Born in Mexico, born Nashvillian: Matt Kenigson

Matt Kenigson

Since he grew up singing jingles and learning how to make people feel welcome, it is almost as if Matt Kenigson - running for Nashville's District 56 seat in the state legislature - was born to live in Nashville.

Kenigson, however, was born in Mexico City, to North American parents. His parents started a jingle company south of the border, and Kenigson even sang in some of those jingles as a child - check out Kenigson's singing chops on the 1981 Ford Fairmont commercial that ran in Mexico.

Matt's educational background started with Escuela Florence Nightingale and Escuela Valle del Tepeyac and ultimately led to Hume Fogg High School, back in the day when HFHS had just become a magnet school. Matt credits that high school education, more than anything else, with setting the stage for his later entrepreneurial software venture.

It took the English Only battle to convince Matt that he needed to get more involved in public life. Specifically, he wanted to get more involved in education because of his six-year-old daughter. His opposition to English Only is not based on an insistence for multilingualism, however. On the issue of English as a Second Language (ESL) education, Matt wants more ESL students mainstreamed and held to a higher standard. He says that concentrating on education is the key to creating a dynamic economy.

Matt's Mexico roots gave him an acute sense of the importance of a welcome, because he experienced such a warm welcome when he lived there:

I had such a wealth of people who accepted me, who embraced me, who really made me feel like I was at home and who gave me the understanding that no matter where you are in the world, you should do that for everyone.
...
They made me feel like that was where I belonged. To this day I still consider it a gift, and it's very important to me that people who come here feel just as welcome as I felt there.

Matt's next fundraiser is Thursday, September 30 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at
The Viridian, 415 Church Street, #1015. The suggested contribution is $50 per person/$100 per couple (RSVP to Lauren at 615-585-9678 or lauren@standwithmatt.com).

Matt's previous fundraiser was this past Sunday, at the home of Fabian Bedne and Mary-Linden Salter.

The "Stand with Matt" campaign has a website, a Facebook page, and a Twitter feed.

Mayor Karl Dean savors Nashville's identity as a friendly city in Hispanic Heritage Month kickoffs

NAHCC Hispanic Heritage Month Kick-Off Ceremony
Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center, Vanderbilt University
Event co-hosted by Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
and the Afro-Hispanic Review. Photo by Angela Ammons.

Nashville Mayor Karl Dean recently spoke at Hispanic Heritage Month kickoff events for the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Afro-Hispanic Review (photo above), as well as the Middle Tennessee Hispanic Democrats.

In his remarks to the MTNHD, Dean pointed out the relationship he sees between the volunteerism after the May floods and the defeat of English Only, namely, that they both accentuate the city's identity as a friendly, neighborly, welcoming city:

Nashville is a special place for a lot of reasons: it's a special place because we've got great universities...health care capital of America...the center of music...hospitality and tourism... but what really makes us a great city to live in is the people of Nashville. It's the fact that we are a friendly place.

I'm a transplant myself. I didn't come quite as far as some people other did to come here. I came from a very foreign, distant place called Massachusetts. But when I got here - I got here in 1978 - I got here as fast as I could - people would say to me at Vanderbilt Law School, they would ask, How are you? When I had a cold, they'd say, are you OK? It took me a while, I was a little uncomfortable with that. But something occurred to me: they are actually interested and they actually care.

If you're a Nashvillian, you get the sense that that we are special because we are a friendly city. Travel & Leisure magazine has said repeatedly that we are the friendliest city in the United States. And to be a friendly city, when there's a flood, you take care of your neighbors and you take care of your fellow citizens. And if you're a friendly city, when there's something like English Only, you say no. You say we're for diversity, we're a friendly city, we're a welcoming city, and that's who we are. What an incredible thing to be known for - to be a friendly, open, welcoming city.

Paola Forero of Colombia and 94 other immigrants become U.S. citizens at The Hermitage

The Tennessean's Karen Kraft produced the above video of yesterday's citizenship ceremony at The Hermitage, the home of President Andrew Jackson.

Congratulations to the 95 new citizens from 41 countries, including Paola Forero from Colombia!

Hispanic Heritage Fiesta celebrates unsung heroes and aspiring young writers with Latin fanfare

A May flood victim, a student activist, a school employee, and a priest - these are the unsung heroes that Conexión Américas will recognize with the 2010 Orgullo Hispano (Hispanic Pride) Award this Friday, September 24th at 6:00 p.m. during its eighth annual Hispanic Heritage Month Celebration.

Francisco Reyes became a neighborhood leader in his mobile-home park community in South Nashville where 43 families --including his own-- lost everything during Nashville's recent historic flood.

Karla Vazquez has tirelessly volunteered and organized other youth to advocate for passage of the DREAM Act, a proposed federal bill that would open a path for immigrant high school graduates to attend college, serve on the military and obtain U.S. citizenship.

Adelina Winston is a vital voice and advocate for Latino parents and children in the local public school system and exemplifies the best of a public servant.

Rev. Joseph P. Breen is the first non-Latino to be honored for his contributions to making Nashville a welcoming community for Latino immigrant families who have come to Nashville in search of a better quality of life.

Conexión Américas will also recognize three young aspiring writers from local high schools for their winning entries in the third annual “My Hispanic Roots, My American Dream” Essay Contest. Arturo Vazquez, from Overton High School and first place winner, will receive a laptop. Cynthia Ramírez, Cane Ridge High School, and Andrea Jacky Gómez, Antioch High School, will be recognized as second and third place winners respectively.

During the awards ceremony, local songwriter James Slater will perform his "Dreaming America" song, written for Conexión Américas, as a tribute to all honorees.

After the awards ceremony, the Hispanic Heritage Fiesta follows at 7:00 p.m through midnight. The highlight of the evening will be a Mascarada carnival featuring original masks made by artisans in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The Mascarada will recreate folk street carnivals popular in Central America.

The fiesta will also feature authentic Latin American food by local chef Karla Ruiz, live Latin music by Kazique, original artwork by Jairo Prado, and cash bar.

Event tickets are $40 per person in advance (through www.conexionamericas.org) or $50 per person at the door.

Conexion Americas is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping Latino families realize their aspirations for social and economic advancement by promoting their integration to the Middle Tennessee community. During Hispanic Heritage Month, observed nationwide from September 15 to October 15, Conexion Americas celebrates the presence, contributions and rich cultural heritage of Latinos in Tennessee and in the United States.

I am a member of the board of directors of Conexion Americas. Conexion Americas also advertises on HispanicNashville.com

The local stories of Nashville's Hispanic heritage

Roberto Lopez (right) of Tacos y Mariscos Lopez # 2 on Murfreesboro Road
From the 2005 story "Mobile food trailer ban on hold; family businesses await decision"
Photo by Susan Adcock for HispanicNashville.com

As I was recently reminded by Middle Tennessee Hispanic Democrats Secretary Freddy Quiteño, Hispanic Heritage Month is not just about parties, but about Hispanic heritage itself.  Touché.

The idea of HispanicNashville.com is to capture Nashville's unique Hispanic heritage day by day, and looking back on that heritage (in the form of this site's archives), what strikes me is that the first month of news published on HispanicNashville.com - October 2003 - already revealed quite a tapestry of local stories.

Those seven-year-old headlines remind me that Nashville's Hispanic heritage is formed by many stories, all written locally. You don't have to go back hundreds of years or cross international boundaries to celebrate our city's Hispanic heritage.

And you don't have to think of heritage as a faceless history, either. As this ad put it last December, "Every Hispanic face in Nashville tells an amazing story: ours."

Explore all seven years of the HispanicNashville.com story archives on the right-hand side of this page, under "Blog Archive." The specific headlines mentioned above, from October 2003, are below:

CONEXION AMERICAS WINS BEST NEW ENTREPRENEURIAL VENTURE IN NASHVILLE SCENE'S BEST OF NASHVILLE 2003 AWARDS

THE TENNESSEE FOREIGN LANGUAGE INSTITUTE WINS BEST (AND MOST UNHERALDED) LEARNING RESOURCE IN THE NASHVILLE SCENE BEST OF NASHVILLE 2003 AWARDS.

ATTORNEY ANA ESCOBAR RANKS SECOND IN NASHVILLE BAR ASSOCIATION RATING OF CANDIDATES FOR DAVIDSON COUNTY GENERAL SESSIONS JUDGE.

ATTORNEY GREGG RAMOS WILL BEGIN HIS ONE-YEAR TERM AS PRESIDENT OF THE NASHVILLE BAR ASSOCIATION ON TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2003. GREGG WILL BE THE FIRST MINORITY PRESIDENT IN THE NBA'S 171-YEAR HISTORY.

NO HISPANICS ON NASHVILLE'S 40-MEMBER METRO COUNCIL

NASHVILLE SCENE PROFILES MARCELA GOMEZ

OUSTED FISK PRESIDENT SOUGHT MORE HISPANICS

EXONERATION OF POLICEMEN ACCUSED OF HISPANIC ABUSE HAUNTS ACTING METRO POLICE CHIEF DEBORAH FAULKNER'S BID FOR TOP SPOT

VOLUNTEERS BRING YOUNG GUATEMALAN SHOOTING VICTIM TO NASHVILLE FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT

NASHVILLE TODAY FEATURES METRO PUBLIC SCHOOLS' MULTILINGUAL HOMEWORK HOTLINE

SPANISH REPLACES FRENCH AT DAVID LIPSCOMB ELEMENTARY

VANDERBILT ASSOCIATION OF HISPANIC STUDENTS (VAHS) HOSTED LALO ALCARAZ AUTHOR OF THE COMIC STRIP LA CUCARACHA ON OCTOBER 16, AND PAT MORA LATINA WRITER ON OCTOBER 22

CHEEKWOOD HOLDS 4TH ANNUAL "DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS FALL FAMILY CELEBRATION"

NO HISPANICS ON BOARDS OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE'S 10 LARGEST STATE-CHARTERED BANKS

HISPANICS VICTIMIZED BY TAX PREPARERS

RICK TREVIÑO BALANCES COUNTRY, HISPANIC HERITAGE IN NEW ALBUM IN MY DREAMS

CONEXION AMERICAS IS OPENING THE DOORS TO HISPANIC HOME OWNERSHIP

LIBERTY ELEMENTARY, WITH 121 HISPANIC STUDENTS COMPRISING 27% OF STUDENT BODY, IS MOST DIVERSE SCHOOL IN WILLIAMSON COUNTY

GRANDMA IRENE AND FRIENDS SHARE SPOOKY HALLOWEEN STORIES IN SPANISH AND ENGLISH AT THE SOUTHEAST BRANCH OF NASHVILLE PUBLIC LIBRARY

METRO HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION TO BEGIN SPANISH-LANGUAGE COMMUNICATIONS IN EFFORT TO REACH HISPANIC COMMUNITY

REV. PHILIP BEISSWENGER PASTORS WHITE, AFRICAN-AMERICAN, AND HISPANIC CONGREGATIONS, HERALDED AS MODEL OF UNITY

MTSU INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CULTURAL DIVERSITY ENDS TODAY

Indivisibility: the American superpower

Photo by Ludovic Bertron.  Licensed via Creative Commons.

What is the American superpower?

In February 2001, on the radio show This American Life, John Hodgman explored an "age-old" question:

 If you could have only one superpower, flight or invisibility, which would you choose?

Listening to that show recently, I wondered whether as a nation, we need to ask ourselves a similar question:

America, what is your superpower: fright or indivisibility?

The answer would seem pretty straightforward.  We all know FDR's call to courage, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself."  The pledge of allegiance ends, "...one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote from a Birmingham Jail:

Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.

In other words, if you are here, you are "us."

So it's pretty clear that indivisibility wins out over fright, right?  Well, John Hodgman said that people sometimes waver between which superpower they favor.  So it is not surprising to see that in America, we sometimes argue whether people here are divisible from us.  The Great Immigration Panic is an example of that.

My point is just that this is a choice of superpowers.

I think we've already chosen what kind of heroes we are. We are indivisible.

September 15 kicks off National Hispanic Heritage Month; Nashville events abound

National Hispanic Heritage Month starts today, September 15, and runs through October 15. This celebration, a creation of the United States, started as Hispanic Heritage Week in 1968 and was expanded to 30 days by President Ronald Reagan in 1988. The timing of the event across the months of September and October is due to the fact that multiple Latin American independence days are celebrated in mid-September, and Columbus Day, or Día de la Raza, falls on October 12. (By the way, Happy Bicentennial to Mexico and Chile, which celebrate 200 years of independence on September 16 and 18, respectively!)

Nashvillians usually have plenty to do for Hispanic Heritage Month. To help you find specific events, the Nashville Convention & Visitors Bureau has posted a 2010 Hispanic Heritage Month Calendar, which includes most of the headline parties and such around town, so check that out, and you should be set. (Also, if you haven't noticed the Conexion Americas banner at the top of this page, click there, and you'll see all the events Conexion Americas has scheduled, including next Friday's "Fiesta" at the Cannery).

There are plenty of other events to put on your calendar, so stay tuned here for news of those, as well. For example, the Tennessee Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (TNHCC) and the Middle Tennessee Hispanic Democrats (MTNHD) both have Hispanic Heritage Month events tomorrow, September 16:

The THNCC will be hosting a Hispanic Heritage Month Networking Lunch from 11:15 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at Chappy's Restaurant on 1721 Church Street.

The MTNHD will be hosting a "Somos TN" (We Are TN) fundraiser 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at Loews Vanderbilt Hotel at 2100 West End. Ave., with expected attendees including Nashville Mayor Karl Dean, Montgomery County Commissioner Tommy Vallejos, TN Democratic Party Vice-Chair Elisa Parker, and TN House of Representatives District 56 candidate Matt Kenigson.

If you know of a Hispanic Heritage Month event in Middle Tennessee that isn't mentioned above, please leave the event info in the comments.

Tonight at Sarratt: free, live performance of "200 Years of Mexican Independence"

From Vanderbilt University Center for Latin American Studies:

Please join us on Tuesday, September 14 for the performance of “200 Years of Mexican Independence”; VU Campus Sarratt Cinema; 6pm

This is a theatrical performance to celebrate 200 years of Mexican Independence, which is being organized by Destellos Culturales and co-sponsored by Center for Latin American Studies. Please note that the performance will begin at 6pm, a correction from time sent out on this week’s weekly email. This event is free and open to the public.

Center for Latin American Studies
Vanderbilt University
VU Station B #351806
Nashville, Tennessee 37235-1806
615.322.2527
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/clas/

Financial Peace kicks off latest live class in Spanish with Andres Gutierrez

Andres Gutierrez, the Spanish-language face of the Dave Ramsey product Financial Peace, sent me the above announcement about his next local live class (in Spanish) starting this month. I'm not sure whether it starts today, September 13, as the announcement indicates, or next Monday, September 20, as Andres stated in his e-mail to me. You may want to call or e-mail to find out. I'll update this post tonight if I find out.

In any case, the class will be on Monday nights from 6:30 to 8:30. The cost per family is $39.00.

Contact Andres Gutierrez at 800.781.8897 or info@andresgutierrez.com

The web site is andresgutierrez.com

Sunday marks 150th anniversary of William Walker death by Honduran firing squad

Grave of William Walker in Trujillo, Honduras
Photo by ultimo bucanero.  Source: NicaLiving.com

This Sunday, September 12, 2010, is the 150th anniversary of the death of Nashville man William Walker at the hands of a Honduran army firing squad.

You remember William Walker - he is the Nashvillian who the New York Times pretty much called the most famous man in the world, who was the "King" of the filibuster as the filibuster was originally known, who became president of Nicaragua but never reached his 40th birthday, and whose defeat is still celebrated today with a national holiday in Costa Rica.

Don't count on any ceremonies here in his hometown, however. This post on HispanicNashville.com will likely be the only place in Nashville you will read about the sesquintennial of Walker's death. As the New York Times put it in 1860, when describing Walker's proper place in public thought:

If he be a brigand, and an enemy of the human race, as most civilized people now consider him, he has merited the gallows a dozen times over for divers[e] robberies, murders and piracies; and if he be a hero and philanthropist, he ought to be hanged for making so many attempts, causing so much bloodshed and never succeeding.

Read the Wikipedia article on William Walker here. View a photo tour of the last days of William Walker here.  For all of the articles about William Walker that have been posted on HispanicNashville.com, conveniently located on a single page, click here.

Illustration of William Walker execution from Our First Century
by R.M. Devens, C.A. Nichols & Co., Springfield, Mass., 1876
Source: HistoryNet.com

The first word you learn here is, "See"

The above video, entitled "See," debuted in 2008 to at least two immediate imitations (how flattering) - one by Aunt B., and one by Mack. Interestingly enough, I don't think I ever posted the video here at HispanicNashville.com. So now, two years later, here is See.

And here's the transcript:

See the friend in every face
See the neighbor in every name
See the American in every immigrant
See Hispanic Nashville

P.S.: I've created a few other ads besides this one; to see all of the ads together on one page, click here.

Immigration and economics roundtable kicks off CLAS' September calendar of events

Multiple events at Vanderbilt's Center for Latin American Studies in September, starting today:

THIS WEEK

Jorge Durand

Tuesday, September 7

“Immigration in a Time of Economic Crisis: Downturns and Returns in US/Mexico Relations”; featuring CLAS Visiting Resource Professor Jorge Durand; Conexión Américas and the Mexico Institute Woodrow Wilson Center; 5pm reception; 6pm roundtable; First Amendment Center, 1207 18th Avenue.

Wednesday, September 8

Visiting Resource Professor Graduate Workshop: Jorge Durand, professor of anthropology at the University of Guadalajara, Co-Director of the Mexican Migration and Latin American Migration Projects, and visiting resource professor at CLAS, will present a paper in Katharine Donato’s new migration seminar that discusses shifts in outmigration from Latin America.  Open to graduate students and faculty.  Lunch will be provided.  RSVP by Tuesday 9/7 to Norma Antillón at 2-2527; 12pm; 123 Buttrick Hall.

Friday, September 10

Brown Bag Lunch with Patricia Arias: “Revisando Debates: Migración Feminina, economía campesina, solidaridad y ciclo de vida en el campo mexicano.” 12:10pm; Butrick 222.  Lunch will be served; RSVP to Norma Antillón at norma.g.antillon@vanderbilt.edu

UPCOMING

Tuesday, September 14

“200 Años de Independencia de México- 200 Years of Mexican Independence”; Play by Destellos Culturales; 6:30pm; Sarratt Cinema.

Wednesday, September 15

CLAS Teacher Workshop: “What Moves Them: Immigration and the Push Factor”; 9am-3pm; Vanderbilt campus.  Click here for more info on registration.

Thursday, September 16

Lecture by Leonard Folgarait  “Images and Imaginings of the Mexican Revolution: 100 Years and Counting”; 4pm; 134 Featheringill Hall. (see attached flyer, feel free to distribute).

Friday, September 24

Graduate Student Roundtable; 3pm; Buttrick 123

Saturday, September 25

CLAS Storytelling with the Nashville Public Library on Mexican Independence; 11:30am; Nashville Public Library; 615 Church Street.

CLAS VISITNG RESOURCE PROFESSORS

Elsa Tamez

Jorge Durand, professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Guadalajara, is in residence at CLASuntil mid-September.  Durand is co-founder of the Mexican Migration Project, a bi-national research effort with the aim of furthering understanding the complex process of Mexican migration to the US.  Read more about this project here. While on campus Dr. Durand will teach a seminar with Dr. Katharine Donato (Sociology), and be featured at the Tuesday, September 7 roundtable on immigration (see above for details).  Dr. Durand will also lead a K-12 Teacher Workshop as part of the CLAS Outreach program.

As part of the CLAS Liberation Theology series, Elsa Tamez will be on campus Oct.3-9.  Tamez is a native of Mexico who has resided for many years in Costa Rica.  She is a major voice in biblical criticism in general and feminist criticism in particular, and author of Bible of the Opressed. Tamez will participate in a roundtable on Monday, October 4 “Understanding Liberation: Theology, Poverty, and Education”; 4pm; School of Divinity Reading Room, with reception to follow at Tillett Lounge.

Thank you for your work

Photo by Jett Loe.  Licensed via Creative Commons.

Tuesday: expert panel on economics and immigration at First Amendment Center

Sometimes even the best of us turn into hacks and armchair pundits when the conversation turns to a political hot potato. When real, provable facts are not part of our day-to-day learning, we arm ourselves instead with seemingly logical arguments leveraged on a single news item, anecdote, or rumor.

On the subject of immigration, Jorge Durand and Douglas Massey describe the dynamic of uninformed dialogue, in their book Crossing the Border (free excerpt here):

However presented, narratives about immigrants and their effects are likely to be constructed with few facts and little empirical research. One of the reasons that various parties to the immigration debate can get away with repeated exaggerations and sometimes outright confabulations is the absence of objective data to gainsay any assertion they might make, however wild. In the absence of valid, reliable, and relevant data, one can make almost any claim about the causes, characteristics, and consequences of immigration, find anecdotal evidence of seeming verisimilitude to support it, and then proceed as if the claim were true without fear of falsification.

Next Tuesday, September 7, Mr. Durand will lead a panel of experts appearing in a roundtable at the prestigious First Amendment Center.  The fact- and research-centered forum on economics and immigration is entitled, "Immigration in the Time of Economic Crisis: Downturns and Returns in US/Mexico Relations."

Here is the announcement from participating organization Conexion Americas:

Conexión Américas is proud to partner with The Center for Latin American Studies at Vanderbilt, along with The Wilson Center, to host a roundtable discussion on the effects of the recent economic downturn on Mexican immigration to the United States. The panel will bring together leading experts to analyze the interrelation of immigration, economic crisis, and increased border security- and what this means for Mexico as well as the US.

Jorge Durand

Featured will be Jorge Durand, who is a leading expert on Mexican immigration issues. He is also a CLAS Visiting Resource Professor and the author of “Crossing the Border: Research from the Mexican Migration Project”. Panelists include Vanderbilt faculty Katharine Donato (Sociology) and Gary Gerstle (History) as well as David R. Ayón (Wilson Institute) and Conexion's executive director, Renata Soto.

Click here for more information on Jorge Durand's research and publications.

The event is free and open to the public and will begin at 5pm with a reception, with the roundtable to follow at 6pm.

There is a Facebook page for the event here. CLAS also has its own announcement here.

...and we're back

Notice anything different about the URL and uppermost part of the HispanicNashville.com homepage today?

Hint: it's not so much what's been added, but what's been removed.

Comment below and e-mail me if you notice the changes.  I'll choose one winner to receive a free HispanicNashville.com mug.  (You have to spot both changes to win!)