Coffee or Tea party? Whatever your cup, roll up your sleeves
BY ESTHER J. CEPEDA, Sun-Times Columnist
March 8, 2010
I remember my first Tea Party invitation. The "hosts" were a group of loosely federated regional anti-illegal immigration groups, the occasion was Tax Day, and the call to action was to "protest to demand the end of taxation without representation."
The particular bone of contention was Gov. Quinn's then-proposed tax increase, described thusly: "Governor Quinn says he must raise your income tax because he doesn't have enough money to pay for all the social welfare benefits demanded by the illegal alien invaders."
Fast-forward nearly a year and the Tea Partiers are going strong -- strong enough to have stumped some and horrified others. I've read big, epic pieces in several different publications alternately describing the Tea Party Movement as being one big quasi-Ku Klux Klan hate group, or the representative conglomeration of an America so fed up with our government they're ready to bear arms against it, or a young, dynamic collection of diverse individuals -- from liberal, nose-ring sporting actresses to frustrated middle-class professionals -- simply exercising their rights to free speech and peaceable assembly in support of controlling their own destinies. Pick yer favorite.
That's the thing that makes the Tea Party movement so fascinating -- and scary to some -- it isn't monolithic, it isn't easy to sort into a neat category and it isn't easy to dismiss out of hand, especially if your perfectly rational neighbor or friend can say they agree with a lot of what they stand for -- mainly an end to government's fiscal irresponsibility.
Might there be an alternative for those sick and tired of the mess that decades of waste and corruption hath wrought but who aren't anti-government?
Enter the Coffee Party movement. According to the New York Times, it is a burgeoning national movement for those hoping to work the system rather than eliminate it. Taking a quick Facebook jaunt over to the "Join Coffee Party Movement Chicago" page, I found their official mission statement: "We recognize that the Federal Government is NOT the enemy of the People, but the expression of our collective wills. As voters and volunteers, we will support leaders who work toward positive solutions, and hold accountable those who obstruct them."
By Thursday night, they had picked up an additional 95 fans on top of the 627 present and accounted for a mere 20 hours earlier when I first checked. Not bad for a group that had been alive for about the blink of an eye.
It's still in the infancy stage, and the postings on its discussion page have, so far, ranged from micro-narratives of hustling the local coffee shop for meeting space, complaints about meetups not being near enough to home, joyous woo-hoos, suggestions for tangible goals and long tracts wondering if they've bitten off more than they can chew.
About what you'd expect from grass trying to lay down roots.
Will the Coffee Party Movement grow into the populist political force the Tea Party groups are trying to become, or will the cups-o-joe get bitter after they've been around a while? I don't care either way -- it's all good.
Though the snarky among us would say, if nothing else, that President Obama can be credited with uniting people in their hatred of him, that's too cynical for me. I'd rather look at the bright side of the discontent and frustration boiling over across almost all economic classes, in cities, suburbs and on farms, among people of all ages, races and colors -- the muscular rise of a mass of civically engaged people.
Enraged, yes -- but primarily engaged.
Coffee or Tea, both movements are engaged, passionate, energetic and willing to roll the old sleeves up and put in the time and work toward reshaping their country in a way they think will serve their self-interests -- and their country -- best.
It's a beautiful thing, this season of hot and tasty parties. So much passion, so much energy, so much desire to just "do good."
It's a perfect time to get reacquainted with Scott Joplin, King of Ragtime
February 22, 2010
BY ESTHER J. CEPEDA Sun-Times Columnist
I've been on an insane Scott Joplin bender for two weeks now. I woke up two Saturdays ago thinking about ragtime and didn't even wait to get out of bed -- I downloaded 37 different rags straight into my iPod and have been obsessively playing them all over and over and over again ever since.
There's the "Country Club Rag," "Paragon Rag," "Fig Leaf Rag," "Pine Apple Rag," "The Heliotrope Bouquet," "Maple Leaf Rag," "Elite Syncopations"; the list literally goes on and on. A few days later, I sent my piano teacher a hysterical e-mail begging him to teach me "The Entertainer" at my next lesson.
My favorite comment last week was, "Why are you listening to the ice cream truck music?" The honest answer is: I don't know.
But I do know this: I'm not a fan of "Months." You know, National Sweet Potato Month, National Foot Health Month, National Hispanic Heritage Month, National Tickling Month. There are so darned many of them that they no longer impart meaningful information -- not like they really should, certainly not how they were intended to.
For instance, February is National Black History Month. Sure, I remember learning about George Washington Carver, Frederick Douglass and Rosa Parks during my school years, but after that I didn't get much more in the way of continued awareness of that aspect of February.
Imagine my surprise -- and embarrassment -- when last week while blathering on about Scott Joplin, I decided to do a quick Web search for images of him, I uttered: "Scott Joplin was black?!" The answer was "Duh."
All right, so sue me. I've been hearing his music my entire life, been actively studying music for more than 21 years, have played orchestrated versions of his most popular tunes in various musical groups, mangle "The Entertainer" during my evening piano practice, and I just did not know Scott "the King of Ragtime" Joplin was black.
In my own defense, I'll tell you it never ever occurred to me to care one way or the other about this remarkably talented composer's color or race. But his story is so amazing I can't believe it isn't taught in elementary schools along with that of Revolutionary-era hero Crispus Attucks, pioneer Jean-Baptiste-Point du Sable and beauty entrepreneur Madame C.J. Walker.
I certainly can't do justice to his complete narrative here -- visit the Web site of the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Foundation for a wonderful account -- but I will say that it would have been enough that he was born with perfect pitch, taught himself the piano as a child, then the cornet and a bit of violin, and created an enduring and much-beloved part of American musical history for which he was awarded a posthumous Pulitzer Prize.
But to have done all that starting out black in Texas circa 1870 -- sneaking practice on the pianos of the white people his mother cleaned house for as the result of an absentee ex-slave father -- is nothing short of amazing. He even did some chop-honing here in Chicago in the late 1890s with a band that played for visitors to the World's Fair who didn't mind getting their drinks in the seedier parts of town.
The classic 1973 Robert Redford/Paul Newman caper movie "The Sting" repopularized Joplin's music but, frankly, it's high time for another resurgence of interest in Scott Joplin; which is closer to the spirit of what "National Months" are all about: awareness of all the awesome things we should know.
So during this, the last week of Black History Month, I'm celebrating -- and making it up to ol' Joplin -- by jauntily pounding out "The Entertainer" and being grateful that every day brings a new opportunity to learn something new and interesting.
The Department of Homeland security provided a keyhole of hopeful light for the reform crowd on Tuesday. They published "Estimates of the Unauthorized Immigrant Population Residing in the United States: January 2009" which was written by Michael Hoefer, Nancy Rytina, and Bryan C. Baker.
The report provides estimates of the number of illegal – they use the term "unauthorized" – immigrants residing in the United States as of January 2009 by period of entry, region and country of origin, state of residence, age, and gender. It also provides a favorable environment for the comprehensive immigration reform movement in that it shows that there are now less illegal immigrants residing in the US than there once was. This lessening will surely be attributed to better practices in DHS’ enforcement of existing laws, though they do also credit the Great Recession.
The bottom line is that true reform was not going to be a palatable concept to the illegal-immigration-is-killing-this-country crowd while illegal immigration was booming. The rallying cry on that side back in 2005 when the Sensenbrenner bill was introduced was – and continued to be – that you cannot talk about human reform and dealing equitably with those already here when the borders were still bleeding illegal immigrants daily. I always thought that was a good point that never got the attention it deserved.
At any rate, as you’ll see from DHS’ report -- whether for enforcement climate reasons or economic reasons -- illegal immigration has slowly abated and this might provide an opportunity for productive reform talks between both sides of the aisle.
Here are the items I’ve selected as the report’s highlights:
Between 2000 and 2009, the unauthorized population grew by 27 percent. Of all unauthorized immigrants living in the United States in 2009, 63 percent entered before 2000, and 62 percent were from Mexico.
Between January 2008 and January 2009, the number of unauthorized immigrants living in the United States decreased seven percent from 11.6 million to 10.8 million.
Here are state stats:
Between 2000 and 2007, the unauthorized population grew by 3.3 million from 8.5 million to 11.8 million. The number of unauthorized residents declined by 1.0 million between 2007 and 2009, coincident with the U.S. economic downturn. The overall annual average increase in the unauthorized population during the 2000-2009 period was 250,000.
Here is country of origin info:
The unauthorized resident population is the remainder or "residual" after estimates of the legally resident foreign-born population – legal permanent residents (LPRs), asylees, refugees, and nonimmigrants – are subtracted from estimates of the total foreign-born population
Here are demographic details:
The unauthorized resident immigrant population is defined as all foreign-born non-citizens who are not legal residents. Most unauthorized residents either entered the United States without inspection or were admitted temporarily and stayed past the date they were required to leave. Unauthorized immigrants applying for adjustment to lawful permanent resident status under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) Section 245(i) are unauthorized until they have been granted LPR status, even though they may have been authorized to work. Persons who are beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status (TPS)—an estimated several hundred thousand—are not technically unauthorized but were excluded from the legally resident immigrant population because data are unavailable in sufficient detail to estimate this population.
DHS has said that from now moving forward, this report will be updated and made available annually based on "the [annual] foreign-born population collected in the American Community Survey and on the estimated lawfully resident foreign-born population derived from various administrative data sources."
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
Melting pot giving rise to post-'Latino' Latino politicians
BY ESTHER J. CEPEDA
February 1, 2010
I have no idea what 2050 will actually be like, but I'm imagining it will be fantastic beyond my wildest dreams!
By then I'll have mastered the piano and will be making tons of cash singing nightly cabaret gigs, not a bit bothered that no one is interested in what I've got to say about the world anymore because there'll be plenty of multi-ethnic people opining on current affairs in whatever passes for digital newspapers by then. Me and my "unique perspective," which is representative of the "emerging" Latino population, will have become as defunct as my gas-powered car.
By then Hispanics will be about a quarter of the population. Add the 15 percent of the population that blacks are projected to be, plus the children of today's estimated 3 million mixed-race couples, and there surely will be so many "minority" journalists, columnists and lawyers, engineers, scientists and sports stars that no one will care what I think anymore because I'll be just another face in the multi-hued crowd.
That happy thought sprang to mind last week when I was asked to go on Chicago Public Radio WBEZ's news program "848" for a discussion of the "Future of Latino Politics."
I chuckle when I hear stuff like that because the real future of Latino anything is a mainstream, U.S.-born, English speaking one that will be about as exotic and ethnic as the Chicago Irish.
Sure, there'll be the obligatory heritage parades, but it'll be a "unique cultural identity" that's given consideration only annually and will be adopted by anyone who happens to be walking by and thirsty for beer. Think: Cinco de Mayo.
While the conversation's starting point was a recitation of Latino politics' greatest hits -- the supposedly defunct Hispanic Democratic Organization, the highly emotional Jesus Garcia/ Rudy Lozano campaigns against clouted incumbents, the rise of the young professional types like ex-Ald. Manny Flores -- I think I brought us back to the reality that the continually churning melting pot is already giving rise to the post-"Latino" Latino politician. Which is to say, a politician who's running as a candidate, not as a Hispanic candidate.
It's too soon to visualize that, I know. The Latino population as we know it today is relatively new to the United States, and its politics are defined by the civil rights, worker's rights and immigration reform concerns that naturally have particular resonance to a community still gaining a foothold in our society.
But much like the Italians and the Irish before them, who became just another thread in the fabric of this country, Hispanic community leaders will someday stop gathering from across the country to discuss a "Latino agenda" of social and political empowerment and instead concern themselves with focusing on more universal themes such as the U.S. economy, health care and education.
People often disdain my constant scanning of the horizon to a time when no one will focus on such matters as whether your mom's mom came from Latin America or Latvia, completely ignoring that our whole American conscious is made up of all the cultures of the people who live here and there's nothing wrong with focusing on the scary-to-some time when Latinos will have completely melted into the melting pot.
Like I told the radio show producer, as assimilation draws immigrants into the "American" culture -- as it always has and always will -- this "Hispanic" narrative that's currently playing out will become old hat. In the not-too-distant future, we'll be talking about the future of Muslim politics or of East Indian politics.
Or, if I look into the faces of my own family's children, we'll be talking about the rise of quarter-Mexican-quarter-Ecuadorian-half-black politics, quarter- Mexican-quarter-Ecuadorian-half-Filipino politics, and quarter-Mexican-quarter-Ecuadorian-half-white politics.
But it'll be called something else by then: just plain old politics.
And me? I won't have much to say about it, I'll be too busy tinkling the ivories, crooning "When You Wish Upon A Star" for you.
In the early-morning hours before Michelle Obama addressed the Conference of Mayors in Washington to make her pitch about the importance of curbing childhood obesity last week, I was sitting in a crowded elementary school gymnasium with kids and their parents, fearing for the heart attack victims of tomorrow.
The occasion was a salute to the school's honor roll students, which certainly called for an extra dose of celebratory sugar, sure. But it wasn't the kids' liberal dose of syrup for the French toast sticks that concerned me; it was parents' obvious lack of any nutritional cognizance that sounded the alarms.
Children mimic their parents' behaviors and habits, and if a child sees his mom or dad bypass the freshly cut fruit and whole-grain bagels in order to load up a plate with greasy muffins, iced sweet rolls and French toast sticks drenched in syrup destined to be downed with a handful of juice boxes, what, exactly, will they understand about healthy eating habits?
Though, who can blame anyone for looking for some sweetness in life these days? I'm sad to say there were tons of parents at this breakfast because so many are out of work. I heard their stories myself: One dad was telling an acquaintance he had been laid off months ago and his wife was working two jobs. Another lady was worried about making it to an upcoming Parent Teacher Organization meeting because her scant hours at work are all over the map and she's never really sure where she's going to be. Who could begrudge these people a couple of extra free cheese danishes?
During her speech, Obama rattled off facts: Nearly one-third of children in America are overweight or obese, and one-third of all children today will eventually suffer from diabetes -- in African-American and Latino communities it goes up to almost half. She cited recently published studies stating that obesity could now be an even greater threat to Americans' health than smoking, that medical experts are predicting the next generation is on track to have a shorter life-span than their parents, that budget cuts are decimating school gym time, and that crime makes it impossible for most parents to tell their kids to go out and play until dark.
I'd add that we are also burdened by school systems that pump our children full of sugar and fat-laden breakfast and lunches -- the poorest among them for a low cost or for free -- and then wonder why they get labeled by frustrated teachers as behavior-issue problem kids. Also add that parents don't understand the consequences of what their kids eat because they never learned what healthy eating means.
The first lady closed her speech by praising creative ideas some cities are trying in order to manage the problem, but she also soberly stated the obvious: Efforts to curb childhood obesity won't be cheap, easy or quick. I agree with her and add that it's doable. At the very least, it's the worthiest goal I can think of.
We may have tragically lost a generation to killer eating habits, but if the statistics horrify enough leaders and role models into action, helping others understand good nutrition, then in about 40 years we'll have a whole crop of young parents -- and enlightened grandparents -- who'll know that "fruit punch" is not fruit juice, and certainly not preferable to fresh, frozen or dried fruit.
They'll get it that a "special treat" is not something that occurs hourly or even daily. They'll know that if you have time to surf the Web, you can also make time to box your best friend on the Wii. And they'll understand that -- repeat after me -- chocolate-chip bagels, banana split-flavored yogurt and blueberry jam granola bars are not "health food."
"Carlos Hernandez Gomez, political reporter for CLTV, stood out among Chicago reporters not only because of his old-school fedora, but also because of his encyclopedic knowledge of Chicago politics.
He didn’t need notes to tell his audience who was backing whom in a campaign, why a specific endorsement was so important — or why two politicians couldn’t stand each other.
Off camera, he was the life of the party, a friendly, down-to-earth storyteller who would do spot-on renditions of politicians’ speaking styles — often at their request.
Mr. Hernandez died Sunday evening following a battle with cancer that was diagnosed on Christmas Day, 2008. He was 36.
"Carlos was more than a great reporter and a great friend to hundreds of people. He had a great heart," said Sun-Times investigative reporter Steve Warmbir, who was best man at Mr. Hernandez’s wedding.
"In a business filled with cynics, he was one of the kindest and most decent people you would ever want to meet."
Mr. Hernandez grew up in the Chicago neighborhoods of Lincoln Park and Portage Park, and was fiercely proud of his ancestral home of Puerto Rico.
A graduate of Quigley Seminary, he attended DePaul University and was an editor at the DePaulian, the school’s student newspaper.
He covered local and national politics for WBEZ-FM and the Chicago Reporter before joining CLTV in 2005.
"To a certain extent he was a throwback," said U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley, who visited Mr. Hernandez at Northwestern Memorial Hospital Sunday. "He wanted to dress the part with the glasses and the hat. He was kind of retro. He decried modern journalism where you do a superficial story as fast as you can."
"Coming from public radio, he was determined not to dumb down the news. He would rather do a thorough story about a complicated issue and he explained it. He had this great sense of humor and could do great impressions of elected officials. With his boyish sense of humor he made us all laugh and smile."
Survivors include his wife, WGN-TV reporter Randi Belisomo Hernandez; father, Carlos Hernandez Sr.; mother and stepfather, Myrna and Tom Kinsella and brother Jason.
Funeral arrangements were pending
President Barack Obama released the following statement at 12:45 today:
Statement from the President on the Passing of Carlos Hernandez Gomez
"I was saddened to hear of the passing of Carlos Hernandez Gomez. Our paths first crossed when I was a State Senator. He was a throwback in the style of Chicago’s storied political reporters. He loved Chicago, and he relentlessly sought to tell its story with the commitment to truth and the insatiable curiosity that any good reporter has to have. I quickly learned that when you saw his sharp fedora in a crowd, hard questions were coming. But Carlos always played it straight. And I always enjoyed our interactions in Springfield, Chicago, or on the campaign trail. Carlos was a role model to many, and an integral part of the Chicago story he strived to tell. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife Randi and his family."
##
Mr. Gomez had the same profound impact on the city as many of the stalwart reporters Chicago is famous for but he did it as one of a very, very few Hispanic journalists working today – and, most notably to me, as a journalist who neither highlighted his heritage for any sort of gain, nor shrank away from it.
My very favorite part of his reporting was when he said his name! It was always this perfect, perfect English throughout the report and then his perfectly pronounced name in all it’s rolled R’s glory. I loved that!
Yet people would complain about it to me! They were literally surprised, or offended at the aural intrusion, they felt he was waiving his heritage in their faces when the guy was simply just pronouncing his name correctly.
Either way, people took notice of Carlos Hernandez Gomez – and not mostly for his name. He was a respected and knowledgeable journalist with a style all his own. A real American original.
And he will be missed.
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
Slap me on the back, pals, I've come up with a brilliant plan to solve the persistent problem of the lack of enough highly qualified high school math teachers to train the scientists and engineers of tomorrow: Let's not ask potential math teachers to pass the state's required-for-certification test in mathematics.
Problem solved.
Also, a recent study by a Columbia Law School professor has found that despite the push to diversify the student body in law schools to better reflect our nation's multicultural population, both the percentage and the number of black and Mexican-American law students remains low and has actually declined in the last few years. Let's fix that one right here and now, too: Throw out the Law School Admission Test.
While we're at it, the country has a shortage of family-practice doctors -- the real money is in orthopedic surgery these days. So let's just drop the board certification requirement for doctors going into primary care.
What, you don't like the reasoning here? Maybe because the idea is stupid. Simplistic and lazy in that it doesn't fix -- or even address -- the problem of finding ways to get more qualified people of a certain background into a particular profession. It merely sidesteps the problem while creating bigger problems. It doesn't take a genius to see that the cure in each case is far worse than the ailment it's intended to heal.
So why would anyone even consider creating a police corps that reflects our fine city's diverse populace by just tossing the entrance exam? Faced with a suddenly intolerable 54 percent Caucasian police force, sources told two Sun-Times reporters, that's exactly what City Hall seriously is considering.
Oh, we're told, there would be other benefits if the city were to eliminate the police entrance exam. Besides making it easier to hire minority officers, the city would be spared the considerable expense of providing and scoring the test, and it would avoid costly legal challenges by those who fail the exam.
My favorite cops called me the day the story ran. They were incredulous, disgusted, offended and angry.
But the angriest messages I got were not from police officers ticked off that this scheme to maybe drop the entrance exam basically represents a lowering of the high standards they had to meet in order to become one of Chicago's finest. They had to work to become members of the second-largest police department in the United States, a department, I might add, that in the last three years has had to deal with several embarrassing situations of violence and brutality against civilians.
Nope, the people I heard from most were multiracial, multi-ethnic and multi-mad at the implication that minorities are such dolts that the only way to integrate a homogenous organization with high standards is to drop those standards.
"Condescension is the worst form of discrimination," one woman wrote to me, angered by the ridiculous claim that creating a rigorous test that is fair to anyone of any gender, culture or color would be too much of a burden.
Could it really be true that becoming one of the easiest police departments in the country to slide into -- few other police departments, and none in major cities, lack an entrance test -- is preferable to putting in the time and effort to becoming a pioneer in culturally sensitive, cognitively arduous police entrance exams for a diverse 21st century police force?
The word "laughingstock" comes to mind.
As does Groucho Marx's famous condemnation, which will ring in the ears of Chicago police veterans and future cops if this plan is adopted: "I don't want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member."
Auto shop, wood shop, metal shop – all horrors of a certain segment of the high school population. Let’s face it, shop class never got much respect.
So, when I read Rosalind Rossi’s story "Shop Class shake-up" in Tuesday’s Chicago Sun-Times I was near giddy. In it, Rossi details a new Chicago Public Schools push to elevate shop classes from the second-tier electives most people recall to high-tech, certified vocational education programs that will put kids into decent-paying 21st century careers the day they walk out of high school.
It’s about time.
We live in a world where the corridors of the educational industrial complex are clogged with academics and starry-eyed teachers who truly believe that every single student in the United States must be prepared and routed straight to a four-year college. They believe that to expect anything less is to doom a child to a life of destitution.
I’m not making this stuff up. You need only spend about 15 minutes with the average teacher or teaching professor at any educational facility in this country; if you were to opine that hey, maybe not every Susie and Tommie should be encouraged to strive for Harvard or Princeton, you’d get looked at like you were a monster. A bad one. The kind of monster that did not, in fact, believe that every single human in the world must study Jane Austen – sans zombies – or Greek philosophy to experience a happy, productive or healthy life.
(I dare you to try this next time you come across a professional educator, sucker! Dare you not to roll your eyes when the words "I believe the children are our future…" come rolling out.)
Don’t get me wrong: we are indeed operating in a 21st century knowledge economy and every single student who wants to go to college should get every bit of assistance humanly possible to do so, but college prep shouldn’t be the sole focus of schools as it currently stands. When my washing machine spewed soapy water all over my basement a few weeks back I did not consult a mechanical engineer. I also didn’t call one of my many brilliant PhD friends. Nope, I called up my local appliance repairman, thanked him with a nearly unnatural ferocity after he showed up at my house on a Sunday morning. Then, with a great big smile, I happily paid him a lot of money when my machine was working again.
It takes all kinds to make this world go ‘round: doctors and car mechanics, lawyers and magnificent sous chefs, accountants and creative, talented construction workers. Starting next year, CPS’ new "College and Career Academy" programs will be a living testament to that by training kids to walk out of senior year with the expertise to begin work in so-called "middle-skill" careers such as electricians, medical technicians, welders, and computer support services. And don’t worry, this is not some fairy-tale CPS lark, many many school districts across the country and in Illinois already have similar, and successful programs (Lake County, IL’s High School Technology Campus is one notable example).
So three cheers to the CPS shop rats of tomorrow from someone who knows she’ll soon be shelling out major dollars to the furnace repair woman – they’ll be laughing all the way to the bank as I make my thousand-dollar student loan payment every month.
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 first time I ever set foot in Pilsen was as a newly hired reporter after a white editor asked me to go there to "find some Latino stories" for the next day's paper.
That might sound weird to some, but I'd always been a Little Village gal. For as long as I can remember, my family had made monthly Sunday treks from our Lake View two-flat to "La Garra" at the University of Illinois at Chicago, also known as the Maxwell Street flea market. Afterwards, it was up to 26th Street to hit the Mexican bakeries and shops.
And I cannot remember a time when I wasn't intimately familiar with the city's Hasidic Jewish, Indian, Chinese, Korean, Iranian and Polish neighborhoods, but Pilsen was just a big old blind spot for me.
I've often written about how I hate it when people assume I grew up there -- that's a sort of a blind spot, too. It's one of many, many blind spots many of us didn't even know we had until a transplant to our fine city took it upon herself to define them.
Fascinated by Chicago's ethnic neighborhoods when she arrived back in 2000, Maria Krysan, an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at UIC, decided to gauge residents' knowledge of city communities and quickly realized that Chicago's North Sider vs. South Sider pride stands akin to that of the Union and the Confederacy in the 1800s.
In her report, "Black-White-Latino Differences in Community Knowledge," based on a 2005 survey of more than 700 adults living in Cook County, Krysan explored the gaps in awareness these different groups had of the myriad segregated, integrated and everywhere-in-between neighborhoods in the Chicago region. She called these gaps "blind spots."
Like all good studies, it quantified gut feelings that had never before been confirmed, with simultaneously obvious and shocking results.
For instance, on the common-sense front, Krysan found that whites were generally unfamiliar with communities that featured a significant black population or were racially integrated -- including a few communities with majority white populations, such as Beverly and Homewood/ Flossmoor. Relatively unknown communities for at least a third of the African Americans surveyed included distant suburbs with majority white populations, such as Libertyville and Crystal Lake, in addition to racially and ethnically diverse Chicago neighborhoods such as Uptown, Logan Square and Albany Park.
Latinos, though, are in a league of their own when it comes to blind spots. Hispanics, when compared to whites and blacks, were oblivious to more than twice as many communities.
With the exception of Hispanic-centric spots such as Humboldt Park, Cicero, Pilsen and Little Village, more than half of the 41 communities used as examples in the study were "unknown" to a third or more of the Hispanic respondents. We were equally in the dark about segregated, integrated, city and suburban communities alike.
"Well, the bright side is that once you control for background characteristics like socioeconomic status and number of years of residency in the city, Latinos are quite knowledgeable about a wide range of communities; more so, in fact, than whites and blacks," Krysan told me. "But, from a practical standpoint, you can control away any factor to level the results and, the fact is, the Hispanic community in Chicago is still relatively new to this city -- not in all cases, of course, but generally -- and these blind spots do exist."
The neighborhood knowledge gap for Hispanics isn't the end of the world, but it keeps us more apart than we actually are. As it turns out, there are lots of inviting racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods and suburbs, in addition to the well-marketed Oak Park, but most of us just don't know about them.
It has now been many, many years since I first set foot in Pilsen, but judging from my knowledge of the 41 neighborhoods on Krysan's list, I still need to get out more. And, probably, so do you.
Picture an idealistic Northwestern University cello student, circa 1993, playing a tune for a crowd of colorfully-robed monks from all over the world and you'll have visualized Michael Fitzpatrick.
Since his years in Chicago, Michael - golden-curly-haired, tall, and possessed of a chill-axed surfer dude vibe - has been featured on the recent PBS special "The Music Instinct: Science and Song" and has performed for political and religious royalty around the world. Really, the plaudits are so lengthy one's eyes glaze over.
I met him when he was in town giving a live performance of his musical accompaniment to the new Frederick Marx documentary "The Journey from Zanskar," a labor of love in a similar vein to the work he's done on his signature "Compassion Rising" project. The project serves - as the title of one of the tracks declares - as an "Invocation for World Peace."
What Fitzpatrick does with a cello cannot be adequately described as mere music; I can best describe the sounds Michael pours out of that four-stringed instrument as simple beauty that fills one's soul with nothing less than pure joy and peace. Plus, he just flat-out ROCKS, too. No kidding.
How Michael Fitzpatrick went from being a socially-conscious musician to becoming the virtuoso who travels the world injecting musical spiritualism into sacred events large and small - he's served as featured Soloist, Music Director, and Producer for the unprecedented musical collaboration recorded and filmed at sacred sites including Mammoth Cave, the largest cave in the world; the Abbey of Gethsemani; and the Furnace Mountain Zen Temple - is too a long a story for today.
But I was able to get Fitzpatrick on the phone for a few minutes in the hour before he went onstage with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet who is in Melbourne, Australia this week addressing the Parliament of the World’s Religions. Here's Fitzpatrick on the art of making music, spreading compassion, and providing the soundtrack for spiritual leaders, pictures from the morning performance, as well.
EJC: What are you doing right now?
MF: I just got done with the sound check and am on my way back into the theater among the high, high security protocols. I'll go onstage first, with the Dalai Lama, Wednesday morning for the morning keynote and invocation.
EJC: What's the extra-special magic for you with this set of events?
MF: It's very, very special! We're performing Wednesday and Thursday. And December 10 is the 10th anniversary of the death of Thomas Merton who was regarded as the most influential monk of the 20th century. Also December 10, 2009 is the occasion of the 20th anniversary of His Holiness the Dalai Lama being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. December 10th is also the anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and of course, the day President Obama will be accepting the Nobel Peace Prize, so it's very, very exciting.
EJC: How does one gear up for THAT?
MF: (Laughing) How do you prepare to go on stage with the man many people consider the most enlightened being of our time?
I eliminate the extraneous thoughts from my mind then I prepare to send the notes out to everyone in the world to touch their hearts and move them to the compassion that the Dalai Lama is the embodiment of.
I meditate before I go on stage but not like, "oh I’m going to set 15 minutes aside," I do more of a walking meditation but so much of the time I’m already in a meditative state – I hold everything in, the energy, the creativity and when the show is going to happen I delve deep into that internal place. I review in my mind the Compassion Rising project then force myself deeper into remembering why we’re all here: to come together in peace, love, compassion and to hold that space.
Basically, it's like getting ready for the big basketball game.
EJC: So what's it like to be onstage with His Holiness? You've performed for and with him many, many times - spent a lot of time with him, actually, for a non-monk. So you're probably not nervous per se... Does His Holiness' vibe throw off your tuning or anything like that?
MF: Yeah, it's a very specific frequency he resides in it's an extremely high vibration but a really heavy grounded vibration at the same time. I've been working with him for 13 years and I've just learned how to adjust my frequency to him. It's kind of like downshifting.
Playing my cello is a bit different, yes. Being in the presence of the Dalai Lama and many other powerful beings, playing in sacred places all over the world - I’ve played on the site where Jesus was baptized, in sacred caves where there is ancient earth - the resonances are so different! When I start to play, [the energy] starts to wake up the sound vibrations and the sound molecules in the wood - it, like, heats up and the sound and quality leaps and takes on a mystical dimension.
EJC: Tell that story about when you first met the Dalai Lama.
MF: I was attending Northwestern University in Evanston, working on a master's in performance in 1993 when he was in Chicago and I met him for the first time. I didn't really know a thing about him except that he was the Dalai Lama. There I was in the Palmer House Hilton surrounded by every colorful turban-ed, robed monk - it was like something out of a movie.
EJC: What was happening in your training that was preparing you for the path you started on after that Palmer House Hilton performance?
MF: At Northwestern I had two exceptional cello teachers who gave me a tremendous amount of creative freedom to explore the other types of sounds a cello could make - overlaid on the basics of the core principles, of course.
As a student in Chicago I was very concerned about the role of the musician in 21st century and the need to not just entertain but to inspire and uplift. In particular, my teacher and conductor Victor Yampolsky really allowed for that next-level of exploration of the music. He had a titanic energy about him! I remember performing Beethoven's 9th Symphony at Pick Staiger Hall and feeling the truest expression of spirituallity - it just blew me away! The way this master musician from Russia brought through this most ancient energy to that work was life-changing.
EJC: What about now? What keeps you going on this quest to bring compassion to the world through your music - it's not a bed of roses every day, right?
MF: There’s this great line that Tom Petty said during his 30th anniversary concert, he was just riffing, and he said something like "just for one moment I want to believe everything is OK, because then there might be another moment where everything is OK." That’s how I feel when I’m making music for the world – if that "one moment" is possible, then the reality of the violence and the dark side of life can start to be replaced with peace and compassion.
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
'Tis the season to be jolly! You're stuffed from the turkey and trimmings, all the relatives have been placated for the time being, and the Christmas carols haven't gotten on your nerves yet.
But things are moving quickly. There are greeting cards to mail, people to visit, electronic gadgets to hunt down and parties to get to. You're busy. Verrrrry busy. And stressed out, and even a little overwhelmed . . . ummmm, maybe this is not the time to ask for a favor?
Well, here I go anyway, but I'll make it as simple as possible: Please feed me.
And when I say "me," well, OK, so not me, per se . . . but all the other "me's" I live and work with: young neighbors, old friends, co-workers and kids. Yours, too. They're all still hungry after the Thanksgiving holiday.
"I can't tell you how many times I've wished there was as much attention paid to the hunger problem in this city after Thanksgiving as before," Kate Maehr, executive director of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, Cook County's main food bank, told me last week.
"It really is incredible how generous people are leading up to Thanksgiving, but hunger in Chicago is a 365-day-a-year challenge," she said.
Maehr had gotten my attention by appealing to my insatiable devouring of delicious statistics via this delectable e-mail:
"Between now and the end of December the Food Depository will distribute:
• 241,920 pounds of turkey
• 67,500 pounds of yams
• 43,200 pounds of ham
• 36,960 pounds of cranberry sauce
• 33,516 pounds of corn
• 19,440 pounds of stuffing
• 18,000 pounds of chicken
• 4,375 pounds of gravy . . ."
I called her to really sink my teeth into the logistics of slinging all those goodies to almost half a million Chicagoans every year when I was distracted by the phrase, ". . . but the need continues."
"What do you mean the need continues?" I asked her incredulously. "Aren't there like 7 gazillion food drives at the holidays. Isn't this your easiest time of the year to raise food and funds? Holiday spirit? Good will toward men?"
Kate was kind enough to not bite my head off.
"We have almost 600 member agencies struggling to keep food on shelves; there is such a dramatic increase in people turning to these agencies that we're shattering records," she said. "For instance, September tends to be a really slow month for us, but this September, we were already 26 percent ahead of last year's pace in pantry visits, and 70 percent ahead of the pace of two years ago."
"But what about the spirit of the season, Zuzu's petals and all that -- don't you rake it in at this time of year?" I asked.
"Well, that's certainly the case leading up to Thanksgiving, but December is a whole different story. We all get preoccupied with our lists -- gifts to buy, things to pack for vacation, resolutions to start -- and along the way, people start to think that one can of food or a small donation doesn't do much," she said. "That couldn't be farther from the truth -- that one can of food, the $5 donation, it means everything to us. And we need you every day."
So there it is.
And here I am, asking on behalf of me, and Maehr, and the Greater Chicago Food Depository, and on behalf of the half-million Chicagoans -- a third of them children -- who are hungry, even when we're tight on cash and time: Feed young neighbors, old friends, co-workers and kids.
What’s far scarier than the thought of Guantanamo Bay terrorist suspects cooling their heels behind maximum security bars in Thomson, Illinois?
Fear-mongered people – already stretched to the limits due to the ravages the economy has inflicted – acting out against anyone who looks like a foreigner because the TV and newspaper headlines are hyperventilating about terrorists living among us.
There is no doubt that the recent Fort Hood Massacre left the country wondering where they can feel safe from terrorism. If the young men and women who have pledged to protect the good old U-S-of-A can’t be kept from being slain in the name of Islam on a military base filled with their peers, the dark thought goes, then what level of safety can the average Joe hope for?
I won’t deny that the concern does give one pause, but honestly, I’m less scared of the possibility of an armed Islamic radical coming into my life than I am about the everyday bigots.
Take Valerie Kenney, resident of Tinley Park which was just named by BusinessWeek Magazine the "Best Place in America to Raise Kids." She is accused of yanking off a Muslim woman’s headscarf at the checkout counter of the neighborhood Jewel.
Two days after the Fort Hood shootings Kenney, 54, allegedly walked up to a woman in a hijab – who was almost certainly loading sugary all-American kiddie cereal and milk onto the conveyor belt to take home to her four young daughters – and shouted "That guy that did the Texas shooting, he wasn’t American, and he was from the Middle East." Nidal Malik Hasan was born in the U.S., in Virginia, to Palestinian parents.
Gee, I wonder how those four daughters – or the other families who have reported derogatory terrorist-related terms graffitied on their Tinley Park property – feel about Tinley being the "Best Place in America to Raise Kids."
Speaking as someone who has actually been slurred a terrorist in public – dark skin, hair and eyes makes for a great many terrorist suspects – I can tell you that the shame and humiliation of the words alone are painful enough, I can’t imagine how devastated the young woman was to be violated publicly in such a religiously-offensive way. Just think about someone ripping a shirt off a nun and you might get how serious that is.
So we were already on "high" for terror alert when the Thomson, Illinois situation reared its head. Last Saturday the White House floated the idea of holding terrorist suspects who are currently in Guantanamo Bay in rural Western Illinois. Never mind the Thomson facility is a maximum security prison and the prisoners in question would be held to military detention standards which precludes all but the essential legal or enforcement visitors. Still, the fear mongers would have us believe that – I’ll quote running-for-Senate U.S. Repesentative Mark Kirk – "If we transfer al-Quaida terrorists to Illinois, the Chicago area will receive increased attention from the jihadist world. As home to America’s tallest building and her busiest airport, this is not a risk we should impose on Illinois families."
Really? Kirk wants to run for Senate to represent all of Illinois in Washington and the best he can do to whip up votes is dissuade potential economic development for a rural area – and state –
that badly needs it is because otherwise, scary terrorists will have never heard of the Willis-formerly-Sears Tower and O’Hare?
Please! That’s crazy talk coming from someone who should just know better for all sorts of different reasons. And it puts Kirk in the same class as Valerie Kenney: frustrated, scared, and just plain wrong about credible terrorist threats to Illinois’ residents.
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
So what about Sosa? If he wants to be what the kids today call "light skinned-ed," well, is that so wrong?
The blogosphere is burning up with beastly, snarky comments and pictures of retired Cub Sammy Sosa, who has denied he has a skin disorder and instead credits his new hue to a skin-hydrating cream he's not ashamed to admit accounts for his stunning skin lightening.
I've seen people react with rabid disgust to Sosa's new look, with the main theme of the outrage centered around the idea that he's "making himself white" ostensibly because of some sort of self-hatred toward his dark Latin-American roots.
The filthy rich ex-slugger was born in the Dominican Republic, a land of lots of white sandy beaches and dark coffee-bean-colored skin.
But why is Sosa's desire to be lighter-skinned self-hatred?
Or better yet, why does it represent -- to some -- any more self-hatred than the adults who get braces to straighten their naturally gnarly teeth, or the man who gets a hair transplant to replace his long-departed hair, or the woman who can afford to de-gravity her once-perky bosom?
Sosa, who is making international headlines once again -- this time on a topic unrelated to cork -- has gotten so much heat about this he felt the need to tell an inquiring Univision television reporter, "I'm not a racist. I'm not like that. I'm just a happy person."
Sheesh.
My dad is from Ecuador and he is a very dark-skinned -- excuse me, a verrrrrry handsome, dark-skinned -- man. His whole life, our entire family and all his friends have called him by a nickname that referred to his dark caramel color. My mom is from Mexico and so very light she fries like a potato in a McDonald's deep fryer after being outside for 10 minutes.
I'm the lucky one: I get to be dark in the summer and light in the winter.
But what if that weren't so? What if I were really dark all the time -- would I be a "freak," "ashamed of my race," "disturbing" or "self-hating" if I were to lighten my skin?
Maybe I should go to the tanning salon -- like my white friends do to get their skin golden brown -- in the winter to stay closer to my "roots."
And by the way, would you say it was an affront to my lineage or a mark of low esteem when I asked my dentist to pull four of my teeth to get braces? I love myself plenty, thank-you-very-much.
The guy is rich, and when you have lots of money, you get to spend it on basically anything you can think of. When I first heard about his new skin color, my mind jumped to wondering whether he has also purchased any Beatles songs or large ranches equipped with carnival rides and the like -- but no, he seems to be mostly the same old Sammy.
He's just a Sammy who maybe looked in the mirror one day and said, in his best Lou Reed voice, "Hey, babe, take a walk on the white side."
Doot do doot do doot doo doo doot . . .
C'mon, it's the year 2009 and we have a black president in the White House. Black is beautiful, brown is all around and white's still just right. Isn't it about time we stop judging people by the color of their skin -- or by the color they choose their skin to be?
Esther J. Cepeda will blog about her darkening skin color right from the beaches of the Dominican Republic this December on
Looking back on it, I just don’t know how I made it in.
Growing up at Addison and Lincoln there was no question where I wanted to go to high school: the gorgeous, ivy-covered walls of Albert G. Lane Technical High School up the street at Addison and Western.
The place where, every time I mentioned it, older folks would say "that place, yeah, my brother went there…before they let girls in."
I remember the first time I ever graced Lane’s halls as a knock-kneed 8th grader back around February of 1988. There, on that stunning campus, I took something called an "entrance exam." When the bell rung, out flooded big girls and boys of every color, style, and age imaginable and I remember I just could not wait to join them and be totally cool with a new-wave hair-do and black and white tights in thick black clod-hopping combat boots.
Also I remember being told to not hold my breath. "I hope you noticed all the other boys and girls in that auditorium taking the same test you did, Esther," Mr. Nutley, the St. Andrew’s school principal warned me and the three other kids who had braved the elements to take the test. "They’re all really bright, too, I hope your family applied to other schools just in case."
Fast forward to November 2009.
I absolutely cannot begin to imagine what sort of Dickensian horror city parents today go through to get their kids into decent schools. Even the schools in the "good" neighborhoods have spotty teaching quality and the rest – well, their achievement and standardized test scores speak for themselves. That leaves selective-enrollment schools like Lane Tech and Payton College Preps, and magnets like Whitney Young and Chicago Metropolitan High schools.
Now, in the wake of the "clout scandal" and the recent tossing of the 1980 desegregation consent decree that had given schools leeway in admissions based on race, the Chief Mathemagician at CPS, Ron Huberman, has come up with a plan to select enrollment to these schools based on family income.
As ace education reporter Rosalind Rossi outlined in Wednesday’s Sun-Times story "College Preps to admit by income" there will be four economic tiers ranging from $22,959 to $61,862, which is estimated to cover about 600,000 students – the neediest in the city. But it leaves the "middle class" kids whose family’s household income is above that top number. The kids of Frank the fireman and Darla the nurse who are doing alright, but probably not alright enough to send their kids to private schools if they can’t get them into the "good" CPS schools.
I have consistently clanged the bell of educational equality based on socio-economic status over race for years, and I’m really glad Huberman has taken his statistical analysis skills out of the same tired old race box, but I worry that there will still be kids unfairly left behind.
Depending on whether the plan gets voted in by the CPS School Board December 16th and then on a "principal pick" situation, the admission status of a sibling, scores on entrance tests, and/or proximity to schools, there’s still ample opportunity for families to be left out in the cold.
What, exactly, is so wrong with putting ALL eligible kids – ignoring race and income –
in a locally televised lottery for all to see?
Why are we contriving to ensure the proper mix of students by segregating them whether it is by race or income? In either case you exclude city residents because they aren’t the right color or because they’ve been fortunate enough to make a decent living for themselves. It just doesn’t feel fair.
My parents, thank goodness, were professionals who came to this country with some serious skills. They lived out an American Dream that included a private elementary school that enabled me to make the cut and live my life-long desire to attend Lane Technical High School.
If I were trying to get in today – under this new plan, if it is passed – I would have lost a leg-up on the ethnicity aspect (which would have been perfectly fine by me), might have still shined based on my academic prowess, but might have gotten passed over because my parents made too much money. I don’t like those odds.
All parents want to believe that if they work hard, they can get a decent education for their kids. City parents know it’s a gamble between a bad or so-so school; short of leaving town, all Chicago parents just want an equal chance at some of the better schools regardless of their income or race.
The CPS School Board – which was appointed to represent all parents, not just the financially neediest ones – must ensure they get their fair shot.
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's get past the stereotypes and get down to business on this census thing. I'm talking about the push to accurately count Hispanics during the 2010 U.S. census. Though organizers and many in the media like to say that the biggest barrier to counting Hispanics is fear on the part of illegal aliens, it's not all about fear.
For the uninitiated, the U.S. census has been taking the most accurate count of everyone it can get its hands on since 1790. The boundaries of political districts and the public funding for a million different things, such as social services, are decided based on census figures. But over the years, there has been a recurring argument about whether illegal aliens and other noncitizens, such as legal permanent residents, should be included in the tally.
The most recent dust-up came courtesy of Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana. Completely ignoring the fact that Congress over a year ago approved every question on the surveys being printed by the U.S. Census Bureau, Vitter decided that funding for the census should not be released unless questions about citizenship and immigration status were included. His real aim was to make sure congressional districts would be redrawn solely on the basis of the population of American citizens -- and did not include noncitizens.
This upset Hispanic advocacy organizations struggling to mobilize a "difficult-to-reach" community to make sure they're counted. Last week, the Senate ignored Vitter's amendment and the whole case was closed. Again. (A Census Bureau spokeswoman said they go through this dance every 10 years!)
Meanwhile, the big story about this must-count "hard-to-reach" Hispanic population, whose numbers have so quickly swollen, remains centered on fear. Fear that illegal immigrants and their families -- even those members who are legal residents -- will opt out by making it impossible for any "official"-type people to find them.
Yes, there are millions of illegal aliens residing in the U.S. Guess what? Millions of them are not of Latin-American origin. And early estimates, based on 2000 census figures, already predict that the nation's Hispanic population increased to 50 million from 38 million, with U.S.-born "second-generation" Hispanics like me driving the growth.
But the real story is not about fear. Hispanics tend to be undercounted for the same reason many other Americans -- whites, blacks, Asians, etc. -- are undercounted: a simple lack of awareness.
"The number one thing I hear when I'm out in the community is 'what the heck is the census?' " said Elisa Alfonso, regional census director for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund's Chicago office. "This 'illegal fear' thing is nothing but a distraction."
The organization started its census outreach into the Chicago area's metro and suburban Latino neighborhoods in August.
"The main barrier continues to be what it has always been -- not just for Latinos but for the populations as a whole -- lack of information about the census," Alfonso said. "I've been all over the region, and I'm sorry to tell you that though some of us think of being counted in the census as a lofty civil rights issue, that does not resonate with people. I'm going to churches, community centers and schools where the organization leaders and even the teachers don't know what the census is."
That, too, will change. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 opened the way for about 2.7 million immigrants to be legalized, which means many members of the extremely young Hispanic community have gone through only one or two census counts.
As Hispanics come to make the connection between filling out a census form and a better quality of life -- in higher census numbers there is funding and political power -- they will likely become as familiar with the census process as non-Hispanics.
The quicker those who are aiding the Hispanic outreach effort figure out that the main concern for this population is not fear of "La Migra!" the more successful they will be in counting and serving this "hard-to-reach" community.
Things were starting to get rough back then and they’re still not great. Despite some nice indicators of national economic health,for the most part, people are concerned about jobs, jobs, jobs.
The Obama administration has been knocked for not delivering on the promise of "shovel-ready" infrastructure-related job creation opportunities because state-level budget catastrophes used up a lot of the stimulus money to keep jobs they otherwise would’ve had to eliminate.
When it comes to stimulus-related government contracts that could bring small business, women’s business, and minority-owned businesses the opportunity to create more jobs for their communities, there are but few happy campers.
For instance, in Lake County, Illinois State Rep. Eddie Washington (D-Waukegan) recently put out a call to action to figure out why minority contractors who have bid on federal contracts have been so unsuccessful. Despite the number of requests for proposals filed for contracts, Washington is frustrated and concerned by the number of bids by minority small business owners that didn’t win the government’s bidding process.
"It is critical to economic recovery that all those interested have equal opportunity to obtain federal contracts," Washington said at a recent town hall meeting.
Equal opportunity – that’s the rub when it comes to the government procurement process. Anyone can go to a website and see the specifications and deadlines for submitting a proposal to bid on a contract, in most cases you can even ask questions for clarification and get them answered.
If you know where to look, that is. If you know how to ask, if you know how to craft the best proposal so that it not only IS the best proposal, but it stands out to evaluation committees as THE best proposal when go through the extremely complex process of assigning number or letter grades to hundreds of items in the questionnaire analysis they do on each and every proposal.
Big surprise: a contract bidder – let’s say a small minority firm or a female contractor – who doesn’t have the expertise to wade through the bureaucracy, read and digest the legal jargon, who has no experience in going through the lengthy procurement process gets left behind. Big businesses have teams of lawyers and procurement experts who devote their entire careers to navigating the thickets of government contracts, is it any wonder that a two-man shop, or a small woman or minority firm who is just now looking to round out their business with federal, state, or city contracts are having trouble winning them?
And I’m not talking about ability or quality level or service level – I’m talking about the little firms who may actually have the very best product or service to fill the contract need but they weren’t able to cut through the clutter to actually win a bid. It can be overwhelming enough to make you throw your hands up in the air and give up.
Don’t. The problem is at least getting attention. Several Federal government agencies are starting workshop processes to ensure the equal opportunity promise is delivered on. In Chicago, Jamie Rhee, the City’s Chief Procurement Officer recently said his office will be looking into making it easier for minority businesses to get certified as eligible to compete for such contracts (and, hey, wouldn’t it be nice if the State of Illinois’ small/minority business certification process took less than a minimum of 6 months!?).
More importantly, community organizations and big businesses are putting the issue on their front burners.
For instance, the Chicago Foundation for Women recently put on a webinar designed to help busy women business owners learn the basics of competing for "green" project jobs. "The process for accessing the contracts and the money is very slow and confusing," Shelley Davis, CFW’s vice president of programs and advocacy told me. "But I believe the funds will start flowing and when they do we want to have provided guidance and advocacy for better policies to secure women’s economic stability. My concern is that these contracts are not being tracked and reported properly so that we can see who, really, is successful in landing contracts."
The other interesting tactic for cutting through some red tape is happening on the big business side. I talked with Lourdes Martin-Rosa, American Express Card’s OPEN Advisor on Government Contracting. AmEx is offering extensive training – through their "Give Me 5" program, so named after 2000 Equity in Contracting for Women Act which stipulated that federal contracting officers award 5% of all contracts to women-owned businesses – to small women’s businesses to sharpen their skills on the details of getting registered on the Federal government’s Central Contractor Registry. The program also teaches women how to narrow down to the best possible opportunities so time can be invested in the perfect proposal with the highest likelihood of winning a contract.
Also exciting is American Express’ ability to bridge between these small women business owners and big corporations so that "team" relationships can be established. The strength of the diversity of skills and the large-business experience results in mutually beneficial joint contracts.
"The insight I’ve gained through my mentorship with the Give Me 5 program has been invaluable to my business and helping me achieve my federal contracting goals," said Valarie King-Bailey, the head of Chicago’s OnShore Technology Group. "Using the techniques I learned in my mentorship, I have already identified several solid leads for subcontracting opportunities and I am well on my way to being added to the General Services Administration for a series of prime contracting opportunities."
If the teaming effort American Express is helping her with is successful, King-Bailey will make the Obama administration very happy. That 2000 law stipulating 5% of contracts go to women has never been met. In 2008, only 3.41% of women actually received federal contract dollars.
"It was 3.4% in 2007, so 3.41% in 2008 was actually good news," AmEx’s Lourdes Martin-Rosa told me, "we’re talking about 13 Billion in 2007 and going to 14.7 Billion in 2008. We mentored 200,000 women in that time, I think we’re at least making a difference."
"The government is actually trying, too," Martin-Rosa said, "they’re trying to make the whole process as accessible as possible because they’re missing marks everywhere. Contracts with small businesses were only 21.5% last year which was short of their 23% goal."
There is a lot of work left to do in making government contract accessible to "the little guy", not to mention "the little gal" and other diverse businesses. It’s not going to be quick and easy anytime soon but there is help out there and things are moving in the right direction.
Maybe next November when I check in on the state of women’s economic empowerment, diversity in business, and diversity in government contracting there will be even more to celebrate.
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
Death is all around us. Well, that much is always true, but it has been especially so around my house, where, since Sunday, my living room has been graced by the yearly addition of a candled, flowered, candied altar to my dead.
Yep, it's that time of the year: Saturday was Halloween, followed immediately on Sunday by the first day of the Mexican, Central and South American celebration Dia de los Muertos, a festival-like tradition honoring departed loved ones.
Today, Nov. 2, is when the whiskey, tequila, heavy food and cigarettes are usually brought out because that's the day deceased adults are honored. But I go to town with candy, toys, flowers and light-hearted trinkets on Nov. 1, which is the day infants and children are remembered -- and the day my own departed young one is celebrated in my home.
The coolest thing about this year's Day of the Dead celebrations is that this -- I proclaim -- is the year it went mainstream. It's no surprise every year when the Mexican supermarkets and bakeries put out the annual sugar skulls, pan de muerto -- "bread of the dead" -- and skeleton pinatas. But this year I've seen Mexican muerto skull sugar cookies in very mainstream bakeries, and I've seen feature stories all over the Internet, in mainstream newspapers, magazines and on TV about how to make the vibrant and fun accoutrements of this Latin American holiday.
I love that for two reasons. First, non-Latinos are learning about Hispanic culture and naturally integrating bits and parts into their own Halloween affairs -- melting pot, I think they call it.
Second, it's a great education for that segment of the Hispanic population who didn't grow up with this tradition. Culture is funny that way, some touchstones ignored by one generation only to be taken up by the next.
Take me, for instance. You might be imagining a young me flanked by black lace-garbed Mama Cepeda and Abuelita Cepeda in a great big sun-drenched kitchen decorated with colorful clay cooking pots, learning with tiny hands how to roll out the masa -- dough -- for the pan de muerto. Perhaps you imagine us decorating the graves of our loved ones. That couldn't be farther from the truth.
A family trip from the bosom of the North Side all the way to Pilsen's National Museum of Mexican Art to see dressed up little skeletons? Not once.
And there's nothing wrong with that. Culture can be so very strong that it need not be drilled in via field trip or workshop. Think chocolate bunnies at Easter.
No, I grew up in this city living whatever the "typical American life" means. Since Mayor Daley never dyed the Chicago river black on Dia de los Muertos, my family never made a fuss about it, reserving their loving attention to ensuring year after year of picture-perfect Halloweens for me.
Like I said, culture is a funny thing. It can skip generations, yet it is so strong that it can leave a homeland, travel thousands of miles and settle into new interpretations. This is only my sixth year of setting up a Day of the Dead altar.
When I started, I felt the need to connect to something symbolic in my heritage, but I didn't want to share my new personal tradition with anyone. I didn't want to deal with explaining that it's not some Satanic hoodoo voodoo thing.
But how scary can Latin American traditions really be to anyone -- even those who fear the melting pot has become an unwieldy and distasteful chunky stew -- when grocery chains sell Day of the Dead greeting cards and delightful pictures, and recipes for traditional sugar skulls, sweet bread, and hot chocolate seem newly omnipresent?
To my great happy surprise, I've "come out" of the Dia del Muerto coffin only to find a pre-Colombian, all-American tradition rising in the U. S. of A.
Chicago Sun Times http://www.suntimes.com/news/cepeda/1845558,CST-EDT-esther26.article
October 26, 2009
Let's talk. Let's really talk about this problem of youth violence that is tearing us -- not just certain families and classrooms, but all of us -- apart.
Last Thursday, yet another unthinkable heartbreak occurred. A 17-year-old Chicago boy was killed in the middle of a drizzly afternoon, walking home from school. Police said some guy just walked up to him and shot him.
A few weeks ago, the White House had to send in the U.S. secretary of education and the U.S. attorney general because, seemingly, Chicago is ground zero in an escalating catastrophe involving poor kids in tough neighborhoods that's beyond local help.
But it's not. The helplessness you and I feel when we hear about the latest tragedy -- whether a shooting or an unspeakably brutal beating -- is an illusion that serves only to keep us from even contemplating the thought that insistently wakes me up some mornings: "What can I, personally, do to keep Chicago kids from getting killed on our streets?"
No one would fault you for coming to the conclusion that volunteering to serve as a cafeteria monitor at Fenger High School's lunchroom is out of the question.
But it's so much simpler than that: Just ask the question -- "What can I do?" -- out loud.
And I don't mean by posting a frustrated message on a news story comment board or kvetching to your seatmate on the bus that poor teens might simply be a lost cause.
I mean ask a teen.
"If you want to help, talk to young people," said Hilda Franco, a youth organizer at the Chicago Freedom School, a center for youth-led social change that works to get adults and teens to build understanding of current social problems and create coalitions. She teaches a monthly class there on how to think respectfully about, and act respectfully toward, young people.
"There isn't enough space for young people or adults to think and talk about violence in their own life, of how it exists and whether they choose that part of themselves, and no one is asking," Franco said.
If gearing up for a deeply philosophical inquiry with a teen is too much to tackle at first, Franco told me, it's critical to start by simply seeking and listening.
"We've had to do a lot of work to teach teens how to create their own media and document their own stories because the media does not talk to young people," she said. "It's always adults writing the news articles and telling the stories."
Faults of the media aside, what's important is to turn our respectful attention to the experiences of young people -- whether they're "at-risk" or not.
It's the only way to create a space where understanding can begin.
I find people really undervalue just talking openly and honestly about fears and concerns, and that's doubly true when it comes to talking to teenagers -- about anything, really. Popular culture, TV sitcoms and slapstick movies have reduced adults' ideas of the teenage temperament to a small handful of stereotypes.
How could anyone over 21 hope to meaningfully contribute to solving the puzzle of how to secure the passage of the city's future to the actual future through that sort of lens?
"People just don't want to talk about it or think about it, and that's going to continue the cycle," Franco said. "If we keep ignoring teens and this issue, we're ignoring a really, really big thing. We need this city's adults to step up and become allies to the young."
Give it some thought.
Open your mouth.
And if you can't find a young person who trusts you enough to talk honestly about how teen violence makes him (or her) feel and what he would do about it, start by searching for the answer within yourself.
Let’s celebrate! And let’s celebrate fish! And fishing!
Yes, you heard me right.
Between the shootings that happen steps from school boundaries and the domestic violence that splatters on the very kids who are supposed to grow up and lead us to a brighter, better tomorrow, it seems like there’s just not a whole lot of good news to celebrate on the teen front.
I have some. Good news – not fish, that is. But more about fish later.
This weekend while you and I relax Friday after work, then sleep late, overindulge Saturday night, and finally veg in front of the Bears game Sunday afternoon, there’ll be about 160 Chicago high school students gathering at Daley College Arturo Velasquez Institute and Little Village Lawndale High School to think deep, intellectual thoughts about the heady topic of food.
The occasion is the "New Frontiers of Knowledge" program a new collaboration between Bucknell University and nine Chicago public and charter schools. The program, starting Friday morning, is bringing together twenty-six Bucknell University students and faculty members to spend three full days helping our kids think critically, scientifically, economically, and artistically about food.
That’s right: our group of college-kid-wannabes aren’t going to train for some sort of academic competition or prepare themselves to do well on standardized tests, they’ll be talking, questioning, analyzing, defining problems, drawing conclusions, and reflecting.
In short the all-volunteer Bucknell crew – fresh in from a ten-hour road trip from their Lewisburg, PA campus – will be teaching our kids what it really takes to succeed after high school graduation.
"For twenty years we’ve worked with populations of students from average to the best and the first thing we discovered is that the number one determinant of success in college is not academic ability, rather it’s the ability to be self directed and to be able to do critical processing," said Rolando Arroyo-Sucre, the chief officer for diversity and equity at Bucknell University, who is spearheading this extremely ambitious project.
Triggered in part by the 2008 report by the Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago, From High School to the Future: Potholes on the Road to College, and Bucknell University’s strategic plan to increase diversity on its campus, the collaboration wants to help prepare talented underrepresented inner city Chicago high school students for admission and academic achievement at private, selective, liberal arts colleges.
Translation: this weekend, while small groups are busily looking at food-wonderful-food through the lenses of the key components of liberal arts education, our high-schoolers will be gleaning from the Bucknellians what the demands are at highly selective liberal arts colleges and universities, what the transition from high school to college means, and, frankly, how to deal with being a kid from the other side of the tracks attending a predominantly white institution of higher education.
During the training of the Bucknell volunteers, Arroyo-Sucre said he emphasized that despite the fact that the high school participants will be underprivileged, the bigger lessons to impart should revolve around familiarity with the higher education culture. "Hispanics, blacks, poor whites, the challenge for them is not a color one, it’s actually socio-economical and the lack of familiarity with the system," Arroyo-Sucre said.
"These kids will have fun working in teams, making presentations, having side conversations about college life, and gain valuable peer-to-peer relationships, but the really exciting thing is this idea of the 160 of the best and brightest realizing they are not alone," Arroyo-Sucre gushed. "I’ve seen it before, I’ve seen the students realize it is OK to be what they are – to be smart. They see it’s OK because there is a critical mass of people who feel the way they do, people who enjoy learning."
When I caught up with Abraham Ramirez, 15, and Martina Camacho, 16, both from Hubbard High School on the city’s far-southwest side, believe me, they were ready to squeeze every drop of opportunity from the experience.
"I’m looking at it like a way to figure out how I’m going to get there," Abraham, a sophomore, told me, referring to "college" as a not a place but almost as another world. "I want a good career when I grow up, and spending the weekend with my friends and college people sounds interesting."
Martina, a junior who has had a life-long dream of becoming a pediatrician, is especially looking forward to finding out what this whole "thinking out of the box" business is and how she can use it to get to where she’s going. "I want this [experience] to be something I can use outside of school, like, to really improve my life."
She won’t be disappointed: this weekend is just the beginning of a years-long collaborative process between students and the Bucknell crew. They’ll be keeping in touch through web-based communication tools, working on a long-distance group project that will last a full year, and prepare for a conference next fall, all while maintaining the very relationships that will de-mystify college not only for themselves, but for their friends and families as well.
Arroyo-Sucre has the highest of hopes, not only for this "class" but for the ripple effect it could have. "As we get the student portion of this program set, in the future we’d like to include teachers and counselors to teach them how the college professors approach the work. Then there are the parents – the idea is to find professional mentors for parents and creating small groups where the parents can ask questions, have brag time, and get to feel comfortable with learning and enabling their students to learn," Arroyo-Sucre said. "Teaching parents how to help develop skills and instill motivation in their students is key."
Of course this out-of-town, fresh-faced, idealistic team has their work cut out for them but they’re dreaming big for Chicago students – thank goodness – even as we residents wallow in self-pity for how enormous their challenges are.
Arroyo-Sucre sees it as a simple thing, really, "We’re talking about these high-level theories for college admission and success, but we’re not giving away fish, we’ll be teaching these students how to catch their own."
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
Outspoken Chicago Teachers Union President Marilyn Stewart gave me pause last Thursday.
In a speech to the City Club of Chicago, she suggested that chronically disruptive students be cast off to special schools so they could get an appropriate education there and leave the non-disruptive kids in peace to learn as best they can.
I am not a Stewart fan, but even through that filter I had to stop and consider. On a normal day, I might have automatically dismissed such a -- on the face of it, at least -- potentially life-ruining placement for any student who doesn't fall neatly into the special-education category or who hasn't already started down a path of criminal behavior.
Wouldn't putting all these kids together make for one big powder keg -- or create a failure factory?
But last Thursday wasn't a normal day.
That morning, I had cracked open the Lake County News-Sun only to look into the eyes of one of my former high school algebra students, now making his first media appearance for alleged acts of burglary, theft and forgery, and finally being nabbed for it.
I'd had now-21-year-old Rafael Mendoza in not one, but two, algebra classes during the 2005-2006 school year because he hadn't been able to pass either level in order to graduate, so the school had put him in two separate levels at once to get him done and out.
Rafael wasn't a violent young man. He wasn't one of the ones peddling drugs and making a scene around my classroom doorway. And because he thought I was one of the few teachers who did not treat him like a criminal -- he had not, by all accounts, gotten caught up in anything yet -- he spent much of his time in the refuge of my classroom.
After the first few weeks of power struggles, the respect I paid him paid me back. In my room, Rafael was mostly a quiet, well-behaved pupil who clearly was really, really smart.
He could have passed those classes easily had he not been working outside of school to help support his family.
But that was my experience with Rafael. To other teachers, he was nothing short of a terror. He intimidated some teachers with sharp questions and attacked the boring ones with childish antics. Some of the faculty were actually physically afraid of him -- and fearful for my physical safety because he spent so much time in my classroom.
Rafael made administrators' blood boil, to say the least, but through it all, he wasn't the kind of kid who had really done anything to warrant being bounced out of a mainstream school setting -- a place rife with pregnancy, classroom and hallway violence, alcohol and drug problems and the fallout of absent parents.
I don't know if Rafael ever got his high school diploma, but I do know the destructive impact he had on classmates outside of my algebra lessons: mounds of lost instruction time; undermining of other students' respect for their teachers; some diluted bullying, annoying those who actually wanted to learn. In short, distractions galore.
Would a system of identifying students like Rafael and putting them in classrooms with top, specially trained teachers who could really "reach" them disintegrate into a holding cage for students who simply were not stamped out by someone else's version of a proper cookie-cutter?
That's a reasonable fear. But it's a fear that should be set aside to investigate the possibility that such a program could recoup thousands of hours of instruction time in mainstream classrooms.
And maybe Stewart's idea of a separate school for kids who aren't violent or don't qualify for special-education services -- but clearly need something other than what a regular school can offer -- would help keep those kids on the margins out of real trouble.
If only Rafael Mendoza could have had that opportunity.
Regular Joe and Jo-ettes don’t spend enough time thinking about how federal policy shapes their lives on a day-to-day basis. Even in good times, most people are just too busy trying to keep their heads above water and makin’ a wave when they can – and these times are far from being Dyn-o-mite.
And if you can connect those dots you might see how I could end up at a high-end conservative activist Tea Party at Chicago’s Fairmont hotel during an Executive’s Club of Chicago panel discussion on "The Impact of Washington's Decisions on the U.S. Economy."
Usually Executive’s Club events are moderate affairs – clubby, business-focused and a little tepid – but Wednesday afternoon there was fiery, anti-government passion on display. And in the audience – more than a few jaws hanging open.
For instance David Chavern, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the US Chamber of Commerce, declared that 2008 had been the slowest legislative year in decades but 2009 had immediately launched us into the most pressing core-issue debates of our time where "business is the problem and government is the solution." He went on to predict that 2010 will be "the mother of all tax years."
Chavern handed the mic off to Norman Bobins, Chairman of The Private Bank & PrivateBancorp who ripped the government’s post-Lehman Bros.-failure efforts to avert another Great Recession. "I do not believe we need more regulation or legislative oversight from Congress," he said struggling with his prepared notes. "We don’t need that level of micromanagement – too much regulation will only drive people out of the system, not make things better and it’ll lead to another meltdown."
Bobins was downright meek compared to William Doyle, fertilizer giant PotashCorp’s President & Chief Executive Officer. Doyle offered that "Washington can’t see a cornfield and has lost sight of how a truly efficient organization operates," and that "the current presidential administration is too focused on special interests to prioritize the country’s urgent needs."
The rest of the discussion – with the exception of Best Buy CEO Brad Anderson’s thoughtfully moderate comments – pretty much went on in that same "we’re not going to name names, but you know who’s screwing our way of life" fashion.
It was suggested that the 2009 economic stimulus plans were not successful because they didn’t drive retail sales as well as the previous administration’s tax rebates had. The proposed Waxman-Markey climate change legislation was panned. China was lauded for investing 80% of their economic stimulus on infrastructure in contrast to the 80% the U.S. spent on "social welfare" programs. Downfall via devilish details and economic demise from inflation was predicted.
After about 20 minutes, people got up and started leaving in droves – both because the hour had grown late and because the angry froth was starting to wear on those in the crowd who generally don’t consider unemployment benefits for peons who aren’t still making seven-figure salaries "social welfare."
My take-away: if these are the type of business people at the top who think they’re going to lead "the American people" out of the gloom and into economic prosperity, I’m afraid us Regular Joe and Jo-ettes are screwed.
It’s not that there wasn’t truth in some of their complaints. It’s not that you don’t go to a business networking event expecting to hear captains of industry defend their turf at the expense of federal leadership that’s been at the helm for all of seven and a half months.
It’s that to say there was no hope on the stage is a tremendous understatement.
"This administration" needs to realize that no matter how hard it tries to be conciliatory, collaborative, and responsive to the needs of some parts of the business community, a lot of big businesses are mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore.
None of them really talked about profits or share. No one talked about people in any sense – not as employees, or as consumers, or even as shareholders – it was just whining and finger-pointing about all that’s wrong with, only our current fiscal, economic, and monetary policy and the political leadership helming it. No innovative suggestions for how to "right this ship."
These are the doldrums, Joe and Jo-ette, and it’s simply no wonder why you don’t give a rat’s ass about Washington D.C.’s impact on the U.S. – or Chicago – economy. Even the people who do care don’t have you in mind.
If three representatives comprise any sort of worthwhile sample at all, then what we can glean is that Big Business is not as interested in making big plans or big money with big ideas as they are in blaming Washington D.C. for all that ultimately ails you.
Ain’t we lucky we got ‘em?
Esther J. Cepeda writes the "600 Words" & "Pregunta del Dia" columns, and is also the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. Her views and reporting do not necessarily reflect those of ISAC. "600 words" is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact eejaycee@600words.com
I have a three-parter for you: first my FOX business channel interview about today's announcement, which aired at 3:40 pm CST. Then the White House's official announcement, and if you keep scrolling, the White House Q & A.
Following Posted at 7:38am Sept 28, 2009
I just got the official word from the White House, folks, President Obama will be travelling to Copenhagen. Here’s the release from the White House, sent out at 7:18am this morning:
President Barack Obama to Travel to Copenhagen
President will join the First Lady to Support Chicago’s Bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games
WASHINGTON – Today, the White House announced that President Barack Obama will travel to Copenhagen, Denmark to support Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games at the 121st International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session. On Friday, October 2nd, IOC members will elect the host city for the 2016 Summer Games.
President Obama will join First Lady Michelle Obama, who will be leading the United States delegation to Copenhagen. Mrs. Obama will arrive in Copenhagen on Wednesday, September 30, along with Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to President Obama and head of the White House Office on Olympic, Paralympic and Youth Sport.
President Obama will depart Washington on the evening of Thursday, October 1 and arrive in Copenhagen on the morning of October 2 local time, just prior to Chicago’s presentation to the voting members of the IOC. He will arrive back in Washington on Friday afternoon.
President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will both make presentations to the IOC during Friday’s session. They will discuss why Chicago is best to host the 2016 Summer Games, and how the United States is eager to bring the world together to celebrate the ideals of the Olympic movement.
While in Denmark, the President and First Lady will meet with Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness, the Prince Consort. President Obama will also meet with Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen.
What does it mean in layman’s terms? The President is coming in to seal the deal after national attention was put on whether this squeaker of a contest would be lost because the U.S. rock star president didn’t show up to schmooze ala Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin.
As late as Sunday night, aroundtherings.com was scoring the U.S. bid at an 82 – one point behind Rio but this political calculus might be changed now that the President’s presence is official.
UPDATE: (Here are portions from today's briefing specifically referencing today's announcement)
September 28, 2009 at 1:39 pm EST
PRESS BRIEFING BY PRESS SECRETARY ROBERT GIBBS
James S. Brady Press Briefing Room
Q Thanks, Robert. Why does the President think a trip to Copenhagen is going to make that much difference? And what does he hope his appearance there will help?
MR. GIBBS: Well, obviously, I think he hopes that he can make a strong case for Chicago and America's bid for the Olympics in 2016. Obviously any Olympics showcases the country that those Olympics are in and there's a tangible economic benefit to those Games being here. And the President wants to help out America's bid.
Q Did he get a hint that an appearance would help America's bid?
MR. GIBBS: Well, I certainly hope that an appearance wouldn't hurt it. But we have gotten no intelligence on it.
Q Robert, what can you tell us about the lobbying effort behind the scenes that the President has already started with the IOC?
MR. GIBBS: Well, I don't know that it's much behind the scenes if you're asking me about it. I think it's -- obviously the President has mentioned this in meetings when we were at the U.N. and at the G20. He's going to continue to talk to people, including in person in Copenhagen, in an effort to bring the 2016 Olympics to the United States.
Q What's his best pitch? What is he telling them?
MR. GIBBS: Well, look, I think, having spent some time in Chicago, I think it is a -- it's a perfect place to hold the Olympics. It is -- it offers a great place for the world to see. It offers all the amenities that one would want in the Olympics. And I think, far and away, it's the strongest bid of the four that are out there.
Q What if he goes and he doesn't get it?
MR. GIBBS: Well, we'll -- you can call Tommy on Saturday -- (laughter.)
Q The President said, I would make the case in Copenhagen-hagen personally if I weren't so firmly committed to making real the promise of quality affordable health care for every American. He sounded pretty clear that 12 days ago he was not going to go. What changed in the meantime? Is it health care that changed? Does it look like it's in better shape, or is it that this is in worse shape?
MR. GIBBS: I think the President believes health care is in better shape. I believe he felt strongly and personally that he should go and make the case for the United States, and that's what he's going to do.
Q And he's not worried about health care, as he seemed to be just 12 days ago, suffering if he went?
MR. GIBBS: I think he believes he can do this and get back in time.
Q Right. I wanted to ask, you know, when you look at the sort of picture here, you have a planeload of, you know, top level officials, the President himself, Mrs. Obama. The risks are obviously huge if he doesn't bring home the Games for Chicago --
MR. GIBBS: Call Tommy. (Laughter.)
Q But to what degree --
MR. GIBBS: I appreciate getting into what happens on Saturday, but I don't even know what I'm going to have for dinner tonight.
Q I understand. Okay, let's go forward then. So what degree is this pre-cooked in any way? Are there any assurances, anything --
MR. GIBBS: I think I looked back and addressed this not long ago.
Q It just seems you folks are too savvy to do this with it being totally up in the air.
MR. GIBBS: I appreciate that. Thank you. (Laughter.)
Q Is the Chicago Host Committee paying any of the costs for President Obama or Mrs. Obama to go to Copenhagen?
MR. GIBBS: I can check but I don't know the answer to that. I assume this is being handled as all presidential travel would be.
Q Are you saying that the reason that he wasn't going to go to Copenhagen and now is, is that health care is in better shape?
MR. GIBBS: Well, no, I don't -- as I understand it, Chip asked me, that was one of the reasons that the President stated --
Q It was the reason.
MR. GIBBS: -- and that while I believe that health care is in a better place, and I think he believes health care is in a better place, he also believes it's important for him to go and personally try to persuade the International Olympic Committee to pick the United States in 2016.
Q I'm just trying to close the logic loop here. (Laughter.) So did anything else change --
MR. GIBBS: I thought I did with Chip, but go ahead.
Q Okay. But did any -- so, are you -- so it's okay for us to infer, then, even though you're not going to say that's the difference between last week and this week?
MR. GIBBS: Well, I acknowledged to Major that -- and I acknowledged to Chip and I think to at least one other -- that I thought health care was -- so we can -- I'll go on background as a senior administration official -- (laughter) -- with intimate knowledge of the press secretary's thinking and say, yes, we think health care is in a better place.
Q And how does he see going to Copenhagen as part of his core mission as President?
MR. GIBBS: Well, I think everybody is proud of the Olympics. I think everybody is proud of the Olympics when they're in their country. It provides a wonderful opportunity to showcase the United States. It's, as I said earlier, a big economic benefit. Surely it's within the purview of the President to root for America, but maybe I'm wrong.
Q Yes, but is there a fear that the delegation that was going was not going to be on par with the heads of state from the other countries going?
MR. GIBBS: No, I've said this many times in the past five years, and I think the President would agree that Michelle and Michelle alone is a powerful presence and will be a powerful voice for the Olympics coming to America. The President simply wanted to lend his voice, too.
Q Then why do you need Oprah going, too? (Laughter.)
MR. GIBBS: Ask the Olympic Committee. (Laughter.)
Q This is all about Tommy. (Laughter.)
MR. GIBBS: Right, Tommy on Saturday. (Laughter.)
Q The First Family's Chicago ties, are they a factor in the decision to have both the First Lady and the President make this trip? And is there a feeling in the administration that it's a proper role for them to make this pitch than, for example, if it had been another city where they didn't have the same kind of long-standing ties?
MR. GIBBS: Well, look, I don't think that there's any doubt that the President is enormously proud of Chicago and would be enormously proud of the city hosting the bid. I think it's somewhat silly if it had been Los Angeles, I think the notion that the President would have done less because it was a different U.S. city just doesn't hold water.
Q But, I mean, I'm just saying did they have, by virtue of being from Chicago do you think that they have maybe a special message that they can carry?
MR. GIBBS: Well, I think there's no doubt. I think you'll hear directly from both the First Lady and the President about what they think the Olympic Games mean and how Chicago hosting those Games fits with what we all believe the Olympics mean.
Q On Copenhagen, is this more official or personal for the President, this trip?
MR. GIBBS: This is official, as the President of the United States representing the bid of the United States to host the 2016 Olympics.
Q So is it more about the United States versus Chicago?
MR. GIBBS: Yes, it's about the American bid which is Chicago.
Q Chicago doesn't have a great record, especially recently, of spending public money. Is the President convinced that there are safeguards in place to make sure that money that goes to the Olympic bid will not be misspent? I mean, the City Council, for instance, has a pretty big oversight role in the way it's been --
MR. GIBBS: And I think obviously the onus is on the city to ensure that whatever money is used is spent wisely and efficiently. The President is going to make the case for the American host city -- for the American city of Chicago, which is the bid that this country put forward -- is going to go advocate in front of the International Olympic Committee for that bid.
Q I just want to make sure, he's sure that the city is up to that task?
MR. GIBBS: Not only is he, but as is the U.S. Olympic Committee that picked Chicago over other cities.
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
There’s really only one good reason to watch a boxing match: ass-kicking.
Face it: you can talk about sportsmanship, you can talk about guts, grit and determination, you can talk about technique. But when it all comes down to it, there are two men in a ring and one of them is going to get his ass kicked.
It’s either going to be your guy, or your guy’s going to pound someone until the bell rings done. The question is, is it going to be quick or protracted and bloody – and is your guy going to be the one still standing?
Diaz came out slow and by round two he’d already been cut on the face. By round four it was a wonder Diaz could even see with all the blood pouring down his broken mug.
Round eight was pure torture for both Diaz and everyone watching – no one expected him to be able to stand up straight for a ninth round but he went in there and Pacquiao just knocked his block off sending him to the mat facedown to lose his world title in a puddle of his own blood. Technical knockout.
It was horrifying…but you had to hand it to him, the guy just would not be kept down and his determination was a beautiful thing to behold.
No one who’s ever seen David Diaz fight doubted for a second that he’d be back and this Saturday September 26 will be his first since losing his belt to Pacquiao. Diaz (34-2-1, 17 knockouts) will face-off against former two-time world champ Jesus Chavez (44-5, 30 KOs) at the UIC Pavilion.
I talked to Diaz last week and led off with the sheer morbid curiosity about how one comes back from a nationally-televised beat-down, a year older and a bum knee later.
"I was down, the ego was shot. I felt it was a moral victory but at the end of it I still lost," the 33-year-old Northsider said. "I felt like I’d let everyone down: my family, my kids…I was really hurt for like two weeks but it was them who got me going."
Amazingly, he hurt his knee from playing on his laptop, sitting cross-legged on his recent best friend, the couch. "I didn’t start training until April of this year because of the excruciating pain and then the surgery," he said, joking that it was his wife who suggested he either get back in the ring or paint the house. Knee pain and all, it was an easy choice.
Diaz says it’s all good and that he’s now in the best physical condition of his career which is, of course, what all aging athletes tell themselves and their fans. "I just think it’s going to come down to conditioning; we’re both the type of guys that don’t back off for one bit," Diaz said of Chavez, a Mexico native who has made his home in Chicago since the age of five.
Either way, there’s absolutely no doubt that it’ll be a hell of a fight to watch – after all, somebody’s going to get his ass kicked and the only question is whether it’ll be quick or bloody. Being a fan, I’m voting for a little of both – but this time with Diaz still standing at the end.
"Long term I want to be champion again and have the city behind me again – when I was a champion it felt so good and so right and I want that again," Diaz said. "Hopefully this is a step towards trying to realize that moment. This Saturday, this is going to be the kind of fight that Chicagoans are going to love."
Tickets are still available: Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.com), the UIC Pavilion Box Office (312-413-5740) and the 8 Count Productions Office (312-226-5800).
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
There really shouldn’t be much suspense here – I heard the man say it plain-as-day during Wednesday’s White House rah-rah for Chicago’s 2016 Olympic bid: "I would make the case in Copenhagen personally, if I weren't so firmly committed to making -- making real the promise of quality, affordable health care for every American." President Obama said. "But the good news is I'm sending a more compelling superstar to represent the city and country we love, and that is our First Lady, Michelle Obama."
"I promise you, we are fired up about this," he said, making it obvious that he needed to make that particular point crystal clear to his audience.
The guy has several no-win situations:
A) He’s a deadbeat for ignoring health care reform and the war in Afghanistan to go schmooze the International Olympic Committee on vote day, October 2, in Copenhagen if Chicago gets it.
B) If instead the bid goes elsewhere, Obama looks like a total loser if he went through all the trouble of going there to kiss the Olympic committee’s ring for naught.
C) He looks bad if he doesn’t go "represent" his fellow Chicagoans and his absence is blamed for a loss.
The only way he looks good is if Chicago gets it without him there, which is not likely according to at least one guy who oughta know, but I’ll come back to that.
I spent almost three full days this week immersed in the minutiae of the 2016 proposal during DePaul University’s 2016 Olympics Specialized Reporting Institute and picked up a bunch of interesting tidbits I’ll just list for your reading enjoyment:
· Charlie Besser, a sport television media specialist, estimates that a U.S. 2016 Olympic games would bring in $400- $500 million more U.S. dollars in sponsorship revenue than a Rio, Madrid or Tokyo games. He said that if you aggregated media rights revenues from all of Europe, it would come out to be about a third of the estimated $2-billion-plus the U.S. summer-winter package would bring in - and he made it clear the IOC knows this.
· Misty Johanson, a Hospitality Leadership professor who was immersed in Atlanta’s 1996 summer games, said their games revitalized downtown Atlanta and had an estimated $5 billion economic impact from over 2 million visitors during the Olympic and Paralympic games. Give the lady her honesty points: she was clear that people were displaced in the process and that all these years later, there are lingering issues over the loss of a key housing project.
· I’ll credit this quote to Rita Athas, the executive director of World Business Chicago, though nearly every expert who addressed the press corps during the conference said exactly the same thing: "No summer games in the United States has ever lost money." Sure, breaking even is a far cry from the $22.5 billion she said the bid expects to bring to Chicago, but still.
· Over at Washington Park, home to the proposed Olympic Stadium, a Bid representative said that although opponents are complaining about the crowds, even the largest estimated number of people clogging the area during the games wouldn’t compare to the number of kiddies, bands, and grannies that choke the place up every year during the annual Bud Billiken Parade.
· Also over in Washington Park, Cecilia Butler, an outspoken neighborhood activist, responded thusly when I told her about all the people who contact me daily to say how pathetic the 2016 Olympics committee’s outreach has been and how dearly they want Chicago to lose the bid: "We’ve had close to 50 meetings here, this has been in the minds of people for a long time. The very fact that we’re here talking is a good thing." Butler said, "And a lot of those people who are against this – they’ve never lived here."
Some thoughts from Richard Pound, a voting member of the International Olympic Committee:
· "One of the problems Chicago has is that not as many [evaluation committee members] have been to Chicago as have been to Madrid, Rio, or Tokyo."
· "Who wins is not necessarily based on which is the best bid, but which has the least risk associated and you don’t want to make a mistake."
· "I don’t think the International Olympic Committee pays attention to opinion polls they figure if the city gets the bid, public opinion will come around. I think that’s a very minor part of it – besides, if you had 98% of the people in Chicago in favor of it, I’d be really worried."
· "It’s very hard to tell [who the favorite is], if you’re in my position you kind of follow the media. There’s not the slightest doubt that Tokyo would put on a good games, that Madrid would build on Barcelona…no one has any doubts Chicago can organize a games. To say they’re all good – that’s a waste of time."
Now, getting back to this Obama business…nearly every single expert was asked about the Obama Factor. And all of them said that hands-down, the President not showing up would certainly not bode well for the bid and his presence could make the big difference.
Mayor Daley had, earlier in the week, said he had a "glimmer of hope" that the President would change his mind and be in Copenhagen for the big day, but chose not to press the President on the South Lawn of the White House Wednesday. He instead expressed gratitude that First Lady Michelle Obama is going.
That’s gotta hurt, but don’t count Obama out yet…those who know him say hope is still alive.
"I’ve been following Obama since he went to Springfield, I know him pretty well, and I think he’s going to go," long time political reporting star Andy Shaw, now Executive Director of the Better Government Association, told us during a breakout session. "He’s going to carry the day – he does some things on gut, he believes in giving things his best shot."
Richard Pound, who himself will be casting a vote, said it loud and clear: "I think it’s pretty important for the President to go to Copenhagen for the vote, if he doesn’t, you’re not maximizing the chances of winning. If you can twist the Presidential arm to go…it could make a huge difference."
If Obama shows up in Copenhagen in October, I don’t think anyone will have to wonder who did the twisting.
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
Not on Twitter? Who can blame you, I’m sick and tired of hearing about it too, but, it’s soooo cool.
For instance, I was privileged to be one of a few journalists selected to attend DePaul University’s College of Communications 2016 Olympics Specialized Reporting Institute (which was generously supported by the McCormick Foundation) from Sunday September 13 to Tuesday September 15.
We had full access to elite Olympians, internationally-recognized Olympics experts, and even a voting member of the International Olympic Committee. (Read the column I wrote about it HERE)
If you had been following me on Twitter @ejc600words , you would have seen tidbits – quotes, pictures, and video – from the conference posted in real time. Those of you who keep up with me on www.600words.com could have seen the updates scrolling up the left hand side of the screen, also in real time.
Even if you aren’t on Twitter, you can check out my Twitter stream at http://www.twitter.com/ejc600words and click on anything you like without even having to join.
But if you’re like Mama Cepeda – who will follow me on Twitter when hell freezes over – I understand, so here’s my Twitter stream for you.
Read from the bottom up (or just know that the whole thing is in backwards chronological order) and don’t forget to click on the photos and videos, they’re fun!
Enjoy!
RT @Brooke22, after hearing IOC's Pound talk about voting process last night I'm less confident but it is 100% up in the air2:01 PM Sep 15th from web
If we don't get the Olympics? Lori Healy says:"The answer to that question is that we're focused only on 2016, it is the right place/time."9:44 AM Sep 15th from TwitterBerry
IOC’s Pound says no one's worried about who will be Chicago's mayor in 2016, "[Daley]'s the mayor now, that's really all that matters".7:13 PM Sep 14th from TwitterBerry
IOC's Pound says IOC not paying attention to local opinion polls of community support. "A very minor part of it."7:10 PM Sep 14th from TwitterBerry
"I think pretty important" for pres Obama to go to Copenhagen for deciding bid...if not, not maximizing chances of winning" says IOC Pound7:05 PM Sep 14th from TwitterBerry
IOC's Dick Pound says picking: "not necessarily which city is the BEST, but which has the least risk? You don't want to make a mistake."6:40 PM Sep 14th from TwitterBerry
Richard Pound, voting member of the Int'l Olympic Comm. tonight, Lori Healy tomorrow am, then documentarian Ken Burns after lunch whew!4:25 PM Sep 14th from TwitterBerry
The answer to #1 question is "no development east of Lake Shore Drive" because they are protected parklands says a 2016 rep.2:12 PM Sep 14th from TwitterBerry
2016 will require development contracts to be awarded 30% for minority/disadvantaged and 10% women - higher than City of Chgo requires1:01 PM Sep 14th from TwitterBerry
Redevelopment RFPs have already been written for M. Reese site: 1 for if we get games and 1 for if we don't12:59 PM Sep 14th from TwitterBerry
One 2016 representative says the Michael Reese facility will very definitely been demolished if Chgo gets the games (as planned)12:54 PM Sep 14th from TwitterBerry
Jimmy DeCastro is sitting across the table from me telling me he has the inside scoop - says we're definitely getting the 2016 Olympics8:43 AM Sep 14th from TwitterBerry
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
Where were you one year ago today, on that mild Sunday when the world seemed to go off its axis? Seems like a long, long time ago, doesn't it?
Had you heard the breathless news about some East Coast fancy pants finance house called Lehman Brothers filing the largest bankruptcy case in the history of the United States -- to the crazy Monopoly money tune of $639 billion?
Though two weeks earlier, the federal government had taken over mortgage giants Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae -- putting about 5 trillion bucks worth of debt onto U.S. taxpayers -- most people hadn't really turned away from the historic presidential race and Madonna's 50th birthday long enough to realize that Wall Street was swirling into the toilet and Main Street was getting sucked down with it.
Giants -- AIG, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Washington Mutual, Wachovia, Countrywide, Bear Stearns -- toppled one after the other like dominoes. The stock market tanked, with the Dow losing a cool 777.7, posting its largest one-day point drop in history -- whoosh!
Then came panic and fear: People scanned the high-rises for suits throwing themselves out of windows to end it all (horribly, some did). Books on the Great Depression were dusted off. Any sort of financial catastrophe seemed entirely possible.
Companies slashed jobs to the bone marrow, houses stopped selling, workers were out on the streets and the Feds talked about trillion-dollar bailout packages. For a while there, it seemed like we'd never see the sun again.
Fast-forward a year:
Last week, Christy Romer of the President's Council of Economic Advisers presented the first official quarterly report on the street-level impact of the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009 and pretty much declared it a success: "1.1 million jobs were added in the 3rd quarter as result of the Recovery Act," Romer chirped on a conference call with reporters.
Twenty-one thousand Oprah fans swarmed the Magnificent Mile to worship her and stimulate the economy along the way. Steve Jobs wooed us all with the new iPod, complete with video camera and radio tuner. Electronics retailers licked their chops about sales of the new Beatles video game.
Are we all better?
"One year ago, there was a real moment of panic, but we realized it was not the end of the world," Adolfo Laurenti, deputy chief economist and managing director of Mesirow Financial, told me. "You see people still buying homes and cars, and going shopping. Maybe not as much as before -- there's more a sense of people knowing they need to have some real money in their pocket before they spend it -- but where they may no longer be buying a McMansion or a gas-guzzling SUV, they're also not walking away from the latest iPhone."
That's certainly the case for some. For others, the worst is yet to come. The nation's unemployment rate climbed to 9.7 percent last month, the highest since 1983.
"Nationally, there's talk of the green shoots of an economic recovery, but we know that in a three-year cycle, the pain of 2009 will prove to have been the easiest," said Terry Mazany, president and chief executive officer of the Chicago Community Trust, which tracks the city's vital signs -- unemployment, food stamp demand, foreclosure rates. "While some of us can indulge in Oprah-mania and think the worst is behind us, really, with state budget cuts that are closing health and human services and shedding workers, and the accumulated impact of it all, we're still in danger of experiencing a lost decade like Japan's in the '90s."
As the entire country works through a return to a "new normal," Mazany suggested, nobody should be dazzled by news stories trumpeting the return of consumption. Rather, he said, we should develop a mind-set of contribution -- to sustain those still very much in danger of a catastrophic financial collapse.
Good advice . . . if only those of us who have been lucky so far can remember those dark, dark days, oh so long ago.
There is nothing wrong with making money. Lots of money. Crazy money.
Take computer products maker HP’s CEO, Mark V. Hurd. His total compensation last year was $42.5 million, after a three-year package that paid out last year, according to BusinessWeek magazine’s story "CEO Pay: Is it Still Out of Sync?"
That same piece started off thusly: "It has been a tough year for the American worker, with unemployment hovering near 10% and cuts in pay or benefits for many of those who still have their jobs" before it told how total compensation for the average CEO at an S&P 500 company declined last year by 7.5%, or $700,000. Yes, none of us will shed a tear over that one.
Let me be clear that I’m not talking about bailout cash for the CEO clunkers who led the big financial firms and then us into the Great Recession – that’s a whole other ball of wax – I’m talking strictly about professionals who do big jobs, like the executive officers of business organizations.
They make a lot of money for doing a lot of hard work. And if you had that kind of responsibility – and the talent or education, leadership, and charisma to do it, and do it well – you could make that kind of money, too. I certainly intend to – all dynamic and ambitious business men and women want to make big, sinful gobs money, and you wouldn’t want to hire one who didn’t.
Yesterday, ace City Hall reporter
Fran Spielman wrote a news storyabout the pay of the people running the Olympics Bid – a team you’d want to assemble hungry super-stars to run, IF you wanted to win the bid, that is.
Spielman noted that Lori Healey, the bid’s president, makes $250,000 a year. And "Chief Bid Officer John Murray ($250,000); Doug Arnot, venue and operations ($250,000); Chief Financial Officer Rick Ludwig ($200,000); and Chief Governance Officer Kevann Cooke ($200,000). Others are Valerie Waller, marketing and communications ($190,000); Cassandra Francis, Olympic Village planning ($175,000); international relations specialist Deb Fiddelke ($150,000) and Patricia Rios, administration ($135,000)."
Folks, I’ve got news for you: by the measure of mid-to-large size corporations, these are not fantastic salaries.
Oh sure, they would be for you and me, but last time I checked, we don’t know how to run the critical operations of a multi-billion dollar international enterprise.
So why is Mayor Daley breaking bad on his boy Pat Ryan’s Chicago Olympic 2016 Bid team’s salaries?
On Tuesday, Mayor Daley was quotedas saying "Some [bid employee salaries] are unacceptable. You know that. But like anything else, they were put together with private money. They compete [with] the private sector."
Unacceptable? C’mon. The Olympics is a business, and you need good, expensive business people to run it if you want them run right because in business, you get what you pay for.
Well, yeah, if you’re Da Mayer you can get along with a paltry $215,950in exchange for having all the clout in the world, but the rest of us mortgage our entire existences on life-long student loans and hope for the best.
It’s not like complaining about salary inequities is anything new under the sun – just for the record an eighth-year CPS teacher makes about 60 to 80 grand, compared to the Cubs’ Carlos Zambrano who makes $18,750,000 on his eight years of MLB experience –but that’s beside my point.
For a guy who would, by my reckoning, chop off his own left arm to land the 2016 Olympics, – "I just want to win. . . . This is very important in regards to jobs, economic development. This has a lot of vision in it," Daley said, according to Spielman’s story – it seems bad form to complain about the pay of the privately financed people who are toiling to make it happen.
I’m not weighing in on whether the Olympics are or are not "good for Chicago," but by my account, if we’re in this thing – and in it to win – Da Mayer out to just be grateful there’s a professional team in place willing to work for pennies on the corporate dollar to bring the bid home.
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
Friday August 21 this episode of Chicago Tonight week in review aired. The host, Joel Weisman, plus me, Bruce Dold and David Greising of the Chicago Tribune, and Mike North, Comcast SportsNet talked about politicians stumping at the state fair; Chicago’s Uptown area: the latest neighborhood grappling with rising violence; Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr.'s a town hall meeting on health care; Chicago learning its Olympic fate in just six weeks; Bears quarterback Jay Cutler hoping to rebound from his dismal pre-season debut; and the Cubs struggling down the stretch.
Watch for priceless on-camera cell-phone call in the last segment, it was a fun show to tape!
Their embed function seems to not be working for me so follow this link:
There was no "me and Bob Novak" per se, it’s not like we’d walk out of the ChicagoSun-Times building together – back when it wasn’t the basement of the Trump Tower – and head over to the Billy Goat for a cold one after deadline had past and the paper was most of the way put to bed for the night.
No, Bob Novak was my frequent companion as I grew up in Wrigleyville in the eighties, a weirdo kid who was always read nearly every word of the paper and whose bedroom wall was a mosaic of cutout columns and pictures from the Sun-Times.
So Novak, the "pugnacious political columnist" as today’s New York Timescalled him, has been with me every step of the way even though he didn’t know it.
Keep in mind that I really was a weirdo kid: the kind who, as young as 10, looked forward to getting up early on Sunday mornings to flip around all the channels and catch pieces of all the political talk shows where staid white men raised their voices at each other about important people and things.
During the week, through his column, Novak whispered in my ear about who these people were and what the important issues they were talking about meant.
Novak taught me – a child of immigrant parents who spoke only Spanish at home – how to construct a sentence, how to turn a phrase, how to use a big word when necessary and stick to the smaller ones to make important points.
Through the TV Novak taught me how to be cool in front of the camera, how to wither a sparring partner with a well-informed-glare, and smile honestly when it was all over.
Novak taught me – and the country – that there is great power in sashaying behind closed doors, digging for the truth, and then getting it out there in the paper, on the TV, on the radio, in magazines, in books, and on the internet.
Novak became a star by letting the story – and the reporting – be the star of his work, he taught me that too.
My colleague at the paper, Lynn Sweet, in her remembrance today, quoted Jim Walton, the president of CNN Worldwide talking about what a treasure Novak was.
What better way to honor the passing of this giant than to pledge that in Novak’s passing I, too, will strive to be "a journalist of the old school, hardworking, practical, and passionate about our profession."
If I can have a tiny fraction of impact on a young journalist that Robert Novak had on me, I’ll consider it a job well done.
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 few weeks ago, the City of Chicago released a report titled "Digital Excellence in Chicago: A City-Wide View." It enumerated -- among other sky-is-falling statistics -- that African Americans in Chicago were 6 percent less likely to use the Internet than whites, called out Spanish-speaking residents as being the rarest users, and topped the entire thing off with: "Latinos as a whole stand out as the least-connected residents."
My immediate thought -- after hitting the roof -- was this: That report may well be true, as far as it goes, but it leaves a dangerous impression that Hispanics in Chicago -- and by implication all across the country -- are digitally clueless. But, in fact, also true is that though they lag behind whites, a big percentage of Hispanics are online -- and more wade into the Web every day, at a faster rate than any other group.
Plus, when Hispanics go online, surf's up.
In a recent report called "The Power of the Hispanic Consumer On-line," Scarborough Research says that a majority -- 54 percent -- of Hispanic adults were online way back in 2007 and that number was growing by about 13 percent a year -- so you know the percentage is considerably higher by now.
Then I remembered that in late March, Chicago-based research firm Mintel released results from a survey showing that Hispanics who are online are more likely to have profiles on social networking sites than non-Hispanics -- 48 percent of them have one compared with 43 percent of black Americans and 31 percent of whites. Other findings from that survey suggested that Latinos online adopt new media technology more quickly than non-Latinos, spend far more time than non-Latinos listening to Internet radio and downloading music and devote more time weekly to surfing, playing multiplayer games and blogging or commenting online.
Just last April, comScore Inc. released numbers that showed 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. Those Hispanic online visitors -- 20.3 million just in the month of February -- made up 11 percent of the total U.S. online population.
But a few statistics don't tell the whole story. So I blew in some calls to people in the trenches with the young, old, black, white, brown, underemployed and out of work to get their take on things.
Phillip Jackson, executive director of the Black Star Project, an organization that promotes better education in minority Chicago communities, was surprised by the Chicago study, too.
"From my perspective, there is absolutely a divide but mostly among middle-aged and older people," he said. "The younger people realize you have to be connected digitally to even exist anymore and they understand many businesses only accept resumes and applications over the Internet."
Alvaro Obregon, new communities program director for the Resurrection Project, said: "Yes, there are issues with access, but if you look out there you'll see young children doing the texting, they've got their mySpace, and this is forcing parents to say: 'I want to know what my kids know' and they're getting out there and learning it."
Catherine Zurybida, a coordinator at the Odyssey Project, which offers free humanities college classes to low-income students, immediately articulated my gut reaction:
"If that assumption was made by employers, they might conclude that a white candidate has better ordinary, everyday computer skills than a minority," she said. "I would say that's certainly not true, and it's a very destructive stereotype."
Exactly! The easy-headline-grabbing reports are not necessarily inaccurate, but they don't tell the whole story and have a way of getting stuck in people's minds to form limiting stereotypes. But now you know better.
So, clip and save my stats, too. And never let anyone's numbers keep you from knowing that if we really want to talk to each other, technological barriers can be overcome.
In all the years I’ve been attending the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s annual Business Expo breakfast I’d never noticed it, but about five minutes into the remarks I started keeping score of each speaker’s use of the Spanish language.
Last week’s event started off with ABC7’s John Garcia light-heartedly making fun of his own tortured language skills – "if Spanish is my second language then it’s a distant, distant second" – an especially funny observation given that there wasn’t a soul present that needed any translation. I’d say about 25% of the well-heeled crowd was extremely Caucasian, with the rest representing the cream of the second-generation Hispanic business crop.
I’ll tell you who made me sit up and pay attention: Illinois State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias who – somehow – graciously managed not to drop a certain Hyde Park basketball-playing VIP’s name.
"Good morning to all of you and thank you for inviting me to speak to you this morning…the Latino communities, businesses and buying power is growing faster than in any other group in the United States and your contribution to the international market is indispensible," the candidate for U.S. Senate said. "When I came to your membership meeting in April, I promised to stay in contact with you and make issues affecting the Latino community a top priority."
Boilerplate, sure, but why was nearly everyone on the very edge of their seat?
It was delivered in nearly flawless Spanish, and some of those words were hard!
And so it went as I started keeping score of who – of Chicago’s who’s who (which included Governor Pat Quinn, Hizzoner Da Mayer Daley, Congressman Luis Gutierrez, and County Board President Todd Stroger) – was at the Chamber breakfast to pay their respects to the hot Hispanic businessmen and women of our town. And, who did so in Spanish.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about all English everywhere all the time, but I have to admit, I LOVE it when non-Latinos speak "my language."
No – I’m not a fan of pandering for pandering’s sake – but there’s just something about someone addressing you with words they’re unfamiliar and maybe a little uncomfortable with. It shows not only a level of respect, but of warmth.
For instance, Ellen Costello, President and CEO of Harris Financial Group – who’s just as white as white can be, god bless her – got up in front of us and said, "Good morning and thank you for coming" in that halting way where you just knew she was nervous and unsure but, by golly, she did it. I found myself silently cheering her on with each word and being honestly proud of her – and impressed – when she finally got through it.
And there’s the flip-side: sticking with the English because you don’t have to prove yourself. Governor Pat Quinn and Mayor Daley may not have ventured into rolling-R territory but they really said it all about the nature of their respect for the Latino Business community by just being there.
Congressman Luis Gutierrez was all over the map – he spoke Borriquen, English, Spanish, and Spanglish (almost too much considering the crowd). For a minute there I thought he was going to break out the Urdu, but that’s just Luis.
Interesting aside
: Gutierrez made some very clear remarks about the possibility of a Hispanic being elected as the next Governor of the great state of Illinois, adding: "A Rodriguez, Gonzalez or Martinez will become governor and that day is coming in Illinois." Foreshadowing? They were all names ending in "ez." Hmmmmm…
Final interesting observation about language and of walking the fine line of pandering to and pitching your audience: Of all the luminous speakers addressing all the Hispanic who’s who, not a single one of them acknowledged the historic nomination of (now) Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, or gave a rah-rah about the 2016 Olympic bid. How weird is that?
Just goes to show that some things can get lost in translation even when they’re unspoken.
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
Neil, I just read your Sunday article and could not disagree with you more," writes Tony Megaro, of Chicago. "The main point that the media and the White House don't get is this: The American people do not want to pay for the health care of illegal aliens. . . . Look, if Obama and Pelosi are hell-bent on giving every person free health care, they should change a few laws. The most important should be if you are in this country illegally and have a child, that child is not automatically a U.S. citizen. These immigrants who come into this country know this loophole and have been abusing it for decades."
Three of my four grandparents were born in Eastern Europe, and came to this country to escape the rigors of their homelands.
Thus, I instinctively oppose the contempt with which some greet our current wave of immigrants from Mexico and Latin America as the cowardice and hypocrisy it is.
Occasionally, I try to bang a few pans together on this subject, to point out that we have 12 million undocumented Hispanics living in this country in near serfdom, and the only solution is to put them on the path to citizenship, as we have always done in the past.
But the bottom line is, I'm not Hispanic, I don't speak Spanish and my ability to understand and comment upon Chicago's Latino community is limited. That's why I'm especially happy that my colleague, Esther J. Cepeda, is rejoining the paper today, in the commentary section, as a regular columnist. It takes a lot of personality, curiosity, spunk and confidence to fill an empty space, and Esther has got it, big time, and is an expert in an area that is only going to grow in importance. Welcome back."
Now that I'm "back," I'll be providing opinion journalism, thought leadership, conscientious objection, Succulent Prose, Brilliant Analysis, and more...just like I do here on www.600words.com, where I'll continue to write regularly.
Basically, thanks to the leadership at the Chicago Sun-Times I'll be continuing in my mission to change the face of English-language mainstream American media to more adequately reflect the current and future U.S. population which every day becomes more Hispanic.
I'll do my very best to inform, educate, entertain, and inspire you while I'm at it.
Esther J. Cepeda writes the "600 Words" & "Pregunta del Dia" columns, and is also the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. Her views and reporting do not necessarily reflect those of ISAC. "600 words" is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact eejaycee@600words.com
I am a geek, a closet demographer, and a sucker for statistical analysis. I’ve accepted this and those who dare engage me in conversation know enough to nod politely when I go all Cliff Claven on them – they understand I must eventually come up for air.
So when I got the press release from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF) about kicking off their campaign to educate the Latino community about the upcoming 2010 Census – and how critical it is for everyone to be fully counted – I was…giddy.
The Census really doesn’t get its due; I’ve actually heard people wonder aloud why the government even does it!
Every ten years the U.S. does
a Constitutionally mandated head countwhich is used not only to allocate Congressional seats and electoral votes, but also provides me and other journalists with endlessly fascinating information about who lives where, what they do, and how that’s different from a decade ago.
Oh, and it means cold, hard cash.
As New York Times reporter Peter Baker said in his February "Washington Memo: Big Drama over who controls the U.S. Census", new Census counts will "shift billions upon billions of federal dollars over the next decade from some parts of the country to others because of population-driven financing formulas."
The trick is to make the Census count as absolutely accurate as possible so that every community gets an exactly proportional piece of that federal-dollars-pie based on how many people actually live in it.
"Educational services, social services, and transportation services – just to name a few – are all based on these Census numbers," Elisa Alfonso, MALDEF’s Regional Census Director told me this morning. "What people don’t know is that for every completed census form returned, their community gains about $1,000 in funding for services that will directly impact their quality of life."
Now, I don’t want to underplay the significance of MALDEF’s task – reaching into Hispanic communities across the Midwest, selling people challenged by Census ignorance, fear of feds, and limited English proficiency is gargantuan.
But though getting such a diverse group of people educated and fully engaged in this decennial ritual will be a toughie, the real story – to me – is just how much easier it will be this time around than in years past.
"Yes, in many ways this is a hard-to-reach community," Alfonso said, "there is general fear from the harsh illegal-immigration enforcement of the undocumented and there are language barriers but there is one difference: in past years there wasn’t a unity in communities.
The immigration marches changed that dynamic so much – people got together, they organized, they helped each other to mobilize and created momentum. Now we can capitalize on that energy. We marched, then we voted, now our task is to be counted."
It never occurred to me that an unintended consequence of the national war on illegal immigration would be that a historically fractured community would come together as a cohesive group that could enact change for itself.
"We have so many different organizations that are coming together to expand our reach," Alfonso said. "Sure there isn’t a perfect unity, but there is a feeling of banding together and they are operating with a higher level of organization and much more savvy than ever before."
That said, because it will be a challenge, MALDEF is starting to get the word out now, but ahhhhhhhhhh the fruits of their labor will be so, so sweet.
More people responding to the Census means adequately-funded school lunch programs, hospitals, and expressways. It means more data for marketers to use to sell you cool stuff you don’t really need but will make you happy, and for me?
It means more numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers…
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
At approximately noon Monday I got so angry I sent out this Tweet:
"Note to the world: as lovely as it is, ALL of Chicago's Hispanics DO NOT live in Pilsen!"
Not five minutes after that, my Blackberry started going crazy - my Tweet had hit a nerve.
Let me back up a minute, though – without naming names or unnecessarily embarrassing anyone – this is what happened: I got a call from a magazine photographer who wanted to take a picture of me to accompany an upcoming article.
I gave my office location – in Chicago’s Loop – and was asked about my home address. Dissatisfied with my answer, the photographer just flat-out asked me if I could travel to Pilsen so I could take a picture in a place this person perceived as a more proper setting for a Hispanic.
Summoning every bit of my self-control, I politely – for about the five-thousandth time in my young life – explained how wrong, wrong, WRONG that is!!!
Now stop right there for a moment, don’t you get me wrong: nothing wrong with Pilsen, per se. It’s a fine, storied place where school buses of white suburban children are taken by their well-meaning Caucasian Spanish teachers on field trips to see the real-live "Lah-tee-nose" making tortillas and selling piñatas.
Pilsen has its charms and all (I have an excellent curandera whose botanica is on Cermak Road), but I’ve never lived there, gone to school there or spent much time there, LIKE THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY of the approximately 800,000 Chicago Latinos who call the city limits home, or the other million or so Chicago metro region Hispanics!
Yet, I cannot tell you how many non-Hispanics have assumed I was from Pilsen (nyet – Wrigleyville, back before it was Yuppie Town) or otherwise refer to Pilsen as the be-all and end-all heart of the Latino community in Chicago. I think not!
I certainly spent way more time in Little Village, and others said the same about Humboldt Park and Albany Park. This post from "memo-92" on www.city-data.com pegged it concisely:
"The days of Pilsen being THE Mexican neighborhood in the city are long gone. 26th street eclipsed 18th street 30 years ago, and you will find countless ‘Little Mexicos’ scattered all over the metro area, including far-flung suburbs like Elgin and Aurora.
Pilsen remains important as a cultural center and for historic reasons, but at this point it is more attractive to immigrants from the suburbs and UIC [students] – who tend see it as cool, funky, cheap, and close by – than it is to immigrants from Mexico, who tend to see it as not all that cheap, crowded and dirty."
Turning back to my nerve-hitting Tweet, I immediately got messages from my Facebook pals:
Gabriel Garcia commented: "I live in Lincoln Park!"
Veronica Arreola commented: "West Rogers Park representing!"
Charles A Serrano commented: "They also live in one of the four sections of Humboldt Park... And a few in South Chicago – duh!"
Ed Mlakar commented: "some live in Brighton Park"
Gerardo Cardenas commented: "And don't forget the Oak Park Latinos ... the few... the proud..."
David Diego Rodriguez commented: "I'm in Beverly. And a lot of them live in Mt. Greenwood."
Roberto Sepulveda commented: "This reminds me of when my sister was asked to share her experiences of the 'barrio.' Her high school English teacher assumed [this]. We lived in Berkeley, IL at the time."
Ricardo Serrano commented: "Like it or not, we also live in condos Downtown! (you don't have to be Oprah or Gates to afford one) Latinos can own one too :)"
Perhaps the one I liked best, courtesy of Veronica Tapia, says it all:
"Batavia, Lincoln Park, Bucktown, the Gold Coast... we are everywhere, aren't we??? lol!"
Yes we are – and don’t any of you non-Hispanic readers forget it J
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
"StreetWise, StreetWise, getcher StreetWise right here!"
If I’d heard it once, I’d heard it a million times. But never before like this.
In the sixteen years that StreetWise has been around, helping people "help themselves to self-sufficiency through gainful employment," its street sellers have historically been mostly African-American men on their way to rebuilding lives strained under the weight of poverty and homelessness.
Not anymore.
A lot has changed in the last year. The StreetWise newspaper is now a glossy magazine, the roiling U.S. economy has forced middle class workers to nearly unprecedented levels of unemployment and underemployment, and population demographic shifts are literally hitting the streets.
Which is how I came to hear the familiar "StreetWise" call daintily belted out by an otherwise quiet, diminutive Hispanic woman on my daily morning walk.
Meet Germania Toala, one of the next generation of venerated StreetWise vendors: multi-ethnic men and women with a roof over their heads but barely making ends meet in a rough labor market.
On June 24, 2009 – tired of fruitlessly searching for a job as a seamstress after having been laid off from a t-shirt factory a year earlier – Germania woke before dawn to travel from her Little Village apartment to the StreetWise distribution center at 5:50 am to pick up her first-ever stack of magazines. By 6:15am, she was at the corner of Washington and Wells Streets in Chicago’s Loop.
That morning she was, as far as she could tell, the only Latina – and one of a growing handful of non-African-Americans – gearing up for a day of selling the four-color magazine which features original reporting and a helping hand for the vendors who rely on it to make ends meet.
"When I first started, people would look at me sideways like I was strange," Germania told me Wednesday as we drank a cup of coffee to celebrate her one-month mark as a StreetWise vendor. "I even had a police officer come and buy a magazine and give me a weird look. I thought to myself ‘Sweet Lord, is this prohibited here?’
"But I asked Arturo, the seller who got me into this job, and he told me ‘Don’t you worry, as long as you have your permit around your neck, you’ll be fine.’ And I was," Germania said.
I called Greg Pritchett, Director of Distribution and Vendor Services – himself a retired vendor and longtime employee – to ask about my observation that the StreetWise corps of vendors was changing with the times and he was shocked someone noticed.
"It’s been our mission to change the stereotypes of StreetWise vendors all being homeless black men," Pritchett told me. "We are here to provide a hand-up, not a hand-out to anyone who is finding themselves out of a job, or have had their hours reduced, or who just need an opportunity to get themselves on their feet through honest, hard work."
Pritchett said that skyrocketing unemployment levels have brought new faces – Caucasian males, females, Hispanics – to StreetWise, a non-profit organization.
Now sporting 197 vendors, Pritchett says 8 are Hispanic (and StreetWise is looking to expand into more Latino neighborhoods and grow the Hispanic audience), and African-Americans now make up approximately 80% of the force. The number of women is slowly growing – now up to 35% – and the number of vendors who are homeless has dropped to about 25-30%.
The format change to a weekly magazine last November bought with it the opportunity to impress the vendor corps with a different ethic of business acumen and professionalism.
"The vendors have always gotten trained and mentored in our code of conduct before they get their permanent badges," Pritchett said, "they’re made to understand that this is a job, not a hustle."
The vendors pay 75 cents, sell the magazine for $2 and keep the profit. "With that I tell them to get on their feet and then not be afraid to spend some of the money they earned on their appearance – we teach them to sell the magazine, not the homelessness," Pritchett said.
Indeed, as early as spring I noticed StreetWise vendors in suits, ties, and dress shoes. "They learn respect for themselves, how to service the customer better, and how to increase profits. They learn to treat it like a business and there’s a sense of pride."
Pritchett told me a vendor can make $35 on a slow day, $65 on an average day and up to $120 on a good day.
In her four weeks Germania, who hasn’t missed a day, has only gotten up to $40 daily (Pritchett gushed "this lady is doing great!"), but, having been a clothes-seller on the streets of her native Guayaquil, Ecuador, she’s confident because she knows it takes time to build up that core base of regular customers.
"I feel really good about it, and my sons are so happy I’m no longer anxious about being without a job," Germania told me, smiling shyly. "It’s only been four weeks but the customers are starting to recognize me. Everyday someone says ‘good morning,’ or ‘have a nice day.’ Some of them looked on my badge and call me by my name now. I’ve even gotten some alteration jobs on ladies clothes because some have stopped to ask me what I used to do."
The question is, will Germania build her following and – even more importantly – make it through the oppressively hot, humid days that are sure to come, then subsist in the arctic winter?
"I’m going to stick with it," she said confidently, "I’m putting my all into this – and I’m not sure how it’ll be in the cold, but I’ll do it."
If you know someone who might benefit from the StreetWise opportunity, email Greg Pritchett at
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 us, for just a moment, remember back to oh, let’s say, the year 1980.
The U.S. boycotted the summer Olympics, Jimmy Carter bailed out the Chrysler corporation, Mt. St. Helens erupted in Washington state, and Bruce Springsteen’s latest hit "Hungry Heart" was playing on seemingly every radio across the country.
Some might remember these as "the good old days" when things were as easy as, well, black and white.
Yes, back then the number of people who identified themselves as Hispanic to the U.S. Census was 14.5 million, about 6.5% of the population as compared to African-Americans who in that same year numbered 26.5 million and were 11.7% of the U.S. population.
By 1988, however, Hispanics had multiplied by more than one-third since the 1980 census, growing nearly five times faster than the rest of the population, clocking in at about 19.4 million Americans of Hispanic background, representing 8.1% of the population.
The most recent numbers show the U.S. African American population at 14% and Hispanic at 15%.
My point?
It is the year 2009, folks, there is absolutely no reason why the National Center for Education Statistics should be releasing a report about a Black/White achievement gap for U.S. school children to the exclusion of Hispanic students, not to mention Asian and many other ethnicities.
And no reason why newspapers and television and radio stations across the country should be reporting on this admittedly sad state of affairs (see Illinois numbers here) while excluding the context of every other struggling kid in the U.S. – be they poor and white, from a foreign country, or Latino.
I could point out that it has been widely reported for about two years now that by 2050 Hispanics will be 30% of the U.S. population and African Americans 15% and argue for a special report highlighting Hispanics.
But that would be silly – you can already easily find such reports (Google it). But just try getting the mainstream media to put those in the headlines and I’ll personally bake you a dozen chocolate chip cookies.
There is no need to harp on the fact that, despite the very real challenges and biases African American students face in our abominable school system every day, there are now approximately 10 million Hispanic students in the nation's public kindergartens and its elementary and high schools, making up about one-in-five public school students in the United States.
Rather, it is high time to put the race and ethnicity issue – as it relates to student success in this country – in a coffin and bury it forever.
Any intelligent argument about success factors for U.S. children must center around familial wealth (lack thereof, actually) and kids’ access to decent schools, learning materials, and teachers – regardless of skin color.
U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan released a statement Tuesday in which he said: "This report makes clear that … when schools serving children of color are primarily staffed by less experienced, less effective teachers, the effects are tragic."
He is wrong because the part about less effective teachers is a true statement for every child, even poor white or Asian ones.
And that’s how we need to look at this problem if we have any hope of fixing it. Enough of trying to overhaul our education system while looking at the issue through the prism of a black/brown/white/blue-eyed/brown-eyed divide.
We are almost a full decade into the new millennium. No one child is more valuable than any other and, certainly, none of them deserve to be more or less valued in the academic research we’ll need for building a first-class educational system for the next thousand years of this nation’s history.
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’s see…it’s been a whopping 22 months since my favorite cyclist, Isai Madriz, mounted his rickety bicycle –the one with the picture of his girlfriend Danielle taped to it – to pedal from the ‘burbs of Chicago to Argentina and back up to Venezuela to raise money for low-income students to go to college.
I’ve written about him several times (read the September post on him here, and the most recent post from March here), chronicling his amazing adventures as he rides 22,500 miles from Montgomery, IL, a tiny ‘burb outside Aurora, to Tierra del Fuego (''Land of Fire'') at the southernmost tip of Argentina, then up to Caracas, Venezuela.
Why in the world would anybody do that? He’s doing it because after struggling to pay tuition and board at Humboldt State University in California, he wanted to make it easier on other young Latino students pursuing their college degree. So he decided to make the bike trip to raise funds for college-bound low-income Hispanic students.
On this incredibly long journey he’s been chased by dogs, broken several bones, been bitten by truly horrifying bugs, and fought off several debilitating viruses.
He crossed into South America August 11, 2008 and was in Colombia in early September. In February of 2009 he crossed into Argentina and just this week he sent me a note from Buenos Aires.
"During these last three months I’ve been a volunteer at the Patagonia Nature Foundation," Isai wrote in Spanish. "During my stay I’ve [helped] rehabilitate vulture, liberated a small, hairy armadillo, and served only the best lettuce leaves and roots to a very discriminating turtle."
"In mid-May I met a new friend, Adrian Marino, an Argentinian from the Silver City – who I met, ironically, one morning out on a deserted road back in January when he, too, was riding his bike. We hooked up and he introduced me to an engineering student named Javier Grange who let us use his garage to make a contraption to ride the rails."
Apparently, the boys designed, built, ripped apart, and rebuilt this two-bike frame five times before they got it to work on the rails serviceably, though screechily, but the friction on the rails made for too many sparks and they shortly abandoned the contraption for just regular biking (folks, I am NOT making this stuff up!).
Not to be discouraged, Isai and his travelling companion decided to try again.
"Right now we are preparing to continue our journey anew and we have constructed a new and improved apparatus for riding the rail so we can traverse the next 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles) to Bolivia by rail," he gushed in his note. "I will keep you abreast of what happens."
No mention of how his fundraising efforts for the low-income college students are going, but in his earnest and self-effacing dispatches he seems to be having so much darned fun I just don’t have the heart to ask what I already know: you can’t squeeze blood from a stone – folks in South America are even poorer than "starving" college kids in Illinois.
But that’s where you come in!
As Isai continues on his way I’ll keep sharing his stories with you. If you’d like to help him help poor college kids you can send donations – which will go to the education fund, not to Isai’s travel expenses – to: Jesus Guadalupe Foundation, 902 S. Randall Road, Suite C-322, St. Charles, IL 60174. Write "For Isai" on the check.
Esther J. Cepeda writes the "600 Words" & "Pregunta del Dia" columns, and is also the Chief Marketing and Communications Officer for the Illinois Student Assistance Commission. Her views and reporting do not necessarily reflect those of ISAC. "600 words" is a registered trademark of EeJayCee, Inc., Copyright 2008. May be reprinted with permission, contact eejaycee@600words.com
Long story short: nearly every time there’s any sort of Who’s Who/Mover-Shaker/One-to-Watch list in “mainstream” publications there are few, if any, Hispanics on it despite there being a ton of awesome Latinos doing truly amazing things here in Chicago.
So, in order to help blunt this perceived shortage of Latino superstars I decided to start one.
I asked for nominations, got about 120, threw out the “usual suspects” – like elected officials and already well-publicized business and community leaders – narrowed the field to get a diverse group of immigrants, U.S.-born, younger, older, community, and business types, then did one-on-one interviews.
At the conclusion, I found five men and five women all dedicating their personal and professional excellence to making Chicago, Illinois, the U.S. – and sometimes the world – a better place.
Let me say it again: these people are not merely engaged in the noble task of empowering the Hispanic community, they have their sights set on making life better for blacks, whites, multi-ethnics, rurals, suburbans, urbans, immigrants, U.S.-born, and everyone in between.
And, yeah, these rock stars just happen to be Hispanic.
Please join me in getting your inspiration on as you read the stories of the ten incredible people who comprise the first annual “Chicago Latino List.”
A bilingual Funeral Director and embalmer, reformed gang member and volunteer gang intervention specialist, Rodriguez shows children and teens the grisly ravages of drugs, alcohol and the gang culture. She also talks to communities, affluent and needy alike, about how to reach out to kids they might not even think are at risk. Through her work, she has single-handedly saved the lives of hundreds of Chicago children.
A single mother and professional living with a traumatic brain injury after a brutally violent crime, La Boy was told by her doctors she’d never be able to care for herself – much less go to college or have a career. Today she works at the Lake County Housing Authority as a bilingual assistant property manager connecting families to clean, safe living conditions and teaching them how to be responsible homeowners. A living miracle, she’s an award winning advocate and authentic voice for people living with disabilities.
Martinez walked away from a successful dream career in sports marketing to become one of a very few Latinos in the field of professional fundraising. As Assistant Director of Development with the Chicago Community Trust, Martinez raises money to serve the basic human needs of the entire Chicago metropolitan region by supporting vitally-necessary community-based non-profit organizations.
An accountant by trade and lifelong community activist by heart, Viramontes dedicates his time to major issues including predatory lending, housing parity, rights for visual artists, and immigration. On an eternal quest for social justice, he’s devoted to improving the quality of life in Chicago neighborhoods and empowering struggling artists nationally by being a community presence and passionate spokesperson.
A tenured University Professor at Northeastern Illinois University, author, esteemed community leader, and forerunning advocate for Latino educational leaders, Gil-Garcia is a three time Fulbright scholar and an internationally acclaimed professional.Gil-Garcia, a published author, works tirelessly for a variety of community organizations and devotes most of her passion to ensuring the Chicago Public School system is a nationally-recognized leader in employing school administration leaders who accurately represent the diversity of their student communities.
A Policy Coordinator with Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, Oliva is a driving force behind the legislative push to earn restaurant workers such common benefits as paid time off and job opportunity training. As the voice of both affluent teens working summer food service jobs and adults who support families with their back-of-house restaurant jobs, Oliva labors to fight poverty, racism and sexism while mobilizing local worker organizations. He not only teaches these groups how to become active and engaged in the federal political process, but he represents them in Washington, DC, as well.
As Assistant Director for the UIC Center for Research on Women and Gender and the Director of Women in Science and Engineering Program, Arreola is a dedicated advocate for women’s rights, helping them maneuver professions that even today are still dominated by men. As a mother, accomplished blogger, and activist for women’s reproductive rights, she has won numerous awards for her work and is dedicated to helping women and girls advocate for themselves in Chicago and around the country.
The Chief Operating Officer of the Illinois Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Cornelio – a former top executive at Fortune 500 companies – works to raise the funds, nurture the relationships and promote the programs that drive Hispanic business growth and foster the next generation of Hispanic business and business leaders. His work makes it possible for the Latino community’s instinct for entrepreneurship to thrive and, in turn, deliver jobs and opportunities to contribute to the overall economic development and job creation in Chicago and across Illinois communities.
Attorney and dedicated special education advocate, Aguilar – mother to a son with Autism – works to protect the educational rights of children with disabilities. One of only approximately 15 lawyers specializing in the rights of students with special education needs, she campaigns for State and Federal law reform to help families’ secure medical, educational and recreational opportunities for their special needs children. Better still, she trains the next generation of attorneys who will serve the hundreds of thousands of Illinois children with disabilities.
A former Pilsen/Little Village caseworker, recent college graduate and eternal optimist, Montez has just committed the next two years of his life to the Illinois Student Assistance Corps. After a seven-week training camp, he’s moving to Rockford to teach high school students how to prepare for, apply to and pay for college. Inspired most by those who avoid controversy and succeed despite adversity, his mission is to connect with high school students who will be the first in their family to go beyond a HS diploma, and teach them how to build enough social capital to get themselves into and through the rigors of college.
“Chicago Latino List 2009” was generously sponsored by the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Chicago White Sox, and Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Restaurants. All nominees were independently nominated for this recognition; their rejection and/or selection to “Chicago Latino List 2009” was not, in any way, influenced by any disclosed or undisclosed personal or professional proximity to Esther J. Cepeda or to any sponsor of “Chicago Latino List 2009”.
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
What Jose Oliva wants you to know is simple. It has to do with the people who cook your food, serve your food, and bus your tables at your favorite restaurant.
These fine people who nourish and cater to your dining needs – whether they be teenage girls from Wilmette, middle-aged immigrants from El Salvador, or your next door neighbor whose husband left her to fend for herself and her kids – these fine people have it rough.
Like a $2.13 Federal minimum wage for servers who make tips, rough.
Like no basic job benefits such as “paid time off,” rough.
And folks – even for the people who are just thankful to even have a job in this economy, that’s pretty damned rough.
“Most people think that all restaurant workers make the well-known federal minimum wage and have sick and personal days, but they definitely don’t,” Oliva told me. “They have the Federal Family Medical Leave Act, which is extended un-paid time off, but if the President says ‘stay home if you don’t feel well’ in response to a Swine Flu epidemic, well, that’s just not an option.”
A Guatemala native who immigrated to the U.S. at the age of 13, Oliva is working on two major pieces of legislation, the Healthy Families Act, which would require businesses with 15 or more employees to provide up to seven days of paid sick leave each year. And an increase in the Federal tipped minimum wage of $2.13 (Illinois’ is a more robust $4.65, but still).
“It’s been 18 years since this dollar amount was set and the real egregious part of it is that this group has been literally singled out,” Oliva said. “It just doesn’t make any sense, there’s no reason for it to stay the same for almost 20 years.”
And it’s a pretty big group. Oliva says Chicago has the second largest number of restaurant workers in the country, over 250,000 (only Los Angeles has more) and, of course, one of the largest Latino immigrant communities in the country. “However, neither have direct, full and democratic representation in the economic and political life of our country,” Oliva says.
“The influence of the National Restaurant Association as a lobby, for instance, is about the 17th most influential in Congress (according to Forbes Magazine). Meanwhile restaurant workers have no one to speak to their issues and advocate on their behalf. This holds special weight when you factor in that most restaurant workers are immigrants in Chicago and that immigrants have a similar handicap in as far as voice in DC is concerned.”
Well, those particular restaurant workers have Jose Oliva. And he’s doing two things:
1) He’s working on re-establishing a memorandum of understanding on immigration enforcement so no immigration raids would occur at a worksite where the employees were already engaged in any other activity – like a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against their employer – “so an employer can’t just call for a raid to get rid of the problem workers and then suffer no ramifications even though he was the one breaking the law in the workplace.”
2) He’s educating workers on their rights, and on how to band together to help each other fight for better working conditions and more opportunities.
“In essence what we need to do is to demystify the legislative process, we need to make sure ordinary peoplewho go to work feel they have a voice in government or in the companies where they work,” Oliva says. “The only way they can have that voice is to band together on common issues and that voice is magnified only if you take it to the power and speak in unison.”
His legislative action sensibility is what sets him apart from others who focus just on the workplace organizing – not that Oliva is a slouch in that department, he trained at the Organizing Institute at Midwest Academy with Jackie Kendall a nationally-known trainer now known for her work with President Obama.
“I methodically and scientifically gather workers’ stories for national reports and take it to DC,” Oliva said. “We’re not a union, not just a community organization, we’re a hybrid. We don’t just do rallies in DC, we do both and we’re trying to become a pioneer for organizations treading a new path.”
“All workers are interconnected,” Oliva said. “So to the extent you raise the conditions in one place, others follow and raise their wages and conditions. That’s how capitalism works. You have to raise wages; that teenager in Des Moines, Iowa will be positively affected by our work across the country, not just Chicago.”
“Chicago Latino List 2009” was generously sponsored by the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Chicago White Sox, and Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Restaurants. All nominees were independently nominated for this recognition; their rejection and/or selection to “Chicago Latino List 2009” was not, in any way, influenced by any disclosed or undisclosed personal or professional proximity to Esther J. Cepeda or to any sponsor of “Chicago Latino List 2009”.
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
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 26th 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
She’s big, she’s loud, and she scares children to death.
Well, almost…better said is that 45-year-old Concepcion
“Concha” Rodriguez scares kids who don’t really understand the dangers of gang culture with real-life stories about real dead gangbangers.
“I talk to kids and tell them about the reality of the gang life, about families seeing their children cold, wrapped in plastic, cut up from an autopsy, and about their screams which will haunt me ‘til the day I die,” Rodriguez told me.
A bilingual funeral director and embalmer, the third-generation Mexican-American Rodriguez has worked for Zefran Funeral Home on the South side of Chicago since August 1995. Born in Texas but raised in the inner city of Chicago, by age 16, she was a member of the Lady Aces gang in Pilsen.
“I got out of the gang when my 15 year-old girlfriend was shot and killed as she walked with her boyfriend,” Rodriguez recalls. “They buried her in her quinceanera dress.”
“I made the choice to leave that lifestyle and become somebody, rather than a statistic.”
These days when the 5’10” self-described loudmouth walks into a room of unruly kids who firmly believe they will live forever no matter what, she makes an indelible impression.
“Usually the casket I bring gets their attention,” she told me. She takes that casket to schools and community organizations for her presentation “Don’t be Grounded by Age 18 (Tough talk straight from the Funeral Home),” and has a mirror in it, giving one pause when opened.
If that doesn’t get them she tells her own story. And if that isn’t enough she’ll get into the gross anatomy aspect. “I show the “Y” incision starting in the clavicle and how you cut from neck to navel, then from ear to ear to open your scalp and saw your skull to pull out your brain,” Rodriguez said.
And if that doesn’t get them (she talks to some seriously tough crowds!) she aims for the heart.
“Then I go into description when a mother and father has to go identify their loved one at the morgue – with your face cut up, THAT’s how your mother and father are going to see you,” Rodriguez warns. “If that’s ok for you, fine, but I tell them that when you’re in a gang so is your whole family. What if it’s your mother, little sister, or little brother who dies because of your gangbanging? Then their whole demeanor changes.”
But she doesn’t always stop there – she can’t. Rodriguez gets a shot at the worst kids: the ones who are on the precipice of real harm, real crime, the ones who could still be saved.
“I tell ‘em, ‘you WILL get violated, you WILL get beaten, girls DO get raped. I talk to them about maybe it’s too late for you but keep this away from your brother or sister,”
Her message isn’t just for those who live on the rough streets of the inner-city, though, she travels to some verrrrry nice middle-class and affluent communities, brought in by community organizations who know that today’s gangsta, thug culture holds allure for kids who have it all, too.
“Some bad seeds will be transplanted to the suburbs, or some bad kid’s going to corrupt your kids who’ve got everything and are bored,” she warns parents and grandparents. “I tell parents how they can get involved make a difference these people who live comfortably, ‘go give one hour of your time at the library,’ don’t just call them ‘bad kids’ lets all get together to make a difference. Besides, showing love and giving respect doesn’t cost money.”
But Rodriguez is tame with the adults in the suburban libraries. The really tough kids get an unwelcome trip to her funeral home where the lesson is a little more tangible.
“I tell them that if the walls of my funeral home could talk they’d hear the cries of parents, brothers, sisters,” Rodriguez said. “But when they walk out the door they have the chance to get out.”
“Chicago Latino List 2009” was generously sponsored by the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Chicago White Sox, and Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Restaurants. All nominees were independently nominated for this recognition; their rejection and/or selection to “Chicago Latino List 2009” was not, in any way, influenced by any disclosed or undisclosed personal or professional proximity to Esther J. Cepeda or to any sponsor of “Chicago Latino List 2009”.
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
Did you see the Chicago Sun-Timesarticle Sunday about how the economic downturn – coupled with the new-found, unprecedented popularity of “community organizing” – has made it difficult for idealistic young college grads to get into volunteer service corps?
Well, count Matthew Montez among the lucky ones!
Montez graduated from UIC last month with a B.A. in sociology, and has committed the next two years of his life to the Illinois Student Assistance Corps, a federally-funded program which will be run by the Outreach and Access arm of the Illinois Student Assistance Commission, the state agency that makes college accessible and affordable for Illinois students and families.
After an intense seven-week training camp, he’s moving to Rockford, Illinois to teach high school students how to prepare for, apply to and pay for college.
“Well in addition to being one of the best jobs I could find out there, I’m excited to go to someplace that’s similar to where I grew up and get kids to see the value in gaining knowledge,” Montez told me last week.
The burly Mexican-American has two things going for him that will go over well with the exact sort of kids he wants to connect with – those who will be the first in their families to attend school post-high school. 1) He has a super easy-going personality, “I love making people laugh,” and 2) He knows.
He knows about poverty, even though he didn’t experience it in his own family history. While an undergraduate student, the 22-year-old East Moline native, spent two years as Pilsen/Little Village Community Mental Health caseworker teaching poor and cognitively challenged or emotionally disturbed how to live independently, and positively.
“Something that I'm proud of is that I have always maintained a positive attitude in whatever I have done while at the same time having a strong grasp on reality,” Montez says. “I’ve seen people facing incredible challenges but showed them how to keep going. Whether it has been in the classroom, within my extra-curricular activities, or among my peers, I have always seen the positive side of things and have used this mentality to help quench my thirst for knowledge.”
He also knows how to get through college. Though not the very first in his family to attend a university (his older sister blazed the trail) he certainly knows a little something about getting in, and more importantly, getting out of college successfully. Plus he’ll learn about a PhD’s worth during his ISAC Corp boot camp.
Lastly, he knows how critical it is to teach young people about how powerful knowledge – of all kinds – really is.
“The high school years are probably the most crucial time for a student to understand how to take advantage of the college opportunity,” Montez said. “It’s the opportunity to go get into a classroom setting while being on your own for the first time, the opportunity to become a more mature adult.”
“My message to these kids is to look beyond your doorstep and see the real problems that face this world. Learn what is going on in the society and learn how to fix what really needs to be fixed. Understand how the world works and be able to differentiate between the good and the bad. And, appreciate the people around you and those who simply want to live a good life.”
Montez is ultimately focused on having a positive impact on the world, not just Illinois’ communities, or Rockford’s or the Hispanic community.
“My main thing is that the most important thing anybody could have is an education,” Montez said. “Whether its knowledge found on your own, or it’s constructed through organized learning, education in any form is most important.”
“Chicago Latino List 2009” was generously sponsored by the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Chicago White Sox, and Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Restaurants. All nominees were independently nominated for this recognition; their rejection and/or selection to “Chicago Latino List 2009” was not, in any way, influenced by any disclosed or undisclosed personal or professional proximity to Esther J. Cepeda or to any sponsor of “Chicago Latino List 2009”.
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
When Nelly Aguilar’s son Jason was diagnosed with Autism and their school district basically prepared her for her son to spend his life in a basement with non-verbal children, she knew she had found her calling: to advocate for her son.
“I was stunned by the amount of trouble people have to go through to get basic education services, basic rights for their special needs children,” Aguilar, a 33-year-old Mexican immigrant whose lived in the U.S. since she was six, told me.
So the 33-year-old single mom set aside her well-tended marketing career and decided to get a law degree so she could do just that. “I knew I had to make a change, I knew that he would need a lot of support and I thought that if I went to law school I could help him and other children.”
Aguilar was a single mom to a child who screamed “15 hours a day” and none of the schools she applied to in her then-home state of Texas had any monetary support for her. DePaul University, however, gave her a scholarship worth leaving her parents behind and starting over in a city she didn’t know with a high-need child.
“After he got diagnosed, Jason needed all kinds of therapies and all kinds of help,” Aguilar said, “I would take him to school, then I would go to school, then I’d get out, go get him, take him to his therapies, go home, cook, play, get him down to bed, then stay up until midnight doing homework and studying, then I’d get up the next morning and do it all over again.”
All this and it took her only three years and one semester to get through law school! “Then I graduated and studied for the bar, and passed it,” Aguilar said nonchalantly.
Today she’s one of approximately 15 attorneys in Illinois who work solely on Special Education law as their focus.
“I represent families of children with disabilities in actions against school districts that deny students an appropriate public education. I protect their rights and advocate on their behalf under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA),” Aguilar explained. IDEA guarantees students with disabilities an adequate education with the fewest restrictions in the least restrictive classroom environment possible.
“In addition, I make recommendations on pending legislation in healthcare and education, I serve on several boards (Access Living, Autism Speaks, and Stone Soup Community Center), and I participate on statewide and national advocacy activities.”
Because all of that, AND a son with Autism whose now 9, and “doing really well,” isn’t enough, Aguilar is slated to teach a section of Special Education Law at DePaul University College of Law this fall. “I am the founder of the first clinical legal program in the Midwest that protects the educational rights of children with disabilities. I secured federal funding for DePaul University's Special Education Advocacy Clinic.”
Delving into the intricacies, horrors and inequalities of Illinois’ educational industrial complex is a fool’s errand, but Aguilar helped me put the needs into perspective.
·Very few attorneys practice special education law and even fewer attorneys are bilingual and can understand the complex struggles English Language Learners face. Live Downstate? Tough luck, Aguilar couldn’t name a single one south of Kankakee.
·The average State of Illinois institutional stay for those with severe disabilities is about $140,000 per year but the state usually won’t provide preventative therapies which generally cost much less in the long run.
·In the Chicago Public School District alone there are at least 55,000 special education students with Individual Education Plans. 85% live below the poverty level.
·In the State of Illinois there are approximately 60 due process hearings a year. In Washington DC there are about 300 per month, and that’s not because Illinois families are happier than those in DC, but there is already a law school infrastructure for pumping out special ed. lawyers who – when they win a case, get to send the school district for attorney fees. Here in Chicago, however, in-house legal departments have lawyers at the ready to defend a school district’s interests.
Aguilar will certainly start adding to the pool of independent Chicago special education lawyers as a DePaul professor. And she’ll keep fighting for families’ rights.
“I do it more for others than for Jason because he’s pretty situated,” Aguilar said. “It brings me so much hope to be able to take a child who has nothing and a family who has been stepped on or passed over, and over, and over – callously, without any regard to the child’s future,” Aguilar said.
“When I get a child the right support, then I see them a year later and the kids that couldn’t read now can…it’s like the greatest feeling in the world.”
“Chicago Latino List 2009” was generously sponsored by the Chicago Sinfonietta, the Chicago White Sox, and Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises Restaurants. All nominees were independently nominated for this recognition; their rejection and/or selection to “Chicago Latino List 2009” was not, in any way, influenced by any disclosed or undisclosed personal or professional proximity to Esther J. Cepeda or to any sponsor of “Chicago Latino List 2009”.
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
John Viramontes would make Benjamin Franklin proud. Like our founding father, Viramontes has found the pen to be mightier than the sword.
A microscopic sampling of his Letters to the Editor to several major newspapers:
·
7/11/05 - "Let Promotion Bloom" in Chicago Tribune, Voice of the People he defends artists’ rights
·1/4/06 "Honor a Living Legend" in the Chicago Sun Times, Letters to the editor he writes about activist Florence Scala
·8/21/06 "Government needs a better way" inChicago Sun Times, Letters to the editor he takes on immigration
And this is just the tiniest, tiniest sample – Viramontes, 57, has been sourced, photographed, and published as an authentic local voice all over Chicago and the Midwest in all sorts of publications in multiple languages.
Why? Because the man is there. On the ground, in the neighborhoods, listening to people talk about losing their homes, or getting their green card, or being bilked out of their rent money, or any number of things.
“When I started helping out at the Northwest Neighborhood Federation in the late nineties, I was working on the injustices of neighborhood – housing availability, predatory lending, blight – I wasn’t looking at ethnicities, I was just trying to help people,” Viramontes told me recently. “In that work I learned I have a tremendous capacity to put myself in other people’s shoes, the ability to listen to others’ stories.”
“These are the stories of injustice, unfairness, callousness, bureaucracy,” Viramontes said, “and I’m living proof that getting justice for people doesn’t limit itself to any particular ethnicity, neighborhood or state.”
But the cool part about John? He actually gets stuff done.
In 1998 the Chicago Police Department’s 25th District issued a Certificate of Appreciation for Outstanding Community Service and Initiative for contributing to solving an armed robbery where a large sum of money was taken from a North Ave. near Harlem Ave. currency exchange.
In 2002 Viramontes was instrumental in getting the Ecuadorian consulate to establish the first ever office in Minnesota, organized by the non-profit National Peoples Action.
He has (and continues to) engage the American Association of Museums (AAM) through its president, to consider Heather Hope Stephens’ challenging Master’s thesis “Visualizing The Path Forward: The Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 and Recommendations For a Response by American Museums.”
According to multiple people who plied me with testimonies to Viramontes’ work, he has shouldered the responsibility of allowing both the public and arts profession to know the significance of the historic case of Kelley vs. Chicago Park District which was filed using the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990 statute and currently on appeal in a Chicago federal court.
The Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid? Don’t. Even. Get. Him. Started – that’s a whole ‘nother 600 words.
The bottom line here is that Viramontes – a Chicago-born, second generation Mexican-American accountant by trade, trained community organizer, and lifelong activist by heart – cares. And he translates that caring into action and results for people who are too deep in their problems to see the promise beyond them. Everyday.
“Perhaps the Irish progressive George Bernard Shaw put it best when he said: ‘I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake.
Life is not a brief candle to me; it is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.’”
“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
Veronica Arreola is a case-study in stereotype-busting:
an ardent feminist, but she loves men (she’s been happily married for ten years).
She’s the Assistant Director for the UIC Center for Research on Women and Gender and the Director of Women in Science and Engineering Program, but she’s also an intensely creative-type and expresses herself beautifully as a writer (more on that in a minute).
She’s a dedicated activist for women’s reproductive rights, serving as the co-chair for the Chicago Abortion Fund, and is dedicated to helping women and girls advocate for the right to their own choices in Chicago and around the country, but she respects life wholly (her five-year-old daughter is living proof).
Imagine my surprise when I finally got a chance to speak to this woman – who her nominators happily reported has blogged for such outlets as Bitch, Ms., Alternet, Kenneth Cole's AWEARNESS blog, Girl w/Pen and WIMN's Voices – and I met, not a hard-core zealot, but a smart, sweet 34-year-old woman of Mexican descent who lives and dies for the Chicago Cubs.
“My basic difference from others is I inherently trust women to make their own best decisions for themselves and their own families based on what is inherent in their own beliefs,” Arreloa told me, “whether that comes from their physician or a place in their heart, or from their spiritual beliefs. I don’t tell women what to do or make those choices for them.”
“A zealot is a turnoff in any conversation because most people are in that middle place, rather than firmly on either side,” Arreola explained. “I try to talk to people by bringing in facts, having personal stories, and always coming to a conversation knowing the other person might agree with me on something but not on other things.”
Rarely does one run into such clear-headed thinking when the pro-life/pro-choice issue is involved, but I don’t want to harp on that because there’s so much more to Veronica.
“My vision is a world, a city, where young girls can turn on the TV, flip through a newspaper/magazine, and read online news anytime and see themselves commenting on policy, celebrating an invention or discovery,” she says. “I want them to look around their neighborhood and always see women as leaders working to make the community a better place to live and work.”
Arreola lives that vision everyday through her work as the Assistant Director for the UIC Center for Research on Women and Gender and the Director of Women in Science and Engineering Program where she helps women navigate professional fields that are male-dominated.
“The number of women in science and engineering ranges between a majority in biology to less than 20% in computer science. The numbers are even worse for Latinas,” she said. “And despite the fact that its 2009, there is still plenty of harassment in the classroom, whether it’s a professor making joke or allowing a male student to horse around, making the classroom a hostile environment. There’s still a real need to go back to ‘sexual harassment 101’ to figure out how to treat your fellow classmates.”
“Then there are the other aspects,” Arreolla shared, “My women students are starting to ask questions like ‘when do I have kids?’ and basing career options on these issues. That answer depends on who you ask. Plus women have different challenges; there’s truth to the ‘Supergirl Myth,’ they get a ‘B’ they think they’re not prepared to be scientists. I get to tell them, ‘It’s OK, we get a ‘B’ we move on, and everything’s going to be alright.”
And let’s not forget Veronica the blogger, who fills her personal blog Viva la Feminista.com with explorations on the intersection of motherhood, feminism, and life as a Latina.
“I really do see so many of these issues are interconnected… it sounds so cheesy, ‘the empowerment of women,’ but seeing how much women can attain – whether it be education, jobs, a simple letter-to-the-editor –that’s what I work on, that’s what I try to do,” Arreola says.
“Helping women find that power is important. If I can help them by teaching and supporting them, that’s why I’m it.”
“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
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
It would take well over six hundred words just to list the many, many accomplishments of Dr. Ana Gil-Garcia.
She’s a
tenured University Professor at Northeastern Illinois University, a published author, a three time Fulbright scholar, and an internationally acclaimed professional.
When she’s not hosting professional visitors from Belarus, Italy, Armenia, Russia, Georgia, and Ecuador as a member of the International Visitor Center of Chicago, or advocating for Latinos in the academic field of science, she’s a member of the Advisory Council on Latino Affairs of the City of Chicago and a director of the Rotary One Club of Chicago for 2009-2010.
But what realllllly drives this woman is her quest to ensure the Chicago Public School system is a nationally-recognized leader in employing school administration leaders who accurately represent the diversity of their student communities.
“Latino school leaders are the minority. There are 70,000 Hispanic students in CPS but only 13.6% of school administrators are Latino, in Chicago! How can that be in such a multi-cultural city?” Gil-Garcia told me “There are 114 languages spoken in Chicago!”
The Venezuela-born, 54-year-old Gil-Garcia has a bit of a different view – a more global one – when it comes to why it’s important for there to be an equally representative cadre of Latino teachers in CPS.
“Chicago is not only for one racial or ethnic group. We have, in every school in Chicago, Hispanics mixing with the other groups,” she said, in response to my questioning how her crusade affects non-Latinos. “By having someone who is coming from a different background than the mainstream, that person will be more sensitive not only to Latinos but to anyone who is coming from a different cultural background, or who speaks a different language.”
I’ve not been on the bandwagon, instead advocating for high qualifications as the most important aspect of any school administrator, but Gil-Garcia makes a compelling case.
“Being a Latino or Hispanic doesn’t mean the administrator will be only serving one portion of the population, but that person would be serving a very large population of the entirety of CPS,” Gil-Garcia pressed.
“Last September Latinos used to be the second-largest population as it had been for 7 years, since this past year we are now number one – the largest population – followed by African-American students, then Caucasian kids, then Asian and Pacific Islander,” Gil-Garcia said. “When you take a look at the demographics of the teachers, white teachers are the majority, then second African-American then third are Latinos. It’s so much more dramatic in the numbers of school administrators and the number has been like that for 11 years – we haven’t grown.”
I, of course, immediately went to bat for the many, many kids who speak languages other than Spanish – like Polish – and are far from well-represented in CPS or in any other districts across Illinois, and Gil-Garcia retorted:
“When we get qualified Latino school administrators, the schools benefit not because she or he is Hispanic or Latino – it’s that the person, being from a different language and culture, has a deeper understanding of what the student and his or her family might be going through to get the learning to occur.”
Certainly I couldn’t argue that point, and more importantly, the work that she’s doing at Northeastern Illinois University – teaching graduate courses in the field of educational leadership to teach teachers who are in the process of becoming school leaders for K-12 schools – will absolutely ensure that there are highly-qualified administrators of all races and ethnicities to lead our diverse school populations.
It’s no easy task, but Gil-Garcia is inspired. “My inspiration is my mother, she taught me not to give up, not to despair,” Gil-Garcia said. “We talk every Sunday for at least two hours and she always asks me the same question: what have you done this week to help others?….I must always have a response.”
And the other thing Gil-Garcia’s mom always taught her?
“‘Haz bien y no mires a quien,’ which means ‘do good – for everybody.”
“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
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
"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
