetes but the majority of people I see with water bottles have "I’m dieting and Dr. Oprah told me to drink 85 gallons of water a day" written all over them.

· CDs? Let’s be frank, only people over 30 even have them in their house. Next.

DVD's Cardboard pizza boxes, wine, beer, and pop cans, which all go nicely together…need I say more?

Here’s a headline you won’t see scrolling in all caps under the market watch numbers on CNN or on the front page of any newspaper over a menacing picture of shiny plastic chemical-ridden bottles: "Moderate exercise and fresh foods in small servings keep people healthy!!!"

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

OGD: Obsessive Green Disorder

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

If water is the new oil and hand washing is the new antibiotic then am I the new green-tinged obsessive compulsive? The answer is yes.

I’m suffering from ecological anxiety. I noticed it today on two separate occasions.

Once as I was cleaning out my recycling drawer, where I keep all my loose scraps and wads of clean paper, when I briefly considered dragging the bag home on my two hour train commute on the off chance that the person who picks up the recyclables in my office just laughs heartily as he or she dumps the pile in the trash along with the coffee grounds and the discarded containers of pad Thai.

The second time was about two hours later in the bathroom at work. I approach all non-home bathrooms as though they were "the dirtiest toilet in Scotland" from the movie Trainspotting – touch nothing and try not to breathe too deeply. While I was at the sink, washing my hands (counting to fifteen s-l-o-w-l-y) the woman next to me finished her scrub.

In the interest of not recontaminating her hands with the same germs she’d just deposited on the handles, Mrs. Antimicrobial left the water running while she, with cool molasses-like speed, turned her body toward the towel dispenser, dragged her heavy feet toward it, painstakingly pulled out two hand towels, dried, then s-l-o-w-l-y returned to the sink to turn the water off. All while I scrubbed (thirteen…fourteeeen…fifteeeen) and screamed in my head: "Lady! HURRY, HURRY!!! That precious water is just dribbling away!"

Once when a woman was in there brushing her teeth with the tap running away at full tilt I had to run out before I started hyperventilating. I’ve got it bad.

In June, The Telegraph newspaper reported on Goldman Sachs’ "Top Five Risks" conference where it was posited that "A catastrophic water shortage could prove an even bigger threat to mankind this century than soaring food prices and the relentless exhaustion of energy reserves."

According to Andrew Liveris, the chief executive of the Dow Chemical company, in a recent interview with The Economist, "Water is the oil of the 21st century." Dow has cut the amount of water it uses per ton of output by over a third since 1995, mostly to conserve costs, of course, but still.

On the other front, Mama Cepeda, who works at an Advocate Medical Center, has been hammering home the value of washing your hands – practically after every third exhale –for effective germ prevention for seven years now. I have yet to convince her that the anti-microbial soaps are killing off our good germs and I don’t have the heart to tell her that a recent study by the American Academy of Dermatology found that if you wash your hands more than ten times a day you could bring on scaling, redness, itching, burning – and scratching – that might lead to even more infection than if you just took a chill pill.

It’s all getting to be a bit too much. I shouldn’t be fantasizing about rain barrels, fretting about whether it’s worse to run my full dishwasher or kill trees by using disposable paper plates – or risk not killing the dog saliva that pre-washed the china before I soak and rinse by hand.

I fear one day I’ll be minding my own business when I come across some reasonable way to calculate my carbon footprint and it’ll all be over.

My family will find me sitting perfectly still under a tree somewhere warm, reading a 100% non-chemically treated sheaf of quickly biodegradable papers on the topic of sustainability, paralyzed by my desire to turn green.

Someone please send help immediately – but only if you can get it to me without printing, mailing, driving, or wasting any energy. Or water.

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

No brown rings and no education dollars in Chicago's Olympic bid

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

Friday morning, fresh off back-to-back trips to Beijing for the Olympics and the Paralympics, Chicago Bid Chairman Patrick Ryan, a self-described insurance salesman, gave the Executives Club of Chicago a major rah-rah session, accented by a fly in the ointment.

Ryan showed a packed Fairmont Hotel ballroom, flanked by a who's-who of Chicago bid-ness two tear-jerking videos about the virtues of a completely privately-funded 2016 Summer Olympics in Chicago ("We're up against national governments, we're just little private guys, but I think the little guys can win," Ryan said).

The videos' key points?

Video one: to those who don't know our fair city, "which was built by immigrants," its full of surprises, including "the most exciting fine dining in America" and "the people in diverse neighborhoods." Stationing the proposed Olympic village "in the heart of the city," the narrator also referred to Chicago as "the heart of the nation" and, if we were to win the bid, "the focal point of the world."

Video two: our city is full of active and passive sportsters. This piece profiled 12 Chicago kids talking about how the prospect of a Chicago Olympics fuels their dreams to become star athletes.

Ryan also hammered home corporate Chicago's hand in funding the bid – big wink American Airlines! – and the "legacy" programs that will better Chicagoan's lives through sports regardless of whether we get the Games or not. He also went out of his way to press into his enthralled audience that this bid was "all about the people."

In fact, Ryan mentioned that as he and the rest of the 2016 Bid Committee have hosted 102 of the 112 International Olympics Committee members, they've often witnessed those members "be surprised by the ethnicity of our city."

You would be too, if you'd seen the videos. Aside from nice shots from Ukrainian, Chinese, Polish and Mexican parades and music fests, Chicago looked pretty white. For a Bid Committee whose web site goes out of its way to tell the story of the 1.8 million Chicagoans of Mexican-American heritage in this city, not a single Hispanic kid made it into the athlete video.

I won't harp on the fact there was also not a single Latino on the dais – because they were Executive's Club members, not strictly Bid Committee members – not that I could find any trace of Hispanic representation on the leadership team in an extensive clip search.

I wasn't the fly in the ointment, though. Me bringing the lack of Latino up to the politely surprised Ryan didn't amount to nearly the fuss the Rev. James Meeks kicked up when he confronted Ryan about Chicago's educational disparities.

"How can we have a world-class city and second-class schools? What is the 2016 committee going to do about changing the funding formula for public education in the state of Illinois?" Meeks had asked during the Q&A. Ryan responded with a nod back to the legacy programs he'd already touched on.

Out in the foyer afterwards, firmly ensconced in the video camera glare, Meeks held forth some more, asking – rhetorically, this time – why the business community and the media were not concerned about the school funding crisis and why Chicago should want the Olympics when there are murders tearing families apart.

OK, so the Rev has a point: bad schools and murders are indeed a crisis that demands immediate attention. Those facts – and little things like, oh let's say, U.S. born Hispanic residents like Salvador Contreras getting threatened with deportation by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in this "city built by immigrants" – pretty much flies in the face of Ryan's happy proclamation that this city has been "bonded across racial, social and economic boundaries" by the bid.

But what's Chicago's Olympic committee supposed to do about any of that?

I don't care how patriotic the 2016 Bid Committee members are, they're business people salivating at the economic boom that could be generated by the international spotlight an Olympics could shine on Chi-town.

I can respect Rev. Meeks' desire to clang his very worthy school reform bell anywhere it'll jar the silence but shouldn't there be some more thought to picking the battles?

I mean what's next? Is he going to block the runners from crossing the finish line at the Chicago Marathon in the name of poor students? Will he stage a hunger strike at next year's Taste of Chicago? "How can you people cook and eat food in the park when there are poor children being left behind?!"

Sure, the guy knows how to get himself on TV but I'm seeing little else emerge from his very worthwhile crusade.

Chicago is a city on the take. If it beats out Madrid, Tokyo or Rio – who President Lula proclaimed had been "created by God for the Olympics," according to Ryan – there'll be all kinds out looking to get in on the Olympic action.

Meeks is just the tip of the iceberg. A delegation from every conceivable special interest group – from angry Hispanics to ticked-off animal rights nuts to a coalition of miffed left-handers – will be breathing down the necks of the 2016 Olympic bid committee until the winner is declared on October 2, 2009 in Copenhagen, and then beyond, if Ryan gets his way.

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

From Chicago to Colombia and beyond for a college dream

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

On September 12, 2007 I stood next to the Chicago river with a skinny little guy who had gotten it into his head that he was going to ride his rickety bicycle from the ‘burbs to Argentina for twenty months in order to raise money for low-income students to go to college.

He had a satchel containing a few rudimentary bike tools, some clothes, a few cans of food, a map, and a picture of his girlfriend, Danielle, he’d taped to the frame of his bike, for inspiration.

Then-25-year-old Isai Madriz, a resident of Montgomery, IL, a tiny ‘burb outside Aurora, planned on relying on hard work and the proverbial kindness of strangers for his own sustenance as he pedaled 22,500 miles to Tierra del Fuego (''Land of Fire'') at the southernmost tip of Argentina.

From there he was going to bike up to Caracas, Venezuela, all the while getting the word out to local media in order to raise money for the Jesus Guadalupe Foundation, which had helped him, back in 2004, when he needed a hand to graduate from California’s Humboldt State University.

The commitment he made seemed crazy to others – but only those others who didn’t know that the Guadalajara, Mexico native who’d arrived here when he was 16 had been so poor that he had been riding his bike everywhere. Even to college in California. This is a kid who literally would not take ‘no’ for an answer.

"I started riding for myself because after I transferred to Humboldt State University in California, I needed a way to pay for my tuition and board. Then I did a second ride in 2004 to help pay for my student loans, but 500 miles into the trip a truck drove me off the road and I fell and fractured my hand," Isai told me the morning before he left. He said there was little he could do, but that this was the one statement he could make about the crushing problem of low college enrollment and graduation for Hispanic students.

"People tell you the door is closed before you even try to open it. Most [immigrant] students that are here don't have the means or the papers to go to college once they graduate from high school," he said. "Hispanics don't have really good jobs. Mostly families don't have papers to get good jobs then don't have the means to help their kids go to college. I know a lot of really intelligent students, really gifted people who graduated from high school then went to work because they have to help their families. Then they settle in, have their own kids, and never go back to college."

So whatever happened to? The skinny guy with the rickety bike crossed into South America August 11 and he’s in Colombia right now, moving slowly, but making progress.

"Hi Esther! I’m in Popoyan, Colombia," one recent email chirped. I promised him I’d keep telling his story as long as he was on his quest so he sends me email and we talk from time to time. Never once did I doubt he’d keep going, and I’ve been so happy to receive his pictures and letters telling of incredible adventures.

A short run-down: we first checked off all the United States Isai pedaled through. On October 11 he crossed over into Mexico after having been nearly run over by semis too many times to count, been chased by toothy Rottweillers and mauled by fire ants.

After tussling with cacti, breaking a toe, and catching a terrible flu, he made it to Guadalajara where he lay sick in his uncle’s home until recuperating enough to go to the state of Tabasco to aid flood victims. Yes, all on his bike – at a rate of about 50 miles a day.

From there he made his way south of Mexico biking through Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama City, and, finally, into Colombia.

The stories are, frankly, too horrifying to repeat here but his emails are so ridiculously upbeat – accounts of nearly crashing into a truck after hurtling down a steep hill in a Colombian town called Ipiales because his brakes went out is spiced which descriptions of "glorious skies," "beautiful people" and topped with statements such as "after almost an hour of recuperating and thinking about this episode [by the side of the road] I went on my way."

Isai’s fundraising efforts, to be honest, have not been spectacular. Aside from a few local donations – and the hospitality shown to him by the people he’s touched on his quest – the fund for other low-income Hispanic students to get a helping hand through the new, bizarre, and breath-takingly expensive experience called college still needs help.

But that never enters into Isai’s equation when he’s on the hot road or under the stars in the mountains. "Education is like planting little seeds, and when those seeds grow everybody benefits."

As Isai continues on his way I’ll share his stories with you in this space. If you’d like to help you can send donations – which will go to the education fund, not 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

Two white guys “At the Movies”

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

First off, let me put this out there… I love white people. Half my family (the half that isn’t, by the numbers, even more Filipino than it is Hispanic) is white.

I’m also not the type to go around being all bitter that "da man" is trying to keep me down. But sometimes it sorta, kinda feels like maybe…

Here’s what gets me: Roger Ebert and Rich Roeper walked away from At the Movies and were replaced by...drumroll please… two pasty white guys.

Fine, upstanding, imminently qualified guys, perhaps funny and – to some tastes – attractive guys. But… well… white guys!

It’s 2008 and some black dude is running for president, but the movie review show based in Chicago – which has one of the largest black and Latino populations in America – couldn’t find one single movie writer, reviewer, or blogger "of color" as the kids like to say, to fill one of the seats? Give me a break!

Back when the world was young and movies were no longer the sort of place you got dressed up to go to, Roger Ebert invented the newspaper beat of "Movie critic." And God bless him for doing so, he took what could have been a meritless, fluffy opinion column and created serious scholarly discourse on an important American art form.

In 1982, Rog, along with Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune brought movie criticism into the mainstream with their inimitable TV show Sneak Previews which went onto become At the Movies. About a year after Gene died in 1999, Roger’s fellow Sun-Times columnist became his new balcony-mate. I was thrilled!

Never mind that Rich was totally cool, an awesome writer on many things including –

but not limited to – movies, he had great chemistry. But not only that, Roeper was the final pick after a long slew of many male, female, and diverse "guest hosts" auditioned for over a year. He was the best, no problem – merit-based success is really the only kind that should exist.

I’ll take a side-note here to say I’m sure the show’s producers had a really hard time finding such a diverse array of talent to fill that guest slot. There are very, very few popular minority media people, much less those with cushy entertainment beats…editors generally send black reporters to the South Side and the Latino ones to the local factories to investigate immigration raids. (Yes, that is a true statement.) Let’s face it, people who aren’t white have had a tough time cracking into such elite white-collar positions as "movie critic."

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not just crushing sour grapes here, it’s not like I sent an audition tape, but last week when I read about Ben Mankiewicz and Ben Lyons’ new gigs in Sun-Times columnist Robert Feder’s piece ABC 7 ready to raise curtain on new 'At the Movies' , what could I do but just shake my weary head?

I’ve got nothing against Ben and Ben. Feder called them "both scions of famed show-biz families; Mankiewicz was a host for Turner Classic Movies and Sirius Satellite Radio, and Lyons reported for E! Entertainment," so clearly they’re qualified. But c’mon, only white people get to give their take on talkies?

What about George Singleton? What about some talented blogger? Hey, how’s this: how about a woman – any color’s fine.

Yep, it’s 2008 and women and blacks are not only allowed to vote but they get to do so for someone who looks like them. Good times, in perspective.

But though I don’t think there’s some anti-minority media bias, sadly, there seems to be a terrible confluence of managerial blind spots and lack of imagination and – even worse – a lack of opportunity for writers who aren’t white.

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

Melendez made Snoopy dance and sing

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

If Charles M. Schulz gave birth to the inimitable beagle Snoopy, it was Bill Melendez who gave him his strut, his voice, and ultimately his spirit.

The "happy dance," the way his floppy black ears moved when he was being sneaky, the look on his face when sailing through the skies of his own imagination as the Red Baron; the furrow of his dog brow as he tapped out "It was a dark and stormy night" on his roof-top typewriter – they were all due to Melendez' deft hand at animating the Peanuts characters.

Melendez died of natural causes a few days ago at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California at the ripe old age of 91. I read his obituary in several different places, thrilled to death that none of the headlines I saw said anything about him being "Latino."

That would have been incorrect, as I quickly learned, because he wasn't Hispanic, he was Mexican. It turned out Bill Melendez was one of those success stories that, happily, went untold because his nativity, professional struggles, and barrier-breaking were completely overshadowed by his talent and his incredible success.

Born Jose Cuauhtemoc Melendez in Hermosillo, Mexico on Nov. 15, 1916, he moved to Douglas, Ariz., in 1928, and later to Los Angeles, where he started drawing as a child, according to the Washington Post.

The New York Times mentioned in their obituary: "One of the very few Hispanics in the business when he began his career in the 1930s, Mr. Melendez was the only animator Mr. Schulz allowed to shepherd his characters onto the screen. He did so in more than four dozen TV specials, four feature films, a slew of Saturday-morning cartoons and scores of commercials."

I won't reprint Mr. Melendez' long, long list of incredible accomplishments, but will highlight what some would shake their heads in disappointment as "go along to get along" and I find admirable and the perfect example of another great American immigrant story: he let his name be changed.

As the story goes, as a twelve-year-old he was put into a kindergarden class because of his inability to speak English fluently – a great humiliation, according to his son Steven Melendez' comments to the New York Times. He learned the language in a flash, even as he started honing his skills by drawing everything in sight. After making his opportunity to crack into Disney in 1938 – a mere seven years after Mexican children had been turned away from Lemon Grove Middle School, leading to the first successful school desegregation court decision in the history of the United States – he went to work helping to animate "Fantasia" and "Pinocchio"

When it was time to be credited on-screen, Melendez' ultra-Aztec moniker was dumped. Disney said "Cuauhtémoc Melendez" was too wide for the credits and they informed him he would hereafter be known as Bill.

Living, as we do, in a time of political correctness and respect for diversity, it's almost unbearable to imagine having to change one's name for work – whether it because it's "too long" or, frankly, just too ethnic. But those were different times, and Bill must have imagined himself bigger than his given name, and willing to leave it behind. He was right.

A true Mexican through and through, though, he wound up leaving Disney after a strike he helped organize! From there he formed his own studio and then took up with Schulz, who died eight years ago.

Melendez went on to change the world through his work on the internationally-adored animated Peanuts specials like "A Charlie Brown Christmas" and, my favorite, "Snoopy, Come Home." One little-known fact is that Snoopy's voice, often heard when the pup's ire was up, was actually voice track Melendez made by talking into a tape recorder then playing it back at a faster speed.

The Mexican boy who had been put into a kindergarden class to learn English grew up to become the animator and voice of one of America's favorite dogs. That's a perfect American story.

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

I love Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's Down Syndrome Baby

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

Forget the fact that, if the McCain/Palin ticket won, Sarah Palin would be the first female vice president in history. If the Alaskan hottie made it into the big leagues, would her little cutie, Trig, make it into the annals of history as the first Down Syndrome baby in White House?

Let me know if I'm wrong here, history buffs, but I think this might be a landmark.

After Sarah Palin's Vice Presidential candidate acceptance speech Wednesday night, her beaming family made their way on stage and she embraced her fifth child, Trig Paxson Van Palin. He looked mighty handsome in some sort of dark, rugby-striped onesie affair, his gently hooded almond eyes squinted in the bright lights – and I loved it.

Ol' Trig has Down Syndrome, almost surely the result of being born to parents in their forties, but he was there!

Back in 2000 my daughter Wren was given a death sentence at the tender age of 27 weeks. Without boring you with the highly technical medical details I'll just say that my husband and I were given the choice to abort and try again later, or press on and, at very best, have a really sick kid with serious disabilities.

In those 24-or-so hours – the worst of each of our lives, I believe – in which we had to decide what to do, we weighed the options. And let me tell you that, ultrasound printout in hand and about two hours removed from cooing over a Doppler heart scan, Down Syndrome – the extra 21st chromosome disorder for which doctors routinely prescribe "pregnancy termination" upon a parent's request – sounded like heaven to us!

"Down Syndrome?? Walk in the park!" we thought, walking the fine line between hope and denial. "Downs kids compete in Special Olympics, they live long happy lives these days! Heck that kid who played 'Corky' on Life Goes On is doing alright for himself, right?!"

But it wasn't meant to be. And while I wouldn't trade the Tasmanian Devil we spawned after Wren's birth and death for anything in the world, it gave me a completely emotional, illogical feeling of glee (and pang of jealousy) to see Palin up on stage with her little five-month bundle of extra-chromosomed joy Wednesday night.

Setting aside her politics, her stances on issues, her running mate's baggage – and pretty much everything else of substance – I homed in on something I liked. Something that might make the whole fiasco slightly ok – or maybe just not as bad – if our lesser of two evils choice for President swings Republican.

During her speech Palin said: "To the families of special needs children all across this country I have a message for you: for years you've sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. And I pledge to you that if we are elected you will have a friend and advocate in the White House."

I tuned out the subtext about whether that might mean more Bush-ian "pro-life," anti-choice who-knows-what and focused on the already living. There are millions of children and adults in this country struggling daily with disabilities and special needs.

A mom advocate – of any political affiliation – and a baby role-model to disabled kiddies all over the world in the White House would be a wonderful thing.

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

Field trip over: Meeks' boycott kids finally out of media glare

this column originally appeared on Huffington Post/Chicago

Anyone who cares about kids in this town getting a shot at a decent education surely looked at the Chicago Public School children who marched into Winnetka and felt the rumbling pride of civil rights crusades past.

The images were enough to make even the most cynical opponent of Meeks' guerilla techniques to get proper school funding for the poorest of Chicago's communities feel like maybe his stunt wasn't such a bad idea.

But if you happened to see the kiddies, neatly dressed in oversized orange t-shirts and splayed cross-legged across the floors of several Loop businesses Wednesday morning, you couldn't help but squirm and wonder whether the ends truly justifed the means.

Perhaps the sight turned enough people off that Meeks was pressured to stop, though his remarks at a Wednesday night press conference indicate he's calling the whole thing off to call Gov. Rod Blagojevich's bluff. He'd said he wouldn't open a school-funding dialogue until he got the kids back in school.

The children who Tuesday so cheerfully endured the heat, humidity and long bus ride to Winnetka to try to register in the New Trier school district spent their Wednesday making do on the floors of air conditioned office buildings.

I stopped by City Hall early Wednesday where a cluster of kids and chaperones hung out in front of Mayor Daley's office, then later strolled over to the James R. Thompson Building where, in advance of the Reverend and State Senator James Meeks' noon press conference, a gaggle of kids were half-heartedly taken through some language arts lessons by retired school teachers while a crowd gawked, photographers snapped pictures and reporters asked the standard "How do you feel" questions of younguns unaccustomed to being displayed like the gazelles at Lincoln Park Zoo.

After the cameras were clicked off, the children were taken away for a snack out of public view and one organizer talked to me about the day's work.

"The kids have been great," the Reverend Dearal Jordan, a full-time pastor at Meeks' Salem Baptist Church, told me as school buses were being pulled around to take some kids over to AT&T headquarters where they'd been invited for a late lunch. "They're happy, they're still energetic…they've been working on a special curriculum of reading and math so they can keep up with their classmates."

I can't speak for the students at any of the other sixteen corporate locations, but the kiddies at the Thompson center looked like their energy was flagging.

Any school teacher, as I was for a few years, can tell you that those first days of school are a tremendous struggle even under the best of circumstances. Young bodies show up to class tired from getting up early, hungry from having their meal schedule drastically changed from one day to another, and antsy about making the adjustment to their new home away from home.

The children scattered across the lobbies of the corporate power centers of this state were no different, except they didn't have the luxury of getting used to the rhythms of a new school year. Their first days were alternately a fun field trip and a boring doctors' office-type wait while people in power played a form of high-stakes chicken with each other.

Granted, the classrooms they'll finally walk into Thursday will be hot, sticky, cramped, overcrowded, and lacking in adequate materials but there will be regularity, familiar surroundings, and an adult who is single-mindedly devoted to ensuring their academic success under even the worst of circumstances. It may not be much, but even that bit of regimented continuity is essential to their health and well-being.

Wednesday night Meeks did a subdued sort of endzone dance – thankfully, with no quasi-Greek chorus of half-asleep grade-schoolers by his side – as he announced the end of his particularly powerful stunt.

Meeks told the night's media throng he and his coalition were calling on all students to get to school the next morning in hopes of sitting down with Gov. Blagojevich Thursday. "Our children have had an opportunity to see what a well-funded school looks like…this effort has been a success." CPS estimated that the boycott cost them $100,000 in state reimbursement – which would be a drop in the $120 million dollar bucket Meeks is seeking.

Only time will tell whether this living, breathing display of the intersection between childhood potential and the broken promise of equal and unseparate education for all will succeed in bringing about meaningful and appropriately-funded reform to Chicago Public Schools but, at last, Thursday morning while Illinois' power-brokers get to work on figuring the money out, the children Meeks used to prove his point will finally get the opportunity to crack open their new boxes of crayons and learn their teachers' name.

For better or worse, they're already behind their peers whose parents opted to send them to school. The question is: how far will their efforts go or how far behind will this two-day field trip have left them?

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