HispanicTrending

April 29, 2015
By Emily Fu

There was no guarantee the late Austin artist Sam Coronado would make it out of Vietnam alive. But after he did, he spent the next few decades of his life dedicated to the arts. His last project is “Hard Fought: Sam Coronado’s WWII Series.”

The series features narrative prints depicting the stories of Latino Americans during World War II. The exhibit draws inspiration from the “VOCES Oral History Project,” a collection of more than 650 interviews and ephemera that give voice to the American Latino experience in World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War.

"Hard Fought" will be on exhibit at the Benson Latin American Collection through May 15.

“Sam Coronado brought his own eye to something we’ve been looking at for several years,” Maggie Rivas-Rodriguez, associate professor at UT’s School of Journalism and director of “VOCES.”  said. “We would never have seen what he saw, what he selected, what color he used. He really lent it his vision, and we’ll always be very grateful for that.”

Exhibition curator Tatiana Reinoza said she believes that through this exhibit, Coronado, who passed away in 2013, conveys the pride he had for his people.

“A lot of Latinos are really proud that they served, but they haven’t really been given credit for that honorable work,” Reinoza said. “That’s why this show is called ‘Hard Fought,’ because it’s a hard fought battle to gain that recognition, to gain that validation and to know that their sacrifices are valued in the end.”

Reinoza said Coronado created the prints through the serigraphy process, also known as screen printing. Some prints in the collection are mixed media, which incorporates collage elements in the piece. The narrative prints are coupled with oral elements such as interview excerpts taken from the “VOCES Oral History Project.”

Reinoza said Coronado enjoyed serigraphy so much that he opened his own studio in Austin in 1991.

Coronado, a Vietnam veteran who identified as Chicano, knew firsthand the struggle to feel validated for his services to this country. This prompted him to collaborate with Rivas-Rodriguez in 2006.

Julianne Gilland, associate director of scholarly resources and special collections curator at the Benson Latin American Collection, said it has been interesting for viewers to relate to the exhibit, as the content resonates deeply with their own histories.

“This is true whether as American families, who remember their service and sacrifice in wartime with pride, [or] as Latinos, who have had to reconcile those proud histories with some of the social justice and racism that their families have experienced,” Gilland said.

Rivas-Rodriguez said the Word War II exhibit demonstrates the Latino people’s ability to persevere in the face of formidable odds.

“I’m looking at a people who have tremendous courage and tremendous tenacity to keep on going, even when things are not easy for them,” Rivas-Rodriguez said.

The exhibition resonated with Reinoza, who said she thinks it is vital for young Latinos to understand the importance of their historical presence in this country amid the current immigration debates and anti-immigrant rhetoric.

“Young Latinos need to understand that we have a long history in this country, and we have been a part of that special fabric,” Reinoza said. “I think that’s really important for young Latinos to learn and acknowledge.”

Source: The Daily Texan

April 29, 2015
By Ashley Killough

With his parents sitting in the front row, Jeb Bush addressed an audience of Hispanic evangelicals on Wednesday, calling for policies that would let undocumented immigrants "come out from the shadows."

The values-heavy address at the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference in Houston focused on the importance of the family unit and pushed for an America that's more engaged in the world. The former Florida governor also used his speech to criticize President Barack Obama for not fighting hard enough to protect Christians who are facing attacks overseas.

In his likely presidential campaign, Bush is poised to compete heavily for Hispanic voters, thanks in part to his fluency in Spanish and his assimilation into the Hispanic community. His wife is from Mexico and he frequently talks about his bicultural family.

On Wednesday, he gave the names of his four grandchildren, including their grandson named after Bush's grandfather, Prescott Bush, or as they call him, "Little P."

"We also call him Chicharito," he said, which translates into English as "little pea." The audience roared in laughter. Chicharito is the nickname for Javier Hernandez, a famous soccer player from Mexico.

He also praised the United States for being a "nation of immigrants," saying, "this is not the time to abandon something that makes us special and unique."

An advocate for legal status for undocumented immigrants, Bush has come under fire from conservatives for appearing too lenient on the issue. The former governor has also been an advocate for more legal immigration, while his closest rival in the race, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, has started calling for tighter restrictions on legal immigration.

Bush said the immigration system needs to be fixed by controlling the borders, but he also called for dealing with the estimated 11 million undocumented workers already in the country.

"Eleven million people that should come out from the shadows and receive earned legal status — where they pay a fine, where they work, where they do what they want to do, which is come out from the shadows, work, provide for their families, not receive government assistance, and over a period of time be able to receive earned legal status," he said.

Bush also argued that a stronger America would require better engagement in the world, especially when it comes to the persecution of Christians by ISIS and other terror groups. A major topic of concern for evangelicals, the increased attacks overseas have fueled greater interest in foreign policy among Republican primary voters.

"Whether they're gathered in a chapel or in a college dormitory in Kenya, or the beaches of Libya, or in Northern Nigeria, or in Iraq or wherever there is persecution of Christians or Jews or of any group of people, the United States needs to be on the side of people that are being endangered each and every day," he said to applause.

"And I believe this President has let us down in this regard," he said. "That's the only political thing I'm going to say today."

Bush appeared noticeably more comfortable at the podium than he has in previous formal speeches and gave several lines that fired up the audience. They later prayed for him after his speech, stretching out their hands.

"He understands our community," said the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, who is the president of the NHCLC and introduced Bush on stage. "He speaks the language. I mean literally he speaks the language. But he also speaks the language of faith and family."

As has been the case with his other recent stump speeches, Bush also talked about his record on education reform and pushed for school choice.

Bush's parents, former President George H.W. Bush and former first lady Barbara Bush, who live in Houston, attended the event.

Bush joked that it was intimidating to have his mother in the room. "I know afterward she'll hit me across the head and say it's about the team, it's not about you," he said, adding that it's a "joy to be with them."

The event came a day after Bush traveled to Puerto Rico and reiterated his support for statehood. On Sunday, he had lunch in Miami with Zeus Rodriguez, the president of Hispanics for School Choice in Wisconsin, who was selected in a contest to eat with the governor.

Source: CNN

April 29, 2015
By Heidi Przybyla

Senator Ted Cruz said Wednesday that Republican Mitt Romney's rhetoric about working class Americans — not an immigration stance that is similar to his own — cost the 2012 Republican presidential candidate support among Hispanics.

On the same day that one of his potential rivals for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, was touting a plan to provide legal status for many of the nation's illegal immigrants before a Hispanic audience in Cruz' home state, the Texas Republican defended his opposition to such a plan before a Hispanic business audience in Washington.

The two events, within hours of each other, highlighted one of the challenges facing Cruz: He is competing for Hispanic votes with Senator Marco Rubio and former Governor Jeb Bush, both of Florida and both of whom have deeper ties with the Latino community.

Hours after Bush delivered a speech to Hispanic evangelicals in Houston, Cruz became the first 2016 candidate to be featured at a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce forum series. He was questioned, at times pointedly, by the group's President Javier Palomarez, who previously questioned whether Cruz is abandoning Hispanics for political reasons.

In March, Cruz skipped the chamber's annual legislative summit, where Palomarez took exception to his absence. "I hope it is not indicative that he's backing away from the Hispanic community in order to get through the primary," Fox News Latino quoted him as saying.

Palomarez pressed Cruz for carrying different messages in his English and Spanish-language television ads. Palomarez asked Cruz why he has omitted references to his opposition to Obamacare and the president's recent orders easing deportations in his Spanish-language ads.

"I would encourage the same consistency in Spanish as in English," said Palomarez.

Though Cruz would not commit specifically to including his immigration and Obamacare positions in future Spanish ads, he added: "My messaging is going to be consistent throughout."

He advanced a theory as to why a candidate with his views can succeed with the Hispanic vote, insisting that Romney's tough talk on immigration had noting to do with the relatively anemic 27 percent of the Hispanic vote he mustered in his 2012 campaign.

"The media repeatedly said the reason Mitt Romney got clobbered in the Hispanic community was because of immigration," Cruz said during a question-and-answer session at the National Press Club.

"The data don't bear that out," said Cruz, adding that Hispanics care most about the economy. "The Obama economy has been a disaster for the Hispanic community," he said.

The reason Cruz Romney got "clobbered" was his "infamous comment" that Republicans don't have to worry about the 47 percent of all Americans vote reliably Democratic because they feel entitled to government services. "I can't think of a statement in politics I disagree with more strongly," said Cruz.

Like Cruz, Romney spoke in favor of actions to stem the flow of undocumented immigrations coming into the U.S. without supporting a path to legalization for those already here, though Romney also called for immigrant self-deportation.

Though Cruz is the son of a Cuban immigrant, he's at odds with many of Hispanic voters on some key issues, mainly immigration. Cruz has become a leading voice against President Barack Obama's recent orders easing deportations for individuals brought to the U.S. as children and for their parents.

He also voted against a 2013 bipartisan Senate bill to create a path to legalization for undocumented immigrants who pay a fine and have no criminal record. The bill, championed by Rubio, would have granted "amnesty" to illegal immigrants who've broken the law, Cruz argues. Cruz offered amendments he said would increase legal immigration. This year, there's no expectation that any immigration legislation is likely to move in Congress.

"There is no stronger advocate of legal immigration in the U.S. Senate than I am," said Cruz. At least one other potential candidate in the Republican field, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, has proposed reducing legal immigration at times of high unemployment.

Cruz represents Texas, where more than 37 percent of the population is Hispanic or Latino, a population that tends to vote Democratic.  Last fall, a national poll by Latino Decisions found 89 percent support of Hispanic voters support Obama's use of executive authority to ease deportations.

Speaking to the Hispanic Chameber of Commerce, Cruz stood by his opposition to a path to citizenship that was included in the Senate's bipartisan bill, calling it "profoundly unfair to the millions of legal immigrants" who are here legally.

"Legal immigrants get left out and treated unfairly over and over again," said Cruz.

Source: Bloomberg Politics