Small group of vicious criminals brought down by racketeering charge

80-90% drop in activity

One percent of one percent of population

"The Latino community was very helpful"

The Nashville City Paper reported here that the arrest of fourteen MS-13 or Mara Salvatrucha gang members has nearly wiped out that group in Nashville, and that the impact of the arrests will be felt nationwide. According to this press release, the men were indicted by a federal grand jury on just one racketeering charge related to murder and other violent crimes in Nashville.

Jim Cavanaugh with the ATF (Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) told NewsChannel5 here that the MS-13 gang is not representative of the Hispanic population:

MS 13 makes up one percent of one percent of the Latino community in Nashville.

Cavanaugh said in another Nashville City Paper story that cooperation from the Hispanic members of the Nashville community helped the ATF and the Nashville police with the investigation:

The Latino community was very helpful ... The gang members certainly weren’t helpful, but they are a very, very small percentage of the Latino community in this city. Now, those who stepped forward can see the results.

More from the City Paper:

Almost a year ago, 14 members of the brutally violent El Salvadorian gang La Mara Salvatrucha, or MS-13, were indicted on racketeering charges stemming from at least three murders, seven attempted murders and a rash of violence in Nashville.

Three of the 14 have been sentenced in the last two months, receiving 19- and 20-year sentences for their involvement in the attempted murders of rival gang members and a confidential informant.

Special Agent Jim Cavanaugh with the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) said this is a significant step for Nashville, and more importantly, for the country.

“It’s significant that we got these long sentences for these violent gang members,” Cavanaugh said. “It’s very significant for Nashville and really for the country that we got these long sentences on these gangs members.”
...
This case in Nashville is only one of two cases nationally that’s slowed down the gang’s criminal activity.
...
One Metro Police gang expert said the indictment has curbed the criminal activity in Nashville among the Hispanic population, mainly because almost all members of the group here were included in the indictment.

“As far as the crime within the Hispanic gangs, it’s cut down, I’d say, 80 to 90 percent,” said Sgt. Gary Kemper of the Metro Police Gang unit.

The case is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's office, with the Criminal Division’s Gang Squad of the Department of Justice. Assistance was provided by agents and prosecutors from the National Gang Targeting, Enforcement and Coordination Center (GangTECC). GangTECC is led by the Criminal Division, and is comprised of representatives from the ATF, Bureau of Prisons, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and ICE, among others.

Photo by Eylem Başak Ekinci. Licensed under Creative Commons.

Labels: el salvador, justice, statistics

The Celebration of Cultures will be held this Saturday and Sunday at Centennial Park in Nashville. In association with the Celebration, a Walk As One will take place at 9am Saturday (check-in at 8am near the park's plane and train), and the Schermerhorn Symphony Center will have an open house with free musical performances (Saturday only), including Serenatta and the MTSU Salsa Band. Free shuttles will run between Centennial Park and the Schermerhorn.

Latin influence will abound, including the following demonstrations highlighted by this article in the Tennessean, "Cheekwood Botanical Garden & Museum of Art will have a project pertaining to the upcoming Latin American holiday El Dia de los Muertos ... American Roots Music Education will perform American traditional music such as ... Tejano, [and] ... Grow Nashville will demonstrate for children how to make salsa from organic vegetables."

Centennial Park returns to its original roots with this event. The original Centennial Exposition on the site included "villages" from around the world, including a Cuban Village with Spanish Sen Sen Dancing Girls (see photo here and description here).

The press release below highlights other Latin highlights of this year's Celebration of Cultures, like the San Rafael Band and "Villages" of Bolivia, Brazil, El Salvador, Mexico, and Peru:

You don’t have to travel the world for exotic food, music, and art. It’s all right here in Nashville at the 11th annual Celebration of Cultures Festival on October 6th and 7th in Centennial Park.

Presented by Metro Parks and Scarritt-Bennett Center, this FREE event will showcase the diversity and highlight the multi-cultural fabric of Nashville. “This festival has proven to be a wonderful opportunity for Nashvillians to learn about the rich mix of cultures we have here,” says Jose Ochoa, Superintendent of Cultural Arts and celebration co-chair for Metro Parks. “It’s also simply a wonderful two days of incredible entertainment, art, and food for everyone to enjoy.”

The festival began over a decade ago by a group that works continually to bring cultures together in Nashville: Scarritt-Bennett. “It’s very important to understand and celebrate the diversity of Nashville‚ to learn about other cultures and to get to know other people’s traditions‚” says Cindy Politte‚ director of marketing for Scarritt-Bennett Center‚ which started the Celebration of Cultures in 1995. “It’s a true potpourri of everything that is Nashville.”

Times are Saturday, 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., and Sunday, 12 p.m. – 5 p.m. The event will feature over forty ethnic dance and musical performances on multiple stages. Entertainers like the San Rafael Band (Latin Jazz), African Drummers (Ghana), Chinese Culture Club (China), Cripple Creek Cloggers (USA), Gary Cady (Native American), Ketsana (Laos), Pega Kadivar (Azerbaijan), and much, much more.

Enter “The Villages” and be transported around the world! New this year, The Villages offers an authentic look at the customs and traditions of Burundi, Ethiopia, Laos, the Philippines, and the Latin American countries of Bolivia, Brazil, El Salvador, Mexico, and Peru. As you walk through, you will hear traditional music in the background as the native language of each area is spoken, and you will see colorful clothing and decorations that are customary for each country.

Original art and imported hand-crafted items will be available for purchase in “The World Market”. A special exhibit called “Nashville’s Internationals” will also be on display at the Centennial Art Center October 5-26, and will be featuring fifteen artists from around the world that now call Nashville home. Plus, a children’s area will include free interactive music and dance programs, storytelling, nature activities, and arts projects.

Celebration of Cultures provides an opportunity for the community to gather, honor, and explore the diversities and ethnicities that make Nashville so unique and culturally enriched.

Parking is free in Centennial Park and in the HCA parking lots off Park Plaza behind the park. Shuttles will run throughout the event to transport people to and from parking in Centennial and at HCA. Plus, Saturday, there will be free shuttles between Centennial Park and the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.

Photo by Beth Kindig, courtesy of Celebration of Cultures.

Labels: arts, bolivia, cuba, el salvador, events, mexico, peru

Nashville Scene cover story finds loneliness, indulgence

"For many patrons, these hours are the bright spot of the week"

"She loves to dance with these Mexican men"

For its June 28 cover story, the Nashville Scene published Thirsty for Company. The feature by P.J. Tobia paints a fascinating picture of a seedy Murfreesboro bar, where U.S. men and women offer cheap companionship to Mexican and Central American men:

The vast majority of laborers who come to the U.S. from places like Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala are men. These laborers live with men, work with men and drink with men. Walk into any Mexican restaurant in South Nashville, and you’ll see tables of six, eight, even 12 men dining together on a Saturday night. While it is true that many foreign-born Latina women live in Nashville, most have come with their children to join men who were already here. In short, there is a shortage of female companionship for Nashville’s immigrant labor pool.

Except at El Dos de Oros. Crystal and her two sisters come because the men will give them money just to flirt with them. Rita and Carla, two large middle-aged women, come because they say Mexican men know how to treat a woman and haven’t been softened by middle-class living. Gracia and Ashley, who visit El Dos de Oros with friends every weekend, keep coming back because the hard-drinking patrons don’t seem to realize—or care—that they, too, are men.

These women are of varied ages and fit many descriptions. Yet the most surprising thing about them, perhaps, is the one thing that they have in common. Of the dozens of women who come to El Dos de Oros each weekend, aside from the transvestites, almost every one is white and American-born. What’s more, they speak virtually zero Spanish. What everybody looks for, at El Dos de Oros, can be found with few words.

Read the whole article here.

Photo by Curtis Perry

Labels: business, el salvador, immigrants

Merry Christmas from the Hispanic Nashville Notebook, and saludos navidenos to our friends across Latin America.

Glory to God in the highest
and on earth peace
good will toward men

Gloria a Dios en las alturas
y en la tierra paz
buena voluntad para con los hombres



El Salvador
Photo by Calero

Ecuador
Photo by jremigio

Peru
Photo by Jeff Barry

Argentina
Photo by blmurch

Chile
Photo by Ryan Greenberg

Colombia
Photo by Montanero

Venezuela
Photo by Spanner Dan

Mexico
Photo by Suchy

Labels: argentina, chile, colombia, ecuador, el salvador, mexico, peru, venezuela

Guatemala Genocide is topic tonight

From the Center for Latin American and Iberian Studies page of upcoming Lectures and Seminars:

Thursday, October 19, 7:00 pm Law School, Renaissance Room
Beatriz Manz
Genocide in Guatemala: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

Tuesday, October 24, 3:00 pm Calhoun 423
William Barnes
The Past and Future of the Left in Nicaragua and El Salvador

Thursday, October 26, 4:10 pm Buttrick 206
Jamie Winders
Re-tuning the Music City: Latino Migration, Urban
Transformation, and Community Change in Nashville

Thursday, November 2, 4:10 pm Buttrick 101
Fran Ansley
New Latino Immigration to Tennessee: What’s Law Got to Do with It?

Wednesday, November 8, 6:00 pm
Cuba Roundtable Discussion

Thursday, November 9, 4:00 pm Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center
Nelson Freires
Conference on Afro-Cuban Religions
El cielo sabe que te salva (Heaven Will Save You)

Tuesday, November 14, 4:00 pm Stevenson 4309
Demetrio Cojti
Los pueblos indigenas y su tipo de inclusion en y por el Estado guatemalteco"

Hispanic Nashville Datebook

If you know of an event that should be listed in the Datebook, or if you are computer-savvy and want to help keep the Datebook current, pleas contact the editor.

Labels: arts, el salvador

Local Hispanic immigrants beat the odds; many Latin Americans are ineligible

The Tennessean, the
Nashville City Paper, and WTVF NewsChannel 5 all covered the recent naturalization ceremony at The Hermitage, the Historic Home of Andrew Jackson. Ninety-nine people from 40 countries took the oath of U.S. citizenship, formalizing their new identity and allegiance.

Among the new citizens were Ana Rivera of El Salvador, featured in a picture in the Tennessean, and Yuri Cunza of Peru. Cunza is the President of the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce*.

The City Paper reports that 1,400 immigrants have been naturalized as U.S. citizens in Nashville so far this year. It also reports that only 10 percent of the 99 participating in the recent ceremony were from Central or South America, and only 3 were from Mexico, despite the fact that Latin Americans make up half of Nashville's foreign-born.

Cunza told the City Paper that many Latin American immigrants cannot become citizens because they cannot first get visas, which require education and financial independence.

*Hispanic Chamber 101: There are four Hispanic chambers of commerce in Middle Tennessee: the first three are the Franklin Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and the Tennessee Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The Tennessean profiled these three chambers in this article in June 2006. A fourth chamber was incorporated this year (the Middle Tennessee Hispanic Chamber of Commerce) but no activities have been announced.

Focus: Business, Chamber

Labels: business, chambers, el salvador, statistics

NewsChannel5 and the Knoxville News-Sentinel both report that a Hispanic family in Rockfield, Kentucky found a burning cross on their lawn last weekend, only one day after a burglary and break-in at their home. Notes left with the cross said, "My country, maybe. My neighborhood. No way." and "If you can't read this... Oddy-ouss." The Rockfield residents who were targeted, Nelson Espinoza and his wife Morena, have moved out of the house temporarily as they consider whether they should remain in the neighborhood.

Both articles report that the Warren County (KY) Sheriff's department is investigating the act as a hate crime. The Knoxville News-Sentinel article says that the FBI is also aware of the incident but has not yet opened a formal investigation.

The anger-mongering by some members of the exclusionist ("illegal immigration") political movement is the subject of this recent story here in the Hispanic Nashville Notebook, as well as this story about violent rhetoric. The convictions of Hispanic-targeting Nazi vandalists and a KKK bomber in Tennessee last year reveal that the Kentucky cross-burnings are an indictment not of our neighbor state to the north but of an American culture that has permitted the demonization of Hispanics as a group. The demonizers' defense, always some variation of, "but what if they're ILLEGAL," holds no water and instead fuels the flames of rage by giving exclusionism the illusion of legal legitimacy. This recent NPR story reported that the tone of the immigration debate is emboldening white supremacists and making Hispanics their primary enemy. Local governments are part of the problem as well, responding with disrespectful statements and isolationist proposals (story here). Some Hispanics trace the seeds of this sentiment to patriotism gone amok in the wake of 9/11 (story here).

Cross-burning is a tool of intimidation and exclusion that is often associated with whites' attempts to exclude blacks from integration in the 1960's but dates back a century (read more here). It is in disfavor in modern society and illegal when used as a tool of intimidation and expression of hate. It is unfortunately obvious, however, that the practice, and the sentiments which accompany it, have not died out. This PBS article describes a 2004 cross-burning in Anderson, California, and the community's response.

The Espinozas are natives of El Salvador. They have been in the United States for five years and moved to their neighborhood in Rockfield only two months ago. Rockfield is near the Kentucky/Tennessee border, close to Bowling Green, Kentucky and Portland, Tennessee. As I hope and pray that many of their neighbors in Rockfield have already told them, they are not alone, and our best hope is for the Espinozas' safety and for the refusal of any one group of people to isolate another. The Hispanic Nashville Notebook offers its condolences to the Espinoza family but also a warm embrace, and we hope we can offer you a hospitable welcome should you ever choose to visit Tennessee.

Image source: Dallas Morning News photo, Texas cross-burning

Labels: el salvador, immigrants

This week's cover story in The Nashville Scene features the story of a Nashville lawyer who tried a torture case against an ex-military official from El Salvador for the commission of crimes against humanity twenty-five years ago.

The subject of the feature, David Esquivel, won the Tennessee Bar Association's Harris A. Gilbert Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award for his volunteer efforts in the case, which were supported by his Nashville firm Bass, Berry & Sims.



The perpetrator, Nicols Carranza, is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was formerly "vice minister of El Salvador's military and director of the Treasury Police," according to the Scene. The end result is that Carraza "was found civilly liable for four instances of torture and/or murder," and that a $6 million judgment was also entered against him. Read the article for more background.

Labels: el salvador

The prestigious Freedom Forum Diversity Institute at Vanderbilt University announced its eighth class of journalism fellows, one of whom has experience in El Salvador and Spain and whose education includes international relations:

The Freedom Forum Diversity Institute will welcome its eighth class of journalism fellows on Monday, Feb. 6. The 12-week training program at Vanderbilt University is designed for people of color who want to become journalists but have had little or no formal journalism training.

Among the six new Diversity Institute fellows is Louis Medina, who has spent more than half his life living in El Salvador, Spain and Japan and graduated from the University of Southern California with a double degree in East Asian languages and cultures and international relations.

The press release is here.

Labels: el salvador

At a time when most Nashville businesses have taken down their Christmas decorations and wrapped up the holiday sales season, the Tennessean reports in this article that the holiday season is not over for some Hispanic businesses. Pastry and party sales are up in anticipation of the Christian holiday Three Kings Day, which is popular in Mexico and across Latin America and also celebrated here in Middle Tennessee.

"This morning, many children in Mexico and Mexican immigrants in the United States will awake hoping they received gifts overnight."

"To them, this is the El Dia de Reyes, the Day of the Three Kings celebration, a joyous cultural and religious observance that commemorates the biblical story of the Magi, or wise men, who traveled from different nations to Bethlehem bearing gifts for the newborn Jesus."

"As part of the festivities, family and friends will eat Rosca de Reyes, a traditional ring-shaped bread, and tamales with hot chocolate."

"By Wednesday afternoon, orders for the ring-shaped bread had picked up at Aurora Bakery, an international bakery on Nolensville Road."

"Ivette Miranda, whose father owns Variedades Latinas, a party shop on Nolensville Road, said in El Salvador families have a special meal together on Jan. 6 but usually exchange fewer gifts than other families."

"But there is a cultural sway in the United States among Mexican children toward Dec. 25 being the time for gift exchanges, said Maricruz Figueroa, who works for Hispanic ministry at St. Edward Catholic Church on Thompson Lane in Nashville."

"'In the Southwest, it is big and I know families celebrate as a way to hold on to traditions they had in Mexico. I do not think children complain about getting gifts in December and in January.'"

Labels: el salvador

CNN.com reports in this story that Nashville-based law firm Bass, Berry & Sims is plaintiffs' counsel in a federal trial in Memphis against an El Salvador official accused of torture:

"A former Salvadoran Army colonel was in a U.S. court Monday to defend himself against accusations that his soldiers tortured and killed civilians during El Salvador's civil war in the 1980s."

"A civil lawsuit against Nicolas Carranza, 72, accuses him of crimes against humanity. A 10-member jury was seated Monday afternoon, and testimony begins Tuesday."

"'This is a first opportunity for our clients to finally have a chance to say what happened to them, to explain to a jury and to the world,' said Matthew Eisenbrandt, a lawyer for the Center for Justice and Accountability."

"The lawsuit, also handled by the Nashville law firm of Bass Berry & Sims, was filed under federal laws, inlcuding the Alien Tort Claims Act, which allow U.S. courts to assess damages in human rights violations abroad. The suit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages."

Full story here

Related Tennessean story here

Labels: el salvador

The Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce announced its October 12 meeting will be a celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month:

Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Celebrates National Hispanic Heritage Month

The Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce will dedicate its traditional monthly “Business After Hours” to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month. First instituted in 1968 by the US Congress, President Lyndon B. Johnson proclaimed a week in September to be recognized as National Hispanic Heritage Week. The observance was expanded in 1988 to a month long celebration (Sept. 15-Oct. 15).

The NAHCC joins the nation in celebrating the culture and traditions of U.S. residents who trace their roots to Spain, Mexico and the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Sept. 15 was chosen as the starting point for the celebration because it is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on Sept. 16 and Sept. 18, respectively.

“We celebrate the contributions of Hispanics to this country, but also in a very profound way, we acknowledge and reaffirm our loyalty to the meaningful values and foundations that have made the United States of America our new home” said Yuri Cunza, president of the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. “A new chapter in our history begins here, with every new brick placed, every degree earned, every new life created and every life saved. Our values, are not so different after all, we also believe in justice, in freedom and respect for one another. If we are here, it is because we believe those values are at the heart of your nation. As you would also do, we want the best for our families and in many ways we are placing our lives and our futures in your hands. I was glad to read president’s Bush proclamation that reflects how important it is to the country: our presence, our efforts and our contributions”.

Recent Census data released for Hispanic Heritage Month indicates that the population of Hispanics in the US has reached over 41 million. According to Cunza, the number of Hispanic-owned businesses in 2002, grew up to 1.6 million, that equals to 31 percent more from 1997. Their receipts were $226.5 billion, up 22 percent from 1997. A total of 199,725 such firms had paid employees, with receipts of $184 billion, or about $921,090 per firm.

The celebrations will start at 5:30 pm on October 12th at the new La Hacienda Restaurant,
1100 Hillsboro Rd. Franklin, TN 37064 (Hillsboro Rd & Mack Hatcher)
For more information please call 615-332-9777 or e-mail us at: nashvillehispanicchamber@yahoo.com

The NAHCC represents the interests of near 200 businesses and other organizations with interest in Nashville’s Hispanic market. The Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce promotes actively the economic growth and development of Hispanic entrepreneurs. Our interest and ongoing participation in the State legislative agenda helps promote legislation and policies that positively affect the Hispanic business community. For more information visit us online at: www.nashvillehispanicchamber.com

Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
PO Box 40541 Nashville, TN 37204
Phone: 615-332-9777 / 615-582-3757
Email: nashvillehispanicchamber@yahoo.com
Website: www.nashvillehispanicchamber.com

Labels: business, chile, el salvador, spanish, statistics

The Nashville Scene named 30 of its favorite local, independent restaurants for meals under 10 bucks:

"LA HACIENDA TAQUERIA 2617 Nolensville Road. 256-5066
LA HACIENDA MARISQUERIA Y TAQUERIA 3744 Nolensville Road. 781-2902
For families with kids and anyone who enjoys cilantro, lime or margaritas, the crowded, nacho-cheese-Dorito-colored Hacienda with its adjoining market is the mothership of cheap eating, especially on the weekends, when, more often than not, Hispanic-language cable channel Univision is broadcasting a soccer game or a ridiculous Gong Show-style game show while a diverse crowd noshes on house-made chips and salsa and sucks up fish-bowl margaritas large enough for a whole table. We’ve become addicted to the tostada ceviche, raw fish marinated in lime juice and served on a light, crispy tostada, and the posole, traditional Mexican pork soup made with hominy. (La Hacienda serves red, not green, posole.) A new location, La Hacienda Marisqueria y Taqueria, specializes in seafood. Careful, the chips come in bottomless baskets and are addictive."

"LAS AMERICAS 4715 Nolensville Pike. 315-8888
LA PLACITA 314 McCall St. 832-6811
Nashville is teeming with inexpensive, and good, Mexican restaurants, but far fewer places serve food from Central American countries El Salvador and Honduras. Of these two highlights, Las Americas is the standby, a place where you can fill up just by ordering two pupusas: flat cornmeal-dough patties stuffed with pork, beans and/or cheese. They come with curtido, a tangy cabbage-carrot slaw that your server will happily replenish when it runs out. Total cost, before tip: 4 bucks. A little closer to town, La Placita sits just off Nolensville Road, next to one of the city’s longtime ethnic standbys, Siam Café. The menu offers a broader range of platos Centroamericos, which incorporate grilled meats, earthy vegetables like yuca, and milder flavors than Mexican food. The enchiladas are markedly different from what you’re probably used to: tortillas wrapped around lightly seasoned ground beef, then topped with stewed cabbage and tomatoes and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. Word of advice: don’t order the pork rinds unless you really love the melt-in-your-mouth sensation that comes from eating pure fat."

"BACK TO CUBA
When Castro took control of Cuba decades ago, Florida became the home away from home for émigrés who fled his regime. Alex Martinez traveled a little farther north to Nashville, where he and his Central American-born wife Rebecca have owned and operated Mama Mia’s Italian restaurant for more than 10 years. With the opening of Back to Cuba, Martinez pays homage to his native island. Cuban food isn’t spicy, but it is highly seasoned, as diners will discover in specialties like lechón (marinated and roasted pork), ropa vieja (beef stew cooked until the meat is in shreds) and pargo frito (fried red snapper, served whole with the head), all of them served with black beans and rice, and two different types of fried plantain, one sweet, one savory. The Cuban sandwich is nearly as good as any found in Little Havana—the classic construction of ham, pork, cheese, pickles and mustard is layered on a length of French bread, swiped with butter, and cooked on a sandwich press until the cheese and meats ooze together in gooey goodness."

Labels: el salvador, food

OrlandoSentinel.com profiles a volunteer-spirited Miami high school graduate headed to Vanderbilt in the fall of 2005:

"Standing on the Epcot Center stage after receiving his Disney Dreamers and Doers award, Walter Menjivar showed why he was worthy of it."

"The Mount Dora High senior used the opportunity to put in a pitch with Disney executives for free theme-park passes for homeless kids with whom he works at Anthony House, a Zellwood shelter."

"Walter has been volunteering steadily since he was in eighth grade. He is bilingual, so he often teaches English to Spanish-speaking children. He has helped win a grant for two vans at Anthony House, appealed to local officials for support and attendance at homeless-shelter functions and asked businesses for contributions."

"Walter's family is from El Salvador. His mother, Maria Shenk, moved to Florida from El Salvador the year before Walter was born."

"In addition to winning the Disney award, Walter has won many scholarships because of his volunteer work. They will cover the cost of his undergraduate college years. He plans to attend Vanderbilt University in Nashville, majoring in human organization and development."

Labels: el salvador, english, spanish

Hispanic Heritage Month: September 15 - October 15, 2004

"In 1968, Congress authorized President Lyndon B. Johnson to proclaim a week in September as National Hispanic Heritage Week. The observance was expanded in 1988 to a monthlong celebration (Sept. 15-Oct. 15). During this month, America celebrates the culture and traditions of U.S. residents who trace their roots to Spain, Mexico and the Spanish-speaking nations of Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Sept. 15 was chosen as the starting point for the celebration because it is the anniversary of independence of five Latin American countries — Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. In addition, Mexico and Chile celebrate their independence days on Sept. 16 and Sept. 18, respectively."

"The estimated Hispanic population of the United States as of July 1, 2003, is 39.9 million, making people of Hispanic origin the nation’s largest race or ethnic minority. Hispanics constitute 13.7 percent of the nation’s total population. (This estimate does not include the 3.9 million residents of Puerto Rico.)"

"Forty percent (40%) of the Hispanic population was foreign-born in 2002. Among the foreign-born Hispanic population that year, 52 percent entered the United States between 1990 and 2002."

"The number of Latino veterans of the U.S. armed forces numbers 1.1 million. About 63,000 Hispanic-origin people were on active duty in 2002 in the United States."

U.S. Census Bureau

Labels: chile, el salvador, spanish, statistics

Julia Lopez brings Mary Kay to Hispanic women

"Julia Lopez is building her own Nashville cosmetics empire based mostly on sales to Hispanic women. For the past nine years, Lopez has served as a consultant for the company best known for the pink Cadillac DeVilles driven by its most successful saleswomen."

"Her home visits net about $1,200 per month in direct sales, along with heftier commissions from the cosmetics sales of the 45 Spanish-speaking women locally whom she has recruited to her sales team."

"'Mary Kay is not just about selling,' said Lopez, from El Salvador, of the $1.8 billion company. 'I really think the only option for a woman who doesn't speak English is to go to a hotel and clean rooms or maybe work in a restaurant where they speak Spanish.' Lopez herself is a fluent English speaker."

''I tell people they have another choice. They can be like a chairperson of their own company.''

"Tonight, Lopez, the first Hispanic Mary Kay saleswoman in the state, will receive a Hispanic Businesswoman of the Year award from the Tennessee Hispanic Chamber of Commerce at a black-tie affair at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel."

The Tennessean

Labels: el salvador, english, spanish

Glencliff High holds International Day celebration

"The list of countries represented and languages spoken at Glencliff is long and changes every week. The students come from Sudan, Mexico, France, El Salvador, Cuba, Vietnam, Kurdistan, Iran, Ethiopia, Eritrea and so on and so on."

"'We don't have much prejudice here,' said Janette Lanier, English as a Second Language teacher at Glencliff."

"'There's just no room for it. The international day is good for all the kids to share their cultures with each other so they can understand each other even better.'"

"'They can see they're more the same than different. They're all teenagers struggling to become adults.'"

Labels: el salvador, english