"600 words by Esther J. Cepeda"

Chicago Latino List 2009 - Roberto Cornelio, Large Business Incubator

“600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda”

 

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

 

Everything.

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

 

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

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 Latino List 2009 - Antonio Martinez Jr., Charmer of Benefactors

“600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda”

 

Consider this life: there you are; a young guy, working a dream job in sports marketing, making tons of money, hanging out with cool people and one day you say to yourself “yeah this is cool but, I think I’m going to quit and find a way to feed the poor instead.”

 

Yeah, that’s pretty much what Tony Martinez, a 36-year-old fourth generation Mexican-American did about six months ago after having worked a decade in the pretty-darned-fun specialty of Marketing for such internationally-recognized brands as the Chicago Cubs, the Museum of Science and Industry, and the American Bar Association.

 

Oh he’s still getting people to part with their hard-earned money, but these days it’s as the Assistant Director of Development with the Chicago Community Trust. There, Martinez raises money to serve the basic human needs of the entire Chicago metropolitan region by providing financial support to community-based non-profit organizations who, very often, fill needs no other state or city agencies can fill.

 

“As a fundraiser my job is to motivate individuals or corporations to allocate dollars to the Trust. I inspire and connect philanthropists at all levels with non-profit organizations that serve the needs of our community.” Martinez told me, “It involves relationship building, cultivating donors, matching their interests to the community needs, and then stewardship of their gift.”

 

Just to give you a flavor of the scale of Martinez’ task, for the fiscal year ending September 2007, the Chicago Community Trust and their donors awarded $115 million to the region's not-for-profit arts/culture, basic human needs, community development, education, and health organizations.

 

Wonderful stuff, of course, but what kind of person gives up the glamorous Sports Marketing life to give succor to the sick and clothe children?

 

“OK, it’s true – and the most exciting was working with the Cubs – but even then, I needed to do something more. I needed to give back somehow,” Tony said, a brilliant halo forming over his well-coiffeured head. “Growing up my family didn’t have much to give, but whenever someone came to them for assistance whether it was financial or just someone to listen to, they always found a way to give. That giving was always engrained in me.”

 

“I was raising money for sponsorships for some great events, but I felt like there wasn’t a higher purpose so I decided to raise money for those who need it most.” An exotic breed, Martinez verified that professional fundraisers are very rarely Latino. I’d never actually met or spoken with one before.

 

I asked him what sort of community organizations were in his portfolio, and he got where I was going with it – “I’m not a Hispanic person working for Hispanic money for the Hispanic community,” Martinez said. “The sad reality is that the needs are there for all Chicago residents – I tell people in the most polite way possible that we all need to wake up to meet this drastic need. If we don’t take care of our own, if we don’t invest in our region – in the basic human needs in our region – its going to go down and go down quick.

 

And where are those people going to end up? These needs make the whole region more vulnerable,” Martinez said. “Connect all the dots.”

 

Well sure, connecting dots – that sounds easy enough. But how do you, in the most catastrophic economic downturn since the Great Depression, ask for money?

 

 “We have to persevere in telling the stories of the people who are in need,” Martinez said. “It is hard to ask people for money but I think of it this way: if I’m not going to do it who else will?”

 

 

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

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

“Hoop Dreams” filmmaker makes “The Journey from Zanskar” via Chicago

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

After walking 17 four-to-twelve-year-old kids over a 17,500 foot pass from one of the most remote places on earth to a Buddhist monastery, Frederick Marx is coming home to Chicago to lead us on a journey toward the place in our hearts that’ll help these children finish their education.

Marx – now fifteen years removed from his star turn as the writer/producer who brought us the story of two black Chicago high school students who thought they had a shot at being pro basketball players in the critically acclaimed documentary Hoop Dreams – is again giving us the opportunity to study how people sacrifice in order to gain.

In The Journey from Zanskar, Marx chronicles the passage of a small band of children who were delivered by two Dalai Lama-dispatched monks from their remote village to a monastery where they’ll get the opportunity to learn their own language, culture, history, and religion.

The kids’ voyage away from family and to a life of study is critical because a new road will soon bring the outside world to Zanskar – the last remaining original Tibetan Buddhist society with a continuous untainted lineage dating back thousands of years – endangering its traditions and religious practices. It’s the sort of decimation that has already happened to many other Tibetan towns experiencing this version of gentrification.

Marx was drawn in by this slow, quiet drama.

"What really interests me as a filmmaker is the landscape of the human heart," Marx told me from his San Francisco home last week as he prepared the "preview cut" he’ll be screening at PRIMITIVE Gallery on June 26 and 27. "I’m so interested in heartbreak, in what people do, how they feel, what they think, and why they do what they do. Then when you throw all the layers of cultural differences and socio-economic realities, there’re just such amazing stories."

Marx started out on his own journey toward emotional and financial investment in these 17 kids when an old friend from Chicago called him up and asked if he’d be interested in a gig to go to Zanskar and film the monks for a group of people putting together a non-profit to support their work.

After Marx’ incredible expedition – "when, after climbing 14,000 to 17,000 feet to get over the pass, none of the animals could carry us I just thought ‘I’m going to die today,’" he chuckled – the non-profit failed to take off but Marx took the project upon himself.

"I said, ‘this is crazy, we have to do what we can to help these monks, these kids, and this school.’ So I took it over and it’s been my company’s project ever since," Marx said. His company, Los Angeles, CA-based Warrior Productions, is a non-profit, and his commitment to the 17 children whose story he tells in The Journey from Zanskar is 100% of the revenues – above the cost of production – the films garners.

Those pesky "cost of production" dollars are what brings him back home to the welcoming embrace of Chicago’s PRIMITIVE Gallery for an exclusive set of intimate screenings of this unfinished film in one of the holiest spaces I’ve ever visited.

"In terms of cash dollars, we only need about two hundred grand to get through the post production and then it’s all gravy," Marx said. "Then all the profits from the film will be funneled back to Zanskar for the monks and the kids."

Marx will be at the Friday screening at PRIMITIVE, 130 N. Jefferson, but if you can make it to the Saturday screening, Michael Fitzpatrick, the film’s composer, and Chicago’s own Harold Ramis (on a break from promoting the new Ghostbusters game) will gather with Marx in the breathtaking "Buddha Room" to watch the film.

"What you’ll see is this amazing example of service, of these monks doing what they can for these children, for these families and for the culture of this place they call home," Marx said. "To me there is no grater modeling of leadership than how they sacrifice and risk their own lives to help these families get a leg up."

"These monks demonstrate that the greatest joy in life just might come in doing what you can for others, and that’s the key message I hope people will respond to."

Watch YouTube clips of The Journey from Zanskar here or call PRIMITIVE at 312/575-9600 for more information on attending either the June 26 or 27 screening.

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

“600 words” is number 19 of 60 on Chicago’s “NEW News” list

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

"Pregunta del Dia" translates from Spanish into "Question of the Day" and today’s comes from Richard Steele (no, not the British author or the WBEZ radio show host), a long-time fan:

Q. "

Esther, what’s #19 in a list of Chicago 60?  I looked on your website but didn’t see any reference.  You’re #1 on my list!!!  Best, Richard"

A.

Last week was one of those ridiculously busy weeks where good things happened and there wasn’t any time to stop and smell the roses.

I hate to be self-referential but I’ve gotten several inquiries on what in the world this "Number 19" means even though I hadn’t intended to create a mystique by mentioning it in my weekly e-blast (subscribe here for free…I won’t share your email).

Last Wednesday June 10, the Chicago Community Trust published a special report "The New News: Journalism We Want and Need," about local online news outlets. It was researched and written by a team led by Thom Clark and Gordon Mayer of the Community Media Workshop (download copy here).

Basically, the report is an outgrowth of the hand-wringing that seems to accompany any discussion that involves media or journalism "what’s going to happen to news in the internet age?!" The report seeks to provide a directory and assessment of local online news publications and was "based primarily on a survey of bloggers, citizen journalists, and others using an approach that blends self-reported data, Google page rank and Alexa.com traffic ranking, and a qualitative assessment of each site," according to the Community Media Workshop’s press release.

It went on to conclude that the journalism "we want and need" has three characteristics: it’s vetted by editors for accuracy, clarity and to reduce bias, it’s selected from among the mountains of available data to entertain and inform, and it helps frame one regional conversation about challenges and opportunities.

Happily, my editor and the editorial board of NewsTex, Content on Demand – which distributes my work far and wide – provide me with the vetting, and I kick in the entertainment, original reporting and thought-leadership.

So the results look like this, of 60 local Chicago news sources, "600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda" is number 19 and pulling down three-and-a-half stars out of a possible five based on the 6 criteria points gathered from self-reports, third-party sites (like Alexa and Google), and qualitative assessment from Community Media Workshop. I’m also sporting an almost-7,000 e-mail subscriber list, and a Google page rank of 6.

Not too shabby. And thanks for asking, Richard, it’s constant readers like you who keep me going!

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

White House TV Blackout Warning: This is not a test

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

It’s not like today was a slow news day around the White House; a Monday June 15 health care speech at the Chicago American Medical Association was announced, there was a tragic shooting at the Holocaust Museum, tons of details to iron out in terms of the GM situation, TARP funds, and the bank bail-out dollar pay-backs, and, of course, more scuttlebutt about angry Republicans trying to slow down the Sotomayor hearings.

But today’s White House press briefing spent enormous amounts of time on…drumroll please…the digital TV transition – coming to an oldie set near you this Friday June 12.

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs trotted out Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke and subjected the poor fella to the grueling mosh-pit of a press briefing and the questions on the TV timetable ensued.

As you know, we all got a reprieve in the analog-to-digital switch in February (read my column "The End of Television As We Know It!" here) but it’s now time to pay the piper.

Secretary Locke said 2.5 percent of American households, or 2.8 million households are still unprepared, according to his Neilsen data. Are you?

"If you currently have cable, satellite, or some other paid-for television service, you have nothing to worry about," Locke said. "You are prepared; you don't need to do anything, and June 12th you'll see no change in your television reception or programming."  

ok…

"If you have a new television set purchased, let's say, within the last one year, those new television sets come automatically with a digital tuner.  So if you have a television set a year old or newer, you're prepared; you don't need to do anything, you don't need to worry," Locke continued.

uuummmmm…

 "But if you have a television set more than a year old and you're not on cable or satellite, and you're relying basically on free over-the-air service, you are not ready," Locke said. "And you will lose your television service this Friday if you don't act now."

Ouch! Looks like I’m S-O-L; outta luck.  (What can I say? I read a lot! Besides, who has time for appointment TV when there’s YouTube and Hulu?)

Locke continued:

"So you have three options:  You can subscribe to cable or satellite; you can purchase a newer television set that has these automatic digital tuners built in; or you can purchase a converter box.  The Recovery Act provided Commerce with money to help consumers having trouble affording a digital converter box. Millions of households have applied for and received the $40 coupons to cover the cost of these converter boxes.  And the converter boxes start at $40 and we mail out two coupons per household, requesting household.  So that basically means that with the coupons you get a free converter box."

Alright, so, never mind that I ordered one and got one and then let it expire - ooops.

More from Locke:

"While coupons are still available for eligible households, it will take some nine days for us to process and send out, first-class mail, these coupons, and so they will not arrive in time for this Friday's conversion.  We will have these coupons available until the end of July -- July 31st -- or as long as supplies last.  The coupons are good for 90 days each.

If you already have a coupon, please make sure to purchase the converter box immediately at a partnering retail store like Target, RadioShack, Circuit City, or Wal-Mart.  Take it home, hook it up right away -- in fact, you can use these converter boxes now and receive the digital signal now."

(Someone check this guy’s e-trade account, I’ll betcha he bought some Radio Shack stock last week.)

All right, so enough with the smart-alecky "ha-ha." The reason why I’m actually passing this on is that just because I watch my "TV" the same place I read my newspaper – on a high speed broadband internet connection – doesn’t mean real people won’t actually be left with no immediate home or work access to breaking news.

I hate to put the bad vibe out but, around midnight on Friday June 12 would be a perfect time for some ne’er-do-well to strike some pandemonium and showcase just how many low-income and non-English fluent people would get left out of the loop in an emergency.

According to Locke, the propensity to be unprepared for the switch is primarily on the West Coast and the Southwest. He said:

"Los Angeles, while having a small percentage of families unprepared, a small percentage of a huge market is about a quarter-million households that are unprepared.

We're also finding that it's -- ethnic groups are more unprepared than the general population:  African American, Hispanic, almost twice the national average; Asian Americans just slightly above the national average. 

Ethnic minorities, for whatever reason -- it may be due to language -- are not as prepared as others.  But we've been reaching out using Hispanic -- Telemundo, Univision; held a press conference with Mayor Villaraigosa in Los Angeles, Mayor Kevin Johnson in Sacramento. 

Surprisingly enough, seniors are prepared.  And it's the younger generation, households of under 30 that are also more unprepared than the national average."

So here’s my public service announcement…make sure you help your less-technically savvy family and acquaintances with this transition. You may think no one who isn’t living under a rock will be affected by this change but I will be experiencing life without regular TV starting Friday.

And if I don’t have cable, a new TV, or a converter box, what are the chances you don’t know an uncle, grandma, or neighbor who’s going to be reallllllly upset that they’re going to miss Wheel of Fortune on Friday?

Apply for a coupon or find a place to buy a converter by calling 1-888-DTV-2009 or call the FCC if you can’t get the danged thing to work, call 1-888-CALL-FCC.

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

Sotomayor’s treatment in the media; on being talked about but not being allowed to talk

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

Tom Rosenstiel, the Director at the Project for Excellence in Journalism, puts out a report every week about what was covered in the news the preceding week. Yesterday when I cracked it opened, it came as no surprise that for May 25-31, 2009, "Sotomayor Spin Wars Dominate[d] the Narrative."

His opening statement stood in awe of how big a story this was, "based on [the] velocity and ferocity of the new media ecosystem in 2009, one forged by the election, by the rise of social media and cable, and even more than ever defined by speed, political surrogates, diversity and argument."

The report said Sotomayor’s nomination filled 24% of the newshole the week of May 25-31 and ethnicity played a central role in that coverage. "Fully 40% of stories about the nominee referenced her cultural background, meaning her Latina heritage accounted for at least 25% of those stories."

And what was bugging me all week about that coverage? This was very much missing in Rosensteil’s analysis: most of the media ecosystem talking heads helping to fill that news hole were not as diverse as, perhaps, the people they’re covering.

They were pro – like Neil Steinberg in the Chicago Sun-Times who agreed with me that the media should have focused on her qualifications more than with her backstory. And they were con, like the Chicago Tribune’s John Kass who followed the "reverse racist" storyline. And they were even black, like Clarence Thomas who gawked at the drama, and also female, like Kathleen Star Parker who said we should wait to see what the woman has to say for herself before declaring her guilty of a leftist Latino agenda.

Hmmmm…let’s see who are we missing here?…I’ll give you a hint. Here’s what media columnist Richard "Journal-isms" Prince pointed out in his piece "Latino Commentators Scarce on Sotomayor" when referring to the number of Hispanic journalists who spoke about Sotomayor’s nomination on the Sunday morning political talk-shows:

"There are no Latino journalists on that list.

It's not just this Sunday. In an analysis of the four Sunday broadcast shows this year through April 12, Media Matters for America found that black Americans had been on the Sunday shows 40 times.

"Media Matters also measured the number of Latino guests or panelists on 'Meet the Press,' 'This Week,' 'Face the Nation' and 'Fox News Sunday' this year for the same period," wrote David Bauder of the Associated Press, which commissioned the study.

"The count?

"Zero."

Playing Devil’s advocate as I so often like doing, I contacted Kevin Olivas, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ Parity Project Director, and asked whether this even mattered, since a good reporter can report on anything.

He responded in an email:

"It is true that there are good journalists out there who do not happen to be Hispanic who have done a good job in covering the Latino community," Olivas said, "This may mirror Judge Sotomayor’s now infamous quote, but it is very difficult to relate the experiences of Latinos when you have not lived that experience yourself.

If we were back in time and there was an opportunity to have a panel on the civil rights struggle for African Americans and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. or Ralph Abernathy or Rosa Parks were available, but someone said, ‘Nah, let’s just go with a panel of people who are not African American to discuss this issue,’ how representative would that be?"

Kevin makes an excellent point. I explained it this way to someone else who was having a hard time understanding where Latino journalists – rare as we are – are coming from regarding this slight.

Look at it this way: You know how English-only speakers dislike it when Spanish-speakers chatter away within earshot? The natural human instinct is to imagine that the chatterers are talking about them but they can’t understand so therefore it makes them uncomfortable.

Now imagine how Hispanics feel in a similar situation: here’s a national story about the first Latina Supreme Court Justice nominee and there are plenty of us who can objectively articulate the pros and cons of her merits – with the bonus of a culturally diverse viewpoint – but we’re not allowed to speak. We have to let non-Hispanic news and opinion journalists speak for us, even though we’re very much within ear shot and capable of answering for ourselves.

"How is it possible that Latinos can be left out of the discussion among journalists regarding such a historic event as the nomination of the first Hispanic to the U.S. Supreme Court," Olivas said. "Are there no qualified Latino journalists who could take part in this discussion?"

Of course, I’d have been more than happy to help Meet the Press’ David Gregory pronounce Sonia’s last name – it’s "Soto-‘my’-or" – but I guess I’ll just have to wait until next time.

"Latinos are part of the American experience," Olivas commiserated, "Leaving out our voices means telling an incomplete 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

Trippin’ the light Hispanic: Introducing “Chicago Latino List 2009”

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

On May 4, Crain’s Chicago Business – a publication I pay for and happily read cover-to-cover every week – published "2009 Women to Watch," their annual roundup of female Chicago movers and shakers. I leafed through it and proceeded to hit the roof.

Here’s the full text of my Letter to the Editor which Crain’s was kind enough to print in the Opinion section of the May 11 edition:

"It strikes me as absolutely unbelievable that a world-class city like Chicago – a town with no less than 1.7 million residents of Latino heritage – could possibly have zero women of Hispanic background worth watching ("Women to Watch," Focus, May 4)

The dynamic, accomplished, and beautiful women featured represent an impressive array of talent, but Crain’s couldn’t find a single Latina "bright star" this year?

I consider myself to be imminently watchable. Yet, I certainly pale in comparison to the fine selection of Hispanic VPs, college presidents, legislators, and entrepreneurs around Chicago."

They cut it down and took some of the sting out of it – and made it sound like it was about me rather than about the many, many incredible Hispanic women who toil away in the blind spots of those who decide "Who’s who" in this town – but you get the point.

That all came on the heels of me hitting the roof about BusinessWeek magazine’s story from the May 11 issue called "CEO’s of Tomorrow." Here’s an excerpt of the stinging Letter to the Editor I sent them back on May 4 when my copy arrived in the mail:

"I wasn’t disappointed by the high caliber of the 19 individuals BusinessWeek chose to focus on; they were dynamic, diverse, and already shouldering tremendous responsibility in major corporations. But there wasn’t a single Latino professional who might be a CEO of Tomorrow?

Not a single Hispanic CEO, President, VP, CFO, or COO who might be an innovative leader "tomorrow" when Latinos will make up a third or more of the population in the United States? I don’t think so."

I’m happy to report that Diane Brady, BusinessWeek’s Senior Editor/Content Chief immediately called me and we had a smart, in-depth conversation about the difficulty of achieving a perfectly diverse mixture of gender, race, ethnicity, industry, etc. in a spread like "CEO’s of Tomorrow –" and the difficulty of finding qualified Latino candidates.

I won’t quote her because I didn’t know I was going to write about this until I heard from so many of my own readers, but she truly was responsive to my explanation that I’m not interested in a "Hispanic leaders" story in BusinessWeek but rather to have Latinos be included in their regular stories.

Let me repeat it loudly and clearly: whether you’re talking about "Women to Watch" or "CEOs of Tomorrow," great Latino leaders are not "really great…for a Latino" but, instead, "great leaders who just happen to be Hispanic."

In order to help blunt this perceived shortage of Latino superstars I’m taking action.

Despite there being, in my mind, a ton of awesome Hispanic people doing truly amazing things here in Chicago, there seems to be no "official" list that mainstream publications can refer to when trying to find great Hispanic candidates to be profiled as Who’s Who/Mover-Shaker/Rising Star/One-to-Watch in "mainstream" publications.

So, I’m starting one.

On June 24, I will publish the first annual compilation of totally awesome Hispanic Chicagoans making this world a better place through personal or professional excellence, and I’m calling it "Chicago Latino List 2009" – or something better, if any of you have a pithier title.

You will nominate Chicago-area residents of any age, from any walk of life, who are doing something to make this world a better place, and I will pick and profile 10 of the best.

Rules: Your nominations must be emailed to me by May 29 and include:

·

the name of this wonderful human being

·

a short blurb about how they’re making the world a better place

·

contact information so I can talk to them myself

·

nominees can be Hispanic in any way, immigrant or U.S.-born, of any age, and working in any occupation

There WILL be prizes…not that my story-telling abilities aren’t prize enough…which I’ll announce along with the winners. Click on the "CHICAGO LATINO LIST 2009" page in the left-hand column for more info., and to read about other opportunities to participate.

Send your nominations to eejaycee@600words.com by 5/29/09. We’ll show ‘em all!

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

To boldy go where few Hispanics have gone before – to watch a Star Trek movie!

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

There I was, sitting inside my favorite Mexifood joint, Tacos El Norte, last Saturday enjoying my steak torta, watching the Phillies/Mets game on Fox en Espanol when I heard the play-by-play guy say something surprising, in Spanish:

"Don’t forget, opening this Friday – Star Trek like you’ve never seen it before!" My immediate reaction was: but I’ve never seen it before – at all.

Thinking it was some freakish anomaly, I went back to my torta when I heard it again – this time with a logo, indicating to me that it was a planned thing. The announcer said, in Spanish, "This isn’t your father’s Star Trek!" Uh, yeah, I know, because my dad never watched it!

My lunch companion, a gentleman as pasty-white and as "Trekkie" as a man who could actually score lunch with a woman could be was perplexed by my reaction. "Why’s that so weird?" he asked innocently.

"Latinos don’t watch Star Trek!" I gasped. Then I did two things:

1) I ranted, for a full three minutes (he timed me – this happens quite often and he’s keeping track as a sort of science experiment) about marketers who decide to spend money on advertising to Spanish-speaking audiences but don’t bother to create culturally-relevant messages to maximize their ad buy.

Sure, Star Trek went viral before "going viral" meant "global internet sensation" but the vast majority of Latin American immigrants to this country are from Mexico and, based on my own life experiences, Mexicans weren’t exactly saying "lo estoy dando todo lo que tengo capitan" – "I’m givin’ ‘er all she’s got captain" – in times of duress.

And here in the U.S., well, let’s just say William Shatner is no Don Francisco!

Star Trek was never on in my house and when it was I never got interested. I’ve written before about how in my honors science class our final project was based on the "prime directive" and I was clueless, and ultimately got a bad grade. (Read more on William Shatner as Jesus here)

2) I sent out a Tweet calling for Latino Star Trek Fans and I got a few interesting remarks:

Luis said: "Beam me up - esse!" Alexander said: "Esther Live long and prosper. There is no bigger fan than me. " Gerardo chimed in with: ""To boldly go where no man has gone before. That was my motto in high school too. HA!" And Gabriel added: "I'm a Mexican Star Trek fan!"

I did speak to two people, though who had something more to add. Victor Soto, a 29-year-old freelance TV producer whose parents emigrated here from Mexico before he was born told me, "Yeah, I obviously didn’t watch it with my dad – he probably didn’t even really know it existed so he’s definitely not a fan."

Victor, however, is a different story, "I’m a guy, y’know, I think it’s a cool show, I like the gadgets. I grew up watching ‘Next Generation’ with Patrick Stewart and all them. I’m definitely going to go see the new one."

I also had an interesting back-and-forth with labor-rights activist Jorge Mujica, the mastermind of the March 15 Movement and immigration reform rallies in Chicago. He said he’s definitely going if he can score some tickets and shared this about his deep love for Star Trek:

"Lemme put it this way: they had a black woman, an Asian, a Russian and an [assload] of "aliens" – now, that's diversity! The miniskirts played a role, also," Mujica said. He then brought up a great question: "Let's see if they have Latinos now."

You’re in luck Jorge! The miniskirted hottie this time around is indeed a Latina – Zoe Saldana, a Jersey girl from the Dominican Republic. The stars aligned!

Then Jorge said one more thing that made me really re-think the impact Star Trek has had on past and will on future generations:

"No, I don’t think my dad saw "Viaje a las Estrelas" ever in his life. I watched it at my cousin's because we didn’t have a TV and I always loved it," Mujica said.

"After being Tarzan and Robin Hood, I became Spock, I guess it always helped me imagine there had to be a better future than our present."

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

White women like wine, Hispanic women prefer sex

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

"It’s a fool who looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart." Ulysses Everett McGill said that in the movie "Oh Brother Where Art Thou?" – one of my favorites.

He was surely talking about those patient people who do focus-group research for big-name marketers looking for the consumer insights that will tell them who they should spend their money marketing to.

In the last few years, much ado has been made about marketing to Latinos, who in 2003 were estimated to have a purchasing power of $650 Billion. Nationally, the amount of dollars spent on Hispanic advertising reached $3.43 billion in 2003, up 15 percent from the previous year, according to the Hispanic advertising group, thats a lot of dough spent on reaching Hispanic consumers in two languages across a variety of media to sell everything from toothpaste to alcohol to cars.

Usually marketers translate their ads into Spanish, throw in an abuelita or soccer and call it done but at the end of April, a survey like one I’ve never seen before caught my eye and boy, am I glad I read to the end.

Adage.com posted Laurel Wentz’ piece (available only by subscription) called "Latinas are Technically Savvy Brand Loyal Chief Household Officers" which detailed how Telemundo, Inc., and Meredith Hispanic Ventures spent money on actually talking to Hispanic women to find out what they’re really all about since they’re typically portrayed in the media as illegal victims, or in the movies as hottie housekeepers.

Here are my favorite insights, gleaned from a national sample of women 18-64 who self-identified as Hispanic and a control group of 500 non-Hispanic 18-64 year old women. I’ll leave out the obvious ones (as I always say, some stereotypes are true: Latinas place a greater importance on their relationship with their family and parents. Duh.).

· 80% said higher education was a top personal goal and 72% said their career was a top priority. Only 50% said getting married was more important.

· Nearly three quarters considered themselves "significantly health-conscious"

· Latina respondents were slightly more likely than the non-Hispanic respondents to take pictures with a digital camera (45% compared to 42%)

· Latina respondents were slightly more likely than the non-Hispanic respondents to download music to an iPod (28% compared to 22%)

and drumroll please…

· A key difference between Latinas and non-Hispanic women: Latinas are more likely (75%) than non-Latinas (63%) to say they’d rather have sex with their husbands than a glass of good wine.

Now, gentlemen in the audience, I want you to know that everything I write is intended to help and serve my readers. So with this information in hand, I hope it is abundantly clear what to get as the next birthday/Mother’s Day/I’m sorry gift on the horizon: an iPhone. And perhaps something lacy…but don’t go overboard on the wine.

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

R.I.P “Digital divide” – Latinos are all over Internet

“600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda”

This rant is dedicated to all the people out there who are innocently laboring under the misperception that the vast majority of Hispanics in the United States are living in such crushing poverty that they are not able to access information on the Internet. 

These people – distinguished academics, misguided do-gooders, and everyday Joes alike– go around with a picture in their mind of what a Hispanic person is and it involves challenges in language, lack of education, and low access to resources. Sadly, this is true in many cases. However, it is not when it comes to access to the internet.

And to the concerned parties, Nice Esther says: stop fretting about our electronic habits, we’re OK. To others who aren’t as benevolent toward the U.S.’s exploding Latino community and prefer to think of us all as illiterate immigrants, Mean Esther says: Take your “digital divide” and shove it up your assumptions.

Let me ply you with statistics:

• In a recent report called The Power of the Hispanic Consumer On-line, Scarborough Research says that the majority (54%) of Hispanics are now online.

• In fact, Internet access among Hispanics has been increasing at a faster rate than it has among total adults in the U.S - growing 13% (on a relative basis) since 2004 - from 48% in 2004 to its current penetration of 54%.  By contrast, Internet access by all consumers nationally grew 8% during the same time period. (In 2004, 64% of all consumers accessed the Internet, and this increased to 69% in 2008.)

Of course, it’s not abuelita - 18-34 year-old Hispanics are more likely to access the Internet than Hispanics overall, and their rate of Internet access is growing at a faster pace than that of the total Hispanic population. Scarborough says:

“Younger consumers are more likely to download content online. Forty-nine percent of 18-34 year-old adult Internet Users downloaded digital content in the past month, compared to 35% of the total online population. Similarly, it is no surprise that when you examine this younger demographic of Hispanics, the percentage is even higher. 51% of 18-34 year-old Hispanics downloaded digital content during the past 30 days.”

And no, it’s not some tired dial-up connection made from a pre-historic machine in someone’s basement. This same report says, “Hispanics have been taking advantage of the expansion of broadband, and their rate of adoption has mirrored that of the total U.S. population. Currently, 68% of Hispanic Internet Users have a broadband connection in their household. This grew from 13% in 2002 – an increase of more than fivefold.”

In late March, Chicago-based research firm Mintel released results from a survey showing :

• Hispanics are more likely to have profiles on social networking sites than non-Hispanics: 48% of them have one versus 43% of black Americans and 31% of whites.

• Web-surfing Hispanics ages 18-34 visit social networking sites 3.6 times a week on average, versus just 1.3 times per week for over-35s.

• More than a third of all Internet-using Hispanics were age 24 or younger in 2006.

• Other findings from the survey suggest that Hispanics adopt new media technology more quickly than non-Hispanics, spend more time listening to Internet radio and downloading music than non-Hispanics and devote more time weekly to Internet browsing than non-Hispanics.

• The firm says Hispanics spend more time using electronic readers like Amazon's Kindle; playing multiplayer games online (although not single-player); and blogging or commenting online than other groups.

Then just last week, comScore, Inc., a leading Internet-usage research firm released numbers showing that:

• During the past year, the growth of the U.S Hispanic Internet audience outpaced that of the total U.S. online population in terms of number of visitors, time spent and pages consumed, an increase of 6 percent from the previous year.

Alright, say it all together with me now: “There is no ‘Digital Divide’ when it comes to Hispanics.” We know how to boot up, log on, and surf the web – in two languages!

And never mind the computer part of it, Hispanics – much like people who live in poverty and affluence all over the world – access their internet information via that little marvel we call the cellular phone.

Here’s what the Scarborough paper had to say on that topic: “Hispanics are avid cellular phone users. They are more likely than the typical adult to have a cell phone, and they are in the top spending brackets for cellular usage. Hispanics have been at the forefront of using the expanded functionality and technology in cellular devices, such as picture taking, text messaging and downloading ring tones or games. They are also more likely to use cell phones for tasks such as email or utilizing other Internet features.”

"As technology prices drop and the number of bilingual Hispanics in the U.S. grows, we see more Hispanic adults relying on the Internet for day-to-day communication and learning," comments Leylha Ahuile, multicultural expert at Mintel. "U.S. Hispanics who get online via their cell phones provide a great opportunity for marketers who want to reach them in a personal, direct way."

But I’m not here to tell you everything is perfect and, no need to look after the members of Latino communities who don’t yet have access to decent internet or even a computer, thank-you-very-much. Far from it!

There are still many, many great challenges for Latinos of varied socio-economic backgrounds and educational levels who, in all honestly, wouldn’t know a Mac from a PC if the Mac grew teeth and bit them. But that’s where I circle back to the greatest opportunity for growth in communicating with Latinos of all stripes and types: the cell phone.

 What you’ll see, though, is that the cell phone will revolutionize Hispanics’ access to information on the web, making for infinite more connections to vital information that will bring access to social services, higher education, and political empowerment. Sort of like what Novelas Educativas, a Burbank, California-based digital entertainment company has done on YouTube, and in cell-friendly social platforms for the National Council on La Raza and for “Amigos de Obama” during last year’s elections.

"Today kids are all about cell phones just like we were about Air Jordans back in the day – popular and everywhere,” Miguel Orozco, Co-Founder, Novelas Educativas told me when we met a few weeks back. “And now that the digital gap is closing, the real issue we should be concerned about is the information gap.  We should all be asking, 'How do we leverage access into knowledge.'"

Ahhh, yes, how DO we leverage access into knowledge? Well, I don’t have any easy answer for that one, but whatever the answer turns out to be, that lever will probably be translated to at-risk families via a broadband or cellular connection – and most likely into the palms of their hands.

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

Tempest in a taco shell – the Mexi-centric fast food blues

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

If you know me at all, you know I like to eat. A lot. My runs to the Taco Bell border are legendary – don’t get me started on the cinnamon twists, we’ll be here all night.

And so in that vein, I bring you some fast foodie news, one involving a pathetic and cowardly caving to political correctness and another violating the sanctity of two all-beef patties!

Exhibit A:

Burger King’s pathetic caving to lunatic political correctness.

Here’s the recap; so, according to The Nation’s Restaurant News, a restaurant industry trade paper, Burger King sells a thing called "the Texican Whopper" in Europe. It’s a flame-grilled patty topped with chile-con-carne, spicy jalapenos, onion, crispy lettuce and Cajun mayonnaise on a sesame seed bun, but that wasn’t the controversial part.

BK created an ad campaign featuring – gasp!!! – a tall "American cowboy" next to a midget (oops, I meant to say "little person") lucha libre wrestler with a Mexican flag cape.

Long-story-short (if you’ll pardon the pun – I just couldn’t resist!) Mexican ambassador to Spain Jorge Zermeno – who clearly hasn’t been to ANY lucha libre matches because he’d see all manner of tall and tiny luchadores wearing Mexican flag underwear, capes, masks, etc. – complained about the ads denigrating Mexico’s national image and improperly using Mexico’s national flag.

O.K., so I guess no more girlies wearing Mexican flag thong bikinis at Cinco De Mayo celebrations, huh? Darn.

But, I’m not going to complain about Jorge "I’ve got a stick up my butt" Zermeno, it’s his job to defend his mother country’s honor, ahem, abroad.

Nope, I reserve my disgust for Burger King – they’re cowards to bow to the pressure of a humorless bureaucrat. Their PR flacks released a statement Tuesday that said the commercials "were not intended to offend anyone." Duh.

It further stated: "Burger King Corp. values and respects all of its guests as well as the countries and communities we serve…With regard to the Texican Whopper advertisement shown in Spain and the United Kingdom, it was our intention to promote a product whose culinary origin lies in both the American and Mexican cultures, and was meant to appeal to those who enjoy the flavors and ingredients that each country offers."

Apparently Burger King will, from now on, appeal only to those who cannot bear to laugh at Mexican midgets who dress up in their country’s flags to make money off people who come out to laugh at them.

What’s this world coming to?

 Exhibit B: Darn that Jim Skinner, what the heck is he doing to my Big Mac’s honor? Doesn’t he know wrapping it in a flour tortilla is going to make the racists hate Mexicans even more?!?!?!

O.K., so it’s not quite that serious. But, if you hadn’t heard, according to Advertising Age magazine, our pals at Oakbrook-based McDonald’s are testing the "Snack Wrap Mac," a half –beef-patty, with lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions that’s smothered in "special sauce" and wrapped in a flour tortilla. For a buck-forty-nine.

Huh?

Why would they do this? And, more importantly, why can’t I get one?

Of the 400 of the chain's 14,000 locations who get to take the new snack for a spin, our neighbors in Wisconsin, and those crazy Texas Hustonians get to feast their tastebuds on the Big tortilla-clad Mac but Chicago doesn’t get to take a taste test – that’s just plain loco.

Note to Jim Skinner: like the geniuses who combined peanut butter and chocolate, you might just have created my newest taste treat sensation by mixing my Taco Bell needs with my Mac daddy love…so let me at it, already.

Perhaps a trip to the Oak Brook McLaboratory for a quickie taste?

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

Me and "The Man of A Thousand Faces"

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

On April 1, 1883 in Colorado Springs, Colorado silent film star Lon Chaney, Sr. was born.

A healthy boy, born to parents who were both deaf, the pantomime-skilled kid grew up to become "The Man of A Thousand Faces," one of the world's most gifted artists as the age of moving pictures started. Perhaps you've seen the clip of the classic "Phantom of the Opera" moment when the Phantom rips off his mask to show a hideous, malformed face.

On October 25, 2002 (or thereabouts) I was up late watching PBS when I saw an ad for a documentary of someone commonly known as the "Man of a Thousand Faces," who at that time I knew nothing about.

For absolutely no reason I made it a point to tune in on Halloween for the Kenneth Branagh-narrated documentary Lon Chaney: A Thousand Faces.

I fell in love. I went out and bought every single book chief Chaney historian Michael Blake ever wrote (I was unable to track him down for a quote), I got my hands on every single one of Chaney's films still available, I laid awake at night thinking about his stances on America's prison system and the sport of boxing. Why, I don't know!

There was just something about Chaney:

·

he was a guy from humble beginnings, an outsider because his parents were different

·

against all odds he rocked Vaudeville as an actor, a dancer, and a ventriloquist

·

he made a Hollywood star of himself by being the world's first character actor and the first special-effects master of a medium still in its infancy

·

he basically defined the horror movie genre with his grotesque characters in "Phantom of the Opera," "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," and "Oliver Twist"

·

when movies became talkies, he rocked the world again in the "Unholy Three," by portraying an old lady, a bird, and ventriloquist so perfectly that he was accused of faking it, but had he lived long enough, he might have also been known as the Man of a Thousand Voices, as well

What that has to do with me, I still don't know. But throughout the years I've never neglected to mark his birthday – today he would have been 126 – and in fact, all of my historical timelines are marked as BC or AC: "Before Chaney" or "After Chaney." It's kooky, I know but it helps me keep my dates in perspective. For instance: the U.S. Civil War began, in my mind, 22 years BC. The Watergate Scandal, 89 AC. You get the drift.

Usually on his birthday, I would have either written about him myself from whatever printed perch I had at the time or had Zay N. Smith – the former and much-missed Chicago Sun-Times Quick Takes columnist – mention it for me. He usually published a picture as well, bless his heart.

But this year I have no print perch, and Zay N. Smith is off doing whatever retired Sun-Times columnists do, so I have my electronic perch with which to serenade the man who should never ever be mistaken with his son Lon Chaney Jr., who is best known for being the "Wolfman" but wasn't actually named Lon at all.

Lon Chaney was different, an unbearably talented artist who excelled at his calling in life despite constant discouragements and obstacles. And though so many have forgotten him – or worse, never knew him – he lives on in my heart.

Happy Birthday Lon, wherever you are.

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

The art of the up-sell: Why Starbucks will survive and thrive during downturn

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

I'm not a Starbucks aficionado. I can never remember the secret code-names they have for small, medium, and large; I couldn't tell the difference between a macchiato and a mocha if one of them grew fangs and bit me.

But a recent commitment to a tastier decaffeinated lifestyle got me stopping by for decaf Americanos, which even I – Starbucks troglodyte that I am – can tell you is a shot of espresso and hot water.

Then the decaf lattes won me over, too, and all of a sudden I was waist-deep into a case study of the familiar-to-everyone-but-me international mega-brand, that elicited mocking sniggers a few months back when it announced that it had to resort to closing stores because of sagging sales.

Those sagging sales – they've reported a 10 percent drop in same-store sales, are closing nearly 1,000 shops and cutting at least 7,000 jobs – can be blamed on everything from too many store openings to consumers who, fearful of the economic downturn, are pinching their pennies.

But Starbucks has nothing to worry about because they seem to have mastered two things that are completely intertwined and completely lacking everywhere I go, which is bugging the heck out of me. Those magical qualities are good customer service and its fraternal twin: good selling.

First off, at every single Starbucks I've ever been to in the last year I was warmly greeted as though I was a regular. And the people in line with me who clearly were regulars were greeted by name and asked about their regular order: "Are you having an unetto or duetto large Fancy-Double-Half-Caff (or whatever their called) today?"

"And would you like a chocolate cupcake?" asks the cashier-ista, "Anything else?"

This is what is going to keep Starbucks rolling in dough regardless of what the stock market does: they're reallllllllly nice to the people who walk into their store to spend money on them. And they upsell, upsell, upsell.

I can not tell you how much it bothers me to go to my favorite sit-down taco joint – that same place I've been going to several times a month for years and years – and the waitresses never register that I'm there all the time. And at the end of my meal, never once, have they asked if I wanted dessert.

Guess what? I always want dessert. And I always have to turn the check away and ask for my flan. Every time.

Same thing at my favorite pizza place – I'm there nearly every Saturday night of my life and have been for a decade. Though the waiters and waitresses know my order and exactly how I liked my baby stuffed served, they never ask if I want dessert.

(Eli’s cheesecake. Plain. Yes, plain as in no nothin’ on top.)

Contrast that to my weekly Sunday trip to Jewel, where the cashiers don't know me from Adam's off aunt yet never fail to offer me the super-duper-mega-buy. And sometimes, by golly, I'm strolling outta that grocery store with ten bags of Cheddar Chex Mix (I couldn't afford not to!).

I keep seeing these apocalyptic news stories in the paper, in business magazines, and on TV about how bad it is out there…how people have stopped spending out of fear and there's just no money to buy anything, and the sky is falling.

That's not what I heard from the middle-aged woman who was in one suburban Starbucks location late last week. She was letting the barista chat her up, even though it was morning rush, because she wanted to know if the store was hiring.

"You know, I've been out of work for nearly a year now and I just can't find anything," she told the milk-steaming-coffee-slinger, who lamented that they had no openings.

"It's never been like this before – usually I could find at least something part-time, but gosh, things are so tough out there," the woman who was known by all the store's staff as Sally, said, cradling a huge four-dollar whip-cream-topped confection.

She'd been offered a cinnamon scone but declined on the grounds of her waistline. I suspect that the next day when Sally stopped by for her usual fix she was offered that three dollar scone again – and didn't make it out of the store for less than eight bucks.

Here’s the customer insight for every single business person who makes their living off of selling something in any way (and this is a freebie, I'm waving my three-hundred-dollar an hour consulting fee): be nice and make the extra offer.

In fact, the more I think of it…the more I think a chocolate cupcake will go well with my decaf Americano tomorrow morning.

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

The end of television as we know it

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

I am one of "those people" who was going to be screwed out of watching the ten o’clock news because I don’t have cable TV and the digital switchover was almost upon me.

Yes, I’d long ago applied for the discount coupons for the special receiver I imagined I’d hook up to the aluminum foil-ed bunny ears in order to watch my recommended daily allowance of TV.

But the vouchers came and I never got out to wherever one gets these mystery transformer boxes, then they expired, and then… well, you see where that went.

So I threw in the towel last Friday – before all us non-cable-TV-viewers were given the four month changeover reprieve – and I broke up with my TV.

Instead of bothering with the reception and the unforgiving schedules (no, I also don’t have TiVo or DV-R) I just watched my TV shows on my computer.

Even better than that, I went a step further: I took my laptop upstairs, snuggled into my warm cozy bed and spent several quality hours with limited-commercial TV news reports, and full-length television shows.

Highlights from the Golden Globes, twenty-seven hours of "Miami Vice," all the "Lost" you’d ever need, "24," "House," "CSI," and countless others; I named it, and I downloaded them for free. Even HBO – a premium cable channel – is starting to put its stuff online ("In Treatment," starring Gabriel Byrne) for free.

High quality, on my schedule, in any and every room of my house. Free.

Little did I know that Monday, the Senate would vote to delay the switchover start date (it had been slated for February 17) because so many of the estimated 6.5 million U.S. households had either not ordered or received their vouchers for the special receiver or had but couldn’t find any in stores.

The measure got tripped up in Congress today, handing the Obama administration a bit of a setback, but several news outlets are reporting that to be just that: a setback.

The LA Times’ Jim Puzzanghera reports:

"Rep. Rick Boucher, the Virginia Democrat who chairs the House telecommunications subcommittee, told me he was optimistic the chamber would agree to President Obama's request and vote to put off the digital transition until June so about 6.5 million viewers won't lose their TV signals next month. "The likelihood is we’ll come back next week" and pass it, he said.

Not that it matters because from now on, unless I’m popping in a DVD, I’m watching TV on my computer or laptop. For free.

Well, I guess there is one price: the cost of my guilt from the knowledge that FREE is not a workable business model.

My tuning in through the internet and by-passing 90% of all commercials will eventually (and probably sooner than later) kill some significant portion of the advertising industry, the sales of consumer products – or both – and will put people out of jobs, which stinks.

It’s the same guilt that keeps me paying for subscriptions to three wonderful newspapers when I know damn well I mostly read them on-line because I leave my house so early the newspaper delivery man (now there’s a dude who’s hurtin’!) can’t get to my house before the 6am train pulls out of the station. Plus, I keep up-to-date during the day on their websites because it’s, yes, FREE.

From open source software – much of the art you see on this page was made on GIMP, a free graphics software I downloaded off the internet – to free printed newspapers and free web access to my favorite sites, there’s a whole lot of people paying a whole lot of money to get very little in return from me, and it’s not far from stopping.

So add fear to the guilt. Fear that at some point I’m going to – somehow – end up paying dearly for it all.

You know what they say, there’s no such thing as a "free"…anything.

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

An inauguration for a new nation: Latino media puts a stamp on Obama-rama

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

It’s a brave new world. On Tuesday PEOTUS Obama will go from being "President-Elect of the United States" to being the nation’s first multi-cultural, half-something-half-something-else Chief Everyone Officer.

And what better way to celebrate the nation’s most non-traditional President getting sworn in than by watching the festivities on the internet and in Spanglish?

There will be untold millions "watching" on-line rather than on TV because of work responsibilities. For your enjoyment here is a list of where to watch the inauguration on-line, my pick isn’t on it but well worth visiting: www.terra.com

According to a story in Sunday’s New York Times, "Can the Go-To Site Get you to Stay," Tuesday is going to be gut-check time for the traditional media outlets like CNN and MSNBC who are transforming themselves into 24-hour on-line news entities.

Not so for Terra, which is already dominating that space in Latin America and is making inroads in the U.S. – notably by reaching out to those with a vested interest in the Latino community to spread the word? That’s just another way to say that Angel Sepulveda, Terra’s V.P. of Programming, called me Friday night to talk Obama.

"Terra launched in English in April to provide content not just for the Spanish-fluent audience, but to reach young, Hispanics who live in the U.S. – it’s not the same content," Angel told me as he recuperated from a marathon planning meeting with his DC crew.

He had me at "young U.S. Hispanics" – anyone smart enough to know that I don’t share the same likes and dislikes with other family members who are completely devoted to novelas and soccer is OK in my book.

But the proof is in the pudding: their site is a place I go to catch up on U.S. or Mexican, news, celebrity gossip and sports delivered in a delightful blend of Spanglish that makes me feel, well, at home. I get my Walter Mercado Spanish Astrology fix there (guilty pleasure!!).

Ten-year-old Terra is an on-line only news provider trying to make a name for itself in the United States’ netherworld of struggling media entities to an audience that is largely ignored in mainstream media and incorrectly thought to be lacking access to computers.

Currently, they own the on-line space in Latin America with approximately 60 million unique visitors per month and 8 million unique users per month on Terra TV, with an average of 66 million streams per month and a collection of 250 thousand videos.

That translated to $500 million U.S. dollars in net revenues through their portals in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, México, Nicaragua, Panamá, Perú, Puerto Rico, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela in 2007.

And Tuesday is going to be huge for them as the Latino world looks to Obama to take us all to a better place – and looks to Terra to be there, shoulder-to-shoulder with CNN, FOX, NBC, the AP, and all the other big guys, reporting the news but with an eye to what it’ll all mean to Hispanics.

"The most pressing issues facing Latinos in the U.S. are the same as for everyone else; the economy, education, social security, and yes, immigration," Angel said. "But the way Obama approached Hispanic folks on the campaign trail was indicative of how important the Latino voters were to him – and he knows what it is to be a minority."

"We are hoping and wishing for the best during his administration," Angel said, echoing the sentiments of just about every other Latino (and non-Latino) person I’ve spoken to in the last two weeks. "We all have to go the extra mile, do our part to help this man take the country to a better place."

Which is, as a matter of fact, what Angel is trying to do for U.S. Latinos, too. "Providing this coverage and this news and information to our people is my passion," Angel said. "It’s so important to elevate Hispanics’ image in this country and get others to understand Hispanics better is what we’re here to do."

"I understand what a huge responsibility it is on my shoulders to get everything that happens leading up to the inauguration, including the inauguration itself, out there for our people to see," Angel said, "it’s important for our people to know that things are going to get better."

You can watch things get better – bilingually no less – starting with the inauguration festivities at their special site http://inauguration.terra.com

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

A Credit Crunch Christmas: lessons for next year

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

"This is the worst Christmas of my entire life!" said my beautiful, 7-year-old nephew on Christmas Eve, shortly after all the gifts had been unwrapped. There hadn't been that many, and his haul had not included that one thing that had topped his list to Santa.

I noticed it early on in the evening: the usual excess of brightly-wrapped presents was but a small – yet respectable – pile that didn't over-power the tree like in years past. I wondered how the six kiddies in my family would take their first – but certainly not last – credit crunch Christmas.

There was no way to prepare them for it: grade-schoolers don't read the Financial Times, they don't pay any attention to the evening news and blissfully overlook their parent's pained faces at the dinner table.

In my family alone a devastating illness, paired with a job loss (unemployment) and slashed hours (underemployment) made for a slightly less cheery affair than usual, and the kids were the only ones honest enough to say so.

Christmas cards that in years past had been stuffed with dead presidents or gift cards contained only warm greetings. The adults limited presents to the children and the kids – accustomed to way over-the-top outpourings of purchased appreciation – looked around, confused. "This is it?"

Yes, it was.

On the day after Christmas – quickly coined this year's second "Black Friday" of the year because of the bargains retailers are using to salvage the shopping season – when I and half of America was out buying the seven million batteries necessary to power all the kiddie gadgets, I heard this in line at every store I visited: "I TOLD him what I wanted and he didn't get it for me, at least now I can get it for myself on sale!"

How did we as a society let it come to this? How is it that we trained our children – and ourselves – to believe that even though a lot of lip service is paid to the idea that Christmas is truly about being with your loved ones, it really is all about the goods?

If the collapse of the credit markets and the bursting of the housing bubble is a natural market correction that will eventually make our economy stronger, then this first-of-a-series of Christmases where counting our blessings is the true centerpiece of the holiday will surely make our spirits stronger.

Despite every parent and grandparent's desire to make all our children's wishes come true – at least one day a year – not maxing out our credit cards on that fool's errand is a great lesson to pass on. It certainly won't be easy but we'll have plenty of time to practice.

Next year, through the beginning of an economic recovery, and then in 2010 when the inflation resulting from the effects of (a successful) proposed stimulus plan start hitting us square in the pocketbook, there will have to be a re-interpretation of what Christmas means to our families.

Yes, Virginia, and sweet nephew, there is a Santa Claus.

And he loves you – as does your entire family – even if he doesn't swoop down the chimney with a pair of diamond earrings and the latest incarnation of Guitar Hero.

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

Minority's digital divide destined for the history books

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

President-elect Barack Obama has been bombarded with wish lists and one more was thrown on the pile last week by a group of prominent Latino interest groups looking for the new administration to ease the so-called digital divide.

In a four-point plan released earlier this month, organizations such ASPIRA Association, Inc., the Latinos in Science and Technology Association (LISTA), Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU), and the Institute for the Puerto Rican/Hispanic Elderly, Inc. (IPR/HE), among others, called for making high-speed internet access more affordable to all minorities in general, but specifically for Hispanics.

Their statement said the Obama administration should "take the necessary steps to ensure that every American has access to high speed internet service, and provide the necessary tools to enable children across the country to consider careers in science and technology."

Yes, but it won’t be Obama who takes the necessary steps, it’ll be the Nokias, Motorolas and Research in Motions (think: Blackberry) of the world who will make that happen – and they’re already erasing the divide.

Do a bit of amateur sleuthing: go into the poorest neighborhood you dare visit and simply observe. You won’t see hoards of youngsters (or oldsters for that matter) tapping away on a Mac Book at a Starbucks but I’ll bet you a million dollars you’ll see people of all ages thumb-typing on a phone.

Yep, the cellular phone is the personal computer of the next generation.

They’re cheaper than even marginally-loaded laptops and come with high speed internet access built in. Sure, the high school kids aren’t whipping ‘em out to Google the Pythagorean theorem, but more and more the college kids are doing just that.

Even more frequently they and their non-degree seeking friends and families are opening doors of opportunity with their cell phones, following trends seen all across the globe of impoverished people empowering themselves through the power of a hand-held communication device.

In March of 2007, Pew Internet & American Life Project, along with the Pew Hispanic Center, surveyed more than 6,000 Latino adults by telephone, in both Spanish and English, to find out the reasons for Hispanic online absence. Back then, even though Latinos comprised 14 percent of the U.S. adult population, only 56 percent went online compared to 71 percent of non-Latino whites and 60 percent of non-Latino blacks. Plus there was a big drop off when it came to the Spanish-only speaking segment of U.S. population.

Those who didn’t complete high school made up just 31 percent of online Latinos, whereas 89 percent of those with a college degree went online and Internet connections in Latino homes were found to be considerably lower than their white counterparts with 79 percent of Latinos having a connection of some sort, compared with 92 percent.

At that time, the cost of broadband connections was considered a barrier (and that hasn’t changed) but what has changed is the proliferation of cell phones with texting, picture and video capacity and reasonably well-functioning internet browsers.

Today in the marketing world we’re soooo post dot-com-boom, it’s now all about getting our .mobi sites up as fast as possible so millions of consumers bored at school or work, in traffic or on the train can access our information, goods, and services quickly and easily from the keyhole-sized window of their cell-phone.

Bored Latinos are no less interested in looking through that keyhole.

A November report in Multichannel News written by Laura Martinez said this about the Hispanic mobile mania: "The market is too large to ignore. According to Simmons Research, there are over 18 million Hispanic wireless subscribers, and recent data compiled by Ping Mobile shows 66% of Hispanics use text messaging on a daily basis, compared to 36% of the general market."

"Mobile content is going to be huge among U.S. Hispanics," said Lee Durham, president of LSN Mobile, which this year partnered with Telemundo and Azteca América to offer users local news and weather updates on their mobile devices. While the trend has been largely driven by the big broadcast networks, it is also catching on among smaller players such as V-me, Sorpresa, MTV Tr3s, mun2 and WAPA-TV."

Dosvedanya digital divide! Just as they’ve done in remote villages in India, Bottswana and New Guinea, cell phones – and those who innovate them – will democratize information for the next generation of the underserved black, brown, and plain-old-poor in America.

So let’s leave Obama out of this one. He’s got more pressing issues – such as how to make himself the first Crackberry President in history – to worry about an issue that will correct itself through the power of free markets.

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

Ode to a beermonger: Heileman’s Old Style beer distributor dead

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

The man who made my father happy is dead.

William P. Schirmang, the beer monger who popularized Heileman’s Old Style in Chicago – and in casa Cepeda – passed away November 13, according to the obituary in today’s Chicago Sun Times.

Apparently, a decade before my mom and dad moved to Chicago, Old Style beer was virtually unheard of here. By the time I was old enough to be sent to the fridge to fetch a cold one, Schirmang had wheedled his beer out of his car trunk, and into Wrigley Field, not to mention the hearts of beer drinkers across town.

Schirmang ultimately brought over 2 million cases of Lacrosse, Wisconsin’s finest to Chicago through the 70’s, when it became a symbol of America in my refrigerator.

Now, most white people think that Mexican’s love Corona. I can’t even say that word in my father’s presence without eliciting a groan. Nope, depending on what part of Mexico you hail from, it’s all about the Tecate, the Negro Modelo, Carta Blanca, Bohemio. Whatever those tasted like, there must have been some whiff of nostalgia to be consumed along with the OS upon popping the keyhole shaped tab.

I loved staring at the beautiful, artfully cryptic can but to my six-year old palate, it was super yucky. On one of innumerable runs to the fridge – I recall it being a sunny, but not hot day – to retrieve the beloved beverage which was to accompany two salted, hard-boiled eggs, I begged for a sip of what was made out to me to be some sort of magical elixir.

I couldn’t spit it out fast enough. Old Style tasted like a mouthful of rusty pennies, and frankly, I’ve disliked beer ever since (don’t be alarmed, I have, in fact, tasted a variety of finer lagers over the years but the Old Style trauma seems to have sustained a decades-long aversion).

Either way, I count the moment as an important and happy childhood memory. As the years went on Old Style was eclipsed by the ferocity of Miller and Budweiser’s dueling marketing budgets and, while still available, rolls off (or on to) the tongues of few I know.

But for a while, there, that Old Style – and the man who brought it south to Chicago sure made a lot of people happy…including me and my dad.

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

Se habla Oprah: Spanish-language translation actually ignores Hispanics

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

Oprah Winfrey spoke to "Hispanics" on Monday. This is what she said: "You don’t need to learn English, I’ll tell you what to buy and how to live your life by my tenets in Spanish. And those of you who only watch English-language TV - I don't care about you."

Well, she didn’t actually say that, nor did she actually learn to speak the language of the very people she’s targeting. Instead Harpo Productions, through the magic of Secondary Audio Programming and closed captioning (sponsored by a tortilla-maker, perhaps?) started broadcasting her cult of personality in Spanish in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, and Dallas on Monday.

"With this action we want to serve the largest-growing segment of the population in the country: Hispanics," Angela Depaul, a Harpo Productions, Inc. spokeswoman told a reporter for Hoy, Chicago’s Spanish-language daily newspaper. "With Spanish subtitles, Hispanic viewers will a have a more direct experience with Oprah."

And Oprah gave Spanish-only speakers yet one more reason to not have to learn English to "get along" in this country.

But Oprah’s crack market-research team didn’t do their homework. The fastest-growing segment of the population is overwhelmingly U.S.- born and fluent in English.

And guess what? Despite the breathless banner ads on Oprah.com exclaiming "Finally! Oprah in Spanish!" the kind of women living in the U.S. who don’t speak English are probably not the type who are going to be able to afford the $60 LeMystere bras or $30 Yves Saint Laurent lipsticks that the Queen of Consumerism shills on her show, in her magazine and on her website.

No, that would be me: young, female, affluent, English-speaking, U.S.-born Latinas.

Let’s compare: Oprah’s 7.4 million daily viewers are overwhelmingly female, white, and over the age of 55, according to MSNBC’s Aswini Anburajan. She also reported that Oprah’s reach among the Hispanic population is tiny -- only about 230,000.

Now, will Oprah do the things that would actually make me stomach her show like easing up on pop stars like Ricky Martin, and feature more Hispanic doctors, lawyers, scientists or dieticians in her stable of experts? How about having a touchingly emotional segment on racism against Hispanics? Or just flat out making an effort to have any Latino faces in her hyper-estrogenized audience?

"I can’t comment on that," spokeswoman Depaul told Hoy in answer to a direct question about whether we can expect to see more Latino guests on the Oprah show. "Of course that would be spectacular." Nice save, but I’m not holding my breath.

Oprah has been called the most-successful business woman in History. Is she smart enough to actively and meaningfully tap into the Latino market by truly speaking to a Hispanic audience in a way that reflects and respects them?

Nah. Why should she? No one else does.

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

Sun-Times' Gasping Leaves Us All Winded

This column originally published on Huffington Post/Chicago

It's almost the era that never ends but simply keeps ending endlessly, seemingly every week. If print news were a TV character it would be Fred Sanford, except with real, honest-to-goodness heart attacks, only a few breaths from seeing his beloved Elizabeth.

In the latest turgent episode of "As the Crumbling Newspaper Industry Turns," news broke that Jay Mariotti, the $300,000-a-year (give or take a few thousand) controversial sports columnist at my old newspaper, The Chicago Sun-Times, abruptly quit.

The news was followed by reports that a new round of newsroom cuts would begin shortly. By the end of the business day newsroom gossips were naming a reporter who had been on the short list to go back in January when I, one of the newest kids on the block, was cut, as well as two columnists, two photographers and a few support staff as the next likely, though unconfirmed, targets.

This development comes, almost dizzingly, on the heels of a Chicago Tribune purge that saw barely-two-months-on-the-job managing editor Hanke Gratteau and long-timer James Warren take buyouts, along with an estimated 80 reporters dismissed because no one is making money off an electronic news system that relies heavily on syndicated wire services and a passed-along-by-a-friend distribution model.

How will the Sun-Times dismissals play out? Probably no one will be hustled out by security, as I witnessed in the days before my own January departure, though that fact was later vehemently denied.

There will be more tears, but far fewer people to shed them in a newsroom so condensed that several departments are comfortably occupying the space where just one dwelled as recently as a year ago.

And subsequent Sun-Times editions will surely contain even more freelanced dispatches of delicious depth, bought for a pittance, from ex-staffers who were bought out - or who simply chose to bail out - such as the incredible classical music writer Wynne Delacoma.

Fear, now a familiar face across all the Sun-Times News Group properties, has once again taken up residence and is clanging a loud bell for the unfortunate who have been left behind long enough to wonder whether tomorrow or the day after will be their last.

One editor, who wished to remain nameless, at a suburban Sun-Times News Group property articulated perfectly what Mariotti's bye-bye signals mean.

"There's a sense of the end being near and we don't know when it's coming but we're a day closer," he said. "When you see one of the Sun-Times' most recognizable figures saying we're dead in the water and he doesn't want to go down with the ship it's not good. The worst thing is that Mariotti is ahead of the curve."

Despite there being life after the Sun-Times, the slow, emaciative demise of this newspaper, scrappy to its core (wait until you see Thursday's edition which features fans who have vowed to return to the paper's fold now that the sharp and cutting Mariotti is gone) even in the face of cuts that have gone way beyond fat and into marrow, is nothing short of a tragedy.

Sure, some of the fiercely talented group of people will instantly be snapped up by eager employers, but the real losers are Chicagoans who everyday rely on the printed paper, not the Internet, to tell them what's what in town.

Newspapers' web sites require twice as many, not half as few, excellent reporters to feed the 24-hour news beast, not that that means anything only two days removed from the New York Times' announcement that its ad revenue fell by 17.9 percent, with less than 1 percent growth in online ad revenue despite having poured money into its "golden goose," according to Advertising Age magazine. So prospects for an online only rebirth look grim as well, despite Mariotti's cocksure pronouncement that the internet is where it's at. One longtime Sun-Times staffer candidly told me, "What Jay doesn't realize is that the internet doesn't pay."

Either way, my beloved Sun-Times is almost out of breath and though it's obvious that the city isn't mourning, and management appears gleeful at the Mariotti development - their news release quoted Editor-in-Chief Michael Cooke coolly remarking, "We wish Jay well and will miss him--not personally, of course--but in the sense of noticing he is no longer here, at least for a few days." - it's a bad week for a hometown favorite.

In a parting shot comment to a Chicago Tribune reporter Mariotti said, "I'm a competitor and I get the sense this marketplace doesn't compete," he said. "Everyone is hanging on for dear life at both papers. I think probably the days of high-stakes competition in Chicago are over."

The Sun-Times may not think Jay's departure is a loss, but his spot-on call of the Chicago newspaper market is really a loss for us all.

A new press for justice in Chicago cop's Thanksgiving Day killings

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

All good relationships are based on trust. Sadly, citizens of Chicago have come to mistrust the police who are supposed to serve and protect them – and the system that lets bad cops literally get away with murder. The reopening of Officer John Ardelean's car crash case might be a small step toward rebuilding some of that trust.

As I wrote in the column "Colorblind Killings" last May, Officer John Ardelean killed Miguel Flores, 22, and Erick Lagunas, 21, with his car after an alcohol-laced high speed chase on the city's North side, then went into cover-your-ass mode and refused to take a field sobriety test until almost eight hours later when his supervisor finally insisted.

The tragedy smelled not of some anti-Latino bias but more of the CPD brotherhood's "we protect our own" policy that seems to permeate every single one of the many, many highly-publicized police brutality incidents that marked 2007.

Six-months after starting a crusade for justice, retired Cook County Judge Raymond A. Figueroa got a little closer to giving voice to the dark-skinned victims of police misbehavior who, lacking busty, blond photogenic appeal, seem to always get forgotten in the mainstream media.

On Friday First Assistant State's Attorney Bob Milan forced open John Ardelean's felony DUI case, which had been shelved for lack of evidence, when he introduced a tape that a TV station aired showing Ardelean, 34, getting a drink poured down his mouth and grabbing a beer before walking out the door of a bar – presumably immediately before getting into the Dodge Durango that slammed into Flores and Lagunas' Pontiac Grand Am killing both – according to the Chicago Tribune's story.

Back in February, nearly three months after the Officer had gone about his business while two families mourned the death of their young loved ones, Judge Figueroa toiled away to cast a light on the incident that had been covered by Chicago's media with the ferocity of a kitten stuck in a tree. At the time I felt the coverage was in undeniable stark contrast to the case of the cop who'd been caught on tape beating up the pretty blond bartender the previous summer.

But through it all Figueroa has had Justice's blindfold on, arguing that the case be reopened based on the kid-glove treatment Ardelean got from all involved, and the bumbling efforts from the very people responsible for protecting the victims. Charging obstruction of justice, prosecutorial misconduct, and perjury, Figueroa was on fire about witnesses who hadn't been called to testify, irregularities in police officers' treatment as they testified on Ardelean's behalf, and a general disinterest by all parties to uncover the truth of what happened that Thanksgiving night.

This videotape's potential to show yet another policeman behaving badly offers a unique opportunity. You see, most regular law-abiding people toil under the impression that if you don't break the law, you don't get messed with. They have no way of understanding that the justice system in this city and in this country has two tracks: one for the affluent and one for everyone else that gets more awful depending on how dark your skin is.

Uncovering yet another tacit approval of police misbehavior by the Chicago Police Department that resulted in the deaths of two people who were more-or-less assumed to have been "probably up to no good anyway," as I've heard many say, get us closer to making sure this sort of thing doesn't happen – and get swept under the rug – again.

That Chicagoans have little trust in the Chicago Police Department because of the bad actions of a tiny, tiny part of the force isn't fair, either, of course, but fear is not logical.

Right now the CPD is continuing an internal investigation though no charges are pending against Ardelean – yet. But reopening the case puts things back on track towards finally getting it right.

At a press conference last February Judge Figueroa spoke passionately on behalf of those who so often get forgotten. Of the fiasco, he asked that "governmental bodies protect us and investigate the involved entities for misconduct" after remarking "the victims, their families and the community deserve better."

Yes, black, white, brown, our whole community deserves better.

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

The "R-" word: are you racist, or just skeptical?

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

According to the press, because Barack Obama mentioned the looks of our favorite dead presidents, the race genie is supposedly now out of the proverbial bottle – as if it hadn't actually been filling the air for what seems like forever.

Everywhere you turn, the talking heads are flapping about the Obama statement which the McCain campaign insists "played the race card."

Obama was making the case that McCain is trying to point out how black he is to turn off fence-sitters by saying that Obama "doesn't look like all those other presidents on the dollar bill."

Well, duh! What other American president has ears like Mickey Mouse? OK, maybe the other guy from Illinois, but still.

The Obama camp denied having played said card but the implication is clear, and the junk coming out of the McCain camp (did McCain even know who Paris Hilton was before his Karl Roveian ad ran?) comes pretty close to just flat-out saying "beware the young black man."

But…would it be so wrong to be wary of someone who didn't look like Washington, Lincoln, Hamilton, Jackson, Grant and Franklin to take the helm of our listing American ship? Isn't it human nature to be suspicious of the newbie? Or the odd bird?

Not right, mind you, but human?

What I'm getting at is that we can't allow ourselves to become a nation afraid to dissect, criticize, or even dislike any African American – even our most famous and first presidential one – without being labeled a racist?

Of course, I can say that sitting from the lofty protected perch of non-whiteness. In fact, the good folks at the Pew Hispanic Center just cleared me of racism charges, as well – they just reported that Hispanics are favoring Obama over McCain by nearly three to one so I'm assuming now all Latinos no longer have to be tarnished with the "Won't vote Obama because they hate blacks" label, though the fat lady ain't sung yet.

Still, just for a moment, step away from the context of the historic presidential race (and if you're anything like me you wish it were history already). Maybe Smokey Robinson's "Tears of a Clown" always grated on your nerves. Maybe George Washington Carver popularized dishes featuring what you consider to be the most evil legume. Maybe Condoleezza Rice's politics or her rendition of Schumann's Piano Quintet in E flat drive you insane. That doesn't mean you're a racist.

It could be that you're too uptight, spent too many days next to a heart monitor after an allergic run-in with a PBJ, or are simply tone deaf. None of those should imply you think less of anyone who isn't white.

Don't buy into the hype. An uproar over race is exactly the type of thing the traditional media outlets like to whip up in the hopes it will sell more newspapers or make a bigger splash during the ten o'clock news, but it doesn't need to translate into real life.

None of us can afford to vote – or not vote – for anyone based on the silliness you hear on the TV or the radio. Analyze, dissect, argue, and decide but leave the white, brown, black or green guilt out of it.

There will always be racists and just plain old jerks – that's life. An old white guy or a young black guy president might be just another part of life, too. Whichever way it goes, feel free to love him or hate him on merit and without fear of being called the "R" word (and I don't mean "Republican").

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

Let buyer beware: post calorie counts on Chicago menus

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

We don’t always have to be the Second City, but I’ll settle for it in this case.

In December 2006 Chicago could have been the one making international headlines about being the first city in the U.S. requiring restaurants to prominently post calorie content information, but New York beat us to it.

In May, after a two-year court battle (and an industry lawsuit is still pending), New York’s large fast food restaurant chains were required to post the calorie counts for their food and full enforcement began last Saturday. If the information – which can usually be found somewhere in the store and many times on corporate web sites – is not displayed prominently i.e., by the price, the chain faces penalties of up to $2,000 per store.

Of course, much like with the Foie Gras ban fracas, da Mayor was having no morsel of the Chicago City Council’s December 2006 proposal to bring the bright idea to a town. Mayor Daley is a, ahem, big believer in letting people make their own lifestyle choices. Though judging from various "Fat City" listings in which Chicago usually makes a top-5 showing, that’s not working out so well for us.

An April 2008 Health report published by Chicago’s Sinai Urban Health Institute did a small survey of face-to-face interviews with a representative group of people living in six racially and ethnically diverse Chicago communities during 2002 and 2003.

Based on the heights and weights reported by the primary caregivers of 501 randomly selected kids 2–12 years old, they found that compared with 16.8% for the U.S., the prevalence of obesity was 11.8% in a non-Hispanic white community on Chicago’s north side, 34.0% in a Mexican American community on the west side, and 56.4% in a non-Hispanic black community on the south side.

If you’re not alarmed by that you don’t need nutrition information: because your arteries are too clogged to have a pulse.

Our mayor, in 2006, was quoted by local reporters as saying "When we come to kids, every medical expert would agree that something needs to be done. Parents need to be more aware of what the calories are." He said that the same day that news outlets across the country reported that bad eating habits are so ingrained in our culture that kids—especially Hispanic ones—are being diagnosed with obesity as early as 18 months.

So maybe now that NY is on the bus, can we get on, too?

Yes, if Chicago started this requirement some restaurateurs would ignore posting rules and some customers would never actually read them. This is, after all Chicago, a place that has a pizza and a hot dog styled in its name, and a beef sandwich no one in Sicily could have possibly dreamed up.

And yes, it would cost time, effort and money for restaurant owners who would have to have their food tested and/or change their menus and signage reprinted.

I still want it. And I’m not the only one.

Do you think there are several major websites (many that are cell phone-enabled) that give common calorie counts for no reason? Do you think free text-messaging services so people can make healthier choices at the counter by getting counts zapped to them, are around just for kicks? Is it any coincidence that one tried and true way to maintain a healthy body weight is to keep written track of calories consumed every day? Of course not.

The bottom line is that an informed consumer is a healthier consumer. If I want a big fat 650-calorie cinnamon bun with my coffee in the morning, I’m probably going to push aside my high risk of Type-2 diabetes (I’m Hispanic and it runs in my family) and get it. The difference is that armed with the information, I can choose to eat half and share or save the rest. Or I can splurge but watch what I eat for the rest of the day.

Uproar over calorie counts in restaurants is just like upset over smoking bans: sure there are lots of people enduring the heat or cold to puff away, upset and possibly boycotting their once-favorite hangouts, but there are also crowds of people streaming into new spots where they never before ventured because they didn’t want to put up with the smoke. And we’re all getting used to that reality. We could get used to calorie counts in restaurants, too. Just like we got used to every single packaged food item sold in the U.S. sporting a nutrition label starting in 2003.

Rarely is it one big thing that makes a difference in our habits, it’s little things like being knowledgeable about what you eat that have the biggest impact. The health gains Chicagoans could make from simply knowing what they are putting in their – and their kids’ mouths – could be monumental over the course of a few generations.

Chicago, our time has come.

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

The next extinct species: the Latino journalist

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

UNITY 08, the quadrennial gathering of the National Associations of Asian American, Black, Native American and Hispanic journalists, hits Chicago this week surrounded by wall-to-wall bad news about minorities and the media.

Never mind that the headline duo of McCain-Obama let the UNITY planners down by flaking out of the main-draw debate because of international travel schedules – Obama eventually decided to make nice by dropping by Sunday morning – it’s a shock there are enough employed journalists of color left to even have a convention!

Hardly a day passes when you don’t hear about some major newsroom losing hundreds of journalists due to a newspaper industry collapse resulting from advertisers spending what little money they have on the internet and not on the dead trees that consumers under 35 shun like the plague.

What you don’t hear about is that the hard-fought gains in newsroom diversity that were made throughout the last three decades are being flushed down the toilet by the common "last-in, first-out" practices. "Seniority policies" are shutting what few journalists of color there are out of major American newsrooms, I was one of them.

In January of this year when the Chicago Sun-Times let go dozens of journalists, I made headlines (visit my Press Room and read from the bottom up) by being let go even though I was Chicago’s only Hispanic metro columnist and the newsroom’s only Latino reporter. With no seniority on a roster that included people who had been there for over twenty years, I was out on my can despite the fact there are 1.7 million Latinos in the six-county Chicago metro region and the number grows every day.

You’d think the same editors and station managers who complain they can’t get new audiences would add Hispanic journalists to their line-ups. But no, they’re usually the first to go. Just in the last six months Chicago’s CBS affiliate WBBM-Channel 2 lost Antonio Mora – its’ first Latino anchor – and let go Rafael Romo, a Latino TV reporter. The Chicago Sun-Times waved bye-bye to me and Guillermo Munroe, a gifted artist who was the staff illustrator. Chicago Tribune Managing Editor George DeLama just stepped down after having ushered in an era of rich diversity in the paper’s pages that took it from being a singularly white paper to offering in-depth coverage of all of Chicago’s multi-colored communities. The Trib is back to having no Hispanic leadership.

Even two years ago things weren’t looking so great, a report from the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) found the percentage of Hispanic journalists employed in the nation’s English-language newsrooms declined slightly in 2006 from the year before for the first time in 29 years that ASNE had been keeping track. Way back then – when things were much rosier – the expected date for American newsrooms to reflect the U.S population was 2025. I’m guessing today it’s looking like 2080, not that any major media outlets are taking notice.

Brandon A. Benavides, Region 6 Director of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and News Producer for KSTP-TV/5 Eyewitness News in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN has been keeping NAHJ members informed of the carnage with seemingly daily emails detailing the fallen.

"Nearly a dozen NAHJ members were laid off this year," Benavides told me in an email last week. "The layoffs affected print and broadcast journalists just entering the field and veterans. This is devastating news as a journalist of color."

Gary Pina, a 52-year-old page designer with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram with 23 years in the biz had his position eliminated last month. He told me, "I was shocked when I was told I was being laid off. I didn't think it would happen to me. On our design desk, there's four or five of us over 50, and I'm the youngest. I was also the only Hispanic on the design desk. ... I was expecting to receive an envelope with the buyout option like everybody else, but instead, I got a bigger envelope telling me my position was eliminated. I couldn't believe it. I've seen two young Hispanics, both in their early 20s, lose their jobs because of the last in-first out concept."

He’s not mad or bitter. But like me – and like all people of color who are concerned that negative or limited portrayal of minorities in the media feed racial stereotypes such as reported in a recent University of Illinois study – he worries about what this means for America’s view of the society we live in.

"At the moment, I think diversity has been thrown out the window in newsrooms across the country. This is now a business, and the company has to make money. I've been told that the Star-Telegram makes money, and is one of the top producers in the McClatchy chain, but apparently we aren't making enough.  I only hope that they consider keeping as diverse staff as possible when they are making their cuts."

"News is news," Gary continued, "our stories will be told if it's newsworthy, and if there's space to do it. The stories will likely be shorter, and probably won't appear as often as they should. And they may not be told by Hispanic reporters."

I’m not as optimistic as Gary. Those are too many "ifs" for the fastest growing segment of the population – and the rest of the people who live alongside 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

Say it with me: Chee-wah-wah

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

Some stereotypes are true: I’m Hispanic and I own two Chihuahuas.

It is also true that: "Yo Quiero Taco Bell!"

Back in the late 90’s, before point and click tags were created, I taught myself how to write HTML code by setting up a website in which my two darlings masqueraded as Daisy, the Taco Bell Chihuahua. They answered fan mail via a "question of the day" and I got a lot of foot traffic to the site by including several photo galleries of "wet, naked Chihuahuas."

And so it is with great, great pleasure that I welcome you to countdown with me the seventy-three days left until what will surely be the highlight of my month. Three words: Beverly. Hills. Chihuahua.

Oh, yes – I wouldn’t joke about a thing like that.

Disney’s Beverly Hills Chihuahua "50% Warrior. 50% Lover. 100% Chihuahua" (they totally lifted that off of my bio!) comes out September 26. This is a, ahem, tale of an oxymoronically spoiled Chihuahua named Chloe whose ancestors, according to the trailer, "went into battle alongside Aztec warriors, today move within the inner circles of the wealthiest and most powerful people on the planet" gets lost on a trip to Mexico.

The creamy-white Chloe, inimitably lisped by Drew Barrymore, then must rely on the kindness of a colorful cast of strangers to get back to Beverly Hills and along with the romantic lead – a luxuriously tan Chihuahua named Papi voiced by George Lopez – runs into dogs voiced by a line-up of Hollywood’s Hispanic elite: Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin, Paul Rodriguez, Edward James Olmos, Andy Garcia, and Placido Domingo.

If you’re going to email me about the victimization of Latinos because of the Mexican stereotypes in this movie, just click away now and leave me and my Speedy Gonzalez lunchbox alone.

Alternately if you’re going to complain about "the man" casting one of the whitest white girls in Hollywood, Drew Barrymore, rather than Salma Hayek or Jennifer Lopez in the lead role, thereby creating an all-Latino affair, then I say to you: It’s called "crossover appeal," get some.

If you’re looking for a politically correct movie, look much further. Heck its historical correctness is a little sketchy; the movie trailer has already been criticized for setting up a story based on the Aztec warriors of Mexico in Machu Picchu, an Inca city located in Peru.

But I’ll not let anyone deny me or my two lovely’s moment in the sun, and I can’t spend any more time writing today, I only have seventy-three days in which to craft two wildly-colored, beaded, feathery headdresses for the big night. And where did I leave those copper lip plugs…

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

Leave the accuracy-meter at home, this is merely a flat-out fiesta for a Chihuahua-lovin’ nation! We’re talkin’ a cast of thousands of feathery head-dressed boogeying Chihuahuas punctuated by a cadre of well-choreographed, blinged-out rapping Chihuahuas bustin’ rhymes such as "we’re tiny, we’re mighty, we’re number one, we’re the real ‘hot dog’ yo- hold da bun!" Priceless.

Alas, not everyone is anticipating this flick by setting their atomic clocks to the opening of what will surely be an Academy Award-winning film in the category of "Best Supporting Mexican Dog."

I’m envisioning certain types decrying it for glorifying the illegal passage of unlicensed Chihuahuas from Mexico to the United States. Others are already reacting by posting videos of themselves and their non-Chihuahua canine friends cringing while viewing a trailer of the movie, as reported in Tuesday’s New York Times article

"Chihuahuas in headdresses? I cringe, YouCringe."

Awwww, geez, dad!!!!!

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

I coined the term "The Break" to refer to the emotional, symbolic – and many times physical –cutting off of one’s self from their culture, family, or group of friends necessary to fulfill one’s purpose in life. This election season has brought several puzzling and tragic examples.

Take Barack Obama: from the start he has been operating in his own spirit, completely focused on his goal of becoming the U.S.’ first president of color. Aside from his guiding vision of himself and the consciousness he wants to bring about with such a historic achievement, people don’t know quite what to make of him. He’s simultaneously too black, too white, too affluent to be in touch with the plight of low-income folks of all colors, and too young and too good at basketball to be taken seriously by parts of the established Caucasian ruling class across the country.

He’s heralded by white America’s favorite Black woman and has been consistently panned by black America’s most visible black leader. If you hadn’t heard, earlier this week the Reverend Jessie Jackson was caught on a live mike making disparaging remarks about Obama because Jackson feels he "talks down" to black people.

Obama successfully avoided making The Break with black people, but paid the price of having to make The Break from his polarizing pastor Jeremiah Wright. There are more Breaks ahead – he’s leaving some in his wake.

Jackson issued his apology and Obama accepted, but there was another voice as well, "Reverend Jackson is my dad, and I’ll always love him," his son, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. rushed to announce. "I thoroughly reject and repudiate his ugly rhetoric. He should keep hope alive and any personal attacks to and insults to himself."

This is certainly not the first time Jackson Jr. has come out against his dad, a smaller, more diplomatic Break was made in an op-ed piece "You’re wrong on Obama, dad" Jackson Jr. published in the Chicago Sun-Times last December. Watch for a bigger one if the Rev. can’t keep in line with the purported party line, or down the road when Jackson Jr. feels it’s time to run for his own higher office.

Here’s another one for you: Chicago Alderman Ricardo Munoz is making a silent Break right now. His father, Elias Munoz, pleaded guilty to taking pictures to manufacture fraudulent IDs in the Little Village Discount mall location which, as a result of a sting, was raided by ICE agents and made headlines across the country.

Alderman Munoz, understandably, declined to comment when I called him Thursday afternoon but according to Wednesday’s Chicago Sun-Times story where Munoz Jr. is quoted from last year, "Adults need to be held accountable for what they do." He was on his way to a Break even then.

Thanks goodness my parents aren’t the lightning-rod type, but what do you do when your job is based on your personal integrity and your loved ones screws up?

"I think most people can identify with having someone in the family who is crazy or a drunk, or someone who you have to look the other way and tolerate them because we love them and that’s what matters," said Chicago-based Public Relations Consultant Chris Martin. "My first reaction is ‘blood is thicker than water’ or anything else and a lot of Americans – aside from politicians – we all know we’ve been in that spot and can have some sympathy."

I asked Chris, who has handled a client’s media crisis or two in his day, how to manage a Break in the media. "At that point, the person would have to trade on their own reputation – having people come to his support and say ‘we’re closing ranks’ most people would understand that on a visceral level," Chris said.

"With the Jacksons my first reaction was surprise that he came out so strongly, so quickly I would think he could have waited a do or two for the emotion to subside – maybe the thinking was ‘if I come out now I could kill this – that’s being stuck between a rock and a hard place."

Breaking out of that hard place is what The Break is all about, and it’s almost always grueling and painful. Jesse Jackson Jr. must be used to his dad’s outrageous foot-in-mouth disease but I’ll be keeping tabs on Ric Munoz who last year – before U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez decided to stay in the game after announcing his retirement – had been planning on running for Congress. He’ll have to face his father’s music at some point.

Chris perfectly speculated about Alderman Ric Munoz’ parental/political pickle: "We all have a dad… hopefully everyone can give him a break."

Read an excerpt from the introduction to my book "The Break" here.

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

Amy Jacobson Redux

"600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

It takes a lot of guts to relive a humiliating – and very public – professional embarrassment. But, hey, Amy Jacobson has got guts in spades.

I was in a Chicago newsroom one year ago when the story broke of how Amy Jacobson came to be suspended from WMAQ-5 in Chicago after she was caught on tape at the home of presumed-killer Craig Stebic in a bikini, and I can tell you the comments and snickers from both male and female journalists were both highly sexist and vilely cruel – and this was before anyone had even asked for Amy’s side of the story.

According to Jacobson, then a popular reporter who’d been with WMAQ-5 in Chicago for ten years, she had been on her way to the East Bank Club for a swim date with her two little kids when she got a call from Craig Stebic's sister inviting her –and her kids – over to the house to talk.

On July 10, 2007, a few days after CBS-affiliate/rival station WBBM-Ch. 2 aired video of her in a bikini top with a towel around her waist at the Stebic home – where perky suburban mom Lisa Stebic had lived with her two kids and presumed-guilty husband until her April 2007 disappearance – she got fired from WMAQ-Ch. 5.

This week Jacobson filed suit against Channel 2, seeking more than $1 million in damages – and some vestige of her professional dignity – for portraying her as "’an adulteress and disreputable reporter.’" According to Jacobson, her reputation was tarred and feathered such that even though a year has passed she hasn’t been able to get a comparable job in a comparable media market and had to sell her house and move her family into a small apartment. They’ve already said the suit has no merit.

How Channel 2 got the video was never made public and Amy’s side of the story was literally laughed off by both media people and Chicago viewers. Not only was she made the butt of countless tasteless jokes, but she was highly criticized for not exercising "better judgment" though she did what most reporters would have done.

It’s a jungle out there in the media world. Even a year ago the journalism career path was a fool’s errand, and the adage that you’re only as good as your last top story or front page piece will never die. What they don’t teach you in Journalism school, however, is that no one cares how you get that story.

Good judgment? Journalists are not trained to exercise good judgment, they are conditioned to squeal "how high" when editors say "jump," and even when they aren’t blessed with the obedience gene, they instinctively run toward the gunshots, toward the burning building, and toward the lunatics. And if the family member of the summer’s hottest wife-murderer story happens to call and you might get the scoop of the city YOU RUN.

After hours or on your day off? Of course! In a bikini? You grab a towel. With your kids? Hmmmm…are there other kids there? According to Jacobson, she was told she was walking into a family get-together and decided it was probably ok, little did she know she was the one in danger.

And now, she’s living the nightmare over in a quest to clear her name, and she should get a medal for courage in the line of fire.

There’s no question in my mind that if any of the lead reporters on the ex-cop Drew Peterson story were called by a family member with the promise of a break in his young wife Stacy Peterson’s disappearance case, they’d be on it like white on rice under any given circumstance, and no one would bat an eye – such are the pressures to drive a news story that reporters are under these days.

But if you happen to have a pretty face attached to a hard-nosed reporter’s brain it seems there’s a double standard that opens you up to every dirty insinuation in the book.

Bravo to Amy for sticking up for herself, even if she loses the lawsuit, she’s won her integrity. No, scratch that – she never lost it to begin with.

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

Barbie forgiven: Alpha Kappa Alpha doll bridges gap

“600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda"

My hate-affair with Barbie is over.

Ever since my black-sheep Uncle Juan left for the dusty small-town of Harvard, Illinois and came back with a tall, blond, small-town cowgirl who thought a tall, blond Barbie would be an appropriate Christmas gift for her short Ecuadorian boyfriend’s tomboy niece, Barbie and I have had…issues.

Thank goodness my parents never had me thrown into extensive psychotherapy for having ripped her shimmery, tasseled white cowgirl outfit off, chopped her hair, dismembered and tossed her in the garbage. Not only was I insulted that my favorite uncle had left for some far away land, but to return with a Barbie – a Barbie! – impressed on my 8-year-old self that he’d forgotten what his family was.

Adding insult to injury, the towering, anorexic, bright-white-skinned monument to everything I wasn’t seemed a mockery to this short, chubby, dark-skinned girl. Most people don’t get this…"it’s just a doll," they say. Well, dolls are powerful reflections of a society’s values.

The impact of research about "just a doll" in the Brown v. Board of Education court case was cited during its’ litigation. The Troubled Legacy of Brown vs. Board, by James T. Patterson has a whole analysis but here’s just a tidbit: "During the litigation, Kenneth Clark testified about the Clarks’ findings that black school children in segregated schools, asked to choose between white and black dolls, liked the white dolls better and chose them rather than the black dolls. (Brown v. Board of Education, 347 U.S. 483 (1954), at 494-495)."

That is the impact of "just dolls."

It took decades for the plastic Persephone to finally give up her grip on my self-esteem. After countless multi-ethnic friends, it seemed Mattel was at least trying. But when the urban-glam, multi-ethnic Bratz came on the scene with their hip clothes and baby bling –

finally cementing that a doll didn’t have to be vanilla-colored or toothpick-esque to over-sexualize girls’ self-images – becoming a runaway multi-million dollar success, I knew Barbie’s day in the sun was over.

In her 49 years, Barbie has come a long way, baby. Since 1959, not only did the "Colored Francie" – sometimes described as the first African American Barbie doll – make her debut in 1967, but she was even replaced by "Christie" in 1968, who actually looked remotely like a black person. "Black Barbie" and "Hispanic Barbie" were launched in 1980, according to Wikipedia.

Her latest incarnation, the Alpha Kappa Alpha Centennial Barbie is a tribute to the pink and green loveliness of the ladies of the nation’s first-ever Black sorority, which was started in 1908 and is presently headquartered in Chicago. That was it.

I’d never heard of Alpha Kappa Alpha until I roomed with a sister my freshman year of college. I’d also never been surrounded by so many sequins and so much face powder and hairspray until then, either – talk about your glamour girls! Now Barbie has embraced this symbol of elite, educated, beautiful, African-American womanhood. Wow.

So now, twenty-five years after cowgirl Barbie and her white-tasseled horse rode into my life, I think it’s time for me to back off of Barbie. After all, Mattel Inc. has been making Barbies longer than I’ve been alive, and in stark contrast to when I was little, you can go into any store and see nearly every type of person – dark, light, wheel-chair bound – reflected as a Barbie.

I’m sorry I pitched you and kept your horse, Barbie. Let’s ride off into the sunset together from today on.

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

See me in the funny papers

"600 Words" by Esther J. Cepeda

She came around! I knew she would!

I'm talking about Janis Day, the middle-aged mom on the comic strip Arlo and Janis, a 23-year-old nationally-syndicated comic strip which appears in Chicago's Sun-Times. She'd been struggling, for the last two weeks, with conflicting feelings about her son Gene's co-workers at his new summer job.

In last week's strips, Gene, home from college, is working outdoors with a presumably-all-Mexican lawn care crew. When he casually mentions to mom, and his dad Arlo, that his co-workers call him "gringa" – the Spanish, female form of an arguably derogative term for "whitey" – she got all upset.

Gene assured both Arlo and Janis that his crew-mates were just busting his chops, shared how much he was learning about the Spanish language and their culture, and even wished he had taken Spanish classes is school.

Last Friday, though, Janice was having protective mom thoughts that flirted with the kind of protectionist, almost racist stereotyping that's making things hard on all Latinos these days. She fretted: "I wonder what trash those awful men are talking to Gene today!!" even as they were teaching Gene the value of honoring your mother.

  Woah! I kinda freaked because I've been loving A&J for well over a decade and wasn't sure where creator Jimmy Johnson was going: are those scary Mexicans actually going to corrupt young Gene? Will Janis be proven right to be concerned or will there be a painfully beautiful slice-of-life learning moment for everyone reading? Why even bring such a controversial topic to a fun, 30-second diversion to begin with?

And that's really what I was excited about: Arlo, Janis, and Gene – just as white as 99.9 percent of all other mainstream comic strip characters – interacting with real, live, Mexicans. Stereotypical yard hands, sure, but give Jimmy Johnson credit – this is a huge act of bravery.

Don't get me wrong, I love Lalo Alcaraz, the Hispanic LA Times cartoonist who pens La Cucaracha – also nationally syndicated and, coincidentally appears only a few panels above A&J on the third comics page of the Sun-Times – but his audience is limited.

Some people don't read it because they think "I'm not Latino, it's not for me." Some Hispanics think he's too this or that and also don't tune in for Lalo's brilliant and funny social commentary.

But A&J is read by millions of people of all stripes, colors, and walks of life. This is big!

After Friday, I was on the edge of my seat but the story line was dropped Saturday through Tuesday. My attempts to contact JJ were fruitless, and I wondered if he'd gotten barraged with hate mail for bringing the contentious immigration debate into what's usually a light family 'toon and decided to drop the whole thing.

Unlikely. "Most of them are written so far in advance it's really hard pull back in a day or two, though the newspaper could decide not to run it, I suppose," Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich, and Brenda Starr cartoonist, told me yesterday as I struggled with the lack of new developments in the scary Mexican plot. Mary – no stranger to making waves with the dialogue of her characters (don't get her started on the use of the term "threesome!") – told me she doubted any cartoonist would be influenced either by backlash, hate mail, or even partial censoring.

The chances the writer would change it are very, very small. For a long time, people couldn’t give feedback and that was one of the beauties – it’s not like being a columnist where they can kick you in public – there was anonymity. It’s not like now where feedback is everything to everybody," Mary said. "And there is this notion, that I think is wrong-headed, that comic strips aren’t supposed to offend, this idea that comic strips are for kids – I don’t buy that. There was a time for kids but that’s not who reads the papers. I think readers could be well served with some edginess."

Edginess is good and it turns out I needn’t have fretted so. Today Janis – still crabby in the first panel where she "worries" about the heat Gene’s working in – takes lemonade to his job site and learns a little something about how Mexican lawn care workers respond to kindness.

I like to think Arlo and Janis’ readers will learn a little something, too.

Esther J. Cepeda writes the "600 Words" & "Pregunta del Dia" columns, and is also a Director at the Chicago-based United Neighborhood Organization. Her reporting and opinions do not necessarily reflect those of UNO. "600 words" is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact

eejaycee@600words.com

How 9/11 killed the newspaper

"Pregunta del Dia" by Esther J. Cepeda

"Pregunta del Dia" translates from Spanish into "Question of the Day" and today’s come from an anonymous woman in the audience at the Chicago Headline Club's June 11 panel discussion "Deadline: will newspapers survive?" where the tops of the Chicago news shops came together for what was more a wake than a vibrant discussion of the bright future of old-school journalism on a new digital stage.

Q. "Why are newspapers giving [reported content] away for free? No one's going to pay for it now that they're used to getting it for free!"

A. The stunned silence of the panel members gave way to the obvious "train has already left the station" explanation of why that's no longer an option.

But here's what none of the experts ever say: That train left the station on 9/11/2001.

I've said this in roundtable discussions time and time again, though not this one, and I always get to see the light bulb blink on. Before 9/11 newspapers were merely toying with the idea of putting content on-line. That was, at best, an afterthought.

Then 9/11 hit and in a nearly unprecedented move, after the second tower fell, managing editors across the country started the presses rolling on a special afternoon edition. "America Attacked" – Tallahassee Democrat, "Terror" – Tampa Tribune, "Horror" the Washington Times. People were glued to the TV. Radios thrummed all night.

Then came the next day, and – let's face it print runs are horribly expensive – that afternoon edition just was not happening. But people wanted constant updates on what was happening everywhere.

Meanwhile frantic family members across the country started pleading their on-line case for any, any information about their loved-ones whether it be flight information, last-spotted posts, pictures, information on what to do if another attack occurred – and newspapers noticed, though super late.

A study published in 2003 by the Newspaper Research Journal found these today-unimaginable statistics: "[An] analysis of 89 U.S. daily newspaper Web sites on Sept. 11, 2001, shows that 65 percent of the home pages in the late morning and 38 percent in the late afternoon said nothing about the World Trade Center bombings. By late afternoon only 43 percent of the home pages had at least one photo or video of the 9/11 attacks."

Crashed web sites and high demand made the lightbulb come on: free "afternoon editions" on the web.

And who could have conceived of charging people for information critical to the safety of a nation under attack? Who was thinking about "monetizing page views?" No one. No one with a soul, anyway.

The "American tragedy" that those with genuine love for the printed newspaper call the tidal wave of internet "user-generated content," and "up to the minute news" that's "killing" newspapers is one born of an actual tragedy.

A tragedy that journalists – like the police, fire fighters, nurses and doctors who streamed to New York, Washington, DC and Pennsylvania to help in any way possible – selflessly, and with little regard to personal safety, flocked to in order to deliver the stories of the dead, hurt, and missing to eager news consumers.

And that's how it came to be that news became ubiquitous, never-ending, and free on the internet; the result of one horrible "freedom of information act."

Esther J. Cepeda writes the “600 Words” & “Pregunta del Dia” columns, and is also a Director at the Chicago-based United Neighborhood Organization. Her reporting and opinions do not necessarily reflect those of UNO. “600 words” is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact eejaycee@600words.com

Hatless "Drunkard" doesn't give up his ship

"600 Words" by Esther J. Cepeda

For those who followed columnist Neil Steinberg's public meltdown in September 2005, when he was arrested on charges of domestic battery, the money shot of his new book "Drunkard: A Hard Drinking Life" comes early:

"We are arguing just outside [Kent's] door. I'm yelling, she has the phone… she's dialing…she has the phone up against her head and I suddenly swing, an arcing, open-handed slap, knocking the phone hard against the side of her head."

There, on page 22, Steinberg pulls back the curtain on an episode that made headlines from the pages of his own paper, the Chicago Sun-Times, to the front page of rival Chicago Tribune and even his old haunt the New York Daily News, making a spectacle of the sometimes wicked, sometimes sweet curmudgeon from Berea, Ohio who climbed the ivory tower of journalism into a four-times-a-week column at a major American newspaper.

The slap that changed everything.

The slap that changed readers' image of Steinberg, 48, from doting dad to two young boys and devoted – if oft-times bumbling – husband to a beautiful lawyer, into a stereotypical sauced newspaper man and, worse, wife-beater.

That slap confined him not only to jail – if only for a night – but many nights to a cold guest bedroom, and sometimes even to chillingly welcoming bars where fellow journalists revel in the tradition of downing drinks once deadline is met.

And the slap wasn't even the worst part! There was the indignity, sure, but there was also the parade of disappointed friends and family, clueless counselors, way-too-Jesus-y AA devotees and, of course, glorious, ever-beckoning alcohol which, if you don't drink much, you might not notice is almost literally everywhere.

So why – why?! – would anyone who'd gone through that miserable trial relive it nearly three years later, again so publicly, as he steels himself to embark on press engagements in support of his sixth book "Drunkard: A Hard Drinking Life", published by Dutton.

"People ask me if I'm embarrassed about it," Steinberg told a crowd of family, friends and award-winning journalists at an intimate book party in downtown Chicago Wednesday night, "but I tell them: 'I wasn't embarrassed to down every drink in sight, why would I be embarrassed to talk about how I got myself out of it?'"

A few days before, he'd answered my first question – why!?! – in his inimitable Steinbergian tone: "If you don’t write about something, then it's lost and I thought it was valuable to remember this," he said as Sun-Times news men and women flitted in and out of his office. "I really did it because I really wanted to redeem this experience. As Dante said, if you've got to go to hell you've got to take notes."

Some notes!

Harrowing, painfully lonely notes. Notes no one wants to fess up to when the hangover hits. Notes you wouldn't wish on an enemy. And yet, notes that at the most unexpected moments ring brightly, reverberating with hopeful – and really funny – timbres.

"I was writing it as it was happening, so I like to think they're fresh," he said. "The editing was excruciating – that was as difficult, if not more difficult, than the writing. At the time [of recovery] the book was the one thing I could control. I couldn’t control the drinking, the law, or the case but I could control the book. During the editing I had to really battle to keep control if it."

And was it worth it?

"If I wrote ‘Ulysses’ it was," he says, reasonably tired of pondering it. "Given the pain, ‘The Sun Also Rises’ would not have been worth it to me, I would have much rather avoided the whole thing."

"That said, I feel I did the best I could with a bad situation. I at least rose to the occasion and didn’t move to a Red Roof Inn and continue drinking. At least not yet."

Esther J. Cepeda writes the “600 Words” & “Pregunta del Dia” columns, and is also a Director at the Chicago-based United Neighborhood Organization. Her reporting and opinions do not necessarily reflect those of UNO. “600 words” is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact eejaycee@600words.com

Men are from Mars, Women are from Shoe-piter

"600 Words" by Esther J. Cepeda

The most recent pop-culture phenomenon uninteresting to anyone possessing what Shakespeare referred to as a "bauble" in Romeo and Juliet (read between the loins!) is the chick flick Sex and the City – aka an extended advertisement for shoes.

Frankly, I can't conceive of any shoe that would make S&tC worth sitting through, but it does bring up the question: "what is it with women and shoes?!"

It seems inexplicable – I don’t know any men who give a rat’s ass about what a woman has on her feet. The way I hear it, the male glance usually doesn’t get that far in the few moments he has to adequately check a woman out.

Sit and learn, grasshoppas, I shall clue you in to the truth behind the shoe fetish: women don’t wear nice shoes to impress men, or convey their sexuality or personality to men- they do it to convey all those things to other women. "I’m sexy, I have it all together, I’m professional, I have impeccable taste, I may be older but I’m still flirty," or as the Abercrombie and Fitch t-shirts used to say: "Hotter Than Your Girlfriend."

It's the wrath of the garden-variety amateur fashionista that instills fear into women dressing for the office, a club, and even grocery shopping. As little girls this same lot might have gone for the jugular with: "You look funny. I don’t like your clothes. You’re ugly!" The grown-up equivalent of these daggers to the heart is quietly whispered to a female co-conspirator, intoned perfectly so that the comment will be sure to be heard by its intended victim: "Oh my God, will you look at her shoes?!"

On the flip side, the ultimate compliment women give each other is comprised of four little words: "I love your shoes."

But there's more! The varying degree of admiration is all in the delivery. Train your ears for these:

"I love your shoes" conveys a conspiratorial, rushing-to-the-defense-of-a-sister benevolence.

"I love your shoes" is a breathless testament to the coolness of the wearer, or could be more a statement that the wearer has met certain standards of taste where others usually fail.

"I love your shoes" is the natural reciprocation of female adulation and in some circles is considered a requirement before any conversation is allowed to continue. Lack of reciprocation in such situations could be grounds for at least a minor blow up.

‘I love your shoes" puts the focus on the shoes themselves and suggests that they, and not the wearer, deserve the credit for delivering themselves to said wearer thereby elevating her appearance for the day to a higher level. This is not the warmest incarnation.

Let us not forget the show stopper: delivered at ear-busting decibels, designed to shock your target and turn every head within a 12 foot radius. This visceral, primal scream of adoration for both wearer and shoes is articulated very slowly "I-LOVE-YOUR-SHOES!"

There’s your money shot, that’s the one you deliver at the second job interview, the one that goes out to your future mother-in-law, the one you give a cranky manager when every other attempt to cut ahead in line has failed and your crying baby won’t shut up.

Sometimes the show stopper can be truly honest and come as a complete surprise to both wearer and witnesser. Even I'll admit to spotting shoes so sumptuous, so beautiful, and so desirable that I've exploded with the simultaneous emotions of pure aesthetic delight, deep longing for a pair just like it, and stinging green envy that the wearer has them, you don’t and now it’ll be really lame to go out and buy the same exact pair. Drat!

The "great knowledge/great responsibility" part: Ladies, use this wisdom for good, not evil.

And gentlemen: observe and take note. But unless you want the female in question to suspect strongly you are gay – by the way, this will be the de facto assumption if you're at a screening of S&tC without having been dragged kicking and screaming by your girlfriend – limit the sharing of these secrets to your buddies.

Esther J. Cepeda writes the “600 Words” & “Pregunta del Dia” columns, and is also a Director at the Chicago-based United Neighborhood Organization. Her reporting and opinions do not necessarily reflect those of UNO. “600 words” is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact eejaycee@600words.com

I'm not a terrorist

“Pregunta del Dia” by Esther J. Cepeda

“Pregunta del Dia” translates from Spanish into Question of the Day and today’s was delivered at 12:15 am this morning at the McDonald’s inside Chicago Union Station by a seemingly stone-cold-sober Cubs fan catching a snack before boarding a Metra train out to the ‘burbs.

After the blond-haired, blue-eyed young man let loose a string of vile expletives to his eating companions, then caught my icy glare for polluting our communal space with his negativity, he retaliated against my silent protest of his rude behavior by asking me the following:

Q. Do you have fun blowing up buildings, you ------- terrorist? Huh? You heard me, you ------- ---- terrorist!

A. How to reply?

My mouth dropped open and I smiled, 100% sure he was kidding. His mocking face followed by another string of even worse garbage set me straight.

I tried to lighten the mood with the platitude: “Would you talk like that in front of your mother?” Things devolved from there and after he reiterated today’s “pregunta,” with various vivid details added, my loud indignation had attracted one of Chicago’s finest who directed him and his posse to leave the station.

Let me back up. Twenty-four hours prior to the incident, I had decided to write for Friday about the ridiculous accusations made about Food Network star Rachel Ray’s Dunkin’ Donuts commercial being taken off the air. Conservative Filipina columnist Michelle Malkin, and other bloggers, said Rachel’s scarf looked like a keffiyeh reminiscent of those that some Middle Easterners wear. Malkin has dropped bombs like this on America’s dark-haired sweetheart over the last week: “many readers have e-mailed about, Dunkin Donuts’ spokeswoman Rachel Ray’s clueless sporting of a jihadi chic keffiyeh in a recent DD ad campaign. I’m hoping her hate couture choice was spurred more by ignorance than ideology.” Apparently Rachel would be a lot sweeter if her costume designer was less flamboyant.

Early Thursday I’d started my day at the Chicago Google offices munching on bagels with some of the smartest innovators in the world and brightest young business people in town at the Executives Club of Chicago’s New Leaders general meeting.

A few hours later I lunched at a fancy downtown restaurant with the leader of a multi-million dollar business. Later I hopped into a cab – the driver had greeted me warmly in a language I didn’t understand because he mistook me for a fellow Indian – on my way to a lecture at the Arts and Business Council of Chicago’s “Rise of the Cultural Consumer” program at the Alliance Française where I learned about the bright future of our society. I topped the night off with not one, but two, fancy parties with some of Chicago’s most influential young professionals. Shortly after midnight I was attacked because I quietly resisted someone’s foul language with a disapproving look.

For the first time in my Cinderella-story-book life, I was simply one of so many others who are looked at with suspicion because of the color of their hair, eyes, and skin. I was shamed in front of an instantly-alarmed crowd at a major Midwestern transportation hub by a dangerous federally-defined insult.

Informing my fellow midnight-snacker that I was born in the United States as I gathered my things – and as the policewoman started getting heavy on him – probably went unheard. Besides, I was too busy scurrying away to cry out of sight to enunciate properly.

Here’s my answer again: On behalf of myself, of good-lookin’-and-good-cookin’ multi-millionairess Rachel Ray, and on behalf of every other person in this country with dark hair, dark eyes, but no dark intentions: I am not a terrorist.

Esther J. Cepeda writes the “600 Words” & “Pregunta del Dia” columns, and is also a Director at the Chicago-based United Neighborhood Organization. Her reporting and opinions do not necessarily reflect those of UNO. “600 words” is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact eejaycee@600words.com

Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Scary South Americans!

Pregunta del Dia by Esther J. Cepeda

Bum bah dum-dum, bum ba-dee! Bum bah dum-dum, bum ba-dee-Dee-DEE!!

"Pregunta del Dia" translates to Question of the Day and today’s comes from a loyal, albeit bitter, Westchester, IL reader who preferred to remain nameless:

Q. Did you see that Indiana Jones movie, just about a buncha white men looting our culture?

A. Whoa, Nelly! (No, not really "Nelly," though that is a popular name in Latin America.) Take a chill pill, will ya – not everything is about "da man" trying to keep us down.

Monday morning I sat in an audience of predominantly white movie-goers practically vibrating with glee that the long-awaited summer blockbuster chose to highlight my beautiful ancestral South America.

There were jungles, maps of Peru (darned close to Ecuador), mentions of Quechua – a native tongue my own father has referenced many times in passing conversation about his youth in Quito – and gorgeous pyramids, waterfalls, and indigenous women in their traditional multi-colored ponchos and felt bowler hats.

Ok, so the only people of color in the movie where those baddish, scary-exotic loin-clothed Indians oddly reminiscent of Jack Black’s toothy sidekick "Esqueleto" in Nacho Libre. But aside from a drop-dead-gorgeous Cate Blanchett the real star of the movie is its location.

Ok, ok, so the Peruvian town was actually a backlot in California and the jungle was in reality in Hawaii, details – mere quibbles! I felt the director’s and producer’s love, and in this time where anyone brown is either looked at with suspicion because they might throw an election or scam someone out of their social security debt – ahem, I mean, benefits – we need all the Latin American lovin’ we can get.

As for the tall tale of the crystal skull, the official Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull web site has a nice, long explanation of its’ origins and whether there might be any truth to it. Better still, read Benjamin Radford’s column on livescience.com, there he describes the real-life quartz Skull of Doom "supposedly found in the 1920s at a lost Mayan ruin in Central America by an explorer named F. A. Mitchell-Hedges…rumored to have the power to kill." His florid description ends with a less-than-mystical forgery theory, but hey, where’s your benefit of the doubt?

I won’t take any mind-altering substances and peer into the misty corridors of "my people’s" collective knowledge for the truth – you can do that yourself – but I don’t need to. Not only do "I want to believe," but what I know for a fact is that South America truly is lush, gorgeous, and full of nice monkeys. There really are glittering water falls, ancient mysteries, and is to this day home to women who wear the colorful ponchos and bowlers everyday. And I’m eternally grateful to Doctor Jones for pointing it out.

Esther J. Cepeda writes the “600 Words” & “Pregunta del Dia” columns, and is also a Director at the Chicago-based United Neighborhood Organization. Her reporting and opinions do not necessarily reflect those of UNO. “600 words” is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact eejaycee@600words.com

Cynic’s guide to pink ribbons

"600 Words" by Esther J. Cepeda

I like breasts as much as the next guy – even more, maybe – they feed babies, provide shock absorption, and are pleasing to look at. No downside, right? Well, not unless they get cancer. Many have.

The race to their cure has become a global, multi-billion dollar philanthropic and cultural phenomenon – and that’s how I came to be annoyed by pink ribbons.

Don’t worry, I didn’t stay annoyed, but who could have blamed me when last week on one day alone I ran across “breast cancer awareness” batteries at the 7-Eleven, a “Think Pink” accessory pack for a kids’ portable video game at Circuit City, and a pink ribbon Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation street-sweeper!

“Come ON!” I thought, “How many ways can marketers make money off women’s breasts?!” That was followed immediately by my standard, “It’s not even the number one killer of women in the U.S.!” That would be heart disease, followed by cancers (lung!), strokes, lung disease in general, and Alzheimer’s disease, just FYI.

And it’s not even October yet, but aahhh, close to Mother’s Day.

But rather than remain peeved at the preponderance of pink in my life, I instead bowed to the temple of what will go down as one of the strongest consumer brands in history –one that actually saves real women’s lives – the Susan G. Komen For the Cure breast cancer awareness foundation, and its pink ribbons.

Google ‘em if you want, you know the story: 25 years, a promise between two sisters, the Y-Me Race for the cure, etc. I blew in a call to ask them if they felt their message was becoming diluted because of the marketing blitz, if people are getting tired of it all.

“We have tested, informally, in various ways and found that both men and women are still very open to the messages,” Caroline Wall, Manager for Cause Marketing Operations told me yesterday. “We’re trying to engage all different types of niches and consumer groups…whether it be Kitchen Aid mixers, or Major League Baseball, or Garth Brooks.”

I became interested in the success of the brand not realizing the power of the pink to pervade different cultures and languages. And not realizing how desperately that’s needed.

I was thinking along the lines of targets to sell products to, after all, the pink ribbon peddled 58 million green dollars – 20% of Komen’s revenue – in 2006, according to one Los Angeles Times article. And yes, there have been some unscrupulous logo users, which Komen actively roots out, and certainly no shortage of critics of the success of the campaign. But back to those “targets.”

“We don’t want to pigeon-hole anyone but there are opportunities to have an ‘in’ with a particular population, for instance, the African American and Latino communities through product placement,” she said, noting that black and Hispanic women get diagnosed way later than Caucasians.

The numbers: breast is the most common cancer in African American women and the second leading cause of cancer death among African American women. It’s the most commonly diagnosed and the leading cause of cancer death among Hispanic/Latina women.

Consider my cynical mouth shut.

Mother’s day breast-health support buyer beware, yes you can look on their web site to make sure the pink products you want to purchase will fulfill Komen’s mission of funding research for a cure. Shop smart and find a balance but don’t automatically buy into the backlash.

“There are still over 200,000 women diagnosed with breast cancer every day in this country,” Caroline said, “and they would say they’re not tired of hearing about it."

Esther J. Cepeda writes the “600 Words” & “Pregunta del Dia” columns, and is also a Director at the Chicago-based United Neighborhood Organization. Her reporting and opinions do not necessarily reflect those of UNO. “600 words” is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact eejaycee@600words.com

Feeling the Pain

"600 Words" by Esther J Cepeda

If you live in Chicago, or any other world-class city like New York or LA, you have a unique civic pride, a knowing that wherever your travels may take you – the South Pole, New Guinea, or Beijing – anyone you bump into will know where you’re from.

Rarely do you encounter someone in Guam who will respond to “I’m from Chicago” with “Oh, isn’t that where the schoolchildren get killed on their way to school?”

That doesn’t make it any less true.

The harsh reality is that thirty-four Chicago Public School children died violently in 2007, at least that many are gone so far this year, and we haven’t even begun to imagine how many more will be claimed by New Year’s eve.

The million dollar question is what to do about it. Everything has been put on the table: SWAT teams have been deployed, gun laws proposed, anti-violence curriculum put in schools, even trained ex-gang members have trickled into the streets to help “mediate” turf battles. But no silver bullet, if you’ll pardon the pun, has put a dent in the tensions roiling neighborhoods all over Chicago.

The politicians and the church leaders have had their say about what it will take to end the carnage. Look at “Letters to the Editor” pages in Chicago you’ll see the general public weighing in, mostly heaping blame on “careless parents.” They’ve all got good points, we’ve heard them all before.

Since innovative solutions are in order, I thought I’d ask for one from a different kind of expert. I called up Marco Marsen, aka the “Billion Dollar Problem Solver,” a marketing wiz for the likes of myriad successful corporations, “one of America’s top Out-of-the-Box thinkers,” and author of “Why We Haven't Won the Wars on Poverty, Drugs or Terror" to get a different take on things.

Now don’t get too excited, he didn’t have “an answer,” but did throw out the beginning of one. It goes a little something like this: we need to start caring.

“We’re all in this together,” he told me recently, while on tour for his new book The Lion’s Way. “But the people who live in poverty, the people who don’t have health care and have to choose between getting a tooth treated and paying the rent – they’ve been forgotten.”

“Whether you like it or not, the people who are pulling the triggers are the victims of all the failings of us as a society,” he says, “The feeling of ‘I don’t have any choices so I’m going to take matters into my own hands’ is what’s driving this.”

Marco thinks we Americans – who claim to live in the greatest country in the world –

consider those who lash out in our inequitable society a problem we have no part or responsibility in.

And he’s right. How many of us have thought: “‘I’m’ never part of the problem, so ‘I’ can never be part of the solution.”

We’re all worried about our wallets and the economy, but not overly concerned about who dies in the “bad parts of the city.” Its human nature: the gas tank bill is in your face, while dead children on the 6 o’clock news is sad, but doesn’t affect your life past the sound-byte. Unless you live in those “bad parts” of the city, that is.

The actual impact of what happens in those “bad parts” affects us as members of our society in immeasurable ways – spiritual, emotional, economic – that message just hasn’t hit home yet.

“I don’t blame people – why would anyone want to feel the pain?” Marco says, “But at the end of the day, we’re all in this together.”

From the Billion Dollar Problem Solver: not an “answer,” just the beginning of one: we need to start feeling the pain.

Esther J. Cepeda writes the “600 Words” & “Pregunta del Dia” columns, and is also a Director at the Chicago-based United Neighborhood Organization. Her reporting and opinions do not necessarily reflect those of UNO. “600 words” is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact eejaycee@600words.com

“We’re on a mission from God”

“Pregunta del Dia” translates into “Question of the Day,” and today’s question is from a young woman who preferred to remain nameless:

Q. Why are you doing this?

A. Like Jake and Elwood Blues, I’m on a mission.

Set aside Spanish-language media, Major League Baseball, Jennifer Lopez, Ugly Betty and George Lopez.

Do you watch news on TV? Ever looked on the op-ed pages of major American newspapers? Or watched political shows Sunday morning? Or checked out the covers of best-selling books at Borders? Take note: there’s a whole lot of white, and a good amount of black. But the brown barely exists.

When the whole “Will Barack Obama capture the Latino vote?” issue was hot, how many Latino op-ed contributors did you read in the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times? How many Hispanics did you see opining on “Meet the Press” or “Real Time?”

There are 45.5 million of us, according to the newest U.S. Census data – 15% of the population, projected to be 30% by 2050 – but we’re still largely invisible in the mainstream media. Do you think “The View” could get away with not having a black woman (or two?), how about any other major network entertainment or news show? Not happenin’, but there seems to be no problem with the stunning lack of brown.

Any idea how the “last in, first out” hiring/firing policies at major American newsrooms are affecting the historically low number of Hispanic journalists working in English-language media – most of whom are relegated to the status of “Hispanic/Immigration reporter,” few of whom ever decide what is considered “news?” Not pretty.

Is there any wonder that the overwhelming majority of news stories about Hispanics almost always paint us all out to be immigrants (possibly illegal at that), criminals, or – even worse – victims? The few “positive” news stories talk about our consumer buying power, and projected voting power (though that tide is turning).

I could go on, but I’d rather just spring into action. The internet and self-publishing are not the wave of the future, they are the reality of today. Rather than try to get a foothold on the traditional  media structures, I’m doing my own thing on the internet were all the cool kids hang, writing about everything and anything whether it’s “Hispanic” or not – just ‘cause I can.

Hope you’ll hang with me.

Post your comments on http://www.pregunta-del-dia.com and visit “600words.com” to read this week’s columns.

Esther J. Cepeda writes the “600 Words” & “Pregunta del Dia” columns, and is also a Director at the Chicago-based United Neighborhood Organization but her reporting and opinions do not necessarily reflect those of UNO. "Pregunta del Dia” is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact questions@pregunta-del-dia.com.